Russ Barenberg: Musical Dualities

Russ Barenberg

Russ Barenberg

Today on the Music Room, we talked to Russ Barenberg, described by songwriter Jon Weisberger as “perfectly blend[ing] a mastery of roots music tradition with melodic originality.”  His music is exceptionally lyrical, relying primarily on composition rather than tempo to provide the energy, and incorporating various genres and instruments.

This energy and collaborative spirit carries over into his own life.  Starting in 1970 on the guitar with the bluegrass group Country Cooking in Ithaca, NY, by 1977 he’d joined the electric string band Carried Away on the electric guitar, and in 1979 moved to Boston and joined the triple fiddle band Fiddle Fever, but not before recording his debut solo album Cowboy Calypsocalypso.

While he settled in Nashville by 1986, he has only continued traveling, visiting workshops throughout the United States and Europe as a teacher and educational author, and he has participated in Transatlantic Sessions, an international collaboration by artists in both the US and Europe, produced in Scotland, and producing TV episodes, live performances, and series albums.

Speaking of television, he also did extensive work in Ken Burns features, including the critically acclaimed film The Civil War, and his most recent solo album When at Last, with the single “Little Monk,” nominated for a 2008 Grammy (Best Country Instrumental Performance).

 

The Interview

Russ Barenberg
(Recorded live, September 15, 2015; host, Mandorichard)
21:36
20.7 MB

The Music

Artist / Song / Album / Year / Notes
Russ Barenberg / Cowboy Calypso / Cowboy Calypso / 1979 / (Excerpt in podcast)
Jerry Douglas, Russ Barenberg, & Edgar Meyer / The Travels of Mr. Hulot / Skip, Hop, and Wobble / 1993 / (Excerpt in podcast)
Russ Barenberg / Halloween Rehearsal / Halloween Rehearsal / 1987 / (Excerpt in podcast)
Russ Barenberg / Magic Foot / Moving Pictures / 1988 / (Excerpt in podcast)
Russ Barenberg / When at Last / When at Last / 2007 / (Excerpt in podcast)

(Note: Due to copyright considerations, the podcast contains excerpts of the music included in the full radio program.)

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

 

Nora Jane Struthers: Singin’ the Party Line

NoraJaneStruthers

“When you go to a Carnival, you go into a sideshow tent, and on every stage you find a different person with a different story,” says Nora Jane Struthers. “That’s why I’m trying to do with this album – craft vignettes, and in some cases more developed narratives, about imaginary people’s lives.”

This was the mission statement for Nora Jane Struthers’ newest album, Carnival, the follow up on her award-winning self-titled album from 2010, which further displays Nora’s skills as both a vocalist and a songwriter of Americana music. Carnival also marks the recorded debut of her touring group, The Party Line, consisting of Joe Overton (clawhammer banjo and harmony vocals), Drew Lawhorn (drums), Nick DiSebastian (upright bass and guitar), and Jack Devereux (fiddle).

While Nora is rooted in the country tradition, through a combination of her songwriting, her voice and her presence both on and stage in recordings, she has advanced traditional country in great new ways. We discussed the song “I Heard the Bluebirds Singing,” a song from an album she recorded with her father, and the process behind the creation of Carnival, as well as her song-writing and use of imagery–rooted in the tradition, but contemporary, too.

For more information about Nora Jane and her music, view her website, which includes links to her discography and her touring schedule.

The Interview

Nora Jane Struthers (Recorded 3/05/14; original broadcast date: 3/18/14; host: Mandorichard), 26:48, 25.7 MB.

The interview will re-air on WVUD on Tue 4/01/14.

The Music

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

  • Artist / Song / Album (or note) / Label (or source) / Date / Notes
  • Dirt Road Sweetheart / I Heard the Bluebirds Singing / I Heard the Bluebirds Singing / Blue Pig Music / 2009 / Nora Jane and her dad, Al Struthers
  • Nora Jane Struthers and the Party Line / Bike Ride / Carnival / Blue Pig Music / 2013
  • Nora Jane Struthers / Mocking Bird / Nora Jane Struthers / Blue Pig Music / 2010
  • Bearfoot / Tell Me a Story / American Story / Compass / 2011 / (Excerpt in podcast; full version when aired on WVUD)