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THE AYE RIGHT FESTIVAL, GLASGOW, 2022

I found Difficult Women  very easy to read, which is not something I can always claim when reading about Feminism. The book has been described in other place as witty, hilarious, rigorous, unforgettable and devastating.
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TAPES RECORDED ALONG THE TRAIL + bits & pieces; Adsubian Art Gallery, Ribble Valley Jazz & English Folk Expo

. By writing new music influenced by the roots music many of them listened, some of these musicians, Tom Russell, in particular perhaps, themselves became music-ethno-musicologists, taking music around and in so doing strengthened its flavour rather than diluted it- My memory of those times is of how Russell, Tom Paxton, Townes, Guy Clark, Bill Staines , Butch Hancock (and his Flatlander mate Jimmie and Joe) and Nanci Griffith too created new music and took it forwarded. I also remember, though, that all these artists in performance would explain to we in the audience the geographical and ethnic roots from which their own music had grown.

TOM AND GRAM AND JOSHUA TREE

While Room 8 is where Parsons left this earth, and New Orleans is where his remains were buried, it's at Cap Rock — a landmark deep in Joshua Tree National Park, where a boulder rests atop a rock formation surrounded by the park's namesake trees — that fans pay him respect. Packs of cigarettes and bottles of booze are placed at the site, as Parsons is believed to have been cremated there. The messages “Safe at Home” and “Gram Lives” adorn nearby rocks.

never let the truth get in the way of RUMOURS + bits and pieces

There is, of course, still hope and time for further Lindsey Buckingham triumphs, further examples of him doing things his own way and further experimentation with the narrative of the music he loves.  Even a relatively recent album (left9 with  Christine McVie, as was, featured some beautiful moments, such as Red Sun (that received massive Radio BBC 2 airplay from the UK),  and (ironically) Love Is Here To Stay.

THE SECRET SESSIONS: Sharon Shannon & The Reckoning Crew.

Her eponymous debut album came out in 1991 and in the just over thirty years that have since passed she has released another twenty, so Sharon Shannon, singer, songwriter and button accordion player is as prolific as she is  profoundly talented.
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following INTUITIONS in search of the lost chord?+ bits and pieces ++ Festival of San Juan

Jose Antonio Farjado is at an interesting stage in his career and may well make some important discoveries about the transportative nature of music and the arts in general.
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SUMMER PAGE-TURNERS: books for the beach

And I will read, and probably leave until last to do so, a book called Naomi Judd, a book that has perhaps been published in haste, talking about the recent death of Naomi Judd, the mother half of my favourite country female duo The Judds. We reported on this in an article called on 25th May in The Judds: A Tragedy Of Our Times, which you can find in our easy to negotiate archives containing more than 650 arts related features.
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END OF TERM CONCERTS AND REPORTS + bits and pieces

Whether a few, some, many or all of the students we have seen at these concerts will go onto become professional players all those who do so will have had the best possible care and preparation shown to them. That the musicians were able to relax and play well with their teachers in attendance and leading them speaks loudly of the rapport between them.
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OF ITS TIME,…AND TIMELESS ! Sail Away by Randy Newman is fifty years old this year + Bits And Pieces

Another quality that makes Newman’s songwriting so fascinating to so many—outside of the compositional characteristics—is how easily he is able to toe the line between offensive and profound.
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A SALUTE TO THE SONG-WRITERS

And also a song I wrote with a Nashville friend of mine called "Bob Dylan Whiskey." You know how Bob Dylan has his own brand of whiskey? It's called Heaven's Door. He made a $10 million deal with whiskey manufacturers and he has his own brand of whiskey. So my friend and I were thinking that somebody needs to write some Bob Dylan songs to help change the world. We're in a lot of trouble right now - maybe if I drink this whiskey, I can write a Bob Dylan song.