Before Parlour to Parlour closes the door on 2011, we have a special treat for you.

When Bart Davenport and I first discussed his Parlour to Parlour episode, the original plan was to capture his new electric band in a live music venue after completing the interview at Bart’s home. For various reasons that didn’t happen, so instead we interviewed Bart at one of his favorite outdoor spots in Berkeley, and then shot a solo acoustic performance indoors at his place.

Bart had such a good time during the shoot that he invited us to reconnect later when the timing was better to film a performance with his new live band: lead guitarist Allison Green, bassist Josh Miller and drummer Russ Blackmar. Though the timing of Bart’s November 4, 2011 show at The Uptown in Oakland was not good for video wizard Garrett Eaton, it was good for me. Though Garrett has spoiled me rotten, his absence gave me the opportunity to film an episode all on my own again, just like the earliest Parlour to Parlour episodes of 2009.

So, as a supplement to Episode 34 – or a “bonus track” if you will – we present to you videos of two songs from Bart’s live set that November night in Oakland.

The first performance, “Someone2Dance,” is a new song that Bart has planned for a Valentine’s Day single release on February 14, 2012. It’s pure, grade A power pop, jumping off the stage like it’s 1979 and the world is going crazy over Cheap Trick, The Knack and The Flamin’ Groovies.

Bart Davenport, “Someone2Dance”

The second song, “Meet Me at Midnight,” originates from the 2010 album With All Due Respect, released by Bart’s side project, Incarnations. It’s a little bit power pop, a little bit yacht rock, and easily one of Bart’s catchiest and most memorable tunes.

Bart Davenport, “Meet Me at Midnight”

Oh, and before you start to wonder whether filming these videos entirely in a rock club, as opposed to the artist’s home, is way out of concept for this series, bear this in mind: the week after we wrapped, Bart and I reviewed the footage together in my own home office – the very office where I began filming narration inserts for the original series back in 2009. So in a sense, we’re back where we started – from the artist’s home back into mine. Another circle is complete.

“Someone2Dance” (coupled with b-side “Cheap Words”) is scheduled for release on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2012, on Smile! Records (distributed by Antenna Farm) as a 7″ vinyl single and a digital download. The single was produced by Sam Flax. Check the official Antenna Farm Records website for details:

• www.antennafarmrecords.com

There will be a record release party three days later at Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco, California on February 17, 2011.

“Meet Me At Midnight” is a song from Bart’s side project, Incarnations. The record is available via the Spanish label Lovemonk.

Sean Hayes is sometimes referred to as San Francisco’s folk hero. He’s well respected and very much loved across the Bay Area, and the feeling is plainly evident in the audiences at his local shows. So, to close out 2011 with a big red bow, Sean gifted us with a Parlour to Parlour interview at his own private studio:

There could be no musician to end this season of Parlour to Parlour other than Sean Hayes, for nearly everyone profiled this year has either worked with him or been influenced by him.

Michael Musika has toured with Sean. Quinn DeVeaux can be heard singing backup vocals on “When We Fall In,” the opening track from 2010′s excellent Run Wolves Run. Obo Martin, fpodbpod and The Blank Tapes have all been supporting acts for shows that Sean has headlined. When I was first learning who Sean was, Ash Reiter described him to me as “the male Jolie Holland.” And Bryant Denison even wrote a song for the Beehavers with the lyric “Sean Hayes, I don’t know him too well, but from what I can tell he’s amazing.” So as you can see, there’s a lot of love for Sean Hayes in the Bay Area.

It took me a while, but sometime in 2010 I finally witnessed a Sean Hayes performance. It was at The Independent, in San Francisco’s Western Addition district, and the place was packed. Before the show even started, I was happy find out that Eric Kuhn of Silian Rail (remember Episode 3 back in 2009?) was in Sean’s band, playing keyboards and other instruments, though not drums (that job was in the hands of Ezra Lipp). And before Sean even sang a note, I understood what was going on. His very presence on the stage drew the audience closer. He had them in rapt attention just by standing there, with his strong, confident posture, tempered by an inviting gentleness and vulnerability that everyone there could relate to.

Then of course there was the music. Songs like “When We Fall In” (for which a striking video was made) and “Powerful Stuff” (which was featured last year in a Subaru commercial) became communal experiences, whether one was singing along, snapping fingers, swaying to the beat or just smiling. It was more aligned with feel of soul music than folk music, though the instrumentation and attitude were definitely in the folk tradition. It was certainly the funkiest folk music I had ever heard, and sung with the most soaring, beautiful voice that could possibly have been created for the style.

I know I am not alone in admiring Sean’s humility, musicianship, and unwavering commitment to his family and his community. Sean put all of these qualities on display in his interview, as you will plainly see.

A Note About the Performance

At the beginning of this year’s series, Matt Adams gladly played a song that I had specifically requested for his performance video in episode 26. Since then, Parlour to Parlour subjects have come prepared with specific songs they wanted to showcase. With Sean Hayes, however, we end 2011′s Parlour to Parlour performance series the way we began it – with a song I suggested.

“Stella Seed” occupies the closing slot on Sean’s Run Wolves Run album, and gives it an unforgettably haunting, spine-tingling end. In this solo rendition, with Sean accompanying himself just with a Danelectro electric guitar with a bit of tremolo, Sean demonstrates yet again just how little he really needs to make an impact. Of course, having his band only amplifies the power of his music even further, but returning to his solo roots reminds us of how special Sean is all on his own.

Sean Hayes, “Stella Seed”

Hear more from Sean Hayes:
Sean Hayes – Gunnin’
Sean Hayes – Eyelids

• Buy Outtakes and Alternatives (2011)
• Buy Run Wolves Run (2010)

Keep up with Sean Hayes at his Facebook page and his official website too:

• www.seanhayesmusic.com

As a band they’re quite young, having had their first live public performance only eight months ago. Hearing them play together, however, you’d never know it. This, and perhaps a certain unnameable intangible something else, could be the reason why Bells have become one of the most exciting new bands in the Bay Area.

Again, I give credit to Ash Reiter for bringing a band to my attention. It was in the weeks leading up to their first performance that Ash declared Bells as her new favorite band. She had been experimenting with funkier, more exotic rhythms in the mold of Talking Heads with her song “2012,” and Bells’ deeper grasp of this sound was clearly hitting Ash’s sweet spot.

The core of Bells was formed by singer/percussionist Sandra Lawson-Ndu and bassist/vocalist Doug Stuart. Doug was already familiar to me, as I had quickly become drawn to his sound upon hearing him play upright bass with Anna Ash. He reminded me of Charlie Haden, I told him, which nearly made him blush. But it’s true – just like Charlie, Doug is a tasteful and sensitive virtuoso, someone who not only sounds great by himself but also makes those around him sound even better.

As a vocalist, Sandra walks the line between smooth and funky, keeping her mellow vocals slinkily at home within danceable and tricky rhythms. She brings a strong West African influence to the band’s sound which, when combined with Doug’s jazz-steeped funk grooves, turns any hard surface into a dance floor. Think of tUnE-yArDs with a little less reliance on loops, and a front-woman who will make you feel compelled to give her a great big hug.

Rounding out the band are Derek Barber on guitar and Geneva Harrison on drums. Derek, like Doug, is also tasteful player who’s steeped in jazz and an alumnus of Anna Ash’s University of Michigan-schooled extended family of supporting musicians. His playing is spot-on every time, and he as he adds color and melodic counterpoint that is always on point and never flashy. And Geneva, who was unfortunately not able to participate in the interview, was at least able to join in for the performance of “Kazoo” at the end of the day. Schooled in percussion performance at the University of Miami, Geneva is the engine of the band, taking Doug’s grooves and giving them the thrust of a sturdy and dependable, yet fresh and funky, steam-powered freight train.

Watching all four band members interact, one notices just how together they are personally as well as musically. Seeing how they handled their interview just makes it even more apparent. This could be the intangible something else that makes their music so irresistible, and the same thing that is likely to make their upcoming debut EP (due out in January 2012) potentially one of the most exciting and enjoyable new releases to which we can all look forward.

A note about the performance:

Though Geneva wasn’t able to join in on the interview due to a prior commitment, she arrived just in time for the performance, all smiles and ready to go. And the song she jumped into, “Kazoo,” illustrates just how much is happening rhythmically with Bells. A percussion loop by Sandra sets up the song, and as Doug comes in, Derek adds color as Geneva ties it all up. The loving vocal harmonies of Doug and Sandra are the cherry on top. And as far as the lingering feeling at the heart of this music, Sandra’s little dance at the very end of the performance basically says it all.

Bells, “Kazoo”

Hear more from Bells:
Bells – Loving You Down (demo)
Bells – Incessant Noise (demo)

Keep up with Bells at their Facebook page and their Bandcamp page too:

• wearebells.bandcamp.com

Joshua Bruner has been making a simultaneously gentle and intense style of music that blends the Bay Area’s love of psychedelic and folk music with his own unique African and Eurpean psych rock influences. But as the sound of Josh’s music has become heavier, it makes more sense to simply call it by his band’s namesake: Magic Leaves.

Back when we first started filming this year’s series of Parlour to Parlour interviews, The Blank Tapes’ Matt Adams was quick to ask after we wrapped episode 26 if we’d be including Magic Leaves in the series. At that point, I hadn’t yet become immersed in Josh Bruner’s music, though I had heard him play guitar with The Blank Tapes. What’s more, Magic Leaves had Jessie Woletz‘s seal of approval, so I knew I had some further investigating to do.

Over the past couple of years, the version of Magic Leaves that the San Francisco Bay Area music scene came to know and love was indicative of Josh’s early musical vision – a calm, soothing, psych-folk tapestry of tripped out bliss and pastoral beauty, tempered with the occasional rough edge and tinge of melancholy. Often times, the recordings were made mostly by Josh on his own. It was a musical style that was very much in sync with the rest of the Bay’s folk scene, but it wasn’t bound to last.

At some point, Josh told me some months before our interview, he felt he needed to do something different in order to keep his audience focused on what he was doing. He found himself competing for attention amongst crowds of talkers, who were missing out on Josh’s songs. And so, a radical change was in order.

Anyone who was familiar with the old Magic Leaves sound was in for a surprise when their Chasing The Moon premier took place last December. The sounds matching up with what was presented on the screen were LOUD. It was as if the band had suddenly morphed into an afro-kraut groove-centric version of Black Sabbath, with heavy metal guitar riffage filling the room like straight whiskey in an ice-free glass. And yet, this was still the same chill, gentle Josh. As it happened, the premier took place at the very first Beehavers show where I played bass, and lead Beehaver Bryant Denison remembers this very well. Bryant’s memory for such details generally isn’t the greatest, so if he’s still talking about it ten months after the fact, you know Josh succeeded in getting folks’ attention.

In the months since, Magic Leaves have played some of their most memorable gigs, both abroad and at home – including a special night at San Francisco’s Slim’s, where Magic Leaves had the honor of opening for African guitarist Bombino, one of Josh’s biggest musical influences. In fact, the night before we filmed this interview, Magic Leaves and the Beehavers shared a bill at Amnesia, playing before a packed and enthusiastic crowd who soaked up the band’s music in rapt attention.

Given the supercharged evening the night before, this interview was a natural way to re-enter our non-rock lives. Josh currently lives in the picturesque environs of Marin County, and it was as beautiful a day in Marin as we could have hoped for. So we talked out on the porch as a team of young female soccer players practiced in the field down below, and enjoyed the sun’s rays like cats on a window sill.

A note about the performance:

In much the same fashion as Ash Reiter and The Beehavers before him, Josh Bruner was not content to simply strum a guitar in his living room for his performance. Once we made it to Josh’s chosen spot – the historic Battery Wallace in the Marin Headlands – it was very easy to see why. It’s a spot where Josh plays music often, and with its colorful natural surroundings and stunning vistas, it’s a spot where many locals enjoy having picnics and chilling out on sunny days.

Rather than play one of his new songs, which are written very specifically for maximum volume rock shows, Josh instead chose to cover Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” infusing it with the feel of the Brazilian music he has been enjoying during his private listening time as of late. It’s a beautiful performance, showing yet another side of Josh’s music that may not have been immediately evident from his past recordings, and one that fits the autumn of the year all too perfectly.

Magic Leaves, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”

Hear more from Magic Leaves:
Magic Leaves – You Wanna
Magic Leaves – Feel Good

• Buy GLOW (2011, the latest all-electric Magic Leaves album)
• Buy Everything Has a Face (2010)
• Buy The Big Surreal (2009)

Keep up with Magic Leaves at their Facebook page and official website:

• www.magicleavesmusic.com

His visual style is equal parts ’60s, ’70s and early ’80s. His movements are the natural strokes of a born rock star, and he has a voice and a smooth style of playing to justify it all. He’s the total package – singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer, solo performer, collaborator, curator, recording artist and stage performer. And while he has fans around the world, he’s not yet a household name. Though he should be. Meet Bart Davenport:

Riding over a San Francisco freeway with Ash Reiter and Will Halsey one sunny afternoon in 2010, my ears perked up at the sound of what bore a striking resemblance to a vintage early ’70s Philly soul recording. When I asked Ash who we were listening to, she told me it was Bart Davenport. The song was “A Young One,” from Bart’s 2008 album Palaces.

Being as excited as I was about Bart’s music just from this one song, I jumped at the opportunity to attend his Chasing The Moon premier that summer. Even though Bart wasn’t scheduled to perform, as tradition dictates that the featured artist never actually performs live at their own premier, I figured I could at least hear a bit more of what Bart was all about. As it turned out, one of the featured performers that night – none other than Obo Martin – became so excited at the conclusion of the screening of Bart’s Chasing The Moon episode that he took over the proceedings and convinced Bart to perform a song. Bart agreed, but only to play a cover. The song he played, The Incredible String Band’s “You Get Brighter,” never left my head after that night. As luck would have it, Bart included a rendition of the song on his all-covers album, 2011′s Searching For Bart Davenport.

Naturally, from this moment on, Bart was on my wish list of artists to profile. Along the road to Bart’s Parlour to Parlour interview, I learned that he has been a Bay Area musical institution for the better part of the past 10 years, at least in terms of his album release history as a solo performer. His smooth as silk baritone recalls Boz Scaggs with not as creamy an affect, as he straddles the line between Beatlesque pop and blue-eyed soul. His musical accompaniment varies – sometimes he plays with a power trio, sometimes with a larger band, and sometimes solo acoustic (not unlike the subject of episode 33, Quinn DeVeaux).

And while Bart tends to “keep it classic” (as he so eloquently put it during our interview) when making music as a solo performer, he does occasionally venture into more forward looking, 21st century sounds (most prominently with Honeycut, who played to huge crowds on the festival circuit in 2007). If you’ve ever installed the Leopard or Snow Leopard operating systems on a Macintosh computer, you’re likely already familiar with Honeycut’s song “Exodus Honey,” which plays during the welcome video that starts upon completion of the installation process.

If you’re asking yourself, “why haven’t I heard of this guy till now?” you’re probably not alone, even in San Francisco. While Bart has plenty of fans all over the world – he has toured Europe extensively, not to mention the rest of the U.S. – he made a very good point when we talked about the double-edged sword that is the San Francisco Bay Area scene. While it’s not in the interview video, I felt it was worth reprinting here:

“So many people [play music], it’s sort of like the local pastime. I think, unfortunately, there’s not quite enough business to support all the talent. There’s more people playing than there are venues to play in, or labels to put out the music, or booking agents to book the acts… less people want to do all the less glamorous, behind the scenes jobs. Everybody wants to play. But that’s cool, you know?”

Yes, in a way it is cool. It’s part of the character of the Bay Area music scene in that it forces so many of us into a DIY approach as we rethink what constitutes a music venue, where our audience is and how we promote what we do. It keeps us on our toes. But clearly we could use some more promoters, because this music deserves to be heard by more than just our home base. Bart Davenport, for example, really ought to be a household name by now. His time is overdue.

A note about the performance:

We had originally planned on recording Bart in a local venue with his electric band for the performance video, but for various logistical reasons it didn’t come to pass (though we’re still talking about filming his electric band at a later date). Instead, we decided to go with a solo acoustic performance of “In The Dark,” a song originally written and recorded by the Chicago-based indie band The Changes. Bart’s cover of the song appears on Searching For Bart Davenport.

While we usually start Parlour to Parlour interviews at home, this time we started away from home and ended with the performance in Bart’s space, next to his vintage late 1970s turntable. In the interview video, we seamlessly transitioned from the studio recording into Bart’s live recording, and aside from the obvious differences in recording quality, performance-wise they were nearly identical (though you can hear a split second difference where the two performances overlap) so a cross-fade was very easy.

Bart Davenport, “In The Dark”

Hear more from Bart Davenport:
Bart Davenport – Jon Jon
Bart Davenport – In The Dark

• Buy Searching For Bart Davenport (Bart’s latest release, a solo acoustic album of covers)
• Buy With All Due Respect (recorded by Bart’s side project, Incarnations)
• Buy Palaces (Bart’s most recent album of all original material)

Keep up with Bart at his official website:

• www.bartdavenport.com

Bart Davenport is an Antenna Farm Records recording artist:

• www.antennafarmrecords.com

Upon first hearing Quinn DeVeaux and the Blue Beat Review, I seriously felt like I was experiencing what it must have been like to dance the night away in an old juke joint in the ’50s and ’60s, back when Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters and Little Walter were making history and inspiring the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. He had the requisite guitars and drums, plus a swingin’ upright bass player in his band. But adding the hip-shaking Quinntettes on backing vocals gave the show an added vocal oomph and some visual encouragement to keep those feet movin’.

The particular night I first heard Quinn was a gig he headlined at The Starry Plough in Berkeley, California. Ash Reiter had the middle slot. By that time, I was already a die hard Ash Reiter fan and friend. She was not only playing my favorite music in the Bay Area, but also introducing me to so many others who I have continued to follow and spotlight here in the Parlour to Parlour series. She was also really getting a good grip on the art of bringing an audience to their feet and keeping them there. She did exceptionally well in that regard on this particular night. So when Quinn took the stage with the Blue Beat Review, he had a warmed up audience in the palm of his hand – and he injected us all with an extra large dose of dancing adrenaline, playing a mix of classic blues and R&B covers (“Got My Mojo Working,” “They All Asked For You,” and “Tiger In Your Tank” among others) and equally fun originals. After that night, it would be impossible to forget the name Quinn DeVeaux.

On the day we filmed this interview, about a year after I first met him, Quinn was getting ready to move to a new place nearby his current Oakland neighborhood. And yet, as the essence of a traveling musician goes, so does the feeling of home. It was all with him, and it’s all there in his new place too. What’s more, Quinn was riding high on the good feeling of having released his first full band album, Under Covers. Produced by Blue Beat Review drummer Matthew MacGillivray, Under Covers is a short but sweet run through nine classic tunes, from Sam Cooke’s “Good News” to Ray Charles’ “Leave My Woman Alone,” and of course my personal favorite, Muddy Waters’ “Tiger In Your Tank.” Quinn also quite memorably revises The Meters’ “They All Asked For You” so that it’s Oakland specific, solidifying his place in the Bay Area and adding his own personal stamp to Oakland’s long history of producing top shelf R&B music.

A note about the performance:

Quinn often performs in at least three different configurations. For his big party-time events at high capacity venues, he is generally found with his full Blue Beat Review band, consisting of drummer Matthew MacGillivray, bassist Kenan O’Brien and keyboardist Chris Siebert along with the Quinntettes on backing vocals. Sometimes Quinn will play with a smaller Quinntette-less group. And then there’s Quinn the solo acoustic performer, where his folky side comes to the fore.

The performance we filmed captured Quinn the solo artist, playing an original tune called “Judy” from his first album, the entirely solo Lions On Lakes. The performance captured Quinn in a casual backyard setting that he often favors even when no camera is present. Towards the end you can hear a Bart train speeding off in the distance – Quinn was living very close to the MacArthur Bart station at the time of filming. And then the sky gave us a pleasant surprise at the very end…

Quinn DeVeaux, “Judy”

Hear more from Quinn DeVeaux:
Quinn DeVeaux – Judy
Quinn DeVeaux and the Blue Beat Review – All Night Long

• Buy Lions on Lakes
• Buy Under Covers
• Keep up with Quinn at his Facebook page and his official website: www.quinndeveaux.com

Related articles

• Parlour to Parlour, Episode 32: Obo Martin (popdose.com)
• Parlour to Parlour, Episode 31: Michael Musika (popdose.com)

Obo Martin is one of a rare breed – that of the native San Franciscan. Born in a hospital next to Golden Gate Park, Obo has traveled here, there and everywhere, weaving tales of adventure into music that blends American and Irish folk music with a little bit of rock to create a sound and voice distinctly Obo’s, and still very music a part of what makes San Francisco so lively and fun.

Once you see or meet Obo Martin, it’s very nearly impossible to forget him. He can usually be found with a green hat atop his long and very orange dreadlocked hair, tilted precariously to one side in a position that makes one wonder how the hat doesn’t fall off his head. In fact, it does fall sometimes – we captured that during the conclusion of our interview. But I digress…

Beyond wearing the appearance of San Francisco’s very own leprechaun of joy and adventure, Obo Martin has a striking personality that’s also impossible to forget. My very first encounter with Obo occurred last year at a premier for Bart Davenport’s episode of the monthly Chasing The Moon video podcast. Obo’s set was by far the liveliest of the three that happened that night, and that alone would have made him stick out in my mind. However, following the screening, Obo became so excited that he effectively took over the proceedings, speaking out of turn and successfully persuading Bart to break tradition and play a short acoustic set at his own premier (tradition dictates that the artists featured in a Chasing The Moon episode never perform at their own premier).

Since that memorable introduction to the man and his music, I have run into Obo many times, learning along the way that, although sometimes one might think he was born in Ireland, he was indeed born in San Francisco. He did spend a short time living in Ireland, however, and it certainly shows in his music. His song “Cabin in the Woods,” included on the 2008 album Outstanding In The Field, was covered by The Be Good Tanyas in 1999, who named themselves after Obo’s song “Be Good Tanya.” “Cabin” was a favorite of Jolie Holland’s, who was in the band at the time.

Also, as Obo mentions in our interview, he leads two bands now. The band that backs him when he performs simply as Obo Martin plays his mostly American indie folk/rock style of tunes, including some semi-psychedelic instrumentals and an occasional dip into his Irish tunes. But the full-on Irish folk rock experience happens when Obo performs with Shameless Seamus and the Aimless Amos’s, a band that carries on in the spirit of the Dubliners and the Pogues.

About the performance:

Although Obo began to have second thoughts about his song choice for the performance, it became clear to Garrett and I that Obo’s first choice couldn’t have been more appropriate. Given the personal journey Obo had described in the interview, and especially later when we captured Obo’s expertly executed landing down the concrete slide just a short drive from his home, “Lucky Bones” was by far the best choice he could have made.

Sometimes when Obo performs, he experiences wardrobe malfunctions, such as when his trousers come undone and fall to the ground mid-song. He was sitting for this performance, so there was no risk of that happening. However, he apparently had a hole in his pocket through which his guitar pick escaped down into his boot. It was yet another case of Obo gracefully turning a potentially embarrassing situation into lighthearted entertainment.

Obo Martin, “Lucky Bones”

Hear more from Obo Martin:
Obo Martin – Don’t Mind Me
Obo Martin – The Ship That Took Me Over

• Buy Outstanding In The Field
• Keep up with Obo Martin at his MySpace profile

He’s a sorcerer, a gangster, a magician, a gatherer of spirits, and sometimes he’s known as a world-traveled musician and published author. He holds his audiences in rapt attention, seemingly without even trying. And the surname to which he was born could not have been an accident. Meet Michael Musika:

I have Jessie Woletz to thank for putting Michael Musika on my radar.

I initially met Jessie, San Francisco’s modern day equivalent of Chet Helms, at one of her monthly Seaweed Sway showcase events at the Make-Out Room in March of 2010. What drew me there that particular night was a bill consisting of Foxtails Brigade, Ash Reiter and Steve Taylor – all of whom I had last seen playing together at Steve’s birthday party the previous November, the very party that followed the filming of Episode 24 of Parlour to Parlour.

Jessie was bright-eyed, gracious and enthusiastic that night, an instant charmer and very quick to hand me a flyer for her next event. The event in question was a grand undertaking, pulling together a who’s who of local San Francisco folk rock talent for a tribute to renowned Native American folk singer/songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie. The stand-out performance that night, the one I remember best, was Michael Musika’s rendition of “God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot.”

While this performance contains all the hallmarks of a typical Michael Musika show – his jittery yet laid back vocals, a tendency to load up his phrases with many syllables a la mid-’60s Bob Dylan, and a sound straight out of said era aided by musicians such as Eric Kuhn, Matt Adams and Indianna Hale among others – what it doesn’t indicate is the wildly vivid, expressive, fantastical vision of his own writing.

In actual fact, songs alone cannot contain Michael’s vision, at least with regard to his most recent work. Spells, the album was released concurrently with “Spells,” the book – a work of fiction drawing from elements of fantasy, childhood observations, and the tradition of parables in advancing spirituality and morality. More specifically, both the book and album uphold themes of nature and love with a populist bent, following the adventures of a character known simply as “the Child” as he upsets the balance of his homeland’s closely controlled culture. It’s a story that could apply to many different places in the world, one in which the book is loaded with seemingly endless little bundles of wisdom, and in which the album is loaded with charmingly idiosyncratic songs that take American folk music to new and exciting vistas.

Another hallmark of Michael’s performances not completely evident in that first experience for me was his deadpan humor and sarcasm. It came through in our interview though for sure, along with his awkward charm. Even after watching and re-watching the way Michael wrapped up his answer to the first of my questions as we edited the footage, Garrett and I could not stop ourselves from laughing each time.

About the performance:

Though Michael introduced the song three different ways between the two takes we filmed, he in fact expressed to me off camera that the title of the song he performed is, as one would expect, “There is No Need to Name the Moon.” He performs in a varierty of configurations, from the massive band he assembled for the release of Spells, to the duo format with Eric Kuhn on percussion and guitar, and here, solo with just a guitar. Michael’s songs are so dense with words that in most cases, the solo format is plenty effective at getting his story across, and this performance is no exception.

Michael Musika, “There is No Need to Name the Moon”

Hear more from Michael Musika:
Michael Musika – The Coyote Recaptures the Stolen Jewel and Returns it to the Sea
Michael Musika – The Dictionary is the Book of Love

• Buy Spells the album
• Buy “Spells” the book
• Keep up with Michael Musika at his Facebook profile too!

With roots in Michigan and a new home in Oakland, California, singer/songwriter Anna Ash has been quietly building a charming and ambitious musical and artistic vision, one that is meant to be savored and shared. In her first interview of 2011, she talks about the full-length album she is working to complete, along with a much larger community-building project that promises to be as magnificent as Anna’s voice.

I first met Anna Ash at Epicenter Cafe in San Francisco, on a night when she opened for last month’s featured artist, Ash Reiter. Anna was very charming and clearly happy to be there, exuding a contagious vibe of adventure and romance – a feeling that came across loud and clear once she started to sing and play with her band. After Anna’s set, Ash joked that “I liked Anna Ash’s set so much that I decided to steal her name. In fact, I’m going to marry her – then I’ll be Ash Ash!” The light-hearted mood continued all the way through, as Anna danced with the crowd throughout Ash’s set, changing partners and just having a great time with all of us.

Musically, my first impressions of Anna were of someone with exquisite taste. She opened her set at Epicenter with a cover of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles’ “You Really Got A Hold On Me,” which set the hopeless romantic tone right away. With accompaniment from Shaun Lowecki on drums, Doug Stuart on upright bass and Drew Brown on guitar, Anna and her wonderfully sonorous Ella Fitzgerald-esque voice proceeded to fill her set with originals from her My Oh My EP, recorded in a church in Michigan just months before she moved to Oakland. Her fusion of folk music and pop, informed by deep roots in jazz (Anna and her band mates are all trained, road tested jazz musicians) brought a subtle new twist to a music community with folk and pop roots, and displayed one reason why Anna may feel a little “strange” in the bay area, as she put it during the interview we taped on May 12, 2011. But then, we’re all strange out here – it’s simply part of the draw.

The setting for this interview reveals the ambitious nature of Anna, someone who dreams big and then works to make it real, crazy or not. With three partners, Anna has begun renovating a former supply company building in downtown Oakland as the Starline Social Club, a future arts space that Anna hopes will contribute to the growing sense of community among artists and musicians in the East Bay. This ballroom-in-the-works has essentially become Anna’s new home, and it provided more than enough things to talk about.

About the performance:

Anna and her band – which now consists of Derek Barber on guitar along with Doug Stuart on bass and Shaun Lowecki on drums – are so tight that the three takes we recorded of a new song called “Paradise,” from Anna’s forthcoming full-length album, were nearly identical. This of course made editing the footage much easier than it could have been otherwise, but it also made me realize how much more work I need to do on my own playing (not that I needed any further reminders).

The natural reverb of the room made for a very warm sounding recording, one that has a special little spark to it that led me to play and replay it over and over again before the video was even finished. But most important is the song itself – haunting, beautiful, and one of the best examples of how Anna has brought more economy to her lyrics without sacrificing emotional depth. Listen to “Opoutere” as an example of her more verbose, poetic lyric style – equally beautiful but with a different flavor.

Anna Ash, “Paradise”

Hear more from Anna Ash:
Anna Ash – Opoutere
Anna Ash – Just Like The Movies (demo)

Hear even more from Anna at her official website:

• www.annaash.com

Buy some music from Anna Ash!

• My Oh My (2009) - Anna’s stunning, lovingly packaged six-song EP
  

Keep up with Anna Ash at her Facebook page too!

Though by her own admission she does not feel she is very good at interviews, Berkeley-based singer/songwriter/bandleader Ash Reiter came through in this one with characteristically casual grace, slowly warming up to the whole process as she shared some thoughts on what has made writing come more easily to her as of late, among other things.

I travel back to Steve Taylor’s birthday party in November of 2009 quite often and marvel at just how pivotal that one night was for me personally. Inarguably, the strongest and most significant connection I made that night was with Ash Reiter, someone who became not only one of my favorite singers to listen to, but also a good friend.

I had been chatting with her for a little bit, as I had been with many others, before the live music that Steve had promised was about to begin. She struck me as a solid, friendly, cool person who was in all likelihood one of the soberest people in the room. In the middle of another conversation about 10 minutes later, I heard this beautiful voice, floating above a pillow of malleted cymbals, singing the words, “there’s a ghost in my head.” I immediately thought, “whoa, who is that?” I turned around and saw that it was Ash, that cool girl I had been talking to earlier. She didn’t even mention that she was one of the people who would be playing that night!

Part of what cemented the connection with Ash’s music was the words of the very song she was singing. As she continued to sing, the words came out: “there’s a ghost in my bed / there’s a ghost in my chest / and he will not let me rest.” Coincidentally, as she sang these lyrics, the ghost in my head/bed/chest was standing right next to me. The magic of this song, “Stumble and Fall,” was that, even though it was reflecting an emotionally painful experience that so many of us have been through, Ash’s delivery of the lyrics – and the music she and Will Halsey created – was less sad and depressing than it was comforting, uplifting, and even celebratory in a casual sort of way. And after that smooth, folky intro, you could dance to it right through to the end.

“Stumble and Fall,” from 2010′s Paper Diamonds, was quite different from Ash’s earlier, jazzy-folky tunes, yet it bridged back to that style almost effortlessly. It’s also very much indicative of the direction she has taken with her music since then, with that “take a sad song and make it better” ideal being one of the key hallmarks of Ash’s work on her forthcoming second full-length album, Hola. “Broken Drum” falls very much into the same category – “sad song to play on a blue guitar / but that’s alright, I got a head all full of stars” – and yet it’s a more intricately constructed pop song and has even more of that up energy to it. And to keep things interesting, Ash finds ways to turn her fascinations with California history into pop songs (“Ishi,” “Little Sandy”), not to mention end-of-the-world doomsday theories (“2012″), nature (“Hummingbird”), and good old fashioned embarrassment (“I’ve Got Something I Can Laugh About”).

The temptation to turn this interview into an all-day, all-night hang session was very great. Ash and her entire band – drummer Will Halsey, guitarist Drew Brown and bassist Scott Brown – were all present, planning a barbeque, and practicing their party tactics off-camera during the interview. I had to dash off to play a show with the Beehavers immediately after we wrapped so there was no BBQ for me this time, but there will be others I’m sure.

A note about the performance:

Working with Garrett Eaton on this series is really pretty great, for a number of reasons. One of the reasons you can see most easily is the creative spark he brings to the photography, being that he has such a great eye for composition and locations. After I confirmed the date of the shoot with Ash and Garrett, the two of them talked a bit about particular ideas they’d like to see in this episode. When I circled back with each of them, two themes emerged: movement (most of which you see in the interview video), and the Panoramic Hill staircase in Berkeley, just a short drive from where Ash and Will live. The staircase is where we filmed Ash and her band playing a new song called “Heatwave.”

Scott is usually heard playing electric bass with Ash, but for this outdoor performance he brought his acoustic upright bass, while his older brother Drew plugged his guitar into a small amp powered by a car battery. Will, ever the sensitive gentleman, is often self-conscious about disturbing people outdoors in residential areas with his drumming. After all, when he lets loose he’s a total monster and one of my favorite drummers for it, whether he’s playing with Ash Reiter, The Blank Tapes, fpodbpod, or anyone else. For this performance, he got past his reservations and kept a light, tasteful beat with his snare, a tom and a shaker. Neither the neighbors, passersby, nor the dog that briefly interrupted our session, seemed to mind in the least.

Ash Reiter, “Heatwave”

Hear more from Ash Reiter:
Ash Reiter – Ishi
Ash Reiter – Land and Sea

Buy some Ash Reiter music, why don’t ya!

• Paper Diamonds (2010) – the physical CD at Amazon
• Paper Diamonds (2010) – the digital album at iTunes
  

Hear even more from Ash:

• www.myspace.com/drunkenboat

Keep up with Ash Reiter at her Facebook profile too!