Weekly Summary (11/18/13 - 11/24/13)

Win A Copy of Elizabeth Mitchell's The Sounding Joy (Plus Free Concert Tickets)

I've already reviewed the fabulous album of Christmas music from Elizabeth Mitchell, The Sounding Joy, and now it's your chance to win a copy of your very own.  (And now, also to win 4 tickets to see Mitchell and many of her friends from the album in New York City -- see below.)

That's right, courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways, I have a copy of the album inspired by Ruth Crawford Seeger's 1953 songbook American Folk Songs for Christmas looking for a good home for the holidays.  Might it be yours?

The album features guest stars aplenty, including Natalie Merchant, Dan Zanes, John Sebastian, Aoife O'Donovan, and Ruth Crawford Seeger's daughter Peggy Seeger.  Most importantly it features Mitchell's peaceful voice and stellar arrangements from Mitchell and husband Daniel Littleton.

Mitchell will be playing a couple holiday gigs this year (with Merchant and many others), at New York City's Symphony Space on December 14 and Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock on December 20.  If you can't be there, then this album might be the next best thing.  (See below for details on winning a 4-pack of tickets to the Symphony Space show.)

liznew_20130826_183436_lowres.jpeg

To enter, leave a comment below with your favorite wintertime holiday song, regardless of whether that's "Joy to the World," "The Dreidel Song," The Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping," or "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)."  You'll need to leave your e-mail address (so I can contact you if I win), but it won't be displayed, and you'll also need to be patient because I have to approve every comment before it's posted.  Deadline for submitting a comment is 10 PM Eastern time on Wednesday, Nov. 27.  I'll pick a winner randomly and promise to get it out to the winner in plenty of time to inspire their own December singalongs.

(The wonderful folks at Symphony Space -- really, I've met them, they *are* wonderful -- have also offered 4 tickets to the December 14 show with Mitchell and many others.  Everyone who enters for the CD will also enter for the concert.  The first name drawn will get to choose between the tickets and the CD, and then I'll pick a second winner who'll get to use whatever the first winner didn't select.)

Thanks and good luck!

Video: "Planet Hopping" Trailer - Lunch Money / Belle et Bête

I'm geeked about one of my favorite bands, Lunch Money, stretching their wings (or whatever it is bands collectively stretch) and doing new things.

Especially if those new things are with puppets. 

Next week is the world premiere of the space puppet musical the band has created with  Belle et Bête, a South Carolina-based puppetry duo.  If you are at all near the Columbia, South Carolina area next weekend (Nov. 15 & 16), please do check out the show and let this poor West Coast(-ish) guy know how it was.  'Cause otherwise I'll just have to rely on this trailer which, while it does feature Lunch Money music and puppets, won't really be like being there.

Concert Recap: Underbirds (New York City, April 2013)

I don't know how many artists I would have skipped a Laurie Berkner talk for in order to see them perform live.  Probably not many.

But a chance to see the debut live performance of Underbirds, the superduo of Morgan Taylor and Todd McHatton?  At Symphony Space, whose family programming I've admired from afar for awhile?  While it was a tough call, I found myself catching the 3 train to the Upper West Side last Saturday morning, knowing I'd be heading back to BAM Fisher and Kindiefest later.

IMG_1133.jpg

Taylor is, of course, a fairly regular live performer with his Gustafer Yellowgold gigs, but McHatton doesn't play live much at all.  Add to that the fact that Taylor and McHatton had only met three times over the past year in putting together their debut album, and I was very curious as to how it would sound.

As it turns out, pretty nice.  As a duo, they had an easygoing feel.  I would not describe the show as being especially dynamic -- essentially it was a couple guys with guitars -- but as Taylor does at his Gustafer gigs, they used visuals to help hold the attention of the kids in the audience, though these visuals were far more abstract.

The project itself is a little odd in that it's not entirely kids music.  It's not *not* kids music, either -- but if it hadn't been part of the "kids" series (and the presence of many kids, including McHatton's daughter on their "cover" of McHatton's own massive kindie hit, "I Think I'm a Bunny"), a listener could have been forgiven for thinking the concert was a curious set of hook-friendly songs about nature and gentle love designed for adults.

The duo joked that it might be their last concert, though because their debut is fairly brief they had to play several new songs just to make the concert long enough (The new songs "Frame" and "So Close to You" both fall in both that "not entirely kids music"  and "awesome" categories.)  While I doubt that Underbirds will be the side project that eventually dwarfs their main gigs, it'd be nice to see the two of them continue to develop their partnership and play a few more shows.  It'd be a shame to let such a good friendship go to waste.

Underbirds - "Bright Leaf" (Live at Symphony Space) [YouTube]​

​[Disclosure: I was provided with complimentary admission to the show.]