Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave's topics - tribe.net

Kristin Hersh: Learn To Sing Like A Star

DevastatorJr — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 14:57:06 GMT

Kristin Hersh
Learn to Sing Like a Star
(Yep Roc)
US release date: 23 January 2007
UK release date: 29 January 2007

by Michael Metivier

I wouldn’t put it past a clueless record executive to advise 20-year recording veteran Kristin Hersh to “learn to sing like a star”, but red heaven help them if they actually did, potentially inspiring the title of her seventh solo studio album, and her first since 2003’s The Grotto. The equivalent of telling chef Bobby Flay to study the art of White Castle Chicken Rings, steering the gravel-voiced artist behind Throwing Muses, 50-Foot Wave, and a solo catalog that includes “Your Ghost”, “Gazebo Tree”, and “Your Dirty Answer” down the primrose path of Liz Phair and Jewel before her could only have ended badly. Assuming any truth in that perverse imagined scenario, Learn to Sing Like a Star is the sweetest revenge, further cementing Hersh’s status as one of “alternative” rock’s most valuable all-time players, a songwriter—and yes, singer—of enduring worth to popular music.

With her solo records spanning from the sparse, now-classic Hips and Makers, to a mail-order only release of Appalachian murder ballads and lullabies, to the woozy Howe Gelb- and Andrew Bird-abetted Grotto, one might expect her first release for the Americana-rich Yep Roc stable to continue in stride, but Learn to Sing Like a Star brings the rock of her two aforementioned bands, and how. “Getting up is what hurts,” she roars on “Day Glow”, putting the acoustic guitars to bed in favor of an electric’s percussive throb, strings provided by the McCarricks, and Muses drummer David Narcizo. The song builds, dies down, then swirls up again in a tuneful fury. The opener, “In Shock”, is similarly nervy, backed by rapid-fire piano thumping. “Bitten by a dream state / You are fearless / And your empty arms / Waiting for no one / You wanted to be wanted,” Hersh drawls and rasps about attitude, image, crushes with eyeliner, perhaps.

The album as a whole seems similarly concerned with personality, and personality conflicts. “Sugar Baby” alternates jittery acoustic strumming with watery effects-laden electric wiggles as Hersh sings, “You’re a sight / You look like someone dressed as you.” “Your messing with my head makes a terrible noise,” she sings on the jaunty “Wild Vanilla”, before the wonderfully bizarre admission, “You make the gypsy in me horny for the flower garden.” Such back-and-forth dysfunction recalls the thorny days of mid-’90s confessional rock, which was 90% tiresome, but Hersh’s work comes off neither petty nor petulant. She is the wise, wild woman of the neighborhood, fucking shit up and then putting it in context. Learn to Sing Like a Star is punctuated by several shreds of song that break the flow of anxiety with somber solo guitar (the most excellently titled “Christian Hearse") and empty hall piano ("Piano 1"). Though wordless, these are the vestiges of the more reflective, off-kilter storytelling side of Hersh’s catalog.

“Vertigo” is the album’s highlight, representing in four quick minutes the breadth of Hersh’s various styles and talents. A bit of minstrel-folk guitar plucking weaves in and out, harking back to cuts like “Teeth” and “Heaven”. The song is then drawn into edgy, staccato, beat-driven territory. Violins saw through the air like insect wings. The two sections eventually merge, with Narcizo’s drums underlining both the glossy, baroque guitar figures and the suddenly mellifluous strings. It’s the type of song that can only be written and arranged with considerable experience and exacting knowledge of one’s strengths. Pulling together the dramatic and aggressive tendencies of literate post-punk with a deep love for folk tradition, “Vertigo” ranks amongst Hersh’s best and most original work. Likewise, the closing “The Thin Man” is a beautiful slow-builder that incorporates chant-like backward piano and Peter Buck-style “soloing”, taking traditional rock instruments and turning them inside-out, fusing old with new to make an improvement on new. When you can do that on your own terms, why would you ever want to sing like a star?

www.popmatters.com/pm/music...e-a-star/

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 0 replies

50FootWave will be opening for Mission of Burma on a West Coast Tour:

abbyutiful — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 14:32:32 GMT

September tour dates
50FootWave will be opening for Mission of Burma on a West Coast Tour:

17 Sep 06 Eugene, OR - WOW Hall
19 Sep 06 Sacramento, CA - Harlow's
20 Sep 06 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
22 Sep 06 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
23 Sep 06 San Diego, CA - Brick By Brick

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 0 replies

50 FW & TM in Cambridge at the Middle East

abbyutiful — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 10:48:35 GMT

Friday was kickass!

See for yourself!

http://flickr.com/photos/abbyladybug/tags/50footwave/
http://flickr.com/photos/abbyladybug/tags/throwingmuses/

If you have TM/50FW/KH pictures, please join the Flickr TM group and add them:
http://flickr.com/groups/throwingmusic/

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 5 replies

Mania

abbyutiful — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 00:44:12 GMT

Did you all read this on her blog?

http://www.throwingmusic.com/blog/2005/11/mania.html

22 November 2005
Mania
I want to take this particular minute and address the shared concern some of you have expressed to me -- that I seem to hate my old songs, particularly Throwing Muses songs. I'm in London this morning, having played an entire set of Throwing Muses songs at the Scala last night and I want you to know that I truly enjoyed every song I played, though I was close to tears for a few dangerous moments.

These old songs are difficult, prickly and angry and I can handle that. The problem, I believe, is one of relevance, and not in the way you might think: it's that they are STILL relevant. If I could leave these feelings and stories behind me, I could fly through the material like a cover band: wheeeeeeeeeeee! But those same goddamn feelings are ongoing and so is that same goddamned story. I'm ashamed of this, to be honest. I had big plans that did not include being the same person who wrote those songs 20 years after the fact.

Solo acoustic and 50FootWave songs move me just as hard, tear me the hell apart, in fact, but in a GOOD way. And I don't have to remember anything but the music when I play them. To be in the middle of an old Throwing Muses song is to be living in my car again, pregnant, diagnosed schizophrenic and subsequently drugged, cutting myself, sleeping on floors, hiding from stalkers I wasn't famous enough to deserve, getting felt up at the bar, fighting for the $50 in gas money the band earned per show (club people regularly pulled guns on me), each new song a Sheherazade story keeping me alive only to hear how it ends.

So, I'm not whining, I'm just saying that life was unpleasant back then and was actually about to get much, much worse. Life is real hard...duh-uh.

And now, I gotta say, life isn't easy: I work harder, I care more and if I was ever crazy, well, then, I feel the same as I always did, so I guess I've got that going for me, too. But life is amazing. Really amazing.

I appreciate your concern, but I'm nobody to worry about.

Love,
Kristin

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 5 replies

Holy s**T I found this tribe

samsalila23 — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 00:03:29 GMT

And I thought it was only in my bio....

Hey all, Im a HUGE fan. Im stoked to of found y'all!!!!

havent seen KH in a few years but I still sing her songs daily and dream of musings. KH has been a part of my life since 1988 and will continute to b3e til Im dead.

Recent Hershy Moments:
I was at a Hot Buttered Rum String Band show in Sacramento and afterwards the band came back to my friends house and we played music into the night.
i was feeling waaaaay off in my playing......tho freinds and friendly people were present, I jsut wasnt doing my thang.

So , intesd of playing party tunes for everyone, i sank in a corner with my friend Annalee and serenaded Kristin tunes to her for hours. Brought us both back to some interesting thoughts. I must of went thru the whole Strange Angels CD.

Anyway, Hi everyone!!!!!

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 1 reply

Favorite Song

abbyutiful — Tue, 14 Oct 2003 04:52:07 GMT

I think mine might be Pearl. Or Walking in the Dark. Or Delicate Cutters. Oh, this is hard.

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 11 replies

SF set list

Nikolaj — Sun, 15 Jan 2006 22:23:46 GMT

Was anyone at the show in SF and have the set list she played?

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 12 replies

KH in SF...

jeremy_sanders — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 03:13:29 GMT

Anyone going to Kristen's show on the 14th?

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 8 replies

Kristin in NYC

DevastatorJr — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 20:30:01 GMT

Oh boy!

Sunday, Oct. 16
@ Knitting Factory

and other dates...
http://www.throwingmusic.com/tourdates.html

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 0 replies

50ft Wave SF

jeremy_sanders — Fri, 19 Aug 2005 17:34:32 GMT

Who's going to the Sept. 8th show?

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 3 replies

the new Throwing Music site, blog, & RSS Feed is up

doombilly — Fri, 19 Aug 2005 12:33:24 GMT

http://www.throwingmusic.com/

Well, we're making some major changes.

First of all, if you haven't already, please register for our mailing list -- we're going to count on it as a major channel of direct communication between you and us. We'll send you updates about tour dates, free music and other goodies whenever we have new stuff to share -- but we won't bug you -- promise. (Note: Those of you previously registered for the Throwing Music Newsletter don't need to register again.)

There's a new Blog too -<http://www.throwingmusic.com/blog/>- I'll be posting regularly and I'll try to get the boys to do it too. Subscribe to our RSS Feed and stay updated using your favorite feed reader. <http://www.throwingmusic.com/blog/xml/atom.xml>

Long-time ThrowingMusic users will notice the lack of a Message Board for the first time in about 10 years or so. We're still looking at new Message Board options but until we find one we love we'll rely on the mailing list and our blog entries to keep us in touch with you on a one-to-one basis.

On that note, in the absence of a Message Board, we encourage you to email us directly with any comments, concerns or questions -- ALL email will be read -- and replied to whenever possible.

Oh yeah... Those of you who want to help promote 50FootWave in your area can still download print-at-home tour posters & fliers (thanks for that!) We'll always have free mp3s on our new Free Music page and will continue to provide audio streams and video (for turning others on to the new stuff).

We feel that money is still getting in the way of 50FootWave reaching new people, so we decided to take it out of the equation wherever possible. So, along with the Free Music, look for a new 5-song 50FootWave Ep, free for download in the next couple of months. (Read the press release here.)

I'm also working on the new solo record AND a 2nd edition of "Murder, Misery and then Goodnight". It seems like it's gonna be a busy couple of months, but fun.

The main purpose of this site update is to put more useful and immediately relevant stuff front 'n center while still providing lots of background info for those that are interested in diggin' deep. We hope it's working for you. We'll be tweaking for a while yet, so please be patient with us.

No matter what, we'd love to hear from you. So write us, ok?

Love,

Kristin
--------
Woo!

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 3 replies

Golden Ocean

DevastatorJr — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 13:28:37 GMT

It took me a while to get used to this new, bare bones kind of style, but wow, now I can't get enough of this head-bludgeoning punk rock.

Are you guys digging it yet?

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 1 reply

Red Heaven Live

DevastatorJr — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 19:04:34 GMT

Ok, this is a real shot in the dark, but does anybody have the Japanese import version of Red Heaven? An old roommate had it, and it includes a live set by Kristin, that I must have! Great versions of Juno and Soul Soldier. Calling all cars, help!

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 7 replies

Lyric Game

abbyutiful — Tue, 14 Oct 2003 04:51:05 GMT

OK. I have a fun idea. Post a lyric, then someone else can guess which song it's from. No Googling or cheating! I thought of this because there's a lyrics thread on the random tribe. I posted a TM lyric. Do you know where it's from? "I have to sleep tangled in my family's hair."

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 131 replies

crikey KH in the QC

doombilly — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 16:21:22 GMT

Dammit. How lame is it when your EXWIFE starts a convo off with:
"Guess where I'm gonna be Saturday night?"
And the answer is seeing Kristin Hersh here in town. Especially after I was whining about it last month...the fact she'd never played Charlotte.
Since the X is going it's my weekend to have the superkid. So I will be with child that night and can't go. Drat^to the 18 powa!

>>
Kristin Hersh / Ben Weaver - She started the feisty Throwing Muses 20 years ago with her half-sister Tanya Donnelly, and ever since Hersh has released poignant music with the Muses along with a stack of haunting solo records. (Shukla) / Big Ben Weaver's an imposing man, but even more imposing is the way he growls the pain away on the recent -- and quite excellent -- Stories Under Nails. Late novelist Larry Brown once called him "the most exciting young songwriter I've come across," and Brown knew good storytelling when he heard it. See our stories on Hersh and Ben Weaver in this issue. Visulite Theatre (Davis)<<

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 4 replies

Kristin dates jan/feb

doombilly — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 17:21:29 GMT

Ack! I can't go to the Cat's Cradle date. Dammit.

KH Solo Dates
Posted by: tine on Monday, November 08, 2004 - 09:26 PM
Tour Dates
January, 2005

21 + 22 chicago, il - schuba's
23 cleveland, oh - beachland
25 + 26 philadelphia, pa - tin angel
27 fall river, ma - narrows center for the arts
28 boston, ma - paradise
29 + 30 nyc, ny - joe's pub

February, 2005

3 arlington, va - iota club & cafe
4 carrboro, nc - cat's cradle
7 atlanta, ga - the earl
10 houston, tx - mcgonigel's mucky duck
12 austin, tx - cactus cafe

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 2 replies

Tsunami Link

abbyutiful — Tue, 18 Jan 2005 03:07:09 GMT

So since the tsunami, my Google alert for the phrase "50 Foot Wave" has been going crazy!

Today, I got this:

Band 50 Foot Wave Copes With Bad Timing

DAVID BAUDER

Associated Press

NEW YORK - Rock singer Kristin Hersh had something else entirely in mind when she named her new band 50 Foot Wave.

Sometimes there's just not much you can do about bad timing.

"It's either on my part or God's, I'm not so sure," Hersh, a heroine of the alternative rock scene with her longtime band Throwing Muses, told The Associated Press in an interview.

The band's first full CD, which is being released in March, was mailed to rock critics about a week before Asia's devastating tsunami, which killed more than 160,000 people.

Hersh named the band after the audiophile term for the lowest sound audible to the human ear. It has a dual meaning, too, since there's a surf-punk vibe to her music.

The album's title, "Golden Ocean," is the phrase one of Hersh's four sons used to describe how the lights of Los Angeles look at night.

She said she never made the connection between her band's name and the Asian tragedy until someone phoned to point it out to her.

"I wasn't thinking about me," she said. "I was thinking about all of those people."

So what do you do when something you create, through no fault of your own, suddenly can make someone cringe? After the Sept. 11 attacks, images of the World Trade Center were quietly erased from movies and television shows, and plans for movies about terrorist attacks were shelved.

Hersh plans to stand fast and thinks most people won't make the connection.

"It was such a good name a month ago," she said.

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 1 reply

50' Wave

rone — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 06:38:25 GMT

I caught `em at Cafe du Nord last week. I didn't get home till 2am, but it was worth it. 3 more weeks until their EP comes out!

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 31 replies

Clara Bow.mov Video

doombilly — Thu, 26 Aug 2004 15:07:26 GMT

50' Wave

http://www.throwingmusic.com/downloads/claravideo/CB_QT_med.mov

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 6 replies

Favorite album?

no13baby — Mon, 10 Nov 2003 06:16:08 GMT

It's difficult to narrow it down but I will have to go with the first album (Self-Tilted).

House Tornado is a close second!

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 7 replies

50 Foot Downloads

doombilly — Fri, 27 Aug 2004 21:00:48 GMT

Sally is a Girl mp3 - Download Only
Petal mp3 - Download Only
Long Painting mp3 - Download Only
Lavender mp3 - Download Only
In the Air mp3 - Download Only
Golden Ocean mp3 - Download Only
Glory Weed mp3 - Download Only
Ginger Park mp3 - Download Only
El Dorado mp3 - Download Only
Dog Days mp3 - Download Only
Diving mp3 - Download Only
Clara Bow mp3 - Download Only
http://www.throwingmusic.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=26

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 1 reply

was she

doombilly — Sat, 19 Jun 2004 01:06:41 GMT

Playing that black SG in the new phots I uploaded (like: http://www.tribe.net/tribe/servlet/template/pub%2CViewPhoto.vm/context/tribe?page=2&currentoffset=7&parentid=cd469c5c-b8a1-44f5-93fa-1f2fb8c6efd0 )when you saw 50' Wave?

more cool pics:
http://dangpow.com/%7Eashland/irpg/irpg.html#pix

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 3 replies

First Avenue/Minneapolis

disciplinarian-actions — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 02:29:56 GMT

Two words: Fucking Fabulous Being from the home of Husker Du, I could not help but be reminded of the uncanny similarities. Kristen may just well be the female Bob Mould, but that is just my opinion...

By the way, see them if you can!

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 5 replies

Rockingham VT

#include — Thu, 15 Apr 2004 14:25:11 GMT

I caught the Kristin Hersh show at that 200 year old church in Vermont last summer. Is this going to happen again with 50' Wave doing all the touring? I guess I should check Tanya's site or something....

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 4 replies

Deep Wilson

#include — Mon, 05 Apr 2004 17:35:08 GMT

help. i can't figure it out. "your deep wilson tattoo". anyone more versed in the ways of hersh and the world have any idea what deep wilson is?

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 2 replies

LA Weekly interviews Kristin

rone — Sun, 14 Mar 2004 07:53:57 GMT

http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/16/features-lewis.php

Be sure to check out http://throwingmusic.com on Monday so you can buy the EP.

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 1 reply

Collings guitar

doombilly — Mon, 09 Feb 2004 15:55:30 GMT

Hey y'all.
I was just curious about that Collings guitar Kristin has there. Anyone know what model that is? It looks like some kind of custom job as it has Gold Hardware and that pretty W inlay on the headstock. Looks like a Custom C-10 Collings? I see they have some Waverly customs... I wonder if that's it? For no other reason but to be, you know, trivial.

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 1 reply

KH Acoustic Tour

doombilly — Mon, 27 Oct 2003 18:08:13 GMT

An Evening with Kristin Hersh, Howe Gelb and Andrew Bird: Kristin will be touring the US with Howe Gelb and Andrew Bird through the month of November 2003 in support of The Grotto. All dates have been confirmed except where noted. We hope to see you there!

November 6 - The Middle East, Cambridge, MA
November 7 - Knitting Factory, NY
November 8 - Jammin' Java, Arlington, VA
November 9 - Tin Angel, Philadelphia, PA
November 11 - Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, OH
November 12 - Southgate House, Cincinnati, OH
November 13 - The Ark, Ann Arbor, MI
November 14 - Vertigo, Bloomington, IN
November 15 - Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago, IL
November 16 - Luther's Blues, Madison, WI
November 19 - Tractor Tavern, Seattle, WA
November 20 - Aladdin Theater, Portland, OR
November 22 - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
November 23 - Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 5 replies

Gigs

abbyutiful — Tue, 14 Oct 2003 04:49:44 GMT

Saw TM in London in March. Very wonderful, but nothing compares to those solo Kristen Hersh gigs. Saw her once in Boston and another time in Atlanta. Saw TM with Tanya Donnelly twice, once in each of those places I just said. I love how very insane and angry yet serene and calm she can be all at once.

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 3 replies

W00t.

doombilly — Wed, 08 Oct 2003 13:13:28 GMT

Welcome. Kristen Hersh has always been one of my favorite singer, guitarists. I remember buying the 1st Muses Album on Vinyl. I don't think I'd heard anything that salient to my listening experience since early Patti Smith.

posted in Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh/50' Wave - 1 reply