Frank Gutch Jr: Danny Schmidt, Carrie Elkin w/ Maizy— Thoughts Before and After Junction City; It Is F**k Trump Day at Dbawis; and the Notes You May Have Been Awaiting (because “waiting for” would bring out the Grammar Police)

I met Danny Schmidt at The Sisters Folk Festival nine years ago.  He had invited me to attend, though I am sure he forgot it right away.  I know I surprised him.  My first words to him as he passed by to play a set in a tented area were “The Longhorns suck” which brought the Look of Death for Danny was and is a fervent Texas Longhorn fan, him having grown up in Austin and all.  I realized my mistake right off.  He had no idea who I was, having never seen me before.  And it wasn’t his best day.

Frank Gutch Jr: Rain Perry, Mark Hallman (The Shopkeeper), and Congress House Studio; Spotify Once Again; and Notes Hitting the Spot

You can file this one under “and I thought I knew something.”  I just watched a documentary which starts “When I was a kid, music was everything,” a statement as acute to me as author Scott Turow‘s line “It suddenly hit me how much I missed music for which I once felt a yearning as keen as hunger.”  It struck a note so deep in me that I watched  all one-hour-and-thirty-one minutes feeling a kinship with the narrator (and, as it turns out, producer of the film), almost relieved that I was not alone.

Frank Gutch Jr: Amy van Keeken & Timeloop Touring Western Canada; Spotify: The Boil On the Ass of the Music Industry; Plus Notes

Lots of good stuff happening out there and it’s time we plugged in to some of it if only to counter the “real” musical happenings being covered by all of the sites who think that Kanye West canceling (or postponing) a show is news.  I get it.  No fun finding out your wife is being held at gunpoint.  Just not headline news in my part of the world.

Frank Gutch Jr: Goodnight Songs: A Grammy Teaser?; Lavacado Clears a Room; Three Albums You Shouldn’t Miss; Plus Notes…..

Why am I the last to know about Margaret Wise Brown?  Chances are, if you don’t remember the name, you have heard her works, especially Goodnight Moon, a book written specifically for children and sandmen.  While I had not heard of it, everyone to whom I have mentioned it has, some making snide references to that rock I must live under.  Evidently my childhood was deprived— at least deprived of Ms. Brown and her wonderful works.  I am not taking it personally, though, thanks to Virginia musicians Emily Gary and Tom Proutt.  They contacted me awhile ago about a book they had recently been involved with, written by Ms. Brown, titled Goodnight Songs.