clare burson
silver and ashvisit the new clareburson.com
this blog is now defunct.
for up-to-the-minute info on all things clare and to sign up for the email list, visit clareburson.com. also, make sure to follow me (clare) on twitter and facebook.
see you out there,
xo
cb
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
i think it’s fitting that the jewish new year begins (for me, at least) with the release of a new record, so, once you’ve eaten your apples and honey and thrown bread crumbs into the river, spend part of your day on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, picking up a copy of SILVER AND ASH!!! you will find it anywhere music is sold – digitally or physically!!!!
while you wait in anticipation for the clock to strike 12 on the 14th, grab a wedge of your favorite cheese to nibble on, and read the following articles, which pave the way for the release:
and, if you are in LOS ANGELES on 9-13-10 or NYC on 9-16-10, come out to my cd release shows at the HOTEL CAFE and JOE’S PUB!
early reviews of the album are quite glowing:
“a softly devastating suite of songs that reveal themselves with the slow grace of an antique music box.”
“finely polished, profound and must hear record…with good arrangements, great songwriting, intellectual lyrics, beautiful tone and true inspiration, this is storytelling at its best.”
“crystalline, immaculate.”
“elegantly arranged and genuinely affecting.”
it’s official!
SILVER AND ASH will be available for purchase on SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 courtesy of ROUNDER RECORDS! the artwork, created by my mom, BUNNY BURSON, and adapted for cd packaging by larissa collins and devon guillery is COMPLETE! tour dates are being booked! press is coming in!
the band will be performing 2 cd release shows in september:
L.A. @ THE HOTEL CAFE: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13th @ 7PM
and
NYC @ JOE’S PUB: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16th @ 7:30PM
stay tuned for a NEW WEBSITE, FUN VIDEOS, a fresh supply of SILVER AND ASH BUTTONS, and more!
for now, though, enjoy the fresh-off-the-presses album cover:
silver and ash + food = SUCCESS!!!
i have many thoughts to share on the event last thursday, but for now, know that the event was sold out, everything came together as smoothly as sarah and i could have hoped, and the plan is to produce more of these performances in the future – in the nyc area and beyond! thank you so much to all of you who were at the event – as guests and as helpers (emily golan, sarah litvin, leah koenig, jacob harris, and adam teeter)!
here are some photos of the evening taken by the lovely flash rosenberg. enjoy!
HAVE DINNER WITH ME!
it looks like my crazy SILVER AND ASH + FOOD idea is becoming a reality. if you live in nyc or happen to be visiting the city on the night of JUNE 10th, join me and historic gastronomist SARAH LOHMAN for a unique evening of music, food, history and memory.
the official description of the event is as follows:
This intimate event at the historic Henry Street Settlement House will feature Clare performing SILVER AND ASH, a song cycle inspired by her grandmother’s escape from Germany in 1938 and Burson’s own struggle with the legacy of family secrets and loss. As Clare performs, audience members will participate in a four course meal comprised of dishes prepared by Ms. Lohman that, like SILVER AND ASH, progress from late 19th century Eastern Europe through Weimar Germany and 1950’s Tennessee, and end in present day Brooklyn.
This one-night-only event will be an interactive presentation of performance, dining and history that should not be missed.
With melodic minimalism and the sonic textures of Brooklyn and the American South, SILVER AND ASH the album, produced by Grammy nominated Tucker Martine, will be released by Rounder Records in 2010. Guests at this event will receive a limited edition 3-song preview sampler. Wine pairings will be included, and seating is limited.
The cost is $60.00 per ticket; please go to http://tinyurl.com/ClareTix to reserve a seat.
buttons + food = excitement!
as i prepare for the release of SILVER AND ASH, i’m busily constructing all sorts of fun arts and crafts projects. one of which is the creation of handmade SILVER AND ASH art buttons. i’m hard at work cutting and trimming and working the lever of the button machine to make little gems like these:
i’m in love with them. i hope you will be too. (the photograph doesn’t really do them justice.)
also, i’m working with the fabulous visual artist/ historical gastronomist sarah lohman to create a series of intimate concerts using food and drink to bring alive the songs and stories of SILVER AND ASH through taste, smell, touch, and sight. more on this as location/ dates/ times are nailed down, but the events look to be pretty scrumptious!
rounder records to release silver and ash!!!
my apologies for having been so lax about posting here lately. that will change soon, as i prepare for rounder records’ spring-time release of ‘silver and ash!’ a very exciting development, to put it mildly. more on the details of the release in the next few weeks. and then more posts, i promise! and an overhaul of the cb web universe! and videos! and other fun things! xo cb
thank you steve almond!
the super-awesome writer, STEVE ALMOND, wrote a lovely little review about SILVER AND ASH in his latest list of albums we should get our hands on (even though you can’t get your hands on mine yet):
Clare Burson
Silver and Ash
A softly devastating suite of songs that reveal themselves with the slow grace of an antique music box. There’s a story here, subtle but persistent, about the people who came before us, and the miracle of our births.
thank you, steve almond!
the lull after the storm
there’s a strange lull that comes after the completion of a big project. one that i’m sure most everyone reading this has experienced. i suppose this explains my silence on the blog.
i haven’t been particularly inspired to write. at least not about the project. i wouldn’t say i’ve moved worlds away from the themes in SILVER AND ASH. i don’t think that’s possible. but in terms of my creative process, i’m taking a break. i’ve written a couple of love songs since finishing the album. and neither of them hearken back to germany in the 1930’s. (one of them is about my grandmother, jojo, but it’s entirely contemporary . . . well, almost entirely . . .)
day to day, i’m giving music lessons – broadening my horizons by learning covers to teach to my guitar students. i’m expanding my repetoire to include songs by green day, uncle kracker, jack johnson, the grateful dead, and cat power. (8-13 year olds have quite diverse – and at times mature (by my standards) – musical tastes – it’s quite amazing!) i’m giving tours two days a week, at the lower east side tenement museum. (like i said, i can’t move too far away from the themes of dislocation, loss, memory, and history . . . if you haven’t been to the museum, GO! it’s an amazing place.) i’m reading lots of novels. the book thief, a tree grows in brooklyn, jason lutes’ berlin series, the little book . . .
SILVER AND ASH is in a different place now that its creation has been completed. i’m in outreach mode. less creation and more connection. i performed the piece for college students at the university of albany in april, and again for high school freshmen at the facing history school in manhattan last month. it was incredibly encouraging to see how new audiences were connecting to the material. at the high school, the teacher, daniel braunfeld, prepared his students for my visit by reviewing the book i wrote to accompany the performance. when i arrived, they had already come up with an handful of very insightful and sensitive questions about my creative process and the experience of encouraging my grandmother to talk about her past.
i’m off to boston next week to debut the song cycle there on the 16th. i’m looking forward to another new setting for these songs. if you’re around, please come.
show photos
me and mimi - photo by my mom
photo by steve dressler
tony leone on drums - photo by steve dressler
clare burson 