We have a couple fans here on YCD of Right Away, Great Captain, otherwise known as Any Hull (from Manchester Orchestra). If you missed my original post on RAGC a while back, I urge you to go read it and listen to the mp3s I posted. His last album “The Bitter End” is definately of my favorite folk albums I have gotten my paws on in some time. I couldn’t be more excited that the second installment is coming soon.
On RAGC’s myspace blog:
I’ll start off with saying thank you. i released this first RAGC record about a week after MO’s record and did not expect anybody to listen. at that time there were around 10 fans of manchester and i didn’t feel like it was kosher to try and overwhelm them with another record filled with similar songs so soon. i am getting married in a few months and despite the amazing fans our band has made none of us are “rich men” in the least. seems off topic, but i have a reason. through sales on itunes over the last few months you amazing few that bought the record have really given me an aid in paying for that tradition that is a honeymoon. and i could not be more grateful to anyone who bought it, burned it, stole it, or bought a ticket to see RAGC play at sometime. you have given me an awesome gift so thank you. whatever whatever you want to know what this thing is about. so.
this summer Right Away Great Captain is going to be releasing the second installment in my overly dramatic “sailor story” and it is titled “The Eventually Home”. i am super excited about the songs that have been written and the story line that takes place. i hate saying what i think about things that i wrote but for now i would say three words to describe it compared to the last are darker, heavier, funnier. the story does continue where we left off (where was that again?) and ends how it ends, you will have to be the judge of that.
Check out his myspace for a preview of “Down To Your Soul” from the upcoming album.
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It’s official. Mike Mangione’s “You Don’t Wanna Leave” from his album Tenebrae has become my #1 driving song lately. This infectious and catchy tune has been on repeat in my car for a couple weeks now. Roll down the windows, crank up the sound and driiiiiiiive. Perfect. (I have my blog-buddy Olly to thank for alerting me to this fantastic musician. He has not let me down yet with his recommendations. Thanks Olly!)
While “You Don’t Wanna Leave” is my favorite on Tenebrae, the whole album is just stunning from start to finish…it is beautifully arranged and acoustic, soulful, foot-stomping at parts…poignant and heartbreaking in others. I’ve really connected with his lyrics on a number of songs. I’m even gonna go as far as say it is my favorite album I’ve heard so far this year. (Yes, a 2007 release but I’m a little bit late to the party….better late than never I say!).
Some musicians lack consistency for me sometimes….definitely NOT Mike. I fell in love with each and every song on Tenebrae. “I’m Sorry Again” was the first to tug at my heart, “First Time: Please Forgive Me” and “Now That It’s Done, Won’t You Come Back” got me thinking “Ooh damn white boy got soul!”.
I could continue gushing on and on about Mike, but I think you get the idea by now. Any fan of the singer/songwriter genre will just love this album in my opinion. You would be doing yourself a major disservice by not purchasing Tenebrae.
…and if my words are not enough to convince you, maybe these will:
-Tenebrae is named one of the best local albums of 2007 by the Illinois Entertainer - Illinois Entertainer Top Albums of 2007,
-”The Killing Floor” is named one of the best songs of 2007 by Indie-Launchpad - Indie-Launchpad
Mangione’s vocals can be heart-breakingly delicate at times, comparable to how James Blunt only wishes he could sound. - Chris Kreklin, OnMilwaukee.com
“It’ is always a good thing to hear young artists still making music that springs to mind at those key moments when the art and one’s life experiences shed deeper meaning on each other.” “Tenebrae is definitely one of those albums that will easily fall into this category and is a definite must have for any fan of folk and Indie music genres.” - L. Anne Carrington, INDIEMUSICSTOP.BLOGSPOT.COM
Tenebrae, “8 out of 10″ - Americana UK
“Tenebrae is completely against the spirit of the time, and therefore has become timeless.” - House of Rock (Germany)
Anyways, Mike was nice enough to grant You Crazy Dreamers a little interview so here it is. I hope you enjoy his music as much as I have! I’d also like to say what an incredibly nice guy Mike is. Musicians who actually take the time to reach out to their fans get major props from me. I connect more with musicians (and their music) who actually make time for their fans and make themselves accessible. I think it is wonderful. It builds a loyal fan base. Respect to you Mike.
YCD: Who or what inspired you to start making music and how long have you been at it?
Mike: My brother Tom inspired me to start making music. We liked a lot of the same artists growing up, well to be honest I liked who he liked and he had good taste. When I was ten I was listening to a lot of Dylan, u2,Peter Gabriel and Zeppelin. Those guys would be my entertainment as a child. I looked up to them and was comforted by them but it was my brother Tom who made me want to write. He wrote a couple songs in his teenage years that were very passionate tunes. When I heard those I wanted to do the same, I was inspired to write something that could move someone else the same way his music moved me.
I have had a guitar in my hand writing songs since I was thirteen, so 15 years
YCD: If there was one song you wish you would have written what would it be, and why?
Mike: Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, I can’t explain it
YCD: If you weren’t a musician what would you be doing now?
Mike: I am not sure but I would have a paycheck and some kids…
YCD: Is there anything new you are working on now?
Mike: My hairline, my weight, and my style. As far as music goes yes, a lot. After Tenebrae was written I told myself not to write anything for a year. Anytime an artist finishes an album they start writing for their next and think their last one was shit….even if it has been done for 3 months. Unless you are Ryan Adams you should give yourself time to work the album and promote it…so that’s what I tried to do. It lasted 8 months and I started writing and have continued doing so.
YCD: What was the first record/album you ever bought?
Mike: I think the cassette of Zeppelin III, my brother didn’t have it.
YCD: What are you currently listening to?
Mike: Hear Is What Is by Daniel Lanois and Mule Variations by Dr. Tom Waits
YCD: What is your favorite song to play live?
The one where everyone gets quiet and listens… It changes based on the audiences involvement.
YCD: Can you tell me a little bit about your band members? Who plays what, etc…
Tom Mangione, my brother, is co writer with me, plays the electric “tone” guitar and is our road manager. He has no idea how good he is and is probably the most talented and consistent of the bunch.
Patrick Hoctor is the cello player, he is the innocent Reason in the group. A quit spiritual man, he provides focus for the group when it is needed. He also looks like Tom Brady, a little.
Kristina Priceman is our Violin player and token female. She grew up with a lot of guys and is more of a dude than I…..one of the funniest girls I have met rapped up in a little cute package making her a joy to be with.
John Collins plays upright bass. He is the eldest of the group. Always wears orange and can miss a show by getting caught up in a discussion on either philosophy, food or Queen songs.
Our drummers change with the tide
YCD: How has your music evolved from when you first started playing?
I am more focused on the idea in the song now. When I started I would just try to write something that sounded neat. Now I am really trying to get something across. When I started I didn’t have one idea I cared enough about to be honest with in a song. A lot of things can persuade you when you write and when I started it happened too easily. Now, I feel too strongly about the Idea of the song to sacrifice it. For me it is all about the sacred, anything else I am not interested in. That’s not how it used to be when I started. I was too focused on the distractions of growing up. Also I use more than two chords now….sometimes
YCD: Which musician or band would you love to work with?
I want to work with Daniel Lanois, Emmylou Harris and Dylan. I also want to work with Duane Lundy, who produced Tenebrae again. I would love to do another album with him; he is a mind reader….and that saves money.
“i write songs for those who see the face of god in dirt and rust and broken things. for those who love desolation and who make of it ceremony and song. for those who bear memory’s weight and who count the days of their youth in the blinking lights of distant radio towers and deserted intersections. who read in the crumbling names of towns on water towers the dispatches of passing seasons and forgotten heartbeats. for those who in dreams find great and unknowable mystery. who love words that sound upon their lips like secrets and sighs.”
The above is taken from Jeff Zentner myspace profile. I found those words so beautiful that I read them again and again….The imagery is what got to me….which is what good writing, song writing, and music in general is supposed to accomplish, right? It makes you feel, it transports you to somewhere else….a memory, or a place in time perhaps.
Jeff’s solo work definately reminds me of something from the past…On his album “Hymns to the Darkness”, he combines guitar, slide guitar, dobro, banjo, pedal steel, lap steel, mandolin, cello, piano, and organ to form some truly wonderful songs that have a twing of Appalachia about them. His southern roots definately come through in his music.
This talented Ashville, NC based musician is also part of the band Creech Holler. Jeff is on vocals, Clawhammer and the Bottleneck Guitar. Definately check these guys out if you like your bluesy southern rock.
“…a Tennessee-based trio who do this crazed amalgamation of old-time ballads set to loud, grungy blues rock. It’s very dark and eerie and completely satisfying.” –MOUNTAIN XPRESS, Asheville NC
Jeff was kind enough to grant YCD a little interview….so I present to you 7 questions with YCD:
1. What was the first record/album you ever bought?
Out of Time, R.E.M. Not too embarrassing.
2. What are you currently listening to?
I’ve been listening to The Black Angels a good deal lately. I’ve been listening to Queen Adreena and a Norwegian band called Madrugada a lot as well. And then there is always a heaping dose of random odds and ends. It’s been medieval Spanish music for that.
3. Who or what inspired you to start making music?
I heard John Lee Hooker for the first time when I was 14, on a scratchy radio station. It was truly an awakening. I started out playing blues similar to what I heard that night, and my style has gradually shifted over the years.
4. If there was one song you wish you would have written what would it be, and why?
“Rake” by Townes Van Zandt. Because of the line
“I buried my face but it spoke once again
the night to the day we’re a bindin’
and now the dark air is like fire on my skin
and even the moonlight is blinding”
But more than any song that has ever been written, I wish that I wrote the book “Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy. And I wish that I wrote every single poem that Joe Bolton wrote.
5. If you weren’t a musician what would you be doing now? Being miserable and angry that I wasn’t a musician.
I’d probably be a photographer. Or maybe a writer. But it’s difficult to say, because I really only started writing in the context of music.
6. Is there anything new you are working on now? I’m completing my second solo album. I’ve been releasing snippets and rough cuts on my myspace page. I’m also completing a second album with my band, Creech Holler.
7. For those readers who haven’t heard of you or your music before what would best describe you and your music?
I try to make my music poetry about beauty in desolate places. About love and dying. I suppose that tells you also what I think about most of the time.
Thanks to Trini, I’ve been pretty much obsessed with Bon Iver (aka Justin Vernon) these past few months. Had the pleasure of seeing Justin and his band this past Friday. Although it was a short set (5 songs, Justin was sick) and the sound in the bar was absolutely horrible, I was still pleased to see him perform. Looking forward to April when I shall get to see another performance.
For those of you who missed this gem of a show that streamed tonight on NPR’s All Songs Considered you are in luck…..the show will be archived as a podcast for your listening pleasure soon.
Check here for when the show gets posted for download on NPR.
Some of you may be familiar with Andy Hull as the frontman for the Atlanta-based Manchester Orchestra. For his solo career Andy goes by the name of “Right Away, Great Captain“….I’ve only discovered Andy and Manchester Orchestra fairly recently thanks to a music buddy who turned me on to both of them. (Thanks Sean!)
Andy recorded “The Bitter End” back in August of 2006 over a span of 3 days in a 100 year old log cabin near Bastian, VA. While I am perfectly aware this isn’t a “new” release, this album is just too good not to write about for those of you who have never heard of Andy. Please, do yourself a favor and go out and purchase this album as soon as possible.
The bitter end is a concept record. It is about a “1600’s sailor at sea for 3 years. Each song is a journal entry to either his family at home, or his captain.”
Andy explained the store behind the album on his myspace blog:
so anyways, allot of you have been asking about the concept behind the “right away, great captain!” record. and i have just been lazy or busy and pushed off writing out the entire concept out in one full form. i have had the ideas, lyrics, and parts of the record written in several different areas, napkins, binders, and text edit files, so i went through all of them and compiled what i think is the most accurate description of this story is, in reality and in the idea of it being a greater story about something more personal to myself then the actual story behind it all. so with that being said, here it goes.
I wrote this record as the first part of a three part story, although it sounds pretentious, i promise that was not what i had in mind, it was more of a challenge. often in my writing i get very distracted and want to move on to another subject. choosing to do this record was for me the challenge to see if i could write a story that could not be summed up in one record, and to continue it on over three. So with that being said, this is in a sense the first of three RAGC records i am planning to release in the next years. BUT…This record begins sometime in the 1600’s, more mid century than beginning or end. Before i go into songs and meanings, etc… i will say that this entire record is written cronologically. meaning that each song from 1-15 is written in order of the story. Let’s begin.
The first song “Oh Deceiver” begins the record from the perspective of our lead character. He is leaving home for 3 years like most sailors did at the time. what fascinated me about creating this record was the idea of love and heartbreak taking place in a society that did not revolve around instant gratification. where now if you are heartbroken all you have to do is check the respective others personal website or blog to see if they are missing you. make a phone call, or ask your friends how they are doing. For me, i loved the idea of having a person so broken inside that they were forced to allow themselves to go insane. which i in turn actually think is very important for allot of us to do. Your brain has to be able to think in order for good things to happen. For me it was moving to this cabin for a few days away from everything but electricty to plug in the recording equipment. no phones, internet, or contact with anybody but jeremiah and jonathan. this helped all of our brains get into a state that was entirely focused on the songs, and the music, with no other distractions. so with that being said, the lead character sees his wife and his brother committing adultery against him. He sees this from the window of his home, they thought he would be gone for hours, but in fact he wasn’t. He saw them, never spoke a word to either, kissed his daughters, and left… for 3 years.
The following 8 songs are really just him dealing with normal feelings of being betrayed. the feeling of loss….
To read the rest of his explaination on the album, click here.
Patty Griffin will be featured in an episode of “Live from the Artists Den,” the innovative new weekly music series on Ovation TV featuring acclaimed artists performing in extraordinary settings, Thursday, January 24 (8-9 p.m. ET/PT). The “Live from the Artists Den” series is presented by Ovation TV (www.OvationTV.com) and Grey Goose Entertainment (www.GreyGooseEntertainment.com).
The episode featuring Patty Griffin was filmed at a private Artists Den concert February 6, 2007 at the Angel Orensanz Foundation for the Arts, a historic converted synagogue on New York’s Lower East Side. The special show was a celebration of Griffin’s record release that day – the acclaimed Children Running Through (ATO Records) – and a chance for fans to see her perform songs from the new album for the first time. Griffin’s singular voice filled the candlelit, neo-gothic hall accompanied by new band members and longtime players alike. A special treat on some songs was the addition of legendary keyboardist Ian McLagan (Small Faces, The Rolling Stones) – who appeared for this night only – and a 5-piece string section. Children Running Through went on to win “Album of the Year” at the 2007 Americana Music Awards (in which Griffin was also named “Artist of the Year”) and is nominated for “Album of the Year” in the Contemporary Folk/Americana category of the upcoming 50th Grammy Awards.
Other artists and venues featured in the first season of “Live From The Artists Den” on Ovation TV include Josh Ritter at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County; Crowded House at the Masonic Hall Grand Lodge in New York; Ben Harper on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee at the 2007 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival; Fountains of Wayne on a 100-year-old ship at New York’s South Street Seaport; The Swell Season (from the Fox Searchlight film Once) at the Good Shepherd Center Chapel in Seattle; and KT Tunstall at the Prince George Ballroom in Manhattan.
Guest_2370 : just stumbled across your site today. good stuff. i think you might really like the new e.p. by Tall Tales, entitled Earthling.
Guest_1410 : ok...i looved this movie too..but whats that song thats playing when they are gardening with Joses dad? its just instrumental and some ai ai ais or something..its so beautiful..i want to know what it is.
Olivier : Oups sorry All... i've deleted couple valid comments while removing a list of 500 spams !
Sam : Kevin Pawlak thought I should email you about a new EP my band is putting out. He reviewed it favorably recently. Wanted to send you the information.
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