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Moonlight on the Mountain 6/21/11 (Read 2835 times)
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Moonlight on the Mountain 6/21/11
06/21/11 at 8:04pm
 
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www.moonlightonthemtn.com
 
Friends of The Moonlight----
 
If you weren't there, you should'a been--- our Open Mic Grand Playoff turned out to be an hour and a half of exquisitely-crafted local musicianship, with seven of our weekly winners returning to compete for the studio recording package offered by our friend Bud Brown at Higher Ground Studios. We knew this was gonna be a tough decision, so we turned the judging over to three members of one of our favorite area vocal groups The Hearts (coming July 9 to Moonlight!)--- Rick, Sally, and Kenny were truly impressed with the quality of the competition---"Wow, I gave 'em all so many points!" said Sal-- and when the smoke cleared, they awarded First Place to the guy who really deserves it---- WILDER ADKINS. His personal tunes "Nightingale" and "Cherry Blossoms" put him at the front of a very strong pack, each one of whom deserves a ribbon of some sort, for their earnest contributions to the show.
 
Open Mic is central to our mission here--- we hope to encourage anyone who ever considered writing or singing their own songs, and to strengthen the general appreciation for their essential role in our modern culture. So often now, our concept of popular music is based on the highly-processed flashbombs shot to us through the TV screen, after it's been warped, wired, and whipped into a foamy fluff by what few old-boy industry impresarios are still up there steering the major labels. We want to ensure that our newest generation won't one day lose the understanding that every song has its beginnings in a single voice, and a single instrument--- that whatever happens to a tune afterwards is a matter of nurture, and it doesn't always take a whole village to raise it to its greatest potential.  
 
Moonlight's dedicated to keeping that simple candle lit for you, so that in this mad, swirling torrent of discordance that passes for popular entertainment, you and your progeny can always find a quiet eddy, put your feet on the bottom, and delight in the authentic pleasure of immaculate melody. As if to prove it so, our upcoming week features a lineup of players who define what we mean--->
 
 
Wednesday the 22nd-- CHRIS PROCTOR, with opener Fred Schmitt, 7:30pm, $12
He employs eighteen strings, typically--- your standard six on one guitar, and twelve on another--- but his audiences always walk away convinced there must be another dozen or so in there somehow. Chris has traveled the world on that wood and wire, finding ever more astounded ears into which he may pour his proprietary mixture of interfused influences--- jazz, Celtic, Americana, gypsy, folk, and blues--- while piling up ten CDs on the most exalted of record labels that emphasize acoustic instrumentalists. As a US National Fingerstyle Guitar Champion, he could limit himself to a predictable catalog of everyday gee-tar showpieces--- but nope, his vision is much more expansive than that--- and he works hard to share it with whoever is lucky enough to sit in front of him for a while.
 
www.chrisproctor.com
 
We'll warm up the stage with a brief appearance by Fred Schmitt, an experienced and very prolific Wisconsin troubadour who comes south this month for a visit with his farthest-flung relatives, some of whom will be hearing him play for the first time in many years--- or even at all. Fred's been around long enough to have competed in one of the very earliest Kerrville Songwriting Contests, and to have honed his "also-ran" humor into a theme for many of the characters and campfire stories that fertilize his originals.
 
www.fredschmittmusic.com
 
 
Friday the 24th-- SAM POINTER, "A Tribute to John Hartford", 7:30pm, $12
The derby, the vest, the fiddle and banjo--- all in iconic service to a modern Mark Twain's irreverent wit and genius, an innovator who changed the flavor of 20th century American music as much as anyone else that can be named. John Hartford's brilliant mesh of traditional and contemporary string band styles has inspired one of Birmingham's finest musicians to create a celebratory honorarium to that legacy--- Sam Pointer will bring it once again to The Moonlight, on the tenth anniversary of Hartford's passing, and thirty years after the issue of his ground-breaking album "Aereo-Plain", which will be performed in its eccentric entirety as a second set.
 
Much as he might be capable of it, Sam won't attempt this remarkable revue all by himself--- he's added the considerable talents of his friends and playmates Herb Trotman on banjo, and Leo McDermott on fiddle, as the exacting sidemen required to fully flesh out Hartford's original Newgrass vision. Pointer hands off both those instruments so's he can pitch in a leader's virtuosity
on mandolin and guitar--- when we presented this show to a full house last summer, it proved to be one that the audience talked about for quite a long time. Come back and see it again!
 
www.sampointer.com
 
 
Saturday the 25th-- SWEETWATER ROAD, 7:30pm, $12
We continue the weekend with some of the very finest players to be found in our own home territories, this time banded together as an extraordinary assembly of instrumental artisans, supporting superlative vocalists--- how they do all that and make it so much fun is the very reason you should make this your Saturday night out. With mandolinist Jason Bailey as a main ingredient,
bassist Brandon Peeples providing a solid foundation, and the guitar and vocals of Kelli Johnson and Michelle Cone right out front, the band has pretty much come to define the premium interpretation of bluegrass, country, and folk-rock favorites. Always a great turnout for these wonderful players--- come early to get a table, and bring some friends you'd like to impress!
 
www.facebook.com/sweetwaterroadmusic
 
 
Sunday the 26th--- JIL CHAMBLESS and SCOOTER MUSE, CD Release, 7:30, $10
Again with the first-class players from nearby--- this time it's two of the key members of the longest-performing Celtic band in the Southeast, Henri's Notions. Jil has become recognized as one of the finest vocalists and flautists in the genre, by insistent declaration on the part of several legendary Irish performers, all of whom are surprised that a native of Tuscaloosa AL could be so accomplished at their exotic and demanding craft. For almost twenty years now, Jil has played alongside former bluegrass banjist Scooter Muse, whose embrace of Celtic guitar has bounced him back and forth across the Atlantic, and led them both to collaborate on  "The Laverock Sang", a twelve-track CD of their very best tunes... hot off the press and ready for your disc spinner!
 
www.jilchambless.com
 
As an extra attraction, the Alabama Celtic Association will host an Open House at 6pm, just prior to the concert--- meet ACA members, share refreshments and common interests with other supporters of Celtic music, and stay for the show!
 
www.celticalabama.net
 
----------------
 
WE CLOSE OUT JUNE WITH THESE FINE PERFORMANCES--->
 
Thursday 30th-- EVE FLEISHMANN, "Peace or Drama", an alternately soothing and exciting melding of aural and visual art pieces
 
Friday 1st-- PIERCE AND GRACE PETTIS, Northeast Alabama's preeminent troubadour, and the daughter he's taught so well
 
Tuesday 5th-- OPEN MIC NIGHT, we start all over again for 2011-and-a-half, come show us your chops--- there's prize money!
 
Check out the details for all our future events on the website Calendar page---
 
http://www.moonlightonthemtn.com/MOTM/Calendar.html
 
---------------
 
Our many thanks to those of you who make gifts, large and small---- by cash, check, and chattels--- because you believe not only in what we are here to do, but in The Moonlight's determination to do it right. While we believe that one day the presentation of these performers will be a self-sustaining enterprise, we must for now depend on the kindness of strangers to maintain our foothold--- we're all working toward the day when the regular enjoyment of acoustic music will seem as indispensable as health insurance or a smart phone. We're very grateful for your kind support!
 
www.moonlightmusicalliance.org
 
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