MAY

JUNE

th 6  Johnson City, TN  @ The Down Home    ALL AGES w/ adult      http://www.downhome.com
sa 8  Knoxville, TN    @ The Pilot Light        18+     http://www.thepilotlight.com
su 9  Chattanooga, TN  @ Barking Legs Theater      ALL AGES     http://www.barkinglegs.org
w 12  New Orleans     @ The Allways Lounge and Theater    http://www.theallwayslounge.net
fr 14  Austin, TX    **tbd
sa 15 Denton, TX   @ Dan’s Silverleaf       ALL AGES     http://www.danssilverleaf.com
su 16 Albuquerque, NM    @ Low Spirits         21+      http://www.lowspiritslive.com
tu 18 Tucson, AZ      @ Solar Culture       ALL AGES      http://www.solarculture.org
th 20  Los Angeles    **tbd
sa 22  Berkeley, CA     @ The Starry Plough     21+    http://www.starryploughpub.com

MAY
fri 24 Oslo, Norway @Rockefeller http://www.rockefeller.no
sa 25 Stavanger, Norway @ ‘Full Moon’ house show
su 26 Bergen, Norway @NattJazz http://www.nattjazz.no
w 29 Stockholm, Sweden @Kagelbanen at Sodra Teatem http://www.sodrateatern.com
th 30 Gothenberg, Sweden @Pustervik http://www.pustervik.nu
fr 31 Malmo, Sweden @Kulturbolaget http://www.kulturbolaget.se
JUNE
sa 1 Copenhagen, Denmark @Den Gra Hal, Christiania www.songkick.com/venues/54162-den-gra-hal
su 2 Aarhus, Denmark @ Voxhall http://www.songkick.com/venues/32937-voxhall
JULY
w 17 Palmer, Alaska @ Vagabond Blues http://www.vagblues.com
th 18 Fairbanks, Alaska @Taproot http://www.taprootalaska.com
sa 20 Dawson City, Yukon @Dawson City Music Festival http://www.dcmf.com
su 21 Dawson City, Yukon @ Dawson City Music Festival http://www.dcmf.com
th 25 Detroit, MI @Trinosophes http://www.facebook.com/Trinosophes
fr 26 Guelph, Ontario @Hillside Festival http://www.hillsidefestival.ca
su 28 Newport, Rhode Island @Newport Folk Festival http://www.newportfolkfest.net
m 29 NYC @ Town Hall http://www.the-townhall-nyc.org
tu 30 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer http://www.utphilly.com
w 31 Washington DC @ Sixth & I Historic Synagogue http://www.sixthandi.org
AUGUST
fr 2 Columbus, OH @ Wexner Center for the Arts http://www.wexarts.org
sa 3 Newport, KY @ Southgate House Revival http://www.southgatehouse.com
su 4 Louisville, KY tbd

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THE EVERLY BROTHERS were among the most influential musicians of the rock ‘n’ roll era. Their influence continues today, particularly in Americana, alt-country and indie folk music circles. That includes musicians Will Oldham, who performs as Bonnie “Prince” Billy, and Dawn McCarthy, who performs as Faun Fables. Both also have elements of punk, psychedelic and avant-garde in their music, and most of those show up in their album of Everly Brothers songs, What The Brothers Sang.

Both Oldham and McCarthy have voices and manners of singing – organic and unadorned – that are perfectly suited to the Everlys’ music, with its roots in Appalachian harmony, gospel and Scots-Irish song. Their DIY aesthetic particularly shines through on some of the sadder songs that dwell on themes of loneliness and heartache such as the opener “Breakdown” and “It’s All Over,” as well as the three best-known covers on the album, “Devoted to You,” “So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)” and “What Am I Living For.” The first, of course, is one of the Everlys’ most famous singles, and McCarthy and Bonnie hew pretty closely to Don and Phil’s example on this lovely and simple rendition; they even seem to follow the brothers’ trick of each singing partly the song’s high and low harmony parts, rather than one singing just high or low for the whole song. “So Sad” has been covered by many country artists; this arrangement is quite slow and languid in the manner of a Gillian Welch song. “What Am I Living For” is not as well remembered today as the other two, but this sad waltz was the title track of a 1966 Everlys album and was also recorded by Ray Charles and Conway Twitty among others. Listen for the superb guitar solo in the middle of this one.

The Everlys didn’t just sing close-harmony country-influenced rock ‘n’ roll, though, and in the late ’60s and early ’70s they dabbled in some psychedelic-style music, with mixed results. Many of these assays were either B-sides or were not even released until the ’80s or later on career-spanning box sets. Here they’re often arranged in the manner of psych-folk songs of the era, with flute and other unusual touches. These include “Empty Boxes,” a Beau Brummels song that the Everlys recorded in the ’60s but didn’t put on an album until 1977; the flute, fingerpicked guitar and especially the fluid triplets in the refrain of “Oh, Diana / sweet Diana” are dead giveaways to the song’s Summer Of Love provenance. Same with the psychedelic folk of “My Little Yellow Bird,” with its bongo-style drums and metaphoric lyric; this one was the B-side to their cover single of James Taylor’s “Carolina In My Mind.” Another rarity is the psych-pop mini-suite “Just What I Was Looking For,” a Carole King-Jerry Goffin obscurity. And, well, if you’re going to do a John Denver cover, it might as well be from the same era, the pre-”Rocky Mountain High” psychedelic folk period of “Poems Prayers & Promises” with its reference to campfire dope-smoking. Definitely a peace-love-and-flowers period piece.

It’s not all woozy folk or languid country: witness the loping almost-Cajun cover of “Milk Train,” complete with squeezebox; and the Spencer Davis Group’s “Somebody Help Me.” I can imagine this one as a Monkees single, very catchy.

The album’s credits include a long list of top-notch musicians, but thanks to the arrangements and production it never sounds dense or cluttered. The vocals are prominent, as they should be on an album dedicated to the brothers known for their singing and harmony. It’s great to see the songs of the Everly Brothers being updated and passed on to yet another generation of music fans. Dawn McCarthy and Bonnie “Prince” Billy are perfect carriers of this flame, too, with their slightly off-kilter sensibilities and the lovely harmonies made by the combination of her clear alto and his warm-buttermilk baritone. There are some hints that the two may make some live appearances later this year, so keep your ears open on that score.

Gary Whitehouse at http://sleepinghedgehog.com

THE EVERLY BROTHERS were a staple in my house musically when I was growing up back in the early ‘60s; they were one of the biggest duos around and were known for their soaring harmonies and fusion of the current country sound with rock and roll. They toured and recorded from the late ‘50s through the early ‘80s and amassed a staggering collection of songs in their catalog. It must have been a huge undertaking to sift through them and choose the ones that Dawn McCarthy and Bonnie “Prince” Billy re-interpret here on their new release What The Brothers Sang. The important point to remember here is that, while Dawn and Billy are fans of the brothers, they didn’t want to attempt to duplicate the songs in their original format; rather they preferred to take a fresh look at the songs and melodies to bring them into the present to a new group of fans.

Overall the album is chock full of gems chosen from their entire career such as the fabulous version Dawn and Billy put together of the song “Kentucky,” a Karl Davis song (covered byPhil and Don in 1958) and a true gem in every the sense of the word. The harmonies performed by Dawn and Billy are the focal point of the meandering song. Another great song on the album is “Breakdown” written by Kris Kristofferson in 1971. The vocals here are ethereal in nature and the song flows beautifully giving it a completely different feel over the original.

“Empty Boxes” and “What Am I Living For” are two songs that, again, are drifting folk tunes that were meant to be done by these two. The combination of the lyrics and the talented musicians accompanying them on both songs is incredible. The upbeat version of “Milk Train” sounds completely fresh and new in this version, as does the old standard “Somebody Help Me.” McCarthy does a great interpretation here and shows her vocal range, as does Billy in making this one rock from start to finish as it was originally intended to.

Much of the material on the album, such as “My Little Yellow Bird,” “Devoted To You,” “Its All Over,” “Just What I Was Looking For,” and “Omaha” work well in the overall scheme of the album, which is to bring some great forgotten songs from the early American Songbook back into the present with a laid back flow to them presented by a talented group of studio musicians and two of the best vocalists currently recording in this genre today.
8.1 / 10 — Scott Wilkinson, http://www.scenepointblank.com

FOLLOWING their bleakly festive Christmas Eve Can Kill You single, Will Oldham and Dawn McCarthy return for an album-length exploration of The Everly Brothers’ songbook. Typically, for any project involving Oldham, the venture is a little more interesting than at first glance. Rather than a straight run-through of the hits, What The Brothers Sang demonstrates a deep knowledge and love for the Everlys’ oeuvre, with relative obscurities given the billing they deserve.
In terms of Oldham’s catalogue, it’s most reminiscent of the full, countrified sound of Ease Down The Road, with hints of the more patchouli-scented numbers from Lie Down In The Light, as opposed to the sparse fruits of his previous collaboration with McCarthy, The Letting Go. Hearing the pair tackle the mournful likes of Empty Boxes and Somebody Help Me is an absolute treat. It’s not all country-soul bliss, however: the pair have a blast on infectious, rollicking versions of Milk Train and Somebody Help Me.
The highlight is a remarkable version of Omaha, a song recorded in 1968 and unreleased until 1977, long past the Everlys’ hit-making days. This new version is a stirring testament to the brothers’ abilities, as well as a classic in its own right.
Five Stars
Domino | WIG 300

PROLIFIC purveyor of dark, off-kilter folk and blues, Will Oldham, aka Bonnie “Prince” Billy lends his extraordinary talents to a quietly radical re-working of the Everly Brothers’ songbook, with spectacular results. In McCarthy he has found a duettist whose unique vocal colourings match his, and the result is tunes that contain more than an echo of the originals but give pieces like Empty Boxes and My Little Yellow Bird an eerie resonance. One or two of the slow, sombre tracks could have come from Bonnie’s own pen but for the most part these are his sweetest, most commercial performances since his Greatest Palace Music album.

Martin Townsend
Verdict: 5/5

NO MATTER if the songs aren’t automatically familiar to you – Dawn and Will’s versions are gorgeous, distinctive and inspiring in their own right.  Performed alongside many of their frequent and regular collaborators on their own projects, they echo not only Don and Phi, but other great duet singers, particularly in the country idiom, such as Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons.  It’s a perfect way to revisit some classic tunes for modern times.     http://www.kcrw.com

DAWN McCARTHY’S VOICE, clear and joyous as a spring morning, intertwines with Will Oldham’s woody tone creating something extraordinary; old school country in the very best  sense. Backed by an enviable  cast of master musicians, it drips with quality. No mere covers, these interpretations of the Everly Brothers make each song sound as fresh as the day it was written. It’s no exaggeration to suggest their harmonies conjure the sweet sounds of Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter. ‘Milk Train’ with its unstoppable freight and the heartbreaking ‘It’s All Over’ are highlights, essential for any fan of Americana. As pure and rich as milk and honey. 8 out of 10.    http://www.clashmusic.com

WITHIN the first minute of this masterful and often sublime tribute to the music of the Everly Brothers, the sound sweeps seamlessly from Dawn McCarthy’s intimate, heartworn intro to a lush, epic swell of harmonies, strings and pedal steel and you know you are in safe hands. What The Brothers Sang is perfectly pitched, whether capturing the uplift of those 1970s pop country productions (think Glen Campbell) on Milk Train or the folk duo hues of My Little Yellow Bird. With a talented supporting cast of players, McCarthy and the redoubtable BPB also go as rootsy as you like on the ballad What Am I Living For and make an infectious cry for help on the country rocking Somebody Help Me. A joy from start to finish. Jamie Lidell for Scotsman.com

From Drag City Records: February 19th is fast approaching! So it’s now or never for you to take an exclusive look at the making of Dawn McCarthy and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s sweet, full-length Everly Brothers covers odyssey, What The Brothers Sang. Shot by Lara Miranda during the album’s Nashville recording sessions (produced by David Ferguson at Butcher Shop Studio in McCreary County, KY), the footage provides bite-sized, behind-the-scenes glimpses into the languid, affecting, at times humorous, yet mostly downright spiritual creation of an extremely special album.

WATCH DAWN & BONNIE DO WHAT THE BROTHERS SANG

What The Brothers Sang was inspired by, and made with deep respect for The Everly Brothers. Here, in the studio, with players assembled to accompany Dawn and Bonny in paying tribute, witness the sensuous give-and-take resonating throughout the room– every surface that’s being pressed or rubbed or hit is a part of the action, each song infused sonically with these deep moments of exalted collaboration. Along with Dawn and Bonny, these songs were played by Emmett Kelley, Dave Roe and Kenny Malone, with featured players Billy Contreras, John Mock, Dan Dugmore, Matt Sweeney, Pete Townsend, John Catchings, Bobby Wood, Joey Miskalin, Nils Frykdahl, Ian McAllister, Joey Baron, Dr. Chris Vivio, and Noah Tag – see if you can spot them here!

What the Brothers Sang is made with deep respect for, is inspired by The Everly Brothers, but it pays tribute by being a record that only Dawn and Bonnie could make, and only in the room with the players that had come to join them. Their duets are a sensuous display of give and take that includes everything that’s resonating in the room, every surface that’s being pressed or rubbed or hit is a part of the action. Their harmonies are in the tradition, but they are their own, not cutting-on-the-dotted-line of Everlys magic. These songs make Dawn and Bonnie more themselves. They have their own natural way, and it is infused in every deep moment of every song here.

With a great spirit of collaboration, support and exaltation, What the Brothers Sang was recorded and mixed by David Ferguson. The songs were played by Emmett Kelley, Dave Roe and Kenny Malone, with featured players Billy Contreras, John Mock, Dan Dugmore, Matt Sweeney, Pete Townsend, John Catchings, Bobby Wood, Joey Miskalin, Nils Frykdahl, Ian McAllister, Joey Baron, Dr. Chris Vivio, and Noah Tag. The record is due out on February 19, 2013 via Drag City.

Courtesy of www.jambase.com

Sept.1- Nov.13^th 2012

There are things more steadfast than humans,

I think, as I see an old film shining with sea & hill vistas I just traveled through and played along last week, on California’s Lost Coast: the same nature, same brilliance, same cycles, and yet most of the actors are now dead. But in the repeated patterns of our living over the generations (how I see myself in most of these characters !) …we DO live longer than our one life. I can feel myself extending from these people, long ago, and into future lives, with my children especially.

Hard to describe, but I do.

I’ve just finished up travels that put me on highways I’ve traveled before.

A gypsy life; pedaling songs and enchantment, with my children and husband along with me. Blessed, however tumble bumble.

After the trumpeted worldly ambitions of youth set their sails and finally reach the distant shore, what remains to me is the simple patterned dance of the seasons of life itself.

It’s quite humbling; what can you do, really? Exist now until you don’t anymore.

But do the dance. Drink the nectar. Salute magic. Live the daily turns with exquisite beauty and mad reverence. And then be proud to cast your ingredients back to the sea you grew out of..! And what an incredible sea it is.

When I arrive back home from a long, interesting tour, I’m saturated with the banquet of life;  amazed with what I’ve been given to partake in, as all humans have…

And this tour contained plenty of gold. . .

I think if you can begin a tour with some time off (and even better if with kindred spirits), then you’re doing yourself a great favor, since the week before leaving is such a sleepless Herculean push.

I want to THANK our shimmering Utah family (Stefanie, Mattson & Shari) for taking us in at the onset with such depth and flair; it seems to exude from everything they touch…especially eats! It’s always a banquet in more ways than one to spend time with y’alls.

This whole tour felt like a victory march- returning to the scene of battle – after the losses during our last big national tour in fall 2010:  our boxy 1976 RV home-on-wheels ‘Half Pint,’ and our home-on-the-range; a forlorn ranch in northern Sonoma county we moved to in 2008 to step through the portal of becoming parents. The whole ranch property sold suddenly, and we had to acknowledge the grace of how it mysteriously came into our lives at the perfect time, and how it now was mysteriously leaving.

This time, not only were we returning with a vehicle intact, but also to a cozy bungalow home on an Oakland hillside.  Now there’s some grace a soul can sink into.!

Our new tour vehicle, THE SILVER GOOSE (goose, because it has a nest inside) and our nanny JORGE were of a hearty stock, fortunately, because the travels were long and the temperature conditions- both of landscape and little girl children- were extreme at times.

It took us awhile before we realized we could use the Silver Goose’s A/C (something Half Pint lacked), instead of our usual method of pouring water over our heads and fanning books at each other.

*              *             *              *              *              *               *               *

Some Tour Highlights

(great acts, venues, people, nature spots, food finds, books, bookstores..)

**A venue we’d never played in a state we’d never played, was a real reminder of why it’s worth it to travel across the country, finding incredible community art spots:

THE BOTTLETREE in Birmingham, Alabama.

It’s run by a brother and sister team who are connected to THE POLYPHONIC SPREE. Nice work, folks! And here I’ve spent so many years passing over the deep south;  assuming there weren’t any receptive venues for experimental music to play.

http://www.thebottletree.com

http://www.thepolyphonicspree.com

**THE PILOT LIGHT in Knoxville, Tennessee

Owner Jason Boardman has done years of tireless work of pure intent for this rare cornerstone of support for experimental music in Tennessee.

http://www.thepilotlight.com

**CONUNDRUM MUSIC HALL in Columbia, South Carolina

A big fan of experimental music- almost as big as his heart is- has opened this venue to bring a true listening room to South Carolina: Tom Law.

http://www.reverbnation.com/venue/conundrummusichall

**Our kindred spirits, the McCamish family, who recently relocated from the Bay Area to Tennessee, brought our girls to their home for a break from touring. A gesture real organic, since our girls have felt at home with them from the beginning, since they were babies and we shared our time & our homes together.

**We’ve fallen into a dreamy world in Boston… with the passionate chamber rock of JAGGERY, led by the incredible vocalist MALI  SASTRI.  And we were amazed by the lush, virtuosic piano playing by the youth named TRISTAN ALLEN

http://www.jaggery.org

http://www.tristanallanmusic.com

**And finally made it back to MAINE. Biddeford has a lovely place called the Oak and the Ax that treated us real well:

www.facebook.com/TheOakAndTheAx

One of the proprieters was a gem of a musical discovery!

www.facebook.com/pages/Blood-Warrior/161206489274

And his full band, originally from Brooklyn, NY:

www.odeath.net

**There’s a lot of fuss to cross the Canadian border, but boy was it worth it.

Toronto, promoted by a wunderkind lynchpin of music-community TAD MICHALAK, introduced us to the charming lad known as THE HOLIDAY RAMBLER, and to a voice that haunted me all along the highways for the rest of the tour:  SIMONE SCHMIDT of FIVER.   Wow. I almost feel possessive of her, like she is a secret find.. and since she has all the texture and gravity of an older woman sitting alone on a rocking chair with a rifle in hand in the sparse North Dakota winter. . she sings from a deep, precious, haunted, intimate place. Whew.

For me, finding a singer who truly transports me is like finding gold.

And Montreal, besides being the chosen home for the late, extraordinary singer LHASA (whom I had a penpal friendship with, even a loose plan to collaborate with someday..) is just an incredible, tasteful Euro-French city. It was the one show on the tour I performed with laryngitis, but it made us take a different approach and the awesome, focused audience would’ve gone down any road we presented.

http://www.music.cbc.ca/artists/Holiday-Rambler

http://www.fiverforreal.bandcamp.com/

http://www.lhasadesela.com

**CENTER FOR SYMBOLIC STUDIES in New Paltz, NY is a worthy place/venue to mention.

“…our own individual lives…are connected through that still point to people of all times and places…we tread the same earth on which the ancient shamans danced and sang their spirit songs, and King Arthur’s men rode in quest of the Holy Grail. Can it be that our journey through life is to be no less wonder-filled than theirs?” – founder Stephen Larsen

http://www.symbolicstudies.org

**We played 3 weeks with RASPUTINA.   Friends. Great band to share shows with. What an easy fit! MELORA CREAGER is a rare storyteller par excellence and a brilliant woman I’ve been a fan of for nearly 20 years. I still sometimes blush when we’re together. She dwells in some bewitched place; like childhood’s imagination and play. It is like finding a precocious child you’re enamored with and want to go to their house, be their friend, see all their toys and run around with all summer under the sun &

streetlamps.

http://www.rasputina.com

**And in Seattle, we have found sisters-in-mind CLEARLY BELOVED.

They have a rare element of kitchen wench magic and playful paganism added to some inspired prog-folk. Check them out.!

http://www.clearlybeloved.com/

**On California’s Lost Coast, there is a hamlet called PETROLIA that may be one of the last vestiges of old-style community; remote, free from most of the world’s business, and living richly in their own business…of coastal elemental life and artistic, salt of the earth people. We played the community center as our tour wrap-up show; heading down the coast on our way back home. It was organized by the folks who create the incredible body-care products BY NIEVES; dear friends and artistic comrades. My ideal of whom I’m getting such things from? Someone of the rural ilk, knowing earth magic. Someone cosmopolitan enough to add good, cultured flair & bring forth the goods to the wider world.  Nieves Rathbun is just the lady.

http://www.bynieves.com

THANK YOU, folks, for making our muse-following and gypsy lives worth it!

And now, here’s some other elements that make the gypsy-life gold:

I wore a Russian Fairytale dress  (had to be up-close to see the delicate vine & flower embroidery!) by Selene Ahnese:  www.gibbousfashions.com

Our fawn t-shirt design that sold out was made by an artist in Paris, France:

www.facebook.com/arnus.horribilis

Thank you, Arnus !

My gorgeous guitar strap was from Sue Schofield in Louisville, KY:

www.inheritedleather.blogspot.com/

thank you, Sue !

Great independent bookstore in Lexington, KY, full of rare titles (Nils found a James Joyce biography by Helene Cixous that he’d been looking for for years. The kind owner let our girls pick out a free book each):

www.blackswanbooks.net

I found this wonderful book there, a favorite subject of mine!

www.paperbackswap.com/Wild-Flavor-Marilyn-Kluger/book/080501330X

Here is my fantasy bookstore, in the French quarter of New Orleans. Cruel that it was closed during our day off there!

KITCHEN WITCH COOKBOOKS

www.kwcookbooks.com/

I love old fashioned cookbooks with quaint anecdotes. I love British Isles cottage culture. & wicked humor. So this book is perfect! By Irish writer Molly Keanes:

cardigangirlverity.blogspot.com/2009/10/molly-keanes-book-of-nursery-cooking.htm

Lots of rich, dark dark chocolate on this tour ! That happens when you travel during your birthday time and Halloween..

One of the most excellent chocolate salons I’ve found:

cacaodrinkchocolate.com/

This lady specializes in toffees & beautiful chocolates poured into molds:

www.almachocolate.com

Another lovely place, especially because it’s in my ole humble hometown: www.chocolateapothecary.com

Why I love Kansas:

www.kansastravel.org/tallgrassprairie.htm

I found a cool book here all about cast iron cooking, including Dutch ovens.

If I’d known of the dreamy world these candies come from (check out this website…) and how they taste like a fairytale.. I’d have bought them all up at the Provence store in New Orleans; who’s one of the only places in the country that sells them.! Me and my girls are a bit delirious with these right now:

www.anis-flavigny.com

For every spice you may want, located in Milwaukee, WI:

www.thespicehouse.com

Even just to treat our noses to the incredible smell, we always stop here. My favorites: their selection of vanilla extracts & pastes, truffle oil, curries, sugars (lavendar, strawberry, maple..) and check out their maple-garlic seasoning !

Sodas made from witchy plants:

www.bottlegreendrinks.com

Elderflower soda & more.. .!

www.fentimans.com/soft_drinks

Intriguing tarot deck. Herbs and the kabballah join.

www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/herbal/

Mesa Verde National Park

www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm

Kanapaha Botanical Gardens

www.kanapaha.org

Blue Springs Park in High Springs, FL

www.bluespringspark.com

The dogs here say everything; they wander around, mellow. I’ve never seen dogs like this. This native American village has been occupied for over 1.000 years:

TAOS PUEBLO  Taos, New Mexico

www.taospueblo.com

passing the joys along ~

~ ` * ` * ~ ` ` ~

DAWN

(& Nils, Edda, Ura)

“There’s a time for everything, all in the proper order at the proper time.”
-Mrs. Brown, NATIONAL VELVET

And now, FINALLY is the time to announce a singing project that incubated summer 2011 while listening to an EVERLY BROTHERS greatest hits cassette in continuous rotation at the demand of my toddlers until the car stereo ate it. It was made in Nashville last spring 2012 during a time of lush green and kept a secret until now; released this month as a holiday and winter season gift:
CHRISTMAS EVE CAN KILL YOU  a single out on Drag City Records … a duet of Dawn & Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, made in Nashville spring 2012. Part of a salute to the Everly Brothers. THIS ALL in anticipation of the full length record to come in 2013 …  WHAT   THE   BROTHERS   SANG,

Click here to buy the single, along with the B side, Walking The Dog. Also available as a 7″ vinyl single.

Watch the VIDEO!  by Lara Miranda. Visit Lara’s site …

My friend and filmmaker LARA MIRANDA, of Faun Fables videos I’D LIKE TO BE and A TABLE FORGOTTEN, was there during it all – literally, invited to document the whole process and the world of Nashville. She also traveled around eastern Kentucky, in counties where she spent important years as a child, and where the Everly Brothers are from. All this, plus cameos from my family, appear in this video.
CHECK IT OUT !

This is in anticipation of the full length record to come in 2013: WHAT THE BROTHERS SANG, a salute to the wonderful vocal duet work, circa 1960-79, of brothers Don and Phil Everly, made with my singing comrade Will Oldham a.k.a. BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY … the Everly Brothers being the first material we sang together and bonded over, back in 2003.

Another’s writing can bring out singing parts in you that your original writing never could. It felt like it was time to enjoy and offer up some of the simple joys of singing in me that I haven’t shared a lot in all my other vocal adventuring. It was neat to’ve not written the material, to be just singers traversing this older material written especially for two. And to make the music right there, live in the studio with the other musicians, as is the tradition with Nashville. I’ve learned a lot about an organic flow to singing with Will. There was a lot to negotiate with these vocal parts; mostly with our singing voices at the moment they emitted sound.
I loved the experience.

And there’s some kind of fountain of youth those Nashville musicians have found – bassist Dave Roe is in his 60’s and drummer Kenny Malone is in his 70’s. But like true folk tradition all ages are included; there were some stunning youngsters, like fiddler Billy Contreras. I was thrilled to make a record with Emmett Kelly again and his gorgeous guitar playing. Producer/engineer David ‘Ferg’ Fergusson kept us in line, but laughing to tears. In fact, the amount of glee and kick butt playing was enough to keep me young for many years to come.

It’s great labor to work at- making a record of songs. .

Wishing everyone HAPPY HOLIDAYS..  MAY THE MIDWINTER SING ~ effortlessly, enjoyably.

DAWN

Yes. I love to hear about people making do, and making magic in this crazy quilt world of ours….it’s like Ma Ingalls loved to say “It takes all kinds to make a world…” Such a simple, quiet way of embracing the crazy (and sometimes downright disheartening) wide-range of experiences and things in this human world.

Something I think of how to approach /alot/, nowadays, with 2 little fresh imps at my skirt-tails; with the tremendous, exciting, and daunting task of sheparding them into this world.

I’ve been thinking about how it’s such a natural instinct, a nesting instinct, to want to give your new little ones this pure innocent perfect experience. . but that is really quite nebulous. How would that be defined ? And how many of us can even manage it, as far as getting the picturesque settings?

As far as what’s within our walls (and the pathways we trod, that we skim and skate) we make magic. But beyond that … I feel we can only partially shape.

It was kinda hard to decide to stay in the city with the girls (not that it seemed there were many options), and yet, there’s alot of great stuff here to pour over (and enough nature and rustic/pagan magic to make the population density tolerable..) … especially once they’re at an age where they’ll want to experience it outside of the realm of our ‘home’.

I am very excited to bring the girls out to the gypsy life – something that is an undeniable part of Nils and mine’s fabric. It is how we can live in the whole world, and the realm of ‘home’ becomes this roving, active, alive, upstream thing.

When I was pregnant with Edda (the 1st one), I considered giving up showbiz for an unknown amount of time, and I swear she responded (in utero) saying “don’t you dare ! That’s why I picked you.” And it feels really grand, like an important accomplishment (won after some hits… won with alot of perserverence) to be returning to the Living Road with them, as a family. The gypsy family I’ve always dreamed of having (mixed with a life close to home and hearth, a balance..).

D.M.