Mid-March Moon

Perhaps the long stretches of time between Moonlight’s Substack posts are an indeliberate method of aligning the current calendar with the boldface dates on the reruns— a few more months of this writer’s indolence could bring us closer to an even fourteen years since these memories were originally made. Truth told, the discipline required to adhere to a rigid weekly publishing schedule is but a memory itself, and I’ve long ago left behind any sense of obligation to it.

What prompts me to eke out another edition is the occasional notification of another subscriber (Hi, Judy!), anyone who truly misses these musical recalls could just pass one on to a friend not yet subscribed, and ask them to mash the third button below, to take a free seat on this excursion to The Old Used ‘Ta Bee… I’d be oh so obliged if the New Year brought us more readers. Bonne Annee!

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March 22, 2011

Friends of The Moonlight---

Dang, it's nice to come up here on the mountain crest and catch a flaming sunset, just before settling in to another superb evening concert... the crepe myrtles are hanging heavy in purple arches over the main road, as you drive the ridge you can see through the winter branches, to the mist of bright green spattering the trees in the valley below. It feels like morning all day, until the sky suddenly turns dusky... a splash of orange begins to rimlight the edges of the cliff rocks, and tinges the wings of the hawks circling above.

Sure, there's hard troubles over the far horizon, and it's harder still a half a world away--- but for a moment or two, you can set all that aside, and let the spring breeze bring you a simple peace... up here, you can get above it, and treat yourself to a guilt-free interlude, because the TV, the timeclock, and the telephone will all be there tomorrow. Pick a night, any night, this weekend---->

Thursday the 24th--- MERRY ELLEN KIRK, KRISTEN COTHRON, RACHEL PEARL, 7:30pm, $12
Last weekend capped off the annual South by Southwest festival that consumes Austin TX, with the newest waves of music, film, and technologies to wash across the cultural landscape... our three young headliners have been bobbing around in those tides for several days, and tonight they are trekking homeward, soaked in whatever fresh influences may now tint their own distinctive styles.

Merry Ellen Kirk's keyboards and vocals reflect the best of what we love about Kate Bush, Tori Amos, or Aimee Mann--- a little winsome, a little worried, a lotta charm. Kristen Cothron follows the lead of iconic mid-20th century star vocalists, taking as much from Sarah Vaughan as she does Edie Brickell. A breezy, winking redhead, Rachel Pearl manages to inhabit the classic jazz personae of Billie Holiday and Peggy Lee, with her puckish lyrics and cheery little ukelele. Fresh and playful--- and all three ready to make new friends! 7:30pm
www.myspace.com/merryellen
www.kristencothron.com
www.myspace.com/rachelpearl

Merry Ellen Kirk, March 24 2011, 2 present

Kristen Cothren

Rachel Pearl

Friday the 25th-- DAYNA KURTZ, MISS MEAGHAN OWENS, 7:30pm, $12
Again, a heavy-hitter--- mostly unknown to Deep South audiences--- comes curious into our region, in search of the the next authentic vibe to spice her personal blend of musical inspirations. Starting out as a Jersey girl, Dayna won her kudos by working the true folkways, the small stops, urban clubs, and field festivals--- until those au courant Europeans hoisted her records to the top of their radio playlists, and kept her very busy for quite a while across the pond. It's just possible that the new America is ready for the rich, chocolaty alto that so easily gives a heartbeat to her intuitive, visceral lyrics.
www.daynakurtz.com

A bit more impudent is a Midwesterner with the same sense of wanderlust--- Meaghan Owens has spent the night in just about every state in the nation, sampling the atmosphere wherever real American music gets served up to those who crave it. Like snatches of distant melodies heard at a carnival midway, bits of jazz, punk, honky tonk, and classic pop are sprinkled over and into the cabaret ballads she's crafted. Two extra interesting items--- she's multilingual, singing occasionally in Swedish, French, or Russian... and she's a spokesperson for the admirable project Guitars for Vets, providing instruments and lessons to our wounded and recovering military servicemen. 7:30pm
www.missmeaghanowens.com

Dayna Kurtz, March 25 2011, 9 present

Miss Meaghan Owens

Saturday the 26th-- THE HERB TROTMAN BAND, $12
If you're a bluegrass fan, and you've been in central Alabama for any time at all in the last thirty years or so, you know about a legendary little guitar shop in Homewood called Fretted Instruments, and its down-home proprietor Herb Trotman. As a bandleader, Herb's calmly overseen innumerable combinations of pickers, some now famous, some forgotten, all of them contributors to a string-band heritage as complex and convoluted as the years of dusty detritus layering Herb's workbench, where thousands of wood-and-wires gimcracks have had their necks leveled and tuning pegs tightened.

The current lineup for the HTB includes four harmony vocalists--- Andy Meginnis on guitar and bouzouki, Kathy Hinkle on standup bass, Jimmy Warren on sparkling mandolin, and Gathel Runnels, who stitches it all together with his arching fiddle runs. Herb earns his keep on clawhammer banjo, sets the tempo with rhythmic gum chewing, and wisely limits his singing to just one or two very special numbers. The relentless stage-patter jokes are broadly inclusive--- this good-time band and its audience are immediately one big family. 7:30pm
www.myspace.com/theherbtrotmanband

The Herb Trotman Band, March 26 2011, 70 present

WE SLIP INTO NEXT MONTH THUSLY--->

Thursday 31st--- KARISA NOWAK, SHARAYA MIKAEL, two new-to-Nashville lovelies, a whole lot more than just fun to watch

Friday 1st--- BOB LIVINGSTON, ERIC BRACE, legendary Lost Gonzo luminary matches up with Nashville frontman for Last Train Home

Saturday 2nd--- STEPHEN SIMMONS, LETICIA WOLF, tent revival country boy hand-in-hand with wry and wicked alt-punk-roots chanteuse

Sunday 3rd-- ALABAMA FOLKSCHOOL FACULTY REVUE, authentic banjo, mando, and mountain guitar perfessers, havin' fun

Monday 4th-- ROXI COPLAND, and OPEN MIC NIGHT, a short set by breakout jazz/pop singer, who then helps judge our contestants

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