Ray Bierl: Home
GOODBYE UTAH
May 24, 2008 - This morning we received the sad news that Utah Phillips, the great folk singer, labor organizer, storyteller and poet, had died in the night. His health had been declining dramatically in the last few months and he was living very quietly at his home in Nevada City.
The benefit/tribute at the Freight and Salvage on May 6 was a great success and all who participated were glad and gratified to be part of it. A few of us traveled to Nevada City a couple of days later for a short visit with Utah. We found him to be in good humor and sharp wit, though operating, as he put it, at about 30% of his normal energy level. We all thought/hoped that there'd be time for more.
http://utahphillips.blogspot.com/
BIO
Relatively new on the website is an updated Bio, based on a very nice article Chuck Poling wrote about me in the February 2008 issue of Bluegrass Breakdown, and which he graciously allowed me to adapt. (Click on Bio.)
ROOTS REVUE
For a couple of years I've been doing informative and entertaining school programs with Evie Ladin and Allegra Yellin, called Roots Revue. We show how African, European and Native American traditions came together in the Southeastern U.S. to create a wonderful new world of music and dance. We sing, play guitars, fiddles, banjos, saxophone (!), dance and hambone, and involve the kids all the way through. We've done the show for school kids ranging from kindergarten to junior high, and have received uniformly great reviews.
If you know of a school that might be interested, contact Evie at evie@stairwellsisters.com.
DI BARTOLO CAFE
The informal 2-person jams I've been doing at Di Bartolo Cafe are now regularly scheduled for first and third Sundays each month, 11 am to 1 pm. Stop by for a cuppa, a bite, and a song or two or three. 3308 Grand Avenue, Oakland.
ANY PLACE I HANG MY CD IS HOME
I've sent copies of "Any Place I Hang My Hat" to music programmers at radio stations across the country, so I hope that soon we'll start hearing it coming over the air waves. It was produced by Laurie Lewis and has some of my favorite musicians helping out on it. (I must say I'm quite pleased with it.) Audio samples can be heard by clicking on Buy CD's and then clicking the CD Baby link.
Click on Reviews to read what people have to say about it.
Click on CD Images to see what it looks like.
Click on Buy CD's to. . .you know.
(And my earlier CD "Cowboy Dancing" is still available.)
Thanks for stopping by.
Ray Bierl
(Photo by Cathy Cooke Evers.)