Fred requested to return to the Prairie, and we were pleased to oblige.
Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter Fred Eaglesmith is what Bruce Springsteen aspires to be, the voice of the small-town common man,” says Nova Scotia’s Berwick Register. His uncommonly good songs illuminate the uniqueness of common people and have evoked critical comparisons to such musical icons as Tom Waits, John Prine, Del Shannon, Link Wray, T Bone Burnett, Steve Earle and even Led Zeppelin, to name a few. He has even been rated as a talent on par with the granddaddy of all populist songwriters: “Eaglesmith delivers passion like few singers since Woody Guthrie,” says New York Press. “We know that’s a comparison not to be taken lightly.”
Eaglesmith writes “songs that rattle around in your head like empty beer bottles in the back of a pickup,” as one critic puts it. With a Juno Award (the Canadian Grammy) for Best Roots & Traditional Album and a Canadian Independent Music Award for Folk/Roots Album of the Year, and a canon of well over 1,000 songs, Fred is still a decidedly grassroots artist: he plays some 180 shows a year across North America, Europe and Australia and releases his records under his own “A Major Label” imprint.
“It’s the weirdest career in the world, a little tiny career that works so well,” Eaglesmith says of the well-worn niche he has carved for himself in a fickle musical landscape. “I’m just so lucky and so fortunate, I try not to take it for granted.”
His latest CD, Tinderbox, is described as “spare, often gospel-infused music and ultra-terse songs about overcoming ‘trouble and toil’ and finding redemption…One song, ‘Quietly,’ about two lovers parting, is a clinic unto itself in devastatingly good, economical songwriting.” (Inquirer) Ink19.com notes that “‘Chain Gang’ is probably the best Springsteen song that Bruce never wrote — but will wish that he had.”
to sample Fred’s music, visit
www.fredeaglesmith.com
for photos of Fred’s 2004 appearance on the Prairie, see “Prairie Pics” at left.
Fred on the Prairie, 2004
when you hear the name shake russell, you think Texas music. his fans are legion, his accolades lengthy. among them: Texas Music Awards Entertainer of the Year (2004, 2008) Palmwood Award (2003) and Founders Award (2007).
with a voice as unique as his left-handed playing of an upside-down guitar, the niche Shake carved in the texas singer-songwriter folk community in the ’70s has worn into a deep, well-oiled groove that rubs smooth and familiar. thirty years of performing in texas has resulted in a deeply loyal following and a long list of recording’s most recently, his December 2007 release of “Live at Gruene Hall.”
the trio (including Mike Roberts on acoustic bass and Doug Floyd on mandolin) obliged our eager houseketeers with standards such as “Deep in the West,” “Two Silver Hearts,” “Travelin’ Texas” and “You’ve Got a Lover,” as well as newer favorites such as “Cowboy Coffee” and “Heartkiller.” In the middle of an unbroken three song set, Shake proved his graciousness when, stepping backwards in the middle of a song, he tipped over a beer, and without missing a lick, he swooped down and righted the bottle. our impressed audience gave him an ovation for that!
until you’ve heard shake russell and the boys in an intimate venue like rphc, you simply haven’t heard the best of Texas yet. the music will dance in your head for days afterwards.
this year’s birthday bash expanded to include not just rphc’s and various rphc family birthdays and anniversaries, but several houseketeers as well, including Diane Linn, who brought 8 friends with her to celebrate her special day, Rhonda Brinkmann, an RPHC loyalist, and Christopher and Kimberly Kocmoud, who celebrated 17 years of wedded bliss with their first house concert.
thanks to all for making rphc’s birthday bash so memorable. we look forward to many more years together.
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Videos
shake russell trio performing at the mucky duck in houston, april 2007
shake with danny everitt performing “deep in the west” at the 2007 texas music awards.
Shake on the Prairie, 2004
www.shakerussell.com
www.myspace.com/shakerussellband
After their first appearance on the prairie almost 2-1/2 years ago, houseketeer Cathy Swanteson wrote, “Sisters Morales was beyond fabulous….I hope you can have them back sometime. It was one of the most enjoyable music events I have been to.”
well, Cathy, after something like a year of back and forth discussion, calendars clashing, and lots and lots of voice mail, your wish was granted. the talented and mesmerizing Sisters Morales returned to the RPHC stage…
these ladies cannot be beat, whether that’s for house concert entertainment, a pick me up on a blue day, or a love song on a cold winter night by the fireplace. and on top of their talent, they are real, down to earth folks with boundless laughter and that special energy coming off them that only sisters have. they make you WANT to be around them.
and so we were… a warmish night on the prairie didn’t dissuade folks from a great evening of music and laughter, from mariachi classics to a new song about fighting the ignorance that creates child abuse, to Latin blues to a hilarious song about David’s bleedin’ broken heart, we got our sox knocked off by the sisters powerful vocals matched by David’s equally powerful spanish guitar licks.
it just doesn’t get any better than this.
“Ever ebullient, confident, and utterly charming …These two are the girls-next-door with a vengeance…. the Morales’ are skilled, strong, real and on the upswing: a bowl of hot chili on a cold and downer day.” - Austin Chronicle
click here to sample the sisters’ musical performances (esp. the last video!)
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