Pre-order the 'BIG EARS KNOXVILLE (book project)'

As announced earlier Joe wrote an essay for a forthcoming photobook about the Big Ears Festival. 


Big Ears Festival is a Festival in Knoxville. This year the festival will take place from 21-24 March. The photobook will be presented during the festival.

To celebrate 10 years of Big Ears, the art and music festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, AC Entertainment, Rock Fish Stew Institute of Literature and Materials, Southern Documentary Fund, and Hat & Beard Press worked closely with artist Kate Joyce—who photographed the festival, the people and surrounds of Knoxville over the last five years—to create a captivating time capsule, both of the last five years of performances at Big Ears and of the lyrical and visual language of Knoxville.

Between 2014-2018 more than 200 artists and bands performed at Big Ears. During the five years that Joyce traveled to Knoxville for the festival, she photographed some of them, but not nearly all of them—for good reason, as you’ll soon read. Of those she did photograph, a number found their way into the book. Among them are the bands Algiers, Eighth Blackbird and Kronos Quartet, musicians John Luther Adams and his wife Cynthia, Bryce Dessner, Wu Fei, Rachel Grimes, Levon Henry, Julia Holter, Little Annie, Wu Man, Grey McMurray, Guy Picciotto, Terry Riley, Omar Souleyman, Susanna and Abigail Washburn, composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, and conductor Steven Schick with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra.

on top of that : the book also will give you exclusive streaming access to a selection of audio recordings from performances at Big Ears between 2014-2018.

Joe performed there together with Marc Ribot in 2016. (A concert I wished I could have witnessed.)



You can now pre-order the book. Shipment is announced for late March 2019.

Greetings,
Stefan

You are my Sunshine

Joe Performed 'You are my sunshine' for Fretboard Journal.

Can you guess who called it the greatest song ever written in America ?
Joe gives you the answer in the end.



Joe was not not the first to give his take on this tune. Bill Frisell, Noam Pikelny and Bryan Sutton preceded him. Make sure to check their versions also at Fretboard Journal.

Rich Hinman vs. Adam Levy

edit : Album will become available on the 22nd. 

Rich Hinman vs. Adam Levy (or in short VS), is a 'limited edition' album that will be released on February 22. 

If you love L.A.'s Jazz scene and Electric Guitars, you need to check this one out. 

If you share my love for Anthony Wilson's music, you need to check this out. 

and apparently, if you like Joe Henry's writing, you need to check this out. 

It is an instrumental album featuring the following line up : 

Rich Hinman: pedal steel guitar & electric guitar
Adam Levy: electric guitar
Jennifer Condos: electric bass
Jay Bellerose: drums

Joe Henry is credited for an essay on the album. I assume it will be part of the booklet when you buy the album. 

The album is mastered by another familiar name, when it comes to Joe. : Kim Rosen/Knack Mastering.  

Greetings,
Stefan

First Rising Appalachia track

June 2018, Joe was at Stinston Beach, SF producing Rising Appalachia.

at the Website cdbaby, you can purchase the first single entitled 'Harmonize'
The upcoming Album will be entitled 'Leylines'.







Update : The album will be released on May 3rd.


Greetings,
Stefan

A salute to John Prine

Photo : Patrick T. Fallon

At the pre-Grammy gathering at the Troubadour in L.A., several artists paid salute to John Prine. (And there were a lot of them)

Joe Henry was one them, he performed 'Hello in there'.

From the L.A. times

The always articulate Henry quoted another Americana world musician-producer in his song introduction, “T Bone Burnett has said the hallmark of a great artist is generosity. John Prine is a great artist, and I love him,”

From Billboard.com

"Picture this," echoed Joe Henry, "John Prine has been a mountain before me. He’s a masterful songwriter who inspired my first young attempt to try it out. He’s a great artist and I love him."

To end the evening, every artist participated in performing "Paradise"

Dit bericht bekijken op Instagram

Een bericht gedeeld door Molly Jenson (@mollyjay) op 10 Feb 2019 om 1:28 (PST)

 

Joe Henry as producer, that would be perfect...

Mercury Rev has released Bobbie Gentry's 'The Delta Sweete' Revisited . 

It is their own version of Bobbie Gentry's 'The Delta Sweete' featuring contributions from Norah Jones, Hope Sandoval, Lucinda Williams, Margo Price, Beth Orton, Susanne Sundfor, Laetitia Sadier, Carice van Houten, Rachel Goswell, Vashti Bunyan, Kaela Sinclair, Marissa Nadler and Phoebe Bridger.

Spanish magazine rock the best music has written a review on Mercury Rev's album. Laurent Berger, the writer of the review, ends the article by hoping that this album encourages Bobbie Gentry to record some new music, with Joe Henry in the producers' seat.

freely translated :

The album ('The Delta Sweete Revisited') is a fascinating work, which we hope will achieve the success it deserves. 12 voices, 12 gems alien to time. Who knows what Bobby will think of this album? Maybe she is encouraged to record something new! With Joe Henry as a producer would be perfect!

P.S. : I haven't heard the interview, but according to Wikipedia Joe cited "Ode" as "an incredibly deft bit of writing in the way that that story is unfolded. … [It] places the character in a moment, and then the story just starts to unfold around it", and it was a song that influenced him early in his life listening to music on the radio.

The Wexford Carols continue...not, but what happened after the Wexford Carols...

Update February 11th : Caitriona O'Leary informed me, there is a misprint in the article mentioned. Anakronos is not going to record 'the Wexford Carols'. They will record ' The Red Book of Ossory.'


In 2014,  Joe produced The Wexford Carols by Irish singer Caitriona O'Leary. The album featured guest performances by Rhiannon Giddens,  Rosanne Cash and Tom Jones.

The wexford Carols are traditional Irish Christmas Carols, and date back to the 16-17th Century.

Anakronos (Photo: Tara Slye)

Today, Caitriona has formed a new ensemble Anakronos, and they will debut on February 20th at National Concert Hall, Dublin. After that, they are planning to continue their journey with the Carols.  In an interview with the Irish Independent we can read :

'Just after the National Concert Hall, Anakronos is going to make an album of 'The Wexford Carols', and then a few months later we're going to do The Wexford Carols Volume II.'

In this same interview she tells us how Joe proposed the additional voices, and she gives us an insight on how Tom Jones perfomed his role recording the 2014 album.

Catriona asked well-known LA producer Joe Henry to produce the record, who recommended some internationally renowned artists such as Tom Jones, Rosanne Cash, and Rhiannon Giddens.
Joe contacted Tom, whom he had worked with before, and the idea immediately piqued Tom's interest, so that, in Catriona's words, it was a 'really good fit.'

Tom, Catriona says was 'lovely', and 'very diligent.' He'd come to recording sessions early and sit in the control booth for a full day listening to the songs he wasn't singing on, just to get a 'feel' for the music. He was, she says, 'very nice' and 'humble', adding that she has great respect for him and his music.

With Anakronos, Caitriona is blending medieval music with jazz, global rhythms and the contemporary to form her own inimitable style. 

Source : independent.ie





 

Tape Op interview : The Process is not fragile

It has been brought to my attention that I haven't given place to the latest interview with Joe in Tape Op Magazine. And that is indeed a bit of a shame, since it is a great interview, and a must if you appreciate Joe's Work.

Like Bren Davies, the interviewer starts :

"It is rare that I start an interview talking about music production and finish the same interview feeling like I have been mentored by a wise man from another era."

 
Take your time (it is well spent) and  get insight on how Joe engages himself in producing records, and how it evolved in his life.

That's something I learned from T Bone 20 years ago. He said, "Joe, we don't tell people what to play. You invite people into the room and encourage them. Make them feel protected and safe. They'll give you everything they have. You can't stop them from doing it."

Read wonderful words from him about his collaborators  and inspirations :

On T Bone Burnett and Allen Toussaint

I gravitated towards them without even knowing that was something I needed.

On S. Husky Höskulds

He's not just documenting each moment; he's contributing to its creation. 

On Ryan Freeland

 It's critical to understand that Ryan is a musician first. As a recording engineer, his approach to that job, as well as problem-solving, is inherently musical. It's not technical, even though he is a technical master.

Enjoy his story on some of his highlights :
- Don't Give up on Me (Solomon Burke)
-Look Again to the Wind: Johnny Cash's Bitter Tears Revisited (Various)
Recording 'Shine a light' with Billy Bragg

And so much more....

Indeed a must read (at Tape Op) !