Follow @jobobrother

I’ve lived in Los Angeles long enough now to notice a two-degree temperature drop and the standard grey, morning haze lasting an extra hour and excitedly exclaim, “Fall is in the air!” It’s what I have to work with down here.

Autumn is my favorite time of year. I’m eager to cuddle up in coats, drink steamy brews, over-do holiday cooking, celebrate Walrus Day, and frankly, I like the melancholic pallor it casts o’er humanity – makes my fellow man seem more relatable than when they’re sweating and spiking balls over nets, behavior which makes me skittish and distrustful.

Of course I know this new chill in the air may be a tease; there’s always opportunity for Mother Nature to Alan Funt the situation. I’m not boxing up my cargo shorts and ice cube collection just yet, but I am eager. To prepare, I’ve hand-selected the finest mini-marshmallows to serve in cocoa (I myself hate eating marshmallows – they’re like sugar-sweetened, antique erasers, but ironically I delight in judging and organizing them), I’ve begun psychologically manipulating the boyfriend with subliminal messages while he watches The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills to favor Douglas Firs over White Firs, and I’ve taught my cats to knit their own sweaters. (To be honest, this last effort has been a real power struggle, with both felines putting up a lot of resistance and excuses:

Songs For Beginners is Graham Nash's first solo album, initially released in 1971. It's a revelatory, universally-themed record that celebrates the betterment of the world through improvement of self. Be yourself, Graham encourages us! And through that truth, the world will flourish around you!

It somehow seems so fitting that just a few weeks ago, Graham's daughter Nile Nash, along with founder and director of all things (((folkYEAH!))), Britt Govea, released Be Yourself: A Tribute to Graham Nash's Songs for Beginners on the always amazing Grass Roots Record Company. The record features covers by Alela Diane, Vetiver, Brendon Benson (Raconteurs), Sleepy Sun, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Mariee Sioux & Greg Weeks (Espers), Robin Pecknold (Fleet Foxes) and more! You can hear samplings of tracks from the beautiful album below:


Britt was kind enough to answer my questions about the release and how it all came together. Check out the interview below!

Miss Ess: Was there a lightning bolt moment when you were young and you realized how important music was for you? What albums/artists were important to you during that time?

Alela Diane: I think I always knew I loved song and melody. I remember being small and hearing my dad’s guitar through the wall as I fell asleep. I’d crash out on random couches as my folks finished up band practice. I remember listening to Patsy Cline with my mom, singing along… always singing along. As I got older I branched out into more ‘popular’ music of the time and went through my preteen obsession with Hanson: I was not completely sheltered from pop culture, as it turns out. I began to write songs & play the guitar at 19. And shortly thereafter, when I was working at a breakfast café in Nevada City, I realized I was a lot better at singing than I was at filling water and coffee-- so I stuck to it. 

If you live in a hectic big city like me, you probably need a bit of respite now and again, but maybe can't afford the time and dough needed to get somewhere as far-flung as you'd like. If this is your lot in life, and you just need a little escape, I can't recommend Alela Diane's new record To Be Still enough.


The songs are bittersweet fables, longing recollections and evocative bits of each season in turn. It's all perfectly lovely, laid out with production work by Alela's own father and recorded partially in his studio in Nevada City. Alela is helped out on a few tracks by the always amazing Mariee Sioux and the legendary Michael Hurley, whose duet with Alela couldn't be more delectable.

The album chugs and flows along, from one memorable melody to another. The songs won't stay out of my head-- whether I am walking the street or attempting to sleep, Alela's always whispering in my ear. Her music has an openness and honesty that are quite reflective of the artist herself. The album can't help but be natural and real just as Alela is, yet it still has the power to pull you away from your reality and into an alternative existance, even for just a few minutes. Stay tuned for an interview with her on the Amoeblog sometime in the very near future! [It's up now! Check it out here.]