March: Rabbits
"March: Its motto, 'Courage and strength in times of danger." - William Morris
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Notes:
The spring rabbits are out, ridiculous in the fields. Year after year, they show up seemingly amazed to be alive.
These March Reviews feature songwriters who are doing great work. It's no accident that these are musicians who tour regularly and experience their audience's reactions. Take a minute and listen. It's worth your time.
I also review the new novel Flying Dark by the Renaissance man Colin Sargent.
A huge Thank You to all who purchased "FRONTIER MOTOR COURT Like a Big Time Criminal: A Crime Comedy Short Story" – a side project using the pen name A. A. Aritz. Those reviews helped immensely. If you laughed out loud reading the story, or hearing it on audiobook, let me know. This project is about the laugh.
MUSIC: New Album Release "Tiger's Blood" by Waxahatchee
This songwriter, Katie Crutchfield, wields complex melodies and emotional lyrics. I can hear the roots of ancient folk in her work.
Crutchfield started Waxahatchee as an acoustic solo side project but now records with a full band.
So far she has released five solo albums. American Weekend (2012), Cerulean Salt (2013), Ivy Tripp (2015), Out in the Storm (2017) and Saint Cloud (2020). The sixth, Tigers Blood, is just out. She is also a member of alt-country duo Plains alongside Jess Williamson. She writes songs for that band also.
It's her songwriting that I admire, and in this new release, she continues to make her mark.
MUSIC: On Tour in the USA: Billy Strings
Can't You Hear Me Calling is an old one, but it highlights Billy String's roots which leads to the songwriting in Away from The Mire. I apologize for the visuals, but the song comes through perfectly.
Strings is touring this summer in support of his new album. I can hear the San Francisco Sound in his solo in Away From The Mire.
MUSIC: On Tour in the USA: The Heavy Heavy
This band from London is about to break in the USA. Bandcamp says, "The Heavy Heavy creates the kind of unfettered rock-and-roll that warps time and place, immediately pulling the audience into a euphoric fugue state with its own sun-soaked atmosphere."
If you love live rock music, this is a direct hit. No tricks, just heart.
MUSIC: New Album Release "The Returner" by Allison Russell
Stunning. A songwriting storyteller of the highest order. Allison Russell won her first Grammy Award for best American roots performance for her song Eve Was Black. This Tiny Desk Concert shows what she can do live. She projects joy and hope.
MUSIC: Tom Munoz
Tom Munoz keeps writing and recording and getting better every song.
OTHER 2023 ALBUMS NOT TO BE MISSED:
Bob Dylan - Shadow Kingdom
Paul Simon - Seven Psalms
Neil Young - Chrome Dreams
PJ Harvey - I Inside the Old Year Dying
Sufjan Stevens - Javelin
So yeah, 2023 was a good year for new music.
BOOK: Flying Dark by Colin W. Sargent
Colin Sargent calls this book a horror romance and likens it to Nathaniel Hawthorne's romances with their touch of the supernatural.
I believe this book is one of a kind–a literary journey into the aviator and inventor Charles Lindbergh's sorrows, myths, crimes, and truths, and therefore into America's past and the worship we offer our celebrities.
This is an intelligent book with details that surprise and entertain on every page.
I interviewed Sargent four months ago and you can read that interview here: https://www.dandomench.com/colin-sargent-interview/
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