Posts by Peter Zimmerman

Glide Magazine recently had the pleasure of speaking with keyboardist Ben Usen, who discussed the road to Remembrance, and hinted at what surprises might be coming from the band in the coming year.

The audience at City Winery drank in the seventy minutes Tift spent on stage, and by the end were buoyed by the chance to witness an artist in motion– continuing on her journey and leaving all of us a travelogue to follow.

DiFranco's made a record that, while at times inconsistent and frustrating, continues to affirm her impressive songwriting hand and relevance as America’s leading folk singer.

On Wednesday, January 25, 2012, Stanford University's Lively Arts Series will host the world premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang's (Stanford '78) piece, Death Speaks, featuring Bryce Dessner, Shara Worden, Nico Muhly and Owen Pallett.

Glide Magazine had the pleasure of speaking with Amy Ray about the writing and recording of the newest album, as well as her feelings about the role of activism in their work, her relationship with Emily Saliers as songwriters, what it’s like to balance her Indigo Girls and solo work and why she doesn’t play “Blood and Fire” anymore.

In this second part of our conversation, we look into Shenale’s history as one of Tori Amos’ closest collaborators. We also look at his involvement with the Night of Hunters world tour, in which he’s rearranged a large number of works from Amos’ catalogue and reinterpreted them for the show.

Through a winsome blend of humor, visceral guitar playing, vulnerability, a healthy dose of heartbreak and passionate singing, Ferrick maximizes her time on stage and leaves her audience both satisfied and wanting more– but with 150 songs at the ready, that’s always going to be the case.

In Part I of our conversation, we examine the Night of Hunters creation process. Part II focuses on Shenale’s work on the Night of Hunters tour and his background with Amos and their history of working together, including the serendipitous point where he took the helm as her orchestral counterpart.

It’s been a decade since his debut, which has seen Dybdahl release quite a few more records and gain extensive notoriety in Scandanavia; however, despite writing songs in English, he’s still relatively unknown in North America. To counter this, in July Decca Records released a compilation album of his strongest work, simply titled Songs to try and break into the market, and this fall Dybdahl will support Tori Amos on her tour through the States and Canada.

Even taken with its apparent downfalls, this is an album with which they should be quite proud. It not only proves their capability alongside their frequent collaborators, but actually asserts the relevance and necessity for a language that is wholly yMusic.

Rather than miss the mark with a couple of filler songs, she’s released an album teeming with unexceptional pieces that betray her strong hand at songwriting.

This album may be a bit too accessible and/or soft for fans of the harder edged rock-leaning work from his mid-career, but Ashes & Fire reaffirms Ryan Adams as a leader among singer-songwriters, and after the turmoil of the past few years it’s delightful to see him back on top of his game.

Welch and Rawlings’ show at the Fillmore yet again showed why they’re leaders of the Americana and bluegrass world. Their songs have an enchanting solemnity, gravity of earthly knowledge and simple chords and instruments that manage to convey a vast spread of emotions and rhythms.

On All Things Will Unwind, Shara Worden delivers a tour de force that stands far above the majority of contemporary music. It’s a masterpiece that will prove quite difficult to surpass, but the fact that this is only her third album as My Brightest Diamond makes the future look even more the brighter.

The Indigo Girls brought their four-piece band to the beautiful Strathmore Music Center in N. Bethesda, MD last week, where they merged together fan favorites, old gems and brand new songs into a cohesive and utterly enjoyable two hour-long set.

With a careful editing eye and a reinvestment in the tools that made him so innovative as a male singer-songwriter, Howie Day can really go far again, despite the many blunders of recent memory.

While they could continue to deliver solid sets of songs constructed in their conventional paradigm, their willingness to experiment and travel in new directions with their latest record– and do so successfully– both reinvigorates their catalogue and shows that they still have plenty to say, and it’s worth listening in.

Lucy Kaplansky has a well-honed grasp on melody, which is something almost impossible to teach and reveals her deeply rooted and intuitive musicianship. Still, Kaplansky’s seriousness and austerity, matched with a few uninspired new songs, made it a long evening, and one whose highlights were frustratingly weighed down by filler.

Map The Music is an impressive look at what lies beneath the surface of fandom, to discover those whose enthusiasm becomes devotion and forges communities in which music is both the common focus and the language used.

This is her most consistent effort yet, and the process of building the songs up from programmed sounds reveals Herzig’s deft architectural hand, and the fact that she’s chosen bouncy, spirited and cathartic as her palette further bolsters the album. The next step will be learning how to incorporate lyrically the more intimate and raw moments of introspection, but this is an admirable first step in the right direction.