The Cookblog by Brian Cook

My Interview With Frank Fairfield

I arrive at the Black Cat soon after the doors open. I’m here to see the opener, Frank Fairfield, rather than the headliner (Horse Feathers). In the corner of the bar, a man with a thick mustache and a wavy mop of hair stands behind a pool table, sinking balls by himself. It’s Frank, and it’s too good an opportunity to pass up. I order a beer and walk over.

Me: Hi, Frank. Can I buy you a drink?
FRANK FAIRFIELD (softly): I’m not much of a drinker.
Me: Alright. Do you want to play a game?
FRANK: Sure, I’ll play. What’s your name?
Me: Brian.
(We shake hands.)
FRANK: Do we know each other?
Me: No, but I saw you perform in Golden Gate Park at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass last year.
FRANK: Well that’s on the other side of the country!
Me: I know, I’m a big fan!
(Frank stops, appearing somewhat touched.)
FRANK: Well, what do you want to play?
Me: How about 8 ball?
FRANK: Alright, what kind?
Me: Is there more than one kind? I don’t know.
(Frank mumbles something and racks the balls.)
FRANK: Would you like to do the honors?
Me: Sure, thank you.
(I break, but sink nothing. Emily walks up.)
Me: Frank, this is my friend, Emily. She’s a fiddler, too.
EMILY: Yeah, I played at their wedding.

Frank gets excited and they talk while we play. We’re evenly matched, neither of us particularly good. Frank is methodical in measuring his shots, and takes small leaps in response to near misses. The stage manager comes out and tells him that he’s starting in a few minutes. I offer to call the game a draw, but he insists we finish. I’m winning, but scratch on the 8 ball. We shake hands. He collects his long, rough coat, walks to the stage and gets ready to perform.

Frank Fairfield at the Black Cat
Washington, DC
November 15, 2012

Frank Fairfield – Going Down the River #2

Frank Fairfield – Those Brown Eyes

Frank Fairfield – Some Day You’ll Be Free

Frank Fairfield – The Dying Cowboy

Frank Fairfield – Rye Whiskey/Texas Farewell

Favorite Albums of 2011

As someone who rarely consumes music from some genres, I don’t feel justified in making a “top” list for 2011. The “favorite” appellation should give me latitude to feature those albums that I liked best, free from any obligation to consider music from genres that I don’t enjoy as much. My listening habits have skewed more folk in the last year or two, though I don’t think I’m pigeonholed just yet.

2011 was an interesting year, musically. Reflecting on the albums that came out, there were a few disappointments. Among others, Radiohead, Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside, tUnE-yArDs and Wilco released albums that weren’t nearly as gripping as their previous work. On the plus side, I got to see more live music than ever, including most musicians on this list. Here are my eight favorite albums. Enjoy!

1. Frank Fairfield – Out on the Open West (Poor Old Lance)
2. Tristen – Charlatans at the Garden Gate (Matchstick Murder)
3. Bon Iver – Bon Iver (Minnesota, WI)
4. Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings – The Harrow & The Harvest (Down Along the Dixie Line)
5. Adele – 21 (Someone Like You)
6. Beirut – The Rip Tide (Payne’s Bay)
7. Tom Waits – Bad as Me (New Years’ Eve)
8. Jolie Holland – Pint of Blood (Little Birds)

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass

This year, P and I took advantage of her west coast work trip to catch Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, a free music festival in the heart of San Francisco. We stayed with her college friend, Joe, and got to see some great performers, eat some tasty food, meet some new folks, unexpectedly run into old folks and walk a lot.

The lineup was great for any festival, let alone a free one, though the price of easy access was a massive crowd of people who seemed to prefer altering their minds with drugs rather than music. Not that I’m opposed to honoring a soulful rendition of “If the River Was Whiskey”, but I do prefer attentive listening. Due to crowds and transport logistics, we didn’t quite get to see everyone we wanted; Jolie Holland, AA Bondy, Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn were a few victims of circumstance. We did get to see M Ward (good), Robert Plant (not so good), Robert Earl Keen (pretty good), The Felice Brothers (quite good) and Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings (very good). The clear standout, though, was Frank Fairfield.

A cynic might suggest that Fairfield’s style and personality is an affectation or a schtick. The man looks and talks as if he stepped into the outhouse beside his southern Appalachian cabin in 1870 and stepped out 140 years later. From his clothes to his humility, there’s very little that seems modern about him. Seeing him live, it’s clear that he’s genuinely a man out of time.

We were running late and were thrilled to discover him playing the smallest stage of the festival. Despite a decent crowd, we walked right up to the front row and got to watch him from about 20 feet away. He played with vigor and feeling, and the instant he stopped, he was bashful, awkward, almost autistic. He was also the most consummate musician I’ve ever seen, starting with the fiddle, then moving to the banjo, then to the guitar, then back to the banjo, then to the fiddle again. The speed of his banjo playing seemed supernatural, and he played with the fiddle so ardently that he barely had any horsehair left on his bow by the end of his song. When he was done, he took a couple of quick bows, picked up his three instruments and walked off the stage to really good applause. It was great to see people lined up to buy his newest album, Out on the Open West, from his wife, who P tried to convince to come to DC.

As a treat just for you, here’s “Chilly Winds”, with a little background chatter, recorded from Frank Fairfield’s set:
Frank Fairfield – Chilly Winds (Live at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2011)

10 Favorite Albums of 2010

Looking back, 2010 wasn’t a great year for music. That may be my personal taste not quite meeting the offerings of LCD Soundsystem, Titus Andronicus, MGMT, Broken Bells, Kanye West, Spoon or other names on others’ lists, but could only come up with a few standout albums. There were even fewer that I loved unabashedly. Still, I managed to pull together ten LPs and EPs that I can call favorites and have earned regular rotation inside my ears. As always, agreement and vitriol is welcome in the comments.

1. Beach House – Teen Dream (MP3: Zebra)
Hearing the first few notes of this album, I can immediately taste a fantastic soup and bread made in the cozy kitchen of my friend, Megh. A beautiful album.
2. Pat Jordache – Future Songs (MP3: Get IT)
A late entry, this is experimental but listenable, edgy but catchy.
3. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs (MP3: We Used to Wait)
Another excellent album from a group that does epic just right.
4. Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest (MP3: Helicopter)
A fascinating collection of distorted sounds and instruments. Each listen yields something new.
5. Heirlooms – Heirlooms (MP3: Shaker Hymn)
A refreshing and promising debut EP from a Hartford band getting huge buzz right now.
6. The National – High Violet (MP3: Afraid of Everyone)
Most rock bands write songs about love, sex and drugs. The National writes them about the pressures of raising children and protecting a family.
7. The Walkmen – Lisbon (MP3: Blue As Your Blood)
While not my favorite Walkmen album, even their less sterling work is better than most.
8. Jesse Woods – Moon Rocks (MP3: Sparks)
An EP from a singer-songwriter that delivers a tight-package of well-crafted acoustic songs.
9. The Black Keys – Brothers (MP3: Everlasting Light)
Simply, this is groovy blues rock.
10. The Heligoats – Goodness Gracious (MP3: Fish Sticks)
Feel-good acoustic guitar rock that ranges from introspective to furiously exuberant.

Celestial Flagellation – A Space Opera

So we’re calling it a space opera, despite the exclusion of arias and inclusion of accordions. The story is simple: a 1961 NASA test monkey named “Ham” reluctantly leaves his expecting chimpanzee wife to make his fortune in space. During a space walk to perform routine maintenance  on a heat plate, he becomes separated from his craft drifts through the vacuum, uncertain of his future. A passing meteor nudges him gently but at great speed toward an unknown corner of the universe that bustles with commerce and romance.

Ham trades his favors for rocket parts in a far-flung bazaar, sleeping on the couch of a lonely synthonium player while he builds a new craft. Hitching his contraption to a comet, he speeds back towards Earth, the bosom of his wife and the soft breathing of his infant daughter.

(mp3) Celestial Flagellation – Immortality

(zip) Celestial Flagellation – Of Uranus