Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
The Altamont Theatre in downtown Asheville has some great music coming this April. Check it out:
The Cactus Blossoms
WHEN: Friday April 8, 2016
DOORS: 7pm | SHOW: 8pm
GENRE: americana / country
AGES: all ages
TICKETS: $12 adv. / $15 d.o.s. / $25 VIP (guaranteed seating in 1st three rows!)
SEATING: seated general
WHEN: Wednesday April 13, 2016
DOORS: 7pm | SHOW: 7:30pm
GENRE: singer/songwriter
AGES: all ages
TICKETS: $17 adv. / $20 d.o.s. / $30 VIP (guaranteed seating in 1st three rows!)
SEATING: seated general admission
Corb Lund
WHEN: Friday April 15, 2016
DOORS: 7pm | SHOW: 8pm
GENRE: country / folk
AGES: all ages
SEATING: seated general admission
TICKETS: $12 adv. / $15 d.o.s. / $25 VIP
And there’s this on April 14; from a press release:
We’re incredibly excited to tell you about a very special folk music show coming to The Altamont Theatre in downtown Asheville. On Thursday April 14th, renowned folkie Iain Matthews of Fairport Convention fame, brings his newest project to the United States – Reinventing Richard: The Songs of Richard Farina. This is the first time Plainsong will be touring in the United States.
2016 marks the 50th anniversary of legendary singer-songwriter Richard Fariña’s death in a motorcycle accident. He is largely remembered for two magical albums recorded with his second wife Mimi (younger sister of Joan Baez) for Vanguard Records including Celebrations For A Grey Day (1965), chosen by Robert Shelton of The New York Times as one of the ten best folk albums of the year, and Reflections In A Crystal Wind (1965). Fariña’s debut novel Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me was published in 1966.
Plainsong’s Reinventing Richard: The Songs Of Richard Fariña was released on September 11, 2015 U.S. release on Omnivore Recordings. Plainsong is a band including veteran singer-songwriter Iain Matthews; Andy Roberts, who’s accompanied the likes of Richard Thompson, Roy Harper and Chris Spedding; and Mark Griffiths, whose resume includes Neil Innes, Cliff Richard’s Shadows and the Bonzo Dog Band.
Fariña’s songs have been recorded by Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Tom Paxton, Carolyn Hester, Pete Seeger, Sandy Denny, and many others. His songs have been central to Plainsong since their formative days. Now Plainsong has recorded a wonderful new set of 16 Fariña compositions, including the previously unrecorded “Sombre Winds.”
“Next April 30th will commemorate 50 years since the passing of Richard Fariña and we honor his memory with a new Plainsong album, Reinventing Richard. We’ve attempted to conceptualize how his songs might have sounded, if written and first recorded in a 21st century electro/acoustic setting,” Matthews wrote in the album’s liner notes.
Added Roberts, “This has to be put out there as a Plainsong project. That’s the banner Iain and I sewed in 1972, under which we’ve forged and polished our musical relationship, and it’s where we’ve championed Richard Fariña’s songs for over 40 years.”
Matthews has long supported Fariña’s work, performing “Reno Nevada” in Fairport Convention’s live set from 1968 although the group only recorded it for a BBC session. Iain has continued to interpret Farina’s songs ever since: “Blood Red Roses” (Second Spring, 1969); “Reno Nevada” (If You Saw Through My Eyes, 1972); “Morgan The Pirate” (If You Saw Through My Eyes, 1972); “House Un-American Blues Activity Dream” (Tigers Will Survive, 1972); “Bold Marauder’” (And That’s That, 1992); “Another Country” (New Place Now, 1999).
Image link for Eliza Gilkyson.
