{"id":50187,"date":"2022-04-08T09:10:44","date_gmt":"2022-04-08T13:10:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=50187"},"modified":"2022-04-08T09:10:49","modified_gmt":"2022-04-08T13:10:49","slug":"on-stage-bonus-livingston-taylor-is-still-going-strong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=50187","title":{"rendered":"On Stage Bonus: Livingston Taylor is still going strong"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, Entertainment Editor, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

Livingston Taylor<\/p><\/div>\n

Livingston Taylor has a lot of musical talent \u2013 and a knack for longevity.<\/p>\n

Taylor, who will be headlining a show on April 9 at Delaware Valley University (700 East Butler Avenue, Doylestown, is a singer-songwriter who made his first album 52 years ago and has released more than 20 more LPs since then.<\/p>\n

Taylor has a long history of touring internationally over the last five decades. Taylor has also been a professor at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston for more than a quarter-century.<\/p>\n

You might think that when the pandemic shut everything down last year, Taylor would put a hold on live performances \u2013 that he would stay home and work on recording a new album \u2013 and that he would resort to Zoom if he opted to continue teaching. That wasn\u2019t his M.O. <\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the pandemic, I hunkered down and watched the world go by,\u201d said Taylor, during a recent phone interview from his home in Watertown, Massachusetts. \u201cThings slowed mightily.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people were stunningly productive. I\u2019m not one of them. I make music to play for people. I did do some live shows \u2013 some in a theater without an audience. It was very hard. It required a certain kind of visualization.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did a few Zoom shows. That\u2019s truly the definition of \u2018phoning it in.\u2019 I also played some outdoor shows in parking lots. I need to see people. I crave it. When I don\u2019t have it, I don\u2019t feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to COVID-19, Taylor had it and it didn\u2019t feel good.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got COVID a month ago,\u201d said Taylor. \u201cI didn\u2019t feel well so I took a test. The next morning, I did it again and the positive sign was glowing. I had a couple days of feeling poorly — that\u2019s all.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that we\u2019re moving to post-Covid, we have to keep going. When you drive a car into a ditch, you\u2019ve got to get it out and figure out what broke.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still think it\u2019s going to take four or five years to work through it. It was an unprecedented interruption in the world\u2019s functioning. No other event has thoroughly stopped the planet like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor is a natural performer, peppering his shows with personal stories, anecdotes and ineffable warmth that connect him to his fans. His relaxed on-stage presence belies the depth of his musical knowledge, and fans might just as often be treated to a classic Gershwin or something from the best of Broadway.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my live shows, I do speak about the songs \u2013 who wrote them\u2026why they wrote them,\u201d said Taylor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always about the idea of making a song \u2013 making an experience. I speak about myself \u2013 but only in reference to the music not me. A life well-lived is boring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor picked up his first guitar at the age of 13, which began a 50-year career that has encompassed performance, songwriting, and teaching. Born in Boston and raised in North Carolina, Livingston is the fourth child in a very musical family that includes Alex, James, Kate, and Hugh. Livingston recorded his first record at the age of 18 and has continued to create well crafted, introspective, and original songs that have earned him listeners worldwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really like to play and see my music brought to people,\u201d said Taylor. \u201cMy first show when I knew my music worked was when I was opening for Joni Mitchell at Boston University in 1969. I was third on the bill behind Joni and Jaime Brockett.<\/p>\n

\u201cJaime had played, and the audience was anxious to hear Joni. In my 20 minutes, I was able to win the audience over. The only thing in my mind was that this works. This was before I started recording. I was writing a lot of songs and testing them to see if it works.\u201d<\/p>\n

A half-century later, it\u2019s obvious that it has worked.<\/p>\n

From Top 40 hits \u201cI Will Be in Love with You\u201d and \u201cI\u2019ll Come Running,\u201d to \u201cI Can Dream of You\u201d and \u201cBoatman,\u201d the last two recorded by his brother James, Taylor\u2019s creative output has continued unabated. His musical knowledge has inspired a varied repertoire, and he is equally at home with a range of musical genres \u2014 folk, pop, gospel, jazz \u2014 and from upbeat storytelling and touching ballads to full orchestra performances.<\/p>\n

Taylor is a full professor at Berklee College of Music, where he has taught a Stage Performance course since 1989. He teaches young artists invaluable lessons learned over the course of an extensive career on the road. His high-selling book, \u201cStage Performance,\u201d which was released in 2011, offers those lessons to anyone who is interested in elevating their presentation standards to professional standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still teach at Berklee but won\u2019t do it on Zoom,\u201d said Taylor. \u201cI\u2019m not going to take kids\u2019 money and not give them a successful experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, I\u2019m not going to teach a course masked. I\u2019m teaching stage performance. I\u2019m teaching communication skills. I want to read people\u2019s faces.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor also has avoided the recording studio.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a couple albums in the pipeline, but no tracks recorded,\u201d said Taylor. \u201cI\u2019m not making records in my garage. Recording the way I want to is an expensive undertaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor sees a light at the end of the COVID tunnel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stopping of society is done,\u201d said Taylor. \u201cBut it\u2019s really going to take years to gear this up again. It\u2019s hard to stop the world completely and then get it going again. I am very optimistic for its resolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Livingston Taylor \u2013\u00a0https:\/\/youtu.be\/HKlam3eXSSY<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show on April 9 will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets prices start at $20.<\/p>\n

Lyric Fest (https:\/\/lyricfest.org<\/a>) is back in action this weekend with a concert of world premieres \u2013 \u201cThe Song Catcher: The Folk Song Re-Imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Jennifer Higdon<\/p><\/div>\n

The event will introduce new works by Gregory Brown, John Conahan, Michael Djupstrom, Melissa Dunphy, Jennifer Higdon, Allen Krantz, Gilda Lyons, Robert Maggio, Jeffrey Scott, and Benjamin P. Wenzelberg.<\/p>\n

Performances will be held on April 9 at The American Philosophical Society (104 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia) and April 10 at the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church Sanctuary (Goodhart Hall, 150 North Merion Avenue, Bryn Mawr).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re an art song revival series and this is our 19th season,\u201d said DuPlantis, during a recent phone interview from Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take a theme and create a program. We curate songs and also do commissioned music. We\u2019ve commissioned 200 songs in our history.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor this, we invited 10 compose to write compositions inspired by works relating to folk songs. We asked them to come up with works inspired by the spirit of folk songs \u2013 the unpretentious spirit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we approached the composers, I wasn\u2019t sure how they would respond to this idea. Almost everybody wanted to be part of this.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always loved folk music. And classical composer like Brahms, Dvorak and Haydn were always inspired by folk songs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used 10 composers \u2013 one piece per composer. We have four singers \u2013 soprano, mezzo, tenor, baritone \u2013 and four instruments \u2013 piano, cello, viola and oboe. Charlotte Blake Alston, a storyteller from Philadelphia, will be telling folk tales.\u201d<\/p>\n

The concert features world premieres of folk song-inspired works by\u00a0Gregory Brown\u00a0(The Ballad of Anna Rosina),\u00a0John Conahan\u00a0(American Dreams),\u00a0Michael Djupstrom\u00a0(Sejdefu majka bu\u0111as\u030ce),\u00a0Melissa Dunphy\u00a0(Eat the Rich),\u00a0Jennifer Higdon\u00a0(Little River Songs),\u00a0Allen Krantz\u00a0(Three Sephardic Songs),\u00a0Gilda Lyons\u00a0(El Zopilote),\u00a0Robert Maggio\u00a0(The Story of Cherokee Rose),\u00a0Jeffrey Scott\u00a0(A Morte Devager), and\u00a0Benjamin P. Wenzelberg\u00a0(Through the brightening air).<\/p>\n

These new works will be partnered with dramatic storytelling by\u00a0Charlotte Blake Alston, and performed by soprano\u00a0Cree Carrico, mezzo-soprano\u00a0Devony Smith, tenor\u00a0Steven Brennfleck, baritone\u00a0Jean Bernard Cerin, pianist\u00a0Laura Ward, and instrumentalists from\u00a0Orchestra 2001.<\/p>\n

According to DuPlantis, \u201cThe resulting variety is amazing. Jennifer Higdon\u2019s is Appalachian in spirit, and she wound up writing both words and music. Melissa Dunphy wrote a modern folk protest song in the spirit of Woody Guthrie and Gil Scott-Heron, Jeffrey Scott wrote a Brazilian inspired piece setting a poem that spoke to him, and our youngest composer Benjamin P. Wenzelberg, composed a setting of a Yeats poem that is folkloric in mood. These are only four of ten completely unique pieces!\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Lyric Fest \u2014\u00a0https:\/\/youtu.be\/ankbV2WOsg8<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tickets are $25 for either performance.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Hot Flash Heat Wave<\/p><\/div>\n

Hot Flash Heat Wave is a young band from California that has already played Philadelphia three times. On April 9, they will return to the Quaker City for a shop at Kung Fu Necktie (1248 North Front Street, Philadelphia, 215-291-4919, kungfunecktie.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The band — Ted Davis, Bass and Vocals; Adam Abilgaard, Guitar and Vocals; Nick Duffy, Drums \u2013 just released its third full-length, \u201cSportswear.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trio got its start in Davis, California and released its debut album, \u201cNeapolitan,\u201d in 2015 and the follow-up LP, \u201cSoaked,\u201d in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started hanging out with Adam in high school in Davis and we\u2019d play shows with Nick\u2019s band,\u201d said Davis, during a phone interview Tuesday from a tour stop in Montreal, Quebec.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a nice garage band scene in Davis. We made an album in 2014 which was only available on Bandcamp.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duffy said, \u201cWe all went to different colleges. Ted went to San Francisco State, Adam was at a community college, and I went to the University of California<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, we moved to San Francisco. We had rent control at a nice spot. We were integrating with the San Francisco band scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe put \u2018Neapolitan\u2019 out in 2015 and \u2018Soaked\u2019 in 2017. Both were full albums.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abilgaard said, \u201cWe\u2019ve done a couple singles since then and we actually just dropped a new album. We definitely put a lot of energy into upping the production. We try to make records that have lasting appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis said, \u201cThe whole pandemic thing prolonged the process of finishing the album. Half was written before the pandemic and half during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe songwriting is pretty communal. It\u2019s pretty cool having three songwriters. We only have two singers. Nick sings in the showers and just drums.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did a lot of recording at home. Originally, we thought it would take a lot less time. We did some recording at Desanto\u2019s in Oakland.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went to the studio to put on the finishing touches. We pretty much finished the album in November in Oakland with our producer Jason Kick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Hot Flash Heat Wave — https:\/\/youtu.be\/ZSPdHKgw-No<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show at Kung Fu Necktie on April 9 will start at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

Tickets are $15.<\/p>\n

\"\"

System Exclusive,<\/p><\/div>\n

If you do a Google search for System Exclusive, a frequent answer goes something like this \u2013 \u201cOne of the categories of MIDI messages, System Exclusive (Sys Ex) is data intended for, and understood by, only one particular piece of gear. Normally, this data is used to communicate with and control parameters specific to that item. For example, all of the proprietary data in a Roland D-110 synthesizer representing RAM patches might be sent as a \u201csys ex dump\u201d to a computer librarian. When the computer sends this data back out over MIDI, the only device recognizing and responding to it will be a D-110, all other synths and MIDI devices will ignore it. Other uses for sys ex? MIDI control of parameters not supported by continuous controllers, remote patch editing, patch bank select, and more \u2013 uses depend on, and can be tailored for, each specific piece of MIDI gear \u2013 that\u2019s the beauty of sys ex!\u201d<\/p>\n

If you search a little more, you\u2019ll find that System Exclusive is also the name of an intense synth band \u2013 actually, the name of a duo.<\/p>\n

Ari Blaisdell (formerly with the Beat-Offs and Lower Self) and Matt Jones (formerly with Male Gaze and Blasted Canyons) are System Exclusive \u2013 self-described as glittering synth-poppy heart throbbing post-punk from the heat of an eternal Pasadena summer.<\/p>\n

On April 11, System Exclusive will visit the area for a show at the Dolphin Tavern (1539 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, www.dolphinphilly.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

System Exclusive is touring in support of its self-title debut album which was released March 4, 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made the album during quarantine,\u201d said Jones, during a phone interview Monday as he and his partner travelled from Louisville to Nashville. \u201cWe wrote it and finished it in early 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n

The album was recorded and engineered by Enrique Tena Padilla in The Cube and Jonestown in Pasadena and mastered by JJ Golden.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had just finished building our studio,\u201d said Blaisdell, who is originally from Santa Cruz, California. \u201cJonestown is an extension of our garage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones, who is from Santa Rosa, California, said, \u201cWhen we\u2019re recording, we usually start with synth and set the framework.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blaisdell added, \u201cI\u2019ll get a line in my head and give it to him. I\u2019ll come up with a melody, but it\u2019s all centered around the synth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The eponymous album is not System Exclusive\u2019s first recording effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did one single on Bandcamp only called \u2018We Follow\u2019,\u201d said Jones. \u201cWe also did Christmas single called \u2018A Carole to St. Catthew.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

All of the duo\u2019s roots are in California.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe met at a party in San Francisco,\u201d said Jones. \u201cHer band was falling apart, and my band was falling apart. We realized we both liked to travel and tour a lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, we started to play together. We had a long-distance relationship for a while. I do a lot of work in San Francisco, and she was living in L.A.<\/p>\n

\u201cEventually, we got together. Now, we\u2019ve been life partners since 2018 — four years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blaisdell said, \u201cWe had six or seven songs ready to record. We were ready to do shows and then the pandemic hit. We wrote a few more songs during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our live set, we\u2019re playing album songs and three new songs. We do one cover \u2013 \u2018When I\u2019m With You\u2019 by Sparks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for System Exclusive \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/hIukBS4swI4<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show an April 11, which also features Catherine Moan and Twin Princess, will start at 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Tickets are $12.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Shovels & Rope<\/p><\/div>\n

The four years the System Exclusive pair have been life partners pales in comparison to the duo that makes up Shovels & Rope.<\/p>\n

Celebrated, award-winning duo\u00a0Shovels & Rope, which is playing the Brooklyn Bowl (1009 Canal Street, Philadelphia, www.brooklynbowl.com\/philadelphia<\/a>) on April 12, features Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got married in 2008,\u201d said Trent, during a recent phone interview from a tour stop in Asheville, North Carolina.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe first met in Charleston,\u201d said Hearst. \u201cThere was a good music scene in Charleston. Everybody was excited about each other\u2019s music.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe each arrived in Charleston around 2004 or 2005. We were in different bands and working just weekends. He was in a band called The Films. In East Carolina, it\u2019s easy to play a few markets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trent said, \u201cWhen we got married, we both were doing separate music acts. Then, we started doing our shows as a two-person band. We played bar gigs to earn money. It\u2019s pretty easy to do in Charleston.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2008, Hearst and Trent recorded and released the album\u00a0\u2018Shovels & Rope\u2019\u00a0as a co-bill under their individual names, not intended to ever create a permanent act.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur first record was not really a band record,\u201d said Hearst. \u201cIt was two songwriters making music together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we started touring as Shovels & Rope, we recorded the album \u2018O’ Be Joyful.\u2019 That was the forst album that came out as Shovels & Rope.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn that record, all the songs were character-based \u2013 sort of a conceptual album. There would be one song and then the next song was what happened next. It was a pretty dark record.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trent said, \u201cThe record company Dualtone came up to us and wanted to sign us. We\u2019d been burned in the past by a major label, so we just wanted to tour in our van and self-release our music. Now, we have a really good relationship with Dualtone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shovels & Rope have released six of their eight albums on Dualtone, including \u201cManticore,\u201d which just came out in February.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made \u2018Manticore\u2019 at our home studio in Charleston,\u201d said Trent. \u201cWe had just come off the road prior to lockdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no theme. It\u2019s just a collection of songs. We tell our own story through other people\u2019s stories. Some of the songs are about family stuff or about depression from the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Shovels & Rope \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/39WK2cIYGEc<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show on April 12 will start at 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

Tickets are $25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times Livingston Taylor has a lot of musical talent \u2013 and a knack for longevity. Taylor, who will be headlining a show on April 9 at Delaware Valley University (700 East Butler Avenue, Doylestown, is a singer-songwriter who made his first album 52 years ago and has released more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8457],"tags":[7426,14450,9629,14449,14452,14451],"class_list":["post-50187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-featured","tag-hot-flash-heat-wave","tag-livingston-taylor","tag-lyric-fest","tag-shovels-and-rope","tag-system-exchange"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50187"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50188,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50187\/revisions\/50188"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/50182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}