RANI ARBO & DAISY MAYHEM: Big Old Life

Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem

Big Old Life

© 2007 Signature Sounds Recordings (701237200521)

CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.

A foot-stompin', musical shout-out to the universe.

tracks

1 Joy Comes Back
2 Big Old Life
3 Red Haired Boy
4 Roses
5 What's That
6 Thief
7 Heart With No Companion
8 Oil in My Vessel
9 Farewell, Angelina
10 Mother of Our Dreams
11 Hole in Heaven
12 Shine On

notes

Here is Big Old Life: twelve songs from a band that has learned to count its blessings. You could call it agnostic gospel. You could call it reverent (except when it’s not). You could call it a foot-stompin', musical shout-out to the universe. You could call it a recording of four people playing songs they like, together, as they've done for the past seven years. Big Old Life is also everything Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem fans have always loved about the band: live energy, dry wit, great grooves, smart lyrics, and a wild ride through a blend of roots music styles, from blues to bluegrass to old-time, folk, funk, and swing.

Musically, this album showcases the band’s stellar singing, with Rani Arbo's gorgeous, shape-shifting alto buoyed by the band's renowned four-part harmonies. Guitarist Anand Nayak and bassist Andrew Kinsey contribute strong originals, as well, while Scott Kessel (Arbo's husband) lines up the groove on the Drumship Enterprise, a junk percussion rig featuring tin cans, cookie tins, and a vinyl suitcase (he does pull out a traditional kit for a few tunes). Arbo’s swervy fiddle and Nayak’s versatile guitar weave together with energy and abandon, and superb playing from guests Rose Sinclair (banjo, accordion), Kevin Barry (lap steel, guitar) and Ben Ross (harmonica) rounds out the album’s soulful sound.

Many of the tracks on Big Old Life peer through a universal window. Arbo's title track and the anthemic “Shine On” lobby for a fearless, bright-eyed approach to life; Nayak's swingy “What's That” looks outside "the door" with a Waits-meets-Grappelli swing; Kinsey's hushed "Mother of Our Dreams" and Arbo's unearthly "Hole in Heaven" are paeans to mothers living and remembered. Then there's the straight-up gospel blues, “Oil in My Vessel,” learned from fiddler Joe Thompson, and a clawhammer banjo version of Leonard Cohen's “Heart with No Companion,” a tender ode to possibility. Interspersed are a fistful of songs with more classic themes — love lost, the trouble with red haired boys, and a Dylan tune, “Farewell Angelina,” that aptly reflects the chaos of our modern world.

Along with great music and singing, Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem have always had a penchant for the spiritual. But where their previous album, Gambling Eden, asked big questions, Big Old Life simply opens the window and lets the light in. Listen to their playing, to their song choices, and to the ease in which they inhabit their sound, and you’ll hear the difference.

As Arbo says, “The shorter your life feels, the bigger it is in the moment.”

Big Old Life is the sound of that moment.

reviews

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  • Love at the first note.
    author: Sue Stevens

    While driving to Bismarck, ND, from Virginia, MN I was listening to the Morning Show on MN Public Radio. Joy Comes Back was featured. The opening a cappela caught my attention and before the end of the song, I was dancing in the driver's seat. WOW! I ordered the CD as soon as I got home. Now I'm dancing in a much safer environment. What a fantastic album. I loved the pictures on the CD case, too. Absolutely everything in and on this CD makes me smile. Actually, it brings Joy and I'm Ready!!

  • from the other side of the fence
    author: Alex Martin

    I received this CD as a Christmas present and loved it so much that I ordered another copy for a friend. One might not expect me to be so enthusiastic: I am jazz musician specializing in Brazilian and "Latin" styles (semper ubi sub ubi). But there is something so honest about what Rani and her friends have produced, with musicianship that is so skilled without ever upstaging the emotion and truth it serves--I couldn't resist. My favorite song is "Roses." I hope Rani continues to write and follow her own voice.

  • I am Inspired!
    author: Linda Martinson

    I heard Rani and the band's interview on NPR. I was in pain, as I always am from Fibromyalgia, and almost in tears. The interviewer mentioned Rani's recovery from breast cancer then I them sing "Joy Comes Back" and I decided that I have to get ready too! I was so inspired by this song, #2 - Big Old Life, and #12 - Shine On, that I recommended the CD to 3 other friends. Not for a long time have song lyrics held such meaning for me. And when I sing along, my pain is set aside and I remember to see the bright side. Thank you, Daisy Mayhem.

  • Roots music stylings magically transformed into present-day gold
    author: Joe Ross

    Playing Time – 46:41 --“Daisy” has a slang definition of “something excellent or notable.” And in the boxing ring of yesteryear, “mayhem” used to informally refer to a knockout. Hence, this band’s moniker is appropriate for their eclectic musical mix that is superior, impressive and attractive. A real daisy knockout! Contemporary folk is able to cast aside genre-specific boundaries in favor of band individualism. While other groups have established the archetype, Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem follow their own muse. Inspiring spirits guide them into old-time, folk, blues, swing, cajun and pop idioms. Imparting their own unique and contemporaneous stamp on material keeps them from sounding anachronistic. Just look at how they incoporate lyrics from Amazing Grace into the spirited vocal groove of “Oil in my Vessel.” Their innovative rearrangement of Leonard Cohen’s “Heart with No Companion” transforms it into a powerful old-time mountain ballad, and a traditional “Red Haired Boy” is given a very contemporary interpretation. With resonator guitar kicking it off, Bob Dylan’s “Farewell Angelina” is given a charged-up, engaging bluesy treatment. The set opens a cappella with “Joy Comes Back,” a song (learned from Scott Staples) that has special meaning for Rani because she’s fought and won a battle with cancer diagnosed shortly after she gave birth. Various band members have a knack for crafting songs of their own. Rani Arbo (fiddle, guitar) penned the title track. “Big Old Life” welcomes and invites listeners to step right in, rise and shine, take a ride, and connect with their music. That interaction without intimidation is one of the band’s charismatic strengths. Anand Hayuk (guitar, mandolin, piano) wrote “What’s That,” a slower swinging tune with plenty of emotional and intellectual energy. Andrew Kinsey (bass, banjo) wrote the personal and reflective “Mother of Our Dreams.” The fourth band member, Scott Kessel, plays a wide variety of common and unusual percussion instruments. Guests Kevin Barry (lap steel) and Deb Pasternak (backing vocals) provide some tasty flavorings to the overall set that ends with Daisy May Erlewine’s optimistic message of perseverance and reliance, “Shine On.” Four years coming since their last CD, “Big Old Life” is a well-wrought entry in the new folk field. The band’s musical maturity has allowed these alchemists to take roots music stylings and magically transform them into present-day gold. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

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