I really dig Curtis Eller. He’s come out to the Bay Area to play a couple of times in the past couple of years. I happened upon his banjo playing, great singing voice, thoughtful songwriting and wild physicality at a club one night and was completely taken in. These aren’t jump around dance songs, but we love them and listen to them often.
One cool by-product is that his songs have started lots of very interesting discussions about Buster Keaton, Amelia Earhart, Coney Island, pigeon racing, Stephen Foster, Al Jolson, Elvis Presley, and other very interesting topics. We’ve learned all kinds of cool stuff.
Plus, he yodels.
Curtis Eller’s American Circus – Amelia Earhart
Curtis Eller’s American Circus – Stephen Foster
Curtis Eller’s American Circus – Red Red Robin
His live shows are totally not all ages, but if you live in NYC or the UK (or check his myspace page for other venues) you should definitely check him out. He’s super dynamic. A great fun show.
-deb in sf
3 comments:
Very cool... I love hearing about music that is completely new to me. And I've recently learned to love the banjo through Sufjan Stevens.
Maybe this will be the way to convince my kids that music doesn't have to make you want to dance. Sometimes listening is just as good. I'll let you know what they think Deb.
Zak
yikes! Tall order, Zak. But you know, sometimes we're in the car, or it's flippin' early on a sunday morning, or close to bedtime, or something when a jump-around spaz-fest just won't do (as much as I hate being the parent, sometimes). My kids love these songs.
Phil - banjo and accordion! Stick with the dork princess... some killer stuff!
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