Ruth Moody? Sweet folksy/country-ish

msg

Man, you guys ever heard Ruth Moody? I'm still exploring one of her albums, The Garden. I first heard her on this one track, "Cold Outside". such a sweet, sweet little piece. one that deserves volume.



RM's folksy, and kinda country-ish at times. I don't know much of anything about sound engineering, but it sounds nice and fat and crisp in all the right places (on Cold Outside at least; haven't done any serious listening to the rest yet), and I'm finding it to be especially sweet on the little Onix Melody tube integrated, with some Monitor 5JR+, and some dressed up older Monster Powerline 2 Plus that I got from F1 in the Spring.

mhardy6647

I am a huge fan of Ruth -- and even more so of her "old" group, the Wailin Jennys.
All brilliantly recorded, too.

Check out the Jennys live album "Live at Mauch Chunk Opera House" -- it is superb.

Got to meet Ruth Moody at a Jennys show in NH a couple of years back -- indeed, she autographed a copy of "The Garden" for me. Yes "Cold Outside" is a seductively beautiful song. I also quite like the title track as well -- and I always play it early in the spring when I start working on our vegetable garden (although it's pretty clear that Ruth is using "the garden" as a metaphor for... umm... other, earthy things based on the cover art from the album) :- )

Her more recent solo album is pretty good, too -- nice cover of Bruce Stringbean's "Dancing in the Dark" on it.

msg

man, that's cool you had an opportunity to meet her. always seems to add an extra layer of appreciation to the experience when you get a chance to meet the artist.

I did recognize the Wailin' Jennys reference, a band I've heard of but never heard. Thanks for the recommendation on the live album. Both are now on my list to check out.

I just saw that she played during a Winter Concert Weekend series about 45 mins away - in 2013. I'm only two years late, ha.

dromunds

I just saw the Wailin' Jennys recently in a small restored Opera House. Ruth Moody also just toured with Mark Knopfler as part of his band. She also sings on Knopfler's latest album, Tracking. Knopfler speaks very highly of her in interviews. She adds a very nice element to Knopfler's songs. Her brother played with the Jennys when I saw them, he's an extremely accomplished violinist. I'll post a crummy photo I took of the band.

dromunds

dromunds

Here's a link to Guy Fletcher's tour diary of Knopfler's last tour, starting with a page from Dublin and a first gig group photo with Ruth next to Knopfler. She was on pretty much the whole European leg of the tour IIRC. If you click around Fletcher's site, you will also see a diary of the Tracker album with more photos of Ruth in the studio.

http://www.guyfletcher.co.uk/index.php/2015tour/15th_May_2015_-_Dublin

mhardy6647

She has a beautiful soprano voice. Listen to the Jennys version of fellow Canuckistani Jane Siberry's gorgeous, elegiac song "Calling All Angels" on the aforementioned live Jennys album -- there's a place near the end of the song where each of the three women sings the refrain "calling all angles" that always brings tears to my eyes. It is so beautiful... and Ruth's voice is the capstone.


Here's the "Mauch Chunk" version:

https://youtu.be/UqfL13WFgXs

... and here's live concert video from... somewhere:

https://youtu.be/l6Y6p-BRIaU

Mrs. H and I have seen the Jennys numerous times -- they tend to play the wonderful little opera houses and theatres in the little New England towns all over the place up here. These are great venues for live music - generally warm, beautiful, intimate spaces with good acoustics, too.

The Jennys, famously, usually end each performance with a really, truly a cappella performance of "The Parting Glass". No microphones, no amplifiers -- just three beautiful voices. Wouldn't work in an arena, but it's spine-tingling in a small venue.

msg

dro - seems like Opera Houses are *the* place to take in a show!
Who is Guy Fletcher? is he a session player? looks like a waterman, for sure. kick-a windsurfer too!

mh - no kidding, that *is* beautiful (is italics still not working?) I found that live album and checking it out. that one you posted gave me the chills there at the end!

dromunds

Guy Fletcher has been with Mark Knopfler since I believe the latter years of Dire Straits, but for sure since early solo years. Aside from being his keyboard player, Guy has co-produced many albums with Mark and is considered his right hand man. Guy has been doing diaries of Mark's albums and tours for years, very interesting photographs and write-ups. As far as opera houses to see music, they were made for acoustics, so it pretty much follows that they are tailor-made to see a show. Many are restored. Also, many of the old theaters were made with acoustics as a main consideration.

mhardy6647

msg wrote: »

dro - seems like Opera Houses are *the* place to take in a show!
Who is Guy Fletcher? is he a session player? looks like a waterman, for sure. kick-a windsurfer too!

mh - no kidding, that *is* beautiful (is italics still not working?) I found that live album and checking it out. that one you posted gave me the chills there at the end!

Italics still bjorked :- (

I miss 'em.

I usually sniffle a bit when I play Calling All Angels. Actually the lyrics that usually "get me are these:

Oh, and every day you gaze upon the sunset
With such love and intensity
Why, it's ah, it's almost as if you crack the code
You'd finally understand what this all means

Oh, but if you could, do you think you would
Trade it all, all the pain and suffering?
Oh, but then you would've missed the beauty of
The light upon this earth and the sweetness of the leaving

Not to change the subject, but... I always cry when I listen to Richard Thompson's 1952 Vincent Black Lightning :-P

https://youtu.be/j0kJdrfzjAg

msg

wow.
man, yeah, that's a pretty sad little story of love and loss, but somehow still sweet. heh, yeah, I can see why you have that reaction.

mhardy6647

The last verse gets me every time. Every time.

msg

yeaht. lol

mhardy6647

sorry for the thread derailment. Ruth is way cuter than RT :-P

msg

nah man, it's totally cool - I've learned of some new music in this thread, and that's what it's all about. it's neat sometimes how we find ourselves transcending our genre preferences. How can I love Def Leppard's Hysteria and also enjoy three women singing in an opera house?

did you notice that in that Richard Thompson video was Suzanne Vega?

msg

Hey guys, came across another chick singer the other night that you guys might like - Grace Askew. Album I'm listening to is Until They Lay Me Down To Rest. A little bluesy, a little folksy. Soulful. Seems like a pretty good one for a chill, late evening vinyl session. I think I'm gonna order it on vinyl.

Spotify checker-outers: https://open.spotify.com/album/4LQD6LOiAO1THiRVLDrvqm

msg

== Seems to be some good interest - do we need an official dedicated Chick Singer discovery thread? Looks like we have a couple of different threads going ==

polk500

msg wrote: »

Man, you guys ever heard Ruth Moody? I'm still exploring one of her albums, The Garden. I first heard her on this one track, "Cold Outside". such a sweet, sweet little piece. one that deserves volume.



RM's folksy, and kinda country-ish at times. I don't know much of anything about sound engineering, but it sounds nice and fat and crisp in all the right places (on Cold Outside at least; haven't done any serious listening to the rest yet), and I'm finding it to be especially sweet on the little Onix Melody tube integrated, with some Monitor 5JR+, and some dressed up older Monster Powerline 2 Plus that I got from F1 in the Spring.

Thanks for posting, I enjoyed listening to this, this afternoon.

Cheers

voltz

Yeah Scott was the one who got me to listen to Ruth Moody and the Wailin Jenny's, which lead me to Sarah Jarosz and to Ron tellin me about Susie Suh!

My listening world has greatly improved, Thanks again!

also Ruth Moody's "These Wilder Things" is excellent.

txcoastal1

voltz wrote: »

Yeah Scott was the one who got me to listen to Ruth Moody and the Wailin Jenny's, which lead me to Sarah Jarosz and to Ron tellin me about Susie Suh!

My listening world has greatly improved, Thanks again!

also Ruth Moody's "These Wilder Things" is excellent.

And vice versa
Add Cara Dillon - Hill of Thieves and Samantha Crain - Kid Face, Paint

voltz

I started listen to Cara Dillion and it recommended Mary Black who Marvin brought to Skip's that night! and another Celtic women Dolores Keane who sang "Caledonia

msg

I know, you guys are turning me on to some great new artists as well.
I've been enjoying the Susie Suh - good heads up on her, Ron/D. Will check out the others.

polk500 wrote: »

Thanks for posting, I enjoyed listening to this, this afternoon.

yeah Roger, good stuff, eh? Doc says great things about The Wailin' Jennys, and so does D. I'm behind and need to catch up on checking out all these other albums.

vcwatkins

Someone here mentioned Vanessa Fenandez' "Use Me" 180g 45rpm 2LP and it's sublime. Thank you, Mystery-Vanessa-Rec-Guy!!

So this is what I really want now. Covers Zeppelin in acoustic arrangements.
Vanessa Fernandez When the Levee Breaks Numbered Limited Edition 180g 45rpm 3LP

But geez, 70 bucks. Yikes.

Bernie Grundman mastered:
https://youtu.be/8YVyill01NU

mhardy6647

I want his tape deck ;-)

On-topic... thanks for rejuvenating this thread; always looking for more "little girl with guitar" music of exceptional quality!