One of the joys of my job at Thomas Ford is hiring musical acts for our Friday at the Ford concert series featuring folk, jazz, classical, or whatever music will appeal to our community. Thanks to the support that we get from the Western Springs Library Friends, I get to select five acts for each season, usually scheduling concerts in September, November, January, March, and May. I always have plenty of talent from which to choose. Frequently I receive compact discs to demo in the mail, as well as phone calls and emails directing me to websites with streaming music and performer information. If I did not have reference desk duty, books to buy, and websites to maintain, I could spend a lot of time listening to music.
So I was happy to receive Big Mystery, a new CD by North Carolina's Dana and Susan Robinson. We featured Dana and Susan at Friday at the Ford back in the fall of 2008, at which time they already two CDs as a duo and more from Dana's solo days. Native Soil featured mostly traditional Appalachian songs, while Dana wrote most of the songs on 'Round My Door. For Big Mystery, Dana wrote seven songs, including the lively title track, which he describes as a "love song to Vermont during the month of May," and a haunting instrumental "Waiting for Gordon." The traditional songs are an instrumental featuring Dana's fiddle called "Sycamore Tea" and "Poor Howard," an upbeat Ledbelly tune sung by Susan. Susan also sings "Griselda's Waltz," a song that sweetly retells the story of Cinderella through the eyes a sympathetic sister. There are eleven songs, some telling old time stories, and all worth putting on your iPod.
We are hoping to schedule Dana and Susan again in eithe 2011 or 2012. You can get a sample of their music at their website www.robinsongs.com.
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