Mike 5 Posted April 29, 2008 Mansions, Motels and Chain Saws Red Molly Tour Diary 66: Wow, the Mansion in Middletown, NY was so beautiful I felt like I should take my shoes off before stepping foot inside! We had a great sold-out show there Sunday and met tons of new people. See pictures from the show here. We spent most of the weekend in Walton, NY playing at the historic Walton Theatre and eating lots of "cake specials" at the local diner. That's eggs, hash browns, toast and a giant pancake! Talk about special. The town also has the best chainsaw wood carvings we've ever seen. We met so many wonderful people at the high school assembly and the theater concert. The Walton motel was pretty swanky too! Let's not forget Friday, when we played a return show at the Golding Park Cafe, closing out their concert season. We had lots of fun talking about our GPS Betty and singing songs about rugs. Heh. Coming up: SPECIAL CD RELEASE SHOW at The Minstrel in Morristown, NJ on Friday 5/2 (reservations recommended), Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY on Saturday 5/3, and The Ridgefield Library in Ridgefield, CT on Sunday 5/4. :) Red Molly New CDs out! So yeah, a couple weeks ago I drove down to Disc Makers and picked up 3 different CDs, including the brand new Red Molly CD, which was totally planned and produced and carefully put together. Almost like a planned pregnancy where you take your vitamins and stop drinking before you even do the deed. Then there's the duo record I made with Anthony da Costa, Bad Nights/Better Days. Neither of us needed to make an album. His solo release came out in January. I had the new Red Molly record, which I'm so proud of. But for some reason we both needed to make this record together, get these raw, emotional songs down somewhere and share them. Compared to a planned pregnancy, this record was a crazy one-night stand in the back of a Chevy with some hot guy who you only know by first name. But you gotta love all your children, right?! You can listen to both of mine here: Love and Other Tragedies, Red Molly 2008 www.cdbaby.com/cd/redmolly3 Bad Nights/Better Days, Abbie & Anthony 2008 www.cdbaby.com/cd/abbiegardner4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike 5 Posted April 29, 2008 (edited) I hate using cliches, but this one seems appropriate. The trio Red Molly is like a bottle of fine wine. You know it is good from the day you first see the bottle, but as it matures the subtle textures and nuances come out that please the palate even more. With their second full-length CD, "Love and Other Tragedies", Red Molly offers a sampling of music that should put this group at forefront of the contemporary folk music scene. It was only four years ago when the trio got together in the fields of the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. A simple campsite jam session at the 2004 fest developed into the formation of Red Molly. Choosing their name from the character in Richard Thompson's classic song " '52 Vincent Black Lightning", Red Molly created a 4 song EP in 2005. They soon found themselves opening for artists such as Aztec Two-Step, Catie Curtis, Jonathan Edwards and John Hammond. In 2006 they entered Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artist Showcase and ended up with the most audience member votes out of all the performers in the prestigious event, and it earned them a main stage performance at the 2007 festival. Their first full length CD was a live effort titled "Never Been to Vegas" and it was primarily recorded in front of a live audience at Bennett studios in Englewood, NJ. (Some portions were also recorded live at other Red Molly concerts, including their appearance at the Hurdy Gurdy Folk Music Club at our old home in Paramus.) The CD captured the excitement of a Red Molly concert, and the CD entered the top 30 on the Radio & Records Americana chart - not an easy feat for an independently released CD! Red Molly's new recording "Love and Other Tragedies" showcases not only the talents of these three accomplished artists, but also the wealth of music that is being created in the contemporary Folk/Americana genre. The trio flexes their muscle in this new studio recording, yet remain pure to the "down-home" quality that has become a hallmark of Red Molly. The CD was recorded and mixed in a series of sessions at producer Ben Wisch's New York studio this past January. A number of talented guest artists appear on the CD - including Fred Gillen Jr., Jake Armerding, Mike Weatherling, Duke Levine, Steve Kirkman, and Anthony Da Costa. Listening to the CD, you can feel the camaraderie and the love for the music shared by all the artists. I often marvel at how a trio of New York based musicians can produce a sound that takes a listener to a front porch picking party deep in the heart of rural America. Give the hound dog a scratch behind the ears, grab a bottle of pop or an adult beverage from the rusty old refrigerator sitting in the corner, dust off a seat on that old couch that found a home on the porch and enjoy a leisurely trip to the heart of American roots music. Laurie MacAllister, Abbie Gardner and Carolann Solebello are accomplished songwriters and each has released masterful CD's that feature their work. The new collaborative CD shares treasures from each artist with some of my favorites being Carolann's "Summertime", Abbie's "Honey on My Grave" (which was previously recorded as the title track for Abbie's recent solo CD), and Laurie's "This Farm Needs a Man". Abbie's song "The Mind of A Soldier" is another standout song, a touching look at a difficulties faced by those left behind - physically and emotionally. Each artist captures the essence of lives and feelings of the subjects of their songs. The album title, "Love and Other Tragedies", gives you an idea of scope of the CD - but don't be fooled. This is not a collection of "poor pitiful me", crying-in-your beer songs - these are strong songs and performances that honor hope, truth and a celebration of perseverance and all the joys that life offers. While Red Molly could fill several CD's of self-penned songs, it is to their credit that they dip into the American songbag to choose songs. Eight of the thirteen songs on their new CD were written by others or are traditional songs, yet Red Molly give each their own personal stamp. Back in the 80's and 90's, I worried that the folk community had become too self-indulgent - many artists sacrificed quality for quantity and I can show you stacks of CD's from that era that come across as psychological therapy sessions set to music. Luckily, there has been a trend in recent years of artists sharing the work of their peers AND, most importantly, to re-discover the treasures of American folk music. Folk music had become the "F" word, and it is refreshing to see artists going back and recording traditional music. On the trad front, Red Molly gives a memorable performance of "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning" on their new CD. The group does justice to the old chestnut "Wayfaring Stranger", a song that has been recorded by many different artists but the Red Molly treatment is worth repeated listening. Also standing out on the CD is Red Molly's recording of Amy Speace's anthem-like ode to relationship woes - "Make Me Lonely Again". I've loved Amy's own recording of the song - her sultry voice bringing out the sense of turmoil over love gone wrong, but Red Molly brings out the heartache without becoming maudlin. A real treat is "Sentimental Gentleman From Georgia", a song from the late Tin-Pan Alley lyricist Mitchell Parish (who gave us "Stardust", "Volare" and "Sophisticated Lady" among other classics). The trio has fun with this one and their treatment reminds the listener of the great vocal trios of the big band era. The CD kicks off with Abbie leading the group on Gillian Welch's "Wichita" - a perfect mood setter for the rest of the songs. The recording is bookended with a wonderful tight harmony treatment of Susan Werner's "May I Suggest" - a perfect closer that sums up the spirit of the CD - and the magic of Red Molly. Red Molly has roots that drive deep into the soil of American traditional music and their branches are reaching out to new horizons that will carry the tradition on. I hope that if this planet survives for another couple hundred years, musicologists in the future will look at Red Molly as one of the best examples of folk music of this era. This coming summer, Red Molly will be performing at a number of important festivals and venues - including a return to their spiritual home at Falcon Ridge plus a main stage performance at the Philadelphia Folk Festival. They will also stop at Appel Farms Arts & Music Festival, Summerfest in New Bedford, the AFBA Bluegrass Festival, Bethlehem's Musikfest, and others. If you are lucky enough to be in the NJ area you can see them this Friday (April 18) at the Brennan Coffeehouse in Jersey City. No matter where you see them, be sure to pick up a copy of "Love and Other Tragedies". You can also order a copy through Red Molly's website at www.redmolly.com . Ron Olesko's Folk Music Notebook Edited April 29, 2008 by SpaceTigger Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike 5 Posted May 1, 2008 YAHOO! What an exciting month! "LOVE AND OTHER TRAGEDIES" Our brand-new CD is now available ONLINE! Go here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/redmolly3 To download individual songs, go here: http://www.digstation.com/AlbumDetails.asp...id=ALB000018126 CD RELEASE SHOWS Our first CD release show is this Friday, May 2, at the Minstrel Coffeehouse in Morristown, NJ. There will a free raffle, and lots of fun and surprises! GO RED! We've decided to celebrate our CD release in another way during the month of May. We're giving a portion of all May sales of "Love and Other Tragedies" to the American Heart Association's "Go Red for Women" campaign. Heart disease is the number one killer of women today. Who better than Red Molly to "Go Red"? For more information about this cause, go here: http://www.goredforwomen.org See you soon, Laurie, Abbie, and Carolann Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
