Bluegrass Romance

Click to Play Daniel Martin Moore, Ben Sollee- Something, Somewhere, Sometime

Sometimes you don’t feel like going out. This or that has got you down, and you’d rather stay in bed, or at least inside the comfort of your own home. “Can’t we do this another time, honey?”  you say, still in your p.j’s at 6pm.

Yes, sometimes you don’t feel like going on a date with your husband, let alone completing a mini-mission. Gloomy and grumpy days don’t mesh well with either romance or adventure commitments. I found this out last Monday.

My mood was no mood for a romantic evening out. Even though we had reserved tickets to be part of the theater audience of one of Kentucky’s most treasured live broadcasts, my sour mood tempted me to cancel the babysitter. It was only for the sake of the Bluegrass Romance project, that I rallied myself to get dressed.  If folk music could lift me out of the stress hole I was in, I would give it a try.

Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour is a live  broadcast that reaches 2 million listeners each week. You’ve might have heard it on NPR or one of 500 other world-wide radio stations. It’s recorded at the historic Kentucky Theater most Monday evenings and it’s open to the public, so long as you reserve your ticket well in advance.

Folk singer and host Michael Jonathan calls the show “genre-free”, and artists of all kinds are invited to be on.  As Michael Jonathan says, “You don’t have to be famous, you just have to be very, very good.”

Last Monday night was show #560, with Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore and readings by Silas House. The theme of the evening was mountain top removal.  And if there is one issue in Kentucky to get you thinking of something other than your own problems, it’s this.   Daniel Martin Moore, Ben Sollee- Something, Somewhere, Sometime

Listening to Daniel Martin Moore and Ben Sollee play from their album Dear Companion, I was grateful for the storytelling that whole-heartedly connects one to Kentucky; music that opens eyes to the issues of the community I live in. The lyrics accompanied by the beautiful acoustic music gave me chills and caused me to squeeze my husband’s hand in love and appreciation.Though I love my Lady Gaga, this was music that had a purpose beyond itself. It was refreshing, and in it’s sweet sadness, tragically romantic. With my heart softened, my bad mood was cured.

Dedication to completing Mini-Mission No. 3 saved date night this week, and for that I’m grateful.  I’m learning that living a life committed to romance and adventure means honoring date night even when you don’t want to.  There is grace in sharing music or the arts. You may find like I did, that  the experience of feeling compassion for others in turn rekindles the more personal bonds you share in your life.

Music and art as impetus to change…The arts are a great vehicle to get the message out…It’s job isn’t necessarily to point to a solution, but to inspire folks to think of a solution.- Michael Jonathan

Tonight, writing this post, I took a bath and revisited Woodsongs. I listened to folk music as a shaved my legs in a claw-foot tub.  My son was already sleeping and my husband was at a bible study. The nine o’clock hour was all my own.  I lit a candle and poured some Epson salt into the steaming bath. I rested my head on the back of the bath tub and as heart-breaking voices and instruments began to tell stories in song, I let my own  problems sink and compassion rise.  Music is powerful this way.

Bath time and folk music is a simple pleasure. Closing my eyes listening to the Avett Brothers,  I thought of my grandma doing something similar one evening in her life- tuning her radio to  the station where live folk music was playing somewhere on the other end, soaking in a tub in a candle lit room,  enjoying an hour of relaxation and folky serenades.

I didn’t have an old timey radio, but I had the claw-foot tub and candles. I brought my husband’s laptop with me into the bathroom, and streamed a show from the Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour archives.

Folk music is lovely and I recommend we  make time to enjoy it, be it live on date-night or pre-recorded during claw -foot tub salt soaks. The Woodsongs website contains one of the largest bluegrass and independent artist live music archives available on the web, all available at no charge.  Monday nights you can also watch the show live via their webcasts.

I’ve made a youtube playlist of some of my favorite artists who have played at Woodsongs at one time or another.  (This playlist is also a great introduction to folk music and bluegrass if you haven’t had one yet).  Sit back, listen, get over the grumps, and plan a romantic date where you and your love go out and listen to some live music together:

Avett Brothers

Old Crow Medicine Show

Over the Rhine

The Wailin’ Jennys

Crash Test Dummies

Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour Information

Where: Historic Kentucky Theater, Downtown Lexington

When: Every Monday Night. Seating starts at 6:20pm. Show starts at 7. After 6:45, walk-up audience members can then purchase a ticket if seats remain.

Reservation Hotline: 859-252-8888 (Call early- a week or more in advance. Most shows sell out).

Visit the Woodsongs website for more information.

Bluegrass Romance Tip of the Week: If you ever find yourself in a bad mood on date night, do what seems hard: put on your make-up, set hair in rollers, and get out of the house with your husband. Let live music take you away from yourself. Fight the temptation to let the bad mood win. Romance is on the other side.