December 2008

On December 3, 2008 one of the world's great voices was stilled.  Odetta, who Martin Luther King, Jr. called "The Queen of American Folk Music", reigned for over thirty years with her rich voice and the honest, regal beauty of her presence.  The folks at Ashe Records were about to begin promotion of their online-only release of Odetta's award-winning album Christmas Spirituals when they received the news.

It's a Friday night, and I'm back at the Fox Theatre in Boulder, CO.  The moon overhead is as big as it'll be for the next 8 years or so.  For the beginning of the weekend it's kind of slow, maybe because it's seriously cold outside.  The mood inside seems appropriately low key as well, featuring only three performers in total.  Joe Pug is on stage now, and the Boulder born and raised Wood Brothers

DONNA THE BUFFALO returns for another passionately requested encore, joined by multi-cultural ensemble PANJEA with Chris Berry & Michael Kang (String Cheese Incident), as well as the acoustic sounds of EMMITT-NERSHI BAND (with members of Leftover Salmon and String Cheese Incident) and PETE FRANCIS (of Dispatch) featuring BAREFOOT TRUTH (selected to perform at the Obama official pre-debate Rally on October 15th 2008).