A SOUL-SISTER APPALACHIAN WRITER pal Connie Kinsey sorta-kinda challenged me to record something straight to smartphone after she posted a reading of her fabulous writing today. There’s a contagion social media movement afoot (if you hadn’t noticed) of Quarantine Performances. Here’s a rough offering, the first ever public performance of my new song, “Minor Glory,” recorded in the John Lennon Memorial Studio of Appalachia.
The hashtag for sharing such performances on Facebook is #LivefromHome. On Twitter, Yo Yo Ma got #SongsofComfort going.
I’m singing it a cappela on my first take, so slack be cut. I am a little out-of-breath at the outset not because of, well … you know. But because I had just finished a bunch of chores and was racing to get the video set up.
This song arose, as songs often do, from a small seed, when the line popped in my head: “I’ve had a lot of minor glory…” And then a week later: “I’ve had a bit of weekend fame …” Then, I recalled a question my wife has asked sometime in the dark of our bed at night.
Then, the Muses came for a weekend visit in January, then booked it out. They’ve not been seen since.
MORE SONGS of COMFORT, SONGS of HOME:
~ “Bring Sunshine When You Come”
~ “Paradise”: “A John Prine Homage”
~ “Wild Mountain Thyme”
~ “A West Virginia Medley”
~ “Two Guitars, One Heart”
~ “Till There Was You”
~ “Minor Glory (draft ‘a cappela’ version)
PS: The fabulous painting of Sir Lennon for whom the John Lennon Memorial Studio of Appalachia is named is by Caitlin Marie Mason-Bias.
PSS: Homer’s still barking.
PSSS: If you’d like to hear me sing in a more formal, ultra-rehearsed setting, search for ‘garagecow’ on Spotify (free), or (.99 cents a song, support weekend artistry!) “garagecow ensemble”—and “brothersisters” and “you can’t be lost.”
PSSS: Here is Connie’s reading of her superb piece, “The Plum,” which is a straight hit of Appalachian wonderfulness. As her blog notes:
“The Plum was born of a writing prompt wherein we were to listen to Rhinanon Giddens “Moonshiner’s Daughter” and write a thousand words or so. Later, I entered the piece into the Women of Appalachia Project’s WomenSpeak juried selection for Spoken Word. It was accepted for the 2019-2020 season which has been truncated due to COVID-19. I get a lot of enjoyment, oddly enough, from publicly reading this story. I hope you enjoy listening to it!
5 comments
[…] Listen, I know we are supposed to be up-tempo and pandemic-positive. You and I have likely been dutiful in sharing the happiest memes and ‘quarantinis,’ as someone delightfully dubbed the online performances everyone is sharing. I’ve done a few quarantinis myself. […]
Doug, we enjoyed your song and your sharing The Plum. I know a little about weekend fame. Mary and I have been living in Shepherdstown for going on close to a year now. Come see us when the path is clear. Wash your hands and stay safe!
Weekend fame, it comes and goes! Good to hear from you, Andy! I will take you up on that offer.
It was nicely done, Doug. And thanks for the h/t.
Connie
Yours as well. Thanks for the noodge.