{"id":12862,"date":"2017-06-20T05:30:52","date_gmt":"2017-06-20T09:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=12862"},"modified":"2017-06-19T07:21:23","modified_gmt":"2017-06-19T11:21:23","slug":"resonant-rogues-musical-welcome-mat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2017\/06\/20\/resonant-rogues-musical-welcome-mat\/","title":{"rendered":"Resonant Rogues’ Musical Welcome Mat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Led by the duo of Sparrow and Keith Smith, Asheville-based band Resonant Rogues<\/strong> combines flavors of Appalachian old-time, early jazz, and Eastern European folk to create a distinctive and original sound. The group’s latest album, Hands in the Dirt<\/i> uses that sound as a backdrop to lyrics that focus on universal \u2013 and sometimes very topical \u2013 themes. Resonant Rogues celebrated the album release with a live show at Isis Music Hall in Asheville on May 6.<\/p>\n

Among other influences, the songs that Sparrow and Keith write for Resonant Rogues are informed by jazz manouche<\/i>, a prewar style most often associated with guitarist Django Reinhardt. But Keith recognizes a commonality between that style and Appalachian music, as well as music from the Baltic region of Europe. \u201cIt’s all folk music,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt’s all music that people play together like families. It gets passed on; it’s not academic music.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sparrow took notice of a resurgence in the popularity of older forms of music; those styles seeped into her psyche as she wrote new and original songs. \u201cAnd now I think we’re seeing more of a resurgence of the earlier styles,\u201d she says. \u201cthe places where jazz really intersects with other styles of Americana like country and western swing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The latter was originally designed for dancing. \u201cDancing is a pretty big part\u201d of the current jazz\/Americana renaissance, Keith believes. \u201cAnd we’re a part of that: we both teach swing dance, and we go to the local dances wherever we are.\u201d They often perform at those dances, too. \u201cIt’s a good scene that keeps that music alive,\u201d he says.\u201d<\/p>\n

Resonant Rogues’ music is an exuberant combination of planning and spontaneity. \u201cWe work out arrangements with our band members,\u201d Keith says. \u201cBut the solo sections that happen instrumentally are improvised.\u201d Sparrow adds that songs like \u201cTrevor Bought a House\u201d off of Hands in the Dirt<\/i> \u201chas the ‘official’ parts, but then it’s got solo sections built in.\u201d Sparrow and Keith each compose songs individually \u2013 one can usually tell who wrote a song simply by who’s singing it \u2013 but they work on the arrangements together, and with their support musicians.<\/p>\n

Like many musicians, both Sparrow and Keith are involved in multiple projects. Sparrow also leads a group called Sparrow and Her Wingmen, which draws from some of the same influences that color Resonant Rogues’ music. But she sees a sharp distinction between the two. \u201cSparrow and Her Wingmen is specifically focused on vintage jazz,\u201d she explains. \u201cResonant Rogues plays some vintage jazz tunes \u2013 that’s part of our influence \u2013 but it’s not the focus of the band. Our focus is on original music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Resonant Rogues is a showcase for the musicians’ collective and individual instrumental skills, but the song lyrics are a key component of the group’s appeal. One of the most moving tunes on Hands in the Dirt<\/i> is its final track, \u201cCan’t Come In.\u201d The song presents an imagined dialogue between a refugee and a gatekeeper who explains that \u201cwe have only just enough for all our kin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like several of the tunes on the album, \u201cCan’t Come In\u201d was written during the band’s recent tour of Europe. \u201cWe took a tour from Istanbul to Ireland,\u201d Sparrow recalls. \u201cA long trip.\u201d Adding an extra layer of poignancy, one verse of \u201cCan’t Come In\u201d was written and sung by Basher Balleh, a Syrian refugee currently living in Istanbul. Lyrically and musically, the song represents Resonant Rogues’ successful synthesis of folk styles from across the globe into something unique and personal.<\/p>\n

Resonant Rogues aren’t afraid to include a direct message within the lyrics of \u201cCan’t Come In.\u201d Explicitly referencing Emma Lazarus’ 1883 sonnet \u201cThe New Colossus\u201d with its mention of tired, hungry and poor as well as the core message of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (\u201cDo unto others…\u201d), \u201cCan’t Come In\u201d celebrates the welcome home that folk music \u2013 whatever its origin \u2013 provides for social conscience. The song’s final verse changes the refrain to the more hopeful \u201cwelcome in \/ we have just more than enough for all our kin.\u201d As with all of the songs on Hands in the Dirt<\/i>, listeners can appreciate the lyrical content, but they can \u2013 and should \u2013 dance along as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Led by the duo of Sparrow and Keith Smith, Asheville-based band Resonant Rogues combines flavors of Appalachian old-time, early jazz, and Eastern European folk to create a distinctive and original […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12863,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,41,42,49],"tags":[237,3072],"class_list":["post-12862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-americana","category-interview","category-jazz","category-new-release","tag-asheville","tag-resonant-rogues","cat-6-id","cat-41-id","cat-42-id","cat-49-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12862"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12864,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12862\/revisions\/12864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}