Ellis Paul Discussion

Yes thank you Ron for the translation. I liked the song even though I didn't understand the lyric - now that I do, it makes it all the more poignant.

Jela

Folks,

WUMB's premier broadcast of a member show takes place TODAY (May 14, 2009) at 6pm EST featuring music and conversation with Antje Duvekot!

KarenZ

Just 20 minutes to go....I'm gonna logon to WUMB now. Anyone else out there???

KarenZ

Folks,

The WUMB broadcast was terrific. I missed the last 10 minutes, but still got to hear Antje perform:

1.Dublin Boys
2. Scream
3. Ragdoll Princes and Junkyard Queens (a song that she said was about both Woody Guthrie and her good friend David)
4. Vertigo
5. Reasonland
6. Diana's Song (in her words a whimsical song for her best friend)
7. Diamon on Your Hand
8. Sex Bandaid
9. Merry-go-round
10. Dandelion

She talked alot about her influences (early influences were EP, Cheryl Wheeler, John Gorka) how she defines success, her need to be authentic in her writing. Songwriting has been like therapy for her; helps her to process her life.

When asked about working with Richard Shindell she said the experience with RS was casual and relaxing - they recorded in an old barn in Connecticut - often staying over and drinking wine then recording. Said he's such a great musician.....trusted his instincts. It was a joy for her to work with artists whom she's admired: Mark Erelli, LucyK, John Gorka, etc.

She would like to work with Dar Williams, Patty Griffin, Josh Ritter....but is curretnly inspired by her peers in Boston - namely Meg Hutchinson, Anais Mitchell, Rose Polenzani. Loves the Boston music scene.

That's about all I can remember!

KarenZ

Karen, thanks for the overview. I did manage to catch just the beginning....up to the third song but it was late here and I was so tired that I couldn't stay up for any longer.

Maybe they'll repeat it at some stage so that I can listen to the rest.

Jela

Jela,

You're a trouper for lasting that long!

KarenZ

Richard + Jela wrote:Karen, thanks for the overview. I did manage to catch just the beginning....up to the third song but it was late here and I was so tired that I couldn't stay up for any longer.
Jela

It's really, really great to see a discussion board about Antje that's actually active.

Zac - welcome to this board and hope that you'll post here again.

We have our KarenZ to thank for this discussion board - every artist needs a Karen in their corner to keep the discussions flowing

Jela

Zac,

Welcome!

As youprobably know, our very own Ellis Paul took Antje under his wing and she toured with him for a year or so. As a result most Ellis Paul fans have heard Antje....and to hear her is to love her! So, yes, she has a strong presence and a very active thread on the EP board. Since the board has a large Boston contingent and Antje lives in Boston now, we often have reporters out in the field reporting live.....which is great.

Did you get her new CD yet?

KarenZ

ZacCrook wrote:It's really, really great to see a discussion board about Antje that's actually active.

KarenZ wrote:
Did you get her new CD yet?

ZacCrook wrote:It's really, really great to see a discussion board about Antje that's actually active.

Yeah, I got it...and I must say that it's probably one of the best albums I've heard in my life...honestly. I didn't take me long at all to fall in love with it. See, I got into her music kinda backwards...I first heard Merry-Go-Round on the BOA commercial (of course) then it sorta snowballed from there. A couple months ago, I was on her site and sent a message asking what I'd have to do to get an autograph and basically, they just asked for my address and told me to be patient. A few weeks later I got an autographed poster and five signed copies of The Near Demise of the High Wire Dancer...I am forever in debt, haha. I also just had the blessing of seeing her live and meeting her in person not far from where I live and I bought Snapshots and Big Dream Boulevard at the show...it was great. So, I heard her new album then kinda just explored further into her older stuff and now I love all her music. Antje and her staff are very kind people and I think it's great that fans are able to connect with her like that. I just thought I'd share my little story with everyone. Oh, and thank you for welcoming me.

Hi all . . . bunch of new Antje songs on YouTube from her Colorado show this weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA7P4sKJCyA

thanks for the link, but you've been warned...lots of great videos here, can become addicting!!

Zac, Thanks for sharing your story.

Ron, Thanks for the YouTube link.

Just so you all know....WUMB is re-broadcasting an Antje Duvekot member show this Saturday morning (May 23, 2009) at 6am EST. You can listen live at:

WUMB

KarenZ

What is "Song 5?" Does anyone know the name?

Welcome Zac....

Song # 5 appears to be brand new and maybe titled:

Sweet Spot of Your Life

Antje says it's half baked -- can't wait til it's out of the oven!

paddyinthepub wrote:Welcome Zac....
...can't wait til it's out of the oven!

Same here. Hey, on a different note, does anyone know where I might be able to get "Hero?" Apparently, someone made a few of her live recordings, including this one available for download a while ago (hopefully they were given permission). I really want to tab this song out for guitar because I think it's great and would like to be able to play it...and I've only heard it once on the Folk Alley show-so I have no idea how I can get a hold of it.

I must say, her long intro to "Long Way" is simply hysterical. She rivals Dar Williams in being as funny a comic as she is brilliant a musician.

Antje's the complete package...songs, voice, sense of humor. Did i leave anything out?

Zac...as for tabs to Hero -- I have to confess I'm not sure I know the song...is it recorded? Old? New? A cover song, maybe? I may have heard it and not realized the title.....anyway, good luck with the search.

It's this . . . sounds like capo IV, maybe DADGAD, I'm not sure.

HERO

The story was almost true
The water was almost blue
The damage was almost next to none
And on a good day that old car still runs

And over the banks of my childhood
You stood like a statuesque saint
But now the plaster crumbles and the varnish fades
And I am losing my faith

CHORUS
All my heroes someday fall
Float downstream and leave me stranded
I never thought you would turn out to be so small
So empty-handed

And aren't you the Vincent van Gogh
Aren't you the artist martyr
You wear your ruin like a cloak
Like a Star of David, like badge of honor

But you live in a house with no mirrors
You live in a town with no name
And I can't help but feel it
That you have got some kind of dirty little secret to contain

CHORUS

I don't want to hear any more of your stories
I just want you to open up your blinds
You're so afraid I might be bored
By just an ordinary punchline

But we are the children of longing
We're beating down each other's doors
And I did not invent this loneliness
I am just waiting on its cure

CHORUS

Thanks, Ron -- Turns out I have heard the song though not sure where.
So much music so little time.

Hey thanks...I really appreciate the help, but I have to ask, what version is this? The lyrics are slightly different from the Folk Alley recording.

It was from a stream of a show at Club Passim I heard about a year ago. Yeah, slightly different, and I recall that it also had a bridge section after the second chorus. I often wonder who the song is about. Antje says it's about a singer/songwriter that she used to idolize, but who turned out to be not such a great person.

I heard this song the first time and wondered who Antje was singing about.

For my generation of folk music fan, perhaps it will be as big as the old question:

Who was Carly Simon singing about in "You're So Vain" ?

Me thinks we will never know the answer.....

Say, who's Antje's hairdresser?

Couple more new ones up on YouTube.

Vertigo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ1debq4Hyg

Dandelion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HU-dbaCp4E

Nice find Ron!

Wondering if the audio cuts in and out for everyone else or is it time for me to consider a new set of speakers.

Very cool to see Ellis and Anais onstage with Antje on Vertigo...

Thanks!

I concur! Great find, Ron! Love "Vertigo".....especially with the addition of Ellis and Anais!

KarenZ

I pretty much check YouTube every day for new Antje or Shindell stuff, so I'll keep 'em coming as I find them.

And we have PaddyinthePub for everyone else. Awesome!

RonG wrote:I pretty much check YouTube every day for new Antje or Shindell stuff, so I'll keep 'em coming as I find them.

I love youtube!

Next best thing to being there. On the Antje front, there are a few youtubes out there from her performance aboard the Cayamo Cruise I think it was. I know the ship was steady but the elevators going up and down behind the grand lobby stage had me feeling motion challenged....

A real treat to see her with Ellis and Anais - thanks for posting.

Paddy, I had no cutouts during viewing. Sometimes when I watch YouTube in HQ it freezes but if I go back to normal quality it is fine.

Jela

paddyinthepub wrote:I love youtube!

Next best thing to being there. On the Antje front, there are a few youtubes out there from her performance aboard the Cayamo Cruise I think it was. I know the ship was steady but the elevators going up and down behind the grand lobby stage had me feeling motion challenged....

Yeah, the clips I saw from that show were really great.

Folks,

Antje has been nominated for Best Female Vocalist in the Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll. To vote and/or to see other categories/nominees see:

Best Music Poll 2009

KarenZ

She's got my vote.

Good Luck, Antje

Jela

Of course, I voted for her too. On a different note, does anyone know who plays lead guitar on Soma, also, what year it was recorded? (Just curious.)

ZacCrook wrote:On a different note, does anyone know who plays lead guitar on Soma, also, what year it was recorded?

I first heard the song on a demo that was dated 2004; this might be the same version.

Yikes. Excuse my ignorance, but is "Soma" an Antje song?

KarenZ

RonG wrote:I first heard the song on a demo that was dated 2004; this might be the same version.

KarenZ wrote:Yikes. Excuse my ignorance, but is "Soma" an Antje song?

A Google search indicates this: In 2000, her song “Soma” won the grand prize in the rock category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest.

Yikes. Where have I been?

KarenZ

RonG wrote:A Google search indicates this: In 2000, her song “Soma” won the grand prize in the rock category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest.

KarenZ wrote:Yikes. Where have I been?

Pennsylvania, apparently.

Yes! Holed up in my cave!

KarenZ

RonG wrote:Pennsylvania, apparently.

While no authority on Antje I thought I knew most her songs since i have all or most of her music....Soma? I am clueless, too!

Funny sometimes how artists don't like to play the old stuff sometimes and Carrie Elkin once explained to me that artists like to play their new songs way more than the older ones.

I'd love to at least see lyrics for Soma if any one has them...

It was previously unreleased until it was included on her album "Snapshots" last year. The album contains most of her songs from "Boys, Flowers, Miles" and "Little Peppermints" and it also contains a few, if you will, b-sides: Merry-Go-Round (I'm pretty sure it's the version produced by Flynn), Ode to Music (previously unreleased), and Soma (previously unreleased as well). She states in the liner notes that this recording of Soma was her first time in a real studio recording with a band. It was produced by Kevin Salem for V2 records, which didn't sign her because they didn't feel she had enough experience. I'm led to believe it was recorded around 2000 because she says "...recorded almost a decade ago now..." and the album was released last year. Also, a couple minutes after the end of Soma (the last track), Black Annis kicks in as a secret bonus song, which I am very grateful for seeing as I don't own her first two albums. (If anyone knows where I can get them, please let me know...there is ONE copy of Little Peppermints on Amazon and its current price is $999!!! There are also a couple copies of Boys, Flowers, Miles on there which are going for about $85!!!)

http://cdbaby.com/cd/antjeduvekot

Yikes. I didn't know about Snapshots either until today.

There's a copy of Little Peppermints on e-bay for $150:

Antje Duvekot on e-bay

KarenZ

Man, are they really that sought-after? Were they in limited supply or something or is it just because they're her first two sort of home-made releases?

Interesting ... I have all of the old CD's but not Snapshots. Will try to pick that up soon. People can list things for whatever they want on to on Ebay but that doesn't mean anyone pays that. (not to discount Antje I think she is worth it) but if you look up completed sales they haven't sold for that much!!

ZacCrook wrote:Man, are they really that sought-after? Were they in limited supply or something or is it just because they're her first two sort of home-made releases?

I'm sure it's just their unavailability. Most of the best stuff from the two records, though, is on Snapshots, and other stuff showed up on either BDB or Dancer, albeit (in most cases) in inferior versions. Most of what you miss by not having the originals are the spoken tracks.

The version of Soma I heard was on a demo disc that included two other great Antje originals, Revolution and Refugee, plus versions of Merry-Go-Round, Anna and Dandelion.

RonG wrote:

ZacCrook wrote:Man, are they really that sought-after? Were they in limited supply or something or is it just because they're her first two sort of home-made releases?

I'm sure it's just their unavailability. Most of the best stuff from the two records, though, is on Snapshots, and other stuff showed up on either BDB or Dancer, albeit (in most cases) in inferior versions. Most of what you miss by not having the originals are the spoken tracks.

The version of Soma I heard was on a demo disc that included two other great Antje originals, Revolution and Refugee, plus versions of Merry-Go-Round, Anna and Dandelion.

Any hints as to where I'd be able to give those a listen? Also, (this is completely off-the-wall but) what's Antje's middle name? Just about five minutes ago I was like, "Huh, I wonder..."

A quick look at Antje's site and I see you can buy SOMA for .99 a steal for sure !! gonna go figure out how to do that..

Good work Patti!

KarenZ

Patti wrote:A quick look at Antje's site and I see you can buy SOMA for .99 a steal for sure !! gonna go figure out how to do that..

Zac, this is for you.

Antje Duvekot: Not Just a Folk Singer by April Snellings - June 24, 2009

KarenZ