bean&noodle

syn·chro·nic·i·ty with a twang

Today being the 115th birthday of Amelia Earhart had me thinking of a song my father used to play written by Red River Dave McEnery, titled "Amelia Earhart's Last Flight". I have always been in love with this song and for some reason during my mid twenties I was on a quest to find a recorded version of this song. At the time I was living in DC and stepped into a small record store in Silver Spring, Maryland, just to browse. I picked up a copy of Freakwater's 1993 Thrill Jockey release Feels Like the Third Time.  My youngest sister, Jess was with me, saw what I had in my hand and said, "oh, I think you'd like them, I saw them at Iota." I flipped over the CD to see the track names and right there on track #10 there it was… my song! My heart flipped and I'm pretty sure I squealed. I could not wait to get home and listen to it. What happened next is that I also fell in love with the band. I was so pleased that my quest for a peculiar, seldom recorded song led me to find a band whose weird voices definitely struck a chord. Synchronicity. 

Catherine Irwin and Janet Bean have voices that are pretty in a Mary McCaslin, Alice Gerard and Hazel Dickens, Lucinda Williams, Victoria Williams kinda way. To me they are as crystalline and lovely as Allison Krauss and Patty Griffin, just a lot more honest, whiskey smoked and hard working. They are the voice of a woman who's tired like she's been waiting tables all day, has had it up to here with your shit, and has better things to do with her time. 

I remember going to see Catherine Irwin at a SXSW daytime show and recounting that very story of stumbling across her music while looking for the Amelia Earhart song that my father used to sing... she smiled. Awkward. This reminded me of a night years before when I waited on Lucinda at the Ausitn Grill in DC and told her that I'd just seen Darden Smith the week before at The Birchmere and he was raving about her just released Sweet Old World, she stared at me with her heavily-lined eyes without blinking and said, "can I have a Dos Equis?" Again, awkward.

 

You Say Harvest, I Say Blue

There are two things that I will forvever be grateful to my father for. One is for perfectly seasoning my cast iron skillets, and the other for taking me to see Bill Monroe & his Blue Grass Boys at Woodstock Opera House in Woodstock, Illinois.  Their gray suits, ties and white Stetsons just killed me. Because I had musician parents my musical tastes have always been eclectic, but that summer night in Illinois, I fell in love... with Bluegrass. I really did.

I named my teensy stationery biz, Bean Blossom Press, after his Bean Blossom Festival.

Today would be the centennial birthday of Bill Monroe.

Tonight when you're gazing at the harvest moon, give a little nod to Bill's Blue Moon of Kentucky

 

Finally...ready to play (ahem, learn)

It took more than a couple trips to the hardware store for me to realize I needed to mix my own stain color.

 The inside of the resonator is glossy cherry red. I'm sure noone will ever notice it, but I know...and it makes me happy.

After staining I stamped these blossoms with silver ink on the back. I had to do this twice, because I rushed the first coat of poly finish and smeared the ink. Smile to frown in 2 seconds... what am I, five?  Imaptience rarely pays off.

ready to play learn

This is a boring photo of my boring bumpy grey laminate kitchen countertops. Yawn.

Here is the new laminate color to be installed soon. I know, it's hard to believe I want laminate countertops when my husband makes concrete countertops, but this is much more in harmony with the warm, cozy retro vibe of my kitchen. He's done so much of the heavy lifting on our home remodeling projects, that it's nice to actually pay a professional when you can. The wisdom of choosing battles wiesly comes with age.

 

Berries and Banjos

My mother's banjo is getting a little TLC before I learn to play. Come join me at Cold Antler Farm. Don't you think Banjo Berry would be a great name for a blackberry anything? That does it... April will be the month I create Banjo Berry Pie.

Potatoes

Strawberries

Blackberries

Take My Hand...

Thanks to the new Target ads I can't get this theme song out of my head. I knew when I heard those first banjo plinks that it was Free to be You and Me, and I remembered all the words. What I didn't know is what an emotional connection I had with this song. Yesterday morning before work I had to look up the song and hear it in it's entirety. I immediately started to sob, really sob. Not sad painful tears, but I think happy ones. If you were in elementary school in the mid seventies you more than likely remember the series from PBS and probably got to watch it at school too. I can remember how much I looked forward to each segment. I was especially in Love with When We Grow Up with Michael jackson & Roberta Flack. Okay, it just struck me how damn sad and tragic the irony really is, but I digress. In 1974 my sister and I had been with our adopted family about a year, I was 9. I guess this series was just what I needed at a time when I felt like an outsider at school and home. Also wondering if the banjo was familiar to me at that age, since my mother had played one. Hmmm.

Thinking it's time to fix up my mom's banjo and learn to play.

You Can Have My Husband... But Please Don't Mess with my Man

Hardly a deadline goes by that I don't crank Koko's "The Earthshaker" on my morning commute. My favorite song is the title of this post.

Koko Taylor died yesterday. I saw her once a few years ago in Baltimore. She came out on stage in gold lamé head to toe and was amazing.

Good start for a Wednesday

A friend just received a ukelele for Christmas and has been combing youtube for ukelele videos. He sent me this link. I promise it will put a smile on your face too. This girl reminds me of my sister....

it's that time again... time to de-christmas the house. It's always a little sad, but must get the tree to the recycling center on Saturday to turn it into mulch. Sunday is my birthday. 44. wow.

I keep meaning to take photos of the beautiful art I received for Christmas, so I will just link to the artists' websites for now.

Oscar Silva
Gone To Pot
Golden Penny Studio

Braggin' Rights

My little sister is a freelance wardrobe stylist and she had her first Red Carpet gig last night. . . dressing The Shins (who were nominees) for the Grammys. Way to go Jess! Way proud here.



If your life were a soundtrack...

what would the music be? I lifted this from Sarah

Here’s how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, winamp, media player, iPod)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every section, type the song that’s playing
5. Next section — press the next button
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool

Here's mine... compiled while sitting in the car wash this morning. I wash my car only when visitors are coming. . . the dog fur battle is endless in my life.

First Day At School:
Liz Phair—Stratford-On-Guy

Falling In Love:
Claudio Arrau—(Chopin) Nocturne No. 16 in E-Flat, Op. 55, No. 2

Breaking Up:
The Consort—Rufus Wainwright

Prom:
Together Again—The Flying Burrito Brothers

Life’s Ok:
Wayfaring Stranger—Neko Case

Mental Breakdown:
Chain of Fools—Aretha Franklin 

Driving:
Guilty in Here—Miranda Lambert

Love:
You Dropped a Bomb on Me—The Gap Band (holy cow)

Getting Back Together:
Neon Tetra—Tony Rice Unit

Wedding:
'Si Do Mhaimeo Í—Altan

Birth of a child:
Single Girl—Roscoe Holcomb

Final Battle:
Hard Times—Tim O'brien

Death Scene:
Weather Woman—The Gourds

End Credit:
Faithless Street—Whiskeytown

You Want me to Hold the Chicken, Huh?

After being in the restaurant business for a huge chunk of my life I always love a movie with a waitress. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, 5 Easy Pieces (ah, I mean Tammy Wynette, Chopin, Bach and Mozart all in one soundtrack..genius) and what about Karen Black's Eyes, Spitfire Grill (one of my new faves). Of course, the queen of 'em all, Mildred Pierce. I once worked with a man who wanted to open a restaurant named after the character. I always imagined it to have drag queens with shoulder pads and deep red lips taking your order while looking at you in great disdain. hmmm.

I'm on a roll with "Steve's Bubbly Yet Still Manly Curtain". I'm resisting the urge to go down a needle size, I think it should actually shrink up a bit since it's a linen/cotton blend. This would be a good thing, I could always just roll the sides a bit and baste stitch.

I am trying to get over my serious project monogamy and now have a project at home and the office. Still feels weird, but no more schlepping extra bags to work. I swear it's like I move in every morning and move out at night.