David Massengill NE tour - one radio interview and three concerts this weekend
notlob
Tyree's guest will be David Massengill - http://www.davidmassengill.com/
Worcester community radio WCUW, 91.3fm, http://www.wcuw.org/
David will be talking about his work and THREE area concerts:
Friday, December 11 - @ A Tree Falls Productions house concert in
Monson
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=188801486820&ref=ts
Saturday, December 12 - @ Jackson Homestead in Newton
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=142299718127
Sunday, December 13 - @ notfarG House Concerts in Grafton
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=163474737468&ref=ts
A Tree Falls Productions (Monson)
http://coverlaydown.com/2009/11/house-concert-david-massengill/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=58360354711&ref=ts
notloB Folk Concerts (Somerville & Newton)
http://notlobmusic.googlepages.com
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38565709718&ref=ts
notfarG House Concerts (Grafton)
http://www.reverbnation.com/venue/431454
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=147864099159&ref=ts
Thanks to Troy and WCUW for having David as a guest.
Please share with patrons of traditional folk and Appalachian music.
=================
The city of Bristol lies on the border of Virginia and Tennessee, and
the state line runs down Main Street. That means that when Bristol
holds a parade-if you're lucky-you can march down the street with one
foot in each state. When David Massengill was growing up on the
Tennessee side, he thought that was about as exciting as things could
get. But today, when David looks back, he remembers many other
stories, some scary, such as the time he chased a bobcat, and the
bobcat chased him back; some funny, such as the time he first heard
Aunt Gladys cuss. Other stories he has learned since growing up by
listening to friends and reading family letters and newspaper
articles. They all add up to a personal history that David shares with
his listeners.
"Basically, I tell true stories about friends and family," he says.
"Basically true . . . or," he adds after a pause and a smile, "stories
I made up about friends and family."
As distinctive a performer as he is a writer, David Massengill
accompanies himself mainly on the Appalachian dulcimer, which he
slings over his shoulder like an electric guitar. The sound of the
dulcimer has an intimate, detailed quality that complements the easy
graciousness of Massengill's stage presence. He has achieved a
virtuousity on the traditional instrument that enables him to wring
from its few strings music of a complexity and richness far beyond
anything it was ever meant to produce, drawing the listener in to his
lyrical imagery and the close-up focus on human foibles and experience
that is the substance of his best songs.
Jesus escapes from a mental hospital, history's greatest villains
gather for a dinner party, a New York restaurant kitchen crew saves an
illegal alien cook from the immigration man, a young woman and a
bandit fall in love as he robs her … these are just some of the
vividly imagined scenes and characters with which David Massengill
captivates audiences wherever he performs. Massengill's songs are rich
with insight and poetic imagery, they're upbeat and engaging but full
of subtle complexities; this Appalachian dulcimer player with the
soft-
edged vocal style and offhand stage presence is acknowledged to be one
of America's finest songwriters.
Even when Massengill tackles large-scale social and political themes,
he approaches them through stories about people, in the best folk
tradition. In "My Name Joe," for instance, Massengill conveys some
complex feelings about the plight of illegal immigrants through his
empathetic portrait of Joe the Thai cook, a hopeless outsider in an
alien culture; at the same time, he paints a picture of the kitchen
worker's milieu-and tells a good tale too-with an arresting, brief
appearance by an incidental character or two for extra spice.
In the mesmerizing eight-minute-long ballad, "Number One in America,"
Massengill tells the epic story of the struggle for racial equality
through a series of anecdotal first-person vignettes spanning three
decades; the central incident is a 1986 march by the Klan in Bristol,
Tennessee, Massengill's home town. The story gains dramatic power as,
in the refrain and elsewhere, the same words recur in different
people's mouths, expressing dramatically different-even opposite-
sentiments, a device that imbues the song with powerful irony and a
touch of ambiguity that deepens its ultimate impact.