In celebration of Zimmy's 70th today, a few choice tracks...

"One More Cup of Coffee" from Desire



"It Takes a Lot to Laugh It Takes a Train to Cry" from Highway 61 Revisited



"Visions of Johanna" from The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966 the "Royal Albert Hall" Concert



"When I Paint My Masterpiece" covered by the Band from Cahoots



"Mississippi" from Love and Theft



"Sara" from Desire



"Forever Young" from Planet Waves

Glasser, aka Cameron Mesirow, has stormed the indie music scene with her debut full length, Ring. When the creative bug bit, this gal took musical matters into her own hands; she nabbed her Mac and layered sonic tracks and her beautiful, warm vocals and in the process created something totally her own and totally gorgeous.

Listen to "Mirrorage":




Miss Ess: What inspired you to start creating your own music?

Cameron: I was an avid art appreciator and I started feeling like I didn't really have a right to be so invested in other peoples' work if I wasn't making some of my own. That's not necessarily a judgement I would pass on someone else, but for my own self it was right, because I knew that I was seeking vicarious thrills in order to satisfy my creative side, and eventually it wasn't satisfying anymore.

ME: How did your song writing process develop? Do you write the music first and then the lyrics or the other way around?

C: I can't really say that I always start one way or another. I hear a lot of melodies in my head and sometimes those yield actual songs, but mostly they're just forgotten. Sometimes I have a structural idea and sometimes I have a thematic idea, and sometimes I just let it rip and hope for the best!

Your music has strong crossover to the art scene -- who or what inspires you there?

 

By now, wherever you are in your life, you probably already know whether or not you enjoy the films of Werner Herzog. The famed German director is quite the polorizing auteur; he is anything but subtle, and in my opinion, he is also quite possibly out of his mind. But in a good way.

His latest, The Cave of Forgotten Dreams, is a 3-D documentary exploring the Chauvet Cave in France and its incredible prehistoric paintings. No matter what your typical stance on Herzog films happens to be, this film is worth watching just to get inside this cave, a place only a handful of scientists are allowed to visit about once a year under strict rules. Herzog, fearless as ever, brings a crew of 4 deep inside the cavern to capture paintings that have decorated this dark place for over 30,000 years and were only re-discovered in 1994. Like many Herzog films, this one is also steeped in the meaning he lays on thick with his stark, accented narration.

Herzog draws his typical lofty conclusions, this time about the interconnectedness of the human race and the meaning of art itself. On the lighter side of things, throughout the documentary there are several humorous moments with the wonderfully idiosyncratic cast of characters that make up the scientific team. Even if you ignore the steady drone of narration, the images in the cave, preserved through tens of thousands of years against all odds, remain fascinating, haunting, and illuminating.

Just announced! This Saturday! Glasser will play the Independent here in SF! Come one, come all, get your tickets here! Check out the video flyer below and stay tuned for an exclusive interview with the artist herself, Miss Cameron Mesirow, here on the blog soon!

Bluegrass icon Hazel Dickens has passed away at 75. Cause of death has not yet been announced. Dickens was pro-union, a pal to the Seegers and had one of the most beautiful, classic voices around. She famously recorded several albums with Mike Seeger's wife, Alice Gerrard, some of Hazel's most highly recommended recordings. In recent years she had still been playing live and she made multiple appearances at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, including this past year's fest.

Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard - "Ramblin' Woman"


Hazel Dickens - "Pretty Bird"