The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
 
Big Hurt  |  CD Reviews  |  Classical  |  Jazz  |  Live Reviews  |  Music Features
Best2012Vote-1000x50

Folk yeah

The other side of the Bear cures the Mondays
By MICHAEL BRODEUR  |  February 3, 2009

090206_download_main
Vikesh Kapoor

For years now, T.T. the Bear's Place has boldly addressed the problem of what to do on Monday nights, when one's brainmeats are still tender from all that weekending. The momentarily disturbingly named "Other Side of the Bear" series offers an all-acoustic program featuring full-time folk-types, moonlighting frontmen (or — eek! — drummers), bold novices, and nascent talents of all stripes. If you think acoustic music is for pussies, staying at home watching Bones is even pussier — so zap. This Monday (February 9) is an especially promising installment; here's a sampling.

Vikesh Kapoor, "Down by the River" (Live on WTBU)
Kapoor sings a song built around a refrain lifted from a song salvaged by Alan Lomax and later sung by Pete Seeger. His verses attach themselves seamlessly, and in this live take from a session recorded for BU student radio, the nervy flutter of his voice gives this simple send-off a twinge of urgency.

Spitzer Space Telescope, "Graknils and Gerkins"
When Dan McDonald (a/k/a Spitzer Space Telescope) takes the stage in this half-hour cable-access performance, he's power-strumming like Richie Havens at Woodstock. Of course, Havens has never taped "THANX 4 THE ADD, LOL" across his guitar, or sung "Nancy Whiskey" with a fake brogue. So it's kind of like Havens plus that stuff. Not really, though. McDonald's own description sounds about right: "dangerous folk."

Woody Pines, "Nashville"
The only out-of-towner on Monday's bill, Asheville's Woody Pines hauls a heap of authentic Southern-style juke stomp and mountain balladry. Here, he channels a cockeyed homage to a city where "they chew their tobacco thin," a line once sung by "The Dixie Dewdrop," Uncle Dave Macon. Will any of us understand the hayseed crap he's carrying on about? Probably not. But will it sound great? Yes.

Elizabeth Butters, "Hard Time A'Comin' "
"I was born in the wrong era," the Somerville singer, songwriter, guitarist, and dulcimer player says plainly. Given that Butters identifies with dust, there's something fresh about her approach to old-time folk songs. The barely lit stage in Northampton in this YouTube clip is a strangely fitting setting for her jaunty, lonely trip toward darker times.

Related: Young folk, Wizards of Oz, Photos: Jenny Dee and the Deelinquents at TT's, More more >
  Topics: Download , Science and Technology, Technology, Sciences,  More more >
| More

 Friends' Activity   Popular   Most Viewed 
[ 02/01 ]   Red Baraat  @ T.T. the Bear's Place
[ 02/01 ]   Rise Against + A Day to Remember + The Menzingers  @ Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell
[ 02/01 ]   Superior Donuts  @ Lyric Stage Company of Boston
ARTICLES BY MICHAEL BRODEUR
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   FOLK ACT  |  June 26, 2010
    Vikesh Kapoor
  •   BOSTON PRIDE WEEK: OFF THE MAP  |  June 07, 2010
    We may seem a little cranky, but us local gayfolk just love a parade, and we’re actually heartened by this annual influx of brothers and sisters from every state of New England and every letter of our ever-expanding acronym.  
  •   THE NEW GAY BARS  |  June 02, 2010
    If I may channel the late, great Estelle Getty for a moment: picture it, Provincetown, 2009, a dashing young man with no discernible tan and an iffy T-Mobile signal languishes bored upon the sprawling patio of the Boatslip Resort.
  •   ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFFITI | BEFORE TODAY  |  June 01, 2010
    If the gradual polishing of Ariel Pink’s sound — and it’s not all that much more polished — puts his loyalists at odds with his albums, I count that as good news.
  •   MORE THAN HUMAN  |  May 26, 2010
    It’s hard to talk about Janelle Monáe when your jaw’s fallen off.

 See all articles by: MICHAEL BRODEUR

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed