All posts by Dave

The Gauze of Static

imgresI love that term. There are so many connotations that come to mind for me. Of course, it perfectly describes the ethereal cloud of sound that comes from many years of wear (and poorly honed steel needles) that spun themselves to powder on one or more Victrolas before being captured by a collector or curator who had the sense to make sure it was preserved through either analog or digital means. It also describes what one might imagine an ancestral glue to be that binds the music passed from one generation to the next.

What it also describes is what I heard as a pre-teen in the sixties as I turned the small, serrated thumb-dial atop my transistor radio to one of the tiny ticks between the station numbers. Behind its aluminum or plastic faceplate was a speaker not much larger than a silver dollar. The sound it produced might have been paper thin, but the music and voices came to me as if they were in the next room. It was, after all, more often than not what was known as ‘border radio’, XRB blasting their way from south of the border and into my earpiece in the middle of the night in the Valley of the Moon. Wolfman Jack or some other mysterioso. And it all came through a gauze of static.

That is why I enjoy what I do around the curation of the music that I know and love. It is because of that common, milky bond of gauze they share. I did, at one time, try to avoid listening to the hiss and crackle of a poorly preserved recording, choosing to find a remake or remastered substitute. But not so anymore. That sound has taken on a personality of its own, a kind of texture that brushes against the performance, validating the certainty of time.  When I hear the voice of Blind Willie Johnson, the steel guitar work of Sol Hoopii, or the ghostly voices of the Norfolk Jubilee Quartet, I’m comforted in the knowledge that they were recording on (usually) the best technology of the day. I feel  somewhat blessed that I’m able to hear them this very moment through that gauze of time either on MP3, vinyl, radio, or tape, feeling blessed myself with the technologies of the current day.

When Time Is Not Linear

When Time Is Not Linear
When Time Is Not Linear

Frank Zappa once said that “Without music to decorate it, time is just (you fill in the blanks here)”.  What is it you remember about the first time you heard a song? Was it where you were, or maybe who you were with? Maybe it was about where you were going or even how you got there. If you’re like me, it is likely that it struck you like a drop of condensation from on high, fluttering down from some compartment of sound and emotion, cheating time by way of the radio airwaves or the streaming ether.

Whether you’re a fan of world, classical, eastern, or modern Americana music, it is no doubt that your mood might sometimes dictate a shift outside your comfort zone to find a break from the repetition. Sometimes our moods demand that we listen to music in a free form manner, allowing us to revel in the many contrasting sounds that may push our boundaries of musical discretion. It’s good to stretch a bit, don’t you think?

When I find myself stretching, I get curious. I might want to know more about the lineage of a given piece, its fundamentals, its story, its performer and so I find myself following a thread. Rarely is it a story that starts with a beginning and concludes with “The End”. More often than not, it involves finding something new in the middle. Once I’ve found some common pattern that connects one musical piece to another, I often discover something that leads me to a current release.  There are also those pieces that can be become something to sit and revel with like a passage in a book that you might return to someday for solace. Simple nostalgia sometimes drives the curiosity, but not always.

When assembling playlists for a Deeper Roots’ show, I’m always struck by how a 1932 Lonnie Johnson can be so easily bookended by pieces from a different time, say from The Band or even The Staple Singers.  These threads of sound, these flotsam and jetsam on the waters of time, are often easily woven together even though the stories they tell may be so different.  They are declared linear only by the blinking of the cursor, the hands of the clock, and the rotation of the Earth.

The Sacred And The Secular

Baptism
Take Me To The Water

Some time ago, I was reading a couple of album reviews on Amazon. The first, by Buddy Miller was titled “Universal United House of Prayer” and is a musical exploration of gospel roots. The review, by a listener from Alabama, consisted of three sentences, the last two summed things up with “The first song on the CD is good and not gospel. The rest of the CD is gospel which I dont(sic) enjoy “.  The other review took on Jorma Kaukonen’s “Stars In My Crown” and its reviewer hailed from somewhere out in the Alaskan wilderness. The album is also a study of early century gospel roots music. The reviewer titles his missive “If You’re Not a Christian, It’s Not For You” and sums up his feelings thusly:  “it was disheartening to hear messages of exclusion and righteousness–great gospel music brings all people in as it embraces the human condition and our yearning to become better people. In this CD unfortunately one must believe that Jesus is the only way to have a spiritual life.” Well, I’m no Christian, but that album’s a fine piece of work. I guess when it comes to religious discussions around the dinner table, even if that table is set on the internet, it still draws passion.

My show, Deeper Roots, occasionally digs into gospel music not because of its ‘message’ but because its litany of Christian sanctification goes back to an almost prehistoric time where, in the 18th and 19th centuries, the only ‘folk’ music that was allowed was that of the church.  Rhythm, righteousness, and holiness created a pattern and ways to extol Christian virtue because it gave folks structure in their lives. No more. No less. Contemporary music that interprets this music often does so as a means of reverence for its contributions as I’m sure Messrs. Miller and Kaukonen would agree with.

The show explores the works of numerous artists who come from the Deep South and were exposed to the sacred sounds of the Baptist and Pentacostal churches; in fact, much of the blues and country artists that broke through in the 20th century owe a great debt to the music they either performed in church or learned in church. Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Thomas (Georgia Tom) Dorsey, Nappy Brown, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke…well, you get the idea.

The Paramount Label

The Paramount Label
The Paramount Label

Paramount Records was born in 1917 and in the mere fifteen years of their existence they would introduce some of the greatest names in the blues. Ma Rainey, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, Skip James, and Papa Charlie Jackson are but a few. In 2013, Jack White’s Third Man Records teamed up with Revenant Records to release the first of what would become one of the most ambitious attempts at documenting the story of a record company born from a furniture company that was driven to create product for the record cabinets they sold. Based on the book “The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records”, part two of the omnibus will be released later this year (or in early 2015).

This week on Deeper Roots, we share some of the story…and a lot of the music which was not necessarily limited to the blues but also some incredible gospel, mountain, and jazz recordings. When listening through what Dean Blackwell of Revenant Records calls the “gauze of static”, you’ll hear the music of the last century come alive. Tune in Friday night at 9 o’clock for a rare listen.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/arts/music/jack-white-explores-history-of-paramount-records.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&

 

Blues Divas

Blues Divas
Blues Divas

Some time ago, Deeper Roots explored the female blues pioneers of the early century in a show called “Black Pearls”. In this week’s episode, we’re going to move forward in time a bit, into the mid-century to explore the ‘inheritors’, those women who were influenced by the blues stylings of Sara Miles, Sippie Wallace, and Victoria Spivey. Performers this week will include Julia Lee, Lil Armstrong, Nellie Lutcher, and many others in an episode titled “Blues Divas”. Post-Depression and Post-War jazz, R&B, and blues sounds from some of the influential female artists who, in step with their early century counterparts, would go on to provide a foundation for the many who would follow. Be sure to tune in.

Deeper James Booker

Deeper James Booker
Deeper James Booker

Every now and then Deeper Roots will take a step back and look at the unknowns, not for their anonymity as much for their stories and why their music is so important to the American story. A documentary was recently released entitled “Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker”, http://www.bayoumaharajah.com/ directed by Lily Keber. It tells the story of the classically trained session man and we’re going to also explore the contributions that Booker made to the music of others, his quirky yet brilliant talent in performances of his own, and we’ll also share some of the stories of James Booker’s celebrated ups and tragic lows.

Halloween Theme

Halloween Special
Halloween Special

Okay…what the heck and why not? Deeper Roots goes holiday flavor with songs of spiders, witches, graveyards, and that voodoo that we do. Tune in for musical selections from the vaults of the last century of America’s music, including pieces that celebrate the genres of jazz, country, blues, and rock. We’ll also cover some excerpts from some of the more famous ‘Halloween’ screen themes. Performers include Spike Jones, Fats Waller, Luis Russell, and (of course) Leon Russell’s backup piano with the Crypt-Kickers on Monster Mash.

 

Bluegrass Suite

Bluegrass Suite
Bluegrass Suite

Bluegrass is our theme. The sound and tradition can be traced back to Jamestown settlers who migrated into the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky and the Virginias. Bringing the memories and traditional sounds of music they recalled from home, they would compose new songs about their day-to-day life experiences in the new land. Their rural life would bring their music to reflect their life on the farm or in the hills and it would come to be known as mountain music. The phonograph and radio brought this sound out of the South, expanding its audience and ensuring its entrenchment in the American traditional psyche. Join Dave Stroud this week for music from old and new; from Wade Mainer and The Stoneman Family to the Monroes, Jimmy Martin, and Bela Fleck. A sound that’s sure to entertain.

Deeper Thomas Dorsey

Deeper Thomas Dorsey
Deeper Thomas Dorsey

It’s another two hours celebrating the best of the last century of America’s music on Deeper Roots. In this week’s episode, Dave Stroud will be exploring the secular side of Thomas Dorsey, as Dorsey performed early century blues as Georgia Tom, and then more about Dorsey’s sacred side as the Reverend Thomas Dorsey in the mid-to-late century. As the Great Depression brought chaos to the lives of many, including the performers of the day, Dorsey finalized a lifelong transition from the secular to the sacred, although there is clear evidence that personal misfortune had its hand in the move. The evening’s playlist includes excerpts from Dorsey interviews, music by contemporaries and those who were influenced by his music, as well as pieces performed by Dorsey as Georgia Tom, featuring Tampa Red on guitar. Johnny Cash, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Kansas City Kitty, Clara Ward, and Sweet Honey in The Rock are among the acts who we’ll hear in a show called “Deeper Thomas Dorsey”.

Rock Billy Boogie

Rock Billy Boogie
Rock Billy Boogie

Join us for some unbridled passion featuring ducktails, attitude, and rocking rhythm…all in the tradition of the north, west, east, and south. We speak of that genre that keeps on churning: rockabilly. It’s a genre that’s seen more revivals than a traveling preacher in the Midwest and South during the late 1930s. The recordings were pretty rustic: a bass, some driving percussion, and excitable guitar riffs and the vocals often phrased by rebel yells. We’ll be tearing it up with some of the very best including Johnny Burnette’s Rock ‘n Roll Trio, Billy Lee Riley, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis…and those were just the top drawer stars. We’ll also hear from the ladies: Wanda Jackson, Charline Arthur, and Janis Martin as well as the more obscure sounds of Bobby Lord, Hoyt Stevens, and Roy Hall.