Monday Music: Mariee Sioux “Wild Eyes.”

Mariee Sioux from Know Phase.

I’ve decided there’s far too little music on this blog.  So here’s a new series: Music Monday.

Every Monday I’ll post a Youtube video of a song we’ve been loving.  Some will be new, some will be old, maybe even really old.  Some might even be brand new, though, truth be told, I like to explore music a little after the sheen has worn off.  Some will be based on traditional music and/or social action or sustainability and some won’t.  Hopefully they will all be fun to listen to and illuminate some of the undercurrents of this little ever-evolving blog.

I stumbled onto the music of Mariee Sioux via a duet she did with Alele Diane.  This is what her label, Grass Roots Records Company, says about her album Faces in the Rocks. 

Featuring Grammy-nominee Gentle Thunder’s enchanting sound on a redwood-carved Native American flute as well as her own famed father Gary Sobonya on mandolin, Mariee recorded Faces in May 2007 with a troupe of Nevada City’s talented musicians. Recorded with the intent of aligning the magnificence of the human voice with the universe’s creative energy, each song is a stirring exploration of life. Her tales range from the profundity of friendship on the single “Friendboats” to the yearning of self-understanding on “Bundles,” each laced with fabled images and poignant verse. “Two Tongues at One Time,” recently released on a rare 7” vinyl, is a sonnet-filled homage to the ancestors who traversed the wild lands of America hundreds of years ago, reminding listeners of our vital ties to our past. (Read her entire bio here). 

I haven’t heard all her stuff yet (some of it’s kind of hard to get a hold of), but, honestly, I haven’t had time to listen even if I had copies because I’m finding it quite difficult to get past this song.  I just keep hitting replay.  The repetition of phrases, building harmonies, it all gets better with each listen.  Headphones add a lot too.   See what you think.

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• Monday Music: Sam Amidon “Tribulation”
• Monday Music: Ora Cogan “My Sweetie Went Away”
• Friday Video: Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story.