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Tuesday, April 14

If you've never heard Chris Smither--or of him--it's time to correct that situation. Several years ago when Bill was working with the NewSong Festival near Charles Town, West Virginia, he came back talking about a singer/songwriter named Chris Smither. Not Smithers, Smither. Bill had gotten his name wrong when he was announcing the judging staff for the NewSong Contest. He wouldn't get the name wrong again, after hearing him perform.

Some people shrink from the singer/songwriter genre, dismissing it as a musical form of emo navel gazing. Chris Smither certainly doesn't fit that description. I listened to a couple of his songs on YouTube, and the melody of "Train Home" haunts me still. He describes it as "a gospel song for people who aren't really sure." The words are pretty arresting, too.

If you're in the vicinity of Charleston, West Virginia this Saturday, April 18, I recommend that you put the Chris Smither concert on your itinerary. He'll be playing at the Walker Theater in the Clay Center, beginning around 7:30 p.m. I know this because Bare Bones is going to open for Chris, as part of Ron Sowell's Woody Hawley Concert Series. We'll be doing a 30-minute set, including some old time gospel songs (for people who are sure, and for people who just love the genre) and some newer stuff from the R&B tradition.

Tickets are $15 and $10 for seniors 60 and over. They can be purchased online at www.theclaycenter.org, by phone 304-561-3570, at the Clay Center box office during business hours, or at the door the evening of the concert.

Hope to see you there!

Becky

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If you're in Charleytown Friday, March 20, we hope you'll come make some noise for us--with us!--on the live CD recording we're doing at Kai Haynes's LiveMix Studio at 1033 Quarrier Street, Suite 501.

Kai's studio is a great place for us to produce this CD. We'll have excellent engineers working the board, and a group of good friends in the audience--we hope! The studio accommodates about 50, so it will be a great little party.

The working title for this CD is "Bare Bones Does Soup Kitchen." We've been hauling around what remains of our old Soup Kitchen CDs to our performances, which doesn't make a lot of sense anymore, since Mark Davis is not on them. This new CD is going to combine the best of our old favorites from Soup Kitchen with new arrangements featuring Mark.

Some of those favorites are "Forgiveness," by Phil Wiggins of the blues duo Cephas & Wiggins; "The Mill," a labor song written by organizer Joe Glazer with an updated soulful tune by Beth Weil; "The Tattler" by Washington Phillips and resurrected 25 years ago by Ry Cooder; "If Walls Could Talk," by Fifties R&B artist Little Milton; "Cold Jordan," a traditional gospel song recorded by both Dr. Ralph Stanley and Emmylou Harris; trio arrangements of Indiana fiddler Lotus Dickey's songs "Carry My Burden" and "Pair in a Paradise"; that great old Amazing Rhythm Aces song, "Who Will Your Next Fool Be?" and a whole bunch more. We may even throw a new one or two on there--we haven't decided yet. Maybe you should come and voice your opinion.

Ticket price is $12.00 at the door, unless all the seats are taken in the main room, then seats in the backroom will be $10.00. Doors open at 7:30, show starts at 8 p.m.
Bring your favorite beverages and something good to eat you can share, and let's party!

Hope to see you there!
Becky