Blog Post
The country music world mourns the passing of Ray Price
by sernabad
The country music world mourns the passing of Ray Price
Ray Price, a giant in the country music scene for since 1951, died yesterday at his home in Mt. Pleasant, TX.
Price, a WWII vet (US Marine Corps), attended veterinary school for a brief time, singing in night clubs on the side. He was signed to Bullet Records, a Nashville-based record label. In 1951, Hank Williams called him out of the blue, inviting him to sing with Williams at the Grand Old Opry, thus cementing a lifelong friendship.
Five years later, Price revolutionized the sound of country music when he put an idea he'd had into play. He described it thus in a 1998 interview with The Washington Post: "We were having trouble getting a good clean bass sound. So instead of going with the standard 2/4 beat, I said, 'Let's try a 4/4 bass and a shuffle rhythm,' and it cut. It cut clean through."
He applied that technique to Crazy Arms and so was born the Ray Price Beat, and a skyrocketing career. Crazy Arms spent 20 weeks at No. 1.
Mr. Price's last album, Last of the Breed (2007), was a collaborative effort with Willie Nelson (whom Price discovered) and Merle Haggard. The album won a Grammy at the 50th Grammy awards in 2008.
Price's second revolutionary tweaking of the country sound was to add strings to his music. The resulting 'countrypolitan' sound was at first eschewed, and then widely copied, by all the great performers.
Ray Price was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1966.
Mr. Price, who was 87, had been battling pancreatic cancer since late last year.
Blog Post
Performance Network Theatre: Jerry's Girls
by annevm
Ann Arbor's Performance Network Theatre is showing Jerry's Girls, with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, through Jan. 5. Herman worked on the concept with Larry Alford and Wayne Cilento. From the theatre's webpage: "Fabulous, flamboyant and fun for the whole family, 'Jerry's Girls' is the larger than life musical revue of Jerry Herman. Winner of four Tony Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement of Theatre, Jerry Herman and his music are synonymous with some of Broadway’s biggest hits – Hello Dolly!, La Cage Aux Folles, Mame, Mack and Mabel, Dear World, and more. Complete with large scale production numbers, tap dancing, and a little bit of drag – this is the perfect holiday excursion . . . " Ticket information is here.
Blog Post
Fantastic Family Audiobook: Peter and the Starcatchers
by skcramer
What happened before Peter met Wendy? Find out in Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, an exciting prequel to J. M. Barrie’s classic Peter Pan.
Peter and the Starcatchers introduces readers to Peter and his orphan friends as they board a ship to the faraway land of Rundoon. Before they arrive, however, they uncover a magical treasure with amazing powers, which they must keep safe from a band of pirates, led by the wicked Black Stache. Expertly narrated by Jim Dale, most well-known as the narrator of the Harry Potter audiobooks, this audiobook adventure makes for a great family listen. Listeners familiar with Barrie’s novel will enjoy seeing how well-known features of the story began. The series continues with Peter and the Shadow Thief and Peter and the Secret of Rundoon.
Fans of the series should also know that it was adapted into a Tony-award-winning musical, and a film adaption is currently in development.
Check out more fantastic family audiobooks here.
Blog Post
Audiobook for Teens: The Scorpio Races
by skcramer
My favorite audiobooks have always been able to transport me to the world of story. Listening to The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, I was completely transported and can honestly say I have never enjoyed an audiobook experience more.
The Scorpio Races takes place on the island of Thisby, where every November riders compete in the deadly Scorpio Races, saddling the bloodthirsty water horses that would as soon kill their riders as race for them. This year’s competition will be different, however, as seventeen-year-old Puck Connelly plans to become the first female rider to ever race in the Scorpio Races. Told in alternating chapters between the spunky Puck, voiced by Fiona Hardingham, and returning champion Sean Kendrick, voiced by Steve West, this audiobook is an experience not to be missed. It’s a perfect listen for this November.
The novel was awarded a Printz Honor medal in 2012.
You can also check out more Printz Honor medal winners here.
Blog Post
Lou Reed, the heart and soul of the influential 60s band, The Velvet Underground, has died
by sernabad
Lou Reed, 71, one of the founders of the 60s band, the Velvet Underground, died today.
Reed was a trailblazing songwriter back in the 60s, unafraid to tackle topics that, back then, were considered a bit risque. He was especially poetic in his lyrics about sex and the drug culture. Openly bisexual, Reed wrote of his harrowing experience as a young teenager who was given electro-
The Velvet Underground only lasted a few years, but its influence gained momentum as it became a cult band of enormous impact in rock history. Fueling its prominence was the role of mentor that Andy Warhol adopted with the group.
Rolling Stone magazine labelled The Velvet Underground and Nico (1966) as the 13th most influential album of alll time. In 2004, Joe Harvard wrote a history of the band, using that same title.
The most commercially successful songs performed by the Velvet Underground were Rock and Roll and Sweet Jane, both of which can be heard on The Best of the Velvet Underground: Words and Music by Lou Reed.
In 1972, Reed peaked with Lou Reed:Transformer, which was co-produced by David Bowie and Mike Ronson.
At the time of this posting, the cause of Mr. Reed's death is unknown. He did undergo a liver transplant in the spring of this year.
Blog Post
Halloween at the Library!
by eapearce
Halloween is a great holiday for all ages to celebrate, and the AADL has excellent resources to help you make this Halloween especially fun! Browse in our Halloween section to find books like Tricks and Treats: The Ultimate Halloween Book, A Halloween How-To: Costumes, Parties, Decorations an Destinations, and Halloween: The Best of Martha Stewart Living.
Check out our music collection to find Halloween CDs to help set the scene for a Halloween party or to play while kids get ready for trick-or-treating. We have Spooky Scary Sounds for Halloween, Andrew Gold’s Halloween Howls, 57 Kids Greatest Halloween Songs, Games and Stories, and many other Halloween-themed CDs.
We have tons of Halloween picture books for kids in our youth Holiday section, and we have a number of youth-oriented Halloween events this year, too. There will be two Halloween Parties on October 31st downtown, from 9:30 to 10:00AM and from 10:30 to 11:00AM, and a Halloween Story Time at our Pittsfield Branch that evening from 7:00 to 7:30PM, where kids will be able to hear Halloween stories and make a craft. Come celebrate with us!
Blog Post
Audiobook: Arctic Creature Adventure for Kids
by skcramer
Enter the world of auks and owls in Barry Wolverton’s Neversink. This animal fantasy introduces readers to the rich, complex society of birds who sip tea and start revolutions.
When a possible plague threatens the food supply on the island of Tytonia, power-hunger pygmy owl Rozbell decides now is the time to seize control of the Owl Parliament and of the nearby colony of auks on the island of Neversink. As Rozbell imposes an increasingly heavy “fish tax” on the creatures of Neversink, three unlikely heroes emerge to stop him: misfit puffin Lockley, spirited hummingbird Ruby and scholarly walrus Egbert. (You will never meet a more charming walrus than Egbert, I assure you.)
Fans of Kathryn Lasky’s Guardians of Ga’Hoole, Richard Adams’ Watership Down or Brian Jacques’ Redwall series will likely enjoy the complex animal society while American history lovers will enjoy seeing the parallels between the birds’ plight and the American Revolution.
Blog Post
Bill Harley Back by Popular Demand on November 10!
by StoryLaura
There is always a buzz when Bill Harley is coming to town. It’s like we all start chuckling to ourselves just thinking about his songs and stories! The first in his new series of books is going to be a hit with the 2nd-4th grade crowd. Charlie Bumpers is in big trouble! How will he survive a year with his new teacher when he already accidentally bopped her in the head with a flying shoe? Surely Bill will sign your book or CD at his AADL show on Sunday, November 10 at 2:00 pm at The Ark! Can’t wait to crack up!
Blog Post
New Download: Local Artist Papillon's "The Amber Dawn"
by eli
Paris-born Actor, Artist, Musician and Ann Arborite Papillon's first solo album, The Amber Dawn is now available for instant download by AADL cardholders. A bit of hiphop infused with Jazz and Soul makes for an outstanding full-length set of tracks that will find a home in many local music collections. Papillon is also running an Indiegogo Campaign to help fund his newest album, Calligraphy, and it wraps up soon, so have a listen to The Amber Dawn and check Papillon out if you're looking for more!
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #429 - "Good books don't give up all their secrets at once" ~ Stephen King
by muffy
The Bookman's Tale : a novel of obsession by Charlie Lovett is set in Hay-on-Wy where the antiquarian bookseller/restorer Peter Byerly relocates after the death of his wife, Amanda. While casually browsing in a bookshop, a portrait of Amanda stumbles out of an 18th-century study of Shakespeare forgeries. Of course, it isn't really her. The watercolor is clearly Victorian. Yet the resemblance is uncanny, and Peter becomes obsessed with learning the picture's origins. In the process, he learns the truth about his own past, and discovers a book that might definitively prove Shakespeare was, indeed, the author of all his plays.
"(A) sparkling novel and a delightful exploration of one of literature's most tantalizing mysteries with echoes of Shadow of the Wind and A.S. Byatt's Possession: a romance."
"Drawing on debates about the authorship of Shakespeare's plays as well his own experience in the cutthroat world of antiquarian books, debut author Lovett (bio.) has crafted a gripping literary mystery that is compulsively readable until the thrilling end.
"A cheerily old-fashioned entertainment." Shakespeare aficionados might further their excursion with Jennifer Lee Carrell and her Shakespearean scholar-turned-theater-director Kate Stanley thriller series.
I am totally captivated with Mark Pryor's The Bookseller : the first Hugo Marston novel (in BOCD). Hugo Marston, head of security for the U.S. embassy in Paris is at loose ends. Contemplating a visit stateside to his estranged wife, he purchases a gift for her from his friend Max, an elderly bouquinistes. When Max is abducted in broad daylight, Martston looks on powerlessly to intervene. The police is uninterested, calling it a hoax but it piqued the interest of Claudia Roux, an attractive crime reporter.
With the help of semiretired CIA agent Tom Green, Marston launches an investigation. Pressure mounts as other booksellers are found floating in the Seine, they suspect that Max's disappearance is connected somehow to his activities as a Nazi hunter, and to the precious volume now in Marston's hands.
"Pryor's (true crime blogger, D.A.Confidential) steady and engrossing debut combines Sherlockian puzzle solving with Eric Ambler-like spy intrigue... the author winningly blends contemporary crime with historical topics. Pair with Cara Black's Aimée Leduc series for both locale and tone."
Reader might also enjoy the bookseller/amateur sleuth Victor Legris series set in belle-epoque Paris by Claude Izner, the pseudonym for sisters Liliane Korb and Laurence Lefevre, both second-hand booksellers on the banks of the Seine and experts on 19th c. France.