Unless you're living totally off the grid, it's hard to ignore the signs. Church Christmas bazaars and crafts fairs pepper the New England landscape, their wreaths and wraps and wooden ornaments a constant temptation. Television relationships get warmer by the fire; the commercials all begin to come in red velvet and white fur trim. Even the older family down the street has gotten into the act, draping the gutters with fauxcicles, topping the old stump with a glittering wire angel, trimming the lawn with white plastic snowmen and skeletal reindeer that blink furiously into [...]
Kiddie folk queen Mitchell gives away a new MP3 on her website. Attention connoisseurs of hip kids' music: Elizabeth Mitchell of Ida fame has released a new song for free downloading called "Rollin' By". All you have to do is fork over your e-mail address and it's yours. It's actually written by her sister-in-law Anna Padgett, aka The Good Ms. Padgett. According to Mitchell's website, her follow up to Sunny Day is "coming soon".
The elderchild and her smaller sister are growing up fast, as kids are wont to do. They don't need kidfolk so much anymore - are starting to make their own choices about music and listenability, and tend to prefer playfulness and performability to nuance or lyrical narrative, a trend which I suppose will linger until they hit their teens and begin to look for ways to identify themselves as "other". They play unattended, and wander the folk festival grounds on their own; they do musicals, as their parents do, and sing the songs around the house for [...]
Regular readers know that I suffer from chronic ear problems brought on by congenitally small eustachian tubes, coupled with a permanent, high-pitched half-hissing, half-ringing noise which worsens significantly when my ears are blocked. Listening to music in this state, I once wrote, is like trying to hear the good stuff underwater, and surrounded by keening whales . What I may not have mentioned before is that several years ago I made the decision to manage these two related medical issues by having tubes installed in both of my ears - a [...]
As we've alluded to in our recurring Covered in Kidfolk series, there's a growing universe of family-friendly music out there that doesn't suck, and a large portion of it seems to be centered around the American Northeast region which we call home. Not all of it is folk, of course - increasingly, alternative music, world music, and even rap have found a niche in the hands and ears of cool moms and dads, who continue to insist on healthy yet artistically mature songs which they can enjoy alongside their offspring. [...]
Though the basic tenets of the movement include finding truth in a diversity of sources, thanks to the large number of post-Christian seekers in their membership, Unitarian Universalist congregations can be a bit oversensitive about "the Jesus thing". This makes seasonal celebration a bit tense. For example, in our own UU Society, though no one balked at last weekend's celebration of Hanukkah, and though we expect solid support for similar services on both Kwanza and Solstice in the coming weeks, past practice suggests we'd do well to avoid mention of the trinity, angels, miracles and the [...]
We're long overdue for a comprehensive look at the Guthrie legacy here on these pages. And with Arlo's infamous long-form Thanksgiving narrative Alice's Restaurant Massacree riding the airwaves this weekend in anticipation of next week's inevitable all-Christmas-all-day switch-over, it seems there's no time like the present. Thinking more deeply, though, Woody's songbook also bears out well as a soundtrack for giving thanks. So many of his narratives point to the dustbowl world, with its depression-era desperation for that which we take for granted today, from freedoms to support structures, [...]
"Sunny Day" is a refreshing, folksy change from the rockin' kidtunes we love so much. Elizabeth Mitchell - Arts - United States - Sunny Day - Music
So I found myself talking with Tom last night, as a pair of disembodied hands played a series of LOST piano themes on YouTube. The topic of conversation was the impending Emmy Nominations (which were announced this morning), and whether or not one of the greatest dramatic series in the history of television would receive love from those who consider and pare down the list of nominees. I began by asking if Matthew Fox was going to finally receive a nomination, and Tom agreed that although he was more than deserving, he didn't foresee anyone other than Terry [...]
Ah, Flower Communion Sunday. Traditionally the last Sunday service before a Universalist Unitarian parish moves to a lay-led summer, the Flower Communion celebrates both the contributory nature of the UU community and the natural world by bringing the blooming world into the church at its last, and then letting it go back out again as we ourselves turn to the world of social justice and peace-making. The beauty and diversity of life - of our own, and the bounty of the land - is present in the rich cornucopia of the green-stemmed bounty. [...]
I don't sing my children to sleep as much as I used to. Now that they're older, and need more time to wind down after long days at school and play, bedtime has by necessity shifted to something more solo, wherein we read a story or two, kiss their brows, and then leave them to their own devices, letting them read or listen to audiobooks before they drowse into dreamland at their own pace. It's good to give our children the space to find their own rituals as they grow; important, as a [...]
Hello, and welcome to another week! I tried to do nothing as much as possible last weekend -- I caught up on a bunch of TV, saw a play, wandered the streets, ate noodles, bought a lamp. That pretty much sums it up. It was beautiful.
Not sure what happened, but this evening after supper and a nap I woke up shivery and dizzy and speech-blurred, face burning, my arms and head heavy as if not my own. Oddly, I know this particular feverish feeling - more than anything, from memories of the dreadest of still-drunk hangovers - but as I haven't had a drink in weeks, I'm forced to consider that either I've suddenly developed food poisoning from this evening's fish & chips, or my body has decided to rebel against my schedule. Maybe I've been pushing myself too hard. [...]
As a teacher, I'm used to waking in the dark, like a sneak thief rising in the night, stealing time from sleep while the spouse and children slumber. Past open doors and tiny sighs I go silently, to navigate the narrow stairs, start the coffee in the stove's tiny flourescent overhead, check morning email at the kitchen counter with nothing but the laptop glow to illuminate the keys. These days, by the time I come up again, fully dressed, to kiss them each in turn on my way out the door, their [...]
Part five in an ongoing series . With two little girls in the family, and a deliberate tendency towards inclusion over babysitters, Valentine's Day seems to have become a family affair by default. This year, for example, what was originally intended as a suggestion for a romantic afternoon has somehow turned into plans for a nice brunch out with the four of us, followed by a family hottub soak - though I'm not saying what might follow once the kids are abed. It's nice to think of Valentine's as [...]
It's always tempting to treat the first post of a new year as more significant than it really needs to be. The turning of the calendar, the fireworks at the moment of truth: all that ritual creates a mandate, a weight of liminality that demands deliberation. I've got some strong candidates for upcoming features - there's a wealth of new coverfolk coming down the pike, and a new sense of appreciation rising for some singer-songwriters we've yet to cover here in our virtual pages. But I'd be a fool to [...]
It's 1:40 PM on New Year's Eve, but this post will appear on New Year's morning. I am swamped with reviews, sitting in the living room where my ten year old twin brothers tug at each other's hair and scream "choo choo" while playing with newly-bought toy train sets. But in the interests of this post and to keep it timely, I must transport myself mentally to a better time and a better place. Tonight I'll be dining at the East Village's Mermaid Inn (the New Year's menu looks delectable), finally catching Almodovar's Broken Embraces at Sunshine [...]
Elizabeth Mitchell: You Are My Sunshine [ purchase ] Gray Sky Girls: You Are My Sunshine [ purchase ] Norman Blake: You Are My Sunshine [ purchase ] You Are My Sunshine was a popular song written in a time when the audience fragmentation of modern culture had not yet taken place; songs back then were for everyone, and [...]
Not really much to go on here, but Elizabeth Mitchell was great on Lost. This premieres next Tuesday, so you won't have to wait long to watch the entire episode. To be honest, not much has grabbed me this television season, so I'm hoping V becomes that show.
As the mother of two small children, I've been exposed over the past five years to a lot of things, one of which is a whole world of music I hadn't visited since I would listen to Up with People on vinyl at a friend's house lo those many years ago. Well, the children's music industry has come a long way, baby. I'll admit up front that I'm predisposed to like children's music to some extent,
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