CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM, our Laramie, Wyoming-based friend Irish Patti (whose family has a new house) and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES — an art and film exhibition entitled Renoir: Father and Son / Painting and Cinema will be at the Barnes Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania through September 3rd.
Pierre-Auguste / Jean RenoirIN A BREAK with tradition: a South Korean female newscaster (whose on-air time slot begins at 6:00 AM) decided not to wear her contact lenses and instead decided to wear glasses— which seems to have sparked a trend.
THURSDAY's CHILDREN reside at a college in New Jersey— the current descendants of an old trap-neuter-release program and which was later became part of a pre-veterinary program (where students have to accumulate animal contact time) … yet which now serves more students who are homesick or stressed-out …. and also serves as an adoption center.
New Jersey college kittensNORTHERN ITALY’s most prosperous city (Milan) cast its recent election votes for center-left parties, compared to the rest of the country voting for center-right parties (such as Silvio Berlusconi’s gang, the nativist Northern League and the new M5S grab-bag party). Those combinations are why a new government has yet to be formed.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Lucy the Cat— a Rhode Island kitteh who was caught in a humane trap-neuter-release box … but reunited with her family (after having gone missing for a year) due to her microchip.
Lucy the CatYOUR SUNDAY READ — this Tuesday’s GOP primary in West Virginia (to select an opponent for Joe Manchin) — includes the retrograde Don Blankenship, famous for his recent ‘Cocaine Mitch’ and ‘China people’ references. But this essay from Mother Jones reminds us of his true crime: being convicted of a mining accident that killed twenty-nine mine workers.
“SHAEF” = Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force.
xGeneral Eisenhower’s message reporting Victory in Europe, this week 1945: pic.twitter.com/0snNskzU4A
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) May 5, 2018BRAIN TEASER - try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC.
OLDER-YOUNGER BROTHERS — from north and south of the border: retired Mexican president (and Trump antagonist) Vicente Fox and retired Air Force fighter pilot (and the first Canadian to walk in space) Colonel Chris Hadfield.
Vicente Fox (born in 1942) Chris Hadfield (born 1959)...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… being of-a-certain-age, I tend to focus on more established performers: yet am always open to new acts that catch-my-ear. One of them is Lake Street Dive — who I was first alerted to by one of those ‘more established performers’ I had in mind:
xI first heard @lakestreetdive on @lightning100. On the first listen I was hooked, and now I’m just a big fan. The whole band is amazing, but Rachael’s lead vocals are killer, and I love seeing Bridget on bass - so I’m adding them to my list of #womenwhorock. New album May 4th! pic.twitter.com/XXQISK0S0g
— Sheryl Crow (@SherylCrow) February 28, 2018So I gave them a listen … and heard quite an assortment of influences in their music. No two descriptions I have read are identical, but many cite their Western-swing and jazz roots … followed by rock, indie, Motown influences.
Even the band’s four members are an interesting mélange: lead singer Rachael Price (born in Perth, Australia and grew-up in Tennessee), bassist Bridget Kearney (Iowa City), drummer Mike Calabrese (suburban Philadelphia) and trumpeter/guitarist Mike “McDuck” Olson (Minneapolis) — who all met at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston .. and are now based in Brooklyn, NY.
Their name comes from a street with many dive bars in Mike Olson’s Minneapolis hometown, and all four had parents who were musicians. Their primary songwriters are Bridget Kearney and Mike Olson.
Mike Olson is a trained trumpeter who did not start guitar until after his 2005 conservatory graduation ... when he lost use of the practice room piano and thus needed a new songwriting tool. Bassist Bridget Kearney worked her way through the conservatory as a Fenway Park vendor and she won the 2005 John Lennon Songwriting Contest (in the jazz category). Drummer Mike Calabrese credits the music of Philadelphia for his performing style and Rachael Price credits her chorale arranger father for allowing her to sing Gospel and classical music in choirs at age 5.
Their sound is quite eclectic — in no small part because the band (from 2004 until 2012) were more concerned with solo work, before dedicating themselves to being a full-time group. Their first major label recording was released in 2011, and first gained prominence when a 2012 recording — made on a sidewalk in suburban Boston — went viral. That was a cover of the Jackson 5’s hit I Want You Back (which you can listen to at this link) currently at over 5 million plays. They gained further acclaim when noted record producer T-Bone Burnett heard their music and in 2013 invited them to perform at a concert he organized to celebrate the release of the film Inside Llewyn Davis — sharing a stage with Joan Baez, Jack White and Elvis Costello — that generated several television show appearances.
Some of their side recordings of cover songs indicate their influences: Hall & Oates, Mamas & the Papas, the Drifters, Fleetwood Mac and Paul McCartney.
In 2014, they released Bad Self Portraits— this one with all original tunes — and in 2016 released Side Pony— with the All-Music Guide describing it as “zeroing in on a vintage-inspired, '60s soul aesthetic, named after Bridget Kearney's hairstyle, and serving as an easy metaphor for the group's unpredictable creative choices”.
As Sheryl Crow noted above, their new album (which was recorded in Memphis) is being released this week, and they have a tour (which runs through early October) that brings them across the USA, plus shows in Vancouver, Ottawa and Toronto, plus an October performance in London. They will be joined by keyboardist Akie Bermiss on this tour … and I hope they get that breakout hit they deserve.
Olson, Price, Kearney, CalabreseI haven’t listened to them long enough to have favorite songs — but the title track of their last album Side Pony seems to be as representative of their music as any, and the vocals of Rachael Price help carry the song, recorded at Electric Lady studios in New York.
I got a flair of the hair on my shoulder It's apparent it's there and it's bolder Like to show you my cards, I'm no folder Yes I'm a soldier
Against everything square and unsightly Yes I know I look good so don't fight me All I need is a clip or a scrunchy And then I'm ready
Since I met you, you've been in my stable And I see you whenever I'm able Though we're keeping it under the table It ain't a fable
Why can't we hide away in your derby? We're having fun and we're keeping it flirty Everybody might say that it's dirty But don't you worry
Because I rock a side pony Baby I'm just living my life Because I rock a side pony
x xYouTube Video