Mamas And Papas Musical



is happening. I try not to think about it too much in the beginning and just let things evolve. So that is where I am right now, at the very beginning of a new crop of new songs. I am trying to let them find their way."

Some of those songs are likely to find their way to Brattleboro this Saturday when Delmhorst comes to The Hooker-Dunham where there are likely to be a cadre of long-time fans eager to catch the works-in-progress.

"I have been trying out some of the new songs that aren’t yet finished just to put them in the air. I have been taking some things on a test drive. I feel really, really lucky to have an audience that has been willing to go with me to some truly different places."

Last year took Marlboro’s Red Heart The Ticker to some truly different places. In the spring, the husband-wife team of Robin MacArthur and Tyler Gibbons played on NPR’s "Prairie Home Companion" at Town Hall in New York City, and shortly thereafter, released their second full-length album, "Oh My! Mountains Below," on Philadelphia-based Auger Down Records.

In the fall, the pair toured the South and were featured at the Meachum Writer’s Conference in Chattanooga, where they led an in-depth songwriting workshop.

Perhaps the coolest place RHTT’s music visited happened to be right down the road from their home -- in the jukebox at Chelsea Royal Diner. Gibbons explained how they got there. "West Brattleboro Arts and the luthier Doug Cox have organized month-long ‘residencies’ for local musicians at the Chelsea Royal Diner. An album is featured in the jukebox, and descriptions of the artist/group are on the tables, alongside menus and daily specials. It’s a nice way for local folks who might not be going out to concert venues to hear local music."

The couple, who will be opening for Kris Delmhorst on Saturday, also have a young child and brought her along recently to check out the jukebox. "We went for breakfast with our baby daughter Avah and played a song of ours and felt a little funny," recalled Gibbons. "After our song, an ‘80s power-ballad, ‘When the Children Cry,’ by White Lion, came on. Avah got eggs. She’s a huge fan of eggs."

My guess is that Avah is also a big fan of "Oh My! Mountains Below," a CD that RHTT has made available to fans with minimum wage jobs for a very fair price. "People who make $7.25 an hour cannot afford daily necessities, never mind $12 or 13 for a CD, so we have offered our album to folks who earn the minimum wage directly from our Web site for $7.25 -- one hour of work for one hour of music," explained Gibbons. "We simply ask that the buyer tells us what he or she does for work. One guy, as an example, told us about his lifeguard job somewhere in the Mid-west and how slowly the hours go by. Still, he noted, there are worse jobs then being a lifeguard, and that is probably true."

Gibbons and MacArthur are also working on new material for the upcoming year. "We have been recording new material here in Marlboro, and though no specific release date has been set, we are really excited about the trajectory of this new record. Already incorporated into the mix are antique, out-of-tune harps and zithers that hang from the walls of Robin’s grandfather’s house, tin cans (with strings attached), an Estey pump-organ from the 1940s, cymbals set down on carpets, and, of course, glockenspiel. 2010 should bring lots more recording, plenty of live appearances, and, one must always hope, unforeseen surprises."

Dave Madeloni writes a weekly music column for Ovation. He can be reached at madeloni@aol.com. This Weeks Featured Titles

  • Broadfield Marchers - Displayed In Reflections (Listen Here)
  • Deleted Waveform Gatherings - Ghost, She Said (Listen Here)
  • Grantura - In Dreams and Other Stories + bonus disc (Listen Here)
  • Loaded Dice - No Sweat (CLASSIC AUSSIE POWER POP!!)
  • The Mother Hips - Pacific Dust (Listen Here)
  • Bryan Scary & the Shredding Tears - Mad Valentines EP (Listen Here)
  • Starry Eyed and Laughing - At Their Best... (Listen Here)
  • The Sun - Start The Countdown (EX-STARRY EYED AND LAUGHING!!)
  • Various Artists - Velvet Tinmine: 20 Junk Shop Glam Ravers
  • Thee Vicars - Psychotic Beat! (Listen Here)