Irishing April

Rock's longest, strangest trip, the Grateful Dead were the psychedelic era's most beloved musical ambassadors as well as its most enduring survivors, spreading their message of peace, love, and mind expansion across the globe throughout the better part of three decades. The object of adoration for popular music's most fervent and celebrated fan following – the Deadheads, their numbers and devotion legendary in their own right – they were the ultimate cult band, creating a self-styled universe all their own; for the better part of their career orbiting well outside of the mainstream, the Dead became superstars solely on their own terms, tie-dyed pied pipers whose epic, free-form live shows were rites of passage for an extended family of listeners who knew no cultural boundaries.

The idea of a live album as a documentary is a naïvely outdated one. For decades, fans have understood that, if one wanted to hear a tip-to-tail, warts-and-all live performance by one of their favorite musicians, a bootleg would be just about the only way, since the "live" albums typically released by most acts were usually cobbled together from multiple performances (and sometimes even across multiple tours). This state of affairs means that while these releases are providing a simulacrum of the live experience, they never exactly transport the listener to any fixed place in time.

April starts the recording by highlighting her love of the blues with her original “April Blues”, performed with a mature delivery and phrasings that are in lock step with bassist Reuben Rogers’ beat.

April starts the recording by highlighting her love of the blues with her original “April Blues”, performed with a mature delivery and phrasings that are in lock step with bassist Reuben Rogers’ beat.

April Verch is known as one of the most esteemed fiddlers and stepdancers of her generation. On 'Once A Day', it's her voice - a sweet and gossamer instrument - that adds a distinct personal flair to her homage of 1950s and 60s classic country. Verch, an Ottawa Valley, Canada native, grew up on the sentimental songcraft of this iconic era, and her deep appreciation of the source material is clear in her careful attention to songwriting and phrasing. Songs penned by greats such as Webb Pierce, Loretta Lynn, The Louvin Brothers, and Connie Smith are bound together by a masterful studio band of country veterans, including steel guitarist Al Perkins (Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris), guitarist Redd Volkaert (Merle Haggard) and fiddler Kenny Sears (Mel Tillis, Grand Ole Opry). Recorded in Nashville and produced by Doug Cox, the arrangements on this record breathe?a rare example that reminds us that less is often more. With 12 albums and nearly two decades of touring under her belt, 'Once A Day' reminds us of Verch's incredible range, and is sure to delight fans of classic country and its relatives.

Inscribed to the memory of Grace Williams’s friend Nancy Elizabeth Jenkins, who died of cancer shortly before the work was completed, Grace Williams’s Missa Cambrensis is a full-scale setting of the Mass in Latin and Welsh, scored for soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists, mixed chorus, boys’ choir, orchestra and speaker.