Back 40 : July 2005

The Back 40 is a way of letting you know what I've been playing on
the show. Listings are in no particular order. Of the new additions,
two cds come from the Mickey Newbury songwriters gathering I
attended last June in Texas - I Came To Hear The Music and When I
Heard Newbury Sing, the first a two-cd set by various artists, the
second a set of Newbury songs delivered by Jonmark Stone and
Marie Rhines. Also, check out Austin songwriter Sam Baker´s new
one, Mercy, a quiet triumph, and Emilíana Torrini´s beautiful return
on Fisherman´s Woman, a triumph for this Icelandic singer. I´m on
a mission in northern Europe for the summer, so kudos to Ruth
and my guest hosts - Paul, Jim, Skyy and Eve - and I´ll see you in
September. I expect to return to Canada with an armload of new cds
from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, England, Ireland and Scotland.

Remember, every Thursday night from 10:00 pm to 12 midnight
Pacific Daylight Saving Time at 102.7 FM and live on the web at
www.coopradio.org it´s Better Days, heard around the corner
and around the world!

Fair & Square : John Prine
http://www.ohboy.com

Who Is This America? : Antibalas
http://www.antibalas.com

I Came To Hear The Music : Various Artists
http://www.jonmarkstone.com/g4cd.html

I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning : Bright Eyes
http://www.saddle-creek.com/

Fisherman´s Woman : Emilíana Torrini
http://www.emilianatorrini.com

The Milk-Eyed Mender : Joanna Newsom
http://www.sfburning.com/jnewsom.html

Sit Down & Sing : Roy Bailey
http://www.folktrax.com/folktrax2/H_BAI001.php

Suit Yourself : Shelby Lynne
http://www.shelbylynne.com

When I Heard Newbury Sing : Jonmark Stone & Marie Rhines
http://www.jonmarkstone.com/WIHNS.html

Mercy Now : Mary Gauthier
http://www.marygauthier.com

Mowing Machair : Fine Friday
http://www.finefriday.com

Woman King : Iron & Wine
http://www.ironandwine.com

Hotwalker : Tom Russell
http://www.tomrussell.com

Dear Heather : Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohen.com

Faultlines : Karine Polwart
http://www.karinepolwart.com

Knuckle Down : Ani Difranco
http://www.righteousbabe.com

Martha Wainwright : Martha Wainright
http://www.bradthegame.com/martha-wainwright/

Hopetown : Jenny Whiteley
http://www.jennywhiteley.com

I Never Heard You Knockin' : Malcolm Holcombe
http://www.malcolmholcombe.com

The Waltz Of The Leaves : Eamon Friel
http://www.eamonfriel.com

The Duhks : The Duhks
http://www.duhks.com/index.php

Live At The Talbot : Various Artists
http://www.redkiterecords.co.uk

A Brief History : The Waifs
http://www.thewaifs.com/

Mercy : Sam Baker
http://www.sambakermusic.com

Funeral : The Arcade Fire
http://www.arcadefire.com/

The Waking Hour : David Francey
http://www.davidfrancey.com

Why The Long Face : Suzzy & Maggie Roche
http://www.roches.com

A Different Life : Emily Smith
http://www.emilysmith.org

Must I Paint You A Picture? : Billy Bragg
http://www.billybragg.co.uk

Redbird : Redbird
http://www.younghunter.com/redbird.html

Á : Knut Hamre & Steve Tibbetts
http://www.hollowear.com/feature/hamre-tibbetts.html

Fishes & Fine Yellow Sand : Waterson-Carthy
http://www.topicrecords.co.uk/acatalog/index2.html

People's Spring : Warsaw Village Band
http://www.worldvillagemusic.com

Oval Room : Blaze Foley
http://www.lostartrecords.com

A Grain Of Sand : Cowboy Johnson
http://www.cowboyjohnson.com

Bittertown : Lori McKenna
http://www.lorimckenna.com

Clouds Without Rain : Bobby Taylor
http://www.songnovel.com

Breakfast In Balquhidder : Orchestra Macaroon
http://www.theshipbuilders.com

About Baghdad : Amer Tawfiq
http://www.aboutbaghdad.com

Lucky Burden : Kim Barlow
http://www.caribourecords.com

Banjoman: Tribute To Derroll Adams : Various
http://www.theessink.com/en/

DL

300,000 Kings And Queens

Kittí is Disa´s baby brother.

His actual first name is Kristjan. As Disa (þordís) is Guðmundsdottir
(daughter of Gudmunður), Kittí is Guðmundsson.

Kittí has spent a number of his adult years traveling and working for
aid organizations. Iceland sponsors many humanitarian aid projects.
Kittí was stationed on the coast of Sri Lanka for a few years and, mere
days before Christmas last year, he flew home to spend the Jól season
with his family. The tsunami destroyed his apartment in Sri Lanka
on Boxing Day. He isn´t sure when he´ll go back, if at all.

Kittí is the most fluent of all his family in English, which may be the
result of how gregarious and expressive his spirit is. If the Italians
are the most physical in their communication and use the most hand
gestures, Icelanders would rank near the other end of that spectrum,
being more taciturn, metaphysicalmore than physical in their mode
of communication. Kittí is the exception, not the rule. I could say that
he is by far the most Italian of the Icelanders I have met, haha.

He is passionate about his country, its independent character, its
citizens´ adamant refusal to bow to any authority outside of their own
outlaw spirit. He cites the Cod Wars with England, how "100% of the
population stood in protest and solidarity" with the fishermen and
the government position. "The Irish still love us for that!" he says with
a chuckle. He fights a moment to find the precise, subtle words in
English to capture the contradictory quality he is trying to describe.
"In Iceland," Kittí says, "we are 300,000 kings and queens." He has
inflated the population a little, but I am guessing that he included
the Hidden People in his number.

Kittí has been to the U.S.A. a number of times. He has a friend in south
Florida, a transplanted Icelander, and visits him there. Kittí explains
how the Americans he befriends are always urging him to apply for
his green card, to move there. He shakes his head. "Why would I ever
want tolive in America?" he cries, light in his eyes, spouting a litany
of reasons why he loves and prefers his own country.

Kittí and I get along very well, and Disa defers when we talk of music.
Her baby brother, in his travels, has developed a passion for the many
and varied cultures of the world. When I visitied Kittí the first time,
he kept bringing out cds that he´d picked up in faraway places. A concert
by Tuvan throat singers, a rare African guitarist, an amazing drums-only
cd from Iran, music from India and Sri Lanka. At the end of my first visit,
he handed me a stack of cds to borrow. "Take your time, keep them as
long as you like," he says.

Though Iceland was mainly settled by Norse people, there is an Irish
influence here, too. Kittí says that influence is far deeper than one might
think. "We have much in common with the Irish," he says, pointing to the
similarities in how deeply influential Iceland´s traditional music continues
to be in the national psyche, and to how the pagan beliefs and rituals
persist despite the arrival of the Christian church in Iceland.

After more than a month in Iceland and occasionally starving for a freely
flowing conversation in English, my meetings with Kittí have sated my
hunger on a few occasions. In this literate, intelligent and compassionate
North Atlantic nation, Kittí´s communications with me confirm my own
perceptions of his people, that I am indeed walking and living among
300,000 kings and queens, an "independent people," as the country´s
most famous author, Halldór Laxness, called them.

I hope to see Kittí again before I leave.

DL