#daren hess

[sinceileftyoublog]

James McMurtry Live Show Review: 6/10, Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago

James McMurtry

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Something about how there were no gigs in the middle of Canada, noticing the chartreuse-colored fields on the drive from one side to the other, realizing the plants were made into canola oil: “And that’s how I knew how to finish the song,” James McMurtry admitted to the crowd at the Old Town School of Folk Music on Saturday before playing “Canola Fields”. As much as he’s labeled a political songwriter, his songs usually stem from a simple idea, or even an image or a line. “I get a couple of lines and a melody together and think, 'Who said it?' Then I come up with the character,” he told us six years ago. He certainly hasn’t strayed from his process on his latest album The Horses and the Hounds (New West); even if the album’s songs contain the occasional right-wing jab, they’re still a product of him encompassing somebody or something. That is, he’s just as likely to sing from the point of view as someone he doesn’t agree with, which is what ultimately makes him an empathetic songwriter, up there with Steve Earle and John Prine.

Tim Holt & James McMurtry

There’s no doubt McMurtry is an inspirational figure. He most recently garnered headlines for playing a Nashville show in drag in protest of Tennessee’s now temporarily blocked anti-drag law. In a recent Q & A with Little Village, he responded to a question about whether he would continue to wear a dress by saying, “If states keep pulling stupid laws like that and I need to pull it on for the encore. I carry the dress in my suitcase in case I need it.” In other words, his actions are responsive, not gimmicky statements. Towards the beginning of the show on Saturday, an audience member on Saturday night shouted, “Where’s your dress?” perhaps hoping to get a reaction out of McMurtry, some sort of rousing support for drag performers. He didn’t respond, perhaps silently demurring. A similar thing happened after the venerable band (bassist Cornbread, drummer Daren Hess, multi-instrumentalist Tim Holt) burned through “Choctaw Bingo”, a slice of rural realism that Ron Rosenbaum once proposed replace our National Anthem. “Stop all wars!” someone shouted after the song finished, again to silence from McMurtry. Good sentiments aside, McMurtry’s success as a songwriter comes specifically because he avoids generic left-leaning platitudes. He lets the stories do the talking.

James McMurtry & Cornbread

Similarly, on stage, McMurtry truly makes space for songcraft. “This is the happiest song I ever wrote,” he said introducing “If I Don’t Bleed”, citing the fact that nobody dies in it, “at least not directly.” Trading the studio version’s rollicking rocker for a gentler version, he ensured his words of compassion rang true. Ditto for “Blackberry Winter”, the Virginia Woolf-referencing tune that sees McMurtry begging the author to not go through with suicide and “leave the rocks on the road;” performed with an acoustic guitar and no mic, it was a direct prayer to the audience itself. And Holt’s wistful accordion gave Complicated Game cuts “Copper Canteen” and “You Got To Me” a sense of old timey nostalgia, perfect for the narrators’ glassy eyed reflections. It seemed like for every expected extended jam, like “Choctaw Bingo” and “Too Long in the Wasteland”, there was a similar moment of unexpected subtlety.

Cornbread & BettySoo

Ultimately, McMurtry is selfless. His one sermon of the night? Tip your bartenders, by starting at 20% and going higher. Opener BettySoo remarked how grateful she was McMurtry brought her along, considering he could easily tour by himself and play 3 hours worth of material to larger venues. And it shows in his songwriting, his exploration of characters fictional and real, his humble recognition that the truths of the world lie somewhere beyond even his grasp.

BettySoo

#live music #james mcmurtry #old town school of folk music #new west #bettysoo #the horses and the hounds #new west records #steve earle #john prine #little village #cornbread #daren hess #ron rosenbaum #virginia woolf #complicated game #tim holt

[spilladabalia]

#the silos #let's take some drugs and drive around #michael hall #cover #walter salas-humara #manuel verzosa #jon dee graham #joe simon #greg asfar #scott garber #mary rowell #caitlin von schmidt #daren hess #roots rock #americana #garage rock #diablo #[aka susan across the ocean] #1994 #Youtube

[bluesmenchannel]

James McMurtry - Bayou Tortous

James McMurtry (born March 18, 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American rock and folk rock/americana singer, songwriter, guitarist, bandleader, and occasional actor (Daisy Miller, Lonesome Dove, and narrator of Ghost Town: 24 Hours in Terlingua). He performs with veteran bandmates Daren Hess, Cornbread, and Tim Holt. His father, novelist Larry McMurtry, gave him his first guitar at age seven. His mother, an English professor, taught him how to play it: "My mother taught me three chords and the ... Read more »

#james #mcmurtry #bayou

[damajority]

DaMajority Fresh Article https://www.damajority.com/digicel-cpl-cricket/

DIGICEL AND CPL GROOM FUTURE CRICKET LEGENDS

DIGICEL AND CPL GROOM FUTURE CRICKET LEGENDS

Friday, June 15, 2018 – Castries, Saint Lucia: This past Saturday, aspiring cricketers from the Leon Hess Comprehensive Secondary School, had the benefit of being trained by West Indies all-rounder, Daren Sammy of the St. Lucia Stars and coaches, in the Digicel Youth Cricket Series. The session was held in partnership with Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL). 

The Digicel Youth Cricket Series is being hosted throughout the region in participating CPL countries. The series targets secondary school students who currently play or have an interest in the game of cricket. After an online competition which was open to all secondary schools in St. Lucia, the Leon Hess Comprehensive Secondary School emerged victorious, winning the coveted training session with Sammy. 

Siobhan James-Alexander, Digicel St. Lucia CEO said, “We’ve been focused on youth development and this training is another opportunity to ensure that cricket in St. Lucia continues to be nurtured and developed from the junior to the senior levels.

Daren Sammy, of the Stars added, “Digicel has always been a company that supports the youth and especially in cricket. We recently had the Digicel Daren Sammy Cricket Academy and now with this cricket series, it gives interested students from the Leon Hess Comprehensive the opportunity to get a little more exposure. My part is to share my knowledge, encourage the kids and let them know the sky is the limit. I also want to thank Digicel for hosting this programme and for showing its support through sponsorship.” 

The Digicel Youth Cricket Series, which is only in its second year, is the precursor to the highly anticipated CPL T20 Tournament and has increased in size and scope since 2017, providing more children with the avenue to hone their skills and learn from the best talent the game has to offer. One of the programme’s key focus areas is to produce future cricketers ensuring that this sport and the passion for it will live on.

CPL fans can catch highlights of CPL17 on the PlayGo app as we prepare for the upcoming tournament.

END

#Cricket #digicel

[nedsecondline]

Meet the Palestinian Israel put on trial for her poetry

Dareen Tatour has spent over a year and a half under house arrest for publishing a poem on her Facebook page. Since then, she has lost the ability to support herself, and cannot leave the house without a ‘chaperone.’ Orly Noy spoke to Tatour about the difficulty of living under constant surveillance, her love for Hebrew and Arabic poetry, and the need for Jews and Arabs to learn each other’s language. 

Dareen Tatour at the Nazareth Magistrates Court. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

One day in the future, when they write the book on the belligerence and aggression of the State of Israel toward its Arab citizens, the story of Dareen Tatour — who has been under house arrest for nearly two years, including three months of jail time — will have its own special chapter dedicated to it.

[tmwinpost]

Tatour was arrested in October 2015 for both a poem and Facebook post she published. Since then, the state has been waging a legal battle, which has included bringing in a series of experts on both Arabic and Arabic poetry, in order to dissect the words of a young poet who was nearly anonymous until her arrest. Her trial, and the state’s attempts to turn a poem into an existential threat, has been nothing short of Kafkaesque.

I spoke to Tatour from her home in the village of Reineh, near Nazareth. As part of the conditions of her house arrest, Tatour is not allowed to use the Internet or smart phones. “So I started using dumb phones,” she laughs. Soft spoken, Tatour maintains a reserved matter-of-factness even as she recalls those first knocks on her door and the moment everything changed.

“It was on October 11, 2015. It was 3:30 a.m. when they suddenly they knocked on the door. I was sleeping, and I heard my mother and father coming to wake me up. There were many police officers, more than 10. They said nothing except that I had to come with them. My mother and father tried to ask what happened, what I did, but the officers only responded with ‘she knows.’ I know I did nothing wrong, so I didn’t understand what was happening. It was very frightening, I thought maybe it was a case of mistaken identity.”

Daren Tatour is seen in her home in the village of Reineh, near Nazareth, August 23, 2017. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

“They took me to the police station in Nazareth, where I waited in the yard until 6 a.m. As I waited, every officer who passed by said something hurtful. ‘You look like a terrorist,’ I got a lot of that. That word was repeated often. Afterwards they let me into the building where I was interrogated. I wasn’t shown a thing, I was only told that I was accused of incitement to violence, terrorism, and threatening to kill Jews on Facebook. I remember it was freezing, that I had walked into a morgue. At 9 a.m. I was taken to another interrogation, before I was taken to the court house at around 9 p.m., where they extended my detention.

“Later they asked to extend my detention until the end of the investigation, transferring me to Jalame Prison, and then to Damon Prison. I suffered greatly, since they allowed smoking in the rooms, and the place was not clean. After the third interrogation, when they brought the poem for the first time, it was like watching myself in a movie. I am going to sit in prison because of a poem.”

Since then, Tatour’s poem has kept the Israeli legal system busy. After spending three months in prison and six months in house arrest in Kiryat Ono, near Tel Aviv, she is now under house arrest in her parents’ home in Reineh. After over a year and a half, she was finally allowed to leave the home for a few hours a day, although she must be accompanied by one of eight “chaperones” who were approved by the court. “My eight prison guards,” she says, laughing again.

Dareen Tatour (left) and Professor Calderon (center) speak at the Nazareth Magistrates Court, March 19, 2017. (Yoav Haifawi)

“The hardest part is that I can no longer support myself,” she says. Until her arrest, Tatour worked for five years as the manager at a beauty salon in Nazareth in charge of marketing. “I tried to find work from home, but it is very hard because everything is Internet-related. The condition from the beginning was that Internet or smart phones were forbidden anywhere I lived under house arrest.” Tatour’s parents and two brothers also live at home, which means they too cannot use a computer with Internet.

What are you doing at home these days?

Not much. I write and read a lot — poetry, literature, in Arabic and Hebrew. I read Amira Hess’ book of poetry, as well as poems by Alma Katz. In Arabic I love Nazik Al-Malaika, Mahmoud Darwish, Samih Al-Qasim, Khalil Gibran, as well as classic poetry such as Al-Mutanabbi.

At what age did you start writing poetry?

“More or less since I was seven. I remember my first grade teacher asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I responded ‘I want to write.’ I don’t know where I got that answer from, but I do not forget it. My love for writing is not new. After learning the alphabet, I began doodling and writing — I’ve been journaling since I was very small.

Tawfik Tatour, father of Dareen, demonstrates for her release at Jaffa’s Clock Tower Square, June 26, 2016. (photo: Haim Schwarczenberg)

“As a child, words were something that kept me busy. I would drive my teacher crazy because I would ask her for the definition of all kinds of words. She would always tell me to go look it up in the dictionary. So that’s exactly what I did. I read the Arabic dictionary like a novel, from the beginning to the end. Then I did the same with the Hebrew dictionary.

“I always worked alongside Jews. I think it is important that both sides — Arabs and Jews — learn each others’ language.”

Tatour’s first collection of poems, titled The Last Invasion, in 2010. “When I arrested, the second book was almost done — even the cover was ready. I was getting ready to send the book to print. Let’s just say that a few new poems have been added to the book since,” she says.

Aside from issues of national identity, what other topics do you touch on in your poetry?

“I write about the status of women in Arab society. Women are at the center of my poetry — their hardships, the abuse they face. And children war. The weakest, most difficult aspects of life. These are things we cannot ignore. Even if they are difficult issues in Arab society.”

Was it strange sitting in the court room and listening to people interpret your poem?

“Yes, it was difficult to digest. The serious problem was that they mistranslated it. It isn’t even an issue of interpretation — the translation was wrong, and thus the police’s interpretation was completely off.”

What kind of responses have you received?

“I have received incredible support from my friends, including from Jewish Israelis — support that has really surprised me. It has given me a lot of strength. They tried to put me in a place I didn’t want to be in; the first time they told me I was a terrorist, I felt a great deal of pain. This is a very harsh word. They tried to stigmatize me, but I am glad to say they were unsuccessful. There are people who know the truth and I am happy that they understand my words correctly. I want to thank all those who have supported me.

Are you optimistic?

She laughs again. “So-so. I am trying to remain optimistic. There is a poem in my book about handcuffs, which terrifyingly enough came true. They say that every poet is a prophet, and I feel that. In this country we cannot be too optimistic, but I am trying my best.”

This post was originally published in Hebrew on Local Call. Read it here.

#anti-war

[damajority]

DaMajority Fresh Article https://www.damajority.com/boxing-cricket-tournaments-held-december-saint-lucia-news/

Boxing, cricket tournaments to be held in December - Saint Lucia News

Boxing, cricket tournaments to be held in December

Wednesday, November 29, 2017 by Ministry of Youth and Sports

THE UNDER 15 WINDWARD ISLANDS CRICKET TOURNAMENT WILL TAKE PLACE IN ST VINCENT.

The Saint Lucia Boxing Association in collaboration with the Department of Youth Development and Sports, recently held a press conference to announce plans for the staging of the third annual Caribbean Boxing Championships.

A total of 16 territories are expected to compete at the Beausejour Indoor Facility. The championships will be held from December 13-16 2017.

In related news, the Department of Youth Development and Sports has released the names of the 13 “Under 15” cricketers and 4 four reserves who will participate in the Under 15 Windward Islands Cricket Tournament to be held in St Vincent from Dec. 9 – 18.

Team Captain Ackeem Auguste of the St Mary’s College, and Vice Captain Sky Lafeuille of the Choiseul Secondary School, will be joined by team members Tarrick Edward, Bolton Sayers, and Shakim Breen of the Babonneau Secondary School, Noel Leo of Ciceron Secondary, Stephan Theophane of Choiseul Secondary, Royce Paul of Gros-Islet Secondary, and from Saint Mary’s College, Desne Gidharry, Ryan Goodman, Daren Sammy Jr, Amari Venner, and Sherqwayne Prudent.

The reserve players are Anslem Gittens of Saint Mary’s College, Kevin Gassie of Soufriere Comprehensive, Kamanie Laure of Vieux Fort Comprehensive, and Sanjay Francis of the Leon Hess Comprehensive Secondary School.

The Department of Youth Development and Sports congratulates all players who made the team.

#Beausejour Indoor Facility #boxing #Cricket #Department of Youth Development and Sports #Saint Lucia News #st vincent #tournaments