Dancing on the Sand

I've got Beach Music on the brain today. If you weren't lucky enough to grow up in a beach town in the Carolinas, Virginia or Georgia like I did, Beach Music is a regional genre that developed in the late 1940s and combined Rhythm and Blues, Big Band Swing, Country Blues and a whole bunch of other stuff to create the perfect music for dancing the Shag (also called the Carolina Shag). Sort of kind of like the Jitterbug, but not. I’ve never claimed to be a dancer but I can do pretty mean shag (I can tap dance too, but that’s another post for another day). Beach Music is not to be confused with the Beach Boys; they’re great but another coast entirely. It’s the music of summer and just hearing it makes you feel like dancing. So turn your speakers up, kick off your shoes and go for it!

If you want more beach music tunes you can click here for  the top 100 Beach Music songs. I can’t say that it’s the definitive list, but it’ll definitely get you started.

Rules to Love By

Magnolia photo by Imogen Cunningham

Bailey’s first rule of life is just because you can sing in that key doesn’t necessarily mean that you should. The second is like thereunto, just because it comes in your size doesn’t mean you should wear it. I have frequently cited these rules as the creed I live by, and when it comes to issues related to my career and image I certainly try to. They’ve worked out well for me, but recent events have had me thinking about more important rules that I want to live by and where I learned them.

My Aunt, my mother’s sister, died recently and overnight my cousins, sister and I became the “elder” generation in that part of the family. It was sudden and none of us were remotely prepared. In spending time with my cousins I realized that while I had always thought of myself as my mother’s daughter, I am also my aunt’s.Traits that I thought were uniquely my own I have actually inherited from her. I suspect if you asked my cousins would say the same thing about what they got from my mother.

Aside from the fact that we all inherited my Grandma Carter’s high cheekbones it would seem that my six cousins (five girls, one boy), my sister and I have little in common. We lead different lives with widely varying interests and temperaments but that is just the surface. Underneath all that we share a pretty consistent way of looking at the world instilled in us by our mothers.  They taught us to love fiercely, work hard, laugh often, and never EVER give up. They believed that this and good manners would get you far.

These women, my mother, Frances Terra Carter Winters, and my aunt, Elizabeth Lane Carter Pratt had presence, and character. You noticed when they entered a room and we have felt their absence now that they have gone. I still think wearing something flattering and singing in the right key is an important part of life, but because of the lessons learned from these extraordinary women I know that these things are much farther down the list. If I can follow their example of persevering with love, humor and grace I will have done very well indeed.

One of Her Favorite Things

Flowers by Karen Tran

I am sending a big virtual bouquet to Amanda McBroom, artist, friend and all around lovely human being, for mentioning Breathing as one of her favorite things for the month of July. As I may have mentioned ten or twelve times the title song of the album was written by Amanda and Michele Brourman, and this makes her support of the finished project that much sweeter. Click HERE to check out the link.

It's too hot to think let alone blog, so I give you this from my friend Russell Fox's blog.

Hit the Road, Red

Photo By Walker Evans

I just returned from an unexpected road trip down to Southern VA. Actually,” just returned” is a slight overstatement. Physically I have been back for several days, but it took my brain a bit longer to make the return trip.

My efforts to stay awake on the drive home (why is it that the way home is always so much longer than the way down?) included copious amounts of Smartees, Dr. Pepper, and turning up the tunes and singing along at the top of my lungs. Here are some of my favorite road trip tunes guaranteed to keep you awake and amuse fellow drivers. Just turn up the volume, sing out, and repeat as needed. What are your favorite road trip songs?

The Elements of Music Style

Photo courtesy of The Constant Gatherer

I am looking for new material. I am spending hours tolling I-Tunes, You Tube, Music stores, artists’ websites, my own personal sheet music collection, bugging  all my song writer friends  and doing anything and everything it takes to hunt down material that’s just perfect. Finding a great song is an art unto itself, it’s sort of like being a museum curator. You have a number of wonderful possibilities in your collection but you have to pick just the right ones for the given moment. There have to be just enough to tell the story, but not so many that your audience is overwhelmed. They must work well together but each piece must be a gem in its own right able to stand on its own.  I make endless lists of songs when I’m on the prowl. To put together an hour of music which is somewhere between twelve and fifteen songs I will usually start out with a list of fifty to sixty songs. With my tendency to over prepare sometimes it gets close to a hundred.

Starting this process for the umpteenth time has me thinking about what it is that, for me, makes a great song. I think it really comes down to three basic things that have to be there, if a song doesn’t have these three elements then I don’t want to sing it. I can’t list them in order of importance because they are all equally important. Take away one and the other two are meaningless.

Emotional Resonance: A song has to reach me on a visceral level, and have emotional integrity. I look for emotional honesty, because it’s impossible for me to sing a lie. By that I don’t mean that I have to have actually experienced everything that happens in a song to be able to sing it (that’s where acting comes in) but there has to be a core of truth to the story. I really REALLY dislike songs that attempt to manipulate the listener into feeling a certain way. A great tune stays out of its own way and allows the listener to have their own emotional response without pre-programming it. 

Fantastic Lyrics: It doesn’t matter how honest a song is if the lyrics aren’t good then forget it. I’m looking for a complete story not endless repetition of a single thought.That is not to say that all songs have to tell a story in a traditional linear fashion, many don’t, but that the lyrics have to leave no doubt that there’s an entire emotional journey there.

Wonderful Melody: This isn’t just about how the song sounds, but how it feels too. A terrific song physically feels good to sing. The melody should support the story the lyrics are telling and not work against it. Melody can be seductive though.There have been times that I was so enamored of the melody that it took me a while to figure out that the lyrics weren’t up to snuff. In fairness, this has happened in reverse with lyrics catching my attention and the melody being subpar, but not as often.

Tempos, keys, arrangements, all these other things can be worked out if the bones are there. Truly, this is all it takes to make me a very happy girl, see how easy it is?





Monday Music

I woke up this morning with Born to Run playing in my head.  I am not a lifelong Springsteen fan, I’ve always like his music and thought he was a great songwriter, but I never quite understood what inspired such fervent admiration from his fans.  Well, I didn’t until I saw him live. I don’t think I’ve ever seen another performer who could establish a rapport with an audience so quickly and so (seemingly) effortlessly.  Bruce is not out there going through the motions, he’s present and engaging and obviously enjoying himself.  He has that rare ability to make a cavernous arena seem like an intimate space where it’s just him and you and the music. He’s made a believer out of me!

Being a woman of a certain name, Born to Run has a special place in my heart.  One of the first things my mother in law ever said to me was that I could never be president because my name was too girly. Musically, at least, she may actually have a point, if there’s a Wendy in a song most likely she’s going to be sweet, perky and picking up the Lost Boy’s dirty socks.  This is why I’m partial to Born to Run. Springsteen’s Wendy is an adventuress running off with the hot bad boy. She may never be president either, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't care.

I'm posting this version of the song because it has some great footage of Bruce interacting sax player Clarence Clemons who passed away June 18th following a stroke. His music will be sorely missed.