Michael Gaither

Quite often, great songs come from a not-so-great place. Santa Cruz songwriter Nancy Cassidy’s new release, “Song of Joy,” is a great example. This Friday, October 26th, she’ll play the whole record – featuring several of the musicians who played on the CD – in a special release concert at the Corralitos Cultural Center in Watsonville.

After the release of her last CD, 2009’s “Runaway Train,” Nancy says that she hit a “rough patch”. She had “too many friends were facing serious health or life issues”. She found herself writing songs specifically for them. With a lot of friends and a lot of songs to write, she eventually had enough material for a new record. A record that was quite different from her previous releases.

Nancy is known as both a children’s artist and a folk/Americana songwriter. The first CD in her KidsSongs series went gold. The five-CD collection has sold over two million copies and was recently released as a boxed set. Bruce Springsteen even took notice: He covered her song “Chicken Hips and Lizard Lips” on the gold-record winning For Our Children record, a fundraiser for Pediatric AIDS. As an Americana artist, you can hear Nancy’s music on KPIG, KUSP, and KKUP, as well as on indie and Americana stations around the world.

“Song of Joy” isn’t really a departure from her other work, but it does hold together with a theme and a purpose. It’s definitely a healing record – we’ve bought several copies and given them out as gifts to our own friends in need. But rest assured that this isn’t some mellow CD filled with elevator music. The styles run from Americana (“Wanna Be the One”) to old-time bluegrass (“I’ll Be Your Sun and Moon”) to a little gospel (“You Are Not Alone”). It was produced by local favorite Keith Greeninger and features some of Santa Cruz’ finest musicians, including Dayan Kai (guitars, keyboards, mandolin, vocals), Steve Uccello (stand-up bass), and Jimmy Norris (percussion, glockenspiel).

About the show: We’re close to our third year of presenting shows at the Corralitos Cultural Center. Every night is special, but I have a feeling this one is going to be VERY cool. Doors open at 7:00pm. Show starts at 7:30pm. Suggested donation is $10-$20. Email me if you’d like to reserve a seat ahead of time. The Corralitos Cultural Center is at 127 Hames Road in Watsonville.