CULTURE, MUSIC, NEWS
Louka and Starr serenade Weary Travelers ahead of album release
BY IAN THORNBURG - JANUARY 12, 2025
Photo by Kaila Plummer
Something special has been brewing at the Weary Traveler over the last year as Madison's Louka Patenaude and Starr Moss have poured ever-increasing momentum into their maturing bluegrass partnership. The duo plays a mixture of bluegrass standards and choice off-genre covers, offering both a sense of studied authority and a welcome creativity toward the traditional Americana style.
While Madisonians will recognize Patenaude as a staple of the local music scene and active in almost every genre (Tony Castañeda, The Fingers, Natty Nation, Ben Sidran), Moss has spent the last decade-and-a-half developing his bluegrass credential across the United States and around the world, having toured with Chicago-based Henhouse Prowlers and more recently as a member of Milwaukee's Chicken Wire Empire. Together, the artists fuse the influence of Clarence White, Doc Watson and Tony Rice with inspiration from deserving songwriters across the folk, country, pop and rock categories.
As temperatures have dropped, Patenaude and Moss have doubled down on their quest for pure acoustic guitar tones and authentic vocal arrangements, and have begun recording an album slated for release later this year. What's truly delightful about their choice of repertoire is the pair's ability to interpret songs from Dolly Parton to Gordon Lightfoot and present them as par-for-the-course entries against the established bluegrass canon. And while they each possess the skills to ramp and vamp alongside the very best, it is the slower numbers that reveal their extraordinary depth of sensitivity. Patenaude's version of "Wild Flowers" (Tom Petty) and Moss' "These Days" (Jackson Browne) serve as musical windows into the driving artistic vision which these two share.
As we find ourselves bombarded with stressors in our daily lives it is crucial that we seek balance and engage beauty. The relaxing nature of Patenaude and Moss' performance is perfect medicine for the soul, and an all-around great time.
MEDIA, CULTURE, OPINION
A Public Radio listener's New Years lament
BY IAN THORNBURG - JANUARY 10, 2025
I can hardly believe that January is almost half way through. Another year, flying faster than the last, has ushered in feelings of disorientation, or maybe nostalgia, certainly bewilderment. Somehow, I never really felt the Holiday spirit sink into my own spirit this year, or last year — or as I’m now realizing much longer — and it’s taken me until just this moment to realize why.
For every year of my memorable life I have spent my Saturday evenings on a standing date with Garrison Keillor, creator and host of Minnesota Public Radio’s “A Prairie Home Companion.” That show of course ended in 2016 and transitioned into Chris Thile’s “Live From Here” which itself ended in 2020. The details of any of this are not all that important, as my existential holiday crisis really comes down to one singular feature of the show I loved: pianist Richard Dworsky’s “Short Attention Span Christmas Medley."
For those who aren’t familiar, Dworsky is an unbelievably fantastic pianist who served as Prairie Home’s Music Director from 1993 until the final broadcast in 2016. While I don’t want to overlook his wide breadth of accomplishments pertaining to the show or his musical career in general, if you must only hear one performance of his make it the Christmas medley.
While not an outwardly unique idea, Dworsky’s yuletide offering speaks to the entire spectrum of human emotions surrounding the holidays, from solemn and romantic to joyful and ecclesiastic, to tense and restless, wrapped in fun and culminating in relief. His arrangement is nothing short of brilliant, his playing is world-class and his tongue-in-cheek presentation cloaks the evocative nature of his performance in a lightheartedness that always seems in too short of order this time of year. Oh, and did I mention that he packs 28 songs into just under two minutes?
I guess the point is that change can be bittersweet but we all possess the power to remember the things or the people we love, and to keep them present in our lives. For me, I’m going to take this opportunity to mark my new calendar for Saturday, December 20th. That’s the day I’ll set aside a few minutes after dinner to listen to Rich and enjoy one of my favorite holiday traditions.
Richard Dworsky performing in 2015. Photo from Radio Heartland
CULTURE, POLITICS, DANCE
Danica Sena flamencos for immigrant justice
BY IAN THORNBURG - DECEMBER 29, 2024
Sin Fronteras Collective performing at the Harmony Bar December 28, 2024
San Francisco-based Flamenco artist Danica Sena has returned to Wisconsin with a mission: to turn art into justice for underrepresented immigrant communities. Partnering with Madison's Community Immigration Law Center (CILC) Sena organized and hosted a special fundraiser called Sin Fronteras (without borders) at the Harmony Bar on Madison's east side just before New Years. With an expertly curated panel of musicians and dancers Sena raised money for CILC immigration lawyers who do pro-bono outreach and case work for immigrants facing deportation and other legal challenges.
Sena is a world-renowned dancer, choreographer and teacher specializing in Spanish dance and multi-cultural enrichment. She holds a BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Spanish/English Language, Literature and Dance.