Road to California

Product Description California Americana Americana music in California is a force which blew out of the Great Valley on a wave of twang, glitter, hard knocks, lonesome songs, and sorrowful steel guitars. The first incarnation was a honky-tonk scene in Bakersfield, hard scrabble oiltown and unofficial capital of the San Joaquin Valley, that gave birth to the twangy telecaster driven music of singers like Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. This tough yet plaintive sound took the Grapevine south to Los Angeles and influenced Rose Maddox, Bob Wills, Merle Travis, Don Rich, Roy Nichols, Fuzzy Owen, Ken Nelson, James Burton, and Joe Maphis; all postwar purveyors of hony-tonk dreams on the edge of the world. In the sixties just out of the reach of glittering lights of Hollywood, a new, hard edged take on those traditional sounds morphed into country music LA style. It grew quickly through Merle and Buck to Chris Hillman, Cllarence White, Jimmy Messina, Gram Parsons, Roger McGuinn, Ry Cooder, Linda Ronstadt, Emmy Lou Harris, Neil Young and a host of others. Thanks to the expanding LA music industry it soon spread out over the world. Along with the Bakersfield sound, rhythm and blues and rock were driving forces throughout California, particularly in the rapidly growing urban areas. In East Los Angeles, a fertile, thriving Latino culture produced hybrids like Richie Valens, beautifully suited to the strong character of the land and the people. Meanwhile up in San Francisco a new style of music was evolving with rock as its catalyst. Americana's rock influence is fully realized in the music of Los Lobos, the Grateful Dead, David Lindley, the Byrds, the Blasters, Santana, Buffalo Springfield, and many other great bands. San Francisco's coffee houses also produced a heady, iconoclastic acoustic music scene. It may have started in the hills south of the city where fledgling folkies Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter, and David Nelson were playing trad songs as the Hart Valley Drifters. Maybe it settled in later when the Dead, Commander Cody's Lost Planet Airmen and the New Riders of the Purple Sage rode their trad imbued electric sound in out of the western sunset. Farther north back up in the redwood trees traditional music found its voice in the plaintive, yearning simplicity of Jim Ringer and Mary MacCaslin. And in the rolling grassy hills of Marin County, David Grisman's mando cohort, the Quintet, with its lucky plucking bounciness and minor swing 'newgrass' changed the rules on how to play music with traditional instruments. About the Artist Cyrus Clarke Cyrus Clarke has been playing his own brand of Americana music in California since the early nineteen-seventies. In 1972 he co-founded the Cache Valley Drifters in Santa Barbara, California. From their home base they gathered a good head of steam, tapping the potent and growing interest in traditional acoustic music all over the US. Over the next thirteen years the Drifters rode hard and fast over the club and festival circuit from San Francisco to Johnson City, Tennessee, and back again. In between their long haul tours they recorded three well received albums for Flying Fish Records. With the Drifters in abbeyance by the late eighties, Clarke and long time picking pal, mandolinist Mike Mullins, kicked up a new band, The Acousticats. This stellar group, which also featured virtuoso fiddler Phil Salazar, was a tremendous showcase for Cyrus' inventive flatpicking guitar work and songwriting talents. They became well known across the Golden State for innovative arrangements and fresh new ideas in traditional acoustic music. Criss-crossing California from the Sierra Nevada to the Mexican border, The Acousticats developed a reputaion for exciting performances and produced two finely tuned CDs. When the 'Cats came in off the road Clarke bent his efforts to his own recordings. He has a history that illustrates a long interest in creating new sounds. His newest projects, the Cyrus Clarke Band, Cyrus Clarke and the Expedition, and his solo endeavors are intialed with a contemporary approach to an always changing urban folk scene. The ensembles comprise mandolin, guitars, bass, and percussion and provide a wonderful context for his songs and fine guitar playing. As time goes on, Clarke continues to use music to flex his imagination and reflect on experiences around him. His feet are planted firmly in the west and he will always stay true to his roots in the fertile soil of California.

Detalles del producto Dimensiones del paquete : 5.55 x 4.97 x 0.54 pulgadas; 3.33 Onzas Fabricante : CD Baby Fecha de lanzamiento original : 2003 Producto en Tienda desde : Julio 27, 2006 Etiqueta : CD Baby ASIN : B000254LFI País de origen : EE. UU. Número de discos : 1 Clasificación en los más vendidos de Amazon: nº873,179 en CDs y Vinilo (Ver el Top 100 en CDs y Vinilo) nº10,219 en Folk Contemporánea (CDs y Vinilo) nº11,783 en Country Tradicional (CDs y Vinilo) nº22,319 en Country Contemporáneo (CDs y Vinilo) Dimensiones del paquete : 5.55 x 4.97 x 0.54 pulgadas; 3.33 Onzas Fabricante : CD Baby Fecha de lanzamiento original : 2003 Producto en Tienda desde : Julio 27, 2006 Etiqueta : CD Baby ASIN : B000254LFI País de origen : EE. UU. Número de discos : 1