Friday, January 27, 2012

Friday Night Frolic — Killjoy Rides the Current



Well, I have to be honest. I'm not up to tricks today. The damn migraine is back and and the double doses of magnesium and vitamin B-2 aren't worth the space--never mind the clamor--in which they digest. I should demand a damage deposit from them, but, as it is, they're never on time with the rent.

I'm hitting the hard stuff. And the lights will be out any moment now, so, please forgive my lazy self, but there's nothing novel here today. Nothing.

I'm just going to reroute you to this original piece (go ahead, click there or here) to give you a more, um, poetic sense of how I really feel.

And while I'm drifting along this turbid visceral stream of consciousness I might as well mention that nasal lavage is highly overrated, the new Facebook timeline profile gives me vertigo (do not attempt opening when stricken with cephalalgia), and, so I hear, creative writing is "therapy for the disaffected masses." Having taken many creative writing workshops I admit that I agree with Shivani's (who is this guy, anyway?) assessment of the workshop as a mild form of hazing. (Especially the grad school sort. Ouch.) Reading the greats might prove more instructive.

Aren't I a regular killjoy?

But wait, isn't all writing therapy in one form or another? How can anyone write, or read for that matter, anything without attaining even the smallest measure of growth, awareness and insight?

Seems I'm no longer drifting. No, I'm beating back the biting currents of this stream. (And once again resorting to alliteration to do so.)  I must be listening to...

*drumroll*

The great improvisors, straight from Beantown and better yet, a string band! (you forget, Berklee is also in Beantown), the incomparable, the virtuosic, the crazy-crazy talented...

Joy Kills Sorrow:
(and killer mandolin riffs)



Joy Kills Sorrow band members met through the folk music scene in Boston, all having lived there at one time or another. They are classically trained musicians who create intricate and beautiful arrangements.
Emma Beaton's take-charge melodious pipes seem to transcend vocal genre. Bluegrass, roots, rock, country, pop, blues, jazz--it seems the girl could sing it all brilliantly. In 2008, at the age of 18, Ms. Beaton won “Young Performer of the Year” at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. And JKS's latest release, This Unknown Science, is a testament to her vocal facilities. 



This young band's hybrid music illustrates their mastery of genre melding. Bassist and Brooklyn resident, Bridget Kearney, who double majored at The New England Conservatory of Music and Tufts University, wrote all of the eleven songs on This Unknown Science, and has garnered much acclaim, having won the John Lennon Songwriting contest in 2006 for two songs she penned. Guitarist Matt Arcara, banjoist Wesley Corebett, and mandolin player Jacob Jollif (a Berklee College of Music grad, highlighted--as first mandolinist--in this Berklee performance) have all been honored in the music world.  More in JKS's bio here. And lots more from YouTube here.

Stay with this heart-tug of a song until the end--it's worth it:


Oh, I believe the stream has slowed to a pleasant ripple. I think I might even take out my banjo.

Fair winds my friends!

20 comments:

  1. 'But wait, isn't all writing therapy in one form or another? How can anyone write, or read for that matter, anything without attaining even the smallest measure of growth, awareness and insight?'

    Yummy.

    Feel better, pretty girl.

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    1. Suze- Sunday's sunny! Much more so than Friday was. :)

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  2. Thank you for that pleasant stream as I sit on this infernally slow bus on a rainy Friday on route 93, bound for our New Hampshire home. I have learned so much reading wonderful blogs such as yours.

    À votre santé.

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    1. Bill you bum--NH? You aren't skiing are you? I'm envious. My sis, Backwoods Betty (she has her own label) has a place in NH and I love to visit her there. I'd take an infernally slow bus as long as it dropped me up in the mountains. ;)

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  3. It was Excedrin chewing time for me today, too, which sucks, because I had plans to go to a movie. Now, I'm just too weary.
    I'm glad you're feeling well enough to post now. Fridays just aren't the same without you.

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    1. Why on Fridays, eh? The only kind of bottle we should start the weekend with is an ale. But I made a pretty good dent in my bottle of Motrin this weekend. Hope you're feeling well, too, Nessa! :)

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  4. I hit the triple x-tra strength pain reliever today. I don't know what happened. I was going along and about 3pm - BAM!

    Thanks for sharing Joy Kills Sorrow. Sounds like the title to a good book...haha.

    Loved the singing and instruments on Such Sweets Alarms.

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    1. Loree--makes me wonder if there was a big fluctuation in the barometric pressure this past Friday. Even hubby felt it. Glad you enjoyed JKS. :)

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  5. I'm sorry you suffer with these headaches Jane. I gather from your posts that it's from TMJD which can be a confounded thing. Sometimes the splint adjustments initially aggravate symptoms before they settle down.
    Wishing you relief this weekend as well as long term.

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    1. Leonora- Yes, TMJD. Not fun, but I think the splints and PT are helping--though, the splints, as you mentioned, did initially aggravate the condition. Now if I could just get to the relaxation part...

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  6. Stumbled across your blog via Hilary's Smitten Image. Liked the name and had to take a look.

    Boston in my favorite city. Was last there in 1986 - probably better get back one of these days. Watched Carl Yastrzemski play. Saw Jim Rice hit a grand slam.

    Listened to Joy Kills Sorrow. Interesting. I like them. And I don't like many new things but they did pull me in. Rather haunting actually.

    Enjoyed stopping by your blog. Very well done. And I am not one to hand out compliments being a total recluse and curmudgeon.

    Take care.

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    1. Russell--Thanks for stopping by. I moved to Boston at the end of '86. We may have crossed paths on the streets. Or at Fenway! T

      There are a lot of new musicians who are honoring the traditional roots/bluegrass sound while putting a contemporary spin on the music. If you liked JKS, I'll bet there are plenty of other new bands you'd enjoy, as well. (Several I've highlighted on the Friday Night Frolics.)

      I'll stop by to say hello. :)

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  7. well i'll be....down these parts there was an album, long outta circulation entitled 'where joy kills sorrow' which i may have mentioned in my john prine post...
    anyway nice banjo pickin' work from the JSK's...you know you are adding to my list of 'must listen to more of' bands J...but thats kewl...as lux interior sang you got gooood taste...
    writing as therapy? i dont give a #^%*...its just fun..so there...
    day-umm...migraines can be a real lady dog...aint had one for years but they would flatten me for a day or so...wishin you a speedy recovery ;)

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    1. Dan- "Where joy kills sorrow" -- I'll have to look that up. Great, great banjo picking in this group, which is really what drew me to it initially. But they are all incredible musicians, having worked on lots of other projects outside of the group. Especially, Kearny.

      Well, if writing is also fun (oy, really? I thought it was arduous labor? ;)), then it must also be therapy.
      Feeling better today, Dan, thanks. :)

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  8. I love the trajectory of this piece--from which I take it you were already starting to feel better by the end. May you have had a great session with the banjo!

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    1. Susan- And I am much better, thank you! My banjo pickin', though, needs some help. :/

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  9. I hope you got rid of the migraine. I get those from time to time. Not fun. Not fun at all.

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    1. Susan- Thus far, this week has been much better. Now if I could just find the time to write! :)

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  10. I'm so sorry about the migraine! Writing is certainly a form of therapy and I love how you've managed to weave together a delightful read despite your pain. Wishing you well!!!

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    1. Thank you, Elizabeth. I think all art is therapy. Especially music. :)

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