Vol. 3, No. 1
MP3 files of the following artists are at http://www.mp3.com/fenario:
Suzanne McDermott has shared the stage with Gore Vidal,
Bert Jansch, Roger McGuinn, Bill Morrissey, Cheryl Wheeler,
Livingston Taylor, Tom Paxton, Laurie Lewis, Dar Williams, Martin Sexton, and
many others and has performed throughout the US at such venues as Passim, Siné,
CB's Gallery, Godfrey Daniels, Fiddle & Bow Society, Eddie's Attic, The Bluebird,
McCabe's, and The Freight & Salvage. Suzanne was a finalist in the prestigious
troubadour competition at the 25th Telluride Bluegrass Festival. She frequently
tours Europe.
McDermott's first album of songs, Souvenir, was released
in January 1995 by Rosema Red Records. It was one of Performing Songwriter magazine's
1995 "Top D.I.Y." selections and named "Best Singer Songwriter CD of 1995" by
WFMT "Midnight Special", Chicago's longest-running acoustic music radio program.
In June 1997, Rosema Red released The Roswell Incident, a 4 song, limited edition
CD. The city of Roswell, New Mexico invited Suzanne to perform that title song
for their 50th anniversary celebration of the incident. The song is featured
over end credits in the new independent documentary film "Six Days in Roswell".
A third album, Ephemera was released in Europe by CRS (Rounder Europe) late
1998. Recorded in South Carolina and Eindhoven,
Holland, Suzanne is accompanied by a fine array of Dutch and Belgian musicians.
Theo de Jong of Strictly Country (The Netherlands) calls, Ephemera "an album
filled with rare, beautiful, original and intelligent songs." Ephemera is now
available through Rosema Red in the US.
Out Under the Sky, a review and history of the Christmas Carol, was released
in late 1999. The cover features one of Suzanne's watercolor paintings.
Born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, she gave her first public
performance at the age of fifteen in the legendary club The Main Point. The
Main Point provided years of exposure to most of the "first generation" singer
songwriters and was a fundamental influence on her song writing and guitar playing.
At McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, California, in addition to performing,
Suzanne produced a series of 20th-C chamber music concerts and designed the
McCabe's T-shirt.
Along with her own creative and performance work, Suzanne has worked in theater,
classical music publishing, international chamber music festivals, world and
experimental music, as secretary to Sarah Vaughan for two years, and served
as US Delegate to the Congo as a musical coordinator. Suzanne holds a degree
in Drama, Art & Music, is an accomplished painter and has developed two teaching
programs: "The Nature of Song" and "Basic Drawing & Watercolor in the Natural
World".
Rosema Red Records . PO Box 380747 Cambridge MA 02238 . 617-680-7729
info@rosemared.com
www.rosemared.com
Vermont's Diane Zeigler is the winner of six national songwriting awards at the following folk festivals: the 1999 Kerrville Folk Festival (TX), 1999 Rocky Mountain Folks Festival (CO), 1999 Telluride Troubador contest (CO) (2nd place), 1991 Napa Valley Folk Festival (CA), 1991 Columbia River Folk Festival (WA), and the 1991 Sugarbush Folk Festival (VT).
The Spring 2000 release of These are the Roots marks Zeigler's first album in five years, following her 1995 debut on Rounder/Philo, Sting of the Honeybee. Shortly after the release of Sting of the Honeybee, however, Diane learned that she was pregnant with her first child. After taking a hard look at her priorities, she decided to shelve her music career and make a 100% commitment to her family. She took a 3 year hiatus from music, gave birth to two children, and pursued mothering with the same passion that she once put into her music. She came to realize, however, that dedication to her family must also include some expression of herself as an artist. In the summer of 1999 Zeigler re-emerged on the national folk scene, picking up where she left off by winning awards at Kerrville, Rocky Mountain, and Telluride festivals.
Co-produced with her husband and bass player Geoff Sather, and electric guitarist Josh Colow, These are the Roots feautures the musical backup team of T-Bone Wolk, Artie Traum, Dean Sharp, The Stockwell Brothers Band, Colow and Sather. Most of the CD's 14 songs were written during Zeigler's self-imposed exile from the music business, and reflect the multiple challenges facing a mother trying to choose between career and family. The CD traces the tolls and triumphs in a committed relationship, and offers a resounding and hopeful validation of the family as providing the foundation for understanding human experience.
Zeigler's work is rooted in part in her experiences with death and loss, and a commitment to find hope in the face of considerable personal challenges. Her debut CD is dedicated to her beloved brother, who died of cancer at age 21,when she was 19. She wrote her first song for him, and "he listened to it on a Walkman in the hospital while he was receiving a bone-marrow transplant", she says. After his death, Zeigler left Vermont and became a volunteer in a Venezuela, running an orphanage for a year. It was during this time that she first became interested in songwriting, and used it as a tool to help her cope with the upheaval and crisis around her. "I came out of those two experiences very positively," she recalls. "They forced me to think of life in much different terms and I became a better writer because of it. I developed a singleness of mind and really saw no other option but to learn to write better, and to process my experiences in a way that highlights the universal emotions we all work through."
Zeigler has been featured on many compilation projects including Christine Lavin's The Stealth Project and Follow That Road (Philo), as well as Sony's Bring It On Home, Club Passim's One More Song (Philo), and the new benefit CD Mother's Hope (ADA),. Her newest release is available for purchase at her shows and on her website.
Website:www.DianeZeigler.com
Booking Information: 802-229-2729 email: info@dianezeigler.com
Cd orders available at web site or by telephone 1-800-937-3397.
On Halloween night, 1980, Colorblind James and the Whitecaps played their last set in Oswego, NY. On the following day, Colorblind headed for San Francisco, followed shortly by Whitecaps drummer Kevin McDevitt, guitarist Uncle Phil Marshall, and bassist Thad Iorizzo. It was there in San Francisco that The Colorblind James Experience was born. The band toiled in the Bay Area for four years before heading back to Colorblind's hometown, Rochester, New York, in 1984. In 1987, they released their self - titled debut album and in 1988 they embarked on their first European tour. To date, the band has performed in England, Scotland, Wales, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Holland, Norway, Canada, and the good old USA. The band has forsaken touring, for the most part, in the past decade; these days they can often be found playing in their hometown of Rochester, New York, and in nearby communities. The Colorblind James Experience have six full albums, and a live recording from John Peel's BBC radio show - 'The Peel Sessions'
Here's our current line up John Ebert - Trombone Jim Schwarz - Bass Charles Jaffe - Keyboards James McAvaney - Drums Rita Coulter - Vocal, percussion Colorblind James - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals, Vibraphone
Their Greatest Hits album features 19 songs from the band's 20+ year
career and is on StubDaddy Records. In the past, The Colorblind James Experience
has released albums on Redhouse, Cooking Vinyl, Death Valley, and they have
a Peel's Session to their credit. "Purple and Gold" is an unreleased
track - an About exclusive.
Website: http://stubdaddy.com/CbJE.htm
Born in Oregon and raised in California, Dana was drawn East in the early '80s and settled in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. There he built his own house--sans electricity and phone--and founded a bakery and deli where the folk concerts he presented (featuring early performances by Dar Williams, Barbara Kessler, Louise Taylor, Rachel Bissex, and others) quickly became a cultural staple in the community. A track from Robinson's 1994 self-released cd Elemental Lullabye led Putumayo's Dan Storper to invite Dana to perform as part of Putumayo's first singer-songwriter festival at Carnegie Hall. This appearance was included on Putumayo's Shelter compilation. In 1995 Dana moved to Northampton, Massachusetts and began pursuing the folk circuit full time. 1997 brought Dana's 2nd recording Midnight Salvage, and in May of 2000 Dana released The Trade. "What would Woody do" is part of the collection of songs written after the release of The Trade.
website: www.robinsongs.com
contact: robinsongs@aol.com
Fenario: Folk Music E-zine
©2000 Hugh Blumenfeld
ISSN: 1528-378X