As a basssoonist, I am a band and orchestra geek. I have a trained soprano voice — my teacher, Berthe Townsend, sang with the Paris Opera — but it cracks now and my range is shot, although that doesn’t stop me when my heart is filled with joy. And, thanks to Mrs. Townsend, I can …
Category Archives: Music I love
No other actress could deliver a song or a rant like Dixie Carter
Actress and singer Dixie Carter died the morning of Saturday, April 10, at the age of 70. She is survived by her husband of 26 years, Hal Holbrook, and her daughters from her first marriage to businessman Arthur Carter (no relation), Mary Dixie and Ginna. When I checked Ms. Carter’s biography on Wikipedia, I was …
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Lady Gaga is first in the billion online video views club
Mashable reported a couple of days ago that Lady Gaga made history by becoming the first artist to have over one billion views of their online videos according to video analytics company, Visible Measures. I don’t go out or listen to the radio very much, so I had no idea who she was when she …
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'Booth Shot Lincoln' on autoharp
Honest to goodness, first I started looking for “Red River Valley” because of the flooding, but I couldn’t find any version that didn’t make me sob. The House will vote on Obamacare soon, so there’s already a big enough reason to cry today. So then I switched to looking for old-timey music from my hillbilly …
UPDATED 'Never gonna give you up'
I love expressions of devotion — “Never gonna give you up” from 1987 by Rick Astley is so joyful and profound at the same time. I guess putting my attention on marriage equality makes me think, “What a perfect song to play at a wedding!” You know, when we can have them. Update, 3/22/2010, Sun.: …
UPDATED — I'm a Wolverine, so I just can't pass this up
see more Sports Pictures Note to gentle readers who do not follow college sports: The University of Michigan (Go Blue! Hail to the victors valiant!) and Ohio State University (Hiss! Boo!) are rivals. Oh, and the mascot for the University of Michigan is the wolverine, one of Nature’s fiercest predators. The mascot for Ohio State …
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He is risen — Keyboard Cat, that is
Rejoice! Keyboard Cat is risen — well, there’s a new orange tabby of Buddha-like serenity playing keyboards and drum and even tossing in some wicked dance moves. Brenna Ehrlich of Mashable has the story. The dear, departed Fatso, the original Keyboard Cat, is famous for the “Play him off, Keyboard Cat” YouTube videos adapted from …
Merry Christmas
My favorite part of Christmas is singing Christmas carols. I spent Christmas Eve afternoon baking pies — one cherry, one pumpkin — and trying to get the high notes in “O Holy Night.” I never made it to the end because my big gray cat, Beauregard, meowed more and more desperately as I sang. Sigh. …
Christmas caroling with The Roches
I’ve loved The Roches since the early 1980’s — maybe earlier — when I first encountered their music. I hope you enjoy these Christmas songs by The Roches.