Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Something old made new, in an old fashioned way.

By the time anyone reads this, if anyone actually does read this, it will probably be too late to see the Triad Stage production of Brother Wolf. But probably won't be too late to buy the CD of the music from Brother Wolf.
BW is an original musical production that mixes Beowulf with Appalachian music and folk tales, with a little Hell-fire and brimstone thrown in, just because. It deals with Pride, Vengeance, Forgiveness, long knives, pistols, demons, snake-handlers, snakes all played out to toe tappin' fiddle music soundtrack. I doubt that it will see a national tour anytime soon, and if it does, it probably won't take along composer/musician Laurelyn Dosset or musician Riley Baugus (they form two parts of the trio Polecat Creek). The music is the soul of the play, even though the actors are very good. But the script loses steam in the last act and the music, consistently good throughout, has to carry the show at the end. I don't know if the music was composed after the script or simultaneously, but it fits seemlessly into the plot, and at times seems crucial.
I recommend the CD if you like mountain music (not Bluegrass, mountain). You can hear snippets here and here.

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Where'd you come from?

If you're here, you're probably lost. If not, welcome. This is a bit of a restart, hopefully more successful than its predecessor.
Leatherwing