Hanneke Cassel: Folk Music Gone Worldwide

Imagine having “scribbles” instead of “dots” for your sheet music. For today’s special guest, Hanneke Cassel, that’s

Hanneke Cassel

Hanneke Cassel

the chosen norm…for the 40-60% she chooses to write at all.

Winning 1st place in the Instrumental category of the 2008 USA Songwriting Contest, this worldwide acclaimed fiddle player hails from Oregon, and began touring after graduating from the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Beginning with a strong Texan influence, she discovered her true passion in the Scottish genre after winning a national contest and consequent scholarship to study with Alasdair Fraser and Buddy MacMaster, first for five summers at the Isle of Man, and later in California.

Her music is a refreshing blend of the traditional and the contemporary, with percussive uses of the cello and fiddle, and deliberately raspy tones for dramatic effect.

As she views the creative arts as a spiritual outlet, she also teaches on Fiddle Video, has taught and raised money for Many Hopes in Kenya, and has visited a children’s shelter in Beijing. A second visit to the latter in 2011 inspired the eponymous song of her 2013 album Dot the Dragon’s Eyes, a Chinese expression referring to a tale of how a painter’s dragon comes to life after adding that finishing touch.

We also discussed the heterogeneity of jigs and Scottish music, the importance of oral tradition and the influence of radio in defining folk music, fond memories of the late Buddy MacMaster, and her collaboration with a local pianist Dave Wiesler.

Speaking of local, Hanneke Cassel is coming to the NorthEast this April: next Wednesday, April 8th, at One Longfellow Square, Portland, ME; the following Friday, April 10th, the Me and Thee Coffeehouse, Marblehead, MA; and Friday, April 24th, the Institute of Musical Traditions, Rockville, MD.  Check out her Facebook for more information on these and other events!

The Interview

Hanneke Cassel
(Recorded live 03/31/15; host: Mandorichard), 44:56, 43.1 MB.

The Music

The following music is heard in this episode of The Music Room:

  • Artist / Song / Album (or note) / Date / Notes
  • Hanneke Cassel / The Cypress, Le Jig a Tit-toine / Silver / 2006
  • Hanneke Cassel / Highlander’s Farewell, MacLaine of Loch Buie, Bedding of the Bride, Return to Milltown, Paddy Taylor’s / My Joy / 2001
  • Hanneke Cassel / Jungle Java / For Reasons Unseen / 2009
  • Hanneke Cassel / Dot the Dragon’s Eyes / Dot the Dragon’s Eyes / 2013

Photo provided by hannekecassel.com

 

Donna Ulisse: A Trinity of Genres

Donna Ulisse

Donna Ulisse

Today on The Music Room, our guest Donna Ulisse confesses she may be something of a workaholic. Well, she’s certainly keeping herself busy. Tomorrow, she has a photography session with Bryan Sutton for their new album, and will pick up a copy of her new book, The Songwriter in Me, from the press. Given the prevalence of her own lyrics in that book, she is making a 24 song CD to include with its release, and is spending 2 hours a day composing an accompanying workbook. She has an upcoming songwriting session with Jerry Sally, and in July will continue her monthly collaboration with Songwriting Escape, spending three days in July, September, and October in Yorktown, VA, Texas, and Chicago, respectively.

She’s also touring with her band The Poor Mountain Boys, and continuing to write songs.

Hailing from Nashville, TN, she says her hometown is not complete without its songwriters, and even her husband, Rick Stanley, has helped her co-write multiple songs, including “Wilma Walker,” based on a billboard the two saw, and prompting a discussion on titles, pronunciation difficulties, and how Doyle Lawson gets hug-tackled.

Her 2013 album Showing My Roots explores the various musical influences on her career, and we even delve into her past as a 1990s “country diva,” exploring her challenges, regrets, triumphs, and eventual shift to bluegrass and gospel.

So we are certainly grateful that she could appear on the show today, and we are very excited to hear that she is coming to DE for the first time…this Saturday, March 21st, at Crown Plaza Wilmington North, for the Wilmington Wintergrass Festival: 2 shows at 2pm and 8pm and a 90 minute songwriting workshop at 3pm open to anyone with a paid band. Take a little time from your schedule, and come check it out…you won’t regret it!

The Interview

Donna Ulisse
(Recorded live 3/17/15; host: Mandorichard), 31:12, 30.0 MB.

The Music

The following music is heard in this episode of The Music Room:

  • Artist / Song / Album (or note) / Date / Notes
  • Donna Ulisse / Showin’ My Roots / Showin’ My Roots / 2013
  • Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver / Wilma Walker / In Session / 2015
  • Donna Ulisse / Everything Has Changed / Walk this Mountain Down / 2008
  • Donna Ulisse (with Sam Bush) / Take this Hammer (Excerpt) / Showin’ My Roots / 2013

Photo courtesy of donnaulisse.com

 

Pure Poison and Family Gospel

Sarah HarrisIt’s a familiar story. Mike and Lisa meet in church, fall in love, get married, have three kids, give their oldest daughter guitar lessons…

And by 2011 have started touring the continental US as a family bluegrass group.

Not so familiar then. Today on the Music Room we talked to Sarah Harris, a “ray of sunshine” from Callahan, FL and lead singer and mandolinist of the Trinity River Band.

The Trinity River Band is a bluegrass/gospel group that incorporates various genres into their music, including Irish American folk and 80s rock. For this versatility, they have earned worldwide radio broadcasts, and “Better than Blue,” from their eponymous 2014 album, peaked on the Bluegrass Today Weekly National Survey at #4.

Within that album appears Sarah’s song “Pure Poison,” which she wrote for her brother John, the group’s banjo player who also wields a variety of musical instruments.

We also spoke with Sarah about the influence of gospel on country, traveling on the road as a family, her appearance on Alex Rutledge’s TV show Bloodlines, and Brianna, the youngest member, who plays the fiddle and turns 13 tomorrow. All the best!

Be sure to stay posted; they tour the Northeast this summer, and their new album Heartstrings comes out this May.

The Interview

Sarah Harris
(Recorded live 02/24/15; host: Mandorichard), 29:59, 29.3 MB.

The Music

The following music is heard in this episode of The Music Room:

  • Artist / Song / Album (or note) / Date / Notes
  • Trinity River Band / Bearfoot Breakdown / Better than Blue / 2014
  • Trinity River Band / Pure Poison / Better than Blue / 2014
  • Trinity River Band / Near the Cross (excerpt) / Bluegrass on the Plains Festival / 2013 (Excerpt)
  • Trinity River Band / Better than Blue / Better than Blue/ 2014