Blue Merle

[Jim Cariello]

Anyone heard them yet? They will be on World Cafe Live tomorrow 1/14/05.

[mandofiddle]

For a second there I thought this topic would be about Australian Shepherds http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[mandopoet]

Anyone heard them yet? They will be on World Cafe Live tomorrow 1/14/05.
Mandoalaska,

The Loft on XM radio has been playing Blue Merle for a couple of months now. In fact, Blue Merle's album was voted to the Loft's list of top albums for 2004 recently by its listeners. Funny thing is, the album has not even been released yet. At first I heard Blue Merle's CD was tentatively scheduled to come out in late January; I've also heard early February. Sorry, but I don't know for sure.

The cuts that I've heard I like very much. Blue Merle's lead vocals sound hauntingly similar to those of Coldplay's Chris Martin. Overall, Blue Merle has a more acoustic sound with some mando licks thrown in, but I am solely basing this on three songs.

Still, upon hearing Blue Merle for the first time, I placed them on my "to buy" list; now I'm just waiting on their album to become available.

[Paul Kotapish]

KFOG--by far the best of the FM pop/rock stations in the San Francsico Bay Area--has been playing the Blue Merle's track "Burning in the Sun," which features a lot of mandolin and fiddle. I heard it this morning and thought it sounded great.

KFOG has been very supportive of Nickel Creek and a bunch of other acoustic bands with mando, inlcuding my own band, Wake the Dead.

[mandopoet]

For a second there I thought this topic would be about Australian Shepherds http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
Nope, mandofiddle, this group doesn't play Dawg music. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[mandopoet]

KFOG--by far the best of the FM pop/rock stations in the San Francsico Bay Area--has been playing the Blue Merle's track "Burning in the Sun," which features a lot of mandolin and fiddle. I heard it this morning and thought it sounded great.

KFOG has been very supportive of Nickel Creek and a bunch of other acoustic bands with mando, inlcuding my own band, Wake the Dead.
Cool, Paul, glad to hear that Blue Merle is getting airplay on terrestial radio. BTW, this may be a dumb question, considering your group's name, but what kind of music do y'all play? Are you influenced by the Grateful Dead?

[mad dawg]

I bought their EP with "Burning in the Sun back in December from the band's web site, bluemerle.net

[mandopoet]

Thanks, mad dawg!

Any comments about the music or CD? I assume that you were not disappointed.

BTW, I just tried to go to that web site listed and I'm getting a message that it does not exist. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[mandopoet]

Hey, I found it!

www.bluemerle.net (http://www.bluemerle.net)

[Paul Kotapish]

Cool, Paul, glad to hear that Blue Merle is getting airplay on terrestial radio. BTW, this may be a dumb question, considering your group's name, but what kind of music do y'all play? Are you influenced by the Grateful Dead?
Hey Mandopoet,

Wake the Dead is a Bay Area acoustic ensemble that plays selections from the Grateful Dead songbook with an Irish slant. The lead instruments are mandolin, fiddle, uillean pipes, Irish harp, and bouzouki, with guitar, acoustic bass, and percussion as the rhythm section. Lots of harmony vocals. Some of the songs we play straight, others get layered with jigs and reels, others have evolved into something new altogether, with latin, african, and Balkan influences at play.

It's kind of a goofy project, but it's been a lot of fun and our CDs sell and our concerts are usually full.

Our website is kind of minimalist, but you can see some photos, hear some audio clips, and check out upcoming gigs:

http://www.wakethedead.org/

[mad dawg]

Mandopoet -- my bad, that's the page (.net)

I like the EP. They don't really employ the mandolin for solos, but you can hear it in every tune as in"Burning in the Sun", or in a rhythm role or providing tremelo.

[softshell]

I just heard Blue Merle on our local station WRNR in Annapolis, Md. Is that Chris Martin? Also, a little off the subject, How do you like satellite radio? Is it worth the cost? I've been thinking about it lately.

[mad dawg]

...Also, a little off the subject, How do you like satellite radio? Is it worth the cost? I've been thinking about it lately.
I like the idea myself, from the sheer variety of available music genres, to the digital readout so I will actually be able to figure out the names of the Rock en Español songs and artists. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif