Good places to find out about Jewish Music
My life continues to be very busy, such that I don't have time to keep listings up and to post news as I get it. I'm not giving up, just acknowledging that I'm not doing a good job here. On the other hand, there are two blogs that I read daily that provide different—from me, and from each other—perspectives on Jewish music, each interesting, each illuminating and worth reading. (There are several blogs that I read regularly—you can look at the "blog roll" on the right-hand side of the main KlezmerShack page. These two are just a bit more special.
Blog in Dm is maintained by a Hasidic musician with music reviews, gossip, and commentary that span the world of Jewish music, hasidic and otherwise. He has extended the KlezmerShack a frequent shout-out and I want to make sure that I acknowledge the favor—especially in a recent post about the ADL—about which, more anon.
I became aware of Teruah - Jewish Music when the blogmeister, Jack Z., emailed me regarding a post I'd made on the Jewish Music list looking for volunteers. (I am still looking for volunteers.). Like his fellow at "Blog in Dm," Jack is a really good writer who covers a very pleasant diversity of Jewish music with a knowledgeable ear. One of my favorite recent posts is about Kinky Friedman. I'll grant that there are very few of Friedman's songs that you can listen to once past the hormonal rush of young adulthood, but "We reserve the right to refuse service to you" is brilliant, as Jack notes, and the ideas behind "They don't make Jews like Jesus anymore" or "ride 'em jewboy" are pretty good, however much I'm not in love with the final result. If I tell you that the Kinky Friedman article is just the first in a series about singing cowboys, you can understand that there is some serious breadth happening here.
Joe Bob says, "check 'em out."