Category Archives: Singer Songwriter

Country, Singer Songwriter

August 7: Happy 66th Birthday Rodney Crowell

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“… When I was 12 years old, or however old I was when Bringing It All Back Home came out, I’d just skip back and forth endlessly between ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ and ‘It’s Alright, Ma’ and ‘Mr. Tambourine Man,’ and now my Dylan roots are showing big time.”
— Rodney Crowell

Rodney Crowell & Emmylou Harris – Shelter From The Storm (live 2006)

From Wikipedia:

Born August 7, 1950 (age 65)
Houston, Texas United States
Genres Country
Occupations Musician, Songwriter
Instruments Vocals
Guitar
Years active 1978–present
Labels Warner Bros., Columbia, MCA, Sugar Hill, Epic, Yep Roc
Associated acts Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris, The Notorious Cherry Bombs, Los Super Seven
Website Official Site

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Country, folk, Singer Songwriter

July 12: Butch Hancock is 70 Happy Birthday

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July 12: Butch Hancock is 70 Happy Birthday

Life in Lubbock, Texas, taught me two things: One is that God loves you and you’re going to burn in hell. The other is that sex is the most awful, filthy thing on earth and you should save it for someone you love.
— Butch Hancock

From Wikipedia:

Butch Hancock is a country/folk music recording artist and song writer. He was born July 12, 1945 in Lubbock, Texas. Hancock is a member of The Flatlanders along with Joe Ely and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, but he has principally performed a solo career.

w/ Jimmie Dale Gilmore & Joe Ely (The Flatlanders)

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Country, folk, Nanci Griffith, Singer Songwriter

July 6: Nanci Griffith was born in 1953

Nanci Griffith 1

July 6: Nanci Griffith was born in 1953

I got to know Nanci Griffith through the seminal music paper Beat (norwegian music magazine), this music magazine has been extremely important in my musical upbringing. They made it ok to say that you loved country music. This was a big step for us rock/punk youth. Anyway, they praised Nanci Griffith very early and we listened and we agreed, this was very special indeed.

Her voice, her way of singing, especially other people’s’ songs, it was and is beautiful. My first entry into her world was John Prine’s The Speed of The Sound of Loneliness, it is still the best song in her catalogue. Hell, it would be the best song in almost anybody’s catalogue!

Speed of the sound of Loneliness (with John Prine who wrote this masterpiece):

Nanci Griffith, (born Nanci Caroline Griffith, July 6, 1953, Seguin, Texas) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter based in Austin, Texas.

Allmusic:  Straddling the fine line between folk and country music, Nanci Griffith has become as well-known for her brilliant, confessional songwriting as her beautiful voice. A self-styled “folkabilly” singer, Griffith began as a kindergarten teacher and occasional folksinger. The country scene took her to heart in the mid-’80s, giving her a reputation as a quality songwriter through hit covers of Griffith’s songs by Kathy Mattea and Suzy Bogguss. Finding no luck with commercial country radio however, Griffith recorded several pop-oriented albums and then returned to her folk roots by the mid-’90s.

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Bill Withers, Singer Songwriter, Soul

July 4: Bill Withers was born in 1938

bill withers live

July 4: Bill Withers was born in 1938

I feel that it is healthier to look out at the world through a window than through a mirror. Otherwise, all you see is yourself and whatever is behind you.
~Bill Withers

Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone, It’s not warm when she’s away, Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone, And she’s always gone too long, Anytime she goes away.
~Bill Withers (Ain’t No Sunshine)

Ain’t No Sunshine (Live 1971):

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Jackie Leven, Music Calendar, Singer Songwriter

June 18: The Late great Jackie Leven would have been 65 today

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Jackie Leven, 2005, photo: Gareth Owen
Jackie Leven, 2005, photo: Gareth Owen

June 18: The Late great Jackie Leven would have been 65

Jackie Leven was brilliant and truly under-appreciated. I never tire of his music.His lyrics stand as poetry of the highest order.His life ended much too soon. I was lucky to see him in concert just a year before he died. He was a master story-teller both in his songs and between his songs.

After the show he asked me what my name was, I told him that it was Hallgeir. He said: “What?” and then tried to say it and laughed. “What does it mean?”  I said that it is an old viking name that it literally means stone spear. He signed his cd for me with the words: “To my big viking friend, Hallgeir!”  He was a sweet, funny and very talented man.

I found some fine moments on YouTube to celebrate a fine songwriter.

Jackie Leven – Empty in Soho Square and a fine interview (2004):

Jackie Leven – Ancient Misty Morning medley – Tramway Glasgow 1995:

Jackie Leven (18 June 1950 – 14 November 2011) was a Scottish songwriter and folk musician. After starting his career as a folk musician in the late 1960s, he first found success with new wave band Doll by Doll. He later recorded as a solo artist, releasing more than twenty albums under his own name or under the pseudonym Sir Vincent Lone. He sometimes complained that his record company wouldn’t let him release as many albums as he wanted. And he wanted to release a lot!

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