World/Folk/Roots/Celtic/Whatever Catchall & Travelogue

Mar 26 23:41 UTC 2006

In the last incarnation of the music conference, we sliced and diced 
these categories a bit too finely.   So, this time, I'm going to try to
lump all these pigeonholes together, which (thanks to the BBC and 
FRoots magazine) is largely how I experience them.

response 2 of 35:

Mar 27 03:58 UTC 2006

 The most recent info in Allmusic.com says that McGowan and
 the Pogues reunited for a tour in 2001, but doesn't suggest
 that the re-union was long-lasting. 

 You're sure she said "Pogues" and not "Popes"?  The latter
 is the name of the band McGowan formed after his substance
 abuse problems led the rest of the Pogues to kick him out.

 Friends who saw the Pogues when I was still living in Ann
 Arbor recount tales of being treated to a completely intoxicated
 McGowan rant directed at the audience (the quote which became an
 in joke among my peers was, I believe "You Americans..  Fuck you
 and your fucking Batman..", after which McGowan collapsed and
 had to be dragged off-stage.)  I suppose enough time has passed
 for him to get his act together and the fact that he's not dead
 yet certainly suggests that he's at least stepped back considerably
 from the epic amount of alcohol he was said to be consuming at
 the time..

response 4 of 35:

Aug 10 16:44 UTC 2006

Sunday's concert at the Ark was the Finnish & Norwegian fiddle band 
Frigg.  Frigg is anchored by three members of the Arvela family from
Finland; members of JPP are fathers or uncles to those young folks.
The front line of the band was four fiddles; rhythm section was 
mandolin, upright bass and guitar.  
 
For the last number, the mandolin player brought out Estonian 
bagpipes -- there are no Finnish bagpipes, he said.  (This surprised
me, I thought bagpipes were everywhere in Europe.)  In a sense I feel
like I was led to Frigg under false pretenses, because the first 
track I heard on the BBC used bagpipes.  :)   But the band does 
not play the pipes often.
 
----

Coming up this weekend in East Lansing, Friday through Sunday:
the Great Lakes Folk Festival, in the heart of downtown.  
http://www.greatlakesfolkfest.net

Most of the musicians for this festival are not big on the 
national or international touring scene;  instead they are 
excellent local musicians known only within their ethnic
communities.

The Celtic band this year is The Cottars, youngsters from maritime
Canada.

response 6 of 35:

Sep 11 21:29 UTC 2006

News about Italian folk-techno band Fiamma Fumana, who we loved 
at their Ark appearance in April 2005:

A new album ONDA has just been released, and
a North American Tour is starting imminently.  I don't have a web link
to the tour dates, just e-mail.  Dates that might be of interest to
readers here:

Sept. 23         Seattle, Festa Italiana at Seattle Center
Oct.   2         Seattle again, The Triple Door
Oct.   4         Lansing, Michigan
Oct.   5         Dearborn, Michigan  (which I think conflicts with
                       Swap in Ann Arbor)
Oct.   7         Bloomington, IN, Lotus Festival

I'm surprised that we did not know that lead singer Fiamma
(who the band took its name from!) left the band in October
2005, as near as I can reconstruct from trying to read
Lady Jessica's blog in Italian.  The new singer on the new
CD is named Lisa Kant (rather a non-Italian sounding name),
but for the US tour she is being replaced by one
Roberta Carrieri.  The Fiamma Fumana official website
seems very broken tonight.

---

After writing the above for another forum, I did some digging and
found that replacement singer Roberta Carrieri was in a rock band
whose name I have now forgotten, which released an album LABILE which
seems to be difficult to impossible to buy.

response 8 of 35:

Sep 12 19:01 UTC 2006

Saw eMusiki at the Ren Festival last weekend.  Gypsy, Greek, Celtic band from
San Antonio Texas.  

If you go to the RenFest, try to find them.  They were on the south side, in
the middle, at their own little performance area, not one of the big stages.