John R. Williamson - singing, guitars, charango, bass, percussion +
rosamond finley - violin +
rebecca linton - cello +
daniel s. mccoy - engineer and producer at tonemesa west//
supporting crew (past and present)://
zeus alverez - drums and percussion
robert deeble - singing and guitars, plus percussion
mandy troxel - singing
david finley - singing and guitar
the world's toughest milkman - guitar
joel heflin - marimba, percussion
trevor king - bass
steve mcgill - vibraphone, percussion
alan bartholemew - cello
buggs manocchi - drums
ricardo romero - guitars and charango
mike nichols - guitar
richard cranch - guitar
mike fay - upright bass
jerry monteros - flutes
orlando duenas - accordion and organ
Influences
Bob Dylan (particularly Highway 61 and Time Out of Mind), Joni Mitchell (Blue only), Townes Van Zandt, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Tom Waits, Sam Phillips, T Bone Burnett, Peter Case, Lucinda Williams, Hank Williams, The Louvin Brothers, The Beatles, Susana Baca, Los Super 7, Sylvio Rodriguez, John Hartford, Yo La Tengo, Phily Joe Jones, Dexter Gordon, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Johan Sebastian Bach, Charles Mingus, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie
john r. williamson and the cest la vies, who perform original toe-tapping salt-of-the-earth roots music, call to mind the soul-stirring stuff of Mississippi John Hurt, Bob Dylan, and the late great Johnny Cash. Their music is a brew of country blues, gypsy music and gospel. Their two most recent albums, the visceral Lost Songs (2002) and the stunning Maybe In A Shade You Don't Know (2004) received critical acclaim from PASTE Magazine and Opus Magazine. While their passion is playing concerts, they have also appeared on NPRs All Songs Considered, as well as Choices with Dorothea Bradley and KXLU radio. They just released their new album, Portable Shrine (July 8, 2006) on ToneMesa. the current lineup features John R. Williamson, who has been writing and performing since 1987, cellist Rebecca Linton, and violinist Rosamond Finley. Linton is a profound mystical musician, poet, and theologian. She aspires in all of these areas. She also enjoys the study of both her mother tongue and foreign languages. Her instrument of choice is the cello, because the tones of the cello are, to her, deep and sonorous. Her hope for the future is to become an impeccable public speaker. Finley studied violin performance at Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music. Finley, who began playing at the age of 3, also performed in a Nashville Belly Dancing Troupe and Orchestra, called The Perfumed Garden, before coming out West. ================================================================================================
GQ Magazine: UNSUNG HEROES:
Who is the one musician or band who deserves to be in the hall of fame, but who, for some reason, has toiled in obscurity, never won a grammy or gone platinum? We asked musicians, singers, and writers to nominate their favorite SECRET MUSICAL GENIUS:
T BONE BURNETT nominates
JOHN R. WILLIAMSON
After a talk that I had given one night at a college in the San Gabriel Valley, a young man walked up and handed me a CD called Songs from Crescent Vale. He told me he was Peter Buck's cousin and that he was producing records for the guy that he motioned was sitting on the bleachers about twenty feet away, John R. Williamson.
This sort of thing happens to me every once in a while. If I go to some conference or festival or something along those lines, I generally collect enough intellectual property that I have to ship it home. But that night, I had a long drive back to Santa Monica, so I put the CD on in my car and headed west. The fourth song was called "Offerings." After the first listen, I put it on a loop and kept listening all the way home and for the next several weeks. I don't know what it is about that song--I guess if a song is ever any good, you never do--but it is flat-out touching. It has this mesmerizing cadence and old-world language, and the execution is effortless, languid and deeply optimistic.
I've got a lot of John's songs now, and a few of his paintings. His extraordinarily benevolent music has insinuated itself into my life in an important way. John's stuff does not fit. One could call John an outsider artist, but he is more outside than that. If his music were any more quiet, you would have to play it yourself to hear it.
-May 2006
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Now buy the albums:
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CDBABY LINK for JOHN R. WILLIAMSON AND THE C'EST LA VIES: maybe in a shade
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SONGS from..
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john r. williamson and the c'est la vies's Friend Space (Top 32)
john r. williamson and the c'est la vies has 1166 friends.
I just released a new funky album "Outcries from a Sea of Red" which is now available! It is the funk! You listen to it for free at www.teddypresberg.com
Hi John, thanks so much for your support at the farmer's market. It really means a lot. I'm digging your sounds a lot. Hope to see you around, maybe at Zephyr!
Dear John, Thank you for your support. Maybe it is enough to do the things we love privately? But it is,for me, almost heartbreakingly fun to share, and feel appreciated and heard. I wish you the best in looking for work. I put in an app today, and it was nerve wracking. The place is called 'friends marketplace.' and they have like 500 types of cheese. But for me, the stakes aren't so high right now, because I don't have a family of my own...and my parents are supporting me. I pretty much want a job so I can chip away at paying off the debts I have, meet some friends, and not have to ask my parents for things like postage stamps, q-tips, and cheese. It is my hope to spend a month out of the summer or winter in S.California. Either sitting house or something like this. I have some pretty important roots there. During these times, if they come to pass, I would like to rejoin the c'est la vies. It would mean alot to me.
Those are my 2 favorite songs. I always love it when and album builds up to the most complex and faster songs and then leaves you with a haunting acoustic melody. I really try to push the genre as much as possible and throw in things that people don't expect. I figure I need to enjoy putting albums together since they'll be dead after my generation. I'm working on a new one that will feature reggae covers of non-reggae songs. Looking at some White Album stuff, maybe Kansas or something prog, Johnny Cash or Hank Williams, maybe Black Sabbath, stuff like that. I also was thinking it would be cool to do one of yours. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Show went very well for the first one. Going on the open mic night circuit now, trying to find musicians.
I was going for the western vibe in honor of our beloved ex-president. That song was conceived by the patriot act and my initial reaction. Plus I got to use my talk box.
Thanks so much, John, for playing so beautifully at our shop! We hope you come back again soon. BTW, come by our shop on March 14th from 11a-Noon for a discussion on The Pursuit of Fitness & Wellbeing. Hope to see you then!
Thank you John, I feel honored and lucky and sometimes a little overwhelmed to play music with you.
I don't know if they are renting now but there are several small houses off the corner of bonita and indian hill that seem nice. There is often a 'for rent' sign up there. I think they are pretty reasonable. I'll keep an eye out. It would be awesome if you moved to claremont, it's really blossoming into a beautiful little town.
John, Wow... THANKS FOR THE SHOSTOKOVICH CDS!!!!! that was a wonderful surprise. I'm loving listening to them, they are truly outstanding works, especially the way Ashkenazy interprets them. I think that Shostokovich is highly underrated and misunderstood; history will improve his standings. We'll have to chat about these works in the near future! :-) -Istvan
Dearest John, Thanks so much for your lovely words and thoughts. It really means a lot to me. Lately I've been so incredibly busy and so unsure about art, life, and what its all for... I started to think: "why bother?"... but, every now and then some good soul will chime in with the right vibe (pun intended), and it all feels good again. Your call and comment did that, man. I have to say that I do love your music, and to have any part of it is a deep honor. It sounds good with the slow deep piano sonorities here and there... I've enjoyed listening again, and now here on your site- it was so nice to hear it up! :-)
hi john r william-son...thank you for your kind and useful comments -- yes, I am trying to remember it's ok to go slow and be sad. Love your songs and voice and slow-ness. keep singing//lemme know if you are over here.
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