Wednesday, November 07, 2007

DENISH'S FINANCE REPORT

You can my story about Lt. Gov. Diane Denish's campaign finance report for her 2010 (!) gubernatorial race HERE.

You can see her entire report HERE.

I think it's great that Denish is voluntarily releasing these reports long before the deadline. Our state law requiring reports only once a year during non-election years is pathetic.

Then again, we've got all these legions of candidates emerging for Congress and U.S. Senate races next year, 2010 does seem like a long time away.

Monday, November 05, 2007

NEW SURVEYUSA POLL: CHAVEZ PULLS AHEAD OF GOP CONTENDERS -- SLIGHTLY

There's a new poll for the New Mexico Senate race, performed by SurveyUSA in partnership with Roll Call that shows Bill Richardson, Marty Chavez and Diane Denish beating both Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce.

This is good news for Chavez, who last month was trailing both GOP candidates.

Tom Udall was not included in the poll. As Josh Kurtz, political editor of Roll Call explains, "He was not tested in Roll Call's poll - and his plans were disclosed too late to be included in the Election Preview, which went to press on Thursday." In last month's poll Udall also was ahead of both Republicans by good margins.

Denish was included because at the time the poll was taken she had not taken herself out of the race.

Richardson -- who insists he is not running for Senate -- would defeat Pearce and Wilson by more than 20 points.

Chavez would run a closer race. He'd beat Pearce by five points and Wilson by four. But the margin of error is 4 percent, so both should be considered dead heats.

Wilson and Pearce continue to beat Santa Fe developer and political newcomer Don Wiviott.

More on this in The New Mexican on Tuesday.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

KSFR DARK TONIGHT

I was just informed that due to a power outage at Santa Fe Community College, KSFR is off the air and won't be back on in time for my show.

So there's no Sound World tonight.

I'll be back at the station for The Santa Fe Opry next week.

Meanwhile, you can listen to this instead: CLICK HERE

MISC. SUNDAY

LIFE AS A TECHIE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT

Indulge me for being the proud dad here, but Capitol High School Performing Arts just won the state drama championship for their one-act play at the state tournament in Farmington. My son Anton is part of that, so I've got to tell the world.

I have a couple of political stories in today's New Mexican. There's one about possible contenders running for Congress if Tom Udall -- as everyone seems to expect -- runs for U.S. Senate. CLICK HERE

Then there's THIS ONE about Steve Pearce's statement yesterday that he expects Bill Richardson to get in the Democratic Senate primary. (Once again, please disregard the headline! Pearce is not gearing up for a "crowded race." Chances are he's only got Heather Wilson to worry about in the GOP primary, and, if he wins, only the Democratic candidate in the general election. Remember, REPORTERS DO NOT WRITE HEADINES!)

Here's a music treat by Santa Fe's own Billy Kaundart.


Saturday, November 03, 2007

RICHARDSON'S PLAYBOY INTERVIEW


Yes, it's true, Gov. Bill Richardson is this month's Playboy interview. You can read my story about that HERE.

My favorite part of this month's cover is that the blurb about Richardson says, "A BOLD PLAYBOY INTERVIEW."

Bold? Sounds familiar ... Apparently the governor's press team is writing copy for Playboy.

OK, I'm lying. That's not my favorite part of the cover.

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, November 2, 2007
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

Now Simulcasting 90.7 FM, and our new, stronger signal, 101.1 FM

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Lonely Nights by James Luther Dickinson
Pointless Drinking by Amy LaVere
Love Train by The Yayhoos
The Big Lie by Cornell Hurd
Big River by Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez
Wrong Side of the World by Johnny Bush & Justin Trevino
Five Brothers by Marty Robbins
Rainbow Stew by Merle Haggard
I'll Fix Your Flat Tire, Merle by Pure Prairie League

The Unfortunate Rake by A.L. Lloyd & Alf Edwards
Dyin' Crapshooter's Blues by Michael Hurley
St. James Infirmary by Cab Calloway
Gambler's Blues by Dave Van Ronk
Streets of Laredo by Webb Wilder
St. James by Snakefarm
Dying Crapshooter's Blues by David Bromberg
Streets of Laredo by Michael Hurley

PORTER WAGONER TRIBUTE
All songs by Porter Wagoner except where noted

Wagon Master #1 by Marty Stuart
Company Comin'
House of Shame
Divers Are Out Tonight
Committed to Parkview
The Rubber Room by Tex Edwards & Out on Parole
All I Can Do by Dolly Parton
Satan Gets the Gold
Please Don't Stop Loving Me by Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton
The Night Porter Wagoner Came to Town by Tabby Crabb
Satisfied Mind by Jonathan Richman
Eat Drink Be Merry (Tomorrow You Cry)

Ghost Surfer by The Surf Lords
Ranch of Ghosts by Bone Orchard
As Far As I Could Throw Her by John Egenes
Choices by Bettye LaVette
Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends by Joan Osborne
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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

Friday, November 02, 2007

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: INTO HURLEY'S SWAMP

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
November 2, 2007


When listening to a Michael Hurley album, it’s easy to imagine that you’re sitting around a secret campfire in some hobo jungle near the railroad tracks. Hurley, who has been recording on the fringes for more than 40 years, is the hobo in chief, leading the singalong with sad and sometimes silly tunes about lost loves, old friends, funny uncles, drunken misadventures, and hard-won wisdom. But the quiet bum sitting beside you might just be a werewolf.

You hear a mythical America in Hurley’s songs. When you submerge yourself in his music it’s like hopping a freight train that takes you through archetypal back-road America, through marshlands and past graveyards, then detours through Big Rock Candy Mountain and Dogpatch U.S.A. And before you know it, the train is chugging through a cartoon universe populated by comical mutants, cosmic grifters, and psychedelic drifters.

Hurley’s new album, Ancestral Swamp, is a laid-back affair, even by Michael Hurley standards. Most of the songs feature just Hurley and his guitar on his own weary tales. Personally, I prefer my Hurley not quite so unadorned. I could use a little more musical variety and definitely more of the screechy fiddle he uses here on “Gambling Charlie.”

Ancestral Swamp has versions of two related songs: “Dying Crapshooter’s Blues,” written by Blind Willie McTell, and the classic cowboy song “Streets of Laredo.” Both deal with the last wishes of unfortunate men who are found dying on the street. The white-linen-wrapped cowboy and McTell’s irreverent gambler, Little Jessie, fantasize about grandiose funerals.

The crapshooter’s vision of his funeral parade is my favorite. “
Eight crapshooters to be my pallbearers/Let ’em be veiled down in black/I want nine men going to the graveyard/And eight men comin’ back/I want a gang of gamblers gathered ’round my coffin side/Crooked card printed on my hearse/Don’t say the crapshooters’ll never grieve over me/My life’s been a doggone curse.”
Both of these songs — like their close cousin“St. James Infirmary” — can be traced back to “The Unfortunate Rake,” a British ballad of debauchery, death, regret, and pride. Unlike the crapshooter and the Laredo cowboy, the original rake was killed by venereal disease, not a gun. Ian McShane sang a version of this as Al Swearingen in an episode of Deadwood. (Another Hurley/Deadwood connection: Hurley’s “Hog of the Forsaken” was used for the closing credits in Deadwood’s first episode.)

I actually prefer David Bromberg’s faux-Dixieland version of “Dying Crapshooter’s Blues,” and my favorite take on “Streets of Laredo” is Webb Wilder’s version recorded in the ’90s. But Hurley gives both of these hoary tunes his own peculiar stamp. And both are appropriate additions to the Hurley mythos.

(An excellent story by Rob Walker of the history of “Streets of Laredo” and “St. James Infirmary” can be found HERE. )

Also recommended
BONE ORCHARD at 2006 Thirsty Ear Festival
* A Romance of Ghosts by Bone Orchard. This is an aptly titled album if there ever was ones crawling with ghosts. There’s the ghost of Jessie James shooting up on Hollywood Boulevard. The ghost of Billy the Kid kicks up the dust of the Lincoln County War as he dances in dimly lit bars. There’s a whole “Ranch of Ghosts” where the spirits of a wild, untamed era stand “waiting on a savior.”

This second effort by the Taos band can almost be heard as a concept album, not about “the vanishing West” but about the way in which traces of that violent but romantic era lurk just beneath the surface of modern times.

Bone Orchard is fronted by a married couple, Daniel Pretends Eagle (guitar, banjo, vocals) and Carol Morgan-Eagle (vocals). Daniel writes most of the songs. Taos music mainstay Chipper Thompson plays guitar and mandolin. The basic Bone Orchard sound is grounded in bluegrass, though the rhythm section (bass man Paul Reid and drummer Mark Bennett), as well as electric guitars, give the group a rock edge.

I’m a confessed sucker for Billy the Kid songs, so I immediately was attracted to “Dancing With the Ghost of William Bonney.” But after a few listens I’m starting to prefer “Ole Virginny.” The melody is a lot like that of “The Cuckoo,” one of my favorite folk tunes. But what I really like hearing is the growling, feedbacking guitar playing off Thompson’s chiming mandolin.

Also worth checking out is Orchard’s cover of Michael Franti’s hip-hop/bluegrass rewrite of “Wayfarin’ Stranger.” I hear a little bit of The Allman Brothers’ “Midnight Rider” in there.


* Fretbuzz by John Egenes. For 30 years or so, John Egenes was a stalwart of local music. He played guitar, dobro, mandolin, steel guitar, and just about anything he could get his hands on for who knows how many Santa Fe acts, includingBill and Bonnie Hearne and Eliza Gilkyson.

He moved to New Zealand a few years ago — he just earned a master’s degree in composition at the University of Otago in Dunedin — but he never stopped playing music.

Fretbuzz is Egenes’ second album since moving to New Zealand. It’s the sind of good country music he was known for here. Though he used Dunedin musicians on the album, it’s good American music.

My favorite tune here is “As Far as I Can Throw Her.” (I once used that title in a song, but John’s is better.) Also noteworthy is a little local flavor, a song called “Kiwi Moon.” I love the vocal harmonies on the refrain. Here Egenes informs us “A Kiwi girl loves to dance.” With music like this, it’s easy to see why.

WACKY WEDNESDAY: Albums Named for Unappetizing Food

O.K., I'll admit this is a pretty dumb idea.  It came to me yesterday after I ran into my friend Dan during my afternoon walk along the ...