August 20, 2014

After listening to this NPR "Fresh Air" interview with Dom Flemons the other day, I must say that I'm really looking forward to his performance on MCR. Here's a link to the interview:

www.npr.org/2014/07/30/336577946/dom-flemons-holds-onto-that-old-time-root

He talks a lot about his banjos, including the huge one he calls 'Big Head Joe'. I had to laugh when he did his impressions of Bob Dylan and Van Morrison; Dom has a great sense of humor. Moose, I hope you'll check out this interview as I think you'll really enjoy it. Dom plays a number of songs during the interview on banjo and guitar.

Hi all! Just giving you a heads up that MCR added another band last minute for tonight. It is, get this, an Italian "bluegrass" band from Naples, Italy and they are over in the States for a few weeks fulfilling their dream to play their style of bluegrass/country/folk on the streets of America. They happened to be here in Columbia, SC a couple of weeks ago playing outside of my neighborhood health food store (!) and we all fell in love with them - these young, adorable musicians who barely speak English and play their own style of covers by our favorites like Flatt & Scruggs, Woody Guthrie, etc won the crowd over.

 Later that night, they joined a few of us at a local bar where some friends of mine were playing and they got to sit in on a few tunes (and play some of theirs during the break), meet some people, and jam some more afterwards. They are the nicest guys you could ever meet and so appreciative of the opportunities that keep falling in their laps (earned) since they've been here. Most of what they do in Italy is street busk so that's what they are doing here too, but they did get a slot on WDVX's Blue Plate Special last week, as well as a gig in Asheville, and now a last minute addition to MCR! :-) Can't wait to hear how that came about, but I'm really excited for them, and can't wait to see them tonight. After Nashville, I think they're heading to Mississippi, New Orleans, and then Houston, where they fly out of to go back home. They raised the money for the trip by busking and from a fundraising campaign like Kickstarter. They are really eager to learn more about Americana/Bluegrass/Folk etc music so while they are having fun on this trip, they are working very hard, too. I really applaude their efforts!

Their name is La Terza Classe, after the third class passengers on the Titanic, and they have a Facebook page and some YouTube videos out there if you're interested in checking them out beforehand.  Here's a video of them playing  "Country Roads" - it's so funny to hear it with their Italian accents but once you get used to that, you can really appreciate their style of playing and their harmonies. Their entire "show" is a well oiled act, and quite fun to watch. Don't know how much of that they'll get to do tonight - I'll be interested to see what they end up playing.

Anyway, I've attached a pic I took of them when they played here (unfortunately for all the young ladies here in the States, the fiddle player in the Country Roads video I posted did not make the journey, lol). And, this is what they posted on their facebook page about playing MCR tonight - it's so cute:

"TONIGHT, 7 00 pm (Nashville) 2 00 am (Italy), La Terza Classe will appear on Music City Roots, one of the most important american music show where artists such Sam Bush, Emmylou Harris and many others perform regulary! We are so glad to invite you to follow the show and wait for us to come on the stage invited by Jim Lauderdale! What a story guys! Follow the show streaming!"