As we wind down 2021, let’s look backwards a bit. I love old music. I grew up watching those B&W movies with all the great Tin Pan Alley songs, the big band songs, the Starlight Ballroom songs, smokey jazz clubs, the boozy wedding reception songs. Here we revisit two songs written in this 40s-style—HOLES & THIEF RIVER FALLS RIVER THIEF—in the 8th Restrung-Resung-Remixed-Remastered EP pairing. We rarely played these live, mainly because they were not the typical dance song folks in Wyoming were looking for from us. Plus both songs deserved a good edit in retrospect; each are now 1-2 minutes shorter, even though all the many chords that Kelli T loved to figure out on her banjo are still there.
HOLES –A love song about the ying & yang of people. Some thirty years ago, we were out on Long Island, NY eating dinner at a friend’s parent’s house. Us young folk were gossiping about some couple and how weird they seemed together. Our friend’s dad quietly said: “the holes in her head must fit the bumps in his”. End of discussion. His observation stuck. I think about tolerance as learning to accept the fact that what works for other people does not have to work for you. This song originally had a trombone, but that disappeared into the ether of the recording studio. I replaced it with a resonator.
THIEF RIVER FALLS RIVER THIEF – My grandmother’s sister Babe lived to be over 100. She lived in the wilds of northern Minnesota. She made her living buying wild rice from the People—the Ojibwe or Anishanaabe, as they came off the lakes in their canoes. She bought the rice on the shore and took it to town. Her husband was a fur trapper. I have faint memories of pelts, hides, and fur all around their home. My dad and I went up to her 100th birthday party. Someone asked her why she still lived alone in a 2nd story apartment. Her reply: “What do you think keeps me going—it’s all those damn steps I go up and down every day.” Remnants of the old homestead still remain up there, including three Shogren namesakes: the Impoundment (a fancy name for a swamp), the Cemetery, and the Dam. Note that the guitar and mandolin are both tuned in what is called Sawmill tuning…CGCGCE, which only seemed appropriate for a song about Aunt Babe.
Girl in a Chair - Art by Frida
JAHA!
credits
released December 31, 2021
Both songs written by J Shogren
HOLES
Shaun Kelley—bass; Mike Krupp—box; J Shogren—vocals, guitar, tenor banjo, resonator, misc. Original recordings at Thunderground Sound Studio (Laramie, WY); Dan Tinker, engineer; Original mastering by Jim Wilson. New recordings and remixing at the Stump (Laramie, WY); Remastered by David Benyamin (Paris). Original is on American Holly (2008), JAHA!#2
THIEF RIVER FALLS RIVER THIEF
Mark Zieres—bass; Jascha Herdt—Drums; Mandy (Bohlender) Gifford—vocals; Kelli Trujillo—vocals; Shaun Kelley—vocals; J Shogren—vocals, guitar, mandolin, misc; Original recordings at Thunderground Sound Studio (Laramie, WY); Dan Tinker, engineer; Original mastering by Jim Wilson. New recordings and remixing at the Stump (Laramie, WY); Remastered by David Benyamin (Paris). Original is on Bird God Bless these Crooked Little Songs (2012), JAHA!#4
This album speaks to the continuum of African diasporic culture that is central to the vibrant canon of Americana folk music. Bandcamp Album of the Day May 29, 2020
