Family Paths (formerly PArental Stress Service) is a non-profit agency dedicated to strengthening families. Their new compilation CD features songs from a variety of artists, all bearing on the album's central theme of the relationship between parents and children. "Hold My Hand" was released in March of 2004, in conjunction with a Family Paths (formerly PSS) benefit concert featuring Irish singer Mary Black. You can read about the artists below, all of whom donated their music to this benefit project.
Mary Black's distinguished career has spanned over 20 years from her early days in Dublin folk clubs through ever-escalating success with nine platinum solo albums one of which - No Frontiers - spent fifty-six weeks in the Irish Top 30. Needless to say Mary Black is a seminal figure in Irish musical history and one of the artists responsible for it's relatively recent blossoming on a global level.
Mix the energy of Tina Turner and with the chops of Ella Fitzgerald, fill the songs with emotion and sincerity, and you get the sensational LEDISI. A dynamic performer who uses her voice like an instrument, she joins the stage with her band Anibade, who are all accomplished musicians in their own right. Words could never accurately describe the power of Ledisi's live show. It is an experience, it is true entertainment, and a celebration of music. She continues to sell out venues both nationally and internationally.
Shana Morrison began performing with her group Caledonia in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1996. Her debut CD Caledonia was released on her own label, Belfast Violet Records in 98 and picked up by the Monster Music label in 1999. Caledonia recieved favorable reviews from the LA Times, SF Chronicle, and the SF Examiner, as well as air play on KPFA, KPIG, KPIX, KDVS, KHUM, and KFOG. Tours across the country soon followed.
After carving a career out of what some might call the shadows, guitarist Nina Gerber is at last beginning to dare the light. Her first album as a leader, Not Before Noon, follows two decades which brought her to prominence without ever placing her name on the front of an album cover. Since her accompaniment of Kate Wolf first earned her recognition, her acute skills as performer, producer and arranger have continued to deepen. Her contributions to acoustic music have earned her a following as loyal as for the numerous high talents she has accompanied - proving the shadows equal to the spotlight in the creation of honest, powerful, and beautiful music
Maria Muldaur's musical roots run as deep and varied as Greenwich Village is, the place she was born and raised. Bluegrass, folk, blues, jazz and gospel were all around her, but her very first musical influences in the early 50's were from the records of country and western singers Hank Williams. Kitty Wells, Hank Snow and Ernest Tubb that she would hear coming in faintly over the airwaves from a little station in New Jersey." I was a Me girl trapped in the urban jungle and the magic of radio opened up the world of country music to me," Maria recalls.
Over the years there have been many members of the Flirtations to tread the stage and each other's toes. Some came and went according to the orders of their mental health professionals; others were deprogrammed by family and friends and spirited away; still others actually married and bore offspring. All are remembered for their unique contributions. Of the original set, two remain - Ken Lampman, the world's tallest elf at 5' 8", and Doug Stowe, a man with very deep attention-deficit issues. Filling out the newest Flirtation roster are: Kevin Marsh, Gregg Gordon, Jim Smith, Mark Berneche, Perry Miniviscus, Mark Orr, Jon Renwick and George Cernile. Adhering to the strict tenets of the French Foreign Legion, no one is asked about his history, his sins, his transgressions, as long as he remains faithful to the cause - even when they drop out of sight for weeks on end and show up for practice with a tastefully dressed harp seal.
Linda Tillery is a veteran vocalist, percussionist, producer and cultural historian whose career has spanned 34 years. Since the 1960's, Tillery has been regarded as one of the San Francisco Bay Area's most versatile singers. Her powerful, shimmering alto voice has been showcased in such groups as the Loading Zone, Zasu Pitts Memorial Orchestra, the Solid Sender's and Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra. While singing for the play Letters From A New England Negro in 1992, Linda Tillery was introduced to some field recordings of traditional African-American music. "My God," she exclaimed, "this is what I've been looking for!" Tillery poured over documentary recordings and ethnomusicology research to uncover a treasure-trove of spirituals, work songs, field hollers, and slave songs. Within months, she assembled the Cultural Heritage Choir: Rhonda Benin, Elouise Burrell, Melanie DeMore, Lamont Van Hook.
Frances Black is a singer for whom the link with her audience is paramount. It is as a solo artist, however, that Frances has had her greatest success, her album 'Talk To Me' staying at No.1 for 10 weeks in 1994, leading among other things to the first of two IRMA awards as Best Female Artist in 1995, the other coming in 1997. Her albums, with Dara Records, were produced by Tyrone man Arty McGlynn, who as always brought a supreme lightness of touch to the proceedings.
Kathy Kallick's incandescent vocals and extraordinary compositions have been the touchstone of a number of bands. In 1975, she co-founded the internationally acclaimed Good Ol' Persons , an innovative and influential unit that was among the first bluegrass-based groups to incorporate other musical forms, feature the singing and song writing of women, and play without a banjo while maintaining a Monroe-inspired edge.
KITKA is a professional women's vocal ensemble dedicated to producing concerts, recordings, and educational programs that develop new audiences for music rooted in Eastern European women's vocal traditions. KITKA also strives to expand the boundaries of this music as an expressive art form. KITKA's mission is accomplished through a busy itinerary of live performances, including a San Francisco Bay Area home concert series; state, regional, national, and international touring programs; community outreach activities and workshops; in-school programs; radio broadcasts; recording projects; master artist residencies; commissioning programs; and adventuresome collaborations.
Take Steve Seskin, a boy from the Bronx who was going to be a psychologist but got tired of New York so he went out to San Francisco to finish his academic education and fell in love with the city by the bay. Maybe he just had to get away from home so he could chase his destiny. "I realized I wanted to do music so I never finished my studies," he says. "I started playing clubs, something I had never done in New York. I thought I was a pretty good performer but not much of a songwriter."
Allen Shamblin co-wrote one of the most popular country songs of the late '90s. "Don't Laugh at Me" achieved gold status when it was recorded by Mark Wills and it was named Song of the Year in 1999 by the Nashville Songwriters Association. It was also honored with a nomination in the same category from the Academy of Country Music.
John McCutcheon has emerged as one of our most respected and loved folksingers. As an instrumentalist, he is a master of a dozen different traditional instruments, most notably the rare and beautiful hammer dulcimer. His songwriting has been hailed by critics and singers around the globe.
Singer-songwriter Melanie DeMore has a remarkable voice, weaving all the fibers of African American folk with soulful ballads, blues, spirituals and gospel numbers. In her presentations, DeMore beautifully brings her audience together through her music and talk. She has toured extensively, singing at festivals, universities, in coffee houses and concert halls, and her recording Share My Song (Redwood Records) is a heartfelt collection.
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