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Nashville Cats

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Portraits by Marty StuartIn his 1996 book on the Southernization of America entitled Dixie Rising:  How the South is Shaping American Values, Politics, and Culture, former New York Times Atlanta bureau-chief Peter Applebome compares Charlotte, North Carolina and Nashville, Tennessee.  Much of Applebome’s thesis was turned on its head with the election of 2008.  But one thing he said has always stuck with me and it came back today as I was traveling to New Orleans.

In comparing the two cities he notes that Nashville is a lot like Charlotte – except that its major industry is music and not banking.  And that difference makes all the difference in the world.

I had a layover today in the Nashville airport.  You have to love a city where the airport has live music (in at least two places, including the food court) AND a photo exhibit by none other than Marty Stuart.  Heck, the musicians could have been employees of the Burger King.  The Lovin’ Spoonful’s Nashville Cats immediately jumped to mind:

Well, there’s thirteen hundred and fifty-two guitar pickers in Nashville…And anyone who unpacks his guitar could play twice as better than I will.

The Stuart photos are quite remarkable (see photo above and click on the Stuart link to see a book of his work).  There’s a great Flatt & Scruggs portrait from 1969, their last year together.  BB King and Little Richard represent other strains of music that go together to make country.  Stuart has funny portraits, strange portraits (Bill Monroe), and haunting portraits (Johnny Cash taken just four days before he died).  All in all, a nice small and surprising exhibition.

I never did find the ATM in the airport, but I didn’t have any trouble finding the music.

More to come…

DJB

Partners in Preservation

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Lowell's Boat Shop OarsI was in Boston earlier this week for the launch of Partners in Preservation – a terrific $1 million grant program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express.  For the next five weeks, you can join thousands of others who will go online at the PiP website and vote for your favorite Greater Boston landmark.  The winning site in the popular vote is guaranteed to get a grant of up to $100,000, and the remaining funds will be allocated among some of the other 25 sites who are part of the competition.

Tuesday was a beautiful day in Boston and we were in historic Faneuil Hall for the launch event.  Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino were on hand to help us kick off the program (see photo below).  Representatives of the 25 sites were also there – many dressed out in period clothes to depict the historical era of their site.  One of the more innovative schemes came from the Lowell Boat Shop volunteers (see photo above) who brought oars with “Lowell’s” painted on one side and “Vote LBS” on the other.  Unfortunately, security wouldn’t let them bring the oars into the hall, but they were ready with masks of their shop’s founder.  Very clever group these Bostonians.

The Wall Street Journal called Partners in Preservation the “American Idol of historic preservation.”  I encourage you to click on the link above, Gov. Patrick speaks at opening eventget information about the 25 sites, and “pull the lever” once a day for the next few weeks on the site(s) that captures your fancy.  You’ll enjoy finding out more about some well known landmarks as well as some hidden gems.  And the folks in Boston will appreciate your interest in their historic places.

More to come…

DJB

No Obama First Pitch for the Nats

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President's RaceIt appears that George, Tom, Abe, and Teddy will be the only presidents to appear at Nationals Park tomorrow for opening day.

The current resident of the White House, President Obama, has turned down an invitation from the Washington Nationals to throw out the first pitch for the home opener tomorrow against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Perhaps Obama has watched the Nats lose their first two series of the season, to begin a rousing 0-6 – MLB’s only team still without a win.   Or perhaps he has enough problems to deal with without having to take time out to watch a team that’s still not ready for prime time.

Let’s hope a change in scenery and coming home will help the Nats get that elusive first win.  And we can dream about the time that Washington has a baseball team that even a basketball-loving president would want to see.

More to come…

DJB

Good Friday 2009

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St. Joseph of Arimathea ChapelGood Friday was a day of heightened – and mixed – emotions.  It began with an email from Andrew’s school about the irrational act of a disturbed man that some of the students observed.  In the early evening, Candice and I helped Andrew and Claire’s youth group prepare sandwiches and meals for Grate Patrol.  And while they delivered the sandwiches to the homeless throughout Washington, Candice and I closed out the day with the powerful Good Friday meditation at the National Cathedral.

We’ve been around the Washington National Cathedral for years, but I only discovered this Good Friday service a couple of years ago.  It quickly became my favorite.

Held in the St. Joseph of Arimethea chapel (photo) – the most appropriate of spaces – the service showcases all that is wonderful about the Cathedral.  The stone and marble combine with the vaults and intimate space to send the music on a magical journey to your ears.  And make no mistake – this is a service made for music.

A hauntingly beautiful cello solo – Candice described it as “moaning” – began the service.  Then the first of several Taize chants filled the room.  Cathedral Director of Music Michael McCarthy’s arrangement of the Troparian was stunning in both its passion and complexity.

When he saw that the sun had hidden its rays, and that the veil of the Temple was rent as the Savior died, Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate, pleaded with him, and cried out:  Give me the Stranger who since his youth had wandered as a stranger.  Give me that Stranger killed in hatred by his kindred as a stranger.  Give me that Stranger upon whom I look with wonder, seeing Him a guest of Death….

Mike had the choir repeating the Give me a stranger figure, while a beautiful baritone voice carried the story forward.

Give me the stranger whom envious people estranged from the world.

While the service could have ended on that emotional note, it continued with a meditation, more chants, and then lighting of candles and personal prayer.

A beautiful time for reflection and  rest.

More to come…

DJB

Conversation with Fleck (Continued)

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Bela FleckOn the day after I posted the note about an online conversation between Bela Fleck and Earl Scruggs, our local public radio station – WAMU FM – features an interview with Bela on the Kojo Nnamdi Show. 

Bela was there to promote his new album Throw Down the Heart which traces his explorations of the banjo’s roots in Africa.  Click on the link above to listen to the full interview.

More to come…

DJB

A conversation with Fleck (not Flatt) and Scruggs

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Thanks to the wonderful Bluegrass Blog for highlighting a recent online interview between banjo masters Earl Scruggs and Bela Fleck.  Scruggs (photo below) was the inventor of the three-fingered picking style that is integral to the bluegrass sound, and Fleck (photo top) is the banjo innovator who has won 11 Grammy awards and – with his 27 nominations – has the distinction of being nominated in more Grammy categories than any other musician.

Earl Scruggs

The interview took place on BMI.com and covers — in just a few short questions — a variety of topics.  Here’s an exchange on their first meeting:

BF: Do you remember when John Hartford introduced us by any chance? I’m not expecting you to, but you came over to his place, and he invited me over…I played rhythm guitar, and then at the very end of the session, John said, “Oh, Béla plays a little bit of banjo,” and you said, “Oh, well get it out,” and then I played something for you.

I remember, because I thought it was so sweet of him…he knew that we had never met, and that I was eager to meet you. I played a Charlie Parker song – a jazz song – for you, and you said, “And they said it couldn’t be done.” I was very proud of myself.

ES: I remember I got that line from Everett Lilly’s daddy. Do you remember Everett Lilly?

BF: Yeah.

ES: Boy, he was West Virginia-country, out of this world. First time he ever heard me pick he said, “And they said it couldn’t be done.”

Enjoy reading the conversation between these musical masters.

One of the best examples among Bela’s original compositions on YouTube is the song Major Honker, which was recorded – at all places – at a Grand Ole Opry performance.  This is Bela with Nashville’s acoustic music elite:  Sam Bush on mandolin, Jerry Douglas on Dobro, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Bryan Sutton on guitar, and Mark Schatz on bass.  As the video moves toward the end of the song, catch the amazing lick by Bela around 3:29 of the video.  How does he do that?!?

Enjoy.

More to come…

DJB

Opening Day

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A few observations from around the big leagues on Opening Day:

  • Those young Nats pitchers may be in need of a bit of seasoning.  Maybe those Baseball Prospectus writers were right.  Still we have 161 games to go!
  • Nonetheless, it was good to see Adam Dunn hit his first Nats dinger during game 1.
  • O’s rout the Yankees.  Way to go O’s!
  • What did C.C. Sabathia do all winter?  Eat all the money given to him by the Yankees?
  • New look Braves looked pretty good against the Phillies.

More to come…

DJB

Vintage Roadside has New Route 66 Design

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Route 66 T-ShirtLast October I wrote a post about the Vintage Roadside folks and their great t-shirt designs from old and often defunct roadside businesses.  This morning, the weather in Washington promised to be warm enough to get around in a t-shirt, so I pulled out my Route 66 t-shirt (see photo at left) from Vintage Roadside and didn’t think much more of it.

But when I opened up the blog this morning and went to the Word Press home page, there was a blog posting from a Route 66 News blog that featured a great new design from – you guessed it – the Vintage Roadside folks.  Just too cool and too much of a coincidence not to write a bit about it.  I posted a comment on the blog and took the opportunity to give a shout out to the wonderful folks at Vintage Roadside.   To top it off, they are members of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and contribute some of the proceeds to help save historic places.  If the great designs aren’t enough to get you to buy, then the support for historic preservation should be the clincer!

More to come…

DJB

Home to Tennessee

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Playing bluegrass with Joseph and JoeOne of the great things about going home has always been the chance to get together with my brother Joe and play a little music.  So last week when the children and I were in Tennessee, I eagerly looked forward to heading out to Joe and Kerry’s house with my guitar and mandolin in tow.

Joe (with a beard grown for a play at the Arts Center of Cannon County) had told me that his oldest children had begun to pick up the banjo, guitar, mandolin, and fiddle.  And sure enough, as we pulled out our instruments my nephew Joseph joined in with some clawhamer banjo.   It was great fun to play along with the next generation of pickers.

Joe is an ornamental blacksmith and we had a good time checking out his new wares as well as his expanded shop.  Joe and Kerry essentially built their house by themselves, and it was great to see the new stairway they designed and constructed to open up the living room.Living Room  Joe’s shop is usually on the annual studio tour for the Murfreesboro area, and I encourage those in Middle Tennessee to keep an ear open for the next tour opportunities.  Joe also shows his work at the TACA Spring Crafts Festival in Nashville’s Centennial Park , at the Arts Center of Cannon County, and online through his web site.

After a great visit with Joe, we spent the afternoon and evening with my sister Debbie, her husband Mark, and their three daughters and their families.  We had a wonderful time catching up and getting to know Debbie and Mark’s energetic and beautiful grandchildren.   All our nieces have married wonderful young men and their families are growing and growing.

Of course, we spent a great deal of time in Tennessee with my father.  Daddy and I made multiple trips to his favorite Main Street restaurant – the City Cafe – where the waitresses call you “Hon,”  wear t-shirts that proclaim City Cafe as the “Original Meat and Three,” and the mugs for sale are labeled “Stolen from the City Cafe.”  And yes, the southern style food hits the spot!  Just another great Main Street establishment.

Thanks to my father and siblings for helping to make coming home such a great experience.

More to come…

DJB

On the trail of Uncle Dave Macon

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Andrew, Claire, and I spent much of today in Readyville, Tennessee, with my brother Joe, sister-in-law Kerry, and their family (more on our visit in a later post).  Joe is an ornamental blacksmith and fellow lover of bluegrass and old-time music.  So it seemed fitting – after a day of playing Old Joe Clark and other tunes with Joe and his son Joseph – that I take Andrew & Claire on an educational trip by hallowed ground:  the burial place of Uncle Dave Macon.

Affectionately known as the “Dixie Dew Drop,” Uncle Dave was a vaudeville performer and one of the first stars of the Grand Ole Opry.  He came out of a 19th century performing sensibility, but also was one of the first country musicians to take advantage of the new technology of radio.

Uncle Dave Macon Tombstone

After his death in 1952, Macon was buried between Murfreesboro and Readyville in the Coleman Cemetery.  A new road to Cannon County now bypasses the cemetery, but I turned off the four lane and went over to the Old Woodbury Road to stop by Uncle Dave’s burial place.  The state erected a historical marker (see photo above) to help mark the spot.

Uncle Dave’s legacy continues with the annual Uncle Dave Macon Days celebration in Murfreesboro each summer, with the crowning of the Old Time Banjo championship.  This year’s celebration takes place on July 10th – 12th.

One of the best books on Uncle Dave and the early days of the Grand Ole Opry is entitled A Good Natured Riot: The Birth of the Grand Ole Opry. It was written by my college professor, world-renown old-time music expert Dr. Charles K. Wolfe, and is both an insightful and fun read.  For those coming to Nashville for the fall’s National Preservation Conference, there’s no better work to introduce you to the birth of the commercial country music industry in the city.

There are a few videos taken late in Uncle Dave’s career.  My favorite is the following clip from the Grand Ole Opry Movie, with Uncle Dave and his son Dorris playing Take Me Back to My Old Carolina Home. Enjoy.

More to come…

DJB