MUSIC IN THE AIR

In the last couple of days I've gotten press releases on two free (!) outdoor summer music programs in Santa Fe: The Santa Fe Bandstand series on the Plaza (hey! I don't see my brother's band!) and the new Music on the Hill at St. John’s College series.

The schedules are posted below.

Also, even though they're not free, don't forget Fan Man's Santa Fe Community picnic concert ( Ozomatli plus Ryan McGarvey, Sol Fire and Hundred Year Flood, July 2 at Fort Marcy); Frogfest (James McMurtry plus Frogville faves at Santa Fe Brewing Company, August 19 and 20); The Santa Fe Traditional & Bluegrass Music Festival (Bluegrass Patriots, Sweet Sunny South and more August 25-27 at the Santa Fe Rodeo Grounds); and The Thirsty Ear Festival (Dave Alvin, Honeyboy Edwards, Patty Griffin, Be Good Tanyas and others at Eaves Ranch, Labor Day Weekend).

2006 Santa Fe Bandstand Schedule

EVENINGS 6-8:30pm

Wed July 5 Opening Night

Albert & Gage Christine Albert & Chris Gage--High energy country-folk

Brother E. Clayton & the Mighty Soul Deacons Classic soul

Thurs. July 6 International Folk Art Market Night

Round Mountain Enchanting mix of Middle Eastern, Balkan, Celtic and Folk

Los Pinguos Putumayo Recording Artists --Argentine folk groove band


Mon. July 10 Bill Hearne Living legend acoustic country folk artist

South by Southwest Premier southwestern swing and country band

Tues. July 11 Jono Manson Santa Fe Legend returns with his rootsy rock 'n roll

Alex Maryol Band Original rock 'n roll and blues music

Wed July 12 Don Lovato Group Latin smooth jazz and pop

Caldo Tlalpeno Classic Mexican Music from Cuidad Juarez

Thurs. July 13 New Mexico Music Commission Night

Red Earth Award winning Native funk, ska, rock, blues, jazz

Brother E & The Blue Rhythm Kings Award winning NM Soul and R&B Band

Mon. July 17 The Twobers w/ One Foundation Live hip-hop and a twist of funk & reggae

Key Frances Original Psychedelic Funk

Tues. July 18 Just Friends Straight ahead classical jazz
Busy McCarroll and the Ambassadors of Pleasure Power jazz pop noir

Wed. July 19 Mariachi Buenaventura New Mexico’s first all female mariachi

Johnny Hernandez & Crossroads Tejano recording artist

Thurs. July 20 Stephanie Sieberth New Orleans' Jazz vocalist
Ron Helman Jazz Ensemble Jazz music of the 50’s and 60’s

Mon. July 24 Y. Que Latino rock world fusion

Jaka Afro pop funk fusion


Tues. July 25 Joe West Way out west honky-tonk and originals
Shannon McNally New Orleans' soulful singer and entrancing songwriter

Wed. July 26 Spanish Market Night

Santa Fe Suzuki Institute Young students playing strings and flute

Manzanares Nuevo Flamenco meets Latin Rock

Thurs. July 27 Ken Valdez Rock with Blues and Latin influence
The Motet Touring Colorado afro-beat groove band

Mon. July 31 The Rifters Southwestern Americana
The Pleasure Pilots Rhythm 'n blues, jump and swing

Tues. Aug. 1 Public Safety Night

Hillary Smith & Hip Pocket Old school funkiness, R&B and power house blues
The Jimmy Stadler Band High energy rock--NM Mic Award for Best CD of 2006

Wed. Aug. 2 Cherry Tempo Indie rock

Sol Fire Rock pop with a Latin edge

Thurs. Aug. 3 Night Train Roadhouse blues and R&B
Teri Lee Browning Heart felt beat driven pop


Mon. Aug. 7 Boris McCutcheon Psychedelic desert rat music

Hundred Year Flood Rockin' Americana

Tues. Aug. 8 Sean Helean Band Western rock
HooDoos Bluzrok

Wed. Aug. 9 Native Spirits Contemporary and traditional Native American music
Bermudez/ Valentine Quartet Nuevo Santa Fe

Thurs. Aug. 10 Samba Fe The beat of Santa Fe
Wagogo World beat—Memphis to Mozambique to Mexico

Mon. Aug. 14 Toast Original roots rock

The Hollis Wake Infectious Pop that seriously rocks

Tues. Aug. 15 Ruben Romero with band--virtuoso Spanish and flamenco guitarist

Prince Diabate with band --master kora player from Guinea, West Africa

Wed. Aug. 16 Latina Night

Nacha Mendez, Gioia Tama, Busy McCarroll de Alsaro, Karmela Gonzales, Bobbi Jo Marquez and Lisa Martinez

Thurs. Aug. 17 Indian Market Night

Iyah Reggae soul
Native Roots Native reggae

Mon. Aug. 21 Santa Fe Traditional & Bluegrass Music Festival Night

Atomic Grass Traditional bluegrass

Elliot’s Ramblers Great old bluegrass in a brand new way

Tues. Aug. 22 Taarka A synergy of sounds that blends bluegrass, folk, gypsy and jazz

Georgie Angel Blues Band featuring Junior Brown Feel good blues

Wed. Aug. 23 Los Wise Guys Variety of golden oldies and Beatle covers

Buena Suerte Cumbias, polkas, country, rock and oldies

Thurs. Aug. 25 The Swank Jam funk blues roots band
Julie Stewart & The Motor Kings High energy rockin' blues

AFTERNOONS Noon to 1:30

Thurs. July 6 Velarde Trio Traditional New Mexican old time music

Tues. July 11 The Watermelon Mountain Jug Band Eclectic mix of country and bluegrass

Thurs. July 13 Fiddlin' Doc Gonzales Classic country swing

Tues. July 18 The Hot Club of Santa Fe Hot swing, gypsy Jazz and Bluegrass

Thurs., July 20 Straight Up Be-bop jazz quintet

Tues. July 25 Don and Victoria Armstrong Southwest folk and original favorites

Thurs. July 27 Laurianne Fiorentino Powerful original acoustic music

Tues. Aug. 1 Mike Owens & Sister Mary Evans Acoustic Jazz and Pop

Thurs. Aug. 3 Jaime Michaels Original singer songwriter

Tues. Aug. 8 Larry & Leslie Latour Folk rock jazz blues

Thurs. Aug. 10 Justin Bransford & Jetpack Rental Groove-based improv trio

Tues. Aug. 15 Trio Los Musicanos Northern New Mexico traditional and modern music

Thurs. Aug. 17 Terry Diers & Sweet Sister Sweet R&B

Tues. Aug. 22 Love Buzzards A reunion of old friends who love traditional folk music

Thurs. Aug. 24 Trillium Marimba Marimba and guitar family band


Music on the Hill at St. John’s College

June 14 Jazz with Chris Calloway

June 21 Jazz with Ron Helman

June 28 Latin Jazz with Terra Plena

July 12 Folk Blues with Chris Dracup Trio

July 19 Jazz with Cathy McGill w/ Bert Dalton Trio

July 26 Calypso with Frank Leto

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, June 4, 2006
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Samisen Boogiewoogie by Umekichi
Turn Into by Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Blues From an Airplane by Jefferson Airplane
Death Sound Blues by Country Joe & The Fish
Drunk by Johnny Dowd
My Mind is Ramblin' by The Black Keys
Sailor Man by The Mighty Sparrow

Son of Shaft/Feel It by The Bar-Kays
Porry by Sorry Bamba
Get on the Boat by Prince
Firewater by Big Chief Monk Bordreaux & The Golden Eagles

FIERY FURNACES SET
Teach Me Sweetheart
Single Again
Guns Under the Counter
The Vietnamese Telephone Ministry
I'm Leaving
Birdy Brain
Whistle Rhapsody

Lay Down Burden by Brian Wilson
Kingdom of Cold by Hundred Year Flood
The Great Pagoda of Funn by Donald Fagen
Fall Awake by The Ditty Bops
Shaken, Rattled and Rolled by T-Bone Burnett
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

GOP SENATE RACE GOES NEGATIVE

The three Republicans seeking the nomination to run against incumbent Democrat Jeff Bingaman for U.S. Senate seemed to turn on each other last week -- just before Tuesday's primary.


HERE'S my story in today's New Mexican.


And, speaking of last-minute campaign coverage, HERE'S a quick look at the Rio Arriba magistrate judge race.

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, June 2, 2006
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
The Ballad of Thunder Road by Robert Mitchum
True Religion by Hot Tuna
Lion in Winter by Hoyt Axton
Action Packed by Ronnie Dee
Whole Lotta Things by Southern Culture on the Skids
Pill Bug Blues by The Gourds
Payday Blues by Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks
Sho-Jo-Ji/The Hungry Racoon by Petty Booka

Dirty Old Town by Frank Black
Milly's Cafe by Fred Eaglesmith
Byrd From West Virginia by I See Hawks in L.A.
Mystery Mountain by Porter Wagoner
The Virginian by Neko Case
Hunter Green by The Handsome Family
You Better Stop Drinking Shine by Rev. I.B. Ware, Wife & Son

Sunbonnet Sue by The Fort Worth Doughboys
Liberty by Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys
Ida Red by Merle Haggard
Saving My Love by The Stumbleweeds
Funky Tunk by Moby Grape
Highway Patrol by Junior Brown
Cold Canadian Love by Joe West
Pop a Top by Jim Ed Brown
Maybe You Heard by Todd Snyder
Chuckie Cheese Hell by Tim Wilson

Cowboy Logic by Michael Martin Murphey
Dancing With the Women in the Bar by Whiskeytown
Don't Let Them Destroy You by Cordero
Where I'm From by The Bottle Rockets
Just a Dream by Eleni Mandell
When Two Worlds Collide by Roger Miller
Country Bumpkin by Cal Smith
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

DEAF EARS

I guess the governor didn't listen to my suggestion about voluntarily ceasing his fundraising activities and donating most of his treasury to charity.

His re-election campaign raised more than a half million last month. CLICK HERE for the AP story.

ALso, here's a link to my story about campaign finance reports for local legislative candidates.

And here's my story about problems with the reports showing up on the Secretary of State's Web Site.

TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: BURN ON FURNACES!

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
June 2, 2006

The brother-and-sister team known as The Fiery Furnaces continues to amaze, delight, and occasionally confound unsuspecting listeners on its latest musical adventure, Bitter Tea.

Bitter Tea is an opportunity for writer/multi-instrumentalist/mad-genius-boy Matthew Friedberger to toss in everything plus a few kitchen sinks, while sister Eleanor Friedberger, the main Furnace singer, captivates and allures. Eleanor’s voice — sweet, clear, sometimes even a little prim — seems like an earthly anchor for a ship tossed along a stormy, unpredictable musical sea. (Strangely enough, the album was released on Fat Possum, once known as a hard-core blues label. Despite some wicked slide guitar in the song “Police Sweater Blood Vow,” I don’t think R.L Burnside done it this a way.)

The music changes from song to song — and often several times within a song. Electronic madness bounces off an old-timey tack piano.

While the Furnaces don’t really sound like anyone else, you could spend an afternoon trying to trace the influences.

“Waiting to Know You” could be doo-wop as filtered through The Flaming Lips. When “Oh Sweet Woods” gets going, it sounds like a mutated noir take on Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” You might hear distant echoes of Brian Wilson’s Smile smirking here and there. There’s sugar-pie-honey-bunch Motown hooks beneath the electronic insanity of “Benton Harbor Blues” (though my favorite touch here is the Garth-Hudson-on-Pluto, roller-rinky organ sound that also colors the backdrop). Bouncy, Beatlesque touches abound — and tell me you don’t hear the spirit of Plastic Ono Band-era John Lennon in “Police Sweater Blood Vow.” And somewhere in the cosmos, Spike Jones smiles knowingly.

In interviews, the Furnaces have said that Bitter Tea is a companion piece to last year’s album, Rehearsing My Choir, a strange family-album kind of album featuring narration by the Friedbergers’ grandmother. While Choir dealt with the memories of an old woman, Bitter Tea is from the perspective of a young girl.

There are lyrical threads here dealing with innocence and its inevitable loss, temptation, sexual curiosity, and danger.

On the title song, the music is built around a faux-Oriental melody — think Madame Butterfly on angel dust. After a frantic synth introduction lasting about a minute, Eleanor pipes in, announcing: “I’ve got a special category business down by the Multifunctional Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Rollerblade Rink ...” After being tempted to drink the “bitter tea,” the music reverts back to a slow, rinky-tinkly version of the original melodic theme, as the Friedbergers sing, “I am a crazy crane/I lost my true love in the rain.”

This song melts into the next track, “Teach Me Sweetheart,” which begins with strange squiggly noises arising over a thumping bass line. Eleanor sounds downright sultry as she sings, “Come away, teach me sweetheart.” But the song swings from sensual to severe as the subject turns to her in-laws:

“My mother-in-law was standing by the stove/hissing like a snake, hissing like a snake ... She gave orders to spill my blood ...”

On “The Vietnamese Telephone Ministry,” the narrator seems to be aching for purity. She seeks solace in a wide variety of churches — and she lists them by name (and address!) :

“I went to the Right Road Ministry at 4801 S. Normandie. I went to the Armenian Brotherhood Bible Church at 5556 Harold Way ... the Iglesia Evangelica Rey de Reyes y Señor y Señores ... the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star and Kingdom of God in Faith at 3810 W. Slauson and I drove around listening to the Greater Bethany Tape Ministry ...”

(This song ends with Eleanor singing a series of telephone numbers. In a forum on a Furnaces fans’ Web site, someone called “todd” apparently called one of the numbers. He posted: “I called and a woman answered with a weak sounding ‘hello?’ and then i proceeded to ask if this was in fact the vietnamese telephone ministry, but she replied with ‘espanol!’ and i switched to my spanish asked her if she knew the fiery furnaces, and she said no ...”)

Sometimes the tempo and melody changes within a song are a little too abrupt for comfort and some of the studio trickery gets a little thick. (Maybe not so much backward vocals next time, OK guys?)

But overall, Bitter Tea confirms that the dreamlike sound of the Fiery Furnaces is some of the most interesting and strangely satisfying music being made these days.
(www.thefieryfurnaces.com)

Also Recommended:

Show Your Bones by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. “Sometimes I think that I’m bigger than the sound,” Karen O shouts repeatedly as the refrain to the song “Cheated Hearts.” Is this a self-critical examination, a chastisement for putting her ego ahead of her band? Or is it a self-affirmation, a way to say that holding onto her real identity is more important than any rock ’n’ roll facade? As her voice rises, it seems more a realization than a question. She’s bigger than the sound!

But that sound is pretty big, too, and here on YYY’s second album, it’s gotten even bigger. This little trio from Brooklyn (since moved to Los Angeles) is making a noise that’s just as loud as before, but broader — more accessible and pop-conscious without losing the ragged appeal that made us love them in the first place.

Such a move is a gamble that some bands can’t survive. (Why am I having these sad visions of Big Brother & The Holding Company?) On the single “Gold Lion,” which opens the album, Karen sings about taking “our hands out of control.” It takes a worried gal to sing a worried song.

But I’m optimistic about Yeah Yeah Yeahs.The music is even more irresistible than ever. And even when they get all anthemy on the last song, “Turn Into,” guitarist Nick Zinner channels Joe Meek and cuts loose with a craze, strangled solo that references The Tornadoes’ “Telstar.”

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
June 1, 2006


There’s a nifty little shindig going on next Tuesday. I’m helping pay for it.
But I’m not invited to join in the fun.

I’m talking, of course, about the 2006 primary, where Democrats and Republicans will be allowed to choose their nominees for the November election.


But I’m not a Democrat or Republican. I’m a proud member of the DTS classification. (That stands for “Declined to State,” not “Dedicated to Satan.”)

Many of us still use the word “independent.”

According to statistics on the Secretary of State’s Web site, 15 percent of New Mexico voters registered under DTS, while members of minor parties account for another 2 percent of the state’s registered voters.

In Santa Fe County, it’s 17 percent DTS, 3 percent minor parties.

That means that in this county a full 20 percent of registered voters are not allowed to participate in Tuesday’s election to help select candidates for the November general-election ballot.

Except to help pay for it.

State Election Bureau Director Ernest Marquez said Wednesday that the last primary cost taxpayers between $400,000 and $500,000.

The Founding Fathers had a catchy little phrase for such an arrangement: “taxation without representation.”

Doesn’t this smell like a lawsuit waiting to happen?

What to do?: One solution would be to let the parties run and pay for their own primaries. The state Democratic Party managed to pull off a similar operation in 2004 with their presidential-preference caucus.

Another approach would be an “open primary” in which voters of any affiliation could chose to vote in whichever party’s primary they chose. In other words, if you were enthralled by one of the three Republican Senate candidates, you could choose to vote in the GOP primary, no matter how you’re registered with regard to party affiliation. Or if you have a keen interest in the three Dems running for attorney general, you could choose to vote in the Democratic primary.

Twenty-one states do it this way.

The fear, of course, is mischief by the opposing party — Democrats voting for a Republican crook or goofball and vice versa — to assure a weak opponent in the general election. I guess that’s a possibility, though both sides have to realize such tactics could backfire.

(And even states with closed primaries have been known to elect crooks and goofballs from time to time.)

But don’t worry, fellow DTSers. Even though all the campaigns are ignoring you now, in a few months, all of them are going to want to be your friend. At least the ones who survive the primaries.

Campaign finance: The latest round of campaign-finance reports are due today. A day before the deadline, at least one candidate already was touting his numbers.

Democrat Moises Morales, trying to unseat Rep. Debbie Rodella in District 41, said Wednesday that he has doubled his treasury in the last month. He’ll be reporting he has collected a total of about $8,000 for his campaign.

Rodella has collected more. As of last month, she still had more than $17,000 cash on hand. That number is likely to rise today.

Morales has made an issue of Rodella’s contributor list, noting a large share of her cash came from out-of-state corporations. A spokeswoman for Morales said he only has two contributions from outside New Mexico — both from farmers in Wyoming. The larger of those two contributions is $200.