Country, folk, Free Music

Free Christmas music 2: Andrew Ripp – Light of mine

Andrew Ripp is a singer-songwriter from Palatine, Illinois.

Ripp released his debut album, Fifty Miles to Chicago, in January 2008. Musicians Pete Maloney (Dishwalla, Tonic), keyboard player Will Hollis (Eagles), and steel guitar player Eric Heywood (Ray LaMontagne) were brought in to accompany Ripp’s vocals and guitar.

Ripp co-wrote and co-produced Fifty Miles to Chicago with songwriter, Randy Coleman and brought on Dan Lavery, former bass player of the rock band Tonic, as producer. Funded by Andrew himself, the majority of the album was recorded in Lavery’s back-house studio in Los Angeles

Here’s a cute photo from his official website:

In early 2008, Andrew was invited to attend the annual “Fool’s Banquet” songwriters gathering in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This event was hosted by the Hanson brothers. Also in attendance that year were Pat McGee, Keaton Simons, Jesse Laz-Hirsch, Kai Kennedy, Stephen Kellogg, Chris Sligh, and Jason Mraz.

Operating independently of a label, Ripp tours regularly and has shared the stage with Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Fiction Family (Jon Foreman of Switchfoot and Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek) and Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers, among others. In the spring of 2009, Ripp and his band toured Europe and the Middle East to play for the U.S. troops stationed abroad in a tour sponsored by Armed Forces Entertainment.

Andrew’s highly acclaimed second album, She Remains the Same was released in September 2010. The album was produced by Dave Barnes, with whom Andrew toured in the fall of 2010.

On November 22, 2011, Ripp released the Christmas EP Light of Mine.

Andrew Ripp – Light of Mine (EP)

Great voice!

– Hallgeir

(source: Wikipedia and Andrew Ripp’s official web site)

Van Morrison, video of the day

Video of the day: Van Morrison – Born To Sing – Live in East Belfast, Sep 2012

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Van Morrisons latest album is magnificent.

Here is a live video of  the title cut “Born To Sing”:

Lyrics:

They can be keen
To be everything
But it comes with the state
When you were born to sing

Reasons as I walked in
It’s not done on a whim
Passions everything when
You were born to sing

Feeling good singin the blues
It aint easy – keep on payin them dues
When it gets to the part
Well let’s not stop and start
Deep down in your heart you know
You were born to sing

Instrumental Bit

When you came in
No original sin
You were a king because
You were born to sing

Reasons as I walked in
[. From: http://www.elyrics.net .]
It’s not done on a whim
Passions everything when
You were born to sing

Yeah – feeling good singin the blues
Keep on keepin on – keep on
Payin them dues
When it comes to the part
Well let’s not stop and start
Deep down in your heart – baby
You were born to sing

When it gets to the part
When the band start to swing
Then you know everything
Cause you were born to sing

When it gets to the part
When the band start to swing
Then you know everything
Cause you were born to sing Instrumental to end

-Egil

Featured Articles, Van Morrison

Van Morrison: Exile, Place & Eternal Movement – Part.1

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OLD post … You’re being redirected to a newer version……

This post is inspired by a chapter in Peter Mills great book Hymns to the Silence: Inside the Words and Music of Van Morrison.

Some of the musicians I was working with very early on were very good, but they didn’t want to leave home, so they didn’t go any further…. but I did [want to leave home] or I felt like I had to
~Van Morrison

Exile

Wikipedia: Exile means to be away from one’s home (i.e. city, state or country), while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return. It can be a form of punishment and solitude.

Exile i a key theme in Morrison’s work & he also named his recording company ‘Exile’.

His foremost song about exile has to be “Too Long in Exile” – the title cut from his 1993 double album.

Robert Christgau – review of the album:
You know, exile — like Joyce and Shaw and Wilde and, oh yeah, Alex Haley. All on account of those “Bigtime Operators” who bugged his phone back when he was green. Now getting on to grizzled, he seeks guidance from the kas of Doc Pomus and King Pleasure and “The Lonesome Road,” an unutterably sad spiritual recast as an upbeat vibraphone feature. And especially, on three cuts, his old soulmate John Lee Hooker, who doesn’t come close to sounding overexposed on Them’s “Gloria” and Sonny Boy’s “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” and something new by Van called “Wasted Years,” about how the dumb stuff is behind them now. I don’t know about Hook, but Van’s just jiving–when he wanders “In the Forest,” it’s never a safe bet that he’ll get out. A-

 last part of the lyrics:

Too long in exile
You can never go back home again
Too long in exile
You’re about to drive me just insane

Too long in exile, been too long in exile
Just like James Joyce, baby
Too long in exile
Just like Samuel Beckett baby
Too long in exile
Just like Oscar Wilde
Too long in exile
Just like George Best, baby
Too long in exile
Just like Alex Higgins, baby

Continue reading Van Morrison: Exile, Place & Eternal Movement – Part.1 →

Indie, pop

Free Christmas Music 1: Rosie Thomas A VERY ROSIE CHRISTMAS SAMPLER

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Rosie Thomas pulls out all the stops for this teaser to her spectacular holiday collection “A Very Rosie Christmas”. Included is the bonus track “Friendship Sleigh Ride”, which appears in the promotional videos for Sufjan Stevens’ holiday tour.

Listen here (or give your e-mail  for a free download):

From the nice people over at Noisetrade:

“One night in suburban Detroit, a twelve-year-old Rosie Thomas lay sleepless in her bed, obsessively dwelling on what she perceived to be her lack of life purpose. Then, well after 2 AM, it suddenly hit her. She sprung out of bed and raced down the hall. “Daddy, Daddy, I know what my mission in life is,” Rosie exclaimed, poking her father. “I just want to entertain people.”

After 3 albums on Sub Pop, These Friends of Mine was release through her own lable, Sing-A-Long Records. The album includes appearances by friends Sufjan Stevens, Damien Jurado, David Bazan (Pedro the Lion), and Denison Witmer.

Rosie Thomas pulls out all the stops for this teaser to her spectacular holiday collection “A Very Rosie Christmas”. Included is the bonus track “Friendship Sleigh Ride”, which appears in the promotional videos for Sufjan Stevens’ holiday tour.”

Enjoy!

– Hallgeir

Country, Music Calendar

Today: Carter Stanley passed away in 1966 – 46 years ago

In The Pines:

From Wikipedia:

Birth name Carter Glen Stanley
Born August 27, 1925
Big Spraddle Creek, Virginia,U.S.A.
Died December 1, 1966 (aged 41)
Bristol, Tennessee, U.S.A.
Genres Bluegrass, Old-time
Occupations Guitarist, singer, songwriter
Instruments Guitar
Years active 1946–1966
Labels Rich-R-Tone, Columbia, Mercury,Starday, King
Associated acts The Stanley Brothers, Ralph Stanley, Bill Monroe

Carter Glen Stanley (August 27, 1925 – December 1, 1966) was a bluegrass music lead singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitar player. He formed the Stanley Brothers band together with his brother Ralph. The Stanley Brothers are generally acknowledged as the first band after Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys to play in the bluegrass genre. According to some historians, their recording of “Molly and Tenbrooks” (aka “The Racehorse Song”) marked the beginning of bluegrass as a genre.

Weeping Willow:

Album of the day:

Complete Columbia Recordings (1996)

 

Other December 01:

Continue reading Today: Carter Stanley passed away in 1966 – 46 years ago →

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