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If you like Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, you will fall in love with MELODY WALKER and JACOB GROOPMAN. This duo is fluent in bluegrass and we can't wait to hear them.
Please come meet and listen to this phenomenal duo on Saturday December 14th. You will be extremely glad you came!!!
For a duo that has existed for only two short years, Melody Walker & Jacob Groopman have accomplished some amazing feats! Following the release of Melody's critically acclaimed debut album Gold Rush Goddess, Melody and Jacob have toured all over the US as a duo and in up-and-coming progressive bluegrass band Front Country. Gold Rush Goddess was named one of No Depression's top 50 albums of 2012, and this April, Melody won the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at MerleFest for her secular humanist gospel song "Black Grace". Front Country took home the gold in both the RockyGrass and Telluride band competitions and is up for an IBMA Momentum Award this fall. Between these triumphs, Melody and Jacob occasionally make it back to their San Francisco Bay Area home, rebuilding their lives together as two people whose bond has only tightened with all this travel and success.
In October 2013, Melody Walker & Jacob Groopman released their first duo album We Made It Home, capturing the essence of their experiences on the road and of returning. Produced by Grammy-winning bluegrass/roots music legend Laurie Lewis, the album projects comfort and intimacy. Their voices raised in harmony, their instruments intertwined, Melody and Jacob's original songs and carefully chosen covers tap into their collective eclecticism. Under the layers of rich acoustic tones and powerful vocals, the songs draw from the realms of astronomy, ethnomusicology, feminism, folklore, and family history. The power of Melody and Jacob's duets make these different topics seem natural together, like a fascinating dinner table conversation, and the ease with which they create music together can only be born from two people who've traveled long miles, finding home wherever they are.
Before meeting in Northern California, Melody Walker and Jacob Groopman both grew up surrounded by sound. Melody was the daughter of a blue collar songwriter father and grew up listening to everything from the Beatles to Bill Monroe. After studying percussion and voice at Humboldt State University and in India and Brazil, she co-founded the women's world fusion a cappella group AkaBella.
Originally from Richmond, VA with Appalachian musical ancestry, Jacob fell hard for his first love, rock 'n' roll, but it was the West Coast stylings of Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead that turned him on to American folk music. He studied jazz guitar at Oberlin College, dabbling in jug band music before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area and jumping into the local bluegrass scene. Before teaming up with Melody, Jacob toured extensively with the Afrobeat band Albino! and country-rockers The Real Nasty.
On We Made It Home, Melody's songs well up from her diverse philosophical interests. "Black Grace," a beautiful song, which won Melody first place at the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest in the gospel category, combines scientific and religious definitions of heaven to create a secular humanist gospel song of remarkable depth and power. "Yellow Haired Girl" reminds the listener of early feminist anthems like "Wagoner's Lad" or The Carter Family's "Single Girl," but draws more from the legacy of singer-songwriters like Tori Amos and Ani DiFranco who unmask the brutal reality of our culture's exploitation of women. Throughout We Made It Home, Melody and Jacob craft old traditions with modern twists. From the folk roots sounds of "Billy the Champ" (an ode to a boxing ex-circus chimp), to the somber mandolin and vocal subtlety of "Sweet Sunny South," and from the refreshing and just down-right-fun cover of Paul Simon's "Graceland," to the closing track, a flawless take on Peter Rowan's song "Mississippi Moon," it's a jubilation to hear these two playing music together.
MENU ...
Smothered Pork Chops, Rice, Mixed Veggies, Tossed Salad, Roll, and Dessert Served with Iced Tea or Water!
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LocationRear Window Listening Room (View)
107 East Menefee Ave
Ganado, TX 77962
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
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