'Mande Sessions': Malian music album & film

Interview on 'Dugu Wolo' & The Wild Fires

Revisiting a recent (mid-October) interview with Adam on upcoming Mali album Dugu Wolo. From UGA’s WUOG 90.5fm’s blog site. Thorough answers here. Have a look at the link above.

Red & Black article on Mali album, 'Dugu Wolo'

Article from Wil Petty of UGA’s Red & Black on the Mali album, experience of recording in Bamako, and more.. see link above.

Artist on Artist

Adam was featured as a guest writer in Athens, Georgia’s Flagpole Magazine this week, contributing an article on the great young Malian songwriter and performer Vieux Farka Toure. Check out Adam’s cross-Atlantic interview (done in French and Bambara) with Vieux, his take on Vieux’s latest record, and some descriptive passages on Mali at the link above! Vieux plays Athens’ Georgia Theatre this Sunday night as part of his worldwide record release tour. 

On the Mali album, Dugu Wolo, front: We are very close to completing the cover artwork/packaging. The digipak CD will feature photographs, an essay on Adam’s experience of Mali and its music, descriptions of the Malian instruments featured on the album, and brief write-ups on the meaning and significance of the songs. We’re getting pysched as things start to heat up for a release as soon as possible. Check in right here and at www.adam-klein.com for updates.

Also, follow and ‘like’ Adam on twitter & facebook!

Thanks for checking in,

..the Cowboy Angel team

Next show: MON AUG 22nd @ Melting Point (Athens, GA). Duo w/ Crash Cason on electric guitar. 7:30pm sharp.

While we’re on the topic of Africa Is a Country, check out the recently-posted video of Fatoumata Diawara (raised in Mali) from one of our favorite record labels, World Circuit Records. Enjoy!

Africa Is A Country

One of the coolest & finest blogs about Africa features a lengthy and detailed interview on the Mali album and film project. By the way, we’re currently working on the album packaging- cover, booklet, etc. So things are moving forward for both the record and film. We’ll keep you posted here and on www.adam-klein.com with news & updates.  

Check out the article on the link above!

Wanna inspire a song?

As some have heard at recent live shows or in conversation, I’m working on writing an album of songs now that tell stories from the global south- either giving voice to particular individuals whom I’ve met on my travels or learned about, or songs detailing sustainable development issues and themes along with the challenges and richness of life in ‘developing’ nations. I’m excited to write and share these meaningful songs and stories. I see this as music, and the folk music tradition, at its core and deepest expression- delivering important, inspired messages about life, the world, and our actions within it through poetry and song. A few of the songs for the album will have appeared before (“Don Fernando”, and “Diamonds” from the forthcoming Mali album, Dugu Wolo), but will be rerecorded and presented with a new sound. One or two others have been played at recent shows.

The record will feature issues and stories about which I’m passionate, but need not stem from my experiences alone. In fact, I wouldn’t even try now to put into song or writing all of the different people, issues, or moments I’ve been moved by in my travels and Peace Corps experience in Mali. I hope these will emerge at the right time. So, I’d love to hear about the issues you’re passionate about and try to write a few songs for this record which come from you. I invite you to share the story of an individual fighting for dignity, human rights, and development, or an issue you care about from the global south. I’ll work on writing a song about it for possible inclusion on this unnamed, work-in-progress album. You can’t force a song, of course. They’re tricky, unpredictable beasts. But I’ll give it a shot.

Email hellocowboyangel@gmail.com to suggest a song that matters to you- specific details on a compelling issue (sanitation, education, rural public health, labor rights, etc.) or a special person you believe is SONGWORTHY. Please include a phone number and I will either email or call to learn more about your song!

All song ideas submitted will be included on a website devoted to this record when the album comes out at a future date. Represent, y’all.

Hope to hear from ya soon,
adam

Hardly a Mali-related photo. But it provides some dynamic content to the page after the past two updates, right? That shot’s from this past weekend’s Athens Americana music festival which I co-organized with Justin Evans in Athens, GA.

Plus a poster for the upcoming show at Hendershot’s. It’s a great place- come hang out and enjoy.

And while we’re relating shows, I’m also playing TOMORROW (which may be today for some folks), WED MAY 4th @ Ashford Manor Concerts on the Lawn in Watkinsville, GA, 6pm sharp. A lovely event each time. Joined by AJ Adams on pedal steel, we’re opening for Grogus. Hot stuff.

In other ‘news’, Dave Marr kindly wrote about the mali film and music project in this week’s Flagpole Magazine’s Film Notebook. He gave a link to this page. So if you’re visiting from the Flagpole article, you already know this, and thanks for having a look. Here’s a link to view the documentary trailer on You Tube.

Our New Silence

Also wanna let you know about a cool project happening here in Athens connecting Athens music and Javanese music of the island of Java, Indonesia. Kai Riedl and Suny Lyons, two important members of Athens’ musical and arts community, have been traveling to Java to record traditional and other music there. Now they’re raising funds to complete a project in which Athens and Athens-connected musicians (including Peter Buck of R.E.M., Kate Pierson of B-52s, and Barret Martin of Tuatara, amongst many others) create new sounds and songs from the Javanese field recordings. Very cool. Check out their 12-cd recordings (a solid intro on the music of Java, and downloadable for $1 per record!) at www.JavaSounds.org.

See the link above for more info. Happy listening!

Been a while since I posted on here- Europe tour, organizing this past weekend’s Athens Americana music festival in Athens, GA, etc. Still around, though. Now that I have some “down time” I’ll be emailing the trailer out to film contacts, starting to look for grants and funding, and reminding people that there’s a fundraising link live on Fractured Atlas right now. Like right now.

So here’s the link: Fractured Atlas.

Trying times, no doubt- post-Japanese tsunami and earthquake, devastating tornadoes in the south, flooding in Memphis, not to mention we can hardly pull ourselves away from tv, radio, and twitter following the death of bin Laden. And there are plenty of great causes to want to support. We each have (or hopefully will develop) our own idea of a ‘Universe of Obligation’ which seeks to answer such questions as: To whom are we obligated? How much should we give to others? In what ways? Plus we experience ‘compassion fatigue’- there’s too much overload and stimulation coming at us from all angles- media, our communities, friends, etc., that it’s hard to navigate. (Thanks, AJWS). We could easily bleed ourselves dry giving to the causes we encounter which we support and believe in.

So don’t blow your rent on donating to my film project. But consider a slight prick, like at the doctor’s office when you’re a kid. And you’d usually get ice cream afterwards. I’ve got ice cream for ya too, in the guise of the film and your name in the credits! It might take a year but this treat won’t melt. I could keep going but I suspect some won’t be amused.

Thanks for watching the trailer and considering a donation to move the project forward toward editing and finishing the entire film, on to film festival submissions, and getting the film and music album out to audiences worldwide! The trailer and donation page can be found at the Fractured Atlas link above.

Peace and more to come asap,

adam