Corey Harris in Oakland on Saturday

For months, since Calliope announced it was bringing Corey Harris in as part of its concert series this year, I've been racking my brain trying to remember how I first heard Harris. I've been a fan since hearing some track from Greens from the Garden and buying it almost immediately. I know it was the summer of 2000. But was it the driving beat of "Basehead"? His delta take on Woody Guthrie's "Teabag Blues"? On college radio? In a record store? What's the difference; I'm psyched for the show either way.

I've seen Harris twice now with his electric band--great stuff, but I've always been drawn most to his acoustic work, so this will be a welcome first for me. With harmonica master Phil Wiggins at his side, I expect tomorrow's show to be a highlight of my year.

Blue Notes wrote a little about what to expect, which you can read here.

SITKOT: St. Patrick's Edition

Based on some e-mails, I gathered that a lot of the regular readers grew weary of this series last year, so I'll spare you a continuation and just point new readers to the old posts this time around.

I will point out, though, that Mick Moloney's Green Fields of America are playing the Carnegie Lecture Hall this weekend for those of you who do dig the Irish tunes. City Paper has a nice little piece on Mick in this week's issue.

It looks like I didn't necessarily do these things in any order last year, other than to save the best for last, so let's go ahead and rank them for the sake of nothing at all:

9. Dropkick Murphys - Warrior's Code

8. Tommy Sands - Heart's a Wonder

7. Flogging Molly - Swagger

6. U2 - The Joshua Tree

5. The Wolfe Tones - Greatest Hits

4. The Chieftains - The Long Black Veil

3. The Pogues - The Very Best of The Pogues

2. Van Morrison and the Chieftains - Irish Heartbeat

1. Tommy Makem & Liam Clancy - The Makem & Clancy Collection

Download:
Mick Moloney - "The Irish Volunteers"

The Hot Seats at Calliope Center Stage

If you missed the Wiyos last month, do yourself a favor and make it out for the Hot Seats tomorrow at Calliope's new venue in the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts (corner or Fifth and Shady).

The beers are cheap (relatively anyway - $3), and the Hot Seats are a ragtimey, bluegrassy good time (also rumored to be very funny).

Roberto's best non-2009 records of 2009

Umm... not sure I'm quite ready to forever make my "best of '09" of record yet. Tough stuff. Still shiffling a few around. In the end, it's obviously more of a "my favorites of '09" because, honestly, who am I to offer up anything more. A guy with a blog. That's who.

Woke up this morning thinking about laying it down, but then I couldn't get "Pigs in Zen" and "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" (the Springsteen rendition, which is possibly my least favorite) out of my head, so I figured I'll wait until I'm thinking a bit more clearly. And anyway, I've been listening to a lot of stuff lately that isn't exactly fresh, so let's deal with that first.

Top 5 Albums I Discovered in 2009 That Weren't Released in 2009:

Honorable mention: The Low Anthem - Oh My God, Charlie Darwin

An honorable mention only because it's a very recent release (late 2008) that was re-released in 2009, so it's sort of a tweener. In any event, this is unquestionably one of the best albums to find its way into my rotation all year (as you may have noticed, it's been in there for a while now). The Low Anthem craft amazing songs with a sound that might roughly blend two parts Tom Waits and one part Art Garfunkel. Thanks to JP for the intro to these guys.

5. Toubab Krewe - Toubab Krewe (2005)

Full disclosure: I don't actually own this album. But Henry does (you might remember him from the early days of this blog), and I have several shows in my iTunes courtesy of the Live Music Archive. After seeing these guys play the Arts Fest this summer, they briefly revitalized my penchant for instrumental jambandish tunes, though they certainly deserve more credit than to be categorized as such. As evidence, even after that taste dwindled again, their songs remain in my playlists.

4. Smog - The Doctor Came at Dawn (1996)

I never got into Smog until he released Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle this year under his real name, Bill Callahan. While that record didn't blow me away from the start, it definitely prompted me to explore his back-catalog (which is deep and dense), and this record in particular struck me after its songs began to pop up when I would go into shuffle mode. Something like a less energetic, more organic Silver Jews, The Doctor Came at Dawn offers haunting acoustics and pensive lyrics. "All Your Women Things" is so basic in sound and structure that I'm amazed it manages to get stuck in my head, but glad it gives me a chance to ponder that one even after powering off.

3. Pep Laguarda - Brossa d'Ahir (1977/2004)

This one started to get some buzz this summer. I learned of it through eMusic (which I think does a great job of recommending music based on past downloads) and bought it on a whim. Something like gypsy-jazz-folk-rock, the Mediterranean vibes pour through the speakers like sangria as this record starts out. As it plays on, it mellows the soul and makes me long to be walking through the hills above Malaga.

2. Rodrigo y Gabriela - Rodrigo y Gabriela (2006)

I may have discovered this record in 2008, but if so it was close to the end of the year. Flamenco-rock is as good a tag as you could slap on it, but the music is a bit deeper than that would suggest. With roots in traditional forms, their innovative melodies and techniques modernize a centuries-old style of guitar music. And their cover of "Stairway" is the best out there, hands-down.

1. Chris Smither - Leave the Light On (2006)

Given that he's been making records for nearly forty years and just played Pittsburgh last year courtesy of Calliope, I have no idea how I never heard of this guy. It took a PBS rebroadcast of the 2008 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival and a clip immediately following Guy Clark's performance, but after seeing him play the title track from this 2006 album, I downloaded a ton of his stuff and declared myself a huge fan. His take on Peter Case's "Cold Trail Blues" is spare and perfect, and the rest of the record is pretty awesome too.

Concert Preview: The Wiyos

Reader and friend of the show JP turned us on to the Low Anthem a bit ahead of the curve. That's about all he's done, but it's a decent track record.

Another band he's been touting since seeing them in February is the Wiyos. They're not your standard Brooklynites, though they call that hipster haven home. He describes them as "a rollicking, vaudevillian good time" and that seems to be in line with the general consensus around the net. So we're taking his advice ("we" being either the royal we or perhaps including Henry, who has all but quit the blog).

Fresh off a stint opening for this summer's Dylan/Nelson tour, the Wiyos roll into Calliope's new 150-capacity venue at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts tonight. Just look for the big yellow building on the corner of 5th and Shady.

For the record, I've never seen a band with a washboard and kazoo that I didn't like. I expect tonight will only solidify that streak.



Download/Stream:
The Wiyos - "Promenade"

That's all folk

Folk Alley recently polled its listeners to compile a list of the top 100 folk songs, the top ten of which are:

1. "This Land Is Your Land" - Woody Guthrie
2. "Blowin' in the Wind" - Bob Dylan
3. "City of New Orleans" - Steve Goodman
4. "If I Had a Hammer" - Pete Seeger
5. "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" - The Kingston Trio
6. "Early Morning Rain" - Gordon Lightfoot
7. "Suzanne" - Leonard Cohen
8. "We Shall Overcome" - Pete Seeger
9. "Four Strong Winds" - Ian and Sylvia
10. "Last Thing on My Mind" - Tom Paxton

See the rest here, which reveals what an interesting list it is. Initially marked by most of the standout tunes and artists you'd expect to find, as you read on you'll see it's filled with a healthy handful of surprises, and seems to lack some key contributors to 20th century folk. What's most interesting about this list to me, though, is this discussion which it has generated among Folk Alley's listeners--i.e., the people who, in theory, created the list.

It's really part of an ongoing discussion among modern music fans about what "folk music" even is. To the hardcore folkies it may be a very narrow genre indeed, but to most of us it's likely something broader and rather more elusive. Words like "roots" and "traditional" are often associated with what we think of as folk, but where does a revelation such as "Like a Rolling Stone" fit into that category? Many might say it doesn't. Others might wonder what makes "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" a better folk tune than "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda." Is Americana implicitly folk? Neither Emmylou Harris nor Guy Clark made the cut, but the Carters slipped in there multiple times. So where to draw the line in the ever-shifting sands of country/western?

In Pittsburgh, we're lucky to have a unique organization to foster and stimulate this ongoing conversation with the local music community. Since 1976, Calliope has brought folk music to new ears and taught its instrumentations to new hands. In working with established folk legends while also scanning the nation for up-and-comers to introduce to its audience, Calliope is more than a concert promoter. Calliope's longtime ticketholders will attest that the organization has played an important role in bringing acts to town that might otherwise fall under the radar of the local promoters.

Calliope recently announced its '09-'10 concert schedule, which is a great example of its efforts to enrich the local live music scene. But, with acts ranging from the Klezmatics to Corey Harris (and, I must mention, the legendary Richie Havens, who's criminally absent from the Folk Alley 100), it also gives us a great point of reference to keep the discussion going: What is folk?

Download:
Billy Bragg and Wilco - "California Stars" (Woody Guthrie)

Leo Kottke Comes to the Carnegie

Photo: Michael Wilson, P-G

This weekend, Pittsburgh’s folk music society Calliope brings guitar virtuoso Leo Kottke to the Carnegie Lecture Hall. The show is sold out, but those with the good fortune to have tickets can expect a display of Kottke’s wide influences, with a focus on the instrument. The PG’s Scott Mervis did a good piece on Kottke yesterday.

Before the show, warm up with the caribbean-tinged "Twice" from Kottke’s 2005 collaboration with Phish bassist Mike Gordon.

After the show, set the DVR or tune in to catch Fleet Foxes on SNL. For now, download "White Winter Himnal,” a great song for the cold, snow-covered weekend.