Hello friends of the band and label:
We thank you for your valued support and wish you a wonderful 2012, filled with good feeling and success in your endeavours.
2011 was a big year for us, in that, on top of touring/recording, we began to release our own music. "Cervantine" the 5th AHAAH record, continues to keep us busy into 2012, but we have more releases on the horizon.
First off, in March/April, we are exceedingly pleased to be reissuing '50's recordings by the great John Jacob Niles on vinyl, CD and digital download. Niles, an Appalachian folk balladeer, whose influence on Dylan and the American folk scene of the '60's is undeniable, recorded a pair of EPs in his living room and released them on his own label, Boone Tolliver. These recordings have never been reissued, and give a much more intimate portrait of the artist compared to the studio albums he recorded later in life. The reissue comes with liner notes by Niles' biographer and director of the John Jacob Niles Center for American Music- Dr. Ron Pen. The release will be manufactured on vintage printing presses from the 1940's, and printed on recycled cardboard. Author Henry Miller said of Niles, in his book Plexus: "Over coffee and liqueurs we would sometimes listen to John Jacob Niles' recordings. Our favorite was 'I Wonder As I Wander,' sung in a clear, high-pitched voice with a quaver and a modality all his own. The metallic clang of his dulcimer never failed to produce ecstasy. He had a voice which summoned memories of Arthur, Merlin, Guinevere. There was something of the Druid in him. Like a psalmodist, he intoned his verses in an ethereal chant which the angels carried aloft to the Glory seat. When he sang of Jesus, Mary and Joseph they became living presences. A sweep of the hand and the dulcimer gave forth magical sounds which caused the stars to gleam more brightly, which peopled the hills and meadows with silvery figures and made the brooks to babble like infants. We would sit there long after his voice had faded out, talking of Kentucky where he was born, talking of the Blue Ridge mountains and the folk from Arkansas... "For a clip of Niles from Scorcese's film on Dylan, please proceed to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpaAeqBhwrMThe album, called John Jacob Niles:The Boone-Tolliver Recordings, will be distributed throughout the world by Revolver.
Meanwhile, A Hawk and A Hacksaw have just finished recording their soundtrack to the classic 1964 Soviet film "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" directed by Sergei Paradjanov. The album was produced by John Dieterich, of Deerhoof. It will be released in late Spring/early Summer. The duo will be performing the live soundtrack to the film on tour this year, starting in March at the following venues:
Sat 3 MARCH SHEFFIELD, ST GEORGE'S CHURCH (SENSORIA & DROWNED IN SOUND PRESENT)
SUN 4 EDINBURGH, FILMHOUSE CINEMA
Mon 5 LEEDS, HYDE PARK PICTUREHOUSE
Thu 8 CARDIFF, CHAPTER
Tue 6 READING, SOUTH STREET
Wed 7 COLCHESTER, ARTS CENTRE
Fri 9-Sat 10 MINEHEAD, ATP
Sun 11 BERLIN, HEBBEL AM UFER 1
Tue 13 TJORN, SAGA BION
Wed 14 MALMO, INKONST
Thu 15 GOTHENBURG, KOLONI @ BIO ROY
Fri 16 GERLESBORG, HAMBURGSUND
Sat 17 COPENHAGEN, GLOBAL
Sun 18 AARHUS, VOXHALL
All the best to you in the New Year and we hope to see you soon.
-L.M. Dupli-cation
