Seasoned singers ramble through Palmer

PALMER - Vagabond Blues and Whistling Swan Productions are at it again. The ambient Palmer coffee shop is teaming up with the Alaska music production company to bring two legendary folk singers to downtown Palmer for a one-night-ramble through the heart of the American singer-songwriter tradition.

The musicians, Peter Case and Bill Morrissey, have been at this for a long time now, writing about everyday people and their struggles to find meaning in the midst of life on earth.

Case has been described as the voice of conscience among his generation of songwriters. Combining blues and American roots with the tradition of protest folk songs, Case sings of the downtrodden and forgotten men and women, who seem to slip between the cracks of modern culture.

"I've been playing this kind of music for a long time," Case said in a press release, "I feel like I have the kind of confidence you get when you've been doing something for 20 years; it's really opened up. It's simple, it's powerful; it's fairly improvised and that keeps making it new."

Morrissey also operates in the songster tradition of Mississippi John Hurt and Mance Lipscomb more so than in the harsh style and haunted Delta Blues style of Robert Johnson, but he subtly weaves them both together.

He has made his name through the circuit of coffeehouses around the country, but his music stands alone in the folk world for its detail, clarity and literary insight. His niche as a singer and songwriter has been established through perseverance and sheer strength of talent, both as an insightful writer and passionate singer.

The music kicks off, Sunday, at 3 p.m. Tickets are still available for $20 at Vagabond Blues in Palmer or Metro Music and Books in Anchorage. For directions to the cafe call 745-2233.

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.