The Shopkeeper – A film by Rain Perry

Mark Hallman at Congress House Studio

THE SHOPKEEPER

A film by Rain Perry

shopkeepermovie.com

rainperry.com

I first discovered singer-songwriter Rain Perry in 2003 when Tom Russell sang her beautiful song “Yosemite” on a promo EP sent out in conjunction with his Modern Art album. I believe he recorded the song during the sessions for that album at Mark Hallman’s Congress House Studio in Austin, Texas. About a decade later, I wrote about Rain’s album Men, which was also recorded at Congress House with Mark as producer, principal accompanist and occasional songwriting collaborator.

Rain Perry

Rain’s latest project is a highly interesting and engaging documentary film called The Shopkeeper which, on the surface, tells the story of Mark Hallman’s career as a musician – he was a principal in the ‘70s band Navarro and worked extensively as a sideman with Dan Fogelberg and Carole King – recording engineer and record producer, and of his Congress House Studio, by now the longest-running recording studio in Austin, one of the great American music cities.

But, more than that, the film looks at how the music business has changed over the decades of Mark’s career and at the existential issues facing artists, recording studios and record companies in an era where the public wants to consume music without paying for it.

Rain effectively uses comments and commentaries from artists – some who I know well, some whose music is familiar to me, some who I’d not heard of before – including Mark Hallman, of course, Tom Russell, Eliza Gilkyson, Ani DiFranco, Andrew Hardin, Sarah Hickman, Iain Matthews and many others. These artists lend much insight both to the stories of Congress House and to how the underlying issues of a changing music business have affected them and their careers. There are several terrific segments where singer-songwriter Jon Dee Graham uses facts and figures (with charts) to show the financial changes in the music business over the years.

Along the way we get to hear some of the great music that has been made at the Congress House over the years and bear witness to Mark’s struggle to keep the studio economically viable.

The Shopkeeper is a film that should be seen by anyone interested in understanding what it means to be an independent roots music artist in these times.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Too Sad for the Public – Vol. 1 – Oysters Ice Cream Lemonade: American Folk Fantasies Written and Arranged by Dick Connette

TOO SAD FOR THE PUBLIC

Vol. 1 – Oysters Ice Cream Lemonade: American Folk Fantasies Written and Arranged by Dick Connette

StorySound Records

dickconnette.com

storysoundrecords.com

For 20 years, since the release of the first CD by Last Forever, I’ve greatly admired the work of composer/songwriter/producer Dick Connette. In Last Forever, he teamed with the late vocalist Sonya Cohen to produce several albums of completely reimagined traditional songs and original songs steeped in tradition. I continue to find great musical riches whenever I return to the Last Forever albums – which I have done often.

Much of the material on Vol. 1 – Oysters Ice Cream Lemonade: American Folk Fantasies Written and Arranged by Dick Connette, his new project – recorded under the group name ‘Too Sad for the Public’ – continues in the vein of Last Forever with original songs based on traditional themes and a couple of fascinating covers of pop songs. The lead vocals are in the capable hands of Suzzy Roche (four songs), Rachelle Garniez (one song), Ana Egge (two songs) and Gabriel Kahane (one song).

All of the vocal songs on the album are entirely praiseworthy. Perhaps my favorite, if I had to pick just one, is “Black River Falls,” sung by Suzzy. The melody and chorus are based on Karen Dalton’s version of the traditional folksong “Same Old Man,” and the verses, each of which stands on its own, are based on Michael Lesy’s book. Wisconsin Death Trap.

Other favorites include “Old Alabama,” sung by Ana, which takes its inspiration from several traditional songs, most notably “Old Country Rock,” a country blues first recorded by William Moore in 1928 (the group name, Too Sad for the Public, comes from a repeated line in this song); and “Orphée in Opelousas,” sung by Gabriel, Dick’s reimagination of the Orpheus legend from Greek mythology which he sets in Louisiana to a score based on traditional Cajun songs.

I also love what he’s done with the two covers. “He’s a Bad Boy,” sung by Suzzy, was written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin in the early-1960s. As John Cohen of the New Lost City Ramblers (and Sonya Cohen’s father) pointed out to Dick, the song is a teenage variation on “Stagger Lee.”

“Young Loves to Love,” sung by Ana, is a medley of two early Van Morrison songs – “Brown Eyed Girl” and “Sweet Thing.” The latter song came from Astral Weeks (my second favorite Morrison album) and the arrangement is reminiscent of it – and prominently features the nylon-string guitar playing of Jay Berliner, whose playing was a key component of Astral Weeks.  

The other theme that runs through the album is a tribute to the late Chuck Brown, a Washington, D.C. guitarist who was known as “The Godfather of Go-Go,” a form of funk music. This is first heard in “Liberty City,” a Jaco Pastorius tune that Brown quoted in one his own tunes. Dick offers three short passages from “Liberty City” as strategic interludes during the album. Then, as the penultimate track, there is the 12-minute go-go instrumental “Chuck Baby,” a direct tribute to Brown, whose intensity never stops swirling and building.

While the go-go tracks might initially seem an odd coupling with the folk-inspired material, Dick Connette and the musicians of Too Sad for the Public bring it all together in a way that just seems right.

Dick variously plays harmonium, piano, bass and bass drum throughout the album. In addition to the singers, he is joined by a core group of five musicians – including Chaim Tannenbaum on harmonica –and 12 other contributing musicians. Dick’s arrangements are masterful from the opening notes of the first track until the end of the album.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif