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AROUND THE NET

I got this e-mail from my friend John de Roo, who made one of the top albums of Y2K4 (my proposal for this decade’s name -- the Y2K’s), “Gorgeous Lost,” which you can get only by going to one of his shows. It’s a moody collection of lovely songs great for broody late night listening. He lives in Tucson, and he’s playing on the radio Monday night. In his words:

“Dear Friends and Music Lovers,

“On Monday, January 24, I'll be performing live on KXCI's ‘Locals Only’ from 9 to 10 p.m. Mountain Time. This is a great weekly program that showcases local talent on Tucson's community radio station. The show runs from 8 to 10, but my segment starts at 9. To listen in on your computer, just go to kxci.org and click on ‘Listen Live,’ then click the appropriate MP3 stream.”

John has written dozens of great songs over the years. He is also an ace guitarist in the folk rock vein and a great singer -- and now you can hear him.


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An e-mail from my friend Jay Sherman-Godfrey, who is John de Roo’s only accompanist on “Gorgeous Lost,” contributing lead guitar, cello, keyboards, and banjo. He sends exciting news:

“Folkways goes digital.

“This is exciting...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/20/arts/20folk.html

“It's what low-cost digitial distribution really offers -- the whole enchilada.”

In addition to all the songs from the classic Folkways catalogues of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Leadbelly, which are now available for 99 cents apiece at music.msn.com, “Folkways released jazz, world music, classical and avant-garde music, albums by songwriters like Phil Ochs and Lucinda Williams, and beloved oddities like ‘Sounds of North American Frogs,’ which has track titles like ‘Chorus of Barking Treefrogs (Hyla gratiosa).”

Folkways released lots and lots of environmental field recordings, such as Cable Car Soundscapes. Some of the Folkways documentarians, if I recall correctly, were interested in creating an archive parallel to photograph archives of vanishing cityscapes, whose soundscapes change almost as drastically, though somehow often less noticeably. My internet connection would have a difficult time downloading a 12 minute cable car soundscape, but some day, I’ll get there.


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My friend professional provocateur Andrew Boyd, who has published books of boiled-down wit and tangled wisdom, is on the road and blogging about it, at least occasionally.

Happy trails, Andrew! Don’t forget to write!


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Playwright and blogger George Hunka has decided to take a long hiatus from blogging as he concentrates on writing a new play. Congratulations George! I’ll miss reading your blog, and I applaud your decision to concentrate on the higher magic of theater. Congrats also on the successful staged reading of your most recent play.