Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Abigail Washburn makes friends

Abigail Washburn is a highly gifted clawhammer banjo player and singer who has lived a full life already. LEO spoke with her after she returned from a 30-hour drive back from the Telluride Festival home to Nashville. She performs tonight at Waterfront Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Here are some highlights from a detailed and delightful conversation:



AW: We’re going to be up in Louisville next week, I’m really excited!

LEO: You’ve got some Louisville connections: Tucker Martine, who produced your latest record, also produced My Morning Jacket’s latest, and their guitarist Carol Broemel plays on your record, and Ben Sollee, of course, was a bandmate of yours.
AW: Absolutely! Of course. Ben’s like a brother – he’s not on the record, but we grew up a lot together musically over the last seven years.
When I took the time to write the record, I wasn’t going anywhere very much. So there was a period of about a year where I was kind of insular. I feel like it has been a while since I’ve really been to Louisville and spent good time there. Ben and I used to spend a ton of time there; we’d play little shows at 21C and we had that cool show at the theater on the campus… And I always love doing in-stores. We did an in-store release at ear X-tacy in January, which was awesome. I wish I was there more often. We’ve considered, from time to time, doing a residency, where I would be in Nashville and Louisville. I was just not quite sure where the right place to play would be in Louisville. I’ve missed it, and I can’t wait to get back.
I also want to say that every time we’re driving through Louisville, we always want to stop at – I’m not even sure how you say it, I always forget – Sunergos Coffee? Always! I’m on their email list and everything. Anyway, obviously, I feel a really very strong connection to Louisville, it’s just been a while since I’ve gotten a sleepover.
Also, Kyle Meredith from WFPK, I’m looking forward to seeing him. He and I tweeted recently, which is nice.

LEO: Do you use Twitter often to keep in touch with music friends around the country?
AW: Yeah, it actually has become kind of fun. At first, I was like, “Oh, this is so weird,” y’know? But then I started doing it, and it’s kind of a neat little system for getting tidbits of information about friends – notes about their shows, where they are, if something special’s happened – I’m just glad to keep abreast of the happenings of the people I care about. And then some that I’m just intrigued by – Bill Cosby, I watch his tweet feed (laughs).

LEO: This time of year, so many talented artists are criss-crossing our region, playing festivals and making friends.
AW: Bonnaroo and Telluride were just incredibly awesome. I know it’s an awesome place to be as an audience member, ‘cause I’ve done that a bunch, it’s an amazing place to be as an artist, and they’re both so different. When I was at Bonnaroo, I learned about new music, like most people do when they go there, I got to see stuff that I’d always wanted to see. Telluride is this incredible family experience in the mountains, with jamming every night after the shows; there’s one big scene of music that’s derived from roots music idioms that are, essentially, pop music – Mumford and Sons, The Head and the Heart, people like that, and it’s been so fun to get to know all these people. We did shows recently with both, and with Mumford and Sons, I sat in on their main stage set, and got to know everybody so well, and it’s such a joy to watch this community that’s connected to roots music, Americana music, grow. It’s growing so much. It’s really exciting, and everybody’s putting their own take on it.
Unfortunately, I had to miss My Morning Jacket’s set, ‘cause it was the only time I had to spend with my husband before we wouldn’t see each other for a week. So, I had to choose… even though I had a little part of me regretting it (laughs). I’ve become good friends with Carl, and Ben sat in with them, so I wanted to be there, but oh well. I’ll see them next time. I heard it was absolutely amazing. I heard there were, like, firecrackers in the sky, it was so amazing.

"Waterfront Wednesday" with Nicole Atkins, Abigail Washburn and Scars on 45
Waterfront Park
6 p.m., free
http://www.wfpk.org/

c. 2011 LEO Weekly

The Funky Meters know how to strut their stuff



“The Fourth of July, it’s gonna be a great situation. I don’t like to be cold, I really like the heat.” At 73, Art Neville should know what he likes. As one of the famed New Orleans Neville family of musicians, he has long since stamped his sound all over American music.

The keyboardist has worked as a musician since the early 1950s. He helped form the legendary Meters group in the mid-’60s, which drove crowds wild with their mix of second-line funk, blues and intoxicating dance grooves. After laying down a series of records that are highly prized and still mighty influential today, the group ended in the late ’70s. Art and kin began performing as the Neville Brothers, who would go on to have numerous hits of their own.

Today, Neville performs with fellow ex-Meter George Porter Jr., still on bass, along with drummer Russell Batiste Jr. and guitarist Brian Stoltz, as the Funky Meters. They headline the Fourth of July concert at Waterfront Park. LEO spoke with Neville last week, and he made some surprising revelations about his take on modern music.

“Some of the new stuff is real, real great. I been watching these people on ... what is it? … on TV ... Man, that stuff is real, real nice. I mean, most of it is. I like a lot of the new stuff with Lady Gaga. I’m getting the video, so that makes it a little different than just listening to it. My favorite used to be Michael Jackson. I would listen to him a lot. Michael Jackson was supreme.”

In his hometown, Neville said, “They got bands doin’ jazz, doin’ ... what do you call that? (Hip-hop?) Yeah, the hip-hop stuff. I listen to the radio a lot; I like to mix my stations up where I can get jazz, I can get funk, I can get rock — I listen to all of it. (Like a big gumbo stew of music?) Yeah, definitely.”

When I asked if he likes the hip-hop stuff, he replied, “We’re working on some things. I don’t know when it’s going to be out, and I’m not gonna say when — the way the business goes, you don’t know.”

While Meters fans can expect to hear some classics, this Funky bunch isn’t just coasting on past triumphs. “We use some of those songs that we did, and we have some new stuff, too. It’s good stuff.”

Asked to pick favorites, Neville deferred. “All of ’em are good songs to me, so I don’t want to pick out one or another. I don’t see any discrepancy, one way or another. People still like what we do, it’s enjoyable. I don’t think that it’s any different.”

Neville especially enjoys outdoor concerts as opposed to dark bars or seated theaters. “We want people to have a good time. They’re gonna enjoy what we’re doing, that’s for sure.” I asked if he thought a drunk crowd was better than a sober crowd. “Nah,“ he began, before thinking it through more. “I don’t really know. Maybe it’s better for some people.”

Neville hopes to keep playing, “As long as I can, man. While I’ve got the energy, and I’ve got the drive to want to do it, I’d like to be able to be playing. I like to play. I don’t know nothing else — so that’s my best bet. As long as people still like to hear it, I want to play.”

*Sunday’s Waterfront Independence Festival lineup includes The Band Perry, Kip Moore and Systems Go.

The Funky Meters with De La Soul and Fitz and the Tantrums

Waterfront Independence Festival*
Monday, July 4
Waterfront Park, Great Lawn
www.waterfrontindependencefestival.com
Free; 5 p.m.

c. 2011 LEO Weekly

album review: JP Wright



“I’m from Kentucky, not Tennessee,” declares JP Wright on “Nashville Star,” a rant against modern country pop defiantly performed in a classic country style. Louisvillian Wright isn’t just a union man in theory; he’s a member of Railroad Workers United and actually spends his days working on the rails between Louisville and Nashville, the old L&N. His songs about classic values in a mixed-up modern world gain a specificity and credibility from his real world experiences, but none of that would matter a lick if he wasn’t also a strong singer accompanied by some lovely, mournful fiddle, banjo, bass and guitar, and not much more. More of a throwback to a Roosevelt-era Okie folkie than a so-called Obama socialist (the cover photo is of Eugene V. Debs), Wright is a modern Pete Seeger, a campfire Springsteen for folks who don’t have $100 to spend on a concert ticket.

c. 2011 LEO Weekly