Okay, “stalked” is a bit much. Maybe just “smitten” by? It just seems that lately the cello is my new favorite instrument. It also seems like I can’t play or talk music without the cello somehow coming into the conversation. (That’s a good thing.) Here are a few recent cello chance encounters:
* The idea of using cello on a song or two have mine has been in conversation around house for awhile. Then a few nights ago, I was practicing one of my newer songs (a horse ballad). It’s a waltz. Halfway through, my wife looked over and realized, “THERE’S your cello song”. She’s good with insight like that. I’m sure (hopeful, anyway) that I’ll cross paths with the instrument whenever work on the next CD begins. And I’m fortunate to know more than a few cello players. Steve U? Chris K? Martha? Any of you reading this?
* In the last two episodes of the “Songs and Stories” podcast, Sharon Allen talked about how she was thrilled to have cellist Barry Phillips play on her debut CD, “Along the Way”. She was able to get him in the studio just days before he started a long tour with Ravi Shankar.
Crooked Still* Most recently, I was revisiting the lineup for the upcoming Strawberry Music Festival and saw that Crooked Still is playing the main stage on Sunday night. If you’re not familiar with them, they were one of those “up and coming bands” a few years back. They’ve now just released their fourth CD. They’re ridiculously talented: Lead singer Aoife O’Donovan sounds more than a little like Alison Krauss. The whole band is classically trained. And band member Tristan Clarridge proves that the phrase “bluegrass cello” is not an oxymoron. (Have a listen for yourself.)
And I’ve just confirmed that on the Sunday of the festival, sometime between their revival and mainstage sets, I’ll be sitting down with Crooked Still for a podcast interview. Should be the perfect capper to a great weekend.
(If you want to hear a bit more about Strawberry, check out “Strawberry Strolling”, one of my favorite podcast episodes, from a few years back.)