We're excited that a lot of Foggers are getting turned on to Madison Violet. They've been together for over ten years, which seems to be the benchmark for getting exposure, unfortunately. This year's No Fool for Trying project has really opened them up to an Americana audience, though. They were recently honored as Vocal Group of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards, and they're currently cocooning before heading to Europe for an early 2010 tour.
"The Ransom" opens the album and draws you in with beautiful harmonies and a sexy steel guitar. This was the first song they performed for our Music Fog session at The Mansion On O Street, too, but with just two acoustic guitars. The true strength of a song comes out when you strip it down to just the basics, and we think you'll agree that this one completely holds its own. Wonderful songwriting and story telling, with a faithful vocal delivery, and guitar playing with smooth finesse. Love me some Madison Violet!
This band is a rolling party. They actually tasked their audience to tally up the miles they traveled in 2009 to see RCPM and, from what we hear, there were some gargantuan numbers! Would you believe some have traveled over 20,000 miles to see them play throughout the year? The fan who has logged the most miles gets a couple of tickets to the January Jam in Mexico at JJ's Cantina in Puerto Peñasco on January 30th! Then there are dates in England, which sounds like a blast too. Why? Because the shows are so much fun.
This tune, I don't know, it just feels like a holiday song to me, it's so bright and happy, while talking about spitting out lemon seeds! Savor all the moments! Even if they make you pucker at times...
John and his incredible band scheduled a Christmas Show in Vienna, Virginia, so we jumped at our first chance to film them, and work with the fine folks at Jammin' Java again. What started off as an innocent Music Fog filming session turned into a whirlwind of craziness just before and after the cameras rolled. The house audio engineer, Anthony, did a great job of getting the band comfy on-stage during soundcheck, and preparing everything for both our performance, and the evening's show for the public. But moments later both of us were knee deep into the back of two mixing consoles, trying to get digital and analog worlds to collide. The band is ready. The crowd behind the ropes, waiting for their show, is getting larger---many of them eye-balling their potential course through the sea of chairs to gain the optimum front row seat. The mob is getting restless. It's go time. A couple of patch switches, cable runs, and confirmation nods later we're up and running, and the band is simply tearing it up on stage! Afterwards, though, like a scene from Beatle-mania, the mob dashes in and dumps one of our lights in a rush for the stage. Mind you, these were 40 and 50 year olds at a Christmas show! That is the craziness of John Cowan. The man can play, and sing, like there's no tomorrow.
Here's one from his new Christmas project Comfort & Joy, which is out now. We'll also bring you some wicked non-Christmas videos from the band in the weeks to come. There are just five more east coast dates for this tour, then the band will spend some time with their families. Here's to hoping that you'll be home for Christmas, too.
