This is the most powerful song I've heard since "Blowing in the Wind"

[Tom Rinaldo]

My partner Janet and I run a small concert series in the Catskills and we discovered this Canadian singer- songwriter, Jon Brooks, a few years back when his agent contacted us (the web site for our concert series is www.flyingcatmusic.com in case anyone is curious).

Jon spent some time in Bosnia shortly after cessation of formal hostilities there. This song came from that context and is rooted in it, but it's scope is much larger than that war alone. We have him coming to do a concert for us Sunday night which is why I'm thinking of him now - but more people should know about him, especially those who value incisive commentary:

[JJChambers]

1. Made it 20 seconds before I had to turn it off

The song is no Blowin in the Wind and be is definitely no Dylan. Sounded like crap to me. But I'm glad you like it.

[Tom Rinaldo]

2. Tastes obviously do differ, no surprose there. It has 7 recs with 152 views so far...

But no, he's not for everyone. This is from a review in the Toronto Star:

“Jon Brooks stands among an exalted few in the enduring Canadian song tradition – Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Fred Eaglesmith, Bruce Cockburn – as a lyricist, composer and performer with a fierce commitment to his craft and his vision."

Brooks is a 2010 winner of probably the most prestigious song writing contest in the country, the Kerrville New Folk Contest, and Rod Kennedy, who founded and produces that festival, says Brooks “. . . speaks and sings words that need to be spoken and sung and he does it beautifully, perfectly, and with absolute finesse.”

Plus Brooks was nominated 3 out of the last 5 years by the Canadian Folk Music Awards for "Best English Songwriter".

But I don't get why some people like the musicians that they do either, to each his own and all of that.

[Hekate]

7. Nice

You don't have to chime in with negativity.

[JJChambers]

17. It was awful. I guess no one likes a critic.

[Tom Rinaldo]

19. I appreciate critics

I have no problem with you not liking the song or with you thinking praise given to Jon Brooks by others is overblown. But a real critic also needs perspective beyond his/her own ego. Taste is obviously subjective. That shows up in color, in food, in art, in fashion, in film etc. Clearly that shows up in music also. Some people love the sound of ukes, banjos, accordions or whatever. Other people cringe at their sound. Some love Rap, others hate it.

A good critic can be honest about their own reaction to something while also maintaining perspective about talent whether or not something is much to their own liking. You weren't being much of a critic, you voiced a strong opinion and there is a difference between the two. Your opinion is just as valid as mine.

Jon Brooks is a major talent and highly regarded songwriter whether or not you or I happen to like him If you are not familiar with the Kerrville Folk Festival "New Folk" contest look into it. Past winners have included Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, Steve Earle, and David Wilcox among others.

As to my opinion BTW, "Blowing in the Wind" is a near perfect song, a masterpiece for many reasons. I don't equate "Because We're Free" with it in that regard by any stretch. "Blowing in the Wind" is both deep and quickly accessible, with riveting serious content wrapped into verses that compel audiences to sing along. "Because We're Free" is powerful for me in the emotional impact it has on me. Yours obviously differs. I get that its potential appeal is much more narrow than Dylan's masterpiece.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

16. You must be a gas at parties. (n/t)

[marions ghost]

3. Slow and mournful

and a lot of people have a low tolerance for that these days.

I liked the refrain "because we're free" punctuating it...

Thanks for posting.

[Bluenorthwest]

4. Could you please post or PM some info on your concert series?

nt

[Tom Rinaldo]

5. I didn't want to make promotion the focus of the post

I wanted to foremost share the song and the artist, but I left the url for our concert series web site in the OP. It takes place about 12 miles outside of Woodstock NY. All the info about the series is at the web site. PM me if for any reason you have trouble reaching it, or have questions that aren't answered there.

[oldandhappy]

6. Nice. thank you

I wondered where the new generation of these kinds of singers were. Good for him. Good for you.

[Hekate]

8. Thanks for that. Puts me in mind of another musician with ties to Bosnia...

Irish peace activist/folk singer/songwriter Tommy Sands befriended Vedran Smailovic the cellist -- and they teamed up on the album "Sarajevo to Belfast". It's as amazingly good as all the rest of Tommy Sands' stuff.

I'm always encouraged to see that the tradition is alive and strong, so thanks again for posting this by Jon Brooks, who I had not heard of before.

Best of luck with your concert series.

[Tom Rinaldo]

9. I need to give you something back for that

Though we've had some great Celtic musicians play the series, Robbie O'Connell with Aoife Clancy, and Battlefield band founder Brian McNeill among others, I sadly was just vaguely aware of Tommy Sands - my loss now rectified by you. It's amazing of course how much great music is made that rarely is seen or heard through major media outlets. My musical horizon is expanding constantly now that we are doing our series.

I went to Tommy Sand's website - he has a gorgeous voice, and impressive biography, both as a singer and songwriter. I will have to delve a little further into "Sarajevo to Belfast" now. It's nice to see Sands being proudly billed as a musician and social activist.

Here is something back for you, do you know of the Welsh musician Martyn Joseph? He is very well known in the UK and Canada but barely known in the States. Extraordinary performer and songwriter with a deep social consciousness in his life and his music. He performed for us and blew us away. Here is a video of a song of his that also is set in the Baltic conflicts:

[Hekate]

15. I was introduced to Tommy Sands and his music courtesy of Robbie O'Connell's Celtica Tours...

I went twice to Ireland with a friend, both times with Robbie. It's a good land tour of the sights, and the music is exquisite. Robbie seems to know every talented vocalist, instrumentalist, and dancer on the island, and if there's still a blank spot on the schedule Robbie sings and his brother in law fiddles. His brother in law Sean, by the way, travelled with us and is the most staggeringly talented fiddler I've ever heard -- and no, he has never recorded.

So there we were one night and our entertainer was Tommy Sands. I'd never heard of him -- I thought he was an American pop singer/heartthrob from the 1950s-1960. Same name, different guy.

The Irish Tommy was (I'm remembering this from his book, Song Man) a seminary student when he started writing antiwar songs, at least one of which was clandestinely recorded and hit the radio; finally he left the seminary the night before he was to be ordained, and headed on foot toward the scene of some major demonstrations taking place many many miles away. His siblings pulled up in a car packed with instruments and hailed him -- they didn't know he was out, but they were on their way to the same city.

Anyway, I was blown away by this man's music. Listen to There Were Roses: the two lads murdered in the song were in real life two of his friends. The roses grew in Tommy's parents' back yard.

Many of his songs brought me to tears. I couldn't get Down by the Lagen Side out of my mind.

[MuseRider]

10. I like it.

Thank you for posting this. Nostalgic in many ways. Sadly those days I thought were over, how naive we are when we are young.

I really liked this.

[MuseRider]

11. Matt and Shannon Heaton!

I just checked out your site. I have never in my life had a better musical listening evening than the night I saw them in a small living room gathering. Outstanding.

[Tom Rinaldo]

12. Ah, a house concert...

They really are wonderful intimate events and without the blossoming house concert movement so many great musicians would not be able to play enough paying gigs to sustain the costs of most tours. Our shows are essentially house concerts except they are held in a public venue; a 115 year old train station now museum. The old waiting room holds about 50 people and is all hard wood, including a domed wooden ceiling.

Usually we only book musicians that we have seen play live, Matt and Shannon are an exception to that. They came to us via other two musicians who we respect a lot; "Mike and Ruthy". Matt and Shannon get great reviews, we went to their web site and that sealed the deal. Glad to hear you enjoyed them so much!

[MuseRider]

13. You and your patrons

are in for a massive treat. They are lovely, extremely talented and as personable as you can get.

Sounds like a wonderful venue.

I have your site now and will check out some of what is there. I love this.

My husband ran a national jazz festival here for years until the GWB economy took it all away. It was free to the public so when sponsorship dried up so did the festival. It is a lot of work. Good for you. Good luck, it sounds like you are successful.

[Tom Rinaldo]

14. Our expences are real minimal since we all volunteer, even the sound person

The museum takes a token donation that is sliding scale depending on how many seats we sell. We sell refreshments but the musicians get the proceeds from that to help bring in enough money to make it a viable tour stop for them. We max out free publicity. Even so, it is marginal. It's hard to get people out to hear live music without alcohol involved to begin with. Then it is hard to get anyone to pay $13 or whatever to hear someone they most likely never heard of, even if the setting is intimate, the music is great, and everyone leaves feeling like they truly got to know the musicians as well as their music. Getting a crowd is always the hardest part for us.

There are so many food and drink oriented venues where musicians play for tips or where the venue pays local musicians who have no travel expenses virtually nothing. Often they are loud and the music gets lost but people get used to seeing free or cheap music at those places on one hand, or they will pay through the nose to see already "famous" musicians at large halls and arenas. It is really hard for independent musicians to get established nowadays - even ones with amazing talent.

I'm sorry the jazz festival your husband ran finally went under. Events like that add so much to a community. I'm sure it inspired a lot of people while it lasted.

[MuseRider]

18. You are speaking to the choir.

I just played my last symphony concert for this season. I get paid in total less than it costs me to play. At least we get paid. This community does not appreciate what it has, we are a good symphony, can hold our own against some larger city orchestras but we can't even sell out the local university concert hall. Not even with world class guest artists.

Having been involved in both the Jazz festival and spent my whole adult life in the symphony I can totally understand the problems you face. Good luck. All it will take is one thing hitting people hard and you will be set but until then you will have to scrabble around to compete. Your line up looks great, I can't wait to have some time to listen to some of your links. I will certainly.