What a storm it was. If you are in the massive affected area, we hope you are getting power back and that you are starting to put things back in place. I know for many, this will take months, maybe even years, to accomplish.
So today is Halloween, huh? I hope the kids don’t trick or treat tonight in my still darkened neighborhood, not that I want to eat all the candy by myself! For our first post-Sandy stab at a return to normalcy, here is Corb Lund with a Halloween treat, from his brilliant new album Cabin Fever. “Dig Gravedigger Dig.”
Sandy is coming, and here on the east coast we are waiting. Our preparations are done; water, batteries, canned food. If the power goes out, we hope we have what we need. I spent an inordinate time on Sunday buying all that stuff, and then looking for a portable radio. Time was that radios were on the shelves everywhere. I tried the usual places, remember Radio Shack USED to even have ‘radio’ in its name. Walgreen’s was out. Marshall’s had only iPod accessories. I finally found one at a tobacconist/newsstand in Denville, NJ. They even had the C batteries to power it, hallelujah. Radio used to be ubiquitous. Sunday’s search is a sad testament of how things have changed.
I keep hearing the strains in my head of a classic radio tune from way back when; “Sandy, 4th of July, Asbury Park.” It would be a cruel irony indeed if Sandy makes landfall on the Jersey shore. This storm is so huge though, that it will bring misery to many - wind and flood damage, disruption to normal life. Heck, it is not every day they shut down the NYC transit system. So if you are in the affected area, Godspeed through it all. May you and yours stay safe. Here is an offering from David Jacobs-Strain, “Ocean Or A Teardrop,” originally found on his 2004 album. Here is the Music Fog recording, filmed during Americana Fest 2010.
There was a wonderful piece on 60 Minutes a couple of Sunday's back, about a singer/songwriter named Rodriguez. He made two albums decades ago that didn't hit, and then fell into obscurity. Somehow his music found traction in South Africa.
He didn't know that in South Africa, he had cult status. His music was ubiquitous, he was the voice of a generation...but Rodriguez didn't know anything about it. The legend sprang up that he had committed suicide, but, Steve Segerman who owns a record store in Cape Town, decided to go hunting for him in Dearborn, MI. Rodriguez has now toured South Africa, and the US as well. His music is now on the sales charts in the US, too. At the age of 70 he is the subject of a documentary that is being hailed as an Oscar contender, Searching For Sugar Man. The 60 Minutes segment reminds us all of the value of poets and musicians, and is especially poignant in light of so many talented folks who labor in obscurity. I don't know what it will take to turn the trend around so that music is important to more people again. If we lose the opportunity for it to be a significant part of our communication, our society will be the poorer for its loss.
We have a video from Shawn Camp to bring you today, but before we do, here is a question. Are you hip to the new band he is in, The World Famous Headliners? They are Big Al Anderson, Michael Rhodes, Pat McLaughlin and Greg Morrow....yeah buddy, it don't get no better than that! Their songwriting, sideman and solo projects are the stuff of musical who's who. The self-titled album just came out a few months ago. Worthy stuff indeed, it simply makes me crazy that more folks don't know about this music, and these artists. It is where the good stuff lives. Shawn Camp came to play forthe Music Fog cameras two years ago at Americana Fest 2010. This year at the Americana Honors & Awards, as co-producer with Tamara Saviano, they picked up Album Of The Year for the Guy Clark Tribute, This One's For Him. Today's song is not from any of the above mentioned projects, instead it is an as yet unreleased song, "Building The Fire."
