unionstation

I have joined the modern age by actually acquiring an iPod -- a shiny little red Nano. I've spent most of the weekend getting used to the controls and working through what's on it. I imported most of what I had on my computer, except for some of the audio dramas. 16 gig is a decent amount but it's still nowhere near enough. Maybe I do need one of those classic 160gig ones. For my current purposes, it's fine. I just can't make up my mind on what to call it. I rather like one person's suggestion of Boris -- goes well with my usual nickname for my laptop of Natasha.

Now comes the trickier bit and that's adding my music. At first my penchant is to add all my usual favorites, but when looking at all the music I haven't listened to, I balked. So I've started ripping/importing other stuff too.

I don't know what this will mean for this LJ, whether I'll recount all my music discoveries or just the country/Irish/Celtic ones. Not like anyone is paying attention.

So I listened to Natalie MacMaster's latest album Cape Breton Girl. It's a lively traditional album, filled with some rollicking tunes, likely to get your toes tapping with the possible exception of the slow air known as "The Methlick Style". The album was concluded with the beautiful and solemn "Our Father", a Gaelic version of "The Lord's Prayer".

On an amusing note: when the time came to have a release party, she decided to stay home and combine the house concert/kitchen party with her family and friends at her house. Now it should be pointed out that MacMaster's family is littered with Cape Breton fiddlers and/or musicians, plus she's married to the fiddler for the Leahy family, not counting her usual members of her band. That's a helluva jam session by most people's standards.

The other day I looked up the NPR show "The Thistle and Shamrock" to see if it was still around. Fiona Ritchie plays a lovely blend of Irish/Scottish/Celtic music. I used to enjoy listening to the clips and then hunting down artists I particularly liked. Her website also includes links to Thistlepod, which are pared down versions of her shows, including interviews and maybe a few tracks.

One artist she interviewed was Eleanor McEvoy. I'd encountered McEvoy's music years ago, but I hadn't really listened to any of it recently. I'd forgotten how much I'd missed her blend of music and songwriting. It's funny because I criticize Adele sometimes for being onenoteish in her material -- it's all "woe is me, my boy has broken up with me, I'll get even" type songs. McEvoy has a break up song in "The Rain Falls" on Yola and it's melodic with the chorus of "And the rain falls down..." but there's also the rhythmic bits where she tells the story. The opening reminded me of that modern version of "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" from "Simply Irresistible" for me.

Yola was a real departure for McEvoy in the instrumentation. She tells the story on the Thistlepod interview that she broke her hand so she couldn't play certain instruments herself. (She's a former concert violinist with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra in Dublin.) So she brought in Brian Connor in for piano for touring and she startled playing acoustic guitar again and she realized it sounded so much better. She commented how studios get nervous when she wants string sections because they're so expensive, but as she added, if you've got really good ones, they can get it in two takes, rather than trying again and again. (The interview left me wondering how McEvoy would sound produced in the "Nashville sound" with the warm acoustics.)

I really enjoyed listening to Yola today. I also have have her Snapshots and What's Following Me? I'll definitely look into buying more of her albums in the future.

Since Livejournal has announced it will start purging inactive accounts, I wanted to update this one, so it will stick around.

Nashville Star has sadly departed to the great canceled shows in the sky. At some point I want to go back and write up my thoughts of the last season, if I can find my notes. Some of its stars are still around in one form or another. Miranda Lambert is tearing up the country charts with her songwriting and attitude. George Canyon is sadly still more popular in Canada than the US. Chris Young is still popular, which proves what I know about music. But there's a long list of Star graduates that have been dropped from their labels or never quite made the grade. I'd love to not be all cynical about why the Angela Hackers and the Melissa Lawsons of the world don't become as popular as the Taylor Swifts or even the Whitney Duncans... but it's a business.

I don't know what I'll use this journal. Maybe some music reviews. Lord knows I have a ton of music I haven't listened to at all, country or otherwise.

Nashville Star has returned for a sixth season. Instead of hiding out in the obscurity of USA Network, it's front and center on Monday nights on NBC. CMT has the reruns too. Jewel has exchanged her hosting duties for a judges slot, along with John Rich and Jeffrey Steele. Billy Ray Cyrus is the solo host. So far I'd say John Rich is the toughest critic. For someone who comes off so over the top music wise, he takes it very seriously. He's already ripping it up against Jewel, which is fun to watch.

( And the final twelve are... )

The new Nashville Star season is only weeks away from debuting on USA Network. We have yet another change at host and judges. Only Cowboy Troy and Anastasia have stuck around from the previous year. They've also moved it to Thursday nights after "Supernatural" thankfully. I'll have to wait and see how this crop of people turn out. I've actually been pretty disappointed since the second season. I'm a little afraid the producers have moved away from what worked in those early seasons because they want to attract that golden younger audience.

I'm listening to Natalie MacMaster's latest "Yours Truly". I'm loving the instrumental tracks. Her tribute to her friend & fellow Canadian Peter Jennings "Farewell to Peter" is just heartbreakingly beautiful. I'm not wild about Michael McDonald's rendition of "Danny Boy". It slowed down the album to a crawl. Some of the tunes I feel like I should have a pair of step dancing shoes, very toe tapping. But the slower tempo pieces are nice, too, like the lovely lyrical "Julia's Waltz" that builds and moves around the room. (Nice name, too! *grins*) I never realized until listening to that opening that "Rainbow Connection" was a waltz. How random a realization to have.