Angela Faye Martin: news

I've been digging around for promo things in preparation for my Atlanta show Friday night and came across this interview. It originally aired live, two days after the release of my Mark Linkous produced album, Pictures from Home, on Asheville FM, September 27, 2009. WORDPLAY, is an Asheville, North Carolina radio show hosted by Jeff Davis.

You'll have to paste it in your browser:

http://www.ibiblio.org/wordplay/shows/afm-word-play-09272009%20martin.mp3
x!
~afm

with Don Chambers, RB Morris, Jeffrey Butzer and Tim & Susan Lee.

After nearly a year-long sabbatical from actively booking shows, Angela Faye Martin has been in collaborations with friends near and far. "If not for a handful of friends who monitored me closely this past year, I'd scarcely be doing anything. After the release of Pictures from Home, I had shows and was pushing my band and all that goes with it when Mark Linkous took his life. I couldn't fully grieve his passing, was oddly pressing on."

Early 2011 found Angela playing a couple of Knoxville shows and partnering with friends, the Tim Lee 3 and David Minchew, a multi-instrumentalist from Atlanta. This summer, in further collaborations as well as with former Ass Ponys guitarist, John Erhardt, and playing intimate settings close to her home in Appalachia.

Angela Faye will be playing upcoming autumn dates in Atlanta, Knoxville, Asheville and Chattanooga.

On one of the waning days of winter, March 6th 2010, Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse took his own life with a rifle shot to the heart in the city of Knoxville, Tennessee. Things were going better for his career, he'd just been signed to Anti- Records, he was almost finished recording a new Sparklehorse album and was in the process of moving his Static King Studio to one of the south's best cities for music. Drastic change, no matter what, is incredibly daunting to one's well being. And Mark needed no additional challenges to his psyche, in my opinion. In recent years I came to know Mark through an aged mountain man who served as our conduit and mutual confidant and who made sure Mark and I met and recorded together before passing on himself.

It is March 20, of last year, 2009, and Mark Linkous and I are stepping out into the sun from his Static King Studios in Cherokee County, North Carolina. I tell him it's the last day of winter and I'm trying to draw his attention from finding a cigarette to a magnolia leaf that's gently clawing the front stoop. We've just finished recording a ten song LP of my songs adorned with all manner of Mark's signature Sparklehorse strangeness. Then I point to a far away tree and tell him that's the closest magnolia. And go on about how the wind carried it. He's squinting at me the way my uncle used to when I was trying to be clever and in the studio-induced faux British accent we employed to stay humorous, he cockneys, "and aren't you a rock and roll detective for the environment. . ."

He's probably wondering if I'm too scared to ride with him on his antique Norton motorcycle and thinking that this is not the day for it. He's anticipating the mix-down we've scheduled on his return from a trip to Richmond and then to Knoxville where he's already laying plans to curate a label and rebuild a studio. Between migraines, his broken cars, winter storms and trips to L.A. to finalize his album with Dangermouse and David Lynch, Mark Linkous is producing my album and this is cause to be very optimistic. And I could've been, were I only able to ignore how incredibly destructive this genius was to himself.

There were perfectly sunny days we worked in that dark studio, in the cradling arms of the Tusquittee and Snowbird mountain ranges in the company of the Valley river. The magical childhood stomping grounds of the writer, Charles Frazier. Mark and I would meet, usually at noon, decide what was to be finished from a previous session and solder wires, make coffee, and comb through rusty drawers of loot from which Mark beckoned me to select objects he'd curated from rummaging the dusty shops of Appalachia. On days when Mark felt good, we'd all get in the Subaru and my husband would take us to old abandoned homes where we'd find lucite barrettes for me and velvet chair cushions to match the furniture in Mark's studio. One such day was cut short by one of Mark's migraines so we put him to bed and he awakened that evening, saying he loved the kind of sleep he got in our home and that made us feel good. Southerners sometimes say things that are maybe true, or maybe not, and say them to make people feel good.

One time, while having me do take after take on a rhythm track for my song Pictures from Home, on what felt like piano-wire strings, he said loud enough for me to hear, "she's a pretty good guitar player" then mischievously, ". . .for a girl." It was one of my favorite moments with Mark because I think he was greatly entertained by my indignance, which made me put it on thick. Probably too thick because the following month, during one of our mixing sessions, one of the last ones, he asked me to sit in his big wine-colored velvet chair to tell me something "important". He wanted to tell me how good my playing was and how proud he was of the record. And with my chronic inability to assimilate a compliment, I shrugged off a moment I wish I'd known how to savor with the greatest mentor I will ever know.

One of the key factors in Mark's decision to cut his life short, I believe, was Vic Chesnutt's death by suicide, on Christmas. Maybe having lost entirely too many friends to early death, Mark had amassed a gathering of sympathetic souls in the after-realm, so-to-speak. Perhaps his life became simply so unmanageable that the afterlife seemed hospitable in comparison and so he went. The manner in which he chose to do so was indelibly Mark's style. He loved guns, he had a relationship to his gun and was very intimate with the gun he ultimately used. Firearms are symbolic of a lot of things gone-wrong in our culture and the metaphor is not lost on some of us. Nor was Mark's ascetic allegiance to imperfection. Somewhere in him resounded the need to show us the power of dross against gold and decay vs. fecundity. His distillations of sounds between the dials, the speaking-valves, and fields of sonic halations were his homage to the mutant and at once adorable attributes of our universe.

During our sessions Mark had begun piecing the lyrics and music together for his next Sparklehorse album. The third song we recorded for my album, No One Can Wake You, I told Mark, I had written for him, to try and get him to record the whole album instead of just a couple for me to use to try and garner a contract as he'd first offered. His response was to play me a demo of a particularly Lennon-esque song he'd just written called, The Run, the few words I can recount went thus:

'. . .child, it will be hard sometimes -- here comes the run -- And morning's muffled guns."

I read a piece on Mark once that struck me odd, it surmised that Mark was first in his lineage to make a career outside the coal mines of Virginia. I had reckoned that the reporter never made it to the interior of Mark's musical chambers. And hadn't seen and heard how my friend and fellow southerner had done the very best he could but, in fact, hadn't escaped the mines at all and was bringing forth information and art never before cultured from these hills and it was just as dangerous and toxic, to him as the ash of coal to the creeks of Appalachia. And how the rendering of this ore for our ultimate enrichment took him away far too soon. That the rifle's final sonic report that is so deafening now will in time recede. And my, what wonders and what beauties he brought up for us all to behold.

Angela Faye Martin -- Stomp & Stammer -- April 2010

Farewell, to the dearest friend and mentor. The likes of which, I, nor my songs, will ever have again, in this world. All my gratitude now lies in the sky with Mark.

Thoreau said, "If the fairest features of the landscape are to be named after men, let them be the noblest and worthiest men alone." Instead, we've decided to name these fair men after the fairest features of the landscape.  After much deliberation, last week the band was named, Angela Faye Martin & The Scarlet Oak Sway.  The Scarlet Oak Sway comes from a line in Wicked Girl, on ONE DARK VINE, Angela's first EP release, describing the character of the weather beaten trees lining Wayah Mountain.  

The Scarlet Oak Sway are: Adam Woleslagle, Jeff Southerland, Jeremy Rose and Chris Cooper.  

To send money to the Vic Chesnutt fund:

http://kristinhersh.cashmusic.org/vic/

All are invited to attend and celebrate the long anticipated release of Angela's first full-length album, PICTURES FROM HOME, Wednesday, Sept. 30th at The Grey Eagle Music Hall, Asheville, NC.

For information on the event go to:
http://www.thegreyeagle.com/

The dashing DJ Tim Carless debuts the title LP track, PICTURES FROM HOME on Chapel Hill's WXYC, 89.3. Carless's show can be streamed online at wxyz.org Contact you favorite radio station or adopt WXYC today.

The release of Angela Faye Martin's upcoming album, PICTURES FROM HOME will be September 29th. The album contains songs written over a 3-4 year period and lovingly produced by Mark Linkous of the mythic band, Sparklehorse.

Martin was drawn by Linkous' songwriting above all his sonic talents. "I knew I could trust him to help to accurately portray these songs because of his traits as a lyricist. His naturalist underpinnings were among the reasons I wanted him produce these songs." Martin said from her mountain home.

Linkous and Martin finished recording the album on March 20, 2009. PICTURES FROM HOME is a richly textured LP showcasing Linkous' many colored keyboardings and legendary production techiniques. He places the seance of Martin's vocals atop her rhythmic guitar braidings and casts her as both eerie and bright.

All Hail Static King ~

The goodly Mark Linkous, aka. King of Nails or "Sparklehorse" or in some cicles, The Horse What Sparkles is mixing Angela's recent sessions -- there's a limited sneak-peek (listen) on:

myspace.com/angelafayemartin

The song formerly unknown as White Horses Away, was recorded at Static King Studios in western North Carolina over the weekend by Angela Faye Martin, with Mark Linkous producing and seancing John Lennon via a kind of Jonny Greenwood-mood on a re-issue Epiphone. Other details are classified, at present.

See where Mark Linkous mentions producing Angela drawing inspiration from Tom Wait's BONE MACHINE.

http://issuu.com/shuffle/docs/shuffle4?mode=embed&documentId=081103152527-a356efdb319942378e0d66a4f711e309&layout=grey

all's well and it's winter in earnest. a year has passed since i was originally self-scheduled to put forth a full-length album but a little elf said to me you must meet my friend, the composer. i said yes, i need a composer friend in these mountains. the elf pounded his gentle fist on the wooden table of his creekside cabin and said, you don't understand! this friend, he is like those fellows from liverpool, england! i asked, you mean the beatles?? he said, yes, those guys!

so the first moon of the gloomy winter of 2007 did pass and low the elf endeavored to help ferry me cross a third river on the following moon way beyond the land of the noon day sun. the way was dreary but i was cheered with his stories of salvador dali, dave brubeck and the weavers. we became unsure and sought help with various sylvan creatures when finally we came upon a ski-lodge where said composer stood tall and illumined by the lights of his analogue console with glowing buttons and busying about his wiry and dark studio near the valley river.

at last, a darkened door opened for us when the elf grinning said, child, here is your friend, the composer. set about to record your songs with him for he is gifted seer and can hear frequencies untold! and it was so.

two songs down many to go. . .

The loving and ever sagacious boy, Elmo has gone on to the cosmos to smell smells yet to be discovered.

He takes with him a large part of the hearts of his family, Angela & Brent.

If he so chooses, we trust he is hiking leisurely through the heavens with poet, Jonathan Williams who passed away within the preceeding hours and who would certainly light the way for a fellow searcher.

We will always love the fine and always fabulous, Elmo Martin. Whose gold soul shone through his sweet eyes.

Poets Jeff Davis and Sebastian Matthews, hosts of WordPlay chat with Angela. She debuts new songs and talks about songwriting and chickens.
http://archive.wpvm.org/wordpodcast.xml

WPVM 103.5 FM Radio Asheville and host/poet Jeff Davis hosts Angela Faye with a live interview and performance. 2pm Sunday, Feb. 24
The show will be available via podcast but not live stream. The show will be available for streaming the following Sunday, Mar. 2

Just back from Athens Georgia where I had the honor of recording a six-song demo with the legendary engineer and musician, John Keane (REM, Uncle Tupelo, Nanci Griffith, Drive By Truckers). You can take the girl out of Georgia but you can't take the Georgia outta the girl, I guess. My intent was to capture a preliminary sketch of several songs I plan to put on an upcoming album this winter, which John handily accomplished. Even with a slight head cold, this was a greatest studio experience of my life, thus far -- ghosts of previous sessions lurked in the studio urging me forth. My old dowser, the trusty Gibson J-45 bumped my new sweetheart, Martin OM21 over for the afternoon of sharing new songs with John's grand old house-studio in the heart of Athens.

Last night's opportunity to open for Thomas Crowe & The Boatrockers was a redemptive measure dealt to me by the region's literary community. Thomas' spoken word with his elegant band of inventive musicians topped the bill and I was gratified to support them. Check out this link for their music. . http://nantahalareview.org/issue2-2/featured/boatrockers/

Very excited to be playing in Franklin, at Rathskellar Saturday, Aug. 18th. It's an all-ages venue with the necessary accoutrements, in the heart of the mountains.

Angela Faye is currently finishing & writing new material for an upcoming CD.

Follow this link to read full interview with Angela Faye and some of western NC's creative community members: http://www.smokymountainnews.com/issues/12_06/12_27_06/art_fr_five_qs.html

June 4, 2006
w/ Angela Faye Martin
(*songs selected by AFM)
1. Pooka - Boomerang
2. Ane Brun - The Fight Song
3. Danielle Howle - Hey You
4. Patti Smith - Ravens*
5. Dolly Parton - Silver Dagger*
6. Natalie Merchant - I Was Born*
7. Juana Molina - Malherido
8. Carla Bruni - L'excessive
9. Kimya Dawson - My Rollercoaster
10. PJ Harvey - The Life and Death of Mr. B*
11. Emmylou Harris - Blackhawk*
12. Gillian Welch - One Morning*
13. Tony Scherr - Sacramento (Man of the Hour)
14. Feist - Mushaboom (live)
15. Angela Faye Martin (LIVE in studio) - 20 White Flowers
16. Billie Holiday - I Cover the Waterfront*
17. Pretenders - Every Mother's Son*
18. Belly - Gepetto*
19. Po Girl - What Sad Old Song
20. Inara George - Genius
21. Jolie Holland - Stubborn Beat
22. Arcade Fire - In the Back Seat*
23. Lucinda Williams - Steal Your Love*
24. Odetta - Spiritual Trilogy*
25. Over the Rhine - Looking Forward
26. Hem - The Angels Want to Wear My Red Shoes
27. Angela Faye Martin (LIVE in studio) - Cassiopeia
28. Aimee Mann - You Could Make a Killing*
29. Bjork - Human Behavior*
30. Bob Dylan - She Belongs to Me* (Man of the Hour)

Tune in live to Athens NPR Radio WUGA FM 91.7 for "It's Friday" for an hour of interview and music with Angela Faye Martin and Dave Desmelik.
Then join us for the big show at The Flicker Theatre & Bar on W. Washington St, 8:30pm