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lonelypond · 4 years ago

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A Coffeeshop Christmas Carol, Ch. 1

Love Live, NicoMaki, 5.8K, 1/3

Summary: Maki Nishikino finds herself haunted by Christmas memories as Nico Yazawa enlists her help in putting together the Tudor Conservatory Annual Christmas Pageant. Will their clash be just a collision or the start of something more? Plus, NozoELi shenanigans.

PROLOGUE

Chill in the air, hint of snow on the wind, Christmas only a few days away, dinner plans that might turn into future plans, Nishikino Maki was as excited as she’d ever been for Santa’s arrival as a child. At least in the calm moments when she wasn’t overthinking, like now. Too much excitement, too much pressure, too many thoughts pinballing through her head. Maki stood outside her apartment building, arms full of prickly pine and plants, groceries, and her heart full of...it wasn’t exactly hope. Or maybe it was hope. She was definitely nervous, definitely rehearsing conversations she might have had and might be having with Mako Omine. And now there was this Solstice Eve dinner...or date...or…

The doorman opened the door with a smile and Maki nodded as she rushed past, already behind in her preparations. Fortunately, she’d ordered dinner from her favorite Italian restaurant and only had to put some basic appetizers on a plate. The wine could be opened when her guest arrived. And then…

Maki slid the key into the lock of her apartment, hand trembling. And then...that was the entire worry.

###

Should this feel more comfortable, Maki wondered as she swirled the wine around in her glass, not really listening to Omine as she described her last day of classes.

“I won’t miss that place at all.” Omine sighed, leaning back dramatically and tossing her fair, curly hair over her shoulder.

Maki snapped to instant alert, “What place?”

“Northwestern.”

Panic set in. Maki had obviously missed something; she set her wine glass down before she crushed it. “Why would you miss it?”

“Weren’t you listening at all, Maki? Of course you weren’t.” Omine leaned in, flicking Maki’s forehead as the redheaded future doctor flinched, “Too much going on in that big brain of yours.”

It was a colder laugh than Maki expected. Smart had always been the thing she did well, the area she always excelled at. Was it a problem now?

Maki stood, towering as Omine continued to lounge on the couch, far too casually amused about the tension vibrating from Maki.

“Where are you going?”

“California.”

“California??”

“Beaches, bikinis, no snow San Diego.”

“Why?” Maki winced as her voice cracked.

Another too casual shrug, “Dream job, tired of school, parents tired of paying tuition. I’m not a brainiac like you.”

“I’m not…”

Omine shook her head, standing up to interrupt Maki, and somehow closer than she’d ever been before. “It wouldn’t work, Maki. You’re always off somewhere, nowhere I can find you. And our parents…” A side glance at the mistletoe carefully hung over the piano, “Thanks for the snack, Maki. It’s time for me to finish packing. I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“Omine.” It was all Maki could say.

And then she was in a hug, but she still couldn’t relax and her brain kept racing through possibilities rather than being in the moment. Should she hug back, ask more questions, not let go, play a song, cry, turn away…

Now the hug was tighter.

“I’ll miss you, Maki.”

Did “don’t go” want to come out of Maki’s mouth? Her arms fell to her side. Omine let go and stared for too long. “Still just standing there?”

“What am I supposed to do?” Maki snapped, “You’re leaving.”

Maki willed the tears not to start as Omine stepped away, “I am.”

Maki turned away, nearly falling into the couch, a grunt her only reply.

Omine was already in her coat. “Take care, Maki.”

The door closed and suddenly, all the pine and green and gold and mistletoe and dreams were tainted, taunts to be torn down.

###

EARLY NOVEMBER, 23 MONTHS LATER

Maki almost had a flow as the Tudor Conservatory’s Composer In Residence. Piano practice in the aftermorning, lunch, meet with the quintet she was composing for, write, if blocked, pick up random donut shop coffee and take her music to a park. Then lock herself in her studio, avoid social obligations, and listen to darkly humorous heavy metal screamers. This would push HER out of memory, flood Maki’s brain with static so she could avoid falling into the loop of mired in heartbreak composing. It hadn’t really been heartbreak, Maki had never really put her heart out there, on her sleeve, in a selfie, or anywhere. Almost...a grand plan, dinner, mistletoe, but instead there had been Omine excited she was about her new job, across the country. And that had crushed Christmas, Maki’s favorite mood, Maki now finally, finally believed Santa and goodness and joy had NEVER existed. Because if they had, her heart would not have been frozen by unawareness and then shattered by distance. Last Christmas had been the worst. Maki just disappearing into her apartment and an endless stream of anything dark and not Christmasy. And now Christmas was looming again. Halloween, a cheerful dark holiday you could blast The Smiths and Girl In A Coma and weird, darkly humorous old school country bluegrass songs to get through, had just passed so there was no goth line of protection for the broken.

Maki was in a rush. Late to a meeting with Professor Sonoda. And her score was nearly complete. She just needed five minutes, a large table, and a sharp pencil. The campus coffeeshop loomed on the left, the owner, Nozomi Tojo outside and looking like she was about to finish placing the large candy cane she was juggling and talk and Maki had no time for that. A small figure, all bundled up against a bracing wind was walking fast, head down, toward Maki, but Maki prepared to dodge. And then the candy cane flew out of Nozomi’s hand, skittered in front of the woman hustling to the shop, tripping her, the momentum of her fall caught Maki off guard so her score flew everywhere.

“What the…” Maki bit off a profanity, scrambling.

“Watch where you’re going!” The projectile snapped, unexpectedly fierce red eyes glaring.

Maki froze, drawing up to her full height, “Watch where I’m going? Watch where I’m going?”

Nozomi scooped up a sheet of music, “Maki, don’t you need these?”

“Oh hell,” Maki moved to sprint into the street, but felt a strong hand pull her back as a speeding car took half of her score two blocks away. She turned expecting to see Nozomi, instead it was the tiny, sable haired, fiery eyed cause of her new problem.

“Are you stupid?” The woman sounded breathless and scared, but her grip on Maki’s arm didn’t yield.

“That’s my entire score. It’s almost finished. I…” Maki felt like crouching down and covering her head.

Nozomi had collected a handful. “Here. I’ll get the counter girls to run after it.”

“Make me my usual. Nico will help.” Nico released Maki’s arm, shoved a handbag into Nozomi’s arms, and took off down the street, hair streaming behind her. Maki watched, having trouble processing what was happening and clutching a too small stack of music to her chest.

“Maki? Professor Nishikino?”

“Huh?”

Nozomi had a hand on Maki’s shoulder, “Let’s get you inside.”

“I have a meeting.”

“You probably need your music for…”

“Yeah.” Maki walked through the door, found a corner booth that had not been tainted by Christmas decorations, and shoved back in the corner, legs drawn up on the bench.

“Is there someone you can call?”

Maki shook her head, pulling out her phone, texting was always her only option.

M: Sorry, Umi, I’m going to be late. I had an accident.

Immediate response.

U: Are you all right? Were you driving?

M: No, someone tripped into me and scattered my score.

A thump and Maki looked up to see a large stack of papers slammed into the table in front of her.

“They’re not numbered. Didn’t your professors teach you anything?”

“I am a professor.”

The woman sat down in a chair, examining Maki carefully, then shaking her head. “Graduate students shouldn’t pass themselves off as faculty.”

Maki thought that was ironic coming from someone who looked like they might be on their way to their freshman dorm, “Well, I’m glad you’re not in any of my classes. I’d never get anything done.”

“That stupid candy cane tripped Nico. Who puts up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving?”

Maki’s mood improved. A kindred spirit. “Exactly. Why put them up at all?”

“Bigger tips.” Nozomi announced, carefully placing a huge mug in front of each woman.

“I’ll pay you to skip to…” Maki considered. New Year’s was never really much, Valentine’s Day was frankly disturbing, Easter was for kids…”summer, yeah, beaches, pictures of piers, sandpipers popping along the shore.”

‘I’m sorry, you’ll just have to get in the holiday spirit. Or Santa won’t bring you what you need.” Nozomi winked as she turned.

“Santa.” Maki and Nico both snorted.

Nico considered Maki for a moment, then extended a hand, “I think I rescued most of your pages. I’m Nico Yazawa, Drama and Performance.”

Maki put her phone down, ignoring the text notification, “Maki Nishikino. I’m the composer in residence.”

“Oh.” Nico grinned, “My friend Umi’s been telling me I should talk to you.”

“Why?”

Somehow Nico puffed up like a proud bird showing off its feathers, “Nico’s in charge of this year’s Christmas concert. Everyone asked me to take over and it’s going to be the best one ever.” Nico leaned in, eyes even brighter with excitement than anger, “So Nico needs the best people to work with and since Umi won’t help me, she suggested you.”

“Umi won’t…” Maki was trying to make sense of what Nico was saying, the third person self references and lack of context making it a confusing knot.

Nico coughed, “No, no, Nico misspoke. Umi just thought that if Nico knew you, you would have been Nico’s first choice.”

Was that the other thing that Umi had wanted to talk about at their meeting today? Maki grabbed her phone and pounded out a message.

M: Were you going to talk to me about…

Maki glanced up, “What was your name again?”

Nico’s smile got brighter, although her eyes narrowed, “Nico Yazawa.”

M: Nico Yazawa?

U: Oh good, have you met her? She has A Christmas Carol script she wants to turn into a musical and I thought it might be a good challenge for you…

Maki frowned. Christmas. Ugh. She had been hoping to avoid anything holiday-like by focusing on the Lunar New Year and the twelve movement orchestral suites she had planned out. Most of her colleagues just went “whoa” and “good luck” when she explained the scope of the project.

Maki put her phone down again. Nico was closer, she switched to the chair next to Maki and was reading through Maki’s sheet music.

“Hey!” Maki pulled the pile away from Nico, “You can’t….”

“Pretty good. Nico approves. Although I think they’re out of order.”

Of course they’re out of order; you blew them down the street, Maki screamed inside her head, while her hand reached for whatever Nozomi had placed in front of her. Nico took that as a signal that there would be a break in the conversation and reached for her own mug. Maki wondered if she could just make a run for it, but one hand tugged on a twist of hair and the other raised the mug to her lips. The bitter coffee, no sweetner, no colliding, no demands, was a bracing relief.

Nico stacked the pages, neatly, in an entirely different order. Maki groaned. “Nico will take you out to dinner. We can talk.”

“I have no spare time and multiple ongoing projects.” Maki had the mug in both hands as a rampart against the looming presence of her tablemate.

Nico grabbed Maki’s phone. Maki had gotten lazy and turned her lockscreen to ten minutes so Nico easily swiped into her contacts, then texted herself. “Nico will text you later and we can find a date.”

Maki stood, grabbing her phone back from Nico, “I have a meeting.” She picked up what she hoped was all of her score, “Not with you.”

Nico responded with a wink and a smug confidence that just bolstered Maki’s will to flee. “Nico will wait.”

“Please don’t.” And Maki was out the door, not realizing she hadn’t paid for her drink.

###

Nico had a meeting of her own, and hurried back to campus. She was in charge of the Holiday Pageant, a legendary event that took most of the day on the Solstice and involved all of the students. The head of the dance department was waiting for her in the small dance studio.

Nico opened the door. Eli Ayase was everything that aggravated Nico’s insecurities, tall, blonde, stuck up, probably cool. Nico had never really had more than a passing conversation with the choreographer and former prima ballerina as Ayase was another staff newbie. The dancer was standing at the barre, going through what Nico recognized as the most basic ballet positions in a light blue leotard, white tights, and blue and white striped leg warmers, blonde hair in a ponytail. Nico stood in the doorway, allowing excellence a moment to finish and herself a moment of real appreciation for someone putting in the work.

Eli stepped away from the barre, wiping her forehead with a towel, “Oh, hi, Nico! I always like to go back to the foundation. I’m teaching a beginner’s class for non majors next semester.”

Nico nodded, “Ballet is good exercise.”

“Exactly.” Eli swept out her arm, “And a good way to learn about the meaning in movement.”

Nico knew a few D + P majors who would be interested, “Nico will put out the word.”

Eli nodded, and grabbed her bag, “Want to go to my office?”

“Nah. Nico’s fine here.”

“Efficient. I like that.” Eli pulled her water bottle from her bag before putting it down.

“Have you met the Composer In Residence yet?”

“Nishikino?” Eli shook her head, “No, Don’t know much about her. Apparently, she took some time off from music for med school or something, but decided not to give up the piano.”

“Nico didn’t know that.” Nico leaned back against the barre, stretching out a leg, “So you’re not one of her “ongoing projects”?”

“Not yet. Umi wants me to talk to her about The Nutcracker.”

“Is the hyper dedicated to her job Professor Sonoda turning slacker and passing all her jobs to the newbie?”

Eli laughed, “No, I think she’s just making sure that Nishikino interacts with other people. I heard that for the first month, she didn’t come out of her studio, and you could hear the piano day and night.”

A reclusive workaholic. Nico made a mental note of that. Probably needed some fresh air. A walk around campus and a tour of some of the better local foodie spots might be a pleasant way to get to know each other better on the way to a collegial collaboration. That was a good phrase. Nico made a mental note to use it on Maki.

###

The redhead was pacing back and forth outside the coffeeshop. Nozomi was fascinated. Maki seemed to be having a conversation with herself, would stop, start to head inside, and then begin pacing again. After three customers, Maki was starting to look cold so Nozomi decided to investigate.

“Hi Maki, come in.”

Maki shook her head.

“What’s wrong?”

“Christmas.”

Not the answer Nozomi expected, but then she remembered Maki being decoration averse. Nozomi wondered what the story was, but Maki did not seem like the answering questions type.

“Do you do takeout?” Maki asked warily.

“No.”

“Could I pay you to do takeout?”

“How about if you come inside and stop shivering, I take the decorations down from one corner, and you let me treat you to a hot chocolate.”

“Cider. Lots of cinnamon. No Santas.”

Nozomi nodded, “Okay, I can do that.” She held the door open, “What did…”

Maki stopped moving forward.

Nozomi chuckled and shook her head, “Never mind. Let’s get you off the sidewalk before you scare away business.”

###

The apple cider came with company. Maki knew she hadn’t agreed to that but Nozomi had slid confidently into the wall bench, Maki having taken the seat facing away from the still decorated rest of the coffeeshop.

“So, how do you like Tudor?”

Maki shrugged and sipped, mostly hiding behind her mug.

“Are you having fun at the Conservatory?”

Maki raised an eyebrow, ‘The quality of the ensembles and musicians I’ve worked with have met my needs.”

Nozomi leaned closer, “I hear you spent most of September getting to know that Steinway.”

Maki scoffed, “It’s not a Steinway. It’s a Shigeru Kawai.”

“What’s the difference?”

Maki rolled her eyes, “Are you at all musical?”

“I sing in the shower? Do you duet?”

And then a chair landed next to Maki and Nico’s voice was harsh in her ear, “Stop harassing the pretty ones, Nozomi.”

“But Nico-chi, they’re all pretty.”

“Does not change Nico’s point at all.” Nico unwrapped a scarf probably longer than she was tall and snapped her fingers at Nozomi, “Get your favorite customer a mocha.”

Nozomi sat for a moment, watching Nico and Maki, then smiled slowly, “You owe me, Nico-chi.”

“Put it on my tab.”

Nozomi stooped to whisper in Nico’s ear as she left, “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Nico waved Nozomi off as she slid into the seat the taller woman had vacated, “Hi, you.”

Maki still held her cider mug close to her chest, as if Nico might grab it, “Hello.”

Nico grinned, “How did your meeting go?”

“I left the score for Umi. She had other responsibilities.”

“Im sure it will be fine. From what Nico could tell, it was…” Nico hesitated, at a loss for words, running through her memory for anything she could remember from the music sheets that had been scattered in front of her earlier, “complicated.”

Maki giggled, surprising herself.

“So what’s your drink, now that you know Nico’s?”

Maki put the mug down, relaxing enough to not need extra protection. “Usually coffee, this is cider. Seemed warmer.”

“Nico is always cold,” Nico hugged herself.

Maki had no response so picked up her mug again.

Nico frowned. The other party usually wanted to know something about Nico, but this person...Nico needed an angle. And then Maki surprised her with a question.

“So what’s your favorite line in Christmas Carol?”

Nico brightened and her body language became more open. “You want more details about Nico’s project? It’s so exciting. Nico knew once Umi told you about it, you’d...

“No.” Maki regretted her urge to speak into the increasingly uncomfortable silence.

Nico’s eyes glittered like firelight, “No?”

Maki put the mug down again, focusing her attention on it as she spun it slowly in a circle. She could feel Nico watching her, but needed to avoid getting drawn into a staring match.

“I was just curious. Asking a question isn’t signing a contract.”

Nico was silent. Maki sneaked a peek. Nico had a thoughtful look and was briefly still, but then her hands flew up and the air filled up with words.

“Business! Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business.”

“Did Scrooge say that?” Maki couldn’t remember details of her last A Christmas Carol viewing, probably the Muppet version.

Nico shook her head, “Haven’t you read A Christmas Carol? There’s so many versions out there, in every medium, but the Jacob Marley scene is pretty consistent.”

Marley...oh the Marley and Marley number, lots of chains. “Chains, right?”

“Fettered. All forged by heartless choices.”

Nozomi swept up with the mocha, a pile of chocolate dusted whipped cream nearly as tall as the cup topping the drink. “When’s the wedding?”

“Shut up, Nozomi.” Nico snapped.

“What?!?!?!” Maki spluttered.

Nozomi winked over her shoulder at Maki, “If she leaves you at the altar, call me.”

Nico had both hands in the praying position, “Please ignore Nozomi. She has been harassing Nico and anyone else who isn’t a sad, defenseless mess for years.” Nico shrugged, “It’s a warped way to flirt.”

“So you’re not a ‘sad, defenseless mess?’” Maki asked, slowly, uncertainly not sure where this conversation was going.

Nico stopped sipping, upper lip covered with a ridiculous whipped cream moustache. “Does Nico look like a ‘sad, defenseless mess?’”

Maki giggled, touching her own upper lip, “You look like half a hipster dudebro.”

Nico frowned, then quickly licked off the whipped cream, “Nah, Nico’s JLo in a suit when she wants to boi up.”

“Really.” Cider done, Maki leaned into the elbow she’d propped on the table, “So is that your go to opening night outfit?”

Nico leaned back, considering, a smile sharp on petal pink lips, “Work on my Christmas Carol and find out.”

Nico’s eyes actually seemed to twinkle, with mirth, which is the kind of thing that was entirely wrong with this season. Here Maki was, having a more interesting conversation than she expected, and the propaganda that had been etched in her brain over a theoretically loving childhood brought Christmas back into the conversation. With a huff, she pushed back from the table.

“What’s your favorite line?” Nico sipped, the question gently curious.

“Huh?”

“A Christmas Carol, the future Pulitzer winning musical by the team of Yazawa and Nishikino. What’s your favorite line in the original?”

“Bah humbug.”

Nico shook her head, tapping the table. “Predictable. Have a better answer next time.” Nico picked up her mug, stood, and bounced over to where a student wearing a pride flag pin was staring moodily out a window. As Maki watched, Nico raised her free hand in a gesture, said “Nico Nico Ni” loud enough to carry, surprisingly getting a shy smile out of the young person, then put her mug down and engaged in a conversation Maki wasn’t close enough to overhear, but the atmosphere around them was lightening. Must be a student of Nico’s having a tough time with the holidays. So many people did, Maki included. She shook her head to clear memories of the past two years, then put on her coat. Piano time.

###

Nico stood on stage, sweeping her hands through the air, muttering, “We put giant candy canes at the back, do a cutesy period Victorian backdrop, piles of toys, some...no no no…” Nico shook herself and vaulted off the front of the stage, rushing to the back of the house and visualizing the mood she wanted to set, “Lamplight! We set up street lamps along the aisle.” Nico laughed and swooped forward, dancing like a chimney sweep in the chorus of Mary Poppins. “Perfect. Cozy.”

“I can’t work with her.” Eli’s voice filled the theatre as she shoved the double doors open.

“Can’t work with who? Is a dancer giving you trouble?”

“The composer. Umi’s letting her lead the musical ensemble, but she refuses to discuss Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker.” Eli stamped a foot and threw her head back, “How can you not discuss Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. It is THE Christmas classic.”

Nico jumped up to sit on the front of the stage, watching Eli stomp in front of her. “You’re talking about Maki, right.”

“Of course,” Eye roll, “Who else?”

“Did she say why?”

Eli frowned, “Something about Ellington.”

Ellington, Nico thought, must be Duke Ellington. Nico pulled out her phone, “Oh, Duke Ellington’s done his own version of The Nutcracker.”

“Jazz?”

“Probably.”

“And how is that a Christmas classic that will showcase my dance classes?”

“That would depend on the choreography, wouldn’t it?”

Eli leaned on the stage, arms taut, and turned her head to look at Nico, “I’m not familiar with it at all.”

Nico hit play, “It bops.”

Eli glared.

“Lots of energy.”

Eli continued to glare.

Nico shrugged, “Hey, crashing the canon is a thing people need to do now.”

“Crashing the canon?”

Nico hopped down, “Hearing new voices, diverse voices.”

There was a pause, then Eli snarled, “Like Dickens?”

Nico continued unphased, “Actually, yes, because it’s the voice of Nico Yazawa doing an original modern, musical riff on Charles Dickens.” She pulled out her phone and fired off a text.

N: Hey, Maki, meet me and Eli at the coffeeshop. Ellington vs. Tchaikovsky death match.

M: Use their full names.

M: And I’m busy.

N: Get unbusy. Nico’s going to help you with Eli. So that more people can hear Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s genius.

No reply. Nico grabbed Eli’s elbow, “We’re going to the coffeeshop. Maki’s going to meet us there.”

“Did she say that?”

Nico grinned. “Not yet.”

“Yazawa…”

Nico yanked, “You, me, coffeeshop, Team Christmas meeting.”

Eli hesitated, “I don’t drink coffee.”

“You don’t drink coffee?”

Eli shook her head, “Bad for the body.”

“We are going to the coffeeshop. Nico needs enough caffeine for three people to deal with this.”

“But…”

Nico’s phone pinged, Maki.

M: Ten minutes

N: (ʃƪ ˘ ³˘)

M: Two years.

N; See you soon.

M: ᕕ| ͡■ ﹏ ■͡ |و

N: Ooh, Maki sent Nico a sexy selfie.

No reply. Nico laughed, but refused to answer Eli’s questions.

###

The coffeeshop had been a mistake. Nozomi’s eyes had developed a laser-like glow the second Eli stepped in behind Nico.

“Nico-chi! You brought me a present!” Nozomi looked like she was about to vault the counter. Eli was staring around like she’d never been out in public before and Nico didn’t know what that was about but Nozomi was the bigger problem, so Nico reached out, grabbed Nozomi’s apron, and pulled her into hiss, “Stop perving.”

“No.”

Nico released Nozomi and deliberately used a liberal amount of hand sanitizer, “You disgust me. Eli doesn’t drink coffee so don’t bug her.”

“Who is she?”

“Choreographer.”

“A dancer.” There was something in Nozomi’s tone Nico never wanted to hear again.

“Hey, Eli, tell Nozomi what you want and let’s hit the corner booth.”

Eli very politely stood at the counter, reading the menu with an expression that could have meant she was examining a bomb that needed defusing.

Nozomi leaned over, “Welcome. First drink is always on the house. And I make a luscious hot chocolate.”

Eli started to smile, but then shook her head, “I can’t. I only allow myself a cheat day once a month.”

“I won’t tell.” Nozomi winked.

“Just a peppermint tea, please.”

Nozomi considered, finger tapping her chin, “I’ll consider it if…”

“Don’t you just take customer orders?”

Eli’s genuine confusion had Nico snorting as she eavesdropped. “Newb.”

Nozomi continued, “You come back for a hot chocolate on your cheat day.”

Eli tilted her head, lashed flitting slowly over bright blue eyes, and then she smiled at Nozomi, “Okay.”

“Good, that’s settled, let’s go, bring me a strawberry latte in a bucket.” Nico dragged Eli to the table.

“This is a friendly little place,” Eli decided.

Nico unpacked her bag, refusing comment.

###

Maki slid into the booth, wondering if Nico had chosen the one without decorations deliberately. The choreographer was there, with tea in front of her, staring around the shop. Nico was on her phone, typing rapidly. Maki wondered to who.

Nico glanced up, “Hi, Maki! Thanks for meeting us.”

“Us?”

“Nico, Eli, Maki...We three Queens of the Tudor Christmas Pageant.”

“I’m not having any title with Christmas in it.” Maki stated.

“There were Kings, not Queens. Or wise men.” Eli frowned, “Next to the ass. In the manger.”

Nico sighed, closed her eyes, choked a little on snark, and then smiled, “This is not a Nativity Pageant, Queens rule, you, Maki, can choose any title you want as long as you commit to composing music for Nico’s Christmas Carol.”

“What about my Nutcracker scenes? Clara? The Mouse King?”

“Nico loves a good sword fight as much as anyone, but I think Maki has a point about Duke Ellington.”

“What?” Maki spun in her seat.

“You want something different, to show people music that while great, they might not have been exposed to.”

Maki hesitated, “Yeah.”

“Nico approves.”

“But I can’t just deliver all new choreography.” Eli whined.

Nico leaned in, “Don’t you have advanced choreography students?”

“Yes.”

“Give them the dances you can’t manage. Make it their final. It’s a real world challenge. Dancers love crazy pressure.”

“But it’s not Christmas without...”

Nico was unmoveable. “Make some new Christmas memories, Eli.”

Eli was suspicious, “Do you two know each other or something?”

“No.” Maki practically shouted, while Nico looked at her despairingly.

“Nico met Maki the same day I met you, and yes, Nico is trying to charm Maki into scoring her bopping new musical version of A Christmas Carol, but she also has a point.”

Eli hmmpfed and changed her tactic, “I won’t have time, I don’t know how to work with jazz…”

Nico glared as Eli trailed off.

“I don’t bop.” Maki broke into the silence.

“Nico will teach you.”

Maki took a flash drive out of her pocket and slid it toward Eli, “These are my favorite pieces. I think a modern dance approach mixed with a foundation of ballet would work really well with them.” Maki hesitated, cleared her throat, and continued, staring out the window behind Eli, “I understand loving traditional Christmas things…” a pause, fingers tapping, “But some of us do need to make new memories.”

After a minute, Eli picked up the flash drive, “Okay, I’ll listen. No promises.”

Both women turned to Nico, expecting something said with a flourish, but Nico was silent, chin in hand, seemingly absorbed in Maki’s profile.

“Nico?” Maki waved a hand in front of Nico’s nose.

Nico jumped, “Good that’s settled.” Nico stared around her, “Where’s my latte? Darn Nozomi, Nico will be right back.” Nico headed to the counter, “Nozomi, how can you keep your number one customer waiting?”

Maki stared at Nico’s large and half full cup, then glanced over at Eli, who raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

“Um.” Eli was watching Nozomi laugh at a Nico who seemed to be hopping up and down with rage, “I need to get back for an evening class.”

“Let me know what you think.”

Eli nodded, then followed Nico’s path to the counter. It was like a relay, Eli arrived, Nico grabbed what looked like a plate as well as a mug, and Nozomi ignored Nico as soon as Eli began speaking.

“Yeah, yeah, go to your class. Nico will be in touch.” Nico called over her shoulder, then slid in next to Maki, putting a plate with two scones between them. “Pumpkin cinnamon chip. They’re delicious. Have one.”

“Okay.” Maki took a bite. “”S good.”

Nico winked, “Always trust Nico.”

Maki shrugged and chewed.

“So why are you making new Christmas memories. What’s wrong with the old?”

“External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Foul weather didn’t know where to have him. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. They often `came down’ handsomely, and Scrooge never did.”

“Scrooge? Is that why you don’t want to work on Nico’s Christmas Carol.”

“You demanded a better line for my favorite.” Maki explained, “So this is it.”

“That’s a chunk not a line. Dickens was hailing words.” Nico giggled; Maki remained unimpressed.

“The weather sets such a mood, grim, cold, clingy, mist and fog and all the things Scrooge won’t be able to escape.”

Nico considered, eating half her scone before replying, “True. But Nico took those parts out. Boring. No people in them.”

“No people in them?” Granted, Maki had only done a quick read of A Christmas Carol, not an indepth dive for a thesis she was prepared to defend in front of a panel, but…”Scrooge is in them. It all describes Scrooge. His mental weather.”

Nico sipped. She was proud of her adaptation. All the Victorian carols and games and silliness had been nicely modernized. There was no space for Victorian gloom. Christmas Present was a little judgey and Christmas Yet To Come a little unsympathetic, but the characters around Scrooge were so vibrant that eventually he came to see the life he was missing. “Actions are more interesting than “mental weather.”

“But you could set such a great, scary, best ghost story of all time mood.” Maki’s eyes gleamed.

“Nico went for friends, family, and community mending a heart broken by life.”

Maki was surprisingly insistent. “His heart wasn’t broken. He took it out himself and locked it up with his gold.”

Nico sipped again, trying to arrange her features in an expression that represented thoughtful consideration. “That interpretation can be found in the text.”

“That is the text.” Maki was almost shouting. Nico touched Maki’s forearm and the other woman pulled back, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Sorry.” Nico cupped her new mug in both hands, ignoring her previous one.

Maki shrugged.

Nico inhaled, calming the atmosphere. “I spent years working on this. Did Umi give you my script?”

“I haven’t opened that email. I prefer reading on paper if it’s that long.”

Nico tapped her cup, a measure to keep her temper. “I will hand deliver a copy if the great composer will do me the courtesy of reading my carefully constructed ninety minutes of gripping, heart warming human drama before trashing its central theme.”

Maki blushed, a hand in her hair, half turned away from Nico.

“Nico’s favorite chunk, if you remember, starts with “Mankind was my business.” You know the part where Scrooge’s sole friend, Marley, shows him exactly why the successful life he’s been leading is a failure.”

“You could do so many things with percussion there. And maybe some violins, chilling…different strings for the phantoms outside.”

Nico frowned. This would be easier if Maki read the script. “No floating phantoms. Nico went with the Marley’s taking their shot to actually do one good thing angle. But you’ll see that when you read the script.” Nico paused, “The nuances will attract you.”

There was nothing nuanced about Nico, Maki thought, as the playwright waited for a response. Nico was the picture perfect professor of Drama and Performance, stylish, very noticeable clothes, hair in a bun, neat, well used bag hanging off her chair, every gesture broad and full of meaning, voice full and making complete use of the spectrum of emotion.

“Maki.” A demand for attention, like everything about Nico.

“I’ll read it.” A quick agreement.

WIth a nod, Nico flounced out, leaving Maki surprised by the abrupt departure. At least Nico wasn’t the first of a train of writer/directors planning to haunt Maki into collaboration. Maki played with the crumbs of her scone, sorry Nico hadn’t had a copy of the script in her bag. Now she was curious. Maki stopped, leaned her head back, and sighed, apparently, she was going to do this. Well, it would be a new Christmas memory. Next time, she’d have to be more careful what she asked the universe for.

A/N: A/N: And the annual tradition returns.Last year's got sideswiped by the pandemic, although I would like to finish it, so this year, I went back to paced like a movie basics.

I hope this finds you well. Thanks for reading.

#NicoMaki #Nishikino Maki #Yazawa Nico #NozoEli #Ayase Eli #Tojo Nozomi #sonoda umi #Christmas #holiday fluff #some angst #A Coffeeshop Christmas Carol

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chpkns · 4 years ago

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BEST ALBUMS 2020

Some albums I enjoyed during quarantine.

Hon Mentions: Campfire Chords - Arkells, A Written Testimony - Jay Electronica, All In One - Jaunt, Punisher - Phoebe Bridgers, Alfredo - Freddie Gibs and Madlib, Thats What They All Say - Jack Harlow, Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs - Colter Wall, This Place Sucks Ass - PUP, Only For Dolphins - Action Bronson, Black Habits - D Smoke, What’s Your Pleasure - Jessie Ware, 3.15.20 - Childish Gambino, Dedicated Side B - Carly Rae Jepsen, Dark Lane Demo Tapes - Drake, After Hours - The Weeknd, color theory - Soccer Mommy, Circles - Mac Miller, Womb - Purity Ring

10) Future Nostalgia - Dua Lipa

One of the lesser, although still significant, tragedies of the 2020 COVID era was that weddings and sweaty club basements the world over were robbed of Dua Lipa’s prolific output this year. Future Nostalgia is hit or miss in places, but the hits come hot and heavy delivering banger after 80′s-disco-inspired banger. Dominant summer jams “Don’t Start Now” and “Break My Heart” are the highlights here, along with “Levitating” (equally good with or without DaBaby). Sleeper tracks “Cool” and “Hallucinate” round out the year’s best pure pop album.

Highlights: Don’t Start Now, Break My Heart, Levitating, Physical, Cool, Hallucinate

9) Women In Music, Pt. III - HAIM

The third album from LA’s sister act rock trio HAIM delivers consistency and growth for the band. There’s plenty of retro heartbreak rock on Women In Music, Pt. III to satisfy fans of HAIM’s first two albums, but lots of new on offer as well including the jazzy Lou Reed inspired sax of “Summer Girl” and Danielle Haim sounding positively Joni Mitchell-esque on “Man From the Magazine”. The auditory production flourishes of erstwhile Vampire Weekend member Rostam are noticeable throughout and help stretch the bounds of the HAIM sisters’ signature Wilson Phillips meets Fleetwood Mac summer rock sound into something more of the moment.

Highlights: The Steps, Summer Girl, Don’t Wanna, Man From the Magazine, FUBT

8) My Turn (Deluxe) - Lil Baby

I’ve almost given up on trying to enjoy or understand most “new rap” but every now and then something breaks through that I connect with for some reason. Atlanta rapper Lil Baby’s My Turn was that album for me this year. There are many reasons I feel I should not like Lil Baby’s music, from his liberal use of autotune to his mumbling delivery, but something always drew me back to it and, listen after listen, it grew on me. Lil Baby’s flow is persistent when he locks in, with matching driving trap production from Quay Global, Tay Keith and others, mirroring in sound the story of Baby’s rise from the streets to prison to the studio. The standout track is late addition “The Bigger Picture”, Lil Baby’s protest anthem on race in America, policing and the turmoil following the killing of George Floyd by police, a political statement from an otherwise apolitical artist, showing that Lil Baby has much more to offer than bravado and autotune.

Highlights: Grace (ft. 42 Dugg), Forever (ft. Lil Wayne), No Sucker (ft. Moneybagg Yo), Social Distancing, The Bigger Picture

7) Miss Anthropocene - Grimes

The third major studio release from Montreal native Claire Boucher, better known as Grimes, doesn’t reach the same highs as its predecessors - 2015′s electro-pop masterpiece Art Angels (which rated number 1 on this list for that year) or 2012′s Visions, the synth-laden fever dream that introduced Grimes to mainstream notoriety (number 2 on this list for 2012) - but it’s still very much worth the time. The vibe of Miss A falls somewhere between Grimes’ previous two albums, and a little darker and messier to boot. Grimes sounds a bit like she’s playing a concert for the end of the world, which feels a bit prophetic for an album released just before a global pandemic took hold. As always, Grimes is out to flex her muscle as a technician and across the album’s ten tracks she mixes diverse sounds ranging from rave synths to banjos showing how far her craft has come since making Visions on Garageband in her Mile End apartment.

Highlights: So Heavy I Fell Through The Earth, Violence, Delete Forever, 4ÆM, You’ll miss me when I’m not around

6) evermore - Taylor Swift

Spoiler alert, this isn’t the highest ranked Taylor Swift album on this list. Surprise released in December, evermore was an early Christmas present to fans of Swift’s surprise summer album folklore (more on that later). evermore continues Swift’s reinvention from pop star to indie singer-songwriter, assisted by songwriting partner Aaron Dessner of The National and a variety of indie darling guest stars - this time around featuring HAIM, The National’s Matt Berninger and another stunning guest turn with Bon Iver. Speaking of Justin Vernon, the album capping title track might be the single best song on either folklore or evermore. And for fans of Taylor’s earlier catalogue like me, the return to country music on “no body, no crime” is like reconnecting with an old friend. evermore is a little messier and less consistent thematically than its sister album, feeling a bit like folklore’s b-sides. But when your b-sides are better than most artist’s a-sides, why not release another album’s worth?

Highlights: ‘tis the damn season, no body no crime (ft. HAIM), coney island (ft. The National), cowboy like me, evermore (ft. Bon Iver)

5) RTJ4 - Run The Jewels

Walking the streets of my neighbourhood with the first listen of RTJ4 in my earbuds, I found myself actually crying at the thought that I would not get to see Killer Mike and el-P perform these songs live in the summer of 2020. The memories of RTJ festival sets past came rushing over me in a wave. That was my first “damn, I miss live music moment” of the pandemic. The fourth instalment of Run The Jewels’ historic rap partnership is more of the same in the very best way. Like the dynamic duo’s previous three instalments, RTJ4 is in your face, moves at a frenetic clip, and takes no prisoners. There’s even another album highlighting collaboration with Rage Against The Machine’s Zack De La Rocha. The politics of RTJ4′s tirades against inequity and the police state feel even more imminent in 2020 against the backdrop of George Floyd, the ensuing protest movement that gripped America, and the 2020 presidential election. I really hope we get a chance to see Mike and el-P tour these songs in 2021, the world needs it.

Highlights: ooh la la (ft. Greg Nice and DJ Premier), goonies vs. E.T., walking in the snow, JU$T (ft. Pharrell Williams and Zack de la Rocha), a few words for the firing squad (radiation)

4) Saint Cloud - Waxahatchee

The majestically twangy folk-Americana of Saint Cloud, the fifth solo album from Katie Crutchfield (stage named Waxahatchee after Waxahatchee Creek, Alabama, where the singer grew up), is a nostalgic cure for the ails of 2020. The soft bluesy rhythms of Crutchfield’s songs feel like a lazy long summer day spent by the water. That was something we needed this year. The songwriting is just as beautiful. The standout track, “Fire”, speaks to Crutchfield’s journey finding sobriety and reconnecting with her southern roots. It also speaks to a longing feeling “give me something / it ain’t enough / it ain’t enough”. On “Arkadelphia”, Crutchfield croons: “We try to give it all meaning / Glorify the grain of the wood / Tell ourselves what's beautiful and good”. In the chaos of 2020, the calm oasis of Saint Cloud is certainly something beautiful and good worth enjoying.

Highlights: Can’t Do Much, Fire, The Eye, Arkadelphia, St. Cloud

3) Suddenly - Caribou

Suddenly was my first genuine pandemic listen and, in the early days of lockdown, I found myself going back to it again and again. So much so, that the opening haunting notes of “Sister” became a kind of touchstone as I adjusted to a weird new work-from-home lifestyle. The chilled out weirdness of Caribou was an extremely welcome presence in 2020. It had been long enough since 2014′s Our Love (2014′s number 1 on this list) that I’d forgotten how enjoyably quirky Dan Snaith’s floaty pseudo-house tunes could be. Suddenly is a little more laid back than the club ready Our Love, which maybe suits it more to a world where dancefloors are closed. The tunes are also tighter, more economical in their length and soundscape. The lead single “Home” sounds downright commercial (in a good way) with it’s motown sampled chorus. Other parts of the album, like the closing “Cloud Song” venture into more experimental territories. All throughout, however, are Caribou’s signature warm chord progressions inviting you to lose yourself in them. Whether you’re looking for a guided meditation or an at-home dance party, Suddenly was the perfect 2020 album for it.

Highlights: Sister, Home, Lime, Never Come Back, Ravi

2) Cuttin’ Grass, Vol. 1 : The Butcher Shoppe Sessions - Sturgill Simpson

2020 was full of unexpected things, many bad but some surprisingly delightful. Firmly in the latter category is Cuttin’ Grass, Sturgill Simpson’s surprise double album made up entirely of bluegrass covers of his own catalogue. A true product of 2020, Simpson recorded the album with a murderer’s row of contemporary bluegrass artists after recovering from COVID-19 and challenging his fans to raise funds for charity in exchange for recording a new album. That album became Cuttin’ Grass, a traditional bluegrass re-imagination of the greatest hits and hidden gems of a country artist who has always strived to avoid being labelled as a country artist. The songs feel effortlessly at home and are given new life amid the frenetic guitar and mandolin picking, flying fiddles, and twangling banjos. If Simpson’s ode to the revelatory experience of psychedlic drug use “Turtles All The Way Down” felt revolutionary on 2014′s Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, it feels like an old standard here with its tempo pitched up and enveloped in the cacophony of the bluegrass ensemble. There is some good old fashioned heartbreak to slow things down too. Mandolin player and backup vocalist Sierra Hull shines on “I Wonder” (a cover of a song originally recorded by Sturgill’s former band Sunday Valley) as she joins Simpson on the chorus: “Tell me am I the only one / drinking and cursing your name?” The juxtaposition of Simpson’s unconventional country catalogue with the most traditional of country music styles just works and the entire hour can be listened and relistened for days. And if you’re still not satisfied, the companion “Volume 2: the Cowboy Arms Sessions” released in December brings back the same supporting cast to explore more of Simpson’s catalogue.

Highlights: All The Pretty Colors, Breakers Roar, Time After All, Turtles All The Way Down, Voices

1) folklore - Taylor Swift

Well, I told you there’d be more Taylor Swift on this list, and here it is. Your number 1 album of 2020 is folklore, the surprise release pandemic project in which the world’s biggest country star turned pop star reinvented herself again as an indie artist. Unlike anything else Swift has put out since RED, nothing on folklore is designed to be played in a stadium. Rather, it’s all more at home in a cabin by the fire, or in your earbuds on a fall walk... basically, it’s music meant for 2020. Like its companion evermore, folklore is the product of Swift’s songwriting collaboration with The National’s guitarist Aaron Dessner. The melding of songwriting styles seems like an odd match at first but sounds like a match made in heaven. Lyrically, Swift’s songwriting makes an evolutionary leap, almost leaving her primary auto or semi-autobiographical comfort zone behind completely (other than, perhaps, in heavily veiled metaphor) in favour of invented stories and semi-historical world building. After a few listens, you discover that the same characters appear in different songs like the imagined history of Rebekah Harkness, the real life former inhabitant of Swift’s Rhode Island home, on “the last great american dynasty” or imagery of “battleships” that “sink beneath the waves” in the ghost story of “my tears ricochet”. In the so-called “teenage love triangle trilogy” of “betty”, “cardigan”, and “august”, Swift tells different parts of the same story from the perspective of different characters. Each song stands on its own, but the discovery that the pieces fit together is wonderful. “betty” is the standout track for me, as a long suffering fan of “country Taylor”. In style, it harkens back to her earlier work, but in substance it’s something new entirely as Swift sings from the perspective of James, the boy who has done wrong by his lover and is seeking forgiveness. The pinnacle of the album is “exile” Swift’s collaboration with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. The call and response interaction of Swift with Vernon’s true to for emma form baritone is chill inducing. Like so many of the unexpected good things in 2020, folklore came from throwing plans out the window and doing what felt right for the moment. This is Taylor Swift making the music she wanted to make. In Dark Knight fashion, it’s the album we needed, if not the one we deserved. It’s the best album of the year.

Highlights: cardigan, the last great american dynasty, exile (ft. Bon Iver), my tears ricochet, epiphany, betty, peace

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toneyhanson9-blog · 5 years ago

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Which Style Of Music Has The Slowest BPM?

The second half of the Sixties ushered in the era of music festivals — culminating with the granddaddy of them all, Woodstock, in August 1969. Rock monsters Led Zeppelin are one of the best, hardest rock bands ever, and the four individual members are all among the finest players of their era too. Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, and Jimmy Page stand head and shoulders above their contemporaries as particular person musicians, and their abilities combined to create a number of the heaviest rock of their era. In fact, Communication Breakdown is often cited as the primary heavy metal track. Whether or not you believe that or not, the band's influence is undeniable and their status as British rock gods is untouchable.

This is a superb thing, culturally speaking. The national music scene has never been this diverse. Too usually, especially in rock's heyday, it was dominated by acts that made their bones from taking nonwhite music and sanitizing it for white audiences. That custom undoubtedly lives on, www.audio-transcoder.com in musicians like Justin Bieber, but the pop charts and critics' notebooks precisely mirror the American mosaic in a method that they actually have not before. We may be in the midst of a gigantic leap backward as a rustic, but not less than the music is sweet. Even the country charts are pretty woke. Musicians from the older genres - blues, jazz (together with bebop and dixieland), nation (including country and western, boogie woogie, honky tonk and bluegrass), and gospel (including religious and Christian rock) - enjoyed, on average, similar lifespans as these from the US population with the identical 12 months of birth and gender. Jazz strikes beyond live performance levels and into the homes, church buildings, and excessive colleges of Jap North Carolina. It is a tradition that has been passed down generationally by music educators and particular person players, and continues to tell a lot to the area's music at this time.

Music was once easy. Some folks favored rock. Some people preferred pop. Some folks liked jazz, blues or classical. And, basically, that was sort of it. However, musicians are a stressed bunch and you'll only play Smoke on the Water, Always Crashing within the Identical Car or Roast Fish and Cornbread so many occasions earlier than someone is certain to say: Hold on a minute, what would happen if we performed them all on the similar time?" And so it's that new genres are born. Now think about that taking place for at the very least half a century or so - all around the world - and you reach some extent at which, in accordance with the engineer and information alchemist" Glenn McDonald, there are now 1,264 genres of well-liked music; all it is advisable do is go on to his startlingly clever web site and look - nicely, pay attention - for yourself. Flamenco is a tune, music and dance style which is strongly influenced by the Gitanos (Spanish Gypsies), but which has its deeper roots in Moorish and Jewish musical traditions. Originally, flamenco consisted of unaccompanied singing (cante). Later the songs have been accompanied by flamenco guitar (toque), rhythmic hand clapping ( palmas), rhythmic ft stomping (zapateado) and dance (baile). The toque and baile are also typically found with out the cante, although the tune remains at the coronary heart of the flamenco tradition. What distinguishes these sounds and scenes from lengthy-standing genres like techno or drum & bass is that they now not hold to the notion of center and periphery. They're not shaped from the highest down by a handful of wealthy, influential cities who transmit the culture while all people else is relegated to receiving it. If something, comparable club scenes in places like London and Berlin wish to their Latin American counterparts for inspiration. From this new ecosystem, an unbiased community of artists has begun to take shape, and whereas London and Berlin are welcome to hitch the dialogue, they're definitely not dominating the conversation. In case you are still having bother identifying the style, the association of the music could offer you some clues. For instance in genres like chill-out and ambient there's a distinct lack of any structure, as the music doesn't progress radically over its duration. 7. Hennion A. The manufacturing of success: an anti-musicology of the pop tune. Standard Music. 1983 Jan 1;three:159-93. A controversial term in hip-hop, many "aware rappers" don't like to be labeled as such. Nonetheless, there is no denying the importance of this subgenre, which promotes concepts corresponding to data of self and awareness of huge-ranging social issues. Many different subgenres accomplish the same, however alternative rap (a better phrase) is labeled as such due to its smoother, different types of dj music genres extra laid-back production fashion.

Rock critics do not usually like (or know a lot about) music that isn't rock, however they're wary of attacking genres that they know they don't understand. In order that they depart Classical, Blues, Jazz, and "World" alone. But Broadway present tunes do not have the mystique that makes these different genres so scary. If it was sung in a theater, rock critics dismiss it as sappy, soulless stuff for lame fifty-one thing white individuals in 1955. One of many inventory humorous anecdotes among music critics is that Marvin Gaye , the master of suave Motown love ballads with soul, originally wanted to sing showtunes.YouTube Music is a new music streaming service with the official audio, official video, playlists and artist stations. Plus, the rest of the story you possibly can't discover wherever else: stay performances, remixes and extra. I like rock music because it retains me pumped up all the time. Before I do one thing that's actually nervous to me, I like to take heed to my music to calm me down, however not too much. I can not stand sluggish music as a result of it makes me really sleepy and it gets annoying. I'd hearken to something, but nation is essentially the most annoying of all for me. I simply wish to get their cowboy hats and stomp all over them.Howdy readers of ! We present an inventory more on the fun facet of things. Don't fret, we've included typical data about universities in our write ups, but in contrast to our rankings of the best online doctoral packages , we current a listing of rockers, digital, avante-garde composers, alt-rockers, and tremendous stars who can play their axes with finesse and, on the similar time, have a PhD. Our prime 8 are presently PhD's of their fields whereas the final two are at the moment doctoral candidates. From Brian May to Jessica Rylan, there are a number of degrees represented within the checklist along with music genres.

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rdalestude · 3 years ago

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Late Night Listening: One Fair Summer Evening, Nanci Griffith

I grew up with country music. It was the music that played around my household growing up, mainly because of or local AM radio station. I was dimly aware of other types of music out there, but really, outside of the Monkees, because I watched those episodes in syndication constantly, I had little exposure to non-country music. And it was a very shallow relationship, basically limited to whatever came out of that radio. Johnny Cash, sure. Tammy Wynette, Charlie Pride, Roger Miller, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, all listened to during my youth, but likely less than a half dozen tunes by any of them, again limited to what was on the radio. The first country star I had more than a shallow acquaintance with was Kenny Rogers. We got an eight-track stereo, and other than some K-tel country collections, we had Kenny Rogers albums. Daytime Friends, to be exact. Pre-Gambler. So, I became a Kenny Rogers fan by default.

At the same time, I was beginning to notice mainstream rock, because of more exposure due to Junior High and High School, and because I got the sense I looked like a rube to my peers. I’m not sure Kenny Rogers helped, because talented as the guy was, there was little about the music he began putting out that screamed “country.” It seemed like it was country because country radio played it, and that was that. Much of the country music of the late 70s was like it, play to the masses, get on Hee Haw, and sell the records. Somehow, I sensed this, and lost interest, or succumbed to peer pressure, or both.

Fast forward to college, because this essay is already showing some signs of bloat. I was at the University of Missouri – Rolla then, failing at being an engineering student. I found one of my best friends ever at that school and discovered that I was more interested in doing little theatre productions than calculus, so I acquired some knowledge of self. The other big thing that happened to me during that time was a work study job at the local NPR station, KUMR, housed in the campus library. One of the shifts I regularly worked was the Saturday evening shift. Saturday evenings were pretty big because Prairie Home Companion was at that time one of the biggest things in Public Radio, so to keep those hours felt like a big responsibility. When PHC ended for the night, the next show up was Bluegrass for a Saturday Night, hosted by Wayne Bledsoe.

Professor Bledsoe taught history at the University and devoted 3 hours of nearly every weekend to programming bluegrass music for the Ozark airways. He’d have call in shows, and I would help pull records from the library, and I would occasionally help him pre-record a show if he were going on vacation. As inadvertent payback, I received a crash course in bluegrass – Bill Monroe, The Carter Family, Ralph Stanley, the Dillards, and so on. He also championed a few New Traditional performers, as they called them back then, like Emmylou Harris, and Nanci Griffith.

The album we were playing back then of Nanci’s was Once in a Very Blue Moon, which I pirated onto a tape that is long lost, and the album itself is hard to find (I don’t think her Rounder albums are in print), so the album of hers I turn to now is her live album recorded at Anderson Fair in Austin, One Fair Summer Evening. Everything good about her is on this album, her humor, her gentle but powerful voice, and her songwriting, and cover interpreting strengths. Her singing on the chorus of “Deadwood, South Dakota” (a song written by her ex-husband) gives me chills to this day. I even laugh with her corny jokes about Woolworths, although it is easier knowing that it’s the lead in to one of her best songs, “Love at the Five and Dime.”

Wayne Bledsoe, Nanci Griffith, Emmylou Harris were my gateway drug into what is now loosely classified as Americana Music, sort of a catch all for roots music, blues, bluegrass, folk and a type of country music that differentiates itself from the Nashville mainstream. I’m not going to rehash authenticity arguments and I’m not sure Steve Earle is any more authentic than Toby Keith. I personally, fell into this rabbit hole of great music and never looked back. Thank you, Wayne Bledsoe.

#late night listening #nanci griffith #One Fair Summer Evening #Americana #Folk #Country

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plungermusic · 3 years ago

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“Kinda bent, but we ain’t breakin’… in the long run”

Maverick Saturday stretched out before us like a challenge - thirteen hours is a long time on your feet for a couple of oldsters, but we’d give it our best shot…

We didn’t catch all of Dan Walsh’s opening Barn set, but his closing number, a lyrical, backwoods folk-flavoured instrumental that peaked in an increasingly frenetic celtic reel to the whoops and stomps of the crowd, was enough to impress us with its fleet-fingered dexterity.

Kelly Bayfield made her second barn appearance with another stylish set drawn from the new album: Kelly taking to the piano to give us a new short number Sing which was twinned (��well, they’re a similar flavour, and in the same key!”) with her last single Hitchhiker, both oozing classy 70s chanteuse vibes and the latter closing in some great Telecaster work from Andy Trill in a majestic closing solo.

There’s not much that’d drag us away from a Kelly performance early, but having spotted his programme picture (“Long hair, Les Paul? That’ll do!”) we pottered down to the open air Green Stage for David Banks and his band. He did exactly what we thought it said on the tin: lots of Springsteen/Petty influenced muscular Americana with a dash of Molly Hatchett topped with excellent southern-fried guitar and classic ‘big endings’… marvellous.

He was followed by Simon Stanley Ward (another ‘old fave’) who brought his Jonathan Richmanish irreverence and wit to Old Time Country in Excuse Me While I Feel Sorry For Myself; the Graceland-African-style I’m A Worrier (”…that’s worrier, not warrior”) a swinging rock’n’roller Bigfoot, Baby (Eddie Cochran meets cryptobiology) and Rocket In The Desert (the salad leaf not the projectile) with its Lawrence Of Arabia theme tease. While lampooning his own assumed-Nashville twang in American Voice the accompaniment was as echt as you could want, and the deadpan humour of Beluga Whale was sung to a properly stirring Journeyesque anthem.

As it wasn’t raining The Green seemed the place to stay, where Forty Elephant Gang came next. Reviewing their album we were a little sniffy about their ‘crowd-pleasing festival songs’ but aside from the field holler-meets-O Brother Where Art Thou-style Songs Of Praise, this set was mostly the ones we’d liked: the relaxed Tex-Mex of Strange Things Happening with three-part harmonies and intertwining mando’n’guitar lines; the melancholic waltz of Young Man’s Game and the Squeeze-y domestic wit of Drunken Promise Song. A final ‘crowd-pleaser’ came in the chugging bluesy Hands Out Your Pockets, an instruction the assembled masses eagerly followed to add the required clap-along.

Sam Chase Trio made another appearance at The Green, wooing the larger crowd with both edgy humour (including praising UK portaloos in comparison to US versions, and introducing Everyone Is Crazy But Me as “a children’s song... now, what they mean is that it’s simple, since kids are generally at the dumber end of the spectrum”), and songs as varied as the fiery protest of What Is All The Rage and the haunting, wistful Lost Girl, (from the “Faustian Spaghetti Western Of Epic Proportions Known As The Last Rites Of Dallas Pistol”) sung by cellist Devon.

Now Plunger do like a bit of bluegrass, whether it’s grainy b/w Flatt & Scruggs clips from the 50s, through Sam Bush and New Grass to Béla Fleck and Greensky Bluegrass so The Folly Brothers should have been our kind of thing… however what we heard of them was more My Old Man’s A Dustman than anything Appalachian so we wandered off…

Back at The Barn Dean Owens and the Southerners drew a large and attentive crowd, but the popular Scot also left us a bit underwhelmed. Mellow, melodious troubadoury country that wouldn’t have been out of place on a mid-afternoon 70s Radio 2 show, the kind of thing that takes a deep listen in your bedroom to appreciate the stories told: very easy on the ear for sure but without any particular thing to grab us at a festival.

After an abortive attempt to catch Ella Spencer and her accompanist at The Moonshine (an extremely long soundcheck with problems with feedback from pretty much everything they touched meant we gave up) we caught a snatch of Los Pistoleros as we rounded The Green: probably the most C.O.U.N.T.R.Y. thing of the weekend, complete with draggy fiddle, pedal steel and old time vocal harmonies… if I’d not left my cowboy boots at home I’d have been out line-dancing with the best of them.

Plunger had only just seen Alyssa Bonagura (with Tim De Graaw’s band) less than a week since. Here at The Barn she was nominally solo but Tim joined her to add sweet harmonies and mellow guitar to Alyssa’s polished Cali-country: her strong yet ethereal vocal equally at home in slow emotional confessionals or giggly upbeat Big Yellow Taxi-style big strummers.

Listed only as ‘Dogs Play Dead’ it was only a lucky guess that took us down to The Green for what turned out to be Friday’s headliners Black Eyed Dogs playing a set of Grateful Dead classics. Mainly those with a countryish twist to them already, like Casey Jones, I Know You Rider and Friend Of The Devil; and bringing that flavour with fiddle and pedal steel to others like Truckin’, China Cat Sunflower, Playing In The Band and the epic closing Franklin’s Tower. All done with the right degree of loose, shambling rhythms and discursive noodling on guitar (and fiddle!) Fabulous stuff for grooving on the grass under what by now were glorious sunshine-filled blue skies.

Brooks Williams’ jangly sonorous acoustic and warm, smooth higher register vox was ideal early evening fare at the barn, in covers like Dave Alvin’s King Of California, traditional numbers like Deep River Blues and originals like the Gordon Lightfootish melancholy of Frank Delandry, and the damp-eyed nostalgia of Palomino Gold, aided toward the end of his set by some more excellent banjo from Dan Walsh.

The USP of Eddy Smith & the 507 is Eddy’s gravelly soulful voice, ideal for their bluesy-edged material, like the harp-led strut of It Don’t Feel Much Like Living and the new single Ticket Out Of Here, a bustling two-step with impressive three-part harmony vocals. They definitely have moved up a level since we last saw them a couple of years back.

Somehow we managed to miss Sarah Petite with her band completely on Friday, and almost all of her stripped-back Moonshine set on Saturday. Which was definitely our loss gauging by the brief snatch of crackling husky vocal over restrained bass and reverb laden guitar that we heard while hunting for a still-open toilet (a water supply problem having rendered all loos unusable for a considerable portion of the late evening... pretty much the only fly in the ointment all weekend!)

As the sun set the two-month date differential was beginning to tell: clear night skies in September aren’t quite the same as July and the growing chill was testing our stamina a bit. We headed for The Peacock and the tribute show to John Prine, hosted by Rich Hall. Pretty much every act who was on site came to do a turn in honour of the recently-deceased songwriting legend, with their own favourite from his oeuvre. Kelly Bayfield band gave us Hello In There, Tim De Graaw with Alyssa did That’s The Way The World Goes Round, Alyssa gave us the obligatory Angel From Montgomery, and Simon Stanley Ward (plus Kelly) gave a fantastic rollicking Lake Marie. Entirely in character, Sam Chase Trio broke the mould and gave us their own tribute song John Prine.

Rich Hall had to skip out on MC duties to attend his own set at The Barn: sacrilege to say, but the appeal of stand up (even to music, even from such a big name) palled a little. It was getting bitterly cold (you could see your breath hanging in the air) and given that what we could hear of his set was the same as we’d heard last time he was here we spent much the time attempting to warm up with piping hot beverages. However it was by far the rammedest set of the weekend, with the tightly-packed crowd spilling out of The Barn for some distance.

Jon Langford was unsurprisingly somewhat hindered by the draw of Rich Hall (which left The Peacock a bit underpopulated!) His spiky, punky approach wasn’t entirely our bowl of chilli, although the rendition of Eddie Waring (originally by Help Yourself with Deke Leonard and BJ Cole, who was sitting in with Jon tonight) was very good.

The programme description of headliner Jerry Joseph did its best to weaken our staying power too: with our deep suspicion of any write-ups that include the ‘p-word’, and somewhat incredulous of the mention of ‘jam bands’, Jerry looked like he wouldn’t be our kind of thing at all. However he didn’t live down to expectations (wholly). A very animated stage-prowling audience-provoking figure in shorts and no shoes, there was no shortage of energy even if it was largely unchannelled and could get a little wearing… (maybe it was that, maybe it was the chill, but The Barn steadily thinned out during his set, ending less than half full). War At The End Of The World was the pick of the bunch, although like most of his material it would probably have sounded better with a band (like, erm, Stockholm Syndrome, which he co-founded; or, erm, Widespread Panic who he has written for… so much for our ‘jamband incredulity’!)

While it might have ended as a bit of a test of endurance, there were more than enough high points to make Saturday another enjoyable Maverick experience.

“Did we do it for love? Did we do it for money? More like stubborn dumb persistence and hot chocolate, honey…”

#Maverick Festival

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