In a lot of ways, I look at Neil Young’s career as inspired by the little engine that could. In his loud periods and in his gentle ones, he has continued to feed his head and his art, seeming not to waiver from the path of the muse over the decades. And he has brought so many good things to the world via his activism, The Bridge School, and Farm Aid, so it is an awesome thing to see him being honored as well. He just picked up his second GRAMMY® a couple of weeks ago for Best Rock Song, “Angry World.” A few nights before the GRAMMYs, voices were raised joyously in a tribute to Neil at Carnegie Hall in New York, a concert that raised money for music education, though Neil himself was not on hand for the show. In October, at The Bridge School benefit, seminal band Buffalo Springfield reunited after 42 years, and tongues began wagging, clamoring for a tour. We are waiting for those details to be announced, but Buffalo Springfield will be playing Bonnaroo.
Neil Young’s music has influenced countless others in the generations that have come after. I hear his DNA embedded in the new album out today from Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion. They carry other legacy genes, as she is Arlo’s daughter and Woody’s granddaughter. The new CD, Bright Examples, has been culled from 50 songs written over the last 5 years. Sarah Lee remarks that it has taken them in a dreamy, psychedelic direction (have you noticed that psychedelic is a buzz word again?) It is hard to believe it is just their second full length album, as the follow up to 2005’s Exploration. That is not to say that they haven’t had oodles of other projects to keep them hopping!
There are a string of tour dates ahead, including an album release party tonight at LA’s famed Hotel Cafe. Here is the title track from the new one, ”Bright Examples.”
- Jessie Scott
