Holiday Message from Chappell & Dave Holt

Peace on Earth, Joy to all Humankind

   A haze lay upon the conjoined waters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. Hidden from view, the Carquinez Strait in the distance, I turned my gaze back to the peaks of the Diablo range and thought of the ancient psalmist who sang, “I will lift up my eyes unto the hills, from whence comes my help,” (Psalm 121). I too have felt as if angels swooped in over a cleft in the rocks, from out of a mottled gray, late autumn sky, rushing out to meet you in the middle of the air. The spirit helpers or angels bring joy from the heart of Creation.

   The call of a red tail hawk enters my meditations as it roosts in a nearby tree. Then the sound of flapping wings as it leaves the perch to fly further up the hill, calling out a few more times until quiet returns. He’s settled somewhere, to peruse the blue oak forest and meadow below. The woods, silent again; and the still calm of the fall season resumes. Joy comes and also peace for a time.

   We wish you all Merry Christmas and Joy and Goodwill for all women, children, and men. Let us find strength and power to accomplish projects of Peace and Joy in the coming New Year.

The Dark of December …

The Dark of December …


"I heard a bird sing in the dark of December
A magical thing and sweet to remember.
'We are nearer to Spring than we were in September,'
I heard a bird sing in the dark of December." -   Oliver Herford, I Heard a Bird Sing

“A winter’s day in a deep and dark December, I am alone, gazing from my window to the streets below on a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.”
(I Am a Rock, Paul Simon)
 

We will be performing at a new venue for us, the San Gregorio General Store on Sunday,

December 8th, 11am till 1pm. Chappell & Dave will also be celebrating Dave's Birthday. Come on by to listen and celebrate with the family! It’s located on 7615 Stage Rd, San Gregorio, CA 94074. Phone: (650) 726-0565.

Also upcoming, we will share the stage with our friend Bob

Loomis’s band Awed Ducks, at a fine old institution here in the East Bay, Down Home Music Store, on Sat. Dec. 14, 2-4 PM. Travel on over to 10341 San Pablo Ave, in El Cerrito, CA 94530 to hear us. This will be a great opportunity to hear Mr. Loomis also accompany Dave on Native American flutes as they perform American Indian songs and Dave’s poems written about the culture. Phone: (510) 525-2129.

Last one for the year is a really good one. We’ll travel up into the Santa Cruz mountains to perform at our 4th Annual Holiday House Concert in the town of Bonny Doon with special

guest and dear friend, Cristina Seaborn. Many of you who have attended our previous house concerts at Bonny Doon know Cristina as a violinist extraordinaire. She is expert at fiddling and jazz improvisation, also plays cello, piano, mandolin, guitar and sings (remember “Harlee?”). She holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in jazz violin performance from Berklee College of Music in Boston; and a Masters in Conducting for Orchestra from St. Cloud State University. In our upcoming house concert Saturday, December 28, she will bring over thirty years of performance experience, a background that includes influences in classical, jazz, Celtic, bluegrass, and Texas swing fiddle. Please write back in response to this email if you plan to attend and I will send you directions to the Santa Cruz (Bonny Doon) location with phone number.
 

We hope to see you during the holidays.  Please be sure and celebrate safely and joyfully. We have a wondrous New Year ahead of us full of opportunities to share music and poetry.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Peace on Earth to all children, women and men.

"November comes and November goes, with the last red berries and the first white snows.

"November comes and November goes, with the last red berries and the first white snows.
… With night coming early,
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.” (by Elizabeth Coatsworth)

“November has tied me to an old dead tree
Get word to April to rescue me.” (November by Tom Waites)

 

At the FAR-West (Folk Alliance Region West) Conference in Irvine, CA this year, Bohemian Hwy Music (our music and books company) featured their own Private Guerilla Showcase (PGS) room. We showcased 28 fabulous songwriters and bands giving stellar performances to please our ears. The songwriting and performing level was so high at this conference that we were always inspired, stimulated and challenged. Even with my vivid imagination I can't imagine having more fun while learning and growing at the same time. (Picture below is performance in the Mother Hen Promotions PGS).

Some of the workshops Chappell and I attended as volunteers were: Penny Nichols presentation "Teaching at Workshops and Camps," a lively and valuable session for the many musician educators at the conference. The "How to Arrange Music for Recording" workshop featured one of our former Bay Area luminaries, Bill Griffin (producer of several Kate Wolf albums, pictured with Keale below) and other arrangers, Gary Stockdale and John Egenes. The most-attended presentation (up to 100 or more) was The Ash Grove: 1958 – 1973, a fascinating history of the L. A. coffeehouse/nightclub hosted by Joel Tepp, with special guests Ed Pearl (founder), Chris Hillman (Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, etc.), Herb Pedersen (The Dillards, Desert Rose Band). Several former employees told amazing stories of their days surviving the radical 60’s at the club.

We also had a chance to see the Wrecking Crew documentary at the FAR-West conference. It is a must see. You will not regret the effort to get out and see it... we loved it. Old clips of Glen Campbell, Leon Russell, Hal Blaine, the singers and bands they recorded for: Gary Lewis, the Byrds, the Beachboys (Brian Wilson was their favorite to work with), Nancy Sinatra and many more. Film maker, guitarist Tommy Tedesco's son, is trying to raise money for a theatrical release. The selected private showings are how he is doing that. See “the crew” on Facebook.

Bay Area musicians and songwriters, be sure and register for next year’s FAR-West Music Conference, October 16-19, 2014 to be held in Oakland.  Also folks, take advantage of the evening performances, open to the public and well worth the buddy price you’ll pay at the door.

Upcoming Sunday, November 10, we will perform at "The Music of the Word (La Palabra Musical)" with the brilliant musician Carlos Reyes playing Harp and Violin. Event is 4:00 – 4:30 PM No Cover, hosted by poet/musician Avotcja. Donations are accepted & don’t forget to bring your Congas, Guiros, Maracas, Panderetas etc. It’s at Casa Latina Taqueira, Bakery and Café on 1805 San Pablo Avenue at Delaware (3 blocks north of University/2 blocks west of N. Berkeley Bart), Berkeley, CA 94702. (510)558-7177

Anyone interested in hosting a house party please drop us a line and let us know.  House concerts are a great way to enjoy quality music created by your local Indie musicians.
 

Hello, “Neighbors in October”

Hello, “Neighbors in October”

 “… Down the block we bend with the season:
shoes to polish for a big game,
storm windows to batten or patch.
And how like a field is the whole sky now
that the maples have shed their leaves, too.
It makes us believers—stationed in groups,
leaning on rakes, looking into space …” (David Baker)

“Oooh, October nights, Orion aims his sights.
A harvest moon is rising, a golden pumpkin in the sky,
Venus hugs the horizon and wispy clouds drift by.
This is the month when saints and sinners,
Wear masks of losers and winners.” (October Nights by Chappell Holt)

This last month has been busy with preparations for the 10th Anniversary FAR-West Music Conference, where we are featuring a Private Guerilla Showcase (PGS) room for the first time. We will be providing a performance space for 28 musicians playing their songs for venues looking to book acts, and other performers who might like to do their songs. Most of these rooms on the hotel’s third floor are booked. It is going to be a music-filled PGS hallway this year! Jammin’ all night long!

Just last week, we released four songs from the Chappell & Dave Holt album Stone & Fire, full release scheduled for the holiday season. You can hear and download them at www.chappellanddaveholt.com. Mayne Smith  starts us off with an exciting reso guitar performance on Toronto Tonto and his Cowboy Guitar. On Bad Girl’s Blues, Chappell‘s brother Tom Ekkens is featured on harmonica, a dialogue of blues harp improvisatin’ along with Dave on keyboard. There are Miles Davis inspired vocalized horn lines and scat singing from Chappell and Dave on this tune. Malcolm Hunter plays a gorgeous tenor sax on Bohemian Moon that reminded us of old Coleman Hawkins recordings (Coleman had a hit record on the juke box with his solo sax version of Body and Soul). John Roy Zat added his ragin’ Cajun fire to our title cut, Stone & Fire. Karl Hartmann helps make it all swing together with acoustic upright bass, and electric bass on Stone and Fire.

As we wrote in the September newsletter, Chappell designed and sewed a vest for violinist Carlos Reyes. It was specially made to be worn at the Latina concert scheduled for September 16th at the White House and also for PBS broadcast.  Sadly the concert was cancelled due to the Naval Yard shooting that happened the same day just down the street.  Carlos did get to play for “El Senor Presidente Obama” and the first lady at the dress rehearsal.  There is hope the show will be rescheduled for January 2014.

 

 

 

We are performing live in Palmdale at Butler’s Coffee – Sat., Oct. 5^th, at 7 pm with

John M. Butler's Coffee is located at 40125 10th St. West, Suite I, Palmdale, CA. Tel: (661) 272-9530. 

 

 

 

 

 

Butler’s wrote, “These veteran performers have been traveling

separately but will be teaming up for a special evening of live music at Butlers Coffee before hitting the road again for Irvine, CA, and the Far-West Conference! The Holts (Chappell & Dave) and John M met each other at a FAR-West conference, so what better place to share a gig than at Butlers Coffee, one week before returning to this revered music industry conference!”

Just before the conference begins, we’ll also showcase at Firefly Bistro in Pasadena, sharing the stage with John Roy Zat on violin.  See Facebook page: Pre-Conference FAR-West Fest @ Firefly Bistro, October 9th!

Hope to see you at the Folk Alliance Region West (FAR-West) Music Conference next week!

September … These Precious Days I’ll Spend With You

September … These Precious Days I’ll Spend With You

“Oh, it’s a long, long while from May to December
But the days grow short when you reach September
When the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame
One hasn’t got time for the waiting game …” (September Song; Kurt Weill, Max Anderson)

September: “The golden-rod is yellow; The corn is turning brown;
The trees in apple orchards with fruit are bending down.” (Helen Hunt Jackson, 1830-1885)

Our Bohemian Highway Books publication, Voyages to Ancestral Islands, Poems & Prose by Dave Holt,  has been selected to receive a Cultural/Literary Award by Artists Embassy International, of Richmond.  The award will be presented at The Dancing Poetry Festival on Saturday, September 14, 2013, Noon to 4:00 p.m., at the Florence Gould Theater at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor Museum in Lincoln Park, 100 34^th Ave near Clement. Tickets allow you to visit the museum at no charge (except special exhibits). VIP entry is given to all Dancing Poetry Festival Advanced Ticket holders.

We performed August 24^th for Monterey Bay Idol on Raising the Standards, with DJs Michael Jacobi and Rachael Shelton, a Saturday show on KSCO Radio in Santa Cruz. We did a three song set and an interview totaling about 15-20 minutes. Listeners are able to vote for their favorite performers, however our link is not yet available.  Please check back at this link and vote for us. Cool prizes for the winner!

This year, Chappell and Dave will host a Private Guerilla Showcase (PGS) room at

FAR-West's 10th Anniversary Conference, October 10 - 13, 2013, in Irvine CA featuring roots and Americana songwriters. Our room will have a piano set up for those writers who compose on keyboard. Folk Alliance Region West (FAR-West) is the West-coast region of Folk Alliance International. One of the events, The Official Showcase is a chance for guests and visitors to come and see some outstanding acts. Tickets for all the showcases are available to the public using the Brown Paper Ticket link. You can see a great concert for $10 per night. Several of our friends will be featured.  Also a private screening of The Wrecking Crew documentary film is open to the public through the Brown Paper Tickets link at the FAR-West website.

Last Saturday, we had a wonderful recording session with FAR-West musician, John Roy Zat, who laid down some churnin’ burnin’ cajun fiddle on our title song, Stone and Fire.

Our friend Carlos Reyes has been invited to play THE WHITE HOUSE....... yep ... THE CASA BLANCA, in a special concert called Musica Latina at The White House featuring many great Latin musicians. Chappell is making some beautiful new threads for him to wear. Carlos will play violin with the wonderful Cuban singer, Gloria Estefan, Christina Aguilera, and many others. It will be filmed for PBS so we’ll let you know when it airs. Carlos’s violin wizardry is featured on two songs on our soon to be released album Stone and Fire.

Chappell’s album cover painting, Stone and Fire, is included in the Occidental Center for the Arts show, Earth Wind and Fire. Stop by for the opening Friday Sept. 6 if you can and we’ll also play you a few tunes.

We look forward to seeing many of you in Irvine and around town!

"Whilst August Yet Wears Her Golden Crown

"Whilst August Yet Wears Her Golden Crown
    Ripening fields lush - bright with promise …” 

    -  Michelle L. Thieme, August's Crown 

"August rushes by …
Bursting on the scene,
Heat and haze of crimson sunsets.
Like a dream
Of moon and dark barely recalled,
A moment,
Shadows caught in a blink.
Like a quick kiss …”
-  Elizabeth Maua Taylor 

“I don't wanna say goodbye for the summer, knowing the love we'll miss
So let us make a pledge to meet in September, and seal it with a kiss …”

(Sealed with a Kiss, Bryan Hyland)

Dave is in Canada until next week visiting family and friends leaving me to write this month’s newsletter, I’ll do my best. July was a great month for us, hope yours was, too. We had music, radio, poetry, art, and clothing all on the calendar.

I was invited to participate in the “Light & Shadow” art show at the Occidental Center for the Arts,  running through Sept. 2. The next show opens on Fri. Sept. 6, 6-8 PM, “Earth Wind & Fire.” The cover painting for our new CD, “Stone & Fire,” will be in that show, we will be performing in the concert room during the reception. Please come by for friends, food, wine, art, and music.

We did an interview with Rosemary Chalmers on KSCO AM 1080 Radio, in Santa Cruz to promote our Don Quixote’s show with Carlos Reyes, all of which was wonderful. Carlos was dazzling. We’ll be playing Monterey Bay Idol on Raising the Standards, a Saturday show on KSCO, a three song set and interview totaling 15-20 minutes. It will be broadcast August 24th at 4:15, live in-studio. Listen in and be sure to vote for us!

We saw the wonderful James Hurley, at Mighty Fine Guitars, in Lafayette. Our friend and poet, Marv Heimstra, was at Coffee Catz in Sebastopol accompanied by John Roy Zat, on fiddle, with inventive sound interpretations of the poems.

We have lots of performances coming up this month. With Dave out of town I am doing a rare solo performance at the First St Café in Benicia, Sat. Aug. 3; we’re the featured act at High St Station; we’ll be featured at the Frank Bette Center with poetry and music; have another fun trip to the Volcano Union Inn; plus more radio. Geez, I’m ready for a nap!

Last but not least, Teresa Tudury invited me to put my original clothing designs in her shop, Such Fine Things, in Occidental. So now all of my stuff is out in the world again. Visit our website to see and hear more. 

Go out and create something good, have a wonderful August, and we’ll see you in September!

(Sealed with a kiss.) Chappell

The Women of Jazz and Blues Part II

The Women of Jazz and Blues Part II

The courage of the black lady singers to stand up and be counted in a white man’s world contributed to the ultimate end of segregation and helped inspire the liberation of all women. Not just from the prejudices of a white man’s world—the blues genre was dominated by black males who had to get used to the emergence of powerful women in the music. 

Blues song writer, Ida Cox, expressed in her song Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues the new independence of women from their men, especially those who treated them bad. 

“I've got a disposition and a way of my own.
When my man starts kicking I let him find another home.
I get full of good liquor, walk the streets all night,

Go home and put my man out if he don't act right.
Wild women don't worry, wild women don't have the blues.”

When Pamela Polland created the Melba Rounds show in the 70's, she was partly riding the wave of women’s liberation pioneered by the blues women who were an inspiration for the movement. She also featured popular songs of the twenties, like Don’t Blame Me by blues singer Ethel Waters. Ethel, a versatile performer, was also the highest paid performer on Broadway in the 30's, starred in movies, one of which, “Cabin in the Sky (1943),” gets shown occasionally on late night TV. Ethel is one of a group of many singers who traveled the raunchy side of the street singing the blues like her famous 1928 record Handy Man. Pamela also covered this one. “Sometimes he's up long before dawn, Busy trimming the rough edges off my lawn; Oooh, you can't get away from it! He's such a handy man!”

These were known as “race records,” not sold to white audiences.

From Ethel Waters, Pamela’s Melba Rounds show learned what became a theme of the Harlem Renaissance: I’ve Got Harlem on My Mind. It became one of the show’s signature songs. Written about Josephine Baker pining for home while she lived the life of a successful cabaret star in Paris, it is an example of the crosscurrents of culture already happening in the music and theater business. The song was written by the famous Jewish hit song writer Irving Berlin.

Later in life, Ethel crossed back over to join the gospel singers on the “good side of the street” singing and praising the Lord. When Chappell was a little girl, her minister father took the family to the Four Square Gospel Church in Los Angeles to hear Ethel Waters perform at a revival. In the middle of her famous gospel hit, His Eyes are on the Sparrow, the then elderly and very large Ethel collapsed behind the podium and was carried out. Chappell never forgot it.

 

As music fans know already, Billie Holiday was the most well-known of the black female singers from pre-rock and roll days. Not often thought of as a blues singer, it was her interpretations of standards that captured the hearts of listeners, such as Trav’lin’ Light, which went to number one for Billie on the Harlem Hit Parade.  Chappell and I still love to perform this one in our live show. Billie co-wrote one of her big standard hits, Good Morning Heartache, with Arthur Herzog, Jr. Pamela Polland and I performed Duke Ellington’s In My Solitude inspired by Billie’s brooding and sensitive rendition. 

Pamela’s Melba Rounds Show often brought down the house, which was usually her regular club, The Palms Café in San Francisco, (see film of the Palms show). She created a fresh interpretation of I Cover the Waterfront that inspired me to come up with an unique piano arrangement. This song had been a “hit single,” a ’78 release for Billie in 1944, became a hit for Pamela, and has appeared in Chappell and Dave’s repertoire alongside Dave’s tribute Billie’s Blues. This original Chappell & Dave tune tells about Billie’s life moving from the streets to the stage.

When Billie joined Artie Shaw’s orchestra in 1938, she was the first black woman to sing with a white orchestra. When she bravely undertook the song “Strange Fruit,” it provided further fuel to her cult of fame. Few singers are willing to interpret this lyric describing the lynching of a black man in the American South. Like the “wild” blues women before her, Billie Holiday was a pioneer and a trail blazer. This was a reason their music had a resurgence in the 70's. Local Bay Area favorite, Alice Stuart (see picture of her 1972 Fantasy Records release below), is experiencing a current revival, bringing new fans to her blues originals. Visit www.reverbnation.com/aliceandtheformerlys. 

The women blues and jazz singers have left us a rich treasure trove of music to inspire musicians and singers of all eras to come. By studying styles that moved music fans in the past, we learn the power of the well placed word and melody. I matured musically by blending blues with other popular styles to create the language I think most adequately expressed my life experience. From this launching pad, the music propelled me into forward motion and growth as a musician. You too can bring the wisdom of the past to bear on the present and expand the genre of Americana. So, take some time to explore and discover the “jazzy side of Americana.”

(Illustrations of Billie Holiday and Ethel Waters are © Chappell Holt)

July Hums with a Louder Concert …

July Hums with a Louder Concert …

 

"The linden, in the fervors of July,
Hums with a louder concert. When the wind
Sweeps the broad forest in its summer prime,
As when some master-hand exulting sweeps
The keys of some great organ …"
-  William Cullen Bryant, Among the Trees 

 

“Sandy the fireworks are hailin' over Little Eden tonight, forcin' a light into all those stoned-out faces left stranded on this Fourth of July. Down in town the circuit's full with switchblade lovers so fast so shiny so sharp, and the wizards play down on Pinball Way on the boardwalk way past dark …”(4th of July, Asbury Park [Sandy] by Bruce Springsteen)

 

Our concert in the Redwoods at Occidental Center for the Arts with Gary Stockdale was a success. Though not a full house, it went so well that our hearts were filled with good vibes all day. The afternoon started with a great visit to Teresa Tudury’s vintage clothes shop, Such Fine Things, with Gary arriving a little later. We trucked over to OCA afterwards for a sound check and shared a good time singing together on stage, playing and enjoying each other's best songs. It was such a beautiful eve-of-summer day, twelve of us, including our beautiful daughter Kelsey and her boyfriend Todd, adjourned to the Union Hotel patio for dinner, wine, and conversation, the best Father's Day I can remember!

 

Gary went on to do a featured performer spot at the High Street Station in Alameda on Thursday, June 20, so we joined up with him and did a couple of tunes for the open mic portion after his set. We visited and heard Deborah Crooks perform, who is one of the hosts for this open mike series. We first met Deborah at FAR-West last October in Irvine. Here’s her Facebook site. The High Street Station features the music staged nicely in a lovely room with a grand piano. Another upright piano sits in the corner. Go check out their place. Many good musicians play there; you won’t be disappointed. Chappell & Dave will have their own feature spot at this Alameda club on Thursday August 8th.

We’re enthusiastically anticipating our upcoming show at Don Quixote’s International

Music Hall in Felton, CA., on Sunday July 21st. Carlos Reyes, "Multi-instrumentalist String Wizard" is appearing in a rare solo concert plus Chappell & Dave Holt, featuring "The Jazzy Side of Americana." Don Quixote’s Address is 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton, Phone 831-335-2800. Tickets are available in advance at http://www.donquixotesmusic.info/#Carlos_Reyes (7pm $12 adv./$15 door).

 

When BART went out on strike, Chappell worked at home for the week. She redesigned our Reverbnation website, added new music photos and Chappell paintings to her gallery page. We'll soon have two new songs posted. Please come visit the website at http://chappellanddaveholt.com/ and tell us what you think. We also invite those of you who haven’t done so yet to “Like” our Facebook band site at https://www.facebook.com/ChappellandDaveHolt 

Happy Summer and Fourth of July!

Women of the Blues, Pt. 1

Women of the Blues, Pt. 1

I started out as a rock musician basing my style on American Blues, specifically the Country Blues of the American South. I conjured the blues in my life, invoked their gods, called upon their demons by singing the words, invoking that blues condition of mind. I have been down to the crossroads. I got the key to the highway. I would’ve gone down that big road all by myself.

The blues entered me, passed through me and become something else. When I wrote a blues song it became a unique statement. I did not merely duplicate what was conjured and rehearsed in the early stages of learning, though I closely followed in the steps of the past masters. Eventually, I found new direction in myself, different from the one charted by the traditional language of the blues. I developed my own style of performing and songwriting.

 

I was allowed to audit my girlfriend’s classes at Sonoma State University (Rohnert Park, CA) from 1970 – 1973 so I received a great education while she was going there. Philip Elwood, jazz columnist for the Oakland Tribune, was teaching a History of Jazz course that I audited. Her assignments introduced me to wonderful new books, all of them previously unknown to me, and I read them all right along with her—Ishi in Two Worlds, Black Elk Speaks, Blues People, Urban Blues, and others. These communities, formerly excluded from our experience, worlds of marginalized, non-white cultures, were liberated for entry into our imaginations, for us to learn about and enjoy. It was a gas, a moment of cultural transformation to recall forever. We still see the permanent effects of these changes today.

Many rock and pop women singers of those days explored their interest in the blues and jazz traditions of the black community. They followed the lead of elders and scholars like Maria Muldaur, Bonnie Raitt, Janis Joplin and several others. Pamela Polland, who already had experience performing with blues scholar Ry Cooder when they were both kids starting out in Los Angeles, shared her expertise with me. With my help as backup pianist (pictured above), she created a blues act, “Melba Rounds,” that featured the songs of Ethel Waters, Lil Greene, Bessie Smith, Billy Holiday and of course Barbecue Bess, Bessie Jackson (“talkin’ ‘bout my barbecue.”) Pamela also got help from Sonoma State Professor Phil Elwood who taught the jazz history class I’d sat in on a few years before. Elwood let her explore and tape record from his extensive collection to get material.

One of the first songs Pamela found among Professor Phil’s records was “Why Don’t You Do Right?” by Lil Green, with Big Bill Broonzy on guitar. Pamela fell in love with the song and it became a popular one in her repertoire. Although we learned it from Lil Green, Peggy Lee had the biggest hit with her version. Peggy had also learned it from Lil Green’s recording. In a 1984 interview she said "I was and am a fan of Lil Green, a great old blues singer, and Lil recorded it. I used to play that record over and over in my dressing room, which was next door to Benny's (Goodman). Finally he said … 'Would you like me to have an arrangement made of it?' I said, 'I'd love that,' and he did." “Why Don’t You Do Right?” became a hit for her and the Benny Goodman orchestra in 1942 and sold over a million copies.

 

Bessie Smith provided many crowd pleasers for Pamela’s show. One was Bessie’s typically rough and tough “Send Me to the ‘Lectric Chair,” where she sings, “I wanna take a journey to the devil down below. I done killed my man. I wanna reap just what I sow.” Dinah Washington included it on her tribute album to Bessie.

 

 Chappell has written a fine tribute to these singers with her song “Bad Girls Blues,” soon to be released on our CD Stone and Fire. In one verse, she sings about Sippie Wallace, singer-songwriter of the tune “Women Be Wise,” that was popularized by Bonnie

Raitt. “Sippie warned us not to tell our secrets, Lest she come and steal away your man.” (Photo is from Bonnie Raitt and Sippie Wallace’s 1970's tour backed up by fellow FAR-West musician, Freebo).

Our use of the American music traditions of jazz and the blues, as well as folk and country, have earned the descriptor, “the jazzy side of Americana,” for Chappell & Dave Holt’s music. We enjoy the privilege of sharing the jazz and blues of our national folk music with our audiences. 

More next week …

All illustrations owned and copywritten by Chappell Holt.