Top 20 Songs on Acoustic Pie Radio, June 2009

Verrrry interesting!  Girlyman’s “Commander”, which squeaked onto the list last month at no. 20 was listeners’ top pick this month.  Have any of you caught a show from their current tour?  The San Diego concert was wonderful!   I just bought last year’s live album will be adding several songs to the Pie in the next few days.  Yes, it’s great, too.

Do you know who Kristen Hall is (no. 3 this month)? She was the third songwriter in the country trio Sugarland before they became a duo.  Wikipedia says she started her music career as a roadie for the Indigo Girls.  I like her solo work.  I hope she puts out another album soon.

San Diego artists are represented by Lindsey Yung at no. 5, Calman Hart (no. 11) and Gregory Page at no. 13.

Thanks for voting and listening to Acoustic Pie!

~Kelley
AcousticPie.com

Artist ~ Song ~ Album

1. Girlyman ~ Commander ~ Hail to the Thieves, Volume III
2. Lori McKenna ~ How To Survive ~ Unglamorous
3. Kristen Hall ~ Nothing ~ Be Careful What You Wish For
4. Ellis ~ City on Fire ~ 2008/2009 Music to Life
5. Lindsey Yung ~ Providence ~ Opal Essence
6. Ingrid Michaelson ~ The Chain ~ Be OK
7. Ellis ~ Words You Said ~ Undefended Heart
8. Damien Rice ~ 9 Crimes ~ 9
9. David Wilcox ~ Beyond Belief ~ Open Hand
10. Jakob Dylan ~ On Up the Mountain ~ Seeing Things
11. Calman Hart ~ Barrel Of Rain ~ The John Boy Drum
12. Bob Sima ~ Last Resort ~ Pour It On
13. Gregory Page ~ Dusty Road ~ Bird in a Cage
14. Erik Balkey ~ Always One More Round ~ Sanctuary Road
15. The Weepies ~ Little Bird ~ Hideaway
16. Jonathan Byrd ~ The Ballad of Larry ~ The Waitress
17. Richard Shindell ~ Fenario ~ Vuelta
18. Patty Griffin ~ Burgundy Shoes ~ Children Running Through
19. Ingrid Michaelson ~ The Way I Am ~ Be OK
20. Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer ~ Red (Elegy) ~ Seven is the Number

Acoustic Pie Newsletter, June 2009

Hello and happy summer!

I love the summer.  I love outdoor concerts.  I’ll tell you about a wonderful new outdoor music festival if you keep reading.  Here’s the agenda…

1.  Even When I’m Very Lazy

2.  LA Acoustic Music Festival

3.  For San Diegans Only

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1.  Even When I’m Very Lazy

… and I don’t write newsletters for a bit, I still post the Top 20 songs from Acoustic Pie Radio on the first of every month.   You’ll find them in the Acoustic Pie Blog.  I even made a new category for them, “Top 20″, to make them easier to find.  Here they are:  Top 20 Songs on Acoustic Pie

And I update the Featured Artist on the website periodically as well!  This month, David Wilcox will jump out at you from the Acoustic Pie home page.

2.  The LA Acoustic Music Festival

What a glorious place to listen to music.   A brand new outdoor festival took place on June 6-7 on the Santa Monica Pier with fresh air, sunshine and amazing views in every direction.  Perfect weather graced the first ever LA Acoustic Music Festival.  I went all day Sunday and I thought it was fabulous.  It was lightly attended but the organization, the sound, the atmosphere and the performances were top rate!  I surprised myself by how much I enjoyed the traveling Woody Guthrie Tribute show “The Ribbon of Highway” with Jimmy LaFave, Joel Raphael, Sarah Lee Guthrie, Eliza Gilkyson and Slaid Cleaves among others.  It’s a beautifully organized tribute combining Guthrie songs with readings from his other writings.  I think I may just have to buy the album.

I took WAY too many pictures which is my excuse for why they are not yet posted on the website.  It’s going to take me a while to weed through them all!  But I hope to have a new album up by next week.  Hopefully.

3.  For San Diegans Only

I’ve added a few shows to the Acoustic Pie Picks Calendar and I wanted to especially recommend Girlyman at LeStat’s on Saturday, June 20.  I just love that trio.  It will be a huge treat to hear them on one of my favorite coffeehouse stages.

Ok, thanks for reading, everybody!

~Kelley
AcousticPie.com

Acoustic Pie Newsletter, March 2009

Hello!

Here’s what’s new and different at Acoustic Pie right now…

1.  New Featured Artist: Nathan Welden

2.  For San Diegans Only:  New Highly Recommended Shows Calendar

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1. New Featured Artist:  Nathan Welden

Pop over to the Acoustic Pie home page to see the new featured artist Nathan Welden.  Nathan is a San Diego singer/songwriter whom Indie Edge describes as “a fresh fusion of James Taylor and Jim Croce”.  All I can say is, ohmygosh, what a beautiful voice.  There are bunches of songs to listen to on his webpage and his MySpace page.  And his new album Live Your Song is a lovely concoction of acoustic simplicity.  Listen to samples from it and buy it at my favorite online CD store CD Baby.

2. For San Diegans Only:  New Highly Recommended Shows Calendar

Although I’m not maintaining the full singer/songwriter show calendar any more (big whew on that one), I am going to do a mini-calendar of highly recommended shows and continue to do “Pick of the Month” shows when there’s something really special going on.  Right now there are three special upcoming shows on the Highly Recommended Shows calendar so check it out!

In particular, my friend Carole will be hosting a house concert for the Arkansas contemporary folkgrass duo Still on the Hill on this Thursday, March 12!  Also very dear friends of mine, Kelly & Donna just had a #1 album Ozark on the Folk DJs listserv and Carole’s house concert will be the kick-off for their California tour.  It will be a very exciting show!  I’ll be making peanut butter cookies!  More information and RSVP details are on the web flyer here.

And… this month’s Featured Artist Nathan Welden will be releasing his new album Live Your Song on March 21.  I will definitely be there!  Hope to see you, too!

Thanks for reading, everybody!

~Kelley
AcousticPie.com

Acoustic Pie Newsletter, January 2009

Hello, lovers of original, contemporary, genre-free songs performed by the songwriter in primarily acoustic arrangements!  Here’s what’s on my mind today :)

1. What’s a Singer/Songwriter?

2. Ellis Paul (continued)

3. What’s New!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1.  What’s a Singer/Songwriter?

Speaking of that salutation/definition way back at the beginning of this newsletter, it took me a long time before I figured out how to describe the music I love most. I knew there was some commonality that linked Don McLean and Girlyman. Jim Croce with Anais Mitchell. Paul Simon and Teitur. I knew my favorite music crossed the genres that defined radio stations. I knew that the personality of the artist was stamped somehow on the songs themselves, not just the performance, with the clarity of a signature.  It’s kind of wordy but that introductory greeting pretty much sums it up for me:  Original, contemporary, genre-free songs performed by the songwriter in primarily acoustic arrangements

And then I stumbled onto the genre label singer/songwriter. That was a big deal.  A revelation really. A lot of artists now prefer the term “performing songwriter”. But as a lover of language (oh yes, there are blogs that confirm this ~ “What’s in a Rhyme” and Limp Lyrics), I’m enamored of the sing-song alliteration of singer/songwriter. The Wikipedia article on singer/songwriters is pretty good if you want a more in-depth definition and a nice list of the most prominent singer/songwriters.

Woody Guthrie’s picture is used as the graphic for the Wikipedia article. I always forget that  Woody Guthrie is considered one of the first American singer/songwriters.  His songs are so much a part of the American folk culture that I forget that he wrote them.  I added Arlo Guthrie’s new version of Pastures of Plenty to Acoustic Pie Radio recently.  It is the second of only two songs in the rotation that are not sung by the original songwriter.  Do you know the other?

2.  Ellis Paul (continued)

When I last wrote to you, I was on a train going to hear Ellis Paul at Russ & Julie’s House Concert series in Oak Park, CA.  Ellis Paul is the personification of the Boston school of urban, literate, individualistic singer/songwriters. The show was as wonderful as expected.  A great introduction to Ellis Paul is his new live album recorded at Eddie’s Attic in Atlanta A Summer Night in Georgia.  I just added several songs from it to the rotation on Acoustic Pie Radio including my favorite new Ellis Paul song “Hurricane Angel”. I listened to the song so much in my car that I now know all of the lyrics and sing a really, really bad harmony line in the chorus.

3. What’s New!

There’s a new photo gallery up on the website featuring local artists at Carol Branch’s house concert series in University City here in San Diego.  Carol hosts shows almost monthly in her home.  Just another passionate and tireless fan promoting the music and artists she loves.  I love that!

The Top 20 Songs on Acoustic Pie Radio for December have been tallied and posted.  Read all about it in the Jan. 3 blog.  Don’t forget that you can vote for your favorite songs while you’re listening to The Pie by clicking the Thumbs Up button on your player.

Thanks for reading!  As always, I love to hear from you!

~Kelley
AcousticPie.com

Acoustic Pie Newsletter, November 2008

Hi, everybody!

 

I’m writing this from an Amtrack train on my way from Del Mar to Carpinteria.  My mom and I are going to hear Ellis Paul tonight at Russ & Julie’s famous house concert series.  Ellis Paul at a house concert.  Yes, I am very excited.   I’ve seen him at venues ten times as big as Russ and Julie’s house and it’s partly because they have such generous supporters who will underwrite an artist of this caliber that makes this possible for the rest of us.  Acoustic music fans are the best.  House concerts are the best.  I’ll let you know in the next newsletter just how wonderful it was.  And here’s what else is on my mind today!

 

1. What’s New
2. New Blog:  “Music Lessons ~ Killing the Joy”
3. Jimmy Webb
4. Show Blurb:  The Swell Season

 

1.      What’s New

 

I have a new Featured Artist at Acoustic Pie ~ Jakob Dylan.  I just loved his new album “Seeing Things”.  You can read a bit more, get links and photos, and view my two different favorite YouTube videos of Jakob on my MySpace page and at Acoustic Pie. 

 

Have you noticed the new “What’s New” corner of the Acoustic Pie home page?  Over on the left-hand side?  I’m trying to put a little note and link there whenever something new goes up on the website.  For example, I always place a link there when the new Top 20 for the month is posted.  

 

2.      New Blog:  “Music Lessons ~ Killing the Joy”

 

At an election party on Thursday night a man was telling me about his beautiful grand piano that sits in his living room and never gets played.  Ever.  He loves music.  He studied classical piano as a child.  He felt he should own a piano.  He believes he should play it.  But he isn’t drawn to play the difficult classical repertoire that he eventually came to appreciate, if not love, as a young person.  Don’t you hear this story all the time?  I find it so sad and so frustrating.  And that’s what my latest blog is about ~ teaching music to people in a way that will give them the tools for a lifelong connection to music.  I post all blogs at both MySpace and here at the Pie blog site in case you have a preference.

 

3.      Jimmy Webb

 

I don’t have the patience to note the time/date/radio frequency of specific radio shows and then try and remember to listen to them.  So I listen to Internet radio and XM satellite radio and just catch what comes.  Last night, I caught the most amazing show on XM’s The Loft.  The Mixed Bag Radio show was interviewing Jimmy Webb and Glen Campbell.  I’m a huge fan of Jimmy Webb’s songwriting and I even wrote a blog about his songwriting book Tunesmith which I called “What Jimmy Says”.  I think “Wichita Lineman” is about as pretty as a song gets and I can still be moved by the images and soaring chorus melody in “Galveston”.  Jimmy was giving his rather typically lengthy metaphysical descriptions of his processes while Glen kept saying very earnestly how he mostly focused on “trying to sing in tune”.  And then, without any introduction, they started playing “Wichita Lineman” live, right there in the studio.  Glen was singing and it was definitely Jimmy on the piano and I think Glen was playing the electric guitar leads.   It was beautiful and powerful and I felt like I was eavesdropping on a historic event.  And I felt so lucky to have caught that musical moment.  That’s what radio is all about.

 

4.      Show Blurb:  The Swell Season

 

My concert buddy Jimmy and I caught The Swell Season duo at the SDSU Open Air Theatre last month.  A very fun show!  Despite the concrete bleacher seats!   And House of Blues police-state management!  The Swell Season is Glen Hansard and Marketa Iglova of the movie “Once” fame.  They wrote and performed all of the songs for the very charming movie and played many of them along with some new works at the concert.  I can barely sit still for a full show with opening act any more but we even stayed for the encores and I was glad we did. 

 

Thanks for reading!  If you want to talk, you email me directly at kelley@acousticpie.com or leave a public comment here on the blog!   

 

~Kelley

November 2008

AcousticPie.com

MySpace.com/KelleyMartin  

 

Top 20 Songs on Acoustic Pie Radio, Sept. 2008

With over 600 songs in the daily rotation on Acoustic Pie Radio, it’s somewhat unusual for the same song to be voted into the Top 20 two months in a row. This month, however, Krista Detor (no. 1 last month) returns with the same song at no. 9. And I’m glad I added a favorite old Still on the Hill song “Words on Birds” a few months back because it has also made two appearances on the Top 20 since being added (no. 4 in July and no. 17 this month).

CD compilations designed for radio promotion can be a mixed bag. But I always seem to find something I love on the Acoustic Rainbow Roots collections. This month, two such songs were also found liking by Acoustic Pie listeners: Cris Williamson’s at no. 8 and Sara Hickman’s at no. 12. You can also find these songs on the artists’ own albums by checking out their websites.

Jason Mraz admirably represents San Diego with a no. 3 showing this month as does John McGaraghan (no. 19) who used to live in San Diego and still drops in now and again!

Thanks for voting and thanks for listening to the Pie!

~Kelley
Acoustic Pie

Artist ~ Song ~ Album

1. Steve Earle ~ Goodbye ~ Train a Comin’
2. Sons of the Never Wrong ~ Variations ~ Four Ever On
3. Jason Mraz ~ You & I Both ~ Live
4. Chris Pureka ~ Silo Song ~ Driving North
5. Andrew McKnight ~ Times We’re Living In ~ Something Worth Standing For
6. Tom Dews ~ No More to Roam ~ Driving Dreams
7. Slaid Cleaves ~ Don’t Tell Me ~ No Angel Knows
8. Cris Williamson ~ Alazan ~ Acoustic Rainbow Roots Volume 32
9. Krista Detor ~ Aurora Means Dawn ~ Wilderness Plots
10. Cheryl Wheeler ~ The Rivers ~ Mrs. Pinocci’s Guitar
11. Steve Chizmadia ~ It’s Always Texas ~ It Is What It Is
12. Sara Hickman ~ Comfort’s Sigh ~ Acoustic Rainbow Volume 26
13. David Wilcox ~ Last One Gone ~ Into the Mystery
14. Dar Williams ~ The Hudson ~ My Better Self
15. Mark Erelli ~ Once ~ Barn Raising
16. Erik Balkey ~ Have Mercy on the Fallen Soul ~ Deadpan Alley
17. Still on the Hill ~ Words On Birds ~ Chaos & Calm
18. John McGaraghan ~ Big Sky ~ Back in the Saddle
19. John Gorka ~ Wisheries ~ The Company You Keep
20. Ellis ~ The Great Unknown ~ Undefended Heart

Top 20 Songs on Acoustic Pie Radio, August 2008

I just love this part of what I do! Getting to see what your favorite songs were each month is always a happy thing. Krista again (at no. 1)! Well, I agree! That album Wilderness Plots is a compilation of Indiana songwriters and it’s a gem. I’ll put in a word here for Michael White who is also featured on the album. You all haven’t taken to his work as much as I have ~ I’ll admit his sound is a little unconventional ~ but give him another listen, ok?

It’s no surprise to see some of the big hitters in the singer/songwriter genre in the Top 20 again: Bill Morrissey at no. 4, Jack Williams at no. 8, Dougie MacLean at no. 12 and David Wilcox at no. 14 & 19. (Um-hm, I linked to David Wilcox’s MySpace page in order to wow you with my appearance in his Top 8. I have absolutely no idea how such a freak occurrence happened but there you go! J ) Folk/pop icon Bob Dylan squeezed onto the list at no. 20 with a classic tune and Dale Marsh, a favorite Second Life artist of mine (aka TallGuy Kidd) was voted in at no. 10 with a beautiful song about planting trees instead of housing developments.

Two of my very favorite San Diego artists are on the list, too! Gregory Page at no. 6 and Carlos Olmeda at no. 15 as well as the adorable and talented San Diego duo The Flimz at no. 11.

Thanks for voting! Thanks for listening!

~Kelley
Acoustic Pie

Artist ~ Song ~ Album

1. Krista Detor ~ Aurora Means Dawn – Wilderness Plots
2. John Batdorf ~ Ain’t It Like Home ~ Home Again
3. Erik Balkey ~ Angel Says to Me ~ Deadpan Alley
4. Bill Morrissey ~ By the Grave of Baudelaire ~ Come Running
5. John Eddie ~ If You’re Here When I Get Back ~ KPRI Live Tracks Volume 2
6. Gregory Page ~ Foolish Words ~ Knife In My Chest
7. Brooker and Bullen ~ Here, Now ~ Reciprocity
8. Jack Williams ~ Hushabye ~ Laughing in the Face of the Blues
9. Syd ~ Back Home ~ Fault Lines
10. Dale Marsh ~ Johnny Appleseed’s Lament ~ No Turning Back
11. The Flimz ~ Final Note ~ The Flimz
12. Dougie MacLean ~ Mary Queen of Scots ~ Who am I
13. Marybeth D’Amico ~ Oblivion ~ Heaven, Hell, Sin & Redemption
14. David Wilcox ~ Good Man ~ Vista
15. Carlos Olmeda ~ A Devil Like Me ~ Sensitive Groove
16. Arlon Bennett ~ Be the Change ~ Summer’s Voice
17. Antje Duvekot ~ South ~ Big Dream Boulevard
18. Sara Softich ~ Pipe Dream ~ Pipe Dream
19. David Wilcox ~ Falling For It ~ Airstream
20. Bob Dylan ~ Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right ~ Lovesick

 

Acoustic Pie Newsletter, August 2008

Hi, Everybody!

I have such a good reason for having put off the newsletter these last few weeks! You see, I was planning to write this brilliant blog about music lessons. It would have been really enlightening as well as entertaining. And I decided to wait to send out this newsletter so that I could be sure and mention the blog to you. Yes, ok, so I never got around to writing the blog. Maybe next month?

Here’s what’s on my mind today:

1. New Featured Artist: Jonathan Byrd
2. Acoustic Pie Radio Turns 6 Years Old
3. Top 30 Songs for July
4. For Locals Only ~ Some San Diego Stuff

1. New Featured Artist: Jonathan Byrd

There’s a new featured artist on Acoustic Pie this month. On my first day at the Sisters Folk Festival last year, I kept noticing this handsome, lanky man in a cowboy hat wandering the streets of Sisters, OR. It turned out that Jonathan Byrd and I were on the same mission that afternoon ~ trying to find Sisters’ only coffee house (it’s a good one). And his first show at the Bronco Billy’s stage was a pure delight. I’m very happy that he’ll be performing at the festival again in a few weeks and I’m so looking forward to hearing him. This festival is logistically magical (if there is such a concept). It’s beautifully run and beautifully situated.

If you want more samples, there’s another Jonathan Byrd song and video posted on my MySpace page this month.

2. Acoustic Pie Radio Turns 6 Years Old

Yes, Acoustic Pie Radio celebrated its sixth birthday last month. The stream went live on July 17th, 2002. I started the radio stream because my two favorite Internet stations had gone off the air, the broadcasters were worried about increased fees from the new digital copyright laws. I started the station so that I could listen to my favorite singer/songwriters at work but what a treat it was to see that other people were soon beginning to listen as well. One of my very first fan letters came from Japan. I dug it up to share with you:

Hellow I love this station. I like this kind of
music. but also country & these days bluegrass
too. Send us more good music. Take care.
by Gonzo.

Well, it was pretty exciting at the time :) And I still love to hear from listeners and am always discovering new artists thanks to your recommendations.

3. Top 30 Songs for July

And speaking of your recommendations! Thanks to everybody who kept insisting I should watch the movie “Once”. You were right! I loved it and I loved the songs. I bought the Collector’s Edition of the album and added four songs to Acoustic Pie. And, as you can see, “If You Want Me” made it into the Top 20 for the month of July.

4. For Locals Only ~ Some San Diego Stuff

And speaking of the movie “Once”! The songwriting duo is coming to San Diego as The Swell Season on Friday, Oct. 3. Anybody wanna come with? I’m expecting it to be a wonderful show and am planning on making it the Pick of the Month.

Also, you may have noticed that I won’t be maintaining the local show calendar any more? There are now so many good resources for finding shows that I’m hoping you’ll hardly miss it.

If you’re still with me, thanks for reading! Let me know how you’re doing! You may write to me directly via email or post a public comment on the blog.

~Kelley

Acoustic Pie Newsletter, June 2008

Hi, Everybody!

We had enough new subscribers this month that I had this idea that, hm… maybe I should actually write a newsletter?

So here’s what’s on my mind today:

1. A Bit of Housekeeping
2. The Teitur and Helgi Hrafn Jonsson Show

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1. A Bit of Housekeeping

A bit of housekeeping news: I sent last month’s blog as an emailed newsletter and I’ll be posting future newsletters here as blog entries. If you’d prefer to receive the newsletters as emails, you can subscribe here.

The Top 20 Songs are always posted each month on the website radio page: www.acousticpie.com/Radio.htm and you can now find the previous months’ Top 20 on this blog as well as in the MySpace blog at: www.myspace.com/kelleymartin

2. The Teitur and Helgi Hrafn Jonsson Show

I’ve been a fan of Teitur’s (a singer/songwriter hailing from the Faroe Islands) since his first show here in San Diego in Aug. 2004 [the new Google SEARCH button on the website is really handy for looking up stuff like that. Is anybody else using it?] Teitur’s May show at the Brick by Brick was my third time to hear him live. He had a fun and talented band with him ~ horns and backup singers and some occasional instruments I couldn’t exactly name :) The electric bass and drum set were too heavily and conventionally employed for my taste (Not to worry! I’m not going into that rant again. If you want to hear it again, you may read the latest rendition in last month’s post here ).

I’m a little disappointed in the direction Teitur is heading. The newest songs have an avant-garde feel, heavy on repetition, light on melody and not quite original enough to capture the imagination. His new album The Singer is in the same vein. I prefer the big melodies, simple arrangements, and thoughtful lyrics of his earlier work. But I do think it’s so important, especially for a young artist, to experiment and explore and follow his latest passions and curiosities where they lead. And I predict an assimilation of the best of the earlier and later writing in the future work of this bright and talented songwriter.

But! The highlight of the show was the last minute addition of a set from Teitur’s trombone playing back-up singer Helgi Jonsson, an Iceland native. Oh my gosh! He sings like an angel and he opened his set with an angelic, a capella, folk-tinged song that brought the noisy bar to a hush such as I’ve never heard there before. For the rest of his set he mostly played solo, accompanying himself with his acoustic guitar, and it was equally compelling.

MySpace is the best place to try out his songs; I recommend
Ashes Away” (a somewhat operatic, piano-based song), “Dry Run” (a simple and appealing acoustic guitar based song) and “Goandi” (soaring melody and some dramatic string arrangements; kind of reminds me a bit of Andrew Lloyd Webber). And there are a few videos on YouTube that can give you a sense of his charisma and stage presence here.

If Helgi actually had a CD available or a solo tour scheduled, I believe I’d place him on the home page as the Featured Artist. Maybe some day!

Thanks for reading! I always love to hear from you! You can leave a comment to share with everyone or email me at kelley@acousticpie.com

~Kelley

The Edge of the Continent

A few months ago I had a minor epiphany: I realized that I had become one of those San Diegans who loves the beach, makes a point of always living near the beach, but never actually goes to the beach. We live on the edge of the continent. It’s an awe-inspiring geographical position. Somehow I’d lost touch with that awe.

So I started taking long beach walks, almost every day. It’s been hard this week seeing all of the sign postings “Waters Closed”. It was hard knowing that my old vet Dr. Martin, one of those rare truly compassionate men on the planet, had died such a hard death in those waters. And it brought back memories of my two little pets and how hard it was to lose them over the years and how much harder it would have been without Dr. Martin’s kindness and understanding.

But today was a glorious day at the beach. It was a low, low tide. So low that I had a wealth of hard-packed sand, hardly another soul in sight, and I could close my eyes and walk for great lengths without fear of straying into the water or bumping into another beach goer. The waves were so loud that the crashing became a sort of arrhythmic accompaniment to the music I was listening to on my Rio MP3 player, an album by a favorite songwriter, Christopher Dallman’s Race the Light.

Do you have certain almost reflexive movements that your body makes when you’re completely overtaken by music you love? For me, my eyes close and my hands come up and they do a little unconscious slow dance all by themselves. That’s what happens when I listen to Christopher. The music is powerful, the melodies and song structure are unconventional and moving, and the lyrics are arresting and significant.

Everybody who knows me knows how I feel about a certain rock-convention rhythm arrangement. Ordinarily, the combination of a drum set and an electric bass backbone just sets my teeth on edge. I loved the pop/rock sound as a teenager in the 70s, I tolerated it through the 80s, and now I’m tired of it! Although Christopher uses both instruments somewhat liberally in his arrangements, I hardly even notice after the first measure. The songwriting and the voice (beautiful, unusual, exciting technique) are that good. If you want your own copy, you can get Race the Light at my favorite online store CD Baby. Christopher needs to record more. If you get a chance, tell him I said so, ok?

If you haven’t been by Acoustic Pie this week there’s a new featured artist, Krista Detor. She’s an amazing pianist/singer/songwriter and she has a new album out this month called Cover Their Eyes. If you’d like to hear a startlingly original piano-based acoustic album, then try out her glorious previous CD Mudshow. If you love a jazzy, nostalgic sound with the same superior musicianship, production, and lazy, sensual vocals, rush out and get the new album Cover their Eyes. I love them both and both are available at, you guessed it, my favorite online album store.

As always, thanks for reading!

Kelley Martin
April 2008
AcousticPie.com

LINKS

Christopher Dallman

Krista Detor

CD Baby