music for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving time in the United States. Musical ideas to explore for the holiday

Hanneke Cassel and Christopher Lewis: Calm the Raging Sea Top Scottish style fiddler and guitarist turn their attention to a set of hymns

Jay Ungar and Molly Mason Harvest Home
fiddle and guitar on lively and reflective music of the American landscape


Mark O'Connor: Americana Symphony
classical and Americana meet in the hands of a composer who is master of both


Donal Clancy Close to Home Irish music, on guitar, close to home


bluegrass, jazz, Celtic, and folk keep good company on this recording from Alison Brown
The Company You Keep


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holiday gift list: American harvest

From the California coastline to the Arizona deserts to the Rockies in Montana, from the Kansas plains to the Texas hill country to the lakes of Minnesota, from the apple orchards of Michigan to the peach trees of South Carolina, from the Gulf Coast to the Maine Coast. the United States is a beautiful and varied country, with people, landscapes, and music to match. Here are several suggestions about music which reveals parts of that, for your holiday gift list, and for gifts to yourself as well.


Albert & Gage Dakota Lullaby

Christine Albert and Chris Gage call Austin, Texas, home these days, and they are fine singers and songwriters, together and separately, so they know a good song when the find one. Recently the pair came across an an old tape made by Tom Peterson, a writer Gage used to know in his native South Dakota, and decided to do a whole album of his work “As we listened to the tape in the truck one night, I felt like we had just struck gold in the Black Hills,” Albert says. Find out what she’s talking about in the haunting past and present of the west in the title track, the funny dash of Louisiana spice If I Die Tomorrow, the affirmation of hope after loss In Tender Loving Care, and the happy swing of Does She Have a Future with Me?

Gretchen Peters One To The Heart, One To The Head

Another take on the American west comes from Gretchen Peters, also a top notch songwriter who decided to lend her gifts to others’songs . Notable tracks include Ian Tyson’s Blue Mountains of Mexico and Stephanie Davis’s Wolves, and an original instrumental by Barry Walsh, North Platte. Tom Russell sits in too.


Tim Grimm, Michael White, Krista Detor, Tom Roznowski, Carrie Newcomer
Wilderness Plots
These five artists look at a different sort of frontier, building their songs around a time where the Ohio Valley, where they all live, was just beyond the edge of civilization. There are songs of hardships, imagination, joy, sorrow, distances, and choices, all framed in the stories that time and place, set in time yet timeless. .

Claire Lynch Whatcha Gonna Do

Claire Lynch’s music is rooted in bluegrass, a bluegrass that lends itself to crossing borders into swing, country, and folk without ever losing its bedrock authenticity. Lynch, who has won a number of awards and been nominated for a Grammy, has a warm, engaging soprano, and she chooses songs of substance that often include a dash of humor, and are just as likely to include a dash of faith. A train song, a song about false lovers, a meditation on love’s hardships and the strength it takes to learn from them, and really fine road song are just a few of the gems she shares here,. accompanied most of the time by her road band, and with a guest shot from Jesse Winchester.

Steve Wariner c.g.p. My Tribute to Chet Atkins

If you’re looking for excellent guitar work on tunes you may know and others you won’t have heard before, then this is the recording for you. You get some history along the way, too: Atkins was a legendary Nashville guitarist and producer who worked with artists ranging from The Carter Family to Mark O’Connor, to a young guy from Indian, Steve Wariner, who became a close friend ( and certified guitar player -- thats’ what the c.g.p stands for). Wariner decide to frame this tribute to his friend, who died several years ago, as a sort of chronology of Atkins’s life, with some original pieces to mark certain times and places mixed in with music Atkins played, composed, and produced. The result is a flowing set of music that’ll keep you engaged and interested through many listenings, . If you’ve a guitar player on you holiday list, be sure to consider this one..



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Music Road: holiday gift list: music of Canada

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holiday gift list: music of Canada

Canada has as many diverse and varied sorts of music as does its neighbor to the south. Here at Music Road, we’ve many regular readers from Canada, from Whitehorse and Yellowknife to Victoria and Vancouver, from Calgary and Edmonton to Regina, Ottawa, Toronto and Quebec, and from Charlottetown to St. John to Halifax to Sydney to Baddeck. If you’re looking to fill up holiday gift baskets, here are several of our favorites from Canadian musicians.

Maria Dunn The Peddler
Dunn writes of heritage and immgrant life and the struggles of war and the joys of friendship in this recording. She’s been called the female Woody Guthrie, and while she is certainly her own artist, that gives you a bit an idea of what to look for. On this recording, look for her Scottish roots, too, in melody and instrumentation, and in the presence of The McDades as back musicians on many tracks.

Ian Tyson Yellowhead to Yellowstone and Other Love Stories

Ian Tyson is the voice of the western plains. From his days as half of the duo Ian and Sylvia to his part in the cowboy renaissance to his place as a poet of the west, he’s told the stories and sung the songs of the lives and people who live in the sometimes harsh but always beautiful western part of North America. On this recording, his voice, weathered by time and illness, may seem a bit different, but it’s still Ian Tyson, and the songs are all his too, from the opener framed in the travels of a wolf to the closing bittersweet affirmation of hope for love after loss.
Whatever part of the world you hail from, it’s worth a listen.

Le Vent du Nord :La Part du Feu

From Quebecois history to lively dance tunes to reflective songs to pure fun, the men of Le Vent du Nord bring the many shades of the music of their home place, Quebec, to the world.

The Barra MacNeils 20th Anniversary Collection

The Barras, as they’re know nfor short, bring the music of the Maritimes and Cape Breton home, with sea songs so fresh you can taste the salt, connections to their Scottish heritage with outstanding versions of Robert Burns’ My Heart’s in the Highlands and Doug MacLean’s Caledonia, tasty sets of tunes, and well done new pieces including Island and Coaltown Road. Outstanding lead and harmony singing too.

Natalie MacMaster Blueprint

Cape Breton fiddle player MacMaster kicks this one off with a tune called A Blast, and it is, with her lively beats, distinctive tone, and flair for writing and choosing fine tunes. The Touch of the Master’s Hand is a thought provoking song, and Josefin’s Waltz shows she can handle a slow tune with emotion as well. The concluding song, My Love, Cape Breton, and Me, is a real keeper too, a last minute addition to this album that fits perfectly as a closing piece.

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Music Road: holiday gift list: Irish music

Austin Holiday stroll coming up

Downtown Austin Alliance's Holiday Stroll is a really lovely and very musical event. Carol singing at the Capitol steps, loads of shops and people and all sorts of music along the way, and by the time you get as far as La Pena and Mexic Arte, a bit more of the Hispanic tradition kicking in. Anywhere you join in along Congress, though, it's a fine holiday evening.

Here's this year's plan, courtesy of the Austin Music Alliance.

Saturday, December 5


6:00-7:00 pm: Holiday Sing-Along
south steps of the Capitol

7:00 pm: Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting
south gates of the Capitol

7:00 - 9:00 pm: Holiday Stroll on Congress Avenue

Congress Avenue will be buzzing with holiday cheer during the Congress Avenue Stroll. Shops, restaurants, galleries and museums will be open late and will feature special activities, offers or refreshments to visitors.


photo of the Capitol in Austin and the Texas Tree all in lights by Kerry Dexter

music to go along with these ideas

Music Road: Jeff Talmadge : At Least That Much Was True

Music Road: A Tejano Country Christmas

Music Road: Albert & Gage: One More Christmas

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holiday gift list: Irish music

The winter holidays are here, a great time for gift giving. What makes a better gift than Irish music? Look into these -- and, indeed, any recording by the artists named here -- and you will want to have several for your own as well as fill out your gift list. If you’ve come to Irish music by way of the stage shows by Celtic Women, the High Kings, and Lord of the Dance, welcome -- and prepare to go deeper into the music of the Emerald Isle. Much deeper. More about that idea here.




Cathie Ryan The Farthest Wave
Resilience and restraint are two qualities which mark Ryan’s work here, both in her singing and in the songs she chooses. Not for nothing was she named Irish Voice of the Decade, and she is also one of the best songwriters around, as witness the title track, a consideration of healing, hope, and courage framed in images of myth and the natural world. To learn more of Ryan’s work, go here







Matt and Shannon Heaton Lovers’ Well
Lovers’ Well is one of those recordings that reveals more grace each time you hear it. Matt and Shannon Heaton have chosen a mix of not so usual Irish songs about love in its varied guises, along with tunes that are just the right tempo for couples to dance to, and a love song from Thailand, honoring Shannon’s time spent in that country, which somehow fits perfectly. Both the Heatons sing, separately and with fine harmony; he plays guitar and bouzouki, she plays whistles and flutes. If you happen to want to learn to play Irish music, or have someone on your gift list who does, follow the link above also to find out about Shannon's book, Oil for the Chain, which is a fine resource.

Julie Fowlis and Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh Dual
Julie Fowlis is from the Outer Hebrides of Scotland; Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh is from West Kerry in Ireland. Several years back they found that there are both similarities and differences in the musical traditions of their home places, and began exploring them. This intriguing album is the result.

Liz Carroll and John Doyle Double Play
Liz is an American who plays the fiddle so well that she won All Ireland competitions as a teenager; John is an Irishman now resident in America, a guitarist and singer who has been touring with Joan Baez and has worked with Susan McKeown, Cathie Ryan, and Michael Black and was a founding member of Solas. Liz is also a very fine composer. Plenty of her originals on here, and powerful singing and playing from John on traditional music too.

Donal Clancy Close to Home
The guitar is a rather recent addition to Irish traditional music, and Donal Clancy is one reason why it is such an integral part of the genre now. For this recording, it’s basically the man and his guitar on a gracefully chosen set of traditional tunes in Clancy’s own arrangements. For more on this album see Voices: Donal Clancy



Altan Local Ground
Local Ground for Altan is Donegal, in the northwest of Ireland. That’s an area where the traditions of Ireland and Scotland have mixed over the years, producing a tradition that’s both vibrant and soulful. This recording shows that through tune and song, and gives hint of why Altan is still delighting listeners after more than twenty years. also see music of Donegal: Altan




Aoife Clancy Silvery Moon
That's pronounced EEfa, in case you were wondering, and she’s cousin to Donal, above. She’s chosen a mix of American and Irish songs songs well suited to her inviting voice and style for this collection. There’s a stunner of a song about peace in Ireland, too, by another cousin, Robbie O’Connell, called There Is Hope -- look out for that one especially


and if Irish dance is especially your thing, be sure to check out this CD: Ellery Klein & Ryan Lacey: Kick into the Beat

coming up along the music road: holiday gift suggestions for the music of Scotland, the music of America, and music connected to the winter holidays....

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Daisycutter: Sara Milonovich

Sara Milonovich
Daisycutter

It’s an interesting journey Sara Milonovich takes listeners on through the course of Daisycutter, beginning with a look at the sometimes harsh realties of Country Life all the way to a finishing set of lively tunes from the Adirondacks, Louisiana, and Italy. Milonovich is a top notch fiddle player. You may have heard her on Pete Seeger’s Grammy winning At 89 album, and on the road backing Richard Shindell and Cathie Ryan, or perhaps in her duo appearances with guitarist Greg Anderson.

She is also a very fine singer -- think power matched with conversational tone, a bit like country singer Suzy Bogguss -- and both fiddle and voice come to the fore on this varied set of tunes and songs. There are timely as well as timeless touches of political commentary in Insanity Street and Under the Weather, and a timeless take on Eliza Gilkyson’s bittersweet love song Last Dance. Northern Cross is a darker ballad, while Pleasant Valley Sunday lets the sun shine in with its bouncy Carole King by way of The Monkees look at suburban life. The tunes are equally well done, drawing for the most part on Milonovich’s time in Celtic music and her background growing up in New York state. There’s a tune for her road weary car, called Fiona’s Breakdown, and a set called No Sweat Helene, which pairs two Quebecois tunes with a original written for guitarist John Doyle, who joins in for that tune and several other cuts as well. Anderson plays all sorts of stringed instruments across many of the cuts, too, and John Kirk, Natalie Haas, Lloyd Maines and Eliza Gilkyson are among those who also sit in now and again. That’s a powerful support group, and Milonovich shows she’s well up to it

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photographing music: hands, continued

There are times when a musician's hands are as expressive as his or her face and voice.























from gigs in Massachusetts, Texas, Louth, Glasgow



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winter meditation: aine minogue

Winter: a meditation

Aine Minogue has considered the light and dark of winter in her music, and she does so as well in the dvd she has created to extend those ideas.

Minogue is a harpist from County Tipperary in Ireland, now based in the Boston area, so it perhaps comes as no surprise that she includes both ancient and modern ideas and visual elements in her work on Winter Mediation.

There are forest scenes at sunset and at sunrise. There is a burning fire which may suggest yule logs or an even older ceremony. Dancers and other figures move in and out of landscapes, half seen as they suggest stories and ideas yet to be told. Children dance; snow falls, stone spirals seem to speak. The light changes, and snow falls again, all led by Minogue’s harp through eleven tracks of music both familiar and new. Visual elements and music together make thought provoking companion as winter begins.

stills and a bit of music from the dvd




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