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NOTES FROM THE JOURNEY
2007
Our new recording, The Weight of Light, will be out at the end of the July. It was a different recording process from what we did before. The whole band, and a few more musicians who wandered in from the street, set up in Michael and Carrie Kline's house and we recorded it live. We are hoping to have it in time to have a release party for Dave's birthday and for the Augusta Heritage Workshops. Initial reactions to the few cuts we've floated out into the real world have been great. Probably the most telling comment was "It sounds like a group of friends who have played music together for a while were just having a good time." We don't know if the ice cream truck that parked in front of the house with its bizarre loudspeaker music will prove to have added good karma or not, but we sure had it in the sessions.
Speaking of Augusta, we are teaching a class on songwriting again during Bluegrass Week (the last week in July) – and looking forward to it. Each year at Augusta is different and we're anticipating a great season. (You might want to take a look at www.augustaheritage.com.) We've been so focused on getting this new recording put together that we have been light on bookings this spring and early summer but have some great shows coming up in August and on through into next year. As always, we are grateful to be able to play regularly at El Gran Sabor in Elkins. It is a great listening crowd and the owners have made a point of making it musician-friendly. The same is certainly true for the Purple Fiddle in Thomas, WV (where John has made a place for us in his regular rotation). So much so that it has become a regular stop for national acts. In April we set out on the pilgrimage to Nashville again. Made the rounds on Music Row, hooked up with a number of writers and played a lot of music. We also caught the Lucinda Williams concert at the Ryman. It was excellent! Her recordings do not do justice to her voice. Buddy Miller sat in on a couple of tunes. Great stuff. Went to a John Prine DVD release event at the Basement. It was a lively evening and we were able to spend time with some very fine musicians and folks from the industry.
2006
Rose Bell, Connie's daughter, has really stepped up to join us as fiddler and harmony vocalist. You gotta hear her... We shared the stage with the amazing Johnny Staats and his band at the Elkhenge festival. What a show!
The highlight of the year was our journey to New Orleans in April. It was our first trip. We were able to connect with a number of people in the creative community and to experience first-hand the devastation of the city. You experience it, you don't just see it. It was staggering. The impact of being in that wonderful city is visceral. Played at a club called Handsome Willy's. It was a magical night! In the old days it was a brothel. The present owners had just opened it in 2005 as Handsome Willy's and it was becoming a hangout for writers and then came Katrina...... They rebuilt it and reopened it before the end of 2005. Wonderful crowd and we intend to go back. Here's a quote from a review of that show:
(Courtesy of nolafugees.com and Handsome Willy's, New Orleans)
When WV musicians Connie Townsend and Dave Parker took the stage at Handsome Willy's, a strange thing happened. Amidst the rubble and the ruin of the CBD's dark heart, a kind of old-timey magic took place. Townsend has a voice, like June Carter or Allison Kraus, that carries with it all the beauty, sadness, and strength an Appalachian life conveys. Backed by Dave Parker's guitar and dobro work, it was hard to separate Townsend's originals and the band's traditional covers, so seamlessly do their tunes fit into the Old Timey canon. Sitting out underneath the stars, you got taken away from all the mess and suddenly realized that dignity that comes from maintaining in the face of adversity, the pride that comes from remembering while others forget. In short, you get a taste of what it's like to be an Appalachian. And if you've never seen sunlight catch a drop of dew on the petals of a mountain laurel or waited out the long, grey winter at the end of a red dog road, Wild Ginsang Music is as close as you can get.
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It turns out that one of the club owners is from Morgantown. West Virginia is the center of the Small World Society. This trip was really powerful for us. We fell in love with people and the city. One writer said something to the effect that New Orleans was the only city he'd found that was like living in another country. It's true, even battered as it is.
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| "her voice moves easily and forcefully between angelic, gospel-tinged high notes and twangy country inflections ..."
— M. Friedman, Charleston Gazette |
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© 2007 Wild GinSang Music
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