Mandolin sighting on Treme

[Steve Roberts]

Steve Earle played mandolin on Gold Watch and Chain on Treme last night (HBO), with his son Justin Townes Earle. They were busking in the French Quarter.

If you are not watching Treme (and you have HBO) get with it- the music is fantastic! This is the first mando sighting on the show, however it was only the third episode.

[JEStanek]

That was a great episode. Nice to see Steve Earle (even had some lines!) We can be uber-geeky and speculate to his mandolin... looked like a Gibson F9 to me.

Jamie

[jim_n_virginia]

Kinda makes me wish I had cable ... or for that matter a TV! Whats the show about? I like Steve Earle's music a lot!

[JEStanek]

The show is about the Treme neighbohood and its people 3 months post Katrina. Lots of music. Lots of talent. Well cast and well written.

Jamie

[Steve Roberts]

That was a great episode. Nice to see Steve Earle (even had some lines!) We can be uber-geeky and speculate to his mandolin... looked like a Gibson F9 to me.

Jamie

It looked like an F9 to me too-but I defer to those more uber-geeky than myself. Course my kids would tell you that no one is more uber-geeky than me.

[Jeff A]

Great show, great music. The guys who do this show also did The Wire on HBO which many critics felt was one of the best series ever done. There is some carry over in the casting. Steve Earle was occasionally on playing a reformed junkie, a role for which he is well suited.

[Mattg]

I wanted to watch the show with my son because of the fantastic and facinating music but had to quickly change the channel because of the adult content in the opening scene of the second episode. I'm no prude but it just seemed pointless and I'm a bit disappointed that it's a show I can't watch with my family. Oh well, at least it's not as bad as some shows.

At least it has gotten me looking into this genre of music. Gotta love the brass marching band thing. Great rhythms.

[Paul Merlo]

just watched that episode today and was real happy to see a mandolin being played. I just caught up with this show last week and it really made me miss visiting NOLA and wish I'd gone to Jazz Fest this year.

P

[Steve Roberts]

I wanted to watch the show with my son because of the fantastic and facinating music but had to quickly change the channel because of the adult content in the opening scene of the second episode. I'm no prude but it just seemed pointless and I'm a bit disappointed that it's a show I can't watch with my family. Oh well, at least it's not as bad as some shows.

At least it has gotten me looking into this genre of music. Gotta love the brass marching band thing. Great rhythms.

Yes, the opening of the second show was pretty rude, although you had to be impressed with that girl's gum chewing...

But no skin or sex in the third episode, although some rough language when a car hits a bad pothole.

[steve V. johnson]

Jamie sez, "The show is about the Treme neighbohood and its people 3 months post Katrina."

And, all the main characters are musicians. Even those who aren't players are intimately involved with music.

There's a tremendous cast (John Goodman, Kermit Ruffin) and crowds of great walk-ons. Alan Toussaint, Elvis Costello, McCoy
Tyner, and on and on... (no bluegrassers yet)

It's a wonderful show. I'm desperately sorry that those folks are going to take another smackin'.

[Paul Kotapish]

I'm finally getting a chance to see this wonderful show. I'm about four episodes in and loving it. I was a big fan of David Simon's The Wire and Homicide, and this is equally great in a very different way. Yep, it's a bit rough and abrasive and explicit for younger viewers, but mature audiences are in for a treat.

Fabulous music, great acting, interesting script, and an amazing introduction to the rich and complex cultural life of America's (arguably) most intriguing city.

I've certainly never seen another program that puts music and musicians front and center in such a real and realistic manner.

And it looked to me like Steve Earle was playing an F-9 in that scene.

[Mike Bunting]

I've watched the entire first season and it is indeed a great show. I love hearing tunes like I'll Fly Away, that I've always heard in the bluegrass setting played by a second line orchestra. Wonderful!!

[Paul Hostetter]

My wife and I have watched the entire series several times now. But we love New Orleans and have been going down there as often as possible for years. It really nails it.

I'll Fly Away is a Baptist hymn written in the 1920's. Mississippi John Hurt had a nice version, and it's been in the repertoire of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band for years and second-line processions for much longer.

If you want to chase any of the music from Tremé, check this link.

[SincereCorgi]

Oh man, I love that show like crazy. Paul's link is good, but the folks at the show itself do a nice job of indexing all the music they use at these pages on their website:

http://www.hbo.com/treme/episodes/1/...ans/music.html

(You have to click around a little to get to the list for each episode.) If only every city had a show that would turn me on to its cool, lesser-known musicians.

[Paul Kotapish]

The official HBO Tremé website (see link above) is a treasure trove of additional information of all sorts.

The individual episode pages also include an "Inside Tremé" page with a useful glossary of phrases, institutions, and traditions that help place the specific details of each program into a broader cultural and historical context. Lots of useful links to more even sites with even more info about the specific elements portrayed. So much to learn!

[Steve Roberts]

Steve Earle played The Galway Girl on mando last night. Also Come Out Ye Black and Tans and Hank's I'll Never Get out of this World Alive on guitar with the tin whistle player from the Pogues.

But I am guessing we won't see Steve again on the show. Too bad- he was great as Harley.

[Raymando7]

We recently got Treme in the UK on Sky Atlantic and I love it.

Have they made a second series ?

[Mike Bunting]

They are about 8 episodes into the second season now.

[Loretta Callahan]

Brilliant show with crazy good music and musicians. It's always a tail wagger for me. HBO does it again.