By far, the most popular post on this blog, in terms of single-day viewing, was the one about the passing of Jack Hardy, exactly one year ago today.
An institution in Greenwich Village songwriting circles and famous at singer-songwriter venues and festivals nationwide and internationally, Hardy’s weekly Monday night Songwriter’s Exchange and Fast Folk Musical Magazine paved the way for and inspired the careers of songwriters such as Suzanne Vega, John Gorka, Richard Shindell, David Massengill and David Wilcox.
After attending the Exchange very sporadically over the years, I’ve become (relatively) more committed to it over the past year, attending on a semi-regular basis at its new digs — alternating between the Lower East Side apartments of two members. It’s certainly not the same without Jack, but it’s a testament to his influence and to the power of writing songs that it has become more popular than ever, with over two dozen songwriters convening on Avenue B at one recent meeting I attended.
I wanted to note this year anniversary by giving some of the songwriters at Jack Hardy’s Songwriter’s Exchange the chance to express their thoughts about Jack’s inspiration and mentorship, as well as how the group has continued to thrive over the past year. I hope it inspires your songwriting groups to keep on keeping on — and I know there are new ones continuing to get started, like the one from my blog buddy Matt Blick, who e-mailed me recently that my articles about Jack had inspired him to get an Exchange-like group going in his town.
Sometimes you hear a singer-songwriter and you immediately understand the difference between the truly talented-genius and the workaday creative-types. The “Wow” factor was definitely at work when I first heard a tune by folk singer-songwriter Dave Carter called “Tanglewood Tree,” which includes the following lyrics:
Love is an old root that creeps through the meadows of sleep
When the long shadows cast
Thin as a vagrant young vine, it encircles and twines
And it holds the heart fast
Catches dreamers in the wildwood with the stars in their eyes
And the moon in their tousled hair
But love is a light in the sky, and an unspoken lie
And a half-whispered prayer
Those lyrics, along with a beautiful arrangement and background vocals with Carter’s duo partner Tracy Grammer, truly blew me away and led me to explore more of Carter’s work, with its poetic imagery and beautiful storytelling — and to discover, to my dismay, what I had not realized: That Carter had passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in 2002.
I had, apparently, missed out on an amazingly talented artist who was in the midst of growing fame, who was heralded as the “new voice of modern folk music” in the months before his death. He and Grammer toured with Joan Baez in 2002; released several critically-acclaimed recordings including “Drum Hat Buddha,” “Tanglewood Tree” and “When I Go”; and performed at a wide variety of top festivals and venues around the world in the six years that the two performed as a duo.
Here’s a video of Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer singing their classic “Tanglewood Tree in 2000:
I sing. I write songs. I post bloggy stuff about songwriting. I wish Paul Simon would speak to me. If I had time, I'd learn to play the banjo. Find out more about moi!
By far, the most popular post on this blog, in terms of single-day viewing, was the one about the passing of Jack Hardy, exactly one year ago today.
