I Have Stuff To Do Today, So Here’s Steve Martin and Edie Brickell’s New Album
Posted on April 25, 2013 Posted by John Scalzi 21 Comments
It’s lovely. Especially if you like bluegrass and/or banjo. If you don’t then, uh, too bad, I guess.
If you like it, consider buying it. You know, as one does.
I’ll be back when my stuff is done. May be a bit.
Also, if you are curious, this was uploaded to YouTube by Rounder Records, so I suspect they are just fine with me sharing.
Oh, I think this is a must – just of, you know, New Bohemians nostalgia alone!
I saw Steve Martin play live during A Prairie Home Companion when they were up in my neck of the woods. He is incredible with the banjo and I love seeing this side of him. Thanks for sharing.
I love this album, but it’s definitely not as light-hearted as his previous albums were. Edie’s vocals are amazing as well.
I was really charmed by this album. I may have to own it. Or a copy of it, at least.
Now I have to know:
If she puts together a new band, do they have to relabel all the old albums to clarify that the group involved are now the Old Bohemians?
This is outstanding! Marking it as a “must buy.” (*heads over to amazon*)
Love it! I forgot how much I loved the New Bohemians and Edie’s voice. Thanks, John.
What? No “King Tut”?
If you had ever mused: “You know who’d be a great musical pairing? Steve Martin and Edie Brickell!” I’d have asked for some of what you were smoking. Of course, I would have done the same if you’d suggested Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue.
Threadjack! Odd musical matches you love!
@ Paul – Alison Krauss and Robert Plant
Utah Phillips and Ani DiFranco
Thanks for that, John. That improved my afternoon immensely.
I almost saw Edie Brickell live in about 1990. I was in DC for work, and she was opening for the Grateful Dead at RFK stadium one night I was there. I called and got will-call tickets, and found when I got out to Landover that they were hopelessly confused, their computers were down, they only had 2-3 of the five will-call lines open, and I’d been waiting in line for about an hour before the thunderstorm started, and it was another hour after that*. Missed Edie, missed half the first set, bought a dry t-shirt from the merch vendors, danced my ass off. Had a wonderful, if wet, time.
I am _so_ looking forward to listening to this.
(*Talking with folks in line, we decided that the venue was lucky that it was a Dead show and not a metal concert or a hockey game or something.)
This is a lovely album–got an advance copy several weeks ago, and played “Sarah Jane and the Iron Mountain Baby” on my radio show the same day I got to interview Steve’s last musical crush, The Steep Canyon Rangers.
Thanks.
Thanks, John! That was one mighty fine first listen.
“Sun’s Gonna Shine” is particularly timely for too many people I care for, alas, but “Sarah Jane and the Iron Mountain Baby” immediately put the album in my Amazon shopping cart. Will revisit the cart after I’ve slept and probably add another album or two before clicking the checkout button. It could use some new music, but I’ve learned better than the complete late night purchases when in the grips of sleep deprivation.
May it be full speed ahead for each of us on the getting stuff done front, and may no additional babies go flying off the train in the process. One’s charming, especially in such a lively song. More, and people might talk.
The interesting thing to me is that it was always obvious that Steve Martin was a fairly capable banjoist, since he used it in his early standup act. But it took a long time for him to decide to make it into a second career. He might have been worried about the perception that he was just banking on his celebrity as a comedian, which of course is happening to some degree.
#1) Bill Shatner & Ben Folds
#2) Elton John & Ru Paul
#3) Tom Waits & Crystal Gayle (even though the movie itself deserves to burn in the deepest, blackest, hottest fires of Hades)
I realize I’m late, but I can’t resist good music. And by good music, I mean “bluegrass.”
I’m a regular volunteer at one of the larger bluegrass festivals in the country (Wintergrass) and love this stuff. John, I can’t recommend these kinds of events enough. You’re out in the midwest, so you should be hitting the Bean Blossom Festival in Indiana (which by my west coast reckoning is about an hour away from you) on an annual basis.
The crowd looked at it as welcoming home their hero who has conquered the music world. They gave it everything they had, it was a sea of bouncing bodies as far as the eye could see. Simply epic.
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