Ann Savoy a musical ambassador for Cajan culture
Those with memories of the forerunner of the annual Rhythm & Roots Festival will no doubt have fond recollections of its Labor Day weekend predecessor, the Cajun & Bluegrass Festival, held at the Stepping Stone Ranch in Escoheag, R.I. from the late 1980 to the late 1990s. Those memories would no doubt include the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band featuring the husband and wife combo, Marc and Ann Savoy, with Michael Doucet. Memories or not (and hopefully you have them), now many years later Ann Savoy is still making music and has a wonderful solo album just out called Another Heart. We give it the Ear Bliss look-see this week along with the new album from long-time troubadour Tim Easton. When I think of singer/songwriters who bring the whole package from songs that resonate to a terrific delivery of them, not to mention flawless ability on the chosen instrument, in his case guitar, Easton ranks high. Easton furthers that high level of quality craftsmanship on his new album called Find Your Way. Let’s take a look.
Ann Savoy Another Heart Smithsonian Folkways Records
A native Virginian residing in the heart of Cajun country in Eunice, Louisiana, the singer, songwriter, musician, historian, producer and author Ann Savoy has made quite a mark on Cajun culture. Call her an ambassador, even with her Viriginia roots, for all things Cajun culture. Some may remember her for her work with accordion player and husband Marc Savoy along with fiddler extraordinaire Michael Doucet in the award-winning Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, as well as the Savoy Family Band, each of which frequented these parts going all the way back to the 1980s and into the ‘90s at the once-upon-a-time Cajun & Bluegrass Festival in Escoheag, R.I. Or perhaps you may recall the all-woman folk group The Magnolia Sisters which was co-founded by Savoy and who released four albums from 1995 to 2009. Perhaps Savoy’s greatest contribution to Cajun culture has been as the compiler of the two volume Cajun Music: A Reflection of a People, a collection which chronicles the history of Cajun and Zydeco music. There have also been movie appearances and various other recordings during her life and mostly in the folk and roots style, but on Savoy’s recently released solo debut album called Another Heart she spreads her music-loving wings far and wide from Bruce Springsteen to The Kinks and more. Says Savoy herself of this new project, “It’s blowing my mind to smithereens!” Good for her! It draws from Savoy’s full lifetime of musical experiences and influences from growing up in Richmond to her travels abroad to Europe and thereabouts in her youthful days to of course, her time in Louisiana. As Savoy tells it, “It’s the culmination of my life, because all of the things I’ve done my whole life have been drenched in music since I was in kindergarten choirs.” Mixing originals songs with covers, the album is a personal affair. It takes the listener from those aforementioned Springsteen and Kinks covers (“Stolen Car” from the Bruce archives and The Kinks’ classic “Waterloo Sunset,” the latter given a touch of Cajun seasoning courtesy of Savoy’s sons Joel and Powell on fiddle and accordion, respectively) to songs by Joni Mitchell, Richard Thompson, Donovan, and Sandy Denny joining Savoy’s own songs such as the rollicking hot-stepper “Cajun Love Song” written for her husband Marc and “Triste Samedi (A Sad Saturday/
A Hurricane Song)” about the devastating storms that have hit Louisiana on all too many occasions. Savoy’s voice has always been one of comfort and soul and that quality is imbued throughout all of Another Heart. It is an album very easy to warm up to. Recommended. Visit www.folkways.si.edu/ ann-savoy/another-heart or sample some tracks at annsavoy.bandcamp.com/ album/another-heart.
Tim Easton
Find Your Way
Black Mesa Records Given the way folk and rock merge so often in popular music these days, it could be said that the singer and songwriter Tim Easton was way ahead of the curve when it came to perfecting such a blend as he did on such early solo albums as his debut Special 20 (1998) and The Truth About Us (2001) and has continued to do to this day in masterful fashion as his new album called Find Your Way clearly attests. A singing and songwriting troubadour of the first order with his trusty acoustic guitar always at his side, Easton remains a restless sort eager to bring his music and message far and wide. As much a poet as a songwriter, over time he has demonstrated a keen ability to strike a nerve with his songs, a fete he has accomplished numerous times over the course of some dozen or so solo albums. Find Your Way deviates little in sound and style from past Easton albums. It is a recording on which he works his formula of an earnest voice, tight picking within a rich mix of instrumentation, and crafty lyricism all done with precision and warmth. For it, Easton headed North of the border to British Columbia to work with long-time collaborator Leeroy Stagger who produced the album and employed an all-Canadian cast of supporting musicians. The songs, all originals, draw from the daily tumult of humankind as seen through Easton’s own lens. Easton himself describes them as “feature films inside three-minute chunks of music.” Find Your Way features ten of these “feature films” from this top-shelf tunesmith, each as cinematic as it is engaging. Visit www. timeaston.com or sample some tracks at https://timeaston1.bandcamp. com/album/find-your-way.
FESTIVAL ALERTS: Just a month-and-change until the first two major New England summer music festivals and each now has both weekend and single day tickets available. The Green River Festival happens at the Franklin County Fairgrounds in Greenfield, MA from June 21-23 mixing Americana, folk, rock, and worldly sounds with headliners including CAKE, Fleet Foxes, and Gregory Alan Isakov. Visit www.greenriverfestival.com for the full lineup and ticket information. The following weekend, June 28-30, the Solid Sound Music Festival takes over MASSMoCA in North Adams, MA. Hostded and curated by the band Wilco who will play closing sets on Friday (a “deep cuts” set in on the docket!) and Saturday nights, consider Solid Sound one of the most eclectic music festivals you’re likely to encounter encompassing everything from indie rock and pop to jazz to Americana to comedy, not to mention offering full access to the entirety of the art contained and spaces within encompassing galleries MassMOCA. Among the featured performers for the 2024 edition of Solid Sound in addition to Wilco include Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Nick Lowe & Los Straightjackets, Iris DeMent, Dry Cleaning, Hailu Mergia, Fenne Lily, Jeff Tweedy & Friends, Story Pirates, Wednesday, Miracle Legion, Mary Halvorson and Tomas Fujiwara,
John Hodgman’s Comedy Cabaret, and much more. Visit www.solidsoundfestival.com for the full lineup, ticket information, and more.
LIVE SHOTS:
The Memorial Day holiday weekend is upon us and there’s much music to be heard and here’s a sampling. In South County, there’s arguably no better place to kick off the official start of summer in this area than The Ocean Mist in Matunuck. The weekend begins on Friday night with Mist fave Badfish bringing the Sublime tribute vibes. Steve Smith & The Nakeds rev up The Mist on Saturday night before Sunday Funday with
The Senders starting at 4 pm. Courthouse Center for the Arts in West Kingston breaks from the tribute bands this weekend presenting instead the drag show Trailer Park Girls on Saturday night. Coming on May 31 is David Hull of Joe Perry Project fame and his band The Dirty Angels. Kiss tribute-and-more Kiss Forever is there on June 1. At the Greenwich Odeum in East Greenwich, Billy Gillman’s Birthday Bash takes center stage on Friday night. International Rolling Stones tribute
Satisfaction comes to the Odeum on May 31. The Narragansett Café in Jamestown features Bar Fly on Friday night. Rugburn rocks The Ganny on Saturday night before
Cee Cee & The Riders bring the roadhouse blues on Sunday at 4 pm and
Howlin’ Rhodes plays a special Memorial Day afternoon show, also at 4 pm. Pump House Music Works (164 Kingstown Road) in Peace Dale presents the world sounds of
Sidy Maiga & Afrimanding on Friday evening. Blondie tribute Sunday Girl comes to the Pump House on Saturday evening and Sunday is the monthly potluck open mic starting at 5:30 pm. Monday nights at the Pump House are the Uke jam and Tuesday evening is the weekly Old-Time Jam at 6 followed by a general acoustic jam session at 9. Wednesdays are an acoustic lounge and open mic hosted by Matt Fraza. Charlestown Rathskeller has a full weekend of music with Mystic Dead performing on Friday night, Sugar on Saturday evening, and Take It to the Bridge there on Sunday afternoon at 4 pm. In Westerly, Kids That Fly with Pop in the opening slot kick off the holiday weekend at the Knickerbocker Music Center (35 Railroad Ave) on Friday night. Take It to the Bridge are in the house on Saturday night. Sunday features the Youth-onMic open mic event open to 6th to 12th graders and starting at 5 pm. Sandy Allen plays a free show in the Tap Room on Sunday night at 8 pm. Next up at
The United Theatre in Westerly is Marc Douglas Berardo’s Harbor Songs on June 2 featuring local and nationally renowned musicians sharing songs and stories. To our North,
Chan’s Restaurant in Woonsocket hosts Dave Matthews Band tribute So Lucky on Friday night. The James Montgomery Blues Band is at Chan’s on Saturday night. The Met Café in Pawtucket hosts the return of Buckethead to the area on Friday night. Steely Dan tribute Hey Nineteen is at The Met on May 31. In Providence at Askew on Chesnutt Street, it’s a triple bill on Saturday night featuring Carissa Johnson, The Fatal Flaw, and
The Callouts. Sunday is an evening of singer/ songwriters with Greg Loftus, Josh Buckley, Luke Condon, and Russ Connors. Every Monday at Askew is Meatballs & Open Mic. In Newport on Friday night at the Jane Pickens Event Center, it’s the James Montgomery Band with The Uptown Horns performing a benefit concert for the Broadway Street Fair.
Andy Summers of Police fame is there on June 6. Finally, the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River hosts Louisiana Calling with The Sonny Landreth Band and The Iguanas on Friday night.
The Tarbox Ramblers come to The Narrows on June 1 and The Weight Band is there on June 7.
Dan Ferguson is a free-lance music writer and host of The Boudin Barndance, broadcasting Thursday evenings from 6 – 9 pm on WRIU-FM 90.3 and streaming at WRIU on all major platforms.