You are currently browsing Jessie's articles.
A guest post by my wife, Jessie:
For a long time, I have wanted to learn to play banjo, and so this year Jake and I finally purchased one for me to learn on. It’s a handmade, open-back style banjo, the kind used in old-tyme and folk music, the kind you play clawhammer style (as opposed to bluegrass style, for those of you familiar with those styles of playing the banjo). I like the banjo for it’s plunky sound, and because it is easier for me to fret the chords on a banjo rather than on a guitar with my small hands. Anyway, I get frustrated with the learning process often as it’s always difficult to learn something new, so I’ve been making myself listen to more artists lately that include banjo in their music. It’s actually relatively easy to find bands that have a banjo-ist included that are not bluegrass or old-tyme bands now that banjo is becoming one of the more “hip” instruments to play, thanks to Bela Fleck, Iron and Wine, Sufjan Stevens, and others.
A guest post from Nahar Mama: I’m not really sure how I first heard about Sarah Masen, but she was one of the first Christian artists I picked up after becoming a Christian myself. I’d always been into acoustic/folk sort of music, so she fit right into my collection. Listening to her now, I have a hard time seeing her music as Christian music; she’s more of a Christian (I think) that writes songs about life. I guess that makes her fit right in with the whole “Christian indie” scene.
Sarah did not start out totally indie; her first albums were put out by the re:think label and her 2001 “The Dreamlife of Angels” was put out by Word. She has just completed three EPs and is releasing them independently, handmaking all the cover jackets herself. These three are called “Women’s Work is Alchemy,” “Magic that Works,” and “A History of Lights and Shadows.” [Editor's note: Creeeepy.] You can listen to all of them in streaming audio here.
[A Guest Post from Nahar Mama.]
Hi everyone! Thanks for checking out The Blah Blah’s series on indie music. I’m Jake’s wife, Jessie, and he has asked me to do the “lesson” for today.
Let me give you my quick personal history of indie music. I got into “indie” music back in high school (over 10 years ago) because I had friends who would make me mixed tapes (oh, yeah…remember those days??) of bands like The Promise Ring, Superchunk, Jimmy Eat World (back when they were indie), Sunny Day Real Estate, Cat Power, and so on. Before I met those who were so kind to do this for me, I’d stay up late and watch “Alternative Nation” on MTv just to hear Sonic Youth, Jesus and Mary Chain, Frente!, and all those more popular, non-maintream bands. I had been so bored with music on the radio that these were welcome additions to my collection.
Today, a guest post from Naharmama:
Getting their name from a Pixies song, Havalina, or Havalina Rail Co., is one of the more unusual bands I have heard. They’ve done a couple of concept albums, but their overall style reminds me of a combination of jazz, rockabilly, Americana, blues, gospel, and plain-old rock n’ roll. Lead band member Matt Wignall describes them: “We are a hybrid of traditional American music including folk, blues, and jazz, with a streak of Brazilian and a lot of Les Baxter and Henri Mancini. We tend to write pop music in a rather orchestral fashion.” (inmusicwetrust.com) Though no longer recording or touring, Havalina is a fun, eclectic mix of sounds anyone would love to have in their collection.
