#Melissa Carper

[krispyweiss]

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Day Three, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, Calif., Oct. 6, 2024

The good folks who put on Hardly Strictly Bluegrass created an epic conundrum of good musical fortune by booking the Wood Brothers, the Infamous Stringdusters and Emmylou Harris in simultaneous, festival-closing slots. This, of course, created high anxiety as all three acts are high on any music lover’s gotta-hear list.

But more on that later. Because first, Miko Marks began the day at the Rooster stage with some Sunday soul music before 93-year-old Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, accompanied by mandolin and bass, came out yodeling on Jimmie Rodgers’ “Waiting for a Rain.” He then dug into Woody Guthrie’s “The 1913 Massacre,” got a bit uptempo on “The Cuckoo” and nodded to the Hardly Strictly atmosphere of a super-heated Golden Gate Park (on Oct. 6!) with Jesse Fuller’s “San Francisco Bay Blues.” Between numbers, Elliott regaled the squeezed-into-shady-areas fans with tales from 70 years of music making. Steve Earle then emerged to tell an overly long story over soft picking leaving Elliott to try, unsuccessfully, to get a word in as time ran down on his 40-minute allotment.

So … off to the Banjo stage where Tony Trischka’s Earl Jam was finishing “Brown’s Ferry Blues” and launching into “Lady Madonna” - strictly bluegrass style. Brittany Haas, who would appear later with Aoife O’Donovan and Hawktail, then entered the fray for double fiddling with Shad Cobb on “You Got to Die,” and putting the blues in the grass.

Peter Case, Teddy Thompson, Melissa Carper and Carsie Blanton hit the Rooster next for a Songwriter’s Circle/guitar pull with truth as the refreshing theme. A delightful exercise in the power of folk music.

But there was also blues at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass because: “If you don’t like the blues, you probably don’t like your mama.”

So said Bobby Rush on the Banjo, where the 91-year-old - “If I’m not the oldest, I’m the ugliest,” he cracked - and his big band got down and dirty in flashy sequins as they spanned 70 years of Rush originals and covers like “Hoochie Coochie Man.” Rush blew harp with the lungs of a young man, danced around the stage with the body of a young man and rapped like the OG he is, proving yet again the magic of music - even when you’re singing of your woman leaving you “for the damn garbage man.”

After a public soundcheck that signaled sublimity to come, O’Donovan, Hawktail and the San Francisco Girls Chorus - who joined one-third of the way through the 60-minute set - spanned O’Donovan’s solo discography rearranged to fit Hawktail’s musical tapestry woven of classical, jazz and bluegrass. The Chorus voices soared across Golden Gate as O’Donovan led them through songs about the battle to pass the 19th Amendment from All My Friends.

It was a stirring performance that provided some hope in an era that sometimes feels hopeless and earned a standing ovation from the Banjo stage listeners.

Down the road at Towers of Gold, Patti Smith played to a crowd so humongous people were turned away to listen to her cover Bob Dylan’s “Man in the Long Black Coat” and Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” read poetry and and play such songs as “Cash” and “People Have the Power” at the adjacent Swan stage, which was also rammed with festivalgoers, where the Wood Brothers were to play next and Smith’s set benefitted from stellar sound piped in from next door.

Even from behind the Towers, Smith’s performance was deeply affecting - a penetrating mix of soft-edged emotion and hard-edged aggression.

“Use your voice,” she said after using hers for 65 minutes and fans on both sides of the stage exploded in applause when she finished her gig.

Now to address the daylong conundrum, splitting up three must-see acts.

And so it transpired that Mr. and Mrs. Sound Bites caught the Woods (Hardly) playing “Little Bit Broken,” “Tried and Tempted,” “Pilgram” and “A Little Bit Sweet;” the ’Dusters (Strictly) on “Gravity” and “Rise Sun” at the Rooster; and Harris’ (country, not Bluegrass) homestretch at the Banjo, which included a rambunctious “Luxury Liner” and a mournful “Together Again.”

And then it was over …

Read Sound Bites’ coverage of Day One and Day Two at the hyperlinks.

10/7/24

[americanahighways]

Music & Book Reviews: Wonder Women of Country, plus Thee Sinseers, Matt Blake, Pete Ham, and Eddie Hinton

Music & Book Reviews: Wonder Women of Country, plus Thee Sinseers, Matt Blake, Pete Ham, and Eddie Hinton @wonderwomenofcountry @kelllywilliskw @melissacarpermusic @brennenleigh #jeffburger @americanahighways #americanamusic @theesinseers @tourmatt @deviousplanet #peteham #eddiehinton

Music & Book Reviews: Wonder Women of Country, plus Thee Sinseers, Matt Blake, Pete Ham, and Eddie Hinton This column rarely covers EPs—the unending flood of full-length CDs is more than enough to keep a critic busy—but a six-song set called Wonder Women of Country: Willis, Carper, Leigh is too good to ignore. The Texas-based trio consists of longtime alt-country artist Kelly Willis; Melissa…

[musiconspotify]

Willis, Carper, Leigh - Wonder Women Of Country (2024) … joined forces …

[leonardcohendaughter]

Melissa Carper

[sonicziggy]

"Evil Eva" by Melissa Carper https://ift.tt/p0oZdr3

[amp-mod]

Hanging on to You by Melissa Carper

[thesundanceghost]

and now i get to decide if im going to go listen to music alone tonight when my friend inevitably bails

[krispyweiss]

Album Review: Melissa Carper - Borned in Ya

It presents as a spiritual, but the title/opening track from Borned in Ya instead finds Melissa Carper singing the gospel of Hank Williams, Leadbelly and Hazel Dickens in a old-time country voice that lands somewhere between the hazy mist of Sierra Farrell and Elizabeth Cook’s saucy twang.

Like them, Carper is old-school, singing songs about the women who make her heart skip a beat - or break in two - over a soundtrack of classic country (“I Don’t Love You Anymore”), mid-20th-century lounge jazz (“Let’s Get outta Here”), sock-hop rockabilly (“Evil Eva”) and other styles that eventually had a baby named rock ’n’ roll.

But despite the branches, Carper’s tree trunk is 100-percent country, with aural leaves of electric and pedal-steel guitars, Nashville Sound strings, brass, piano, lush backgrounds, yodeling, brushed drums, double bass and violin and fiddle across the 12 tracks that make up Borned in Ya. And while Carper tends to wear her unhappy emotions proudly, she’s also not above a little humor as on “Your Furniture’s Too Nice,” a swinging number that finds her swearing unfailing allegiance to my doggie.

We might shed a hair or two in your clean house/track a little dirt and debris in/and my head just don’t feel right without a few louse/and I just can’t be on a bed not made for three, she sings.

With her fifth long-player, Carper, who is also one-third of Wonder Women of Country, fills every bill with no filler in the mix. And while she has obvious influences, Carper’s genius is in rolling them into something uniquely Melissa Carper.

Grade card: Melissa Carper - Borned in Ya - A-

12/3/24

[americanahighways]

Americana Highways 45 RPM 2024 (Reasons to Purchase Music)

Americana Highways 45 RPMs 2024 (Reasons to Purchase Music) @americana_andy_ #listenbetter @sarajarosz @lawrencerothman @sarahshookdisarmers @liv_greene_ @sierraelizabethferrell @adriannelenker #sturgillsimpson @waxa_katie @hurrayfortheriffraff @mjlenderman @futurebirds @madidiaz @silverada @gillianwelchofficial @magoogie @julienrbaker @japandroids @caitlincannonmusic @wonderwomenofcountry @dwightyoakam @kevingordon @katiepruittmusic @pearljam @lindi_ortega @aaronleetasjan @theavettbrothers @thenational @americanahighways #americanahighways #favoritealbumsof2024 #favoritesongsof2024 @drivebytruckers @neilyoung @aplaceforowls 3ceres #Listenbetter #americanamusic

Americana Highways 45 RPM 2025 (Reasons to Purchase Music) 2024 was a fantastic year for music and a shit year for pretty much everything else (November 5 still stings). Music, as it so dependably does, helped explain how we were feeling during the darkest of days, and knowing that you’ll be going to a show that night can be the best reason to get out of bed in the morning. Our favorite artists…

[musiconspotify]

Melissa Carper - Borned In Ya (2024) … a little of everything …

[electricswamp]

was tagged by @thegreatnorthernsea 🥰 to put my music player (spotify liked songs) on shuffle and post the first 5 songs

weird shuffle today but okay.

tag. y'all it. @fwdall @cubbery @deathvvaves @lovely-outlaw @himbo-sloth @true-drew and I tag any y'all else who wants to share🥰✨

[cbjustmusic]

Kelly Willis, Brennen Leigh and Melissa Carper performing “Fool's Paradise”. _____________________ Fool’s Paradise Songwriter: Kelly Willis

[chronotopes]

Strange new worlds gets -30 points for most things about this episode and +10 points for playing loml melissa carper at the end