Kudos from around...

From the blog of Jim Bessman:

And so I am inspired again. But I neglect maybe the most inspiring Carlene Carter. She and the always-inspiring Graham Parker showcased for APAP two nights earlier at Joe’s Pub, the first time, she said, they were ever billed together. GP remains the most consistently compelling singer-songwriter to emerge from the new wave, and was a huge influence on Carlene (she used his pub-rock band the Rumour on her self-titled 1978 debut album). She gave him props after his typically self-deprecating solo set (he joked about getting confused for Gram Parsons and Richard Thompson and just sucking it up and going with it), then did an autobiographical set backed by piano and guitar that was truly triumphant: Here’s a woman with the greatest heritage in country music (the Carter Family, not to mention her step-father Johnny Cash), who caused a stir with her first rock-influenced country albums, then went through years of abuse and then the rapid-fire deaths of her mother June Carter, Cash, her sister Rosey Carter and ex-boyfriend/producer and former Petty’s Heartbreaker Howie Epstein, to emerge last year with the terrific comeback album “Stronger.”
At Joe’s Pub, she sang with abandon, looking and sounding so much like her adorable mother now instead of the glamorous rebel of her debut. And when she finished with “Stronger,” which was written for her sister (“I wanna crawl in that dark hole and curl up beside her/Wanna cradle her sweet soul and never let go”), mine weren’t the only eyes tearing up.
“Don’t shit on your talent!” bellowed Sandra Bernhard on New Year’s Eve, responding to a reveler who shouted out something about Amy Winehouse. The ever-glamorous Sandy, looking easily 30 years younger than she is, simply could not tolerate Winehouse’s appetite for self-destruction, her talent notwithstanding.
Carlene has now officially not shit on her talent. Go tell it on the mountain! Or take it from this post, three and a-half years in the making.
Sometimes it takes a while to get inspired.

GARY MORRIS TO PERFORM AT THE HEROES RED, WHITE AND BLUE INAUGURAL BALL

Gary Morris will be performing at the Red, White and Blue Ball for the Inauguration of President Elect Barack Obama at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C. The 2009 Heroes Red, White and Blue Inaugural Ball will celebrate America's military heroes and honor injured service members and their families at the Walter Reed Army and National Naval Medical Centers. It will benefit the USO of Metropolitan Washington and the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). Gary's international career was started when he joined Candidate Jimmy Carter on his whistlestop tour accros the country during his successful campaign. Since then Gary has performed for every US President as well as heads

of state from around the world. Gary's current LP Bring Him Home and Other Prayers features songs from his awad winning performance in Les Miserables as well as traditional inspriational tunes.