Folkadelphia Session: Mary Lattimore and Jeff Zeigler
We all like to practice what we preach, right? I’m always talking about the limited meaning and importance of genre classifications in the modern age of musical omnipresence; no one would really bat an eyelash at a concert bill consisting of a country twanger and an avant-garde synthstrumentalist (I just invented that word, “synth” + “instrumentalist”). Reason being is that our minds have been collectively expanded by the shear amount of diversity in music that we listen to on a regular basis primarily thanks to the Internet. We don’t live in 1913 and we’re not about to riot about The Rite of Spring premiere. We take musical mash-ups and oddities in stride. Just the other day, I saw a video in which Justin Timberlake played bass with the Flaming Lips. That’s not even entirely that weird. I’ve heard that diversity is the spice of life and I’m inclined to agree.
And now our weekly Folkadelphia Session! This week features two prominent music heads in the Philadelphia scene- Mary Lattimore and Jeff Zeigler. I know (and you definitely have heard/seen) Mary from performing harp with the likes of Meg Baird, Kurt Vile, Thurston Moore, and many others. I know (and you definitely have heard/seen) Jeff from either performing in Arc In Roundor Relay, or from hearing a record he’s worked on with The War On Drugs, Ape School, and about a ton more. In any case, the two linked up and have of late been performing as an improvisational duo around town. As you’ll soon hear, this is not folk music, or, if it is folk music, it is of the extraterrestrial variety. Perhaps protest music from the icy moons of Jupiter. But like I mentioned, I like to get on my soapbox and shout about what I consider great or intriguing or unique, regardless of traditional “folk” qualifiers. I think you’ll find that that the ebb and flow of this session is like a dream you will not want to wake up from. Let’s just stop talking and drift away…
This coming week on Thursday, February 14th, Mary Lattimore performs at Kung Fu Necktie with Trummors, Fred Thomas, and Morning River Band (a diverse line-up that validates what I said before!) Hint, hint- a cool Valentine’s Day option!