Video Wednesday

Today we feature a performer that is only ten years old.  Her name is Charlotte Sabina and if she continues on the path she is on she is going to be a big star in the future.

Simply Six: Rachel Brown

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivanshow, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there such a defining moment for you?

For as long as I can remember, I daydreamed about music, but I think it become a goal for me when I started teaching myself guitar at 18. I learned a couple chords and from there on started channeling my creative energy into songwriting. Any live show I go to, it doesn't matter what genre, reinforces my passion for writing and performing.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to?  Who are some of your favorites?

Bob Marley and the Wailers, Wyclef Jean, Jack Johnson, Bruno Mars...with streaming websites like Pandora, I find a lot of what I listen to is a mix of artists on shuffle. A Quickmix of my Ka'au Crater Boys and Smokey Robinson stations get the most use.

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

It's hard to choose, because different moments - big or small - have been so special to me along the way. One that certainly stands out is Wyclef Jean asking me to sing Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" with him at a charity event. That moment was incredible on so many levels - I was singing a song by a huge influence of mine with another another huge influence of mine one week after graduating college to pursue music full-time. Not only was it a moment I can cherish forever, but it gave me the boost of energy and confidence I needed to know I wasn't totally nuts to try and make a career in music.

4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to?   How much can music influence current events?

Music can be so many things. It can inspire someone to do something personally or beyond themselves. From cleaning your house to rallies, music can ignite people.

5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician?

My music has existed solely in the digital age, so I have nothing to compare it to other than my experience as a fan pre-internet. While I certainly miss the thrill of running to the record store to get a brand new CD, with the internet, music is so instantly accessible, post it and anyone can find it at any time. And with Twitter and Facebook, I can connect with fans of my music in any part of the world. It's amazing.

6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

A well-worn pair of sandals, so I'd be somewhere warm and likely on the beach.

Cuban Brass, Honey, and the Void: The Sensual, Spiritual World of Pedro Luis Ferrer on Tangible

Cuban Brass, Honey, and the Void: The Sensual, Spiritual World of Pedro Luis Ferrer on Tangible

http://www.worldmusicwire.com

In the sheltered inner rooms of an old Havana house, an earthy philosopher plucks melodies and rhythms from the air and from Cuban music’s rich soil. Working alone or with close friends and relatives, he turns dances from the sugar cane fields and troubadour trills into magical realist declarations of liberty, as grandchildren dash in and out, and chicken grills out on the veranda.

This is the sensually philosophical world of Cuba’s maverick musician, Pedro Luis Ferrer, whose latest album Tangible continues the renowned singer-songwriter’s transformation of Cuban traditions into a vibrant cry for free thinking and intellectual liberation.

“When a human being is capable of conceiving the transformation of the surrounding world, an inevitable change begins. The spiritual world is as real as stone,” announces Ferrer.

Though roaming happily in the rarified realm of the spirit, Ferrer keeps his sound and his images firmly planted on traditional ground, drawing inspiration from the changüí of the mountains around Guantanamo, from the ballads of Cuban son, and increasingly on the brass arrangements of jazz masters such as Pérez Prado and Beny Moré.

Ferrer has long relied on guitar and the related Cuban tres as the rough yet resonant heart of his songs. Tangible adds brass sections and sinuous keyboards to Ferrer’s soulful vocals, skillful frets, and Latin percussion. The title track, “Tangible,” sparkles with bursts of horns, inviting listeners to dance while they consider God, innate love, verdant Reason, and the startling void. It’s a mix of the seen and unseen, the abstract and tangible, reflected in the music.

This shifting mix is Ferrer’s specialty. Ferrer, once a major figure in Cuba’snueva trova of the 1960s, has created his own distinctive and dynamic palette of Cuban sounds, which he has dubbed changüisa, a feminine word playing on changüí and a pithy challenge to Latin musical machismo. It became a vehicle to engage tradition without slavishly following what Ferrer dismisses as “the old formula” in Cuban music.

“Changüisa is always changing,” Ferrer explains. “The concept of changüisapresupposes transformation. I created the term to describe the free intention to tackle tradition, the transformative intention. It assumes both closeness to the changui and to creativity, a concept that both unites and reconstructs traditions.”

Always questioning, always advocating new avenues for individual creative expression, Ferrer has been often marginalized in his home country. But there is no bitterness in Ferrer’s music. Instead, he makes a sultry, visceral call to life, with all its entanglements, its longing, its lingering kisses and disappointments.

Even in hymns to the power of human imagination, Ferrer sings of concrete experiences, of sights, tastes, and smells. He draws on his childhood love of Cuban folk poetry, often filled with quirky images and mangled metaphors, and his penchant for Dada-esque playfulness, even in the face of great truths. In “Te hablo de un país (I Tell You About a Country),” cityscapes merge with the aroma of cedar, sweat, and honey, as the mind becomes a chisel knocking holes in walls. “The song speaks of a country that I imagine, a country of my dreams, the country that little by little I am constructing,” Ferrer muses, “and of another country I am going to leave behind.”

The vivid, pulsing moments Ferrer chronicles in his songs find their way very simply and spontaneously to the studio. With minimal overdubs and a relaxed atmosphere, Ferrer and a few friends and relatives gathered regularly to lay down tracks at Ferrer’s home. “I play and sing almost everything, and usually also acted as recording engineer. My brother helped with some choruses,” Ferrer recounts. “The fundamental things we recorded live, the marimbula(bass thumb piano), cajon (wooden percussion box), bongo and clave, and the tres, the guitar, the piano. This way we avoid losing the real spirit of live music.”

This sensuous immediacy, Ferrer insists, is a requisite ingredient for changüisaand an antidote to pop fluff and folklore pedantry. “I do not accept the aesthetic dictator of the past as the present, like a sealed and invariable dogma,” he states. “We forget that much of what today has become traditional and trite, was novel at birth.” Ferrer’s freewheeling songs find this freshness and return simply to the tangible.

Simply Six: Danny Django

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there such a defining moment for you?

When I was in Fourth Grade on a Sunday me and some friends watched a Sunday Matinee Movie called “A Hard Days Night” starring the Beatles.  I found myself riveted to it.  I was blown away by the bands music, charisma, wit and personal charm.  I could sense from that young age that there was something very special that I was watching.  A group of people, The Beatles, almost at the height of their careers having a huge impact on world culture that can still be seen and felt today.  I knew I wanted to be apart of that too somehow.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to?  Who are some of your favorites?

  I enjoy the sounds and musical styles of Andrew Bird, St. Vincent, Elliott Smith, Eddie Vedder and Neko Case.  I like Hank Williams, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell for the songwriting.  Cole Porter and Igor Stravinsky for the amazing arrangements and tone color. Kurt Cobain and B.B. King for the powerful emotion in their work.  I really enjoy the work of most British groups over the years.

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

 I think the song “A Survivor” from my new CD “Child Indigo” is a real accomplishment for me personally. The song places someone (probably me) in a backyard or something observing their surroundings and trying to come to grips with what it means to have survived a terrible disease, like cancer. I think that the writing and performance of the song is completely authentic to some of the questions I’m facing in my life now.   The response by audiences has been overwhelming.

4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to?   How much can music influence current events?

 I believe that music has a profound effect on the world and culture.  Ultimately music stimulates peoples thoughts and emotions. It can change the way people look at themselves and the environment around them.  It can be a catalyst for positive or negative trends.  For instance. Many scholarly people believe that The Beatles played a key role in the break-up of the Soviet Union.  It was illegal to listen to Western music in the USSR, people went underground to make and exchange bootlegs of Beatle music and posters.  They even went so far as to play their music at numerous underground locations.  This grew into a huge thing by the 1980’s, the vast majority of Soviets were listening to the Beatles, even Gorbachev.  The walls came done.  Peace , love & understanding via The Beatles triumphed.

5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician?

I think the technology has really killed the old music business models as far as the mega-media Record companies go.  There’s less money, so they can take fewer, if any  chances.  I think the technology has helped make it easier for someone like me to not only create better music but to reach a lot of people with my music that I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to.

6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

 A pair of medium-healed slippers with Mountain-climbing tread on the bottom.

Spotlight: Delvin Miles

Music Promotion via MusicSubmit.com

Webpage: http://www.devlinmiles.com
Location: New York, NY, USA
Description: Devlin Miles rocks like a Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Pat Benatar smoothie for the soul!
Biography: Devlin Miles is causing a ruckus with her Sarah McLachlan, Bonnie Raitt, Sugarland concoction in the clubs of New York City. She’s often found bellowing on Bleeker Street at legendary clubs- The Bitter End and Kenny’s Castaways. She was recently selected the winner of the Regional Subway Fresh Artist on Ourstage.com by Clear Channel and Mtv affiliates. An accomplished songwriter, who has won accolades for her song "The Camera Fades" regarding 9/11 and for “This Guy”, which received an honorary mention by the Billboard World Song Contest. Autumn’s Fires, her latest release has been gathering momentum as she directly reaches out to fans on a much more intimate level as she sings about love, loss, and derelicts. Miles’ first EP Miles To Go has sold out and is currently out of print. She is a BMI affiliated songwriter and a member of the Recording Academy. She has crossed the world to play in Hyde Park, Sydney, Australia at the Gay Games and has played the MEANY Fest and Real Live Folk Women Festival in New York. She is receiving worldwide airplay online at Jango.com & Last.fm. An avid supporter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and kicked off her Northeast tour including her Canadian debut with the opening performance at the Out of Darkness Walk. Her influences range from Tina Turner, Sarah McLachlan, Eurythmics to Guns-n-Roses and Journey. Artists on her frequently played list include Pink, Missy Higgins, The Script, Jason Mraz, Carrie Underwood, Brandi Carlisle, Serena Ryder, Sara Bareilles, Nickelback, and Audioslave to name a few.
Press Release: Contact: Kim Nicholais FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Email: kimberlynicholais@gmail.com Tel: 646-207-2099 Website: www.devlinmiles.com NYC INDEPENDENT ARTIST DEVLIN MILES TO KICK UP A RUCKUS ON THE WEST COAST Southern, CA (April 4, 2011) – On Saturday, April 30th at 8:00pm singer/songwriter Devlin Miles kicks off her brief Southern California tour- beginning with a Japan Relief show in Hollywood. Miles is an independent artist, who recently won the Subway Fresh Artist Regionals and placed 1st out of 536 bands to open for Bon Jovi on Ourstage.com, has been touring the Northeast and is now headed west for her debut performance with 3 touring locations. Miles’ musical style and unique melodic approach possess a great crossover appeal to alternative rock and country music stations. The positive upbeat feel of her music is reminiscent of Sheryl Crow with the country flair of Shania Twain and a soulful lyricist like that of Bonnie Raitt. She is a BMI affiliated songwriter, a member of the Recording Academy, and a New York Songwriter’s Circle Member. 4/30- Japan Relief Show with various artists* Cabana Club, 1439 Ivar Avenue, Hollywood, CA 90028 8pm; $10 donation, (21 + over) *All proceeds will be donated to Japan’s recovery 5/1- Oreana Winery- 2-5pm 205 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Free (all ages)- with Canadian Artist Scottmandu 5/3- Renaissance Café- 6-9pm 24701 Del Prado, Dana Point, CA 92629 Solo- Free (all ages)- joined by Canadian Artist Scottmandu The songs on “Autumn’s Fires” were inspired by the cycles of life, love, loss, and the in-betweens. Autumn’s Fires- fills you with hope and leaves you with a burning impression. Available on I-Tunes, Amazon.com, and CD Baby.com. Miles’ is thrilled to be returning to the west as she has strong ties to the area, having grown up in Riverside, CA where country and rock were first melded on the radio with then cross-over artists Shania Twain and Bonnie Raitt. A graduate of UC Irvine- she looks forward to returning home. ### For more information go to www.devlinmiles.com or to schedule an interview with Devlin Miles, please contact Kimberly Nicholais 646-207-2099 or email devlinmiles@gmail.com

Heaven and Earth: Musical Pioneer John Martyn’s Last Sonic Testament

http://www.worldmusicwire.com

When the late British musical icon John Martyn sat down at the keys, veteran music producer and good friend Jim Tullio sighed. Martyn, an innovative guitarist and singer, had just finished a suite for the London National Ballet Company, which Tullio was mixing, but insisted he needed to lay down a keyboard part. Tullio prepared for hours of noodling, but Martyn made one pass and left. As Tullio incorporated the track into the mix, he was blown away.

“It worked perfectly,” Tullio recalls. “I learned a lesson then, to trust his instincts. John was a genius. He made music more naturally than anyone I’ve ever met, as effortlessly as the way you and I speak.”

Tullio is not alone in his assessment. Martyn, a cult-status musician’s musician, was admired by everyone from Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page to Lee “Scratch” Perry and Bob Marley. Martyn’s groundbreaking guitar technique, tape delay, and recording approaches inspired Brian Eno’s ambient sound and The Edge’s shimmering, delay-drenched strings. He was lionized by Bristol trip-hoppers and chill-out DJs.

After Martyn’s passing in early 2009, Tullio and co-producer Gary Pollitt put Martyn’s last musical testament in order, transforming rough-edged vocals, expansive takes, and complex guitar work into Heaven and Earth (Hole in the Rain; May 3, 2011). Martyn’s voice and striking songs reveal the depth and perception of a musical elder, with his signature grit and sprawling panache.

Several close friends and long-time musical collaborators—including Phil Collins—contributed elements to Heaven and Earth. But the heart of the album—felt on tracks like “Gambler” and “Bad Company”—beats in Martyn’s intuitive, idiosyncratic sense of the blues, filtered through his earthy feel for roots- and jazz-inspired songwriting and his raw voice.

Sounds like: the gritty yet sparkling last word from a neglected music legend who transformed rock, reggae, club music, and folk.

~~~

“John didn’t think about much until he was there doing it. Making music was a spontaneous process, not preconceived. He had a cool vibe,” reflects Tullio, a longtime fan and musical collaborator. They first met in Martyn’s native Scotland, thanks to a colleague from the band Supertramp. “We stopped in this village behind a church and knocked on a cottage door,” Tullio remembers. “And there was John. My friend had set it up and surprised me.”

Before long, Tullio became Martyn’s American connection, reuniting Martyn with old friends like Levon Helm of The Band (whom Martyn met during a late-60s sojourn in Woodstock) and working on several of Martyn’s albums and composition projects. Martyn hung out for months at Tullio’s home and studio in Chicago, making music and becoming practically part of the family. “The personal and musical weren’t separate for John, as they aren’t for most brilliant artists,” Tullio notes.

The personal was complex, and involved a tragic addiction to drink. Martyn lost a leg to alcohol poisoning, yet continued recording, performing, and pushing his music in new directions. An admirer of Pharaoh Sanders for decades, Martyn had a project with Sanders scheduled for early in 2009. But illness took him first.

Tullio and Gary Pollitt, felt they owed it to their friend to put together the pieces of his last works. Tullio had first-hand experience with weaving together the recordings of a talented musician who died before his time, having crafted a Grammy®-winning final record by Steve Goodman (of “City of New Orleans” fame).

His experience didn’t make the labor of love before him any easier emotionally, though he and Pollitt shared a sense of how Martyn approached arrangements and of how best to honor his memory.

“We didn’t do any editing. A lot of the tracks are long—even rambling—but we left them that way, as John last heard them,” explains Tullio. “We knew this was it, so we made a conscious decision to keep everything, every morsel.”

In addition to instrumental tracks and backing vocals by some of Martyn’s favorite backup singers, Phil Collins, a close friend and avid supporter of Martyn’s, sang background vocals on his song “Can’t Turn Back The Years.” Martyn covered Collins’s song, in part as a tribute to their bond, forged as the two men were both grappling with divorce in 1980. (Martyn crashed at Collins’s home for a spell.)

“John wanted to do one of Phil’s songs to repay him,” said Tullio. “After John passed, I spoke with Phil  and he really wanted to sing on the track. He said he had always wanted John to record one of his songs. You can hear the emotion in both their voices.” It’s a haunting feeling that pervades all of Heaven and Earth.

Simply Six: Charlotte Sabina

Charlotte Sabina is a ten year old wonder from New York City.

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there such a defining moment for you?

I actually didn't want to be a singer at all.  I just wanted to write music, and that I wanted to do ever since I started playing.  I used to make up classical pieces and play the piano at school during choice time and my class would listen and I liked having an audience.  They and my teachers are the ones who wanted me to add lyrics and make them into songs and sing them. Now that I do sing, I love it.   

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to?  Who are some of your favorites?

I listen to lots of different kinds of music including classical and old time country and some punk rock music, but rock and roll and pop music are my favorite.  I like girls like Katy Perryand Taylor Swift a lot because they write their own music and they work really hard.  But I also like older music that my friends can't stand like Guns n Roses, Joan Jett and Fleetwood Mac.  I listen a lot to Coldplay, Bon Jovi, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and Elton John.   

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

When I played "Partner in Crime" for my little brother David.  I wrote the song for him and as soon as I played it he knew it and gave me a big hug.  

4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to?   How much can music influence current events?

Did you see Beyonce and Chris Martin perform Halo in the Haiti relief concert?  Just him on piano and her singing, nothing else, not even an audience.  I think that song changed the world.  Artists who become successful can do a lot of good with their influence and many do.  I hope I can some day.  I do give money to Doctors Without Borders.  I hope that helps a little.

5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician?

Jeff, my producer, tells me stories about the old days when it was harder to record. Maybe if I were a musician a long time ago I wouldn't have been able to record my music, which would make my life different. I don't know what people did before the Internet because I use it all the time to learn new chords or to listen to different songs, and to send my music to my family and friends.  So I guess the technology is good.  But there's always another side of the story. I know it's harder now for artists to make money because people listen to so much music on YouTube and don't always buy the songs.  

6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

Converse sneakers that I could paint and design however I want. 

Music on the Couch This Monday

MUSIC ON THE COUCH 

MONDAY, MAY 23, 2011
10pm Eastern; 9pm Central; 8pm Mountain; 7pm Pacific
Archived on Tuesday morning and forever HERE

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Artist Of The Day Links, Music News Updates And More
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This week:
CECILIA GAULT
and
Jeff Massey from 
THE STEEPWATER BAND 
SIT ONTHE COUCH 

A 12-year old singing sensation and Chicago Rock & Blues

Cecilia Gault is only 12, but she sings like a seasoned veteran and has recently begun writing music with the fantastic Josh Charles.

Her appearance at the Bridge To Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Benefit Concert at City Winery in New York City brought her to the attention of many. She performed her original song "Where," which she co-wrote with Charles.

You may also recognize her face from an appearance on Law & Order: SVU or her name, as she is part of the Scholastic Kids Press Corps.

We will chat with Cecilia about her time writing with Josh, how she is planning on juggling such a busy schedule, and we will listen to some brand new music by Cecilia.

Then we sit with Jeff Massey (guitarist/lead vocalist) from The Steepwater Band out of the Chicagoland area.

This act came to Music On The Couch through Krista Hughes, a friend on Facebook.

Massey, with Tod Bowers (bass) and Joe Winters (drums), are a solid power trio who began covering Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker and eventually started writing their own music.

With four albums already out and getting much airplay throughout the Midwest, we will be chatting with Jeff about their formation, their forthcoming fifth album and the busy touring schedule they have coming up.

We will listen to music from their past albums, with an outside shot of a song from the soon to be released fifth album.

We will take your calls and questions for both guests at 1.347.633.9400.

Come sit on The Couch and meet musicians you should know

The live interactive chat room opens 20 minutes before show time. Follow this link HERE and click on the Chat Now icon. Come hang with the fans and musicians who visit each week.

Remember, unless you take the two minutes to register, you will not be able to participate in the chat room or send me questions to ask our guests, but you will still hear the show.

So tune in on Monday evening or remember, you can always listen anytime after the show ends from the player HERE or check out Music On The Couch for additional artist information, and show recaps.

You can download to your iTunes and even subscribe to the show for weekly automatic downloads, from my iTunes page.

Thanks -
Vinny "Bond" Marini

---

Please patronize our Sponsors


 
 

Music On The Couch is offering sponsorships at this time. Each week our listening audience is growing. Share your product or service with our listeners.

Over 7,300 people have listened to MOTC in 2011! 

Sponsorships as of April 1st are available for as low as $20.00/spot and offer graphic-link placement on the MOTC website, and our weekly email newsletter 

For more information, send an email to musiconthecouch@yahoo.com

This Monday On Music on the Couch

MUSIC ON THE COUCH 

MONDAY, MAY 2, 2011
10pm Eastern; 9pm Central; 8pm Mountain; 7pm Pacific
Archived on Tuesday morning and forever HERE

Subscribe Via

iTunes 
Artist Of The Day Links, Music News Updates And More
Follow Music On The Couch 

This week:
KRISTA PARRISH
and
AUSTIN YOUNG 
SIT ONTHE COUCH 

A EVENING WITH TWO YOUNG GUITARISTS

 

Krista Parrish comes to Music On The Couch through a suggestion by our friend Dusty from RoboDrum. This young lady is a must hear. Her music is intelligent and her vocal range is astounding.

That might be enough to have you come listen, but you need to hear that Ms. Parrish is a smokin' guitar player also. Her song "Mexico" was selected for the Gods Of Indie Guitar album this year.

Last year Krista released Playing With Pendulums with bassist/husband Steven Murphy and drummer Michael Fazekas. A song off the album, "Easier Said Than Done" went to #1 on the indie music charts in the rock category.

She was recently signed to Cinderella Records and we will discuss her explosive journey and what is on the horizon.

Then we get to sit with Austin Young. Austin is a 15-year old guitar sensation from Colorado. With his dad, Tim, on drums and 16-year old Noah Mast on bass, they perform as Young Austin And No Difference.

Austin plays what he has dubbed “Texandrix Blues” a blend of Texas Blues and Hendrix inspired guitar. He has shared the stage with the likes of Bob Margolinand others,

Young Austin and No Difference were Semi-finalists in the band competition at the 2010 International Blues Challenge.

How did Austin become so skilled on the guitar. What has he experienced so far and what is he looking forward to in the years to come. All this and music from their album Yesterday Is Gone.

We will take your calls and questions for both guests at 1.347.633.9400.

Come sit on The Couch and meet musicians you should know

The live interactive chat room opens 20 minutes before show time. Follow this link HERE and click on the Chat Now icon. Come hang with the fans and musicians who visit each week.

Remember, unless you take the two minutes to register, you will not be able to participate in the chat room or send me questions to ask our guests, but you will still hear the show.

So tune in on Monday evening or remember, you can always listen anytime after the show ends from the player HERE or check out Music On The Couch for additional artist information, and show recaps.

You can download to your iTunes and even subscribe to the show for weekly automatic downloads, from my iTunes page.

Thanks -
Vinny "Bond" Marini

---

Please patronize our Sponsors


 
 

Music On The Couch is offering sponsorships at this time. Each week our listening audience is growing. Share your product or service with our listeners.

Over 6,300 people have listened to MOTC in 2011! 

Sponsorships as of April 1st are available for as low as $20.00/spot and offer graphic-link placement on the MOTC website, and our weekly email newsletter