I'm rediscovering Chris Rea again after a few years. Chris was pretty big over here in the 80's but never really made it in the US as far as I know. Talking to friends in their early 20's now, most of them don't have any recollection of him at all. Chris was one of the only British guitarists playing Slide guitar back in the days of synth, so even though he was relatively commercial, I was drawn to his music. However, since then he had a brush with death, when he was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer, which I believe has a very high mortality rate. It caused him to completely reassess his entire career. He decided to go back to his blues roots, and eschew the Middle of the Road pop that he had become known for. Over the space of two years he researched and recorded an 11 CD exploration of the roots of Blues, called Blue Guitars.
Here's probably his most famous song from the late 80s, which still shows his blues roots, although you'll mostly only ever hear the uptempo section on radio if its played.
Ahh...I love Chris Rea (apart from Driving Home for Christmas - too darn catchy!)
He has one of the sexiest voices ever...check out this one!
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There is magic in long-distance friendships. They let you relate to other human beings in a way that goes beyond being physically together and is often more profound.
~Diana Cortes
I'm on a Patrick Watson kick lately. Something about the Jude/Jeff Buckley/'early Pink Floyd of the Syd Barrett days' sound to him just makes me happy.
I know it is, hence the --> I'm not good at accepting compliments.
Today I've been listening to Basement Birds. The song I like best so far is "Ghosts" but I can't find it on YouTube. They've got really beautiful harmonies - reminiscent of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. There's even an echo of Neil Diamond in the song "Reasons." The video below is a bit more Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in nature.
I've also been on a bit of a sort of shades of bluegrass (but without the twangyness) music kick lately, so a little bit of Abigail Washburn has hit the spot nicely. Her voice has a rough breathy quality to it that I really enjoy, and I've never heard anyone play a banjo quite like that before. .
Alela Diane has been straight up doing it for me. Though it's not the one I posted, I especially love her song Pirate's Gospel.
Ehhhhh, I'm not liking it so much. I like people to sing on key, even if they're trying to be funky and all. It's one reason (among many) that I absolutely despise Ke$ha and would gladly throw the radio against the wall whenever she comes on.
Do any of you listen to Loreena McKennit? A friend lent me two of her CDs, and they're beautiful music. She's an Irish (I believe) singer and songwriter. Some of her numbers are traditional songs or poems, and some are her own compositions. She sings harmonies with herself (ah, the wonders of technology!) and plays harp. Let's see if I can find a link...
Here we go. Oh, and I find that she's actually Canadian, but does Celtic music.
Yes, indeedy do, Loreena is a Canadian from Manitoba. I love her music and have all her CDs and DVDs. I've been to 3 of her concerts and would go again in a heartbeat. The guy that plays the fiddle at her concerts (not necessarily on the studio work) is worth the price of admission all by himself.
She was once involved in a project to set Tolkien's poetry to music. I don't know what ever became of that. Have you heard her version of The Lady of Shallot?
I heard her at the very beginning of her career, being interviewed on CBC radio by Peter Gzowski. She was still busking in Toronto, hauling her harp around the subways.
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Living on Earth is expensive,
but it does include a free trip
around the sun every year.