I had big plans to share some thoughts about my conflicted love for America this year on the anniversary of our birth as a nation. But looking in the archives, I see I've written it before: both last year, when we mused upon the complexity of patriotism in a modern age, and in our first year, at a time when our national discourse was increasingly polarized by the impending presidential election. Our Single Song Sunday from last year remains live, and I encourage you to head back into the archives for 10 [...]
One year after his last Swallow Hill performance, Tony Furtado returned to this great venue in support of his 2011 album, Golden, available now from Funzalo Records or iTunes . As usual, Tony appeared with an all-star lineup, including long-time collaborator Eric Thorin (of many front range bands), Tyler Grant (Drew Emmitt Band), and Jim Christie (who you may have seen with Dwight Yoakam or Lucinda Williams). Tony Furtado and Friends 3.11.2011 Daniels Hall at Swallow Hill, Denver, CO Source: Mix [Microtech Gefell M300's > [...]
Tony Furtado Band 8.08.2003 Trilogy Lounge, Boulder, CO Source: Microtech Gefell M3002s > Lunatec V2 > Sony D8 > DAT Master > Sony D8 > S/PDIF > Edirol R44 > SDHC > Adobe Audition 3.0 > Taped by: Lance Stack Setlist: (Set I) 1. intro 2. Rueben's Train 3. Rising Fog 4. Stagger Lee 5. Waiting For Guiteau 6. Rove Riley Rove [...]
Here's some fun to cap off our Summer 2010 Vacation Coverfolk series: just as we've moved on from California to Oregon, crossing the state line for a final week with friends and family, so did these well-known boundary-pushing artists leave the long, banana-shaped state of their birth to settle north of the border, helping make the "Portland scene" the vibrant hotbed of music it became in the wake of the indie and folk revivals of the post-grunge late nineties. Funk-fusion banjo player and bandleader Tony [...]
Trina Hamlin 3.13.2010 Daniels Hall, Swallow Hill, Denver, CO Source: Mix [Microtech Gefell M300's > Lunatec V3 > digi-coax] + [SBD > 1/4"] > Oade Mod Edirol R-44 @ 24/48 > Adobe Audition 3.0 > Resample to 16/44.1 > CDWave Taped by: Lance Stack Setlist: 1. intro 2. Jacaranda 3. Too Beautiful 4. Come On 5. Centerpiece 6. Down To The Hollow [...]
It's always a pleasure seeing Tony Furtado perform solo, and the undivided attention of the Daniels Hall crowd on this particular night led to a great recording! Tony's duets with Trina Hamlin were highlights of the night, particularly prison work songs Hurtin' in My Right Side and Oh Berta, Berta . Tony Furtado 3.13.2010 Daniel's Hall at Swallow Hill, Denver, CO Source: Mix [Microtech Gefell M300's > Lunatec V3 > digi-coax] + [SBD > 1/4"] > Oade Mod Edirol R-44 @ 24/48 > Adobe Audition [...]
Tony Furtado Band w/ Kelly Joe Phelps: Raleigh and Spencer People keep recommending that I check out the jazz and delta blues fusion sound of Kelly Joe Phelps , and here's just one more reason to pursue it: a wonderfully slow and mystical blues take on American oldtime tradtune Raleigh and Spencer from the Tony Furtado Band's 2001 self-titled album, in which Tony's jambanjo and jazzy summery production mix exquisitely with Kelly Jo Phelps' gorgeous lapstyle slide guitar and vocals. [...]
The Who were just given the Kennedy Center honors a few weeks back (along with, blech, Barbara Streisand), so why not honor their best album with nine solid covers. Quality over quantity today. Incidentally, I'm starting to run out of ideas for classic albums for which I could find covers of any songs, so any suggestions? Post 'em in the comments. Blue Man Group - Baba O'Riley From the moment the opening riff starts here, it all makes sense. This one was made for the boys [...]
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Fortunate Son [ purchase ] Does civic responsibility include the idea of putting one's very body in service to the country? Some cultures believe so; nations from Israel to Iraq, and from Mexico to Mongolia, mandate military service for young people as a basis for citizenship (though each defines eligibility distinctly -- Israel is relatively rare, for example, in conscripting both men and women). In cultures where drafting is historically normative, military service is seen as natural and [...]
By the time we finally caught pregnant, we had both been teaching for a decade, and that meant the baby name books were right out. After we discarded the archaic and the merely odd, the names that were left were invariably overfamiliar -- we knew "that kid", and thus the name came with baggage we just could not accept. So we took a look at ourselves. Liberal folk, to put it politically, with a sense of adventure, and a love of the world for what it was. We wanted [...]
I'm not exactly the patriotic type. I've been to more countries than states; I prefer solitude to mall culture. Heck, we don't even have basic cable. But all power-hungry, commercial/corporate complex, bittersweet modernity aside, I believe in the ideals which frame the constant American dialogue with itself -- including first and foremost the requirement that we keep talking, lest we abdicate our role as government of the people, by the people, and for the people. And I believe that, by definition, as music which speaks of and for [...]
Flat Response
Tony Furtado Band 2.17.2012 Soiled Dove Underground, Denver, CO Source: MBHO KA200N's [NOS] > Active Cables > MBHO MBP 603A > Marantz PMD661 @ 24/48 > SDHC > Adobe Audition 3.0 > CDWave Taped by: Lance Stack Setlist: (Set I) 1. Golden 2. False Hearted Lover's Blues 3. Portlandia 4. band intros 5. Angels We Know 6. California Flood [...]
Cover Lay Down
Star Maker Machine
Cover Me
The Stranger Dance
Azealia Banks - '1991' [Listen]
New Music Tuesday
Check Out: The Vaccines – “No Hope”
