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 Acoustic Pie Blog 