Folk/Bluegrass/Americana Fridays- because sometimes you want to close your eyes and imagine yourself sitting on a wrap-around porch gazing wistfully at the Appalachian mountains while a very nice old couple plays lovingly duets with a banjo and fiddle.
I adore a good banjo/acoustic guitar/mandolin/fiddle combo. I’ve been listening to Prairie Home Companion and Bluegrass music my whole life but I think my affinity for it really comes from when my family and I lived in Memphis, TN. On Sundays after church, my mom would turn the intercom radio throughout the house to Bluegrass Sundays on NPR and we’d hum and dance and make “down in the holler” jokes. On a whole, I despised living in Memphis (having left Austin…whoa totally different) but Sundays were what made it bearable. I loved our Methodist church and how great I felt every Sunday after seeing my friends and coming home to the whole family in sunny spirits.
Living in Tennessee, we took several short trips to the Eastern part of the state and the Carolinas. One of my most vivid musical memories is listening to Alison Krauss’ album, Forget About It, on a trip to Kiawah Island, SC in 1999. I remember closing my eyes on the porch facing the beach and hearing the most pure and captivating voice wafting from the CD player inside. It was Alison’s voice and I’ve been madly in love with every project she’s done ever since. From her partnership with Union Station to her work on Cold Mountain and O Brother, Where Art Thou? to the album Raising Sand she did with Robert Plant. She is undeniably magnificent, and the newest album from Alison Krauss and Union Station, Paper Airplane, is no exception. Their songs speak of a different era but capture the same emotions we feel today. A recipe for pure, beautiful and poignant music.
I couldn’t pick which song to post so here are two of my favorites, “Paper Airplane” and “Dust Bowl Children”.
Peace, Love and Banjos.
June 18th, 2011
