Country Music Pride |
- Jim Avett Talks About Family, Nashville, New CD “Tribes”
- Katzenjammer “Le Pop” Nettwerk Records
- Win Free Copies of Mary Chapin Carpenter’s New CD!
| Jim Avett Talks About Family, Nashville, New CD “Tribes” Posted: 19 Jun 2010 10:13 PM PDT When asked about his plans for Father’s Day, Jim Avett simply said, “Not a thing. There’s nothing special about Father’s Day as far as I’m concerned. I get the gift of being a daddy every day.” If you’re ever lucky enough to spend an hour talking with this man, you’ll realize that every day really is Father’s Day in the Avett household. This amazing role model for Scott and Seth (you know, the Avett Brothers) gets our vote for Lifetime Father of the Year. But in Jim Avett’s world, he’s nothing special — shouldn’t everyone strive for the basic ideals of loyalty, hard work, kindness, and love for family? That should be the rule, not the exception. Humble, self-deprecating and gregarious, Jim Avett (who spoke with us via phone from his home in Concord, NC) is also a talented singer/songwriter. Tribes, his second release (the first, last year’s Jim Avett and Family, was a collection of gospel tunes) is now out on Ramseur Records. A true family effort, Tribes was recorded at the urging of Scott and Seth, and features his daughter Bonnie Avett Rini singing gorgeous harmonies on the opening track, “This Will Take Time.” Says Jim, “The themes of these songs are built around experiences in love and living and my thoughts regarding both. Three songs deal with the serious side of love, one is gospel, one is a tragedy, and two are just fun to sing. All are based on true accounts.” Longtime friend and guitarist Ray Morton is featured throughout. This is an album of engaging stories performed exactly the way country music should be. The only downside is, at only seven tracks, there are too few of them. “I was influenced a great deal by Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard, Tom T. Hall,” Jim said, “and Nashville and the music of the Appalachian Mountains.” One of the “fun to sing” songs is “Fight With A Bottle of Booze,” which takes the age-old battle with the bottle to an amusing and rockin’ level. Tribes contains his more recent songs, but there are others in his repertoire that he’s carried around for years before finishing, if at all. “As a singer/songwriter you walk around with a book full of ideas.” Others come quickly, as did “Naomi”, the album’s only tale of tragedy. It recounts the 2003 murder of Naomi Estes by her husband, youth pastor Aaron Estes. Her battered body was discovered a mere three miles from the Avetts’ home in Concord. In the sad ballad, Jim observes that love can be “a cold-blooded thing.” A North Carolina native with a Methodist preacher father and a classical pianist mother, Jim joined the Navy and later earned a degree in psychology. After taking up welding as a trade, there came quests for opportunities and adventure that took Jim and his wife Susie and little Bonnie to Alaska, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and back to North Carolina (adding Scott and Seth along the way). Jim is philosophical about the nature of talent, fame and the opportunities to spread creativity to a wider audience beyond the front porch. “You can be the best songwriter or guitar player in the world, but you have to work at positioning yourself so that you’re in a place where, if the stars line up, if the right man comes along at the right time, you’re on your way.” “I told the boys early on,” he added, “play it the way you play it, and if it’s good, if it’s entertaining, then folks will come to hear you. If not, then we’ll sit here on the front porch and entertain ourselves.”  Photo by Elizabeth Lemon Ten years ago Jim put his own performances on hold while the boys were finding their own voices and an eventual place in music history. “I don’t mind shooting myself in the foot by making a mistake, but if I said something that interfered with them, I would never forgive myself.” The importance of family was particularly evident during our conversation when suddenly Jim excused himself and called out to his son in the background, “I got ‘em, Scott! You can get ‘em up here if you want ‘em! Come and get ‘em! They’re back in the kitchen!” The Avetts have chickens, and Scott was about to gather the eggs when Jim stopped to tell him he’d gotten them earlier. It speaks volumes grown children (especially successful ones) want to hang around their parents even when they don’t have to. Jim was also kind enough to participate in CMP’s “12 Questions with …”, a new feature that we recently subjected Derek Hoke and Megan McCormick to. We’ll post her interview here next week. 12 Questions with Jim Avett 1). What’s for supper? 2). List five items currently in your refrigerator. 3). Buck Owens or Roy Clark? 4). What are you listening to these days? 5). What was your first paying job? 6). What was your first paying music gig? 7). John Prine started out as a mailman. Did you always know you wanted to be a musician? 8). Was there a record or artist that changed your life or made a huge impression on you early on? 9). Which comes first for you, the lyric or the melody? 10). What does Nashville mean to you? 11). If you were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame tomorrow, what would be the first sentence of your acceptance speech? 12). What’s next for Jim Avett? This retired welder, honest singer/songwriter, and well-educated family man is enjoying writing and performing his music more than ever now. “I just got back from playing in New York City. I’ve also played in Nashville, so now I can say I’ve played New York and Nashville. I don’t know if it can get any better than that.” Despite what he said about doing nothing special for Father’s Day, I suspect Susie and the kids will have something nice planned, although I’m sure Jim would be happy to just sit on the porch and play music with his family and friends. Happy Father’s Day, Mr. Avett. ————————– 8/27 – Charlotte, NC @ Double Door (w/Lissy Rosemont, 9pm) Visit JimAvett.com for further information. |
| Katzenjammer “Le Pop” Nettwerk Records Posted: 19 Jun 2010 03:21 PM PDT Being new to the world of album reviews, I decided to just write whatever popped into my head while listening to Le Pop for the first time (not unlike anything else I write, ever). So: I generally love things with bells and accordion-sounding instruments, so this sounds really promising from moment one, and very eclectic, and very un-categorize-able. I'm waiting for the lead of Gogol Bordello to come in with his crazy guy voice and tell me to start wearing purple. Oh yes…I like this. The lead's voice sounds a little bit like Hayley Williams with a tiny accent, or a more mellow Roisin Murphy, and when the other girls chime in, the harmonies are tight enough that you think it miiiiight be the lead's voice, just dubbed over and over again, but you're not willing to commit to that. The lyrics, in general, are fun, while not being entirely life changing, which I really appreciate. I get tired of new bands that think they have so many important and amazing and never-been-though-of things to say that their lyrics are wildly complex metaphors that don't really make sense and no one resonates with. Although I do wish that Demon Kitty Rag was actually about a kitty. Katzenjammer walks a fine line with another new band thing I have a hard time with: the use of atypicall, not-necessarily-musical noises in song. I like the sounds of airplanes taking off as much as the next girl (who doesn't really like them), but that doesn't mean that I want to hear that at the beginning of a song about how your lost love is like a tear drop at the bottom of the ocean in the wreckage of a 1720s pirate ship that's been pillaged by modern-day Vikings. But these girls manage to use the strange, unusual-in-music sounds (see Tea With Cinnamon and Le Pop take wild trips to the carnival) consistently throughout songs, and not just as attention getters, so they don't feel out of place, and somehow, they make sense. The title track makes me imagine the Beach Boys, the B52s and Toni Basil performing in Disney's California Adventure's Paradise Pier. I just needed to say that because I had really strong nostalgic moments of all of those people/places while listening to that song. Their slower, not-really-ballads-but-still-slow songs are easy to listen to, and do a good job of carrying a full sound, while not trying to be epic. In general, this album makes me want to first, learn the lyrics immediately, so that I can sing along at the top of my lungs on some unscheduled road trip, and second, learn old dances from the 40s in case I ever get to see these girls live, because I'm pretty sure that's what the crowd ends up doing after everyone's had a few drinks. It just makes sense. And more than anything, this album makes me excited to see Katzenjammer live, which is a big deal all around. I just hope they actually travel with all of the crazy instruments I'm hearing, instead of a bunch of Macbooks. |
| Win Free Copies of Mary Chapin Carpenter’s New CD! Posted: 19 Jun 2010 11:36 AM PDT We love Mary Chapin Carpenter’s new CD, The Age of Miracles. Judging by the emails we’ve gotten here and the many comments over at our No Depression page, fans are also excited. In case you missed it, people are saying wonderful things about her music: …a mostly quiet album, yet luckily free from melancholy navel-gazing. Instead, it's a study in appreciation for the yin and yang, the ecstasy and sorrow, that encompass a life fully lived.” – Country Music Pride [Read our entire review here.] “Heady stuff that is gracefully and thoughtfully accomplished.” – The 9513 “Carpenter is nearly unique in her ability to see life as it really is, tinged through a lens of hope. And, in times like these, tht is music we can all use.” – Roughstock “Carpenter is probably the most literary singer-songwriter to ever grace country music.” – CMT That said, we’re giving away two copies of The Age of Miracles. Just drop us a line in the comments section or send us an email: contests[at]countrymusicpride[dot]com. Either way, be sure to INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS so we can contact you. We’ll choose two winners at random. Good luck! |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Country Music Pride To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment