SIMPLY SIX: Rachel Farley

Rachel Farley is a country singer from Atlanta.

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer. For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later. Is there such a defining moment for you?

I have been singing since I started talking, however, in Kindergarten I got to sing the National Anthem at the end of the year program at my school. There were around 1000 people there. The response I got was great and I realized right then and there that I loved performing!


2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to? Who are some of your favorites?

I listen to so many great artists! I love Patsy Cline, she is my favorite by far. I also listen to alot of Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride, Gretchen Wilson, Jason Aldean...well, I listen to country! EVERTHING country!


3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

That is tough. I love every moment I perform, it is just what I love to do. I guess one of the greatest was meeting Reba and the other would be filming my new video at the Ryman. That was amazing. My dream is to be on that stage sometime performing for the Grand Ole Opry when they move back to the Ryman for the fall and winter months.

4. Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to? How much can music influence current events?

Honestly, I am not sure about how much it can influence current events but I know for an individual music can really make you feel every emotion. I do think music is great for the soul. I don't think music is just something to listen to because it can change how we feel just by listening. If it can change the world, I hope mine creates a positive change!

5. How has technology affected the music industry? How has technology affected your career as a musician?

It has made things different for sure. I think the industry is still figuring out how this will affect the labels etc. However, there had never been a better time for artist to get music out there. I have gotten about 90% of my bookings from people finding me on myspace! Now that is good stuff! I have made great contacts the same way. Before everything changed you had to find a way to get your music heard. Today, you have to find a way to get yours heard the most!

6. Now for my Barbara Walters question: If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be? Cowboy Boots! Definately boots!

ALBUM REVIEWS

Hummingbird, Go!
by Theresa Andersson

This is the fifth release of Theresa Andersson. Each album is different from the previous. Her albums have ranged from jazz to americana to pop. Her live shows show a different side of the singer, where she truly lets go and rocks out a lot harder than she has shown yet on disc.

Her newest album is a departure from what she has done so far. Her last album was the self named ep that came out right after Katrina. The hurricane actually stopped the work on the album she was working on and the singer and her record company wanted to get something out for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Theresa is one of the top sellers at the record tent at the Fest. So they took what they had done for the album and made it an ep. And created one of the best for the year of 2006. That album was closer to Americana than her previous work.

Her newest album followed the same sort of trajectory of that one. For this year's Jazz Fest she again wasn't finished with the full album, so she released an ep "I The River" in time for the Festival. The full album "Hummingbird, Go" has finally been released this week. Of the five songs from the ep only 3 appear on the album. Anyone expecting Theresa to continue on the path towards Americana will be disappointed, but she has crafted something completely different and good.

For this album this was pretty much a one woman show. Theresa pretty much plays all the instruments on this album, which consists of the normal ones but also bottles and whatever else she could find in her kitchen to carry a tune. She recorded the album in her kitchen. Fellow Swedish poets Ane Brun and Jessica Faust supply the lyrics to Theresa's music and the whole thing was mixed by fellow Swede Tobias Froberg.

The album is a pop masterpiece. The songs are fun and sing a long. This is different from her latest work and from her previous live shows, but it is very good. Her singing has never sounded better and the music is a wonder. The songs mix the pop of her native country's group Abba with New Orleans and Amerciana to create a psychedelic potpourri. On "God's Highway" she moves closest to her previous style of Americana. The opener "Na Na Na" is an otherwordly gem that would have made a great summer hit.

Buy the album, and if she tours near you catch her live show, it's amazing watching her re create the one woman act of recording the album live.

SIMPLY SIX: New Town Drunks

This is Roberto Cofresi from the New Town Drunks answering the questions. The band is Diane Koistinen & Roberto Cofresi, among assorted other musicians.

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer. For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later. Is there such a defining moment for you?

The question of being or not being a singer or a guitar player or a songwriter never really occurred to me. My uncle played music and when I was a little kid, he handed me down one of his guitars; I learned a song on one string and have been playing ever since. Already when I played that first song, I felt like some kind of guitar player and all I’ve ever needed to feel like a guitar player is a guitar in my hands. Certainly there have been times when I’ve wished I was as good of a songwriter as Nick Cave, or as good of a guitar player as Gabriela Quintero, or as rich and high as Keith Richards, but those moments pass and in the end I am the guitar player that I am and the rest is just dust in the eyes.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to? Who are some of your favorites?

I listen mostly to Spanish, Latin and Brazilian music - rock en Español, classic salsa, flamenco, bossa nova, nueva trova, samba... I did go see Tom Waits on this last tour after being a fan for many many years. It was awesome and an incredible inspiration, and the concert will go right up there with the best concert experiences I’ve had, and probably the only one in a larger venue. He really made that 2400 seat auditorium seem like a little bar.

I also listen to some countryish/folkish american music, stuff like the Avett Brothers and the everybodyfields. And there is of course all the local live music I see in our little towns of Carrboro/Chapel Hill, most of which is mindbendingly good, people like Dexter Romweber, the Squirrel Nut Zippers (who just played a show last night at a small club in town), Southern Culture on the Skids, the Moaners, the Dirty Little Heaters, Twilighter, John Howie Jr, The Spider Bags, Pinche Gringo, and many many more. I am lucky to live in a very musical region.

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

This is I hard question, I don't really know the answer, my guess though would be, any time we play a great show? I forget the details of the best shows and I forget what made those great shows so great. It's more than just the musicians all playing perfectly, more than having an involved and appreciative audience. There is something that happens sometimes when everything is right and then there is that something extra that takes it over the top. When it's happening I can almost tell what it is, but as soon as it's over, then I don't know anymore. If you told me it had to do with the moon or the stars, I wouldn't be able to say that it didn't cause I don't really know, it is indeed a little magical.

4. Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to? How much can music influence current events?

Music can and has changed the world, but writing music to try to change the world doesn’t seem to work often and it doesn’t feel right. Trying to make music to change the world seems like parents who try to force their kids to go into a particular career. Music will do what it will, I just write it and play it.

5. How has technology affected the music industry? How has technology affected your career as a musician?

It bores me to talk about technology. Yes it's there, yes I use it. Yes technology continues to improve the ease with which we record and play and listen to music. But ultimately music is still created in some fairly basic ways, blowing, striking, plucking, and now with sound generators.

6. Now for my Barbara Walters question: If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

The beat up, worn out shoes of someone who’s walked around the world.