#5 What I Read this Week and a lil listen

Sorry for being away from the blog for so long...you will hear why in the next few posts. But I'll just say that I've been traveling:)

As for my reading, this will be more of a multi-media post.

I just finished reading Eamonn McCann's book War and An Irish Town. It is all about Derry, Ireland and "The Troubles" told from McCann's perspective as an activist in Derry from the late 60s on. I feel like I'm been giving lots of history lately on the blog so to give you all a break on reading, I'll just say that the book was great!

To bring it all back to Mississippi (which I probably do way too often) reading War and An Irish Town would be like reading Local People, Radical Equations, or I've Got the Light of Freedom, or any of the major works that give a good understanding of the American Civil Rights Movement and are often told from the perspective of someone closely associated to the movement (Bob Moses more so than most).

In addition to the book, a professor turned me onto this online archive of info surrounding "The Troubles" and it is great! For anyone who is interested in learning more, give this site a browse...

http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/index.html

Since that is a relatively short post about what I've read I want to add in this little music bit.

Last night I saw a show in Dublin at the Academy. The Academy is one of the top music venues in Dublin and they have this great set up where they can have multiple shows going on at the same time. The show I saw was in the basement in what is their smallest venue. The room is surrounded by booths, christmas lights are hung everywhere and most corners are covered with curtains to give the entire place a really relaxed and mellow vibe. Has anyone ever seen Nickel Creek live when they play barefoot on rugs? Well this was like a Nickel Creek stage set but expanded to an entire room.

The main act, The Staves, are a sister trio whose harmonies bring to mind the scene from O' Brother Where Art Thou when the sirens are singing and washing the men in the river (I guess the trio thing plays a part in the look of the sirens but then their voices have a softness like Alison Krauss). They are good and very "up and coming" (I think this is probably how every band who plays in the basement at the Academy is described).

But my favorite portion of the night was a quick set from one of three opening bands, I Draw Slow. They have a terrible band name but give them the benefit of the doubt and give this a listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr1EJar5zGY

I sat thinking to myself that I could just as easily be listening to them play on a late Thursday afternoon at Thacker Mountain Radio as I could in a music venue in Dublin. They are the best modern representation I've heard of the strong connection between Appalachia folk/bluegrass and its roots in Ireland (from an Irish band that is).

Hope you enjoy! Lots more blog posts to come!

cheers,
 chelsea