The Langer's Ball
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November 11th, 2008 - Well, an election and a few gig's have gone by, we had a great time doing a benefit show for Failte MN last Friday. For those who don't know about Failte Minnesota, check out their website, they do some great work trying to establish an Irish Community Center in Minnesota. They are looking to open a physical location for dance, music literature, language and all sorts of other stuff. Hats off to them!
November 1st, 2008 -We just found out that our CD, "As I Roved Out" was reviewed by Jim Tarbox in the October issue of The Irish Gazette, read for yourselves:
The Langer’s Ball
“As I Roved Out”
Own Label
"My luck – and yours-continues to hold out, as the Twin Cities continues to boast a vital base of Irish musicians who continue to percolate just under the radar. Add this relatively new duet to that invaluable resource now.
Formed just a year ago, Langer’s Ball is really just a duet – Michael Sturm on guitar, mando, and vocals and Hannah Rediske on piano accordion and the penny whistle. But you’ll likely be fooled when you hear this album – released in July – as in fact the pair plays a full lineup of instruments that will have you wondering if there isn’t really an entire band working behind them.
Opening with Steve Earle’s “Galway Girl,” the duo sets off on an assured set of both traditional and more contemporary songs that is a treasure from beginning to end. “Raglan Road” especially features Sturm’s appealing baritone on Patrick Kavanaugh’s poem set to the pipe band favorite “Dawning of the Day”; the title tune – yet another lament on frustrated passions features singer Jennifer Ordalen – Shows off the pair’s assured instrumental prowess; and their version of “Star of the County Down” might now be my favorite – they offer just exactly the right amount of urgent longing, and Sturm sounds like he just might really have a chance to win the winsome Rosie. And their take on Eric Bogle’s “And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda,” a newly timely anti-war song, strikes the perfect ironic tone of hero worship, warrior bravado and chagrin.
They’re playing all over the region this fall – The Dubliner, Paddy’s, Kips, Charlie’s – try to catch them while you can still get a seat close to the stage.
October 25th, 2008- We've just been
informed that another one of our songs has been included in yet another
Podcast. This time you can hear "Crooked Jack" on
Radio Rebel Gael.
RRG plays great Irish rock and punk, this podcast is #7 "The
Paddy
October 20th, 2008 - Well, Celtophilia just reviewed our CD, and all we can say is "Thank you" to them, they were very kind indeed. Just read for yourself."
"Bonnie asserts: I love Celtic music, which I’m sure everyone who is reading this can easily tell. All sorts of styles, traditional, original, bagpipes, or punk and rock influenced, I love it. However, sometimes when I listen to an album I just feel completely privileged to have the opportunity to fall in love with a new band and share that feeling with anyone who stops by here. This is undoubtedly the case when it comes to The Langer’s Ball. This dynamic duo (cue Batman and Robin theme song) blew me away right from the first track to the last one.
Michael Sturm and Hannah Rediske have been performing together since July 2007, and their album As I Roved Out was released in July 2008. Michael provides lead vocals, and plays guitar and mandolin. Hannah plays penny whistle and plays the hell out of the piano accordion. If you think you don’t like the accordion, do yourself a favor and let her change your mind, you won’t regret it.
Somehow I had never heard The Galway Girl before, and I’m glad that this is the first version that I was exposed to. Michael Sturm has got amazing pipes - the vocal kind, not the bagpipe or the smoking sort. His voice is so expressive and smoother than silk to boot. Every note and word sounds effortless, and emotionally invested. He sings as if he’s sitting right next to you telling you a story.
Jigs is a lively instrumental arrangement featuring guitar and penny whistle. You’re likely to involuntarily smile, close your eyes, tap your foot, and sway in time with the music. I don’t know much about playing the guitar, and less about the penny whistle, but this has to be a difficult piece to perform - and they make it sound easy.
And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda is a damn near perfect balance of vocals and accordion. This already poignant song hits me harder these days, with young men and women coming home from the wars scarred in body and mind, or not coming home at all. This track is almost nine minutes long, and I sat completely enthralled through three consecutive plays, trying unsuccessfully not to bawl my eyes out. It’s lovely and eerie and heartbreaking, I don’t know how anyone could play it better.
I didn’t note a favorite track on this album, pretty much because I was so awed by several of the songs that I couldn’t choose only one. The Galway Girl, Ragland Road, As I Roved Out, and And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda are definitely on the list. Also, for the first time in a while, I am pleased to be able to compliment a CD’s production. As I Roved Out sounds fairly close to as good as the last major record label CD I bought … you know, before I discovered online music stores.
I’d
hate to be known as the girl who cried, well, not wolf. I guess the girl
the cried “Woo Hoo! Awesome Band!” Okay, I changed my mind. I’m kind of
alright with that. Seriously, I feel justified in telling you to check out
The Langer’s Ball post haste, with alacrity, right freaking now. If my
shouting doesn’t convince you then check out their photos. Drastically
adorable, the pair of them. See that? They sound just as good as they look
don’t th … hey where’d you go?
Mike
puts forth: Astute readers will
note something about The Langer’s Ball. You’ve seen them on Celtophilia
before. Indeed, we did an
interview with The Langer’s
Ball back at the end of July. Then, the idea was
that this review would be released shortly afterward. People, sometimes
things just don’t go the way I plan them. Here’s the bad part. I forgot.
We posted the interview, and if you had asked me, I would have sworn we
posted the review as well. Then, a week or two ago I got an email from
Michael, who gave me the very polite and eloquent equivalent of “WTF,
mate?” Words can barely express how bad I feel, because truly, our readers
deserve to know that this is an amazing album.
Michael Sturm and Hannah Rediske are incredibly gifted instrumentalists, and although they have only been playing together for a little more than a year, they exhibit the kind of skill and polish that I would expect out of a band with much more time under their belts. As I Roved Out is a tremendous example of their hard work and dedication to the craft, and I stand amazed. Okay, I sit amazed. You get what I’m saying, anyway. Everything is wonderful, but one thing that I will point out as particularly wonderful from a technical standpoint is the way that the flute was recorded. Most of the time, there is a tendency to get a really rough, airy sound from wind instruments, but here it is beautiful, full, and extremely clean sounding.
Now, I’ll say a word or two about particular songs. And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda is a hidden gem of a song. At eight and a half minutes, it’s really like sitting and listening to an old soldier tell his story, and it never gets boring. It’s a beautiful, heart-breaking tale, and yes, I know it’s hard to reconcile those two things. If you’ve never heard it, START WITH THIS ONE. Michael’s voice really does amazing things with this song. It is easily my favorite track on the CD.
The title track of the CD, As I Roved Out, really captures the spirit of both the band and the CD. It showcases both band member’s voices, Michael’s guitar, and Hannah’s accordion to fantastic effect. The Galway Girl, too, is a fantastic representation of these guys at their best. It is gorgeously arranged, and is one of the songs I would really like to hear them perform live. (Note to Bonnie: Road Trip?)
Because I like to pretend that all my reviews are completely objective, I’ll tell you one thing negative about the CD. The tracks “Slides” and “Polkas” were very hard for me to get into. They’re quality stuff, but really nearing the outside range of stuff that I can listen to for hours on end.
If you want more info about this stellar band,
check out their website at
www.thelangersball.com, and of course, you can
at CDBaby. I am also including their reverbnation widget below, so check
that out and get a sampling of what The Langer’s Ball is all about. You
won’t regret it."
October 17th, 2008 - Thanks to everyone who voted for us on Marc Gunn's Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, we took 3rd place for favorite song. Also, "The Galway Girl" is being played on Paddy Rock Radio this week, so that's 2 of our songs that have been included in their lineup, we're very proud to be featured in both of these podcasts.
October 12th, 2008- We've been a busy band, too busy to blog apparently, oh well, let me bring you up to speed. The CD sales have been great, and we've gotten some great response and support from around the country! We were featured on the Cleveland Celtic Podcast on Sept. 1st, the title of the show was "New Music for Labor Day" we were featured along side such great groups as 7 Nations, Gaelic Storm, Damien Dempsey, Marc Gunn, The Kreellers and more, We've been included in a few Paddy Rock Episodes - Thanks guys! and right now Marc Gunn is playing us in his Irish & Celtic Music Podcast #56, and you can vote for your favorite song, and we hope you vote for us. The voting page is here. If we win, we get to be included in the next podcast too. Other than all that, we've just been playing a lot, seeing lot of old friends and meeting new ones, if you come out to a show, please stop by and introduce yourself, we love meeting you. We just got back from a street performance at the Red Wing Fall Arts fair, so we're gonna' get some rest and get ready for next weekend. Until next time...
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