|
Monday, February 27, 2006
More DC music history- '60s!
 There's a song on Second Avenue called "Sleepin' Late." It was written in the 1960s by my mom's best friend, Fangette Willett. They met in 1967 when they shared a hospital room waiting to give birth to sons (Chris, my brother, and Jason, who owns The True Vine in Baltimore). Back in the day Fangette wrote songs for Motown, including "Dark Shadows and Empty Hallways," and "Uphill Climb to the Bottom." Fangette gave me my first singing "lesson" at her grand piano in her house on Ellicott Street when I was about four. I remember her telling me to wave my arms around when I sang! Fred "Cello Guy" Lieder and I visited her in Arizona last year when we were on tour, and she regaled us with stories about Mama Cass and Roberta Flack and recordings of her songs by Billy Eckstine and Lou Rawls and others. There is a really interesting and fun article about Fangette in Spectropop.com that refers to a lot of 1960s DC music history - Bohemian Caverns, Clydes, the Chad Mitchell Trio and more.
posted by Lisa Moscatiello #
2:13 PM | Perma
Link
Thursday, February 23, 2006
This whole MySpace thing
  Okay I'm on MySpace now, even though it makes me feel old. And the "will you be my friend" part scares me. BUT it is a good procrastination tool. I have "met" a few people on it, including an enterprising young man named JAG (pictured). He has set up a podcast called Tunesbaby,(no connection to CDBaby. I hope they are okay with this, Jag!) and is including me and other people of all genres (Christian acoustic jazz?). So far I really like the company I am in. Check it out!
posted by Lisa Moscatiello #
10:14 AM | Perma
Link
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Wammies
 Hey - Just wanted to let the world know about the WAMMIEs - the Space Dots won Best Contemporary Folk Group of the Year (there's no category for "Acid Cabaret"), Contemporary Folk Album of the Year and the "overall" award for Album of the Year for "Trouble from the Start". Now will you believe me and get one?! Oh yeah, and I won for Contemporary Folk Vocalist of the Year I had a great time, except I'm shy about giving speeches. I had to get up three times in all, and the third time was no en casa when they called my name(I went out to grab a couple copies of the CD from my trunk for some folks and in true form got lost trying to find my car). By the time they found me to "accept" from the stage I had been at the party a little too long (see "sheets to the wind, four") but survived with three out of four of the actual awards in hand. If anyone knows where the fourth one is let me know. For complete coverage, including a cute photo of Musician of the Year Dave Chappell, see the article in the Post
posted by Lisa Moscatiello #
11:56 AM | Perma
Link
Saturday, February 11, 2006
SHOOT!! Brandi Carlile is SOLD OUT!!
 Drat! I really wanted to go see Brandi Carlile this Tuesday night at Jammin' Java! She is SOLD OUT. If anybody has a ticket they aren't using, please contact me!!!! Check this woman out - she has a gutsy, grownup voice (if I hear one more "little girl"-sounding chick singer I'm going to have to move to another planet) she really knows how to write a punchy, uplifting pop song with a memorable hook. Her lyrics make sense and scan properly and transcend at times. She can play the guitar! She has pleasing harmony vocals with her cute boy bandmates. And she's so adorable in that boy scout shirt! (what?! - I thought it was a requirement to expose your midriff to sell albums!) What's not to love............YAY Brandi!
posted by Lisa Moscatiello #
10:27 AM | Perma
Link
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Tribute to WGTB
 I just found this wonderful tribute to WGTB, the Georgetown University station that introduced me to so much of the music I love today. Sadly, the station was closed down by the University for its radical politics, and in particular its pro-gay programming. The program "Friends" was one of the first places I ever heard about gay life other than on the bathroom walls at the public library, and it was a lifesaver. Its theme song was Bette Midler singing, "Ya gotta have....friends." It seems corny now, but when I heard that song it was like getting inside a warm sleeping bag of safety and acceptance. This article brings back so many memories of the 1970s in DC and Georgetown in particular- Orpheus Records, Yes! Bookstore with the cafe and meditation hut in the back, the Cellar Door, the Exorcist Steps, and the Watergate just several blocks away. I was just a kid and getting turned on to folk music at the time. I would listen to and record Mary Cliff's show on Saturday nights on WETA and tune in to WGTB on Sundays to listen to Myron Bretholz doing his Summer Solstice program - all British Isles and Irish folk! I couldn't get enough of the Bothy Band, Nic Jones, Robin Williamson, Clannad, and local stars like the Irish Tradition and the Hags. This article brings back the drama and hopefulness of that period. It makes me want to go back there in spirit, or bring it back here.
posted by Lisa Moscatiello #
6:20 PM | Perma
Link
Monday, February 06, 2006
GWAR
 At the end of a marathon five-hour rehearsal with the Ocean Orchestra, Jennifer played us some tracks from her new favorite German medieval-rock band, Adaro(apparently Germans don't have British style "folk"-rock, since Hitler took all the fun out of German folk music). That led to a conversation about fur vests as stagewear, Kenny Rogers, and Zan McLeod's favorite band, GWAR. Thanks, Zan. Now I can get on with the rest of my life.
posted by Lisa Moscatiello #
12:21 PM | Perma
Link
49 West
 Fred and I did our monthly First Saturday at 49 West in Annapolis, MD. We were very happy to have a great crowd (beware - I'm going to start posting audience photos soon!) and also to have back some of our "regulars" - Richard and Karen Otto have been living overseas in Vienna and just came back to their old house in Bowie. Can you blame them? As Fred said, "Once you've lived in Bowie..."
posted by Lisa Moscatiello #
12:06 PM | Perma
Link
Friday, February 03, 2006
Crystal Radio Blue Podcast
Dan Herman has a very cool podcast every Sunday night. He'll be playing something Trouble from the Start this Sunday. There are lots of great bands to discover on his show. Very diverse...just whatever he feels like playing. http://www.radiocrystalblue.com/
posted by Lisa Moscatiello #
2:39 PM | Perma
Link
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Pandora.com
 I want to point out a really fun new web site called Pandora.comThis is a service that allows you to create your own personalized radio stations, based on music you already like. They have developed a system called the Music Genome Project that analyzes music based on specific musical characteristics (rather than a user's previous buying choices). You can enter in the name of an artist or a song, and Pandora.com will line up more songs that are similar to what you chose. You can then pick a song from THAT list, and go create another radio station. It's VERY cool! And it's free. It's all paid for by advertisements. Check it out! http://www.pandora.comPost here and let us know what you find.
posted by Lisa Moscatiello #
2:09 PM | Perma
Link
|
