3 Talented Songwriters in 24 hours

In a period of just a little more than 24 hours the WUMB Studios, and airways, will be
visited by three talented songwriters, all of whom defy categorization, and all of whom
have new albums that have just been, or are about to be, released.

Anais Mitchell, the daughter of a former professor and novelist, was raised on a farm in
Vermont. Her writing has always been adventurous but never more so than on "Hadestown"
which has been described as a "folk opera" that sets the story of Orpheus in
Post-Apocalyptic Depression-era America. Developed as a stage presentation in Vermont,
Hadestown has played to rave reviews across the country and a "cast" recording features
artists like Ani Di Franco, Justin Vernon and Greg Brown. According to Anais, her new
album, "Young Man in American" was "inspired by American Manhood, British Ballads and my
father." Anais will be chatting with me at 2 PM on Thursday.

Anne Heaton is equally hard to pin down. A pianist with classical influences that mix
easily with Jazz, Folk and classic pop songs of the "Great American Songbook," Her
lyrics carry the flavors of every thing from Elizabethan Poetry to Free Verse. In
addition to her own creations, she accepts commission for what she calls "Custom Made
Songs" and, inspired by a peace conference in Costa Rica, she has set about telling the
stories of others under the banner of "Life is Alchemy." And that's not even mentioning
the time she spent playing in a Latin Band or singing in a gospel choir in Harlem. Her
new album "Honeycomb" should be available shortly and she's joining me "Live at Noon"
this Friday.

When Barbara Kessler first graced our studios nearly 20 years ago, she had just given up
driving an ice cream truck on Cape Cod to spend more time on her music. She was one of
the centerpieces of the burgeoning songwriter scene that coalesced at the time around the
late lamented Kendell Square Cafe in Cambridge. From 1992 to the year 2000 she recorded
4 full length album and had her performances anthologized on at least a dozen
collections. Her songs have also been featured on TV shows like NCIS, Felicity and even
All My Children! And if that were not enough one of her songs appeared on the sound track
of a PlayStation game. A decade ago, she stopped touring to devote more time to her young
family. Lucky for us, not only is she performing again but she has a new album called
"What You Keep." She'll be visiting with Jay Moberg at 4 this Friday Afternoon.

-Dave Palmater

“If I had a dollar”….

Do you ever hear someone saying that expression “if I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say…..”, and then fill in the blank?   Here’s what I hear all the time:  “There is no more good new music out there”.  Well, as I have stated in previous blog posts (as well as something you will hear me say often in the future)…hooey!  If I had a dollar for every time that I have heard someone say that all new music is just terrible, well…I wouldn’t say I’d be rich, but I’d have some extra spending money for sure.  Here is the rule:  There is a ton of great new music out there, sometimes you just have to look for it.  The good news is that I am here to help guide you to some of the best that has crossed our paths here at WUMB. 

The Chieftains Voice of Ages.  The Chieftains are celebrating quite a milestone of 50 years together, and with their new release they gather some extraordinary talent.  Artists like The Decemberists, The Civil Wars, Bon Iver and many more help Paddy Moloney and T Bone Burnett put together this incredible new album.  It’ll be out on February 21^st.

Anais Mitchell Young Man In America.  Anais has one of the most unique and gifted voices out there, and she also has a talent for not being formulaic.  Her last album Hadestown was a folk opera and the definition of adventurous.  Her new one is coming out on February 28^th and isn’t necessarily as complex a theme as her previous, but it definitely jumps around a lot (and I mean that in a very good way).

Rose Cousins We Have Made a Spark.  Rose was born and raised in Prince Edward Island and is currently based in Halifax, Nova Scotia but she might just as well be a local artist.  Her new album features Billy Beard, Dinty Child, Charlie Rose, Sean Staples, Rose Polenzani, Jennifer Kimball, Laura Cortese, Duke Levine, Mark Erelli and Zack Hickman who also produced.  There’s actually more familiar names on this album, we’re just running out of space here.  It’s out on February 28^th.

And finally…

Jay Faraar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker & Yim Yames New Multitudes.  There are lots of new Woody Guthrie projects that have already been released, and there are even more on the way.  It’s another example of Nora Guthrie hand picking artists to introduce unreleased Guthrie lyrics to new ears.  What separates this project from the rest is that these guys actually don’t revolutionize the music.  They basically let the lyrics do the talking with impressive restraint.  This one is out February 28^th.

So there you have it.  Just a few examples of great new music out there.  And now, the next time someone says “there’s no good new music out there”, you can steer them to these releases and share the gift of knowing that statement will never be true!

- Jay Moberg