'Tis you must go, and I must bide..'

Congratulations to Derry/Londonderry/Stroke City or whatever you might call it, for being chosen today as Britain's inaugural "City of Culture".

Here's the announcement (and the BBC style guide clearly favours the 'London' prefix, whereas, unsurprisingly, RTE doesn't..). Culture minister Ed Vaizey rode the fence.

This is a big deal for Ulster's second city, and as well as the financial and infrastructure boost in preparing for the events of 2013, there are sure to be some very cool festivals and concerts that might make it well worth planning a trip to the North-West of Ireland, especially with Derry's close proximity to the beautiful coastline of Donegal.

And the timing is historically significant too. We're currently in the midst of the 400th anniversary of the Plantation of Ulster, which forever altered the nature of what it meant to be "Irish", and the building of the walled City of Derry - and 2013 marks the changing of the name of the city by the Livery Companies of London.

But, musically, there is one reason above all others - yes, even above the best pop song ever written - why this city's cultural heritage deserves to be celebrated; and that is the 'Londonderry Air' or, in its best-known lyric form, "Danny Boy"; simply one of the most beautiful and stirring pieces of music ever composed.

Like all the best musical stories, there's some dispute over its parentage, but the traditional melody had quite likely already been adapted in various forms by the time the building that would become the city’s first major concert venue, the Exchange on Diamond Square, opened in 1692.

We're all here for such a short time, whatever we call the city we live in, whatever language we choose, or whichever government we pledge allegiance to.

But truly perfect music lasts forever.

'So you want to be a rock and roll star..?'

I just became aware of this new product available at Walgreen's, which apparently was launched at the beginning of this month.



Sounds like it might be a step towards this... but I'm not getting excited just yet.

On an industry-related note, Simon Jones has another good blog post where he asks "So is music free now?" - it's a debate, as he points out, that's been alive since the 'home taping is killing music' warnings thirty years ago, and is even more important now that downloading, both legal and illegal, is having a significant effect on how we learn about new music and how those musicians are rewarded.

I wrote a bit about this a little while ago, but its not going to go away, and its always good to revisit an issue that will have such a fundamental impact on how music will be created, and paid for, in the future.

'Will you still feed me..?'

We were down in Pennsylvania with family for the Fourth of July holiday weekend, like we were last year. One of the cool things about going down there - simple pleasures, I know - is going to WaWa for sandwiches.

So it was a bit of a surprise when we were in one of their stores to see the posters for their current "Hoagiefest" promotion, that looked just a little too much like it was a "Yellow Submarine" outtake.

I don't pretend to know what the image rights situation is these days for the Beatles or John Lennon's estate, but apparently this isn't a new thing and WaWa have been using a Fab Four theme for their annual promotion for a while now.

Anyway, in other Beatles-related news, it's Ringo's 70th birthday coming up this week and he's playing on Tuesday night at Radio City Music Hall.



If you can't make that gig, you can still catch The Meetles down in the subway.


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And if you're looking for a good July 4th tune, you can hardly beat this one...

'Tell me more, tell me more...'

Accompanied the women of the house to Pier 1 tonight for a singalong "Grease".

Great fun. Really.

It reminded me that in every musical, there are actually some great songs, even if they're waiting to be unearthed. So, many thanks to the Beautiful South for redeeming this one...

'Mystery train..'

I was on my way uptown last night and came across a blues guitar player called Delta Dave Johnson playing in the 42nd Street Subway. He was rocking an old Danelectro and harmonica and it sounded great. Listened for a while and bought one of his two CDs, 'Mean Bus Driver'.




There's more footage of Delta Dave playing over at the StreetMusicSounds blog, and a couple of photos on Flickr. One here has a bit of information, and there's a nice b/w shot here. But his web site doesn't seem to be working, so I can't give any more of a picture, except to say that his CD is well worth hearing.

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On the subject of great blues, every so often I get to go through the DVR and burn to disc some shows that I want to save. There were some good ones this time, including a Mountain Stage broadcast from a couple of years back with John Hammond (son of the legendary producer who signed Springsteen to Columbia Records). He's playing next week at Lincoln Center as part of the Blind Boys of Alabama's mini-festival.

'A thousand pictures fill my head..'

Last night we went to Carnegie Hall, since a couple of friends of my stepdaughter's were in the chorus for a concert staging of Eric Whitacre's manga-inspired musical theatre piece "Paradise Lost: Shadow and Wings."

It was eye-opening. I'd never heard his music before, and it was certainly compelling stuff and melodically infectious. His work with choirs, both live - there were 425 singers on the stage last night - and virtual, is fascinating.



We met up with Che's CCM friends in the huge, excited crowd of performers and relatives outside after the show. It was a great, fun experience for them and it's easy to see why Whitacre's fans idolize him.

He has a new album coming out later in the year and will performing in London on August 2nd, at one of my favorite venues: the Union Chapel in Islington, which, while just a bit smaller than Carnegie Hall, has wonderful acoustics.

The New York Times review compared 'Paradise Lost' to work by Andrew Lloyd Webber, "with hints of Bernstein and Sondheim", but in its scope, structure and melodies, it reminded me a lot of an album that had blown me away when I was a kid, Rick Wakeman's 'Journey To The Centre of the Earth' from 1974. And happily so.

It might be too much to hope, but maybe with the sort of young audiences Whitacre is bringing to his shows, that Rick's work might get a new lease of life?

Here's a real blast from the past, Rick performing in Poland last year (this is an instrumental version of part of 'Journey' - the vocal parts on the original album along with David Hemmings' dramatic narration really brought it to life as a brilliant escapist vision).

'If you're the praying kind, turn this song into a prayer..'

Justice delayed is justice denied, a British Prime Minister once said.

When the current incumbent apologized today for events 38 years ago, overdue as it was, it could never be an "end", but rather one step toward a recognition of injustice.

Better late than not at all.

'Captains of the old order, clingin' to the reins..'

We went to the new Meadowlands Stadium last night to see what's already one of the big tours of the summer, a triple-bill headlined by The Eagles, with the Dixie Chicks and Keith Urban. I'd never seen any of the acts live so was looking forward to it, as well as checking out the new stadium (almost antiseptically comfortable, as it happens).

I've always had a big soft spot for the Dixie Chicks, liked them a lot musically anyway and then supported and respected them tremendously for how they dealt with the vicious reaction to their opinions about the war in Iraq.

They played a nice set at the Meadowlands, with an unexpected highlight being a version of Train's 'Hey Soul Sister'. As Natalie Maines said, "sometimes a song just comes along that you wish you'd written" (this clip is from the previous show, in Toronto). I've also been listening to Emily and Martie's album as the Court Yard Hounds at home and its really been growing on me.





To be honest, for the first half hour, The Eagles sounded like a really good Eagles tribute band - every note, every harmony in those instinctively familiar west coast songs was perfect, but there wasn't much soul. But when the set turned to some of the great songs by the band's individual members, the show really started.

I've always liked Don Henley's 'Boys of Summer' 'End of the Innocence' or 'Dirty Laundry' - accompanied last night by a great backdrop montage - better than pretty much any Eagles song, and then there's Joe Walsh, just a genius guitar player. How can you not rock out to 'In the City' 'Rocky Mountain Way' or 'Life's Been Good'? (A respectful nod also here to veteran sideman Steuart Smith who shared the guitar duties).

(*update - a couple of days after the show, I literally bumped into Joe in the lobby of the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle. He was very gracious, even when I told him that the first time I'd seen him play was twenty-eight years ago.)



But without doubt the show-stealer of the night, it has to be said, was Keith Urban. Just as the guy came on stage, the heavens opened and he played his opening couple of songs to the few hundred people who braved the downpour. But then the sun came out and he proceeded to rock the house. Very tight, accomplished band, who gave their frontman every opportunity to interact, and the crowd responded.

My wife had seen him play last year at Madison Square Garden and knew he put on a great show. But as he wandered around the stadium floor, shredding and high-fiving with fans, you could tell he was enjoying it as much as his audience.

Even if you don't consider yourself a "country" fan, he really puts on a show. I'd definitely go back to see him. I haven't been able to find any decent clips of last night's show, so here's a couple of recent acoustic versions that help show what a good all-round entertainer the guy is.

'What the people need, is a way to make them smile...'

My wife and I took advantage of the new ferry service from Brooklyn and spent a nice morning over on Governor's Island yesterday. They're gearing up for some decent concerts over the summer, including a July 4th lawn show headlined by Rosanne Cash.

I've always liked open-air summer shows - the first one I remember going to was at Dalymount Park in Dublin in 1979, which was headlined by Status Quo and - would you believe - Judas Priest, but also had Nick Lowe, Christy Moore and The Flamin' Groovies on the bill.

Last summer, we went up to Tanglewood to see James Taylor; an altogether different experience.

To top off a great morning, we stopped in at one of our local pubs on the way home, where there's a regular lunchtime traditional session.




When we were married in Ireland three years ago, we were very fortunate that music was a huge part of our experience and whenever we come across a session like this it helps to bring back some great memories, and it's great to know that there's a healthy traditional session community here in Brooklyn and all over the city.

By way of an update on the thriving local Northern Irish music scene, Aaron Shanley is gigging in California at the moment and has a great new single, 'Somebody To Take Care Of', which is available for free download here.

Also, via the blog Secret Fireworks comes a new - or at least new to me - band called Maguire and I who sound really good (and filmed here in the Botanic Gardens, where I spent many happy days long ago). Look forward to hearing more from them.

'They say it's your birthday, we're gonna have a good time..'

Thanks, among other sources, to the daily updates from Paul Shaffer's Day In Rock, I was struck that this past week was quite an amazing one for musical birthdays...

On Monday, Robert Allen Zimmerman celebrated his 69th birthday. I've only seen Bob play live once, at Wembley Arena in London in October 1987 on the Temples In Flames tour, with Roger McGuinn and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. (I've also heard him once, in Prospect Park in Brooklyn two years ago, like thousands of others who couldn't get near the bandshell.) The London show was a great gig - even for a venue as cavernous as Wembley. There's a movie of a show from Melbourne, Australia, which I think was shot later in the tour.



The same day, the beautiful - and generously social Tweeter - Rosanne Cash marked her 55th birthday. Her 1993 album 'The Wheel' is one of my all-time favorites and this is a particularly lovely version of the title track.

Talking of great female voices, on Wednesday Stevie Nicks turned 62, but to many people she'll always be ageless. I saw her in 1982 at the Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, TN. She had the sort of stage presence that meant you couldn't take your eyes off her for a second, but her band was just brilliant - the great guitar player Waddy Wachtel, drummer Russ Kunkel, Bob Glaub on bass and Professor Roy Bittan on a vacation from E Street on piano. (I know Tom Petty's keyboard player Benmont Tench played some shows on that tour but I can't remember if he was there that night).



Tuesday saw the birthday of one of the most influential figures in the last three decades of British popular music: Paul Weller turned 52. Through his work with The Jam, The Style Council and his subsequent solo career - his latest album is 'Wake Up The Nation' - he has delivered sharp, clever observations of British life that have resonated with and inspired a successive generation of songwriters. Here, he plays a 1980 Jam classic with Noel Gallagher of Oasis - who incredibly also had a birthday this week.



Two other great songwriters from opposite ends of the globe were celebrating: New Zealand's own Neil Finn is now 52 - his band Crowded House have a new album, 'Intriguer' out on June 11 and are playing in Dublin this weekend.



At 65, Canada's national treasure Bruce Cockburn's career has been characterized by a commitment to musical integrity and activism in the pursuit of justice. Now he's going to finally write a book about his remarkable life. There's also some new recordings and a solo tour on the way next year, it appears. He's one hell of a great guitar player and probably the only person to have written a song about the International Monetary Fund.

Here, he performs one of his best-known songs at a 2001 benefit, along with Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies.



The amazing Levon Helm, drummer with The Band and inspiration for the Midnight Ramble, turned 70 and is currently in the middle of a nationwide tour - including Radio City in New York on July 28 and the Newport Folk Festival on August 1st - as well as having been nominated for 2010 Artist of The Year by the Americana Music Association.

On Friday, former Creedence frontman John Fogerty turned 65. I've seen him a couple of times in recent years - 2004 in Orlando on the Vote For Change tour with Bruce and REM, and then again last year at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Anniversary show. The guy sure wrote some great tunes and still rocks the house.



Friday was also the birthday of Dobro-meister supreme Jerry Douglas who is 54. I saw him play with Allison Krauss at the Beacon Theater in New York a couple of years ago, and he was just incredible. He did 'A Tribute To Peadar O'Donnell' and it brought the house down.



As if all that wasn't great enough, today is the 49th for the beautiful and courageous Melissa Etheridge



as well as the 43rd for the aforementioned Noel Gallagher, one of Britain's greatest pop songwriters (who, for what it's worth, thinks next month's England-US World Cup game will end up a draw..)



Among others, there were also birthdays this week for Jewel, Ramsey Lewis, Gary Brooker of Procul Harum, Gladys Knight, and Mike Porcaro of Toto, as well as an appreciative nod to Dr Robert Moog, inventor of the synthesiser.

And just to round things off properly, tomorrow rockin' Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine turns 46.




Next week is looking a bit thin by comparison I guess, but nevertheless many happy returns to Johnny Paycheck and Corey Hart...

'Strange as it may seem, I once had my football dreams..'

So, in the unlikely even that you haven't seen this yet, Nike's new viral ad for the upcoming World Cup is pretty remarkable:



And it's all the more cool for a soundtrack that includes 'Hocus Pocus' by the Dutch prog-rock band Focus, from the early 1970s, featuring their much under-rated guitar player, Jan Akkerman. It's a great track that, when you're eleven years old and see them performing it on the OGWT, sounds, honestly, like nothing you've ever seen before...



In any case, I can't wait for the World Cup to kick off in a couple of weeks. And it gives me a chance to play my absolute favorite football-related song:



(I'm just guessing, but it's possible the German host is saying something about losing on penalties..?)


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Pete Townshend celebrated his 65th birthday this week. When I was just getting into "serious" music, maybe the album that blew me away more than any other at the time was "Tommy". Here, Pete talks about the filming of the movie, which is coming up to its 35th anniversary.

The Who will always be among my favorite bands, and Pete will always be one of my favorite songwriters. A real visionary.




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I mentioned the other day about two gigs that Victor and David, were playing this weekend under the name Passport Without Nation. Turns out their Saturday night show has been cancelled, but they're still on for Sunday at the National Underground.

'Gonna get on up and fly away..'

Music Matters - John Martyn (23-3-10) from Music Matters on Vimeo.

I came across this little animation the other day on the Folk Radio UK site - an excellent read and well worth checking out. And it got me thinking about and listening again to John Martyn, a truly great guitar player who died last year and is sorely missed.

I first heard of him through Eric Clapton's cover of 'May You Never' on the 'Slowhand' album in the late 70s, but when I subsequently found John's original it was like a different world. It was one of the most enjoyable songs to play last year while I was busking, but I could only ever dream of doing it like he did:



There was an excellent BBC documentary a few years back, 'Johnny Too Bad' that chronicled his work and difficult life, which is well worth seeing if you get a chance. But my all-time favorite song of his is the amazing 'Small Hours' from the wonderful album 'One World'.



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A couple of weeks ago, I met Victor and David, two young guitar players in the subway. They're playing a couple of shows in the city this weekend under the name Passport Without Nation: Saturday night at the Recoup Lounge and Sunday at the National Underground. Go along and take a look.

'There's hope for me yet..'

                          

The wife and I went to see Dierks Bentley the other night at the Highline. It's always a good venue, with decent views no matter where you end up on the floor. We'd seen him play about four years ago at a small venue in London and that was definitely a rocking show. I remember almost immediately learning two of his songs: 'Hope For Me Yet' and 'The Heaven I'm Headed To' and playing them has never gotten old.

We were blown away by his voice that night and I remember thinking he had much more to offer beyond the formulaic country-rock genre. So the Highline show was very different, and brilliantly so: bluegrass was the order of the day, with the backing of a couple of Del's offspring in the Travelin' McCourys and a support slot from Hayes Carll.

After the sad events in Nashville recently, I've been thinking back fondly on the time I got to spend in Tennessee, and how great it was - especially on my first visit to the US - to be surrounded by such an outstanding regional musical heritage, and this show helped rekindle some of those emotions.

Good playing and a good time.

Finally, it was my wife's birthday recently and she happened to be away on a 'girls weekend' in the Napa Valley on the day so we celebrated when she got back, with a bit of karaoke at our friends bar. They have a very cool and imaginative installation on at the moment, featuring toy pianos and a video montage of subway buskers. Definitely check it out if you're in Manhattan.

For some reason. I just adore this particular photo... full of energy and mystery in equal parts, just like her. Happy birthday babe!

'This summer I hear the drumming..'

Today is the 40th anniversary of the deaths of four students at Kent State University in Ohio, during a protest over the war in VietNam, an event often described as a 'wound in the nation's history'.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is hosting a panel tonight on the Kent State campus examining the relationship between music, the war, and protest.

(*there's a stunning live version of Neil Young's 'Ohio', recorded by CSNY in 1970, here via Wolfgang's Vault - it's as powerful and melancholy as Young's solo version above)

'Lost in the flood..'

In the early 80s I lived in Tennessee for a year, in the foothills of the beautiful Smoky Mountains, and while I unfortunately only managed to visit Nashville a couple of times, it was always a special experience rolling in there. What's been happening over the last couple of days has been just heartbreaking to watch.



The tragic situation has already seen several deaths and according to the AP tonight, the Cumberland River crested at nearly 12 feet above flood stage and at its highest level since 1937.



Local musical institution the Grand Ole Opry has moved its shows to other venues in the city. As Peter Cooper writes at the Tune in Music City blog, for the musical community the city's losses are still untold. Meanwhile, local singer-songwriter Gretchen Peters will have a 'tip jar' at her upcoming gigs in the UK for British friends who want to help.

There has been some dramatic footage and images - look on Twitter under #nashvilleflood - and it's impossible not to be moved by the extent of how nature has ravaged the city.

Check out this this video montage by Michael Deppisch (via Mashable), or this Flickr series of stills via Barry Walsh.



To donate to the relief efforts, visit the Middle Tennessee chapter of the Red Cross, or to volunteer go to Hands On Nashville.

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Talking of Americans who go the extra mile to help their neighbors, today is the great Pete Seeger's 91st birthday. I was lucky enough to be at Madison Square Garden last year for his 90th birthday tribute concert, celebrating a remarkable life filled with music and a pursuit of justice.

One of the standout performances at that show was, unsurprisingly, from Bruce Springsteen, who had a few months previously joined Seeger to sing 'This Land is Your Land' in Washington during President Obama's inaugural weekend.

Now, Columbia Records has announced that Bruce's open air show with the E Street Band at Hyde Park in London last summer will be released on DVD next month. Here's a taster...



Also, on this day in 1972, Springsteen recorded a series of demos for Columbia after famously auditioning for John Hammond the previous day.

There was another interesting Bruce-related story this week by ProPublica looking at the number of members of congress who attended fundraising events with DC lobbyists at Springsteen shows in the nation's capital last year.


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Today was also James Brown's birthday. The Godfather of Soul would have been 77.

This is a pretty remarkable piece of footage I'd never seen before:




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Finally, after what happened in Times Square at the weekend, a sincere note of thanks to the NYPD, emergency services and everyone who keeps us safe. Thanks for doing what you do. My heart also goes out to those affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. As if Louisiana hadn't suffered enough...

'Crazy..?'

Not so long ago, I thought I likely wouldn't be busking again, since last year's project was very much an enjoyable one-off, and I was thinking that it wouldn't be the same if I went back over old ground.

Then I got an email from Rebecca Huval, a journalism grad student at Columbia, who's doing a radio piece on busking for a class assignment and wanted to talk to me about my experiences.

We met for a chat and despite being a bit reticent initially, I agreed to go out on the subway with her yesterday, with the idea of giving her some ambient sound for her piece and maybe bumping into some of the performers I'd met before.

So I played for a while at the 72nd Street station - since I remembered that the acoustics there were pretty good, there's a decent amount of time between trains, and the crowd is usually good-natured. I played a couple of songs I hadn't for a while (like this one - now I can't get it out of my head..)

Then we headed downtown, first to 42nd, then 34th, and then to 14th Streets. There was no-one playing at the first two, but at the mezzanine at Union Square, we met Victor and David, two young guitar players who told us it was their first time playing underground.

They were warming up for a show Saturday night at the UC Lounge in Ludlow Street, and definitely had a nice, mellow groove going.



As I told Rebecca after we watched them for a while, bumping into guys like this was exactly what I enjoyed the most about busking last year - you meet folks who are into the music and are doing it for the love of playing. It's what makes the city's subway musicians a real treasure.

So who knows, maybe I might end up playing underground again here and there this summer.

(By the way, I made $8 at 72nd Street before Rebecca showed up. I ended up giving most of it away to other buskers and beggars on the train home)

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Today is Record Store Day, so if you can, support your local vinyl retailer. I'll be dropping by my local here in Brooklyn, which inside is like a treasure trove of musical history, and remembering the record stores I went to as a kid, including Good Vibrations in Belfast, which did so much to encourage the city's music scene in the late 70s and early 80s.

My favorite record store in New York is Bleecker Street Records in the Village, partly because I can usually combine going there with a visit to Matt Umanov Guitars on the same street.

'Blue is the color of grass..'

Suddenly, over the last week or so, there seem to have been a lot more people playing out in the subways and on the trains. It's like the 'spring season' has kicked off. I'll start taking my Flip camera out with me again and catching some performers.

Yesterday I was coming through 34th Street and MUNY regulars The Ebony Hillbillies were playing. I've seen them around for quite a long time, but have never had a camera with me. They're always full of energy and it's almost impossible not stop and toe-tap with them for a few minutes. You can see from their site that they have a pretty full gigging schedule, and you can read more about them here.

Check them out if they come to your town.

I don't think I'll be back underground busking myself this summer. Hopefully though, there'll be a couple of interesting musical developments, and I wouldn't rule out the odd weekend appearance since I had such a good time last year.

Hopening Day

I've been a Cubs fan since 1982. I've been out to spring training in Arizona and even when I was living in London I'd make one trip to Chicago every year for a home stand.

Their first game of the season has always been a complete emotional stew of optimism and realism; but always seasoned with the joy that baseball itself gives me and the reassurance that, win or lose - and yes, insert 'it's usually lose' joke here - I'd never feel quite myself rooting for another team the way I do for the Cubbies.



My wife's family are Red Sox nation through and through, and up until 2004 we had something in common.

Living in New York, I go see the Mets - and their single A Brooklyn Cyclones - a lot and want them to do well - except in the obvious games - because there seems to be a sort of self-deprecating, fatalist connection between Mets and Cubs fans the way there just isn't with Yankee fans.

Here's an example: I was at Shea for a July 4th doubleheader about ten years ago, and in between innings Mr Met and his cohorts were going round with the microphone asking little kids questions about American history, and showing their answers up on the big screen.

They asked one little kid "why are there 50 stars on the stars and stripes?" and before he could answer, the drunk guy behind him leans in and says "It's the number of games the Mets are gonna win this year.."

During the seventh-inning stretch at Cub games, I'm afraid I've never gotten out of the habit - much to my son's annoyance - of singing "..If they don't win it's the same."

Anyway, whoever you cheer for, happy opening day. As the late great Jeff MacNelly put it, it's the one day when everyone's in first place.

Shoe (wearing Cubs cap): A good Cubs fan accepts defeat and disappointment in the belief that tomorrow will be a better day. Do you know what that’s called, Skyler?

Skyler: Self-delusion?

Shoe: Optimism is the word I was looking for.

Jeff and I, and millions of other diehards everywhere, would love a good season this year, please.

Let's Go Cubs!




*Update... So...that went well, didn't it?

The most opening day runs given up since 1900? Wha..?

Yes, the blown call on McLouth's "catch" was a joke. But even so, we played so poorly all round it probably wouldn't have made much difference to the outcome - although the players were clearly deflated by it immediately afterwards.

Bright spot? James Russell's pitching debut in relief, handing Jason Heyward his first big league strikeout. And the fact that, opening day or not, it's only one game. Only 1/162nd of the season. And I guess you can't have a Tuffy Rhodes moment every year.

(And incidentally, despite Tuffy's three HRs off Doc Gooden on opening day, 1994 - I remember I was watching on TV in a bar at Dulles Airport - the Cubs went on to lose the game.)

'It's a steady job, but...'

'Thousands are sailing..'

From Belfast to Brooklyn, and all places in between, Happy St Patrick's Day.