Tomb of Caleb, Timnat Serah

Caleb (^{[pronunciation?]}; כָּלֵב, Kalev; Tiberian vocalization: Kālēḇ; Hebrew Academy: Kalev) is a male given name. A character called Caleb is named in the Bible. A reference to him may also be found in the Quran, although his name is not mentioned.

Caleb[link]

When the Hebrews came to the outskirts of Canaan, the land that had been promised to them by God, after having fled slavery in Egypt, Moses (the Hebrew leader) sent twelve spies (Hebrew: מרגלים‎, meraglim) into Canaan to report on what was there—one spy representing each of the Twelve Tribes. Ten of the spies returned to say that the land would be impossible to claim, and that giants lived there who would crush the Hebrew army. Only two, Joshua (from the tribe of Ephraim) and Caleb (representing Judah), returned and said that God would be able to deliver Canaan into the hands of the Hebrew nation.

The Bible records that, because of the testimony of ten of the spies, the Hebrews chose not to enter Canaan. For this disobedience, God caused them to wander in the desert for forty years before being allowed to enter Canaan and conquer it as their home. The only adult Israelites allowed to survive these forty years and enter Canaan were Joshua and Caleb (son of Jephunneh), as a reward for their faith in God. This is recorded in the Book of Numbers. Caleb is called "my servant" by God in Numbers 14:24, a position of the highest honor heretofore used only for Moses. Caleb, son of Jephunneh,first mentioned in the above account (Numbers 13:6) is not to be confused with another Caleb, great-grandson of Judah through Tamar( 1 Chronicles 2:3-9). This other Caleb was the son of Hezron, and his wife was Azubah (I Chronicles 2:18,19).

Caleb, son of Jephunneh, is thought by many to be a true Israelite by birth, since he is associated with and represented the tribe of Judah as one of the 12 spies. Jephunneh could have descended from some member of the non-Israelite Kenizzites (Ge 15:18, 19) who associated with the descendants of Jacob (Israel), marrying an Israelite wife. Perhaps the name Kenizzite in his case derives from some ancestral Judean family head named Kenaz, even as Caleb’s brother was so named.—Jos 15:17; Jg 1:13; 1Ch 4:13.

However, Jephunneh is clearly called a Kenizzite (Numbers 32:12, Joshua 14:6,14), and the Kenizzites are listed (Genesis 15:19) as one of the nations who lived in the land of Canaan, at the time that God covenanted to Abram (Abraham)to give that land to his descendants forever (Genesis 17:8). Furthermore, a search of Caleb's ancestry in 1 Chronicles 4, does not list his line of descent as being from Judah, since Jephunneh's father is not listed there. It would seem that Jephunneh wished to be included in the nation of Israel, and was included without his ancestral lineage in the tribe of Judah. This provision, for a Gentile to be included in Israel was clearly spelt out in the regulations for Passover (Exodus 12: 48,49). In this Exodus passage it is written: "If an alien who resides with you wants to observe the Passover to the lord, every male in his household must be circumcised, and then he may come near to observe it. He is to be like a native of the land, but no uncircumcised person is to eat it. A single law exists for the native and the alien who resides among you." (Exodus 12:48,49 ISV)

Notice carefully that right from the very beginning of the Nation of Israel, God makes full provision for a Gentile to enter the Nation. A Gentile enters through the covenant of circumcision, as a sign that he has accepted the whole of God's covenant. As a full member, he then has exactly the same rights and obligations as a native-born Jew, and from then on is treated by God as a full member of His family, provided that the circumcision was a true circumcision of the heart. He is then assigned to one of the twelve tribes, and becomes grafted into the root of Abraham. This would explain the manner of Caleb's 1 Chronicles 4 entry, and the lack of mention of his ancestry. When a Gentile joins the Family of Israel, his ancestry is Israel.

At the time of God's covenant with Abram, God made it clear to Abram that the sins of the people of Canaan- in particular the Amorites- had not yet reached the point where God was ready to act in judgement of them. All nations are given time to repent of their wickedness, and although God foreknew that the Amorites would not repent, he nonetheless gave them time, in order to prove that his judgement at the hands of Joshua was a just one. This is the context, one of ripeness for judgement, in which Joshua, Caleb, and the other ten went to spy out the land. It is also the clear explanation of Joshua's later conquest of the land; a conquest in which Caleb fully participated.

A Midrash refers to Caleb being devoted to the Lord and to Moses, splitting from the other scouts to tour Hebron on his own and visit the graves of the Patriarchs.

In the aftermath of the conquest, Caleb asks Joshua to give him a mountain in property within the land of Judah, and Joshua blesses him as a sign of God's blessing and approval, giving him Hebron (Joshua 14). Since Hebron itself was one of the Cities of Refuge to be ruled by the Levites, it is later explained that Caleb actually was given the outskirts (Joshua 21:11-13). Caleb promised his daughter Achsah in marriage to him who will conquer the land of Debir from the giants. This was eventually accomplished by Othniel Ben Kenaz, Caleb's half-brother, who became Caleb's son-in-law as well (Joshua 15:16,17).

God promised Abram that " I'll bless those who bless you, but I'll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed." Caleb is a truly wonderful example of a "Righteous Gentile" in the eyes of God. He saw and understood clearly that the blessing of God is with the people of Israel, and with his father Jephunneh he left his own people to become a part of God's people. In doing so he laid up blessing for his household forever.

Other people named Caleb in the Bible[link]

In 1 Chronicles 2:18 one "Caleb son of Hezron" is mentioned. That Caleb is noteworthy for being the great-grandfather of architect Bezalel. Per the context, this man was an Israelite by lineage, which (if the Kenizzite hypothesis holds) would make it implausible that he and the other Caleb are the same person (even though the Talmud argues so in Sotah 11b).^[1][2]

1 Samuel 25:3 states that Nabal, the husband of Abigail before David, was "of the house of Caleb". It is not stated whether this refers to one of the two Calebs mentioned in the Bible, or another person bearing the same name.

The name Caleb[link]

Caleb's name is spelled with the same consonants as כֶּלֶב kéleḇ meaning "dog", prompting the common conclusion that the name Caleb means "dog". In Eblaite language, the name Galibu (Caleb) is found, meaning "dog-like" in the sense of fleet-footed (as the hound overtakes the deer, which is the model of fleetness in Semitic lore).

Another plausible origin is a transposition of a name found in other ancient Semitic languages such as Phoenician and Ugaritic, meaning "servant of the Lord" [1].

In the Quran[link]

In the Quran Caleb is mentioned in the 5th Surah of the Quran (5:20-26). The two men mentioned here are Caleb and Joshua: "Remember Moses said to his people: "O my people! Call in remembrance the favour of The Lord unto you, when He produced prophets among you, made you kings, and gave you what He had not given to any other among the peoples. "O my people! Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin." They said: "O Moses! In this land are a people of exceeding strength: Never shall we enter it until they leave it: if (once) they leave, then shall we enter." (But) among (their) God-fearing men were two on whom The Lord had bestowed His grace: They said: "Assault them at the (proper) Gate: when once ye are in, victory will be yours; But on Allah put your trust if ye have faith." They said: "O Moses! while they remain there, never shall we be able to enter, to the end of time. Go thou, and thy Lord, and fight ye two, while we sit here (and watch)." He said: "O my Lord! I have power only over myself and my brother: so separate us from this rebellious people!" The Lord said: "Therefore will the land be out of their reach for forty years: In distraction will they wander through the land: But sorrow thou not over these rebellious people"

See also[link]

• Chronicler

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Caleb

 Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Caleb". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

• The Jewish Encyclopedia, 1908

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2010)

Sonata Arctica
Sonata Arctica performing live at the Galaxy Theater in Santa Ana, California 2007
Background information
Also known as	Tricky Beans, Tricky Means,
Origin	Kemi, Finland
Genres	Power Metal, Symphonic Power Metal Heavy metal
Years active	1996−present
Labels	Spinefarm, Nuclear Blast
Website	www.sonataarctica.info
Members
Tony Kakko Tommy Portimo Marko Paasikoski Henrik Klingenberg Elias Viljanen
Past members
Jani Liimatainen Pentti Peura Janne Kivilahti Mikko Härkin

Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, originally assembled in 1995. Their later works (most notably The Days of Grays, Unia and a few tracks on Reckoning Night and Winterheart's Guild) contain several elements typical of progressive metal.^[1]

Biography[link]

Formation and early years (1996–1999)[link]

The band was founded by Marko Paasikoski, Jani Liimatainen and Tommy Portimo in Kemi at the end of 1995 (Tony Kakko and Pentti Peura joined in early 1996). Originally named Tricky Beans, they played hard rock rather than the power metal with which they grew to fame. During their early career, they recorded three demos which were never sent to any recording label — Friend 'till the End, Agre Pamppers and PeaceMaker.

In 1997 the band changed their name to Tricky Means, and from that point until 1999 their style was thoroughly worked upon and ultimately was drastically changed, acquiring strong emphasis on the keyboard melodies and relying on an easily distinguishable rhythm line maintained both by the bass and the guitar. Vocalist Tony Kakko developed a clean singing style which relies both on falsetto and tenor voices and second guitarist Marko Paasikoski left the band. Kakko has stated that the change of sound was influenced by fellow Finnish power metal band Stratovarius.^[2]

In 1999 (after they changed their name to Sonata Arctica), the band recorded a demo entitled FullMoon in Kemi's Tico Tico Studios, which was their first real metal recording. The line-up consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Tony Kakko, guitarist Jani Liimatainen, bassist Janne Kivilahti and drummer Tommy Portimo. The demo was sent to Spinefarm Records by a friend of the band and a recording deal soon followed.

[edit] Ecliptica and Silence (1999–2002)

Later that year, Sonata Arctica's first single, entitled "UnOpened" was released in Finland. It entered the Finnish Top 20 sales chart on the week of its release and, soon after, the band had closed deals with labels from around the world, prior to the release of their debut album. The debut Ecliptica arrived by the end of 1999 and had a worldwide release, obtaining rave reviews from the specialized press.^{[citation needed]}

Tony Kakko then decided to focus on singing and began seeking a new keyboard player for Sonata Arctica; Mikko Härkin (ex-Kenziner) was eventually invited to fill the position.

In the beginning of 2000, Sonata Arctica was chosen to support the well known power metal band Stratovarius throughout their European tour. Marko Paasikoski returned to the band to play bass in the wake of Janne Kivilahti's departure after the tour.

From late 2000 to late 2001, the band worked on composing and recording their next album — Silence — which was released in June 2001. An extensive tour followed, which included concerts throughout Europe (together with Gamma Ray) and Japan. In 2002 Sonata Arctica made its first incursion to America, putting on shows in Brazil and Chile. According to some of the musicians from the band, it was one of their best tours to date — the other being the Japanese tour from 2003. A live album entitled Songs of Silence was also released that year, consisting of gigs from their tour in Japan. By the end of 2002, Mikko Härkin left the band due to personal reasons.

[edit] Winterheart's Guild (2003)

Their third album — Winterheart's Guild — was recorded with the help of the seasoned keyboard player Jens Johansson from Stratovarius who recorded the keyboard solos, while Kakko took care of the basics. The album was released in 2003.

In the search for another keyboardist, the band received many applications and two of them were invited for auditions. Since they were well aware of the candidates' ability, the band decided to pick the new member based on personality. To this end they spent a night drinking with each of the potentials in order to find out which one would fit best into the band's personality and mentality. Henrik Klingenberg was eventually chosen and joined the band in time to take part in the tour that followed the release of Winterheart's Guild. Most of the concerts on the tour were sold out.

With the end of their contract with Spinefarm Records, the band received invitations from most European recording labels, and eventually opted for Nuclear Blast.

[edit] Reckoning Night (2004–2005)

In early 2004, the band was chosen as the opener for Iron Maiden's Japanese tour. Additionally, Tommy Portimo became a father; his wife gave birth to a baby girl in March. Reckoning Night was recorded in three months and released in October. Both the single and the EP of this release remained on the top of the Finnish charts simultaneously for over six weeks. A promotional tour was to follow, but Sonata Arctica was invited by the popular Nightwish to join their European tour, and thus made a change of plans. The concerts that followed were played for audiences of over ten thousand people. Fans took notice that Reckoning Night was more progressive than previous Sonata Arctica albums. At that time in interviews, Tony Kakko and Henrik Klingenberg began to claim that they saw themselves as more so just a rock band than Power Metal. Another notable feature about this album was that Henrik Klingenberg introduced use of the organ to the band.

In early 2005, Nightwish invited the band to open the concerts of their North American tour. This tour eventually got cancelled, but the members of Sonata Arctica opted to still make a short tour, playing concerts in Canada and the USA. On October 21, 2005, Sonata Arctica opened for Nightwish at the Hartwall Areena, Helsinki.

[edit] For the Sake of Revenge and Winterheart's Guild video game (2006)

In 2006, the band released a live CD and DVD entitled For the Sake of Revenge, which was recorded in Tokyo in February 2005. Then, Spinefarm Records released a compilation album in order to get the most out of their contract with the band, since Sonata Arctica changed their recording label. The compilation is entitled The End of This Chapter and was released in Japan in August 2005 and in Europe in May 2006.

A computer video game was also planned, based on Sonata Arctica characters and music. The name of the game was going to be Winterheart's Guild, like their album. The game was to be developed by Zelian Games, and was to be an Action-RPG in a style between Fallout and Diablo. The game was cancelled for unannounced reasons but a demo was shown at the Leipzig video game conference in 2006, featuring Henrik Klingenberg as the playable character. In December 2006, the band began recording their fifth studio album.

[edit] Unia (2007–2008)

On May 25, 2007, Unia was released. The album's first single, "Paid In Full", was released on April 27, 2007. Interestingly, the cover for Unia features a barely perceptible image of a person's hair and eyes looking out through a crack in the background in the lower right-hand corner. It is likely an allusion to the person in the song "Caleb".

On August 6, 2007, the band announced on their website that guitarist Jani Liimatainen had been asked to leave the band due to problems related to his conscription. He was replaced by Elias Viljanen who had already filled in for him in the band's Finnish and Japanese shows during the spring and summer.

In October 2007 Sonata Arctica headlined the ProgPower USA VIII. Later the band supported Nightwish across their 2008 tour of United States and Canada and headlined at the shows that Nightwish cancelled due to Anette Olzon's sudden severe sickness.^[3]

In 2008 Tony Kakko collaborated with English singer/songwriter and arranger Mark Deeks to perform choral arrangements of some of the band's works at a special one off concert at The Sage Centre in Gateshead.

It was announced on September 4, 2008 that the band's first two albums would be re-released with bonus tracks by Spinefarm UK on October 6.^[4]

[edit] The Days of Grays (2009-2011)

Sonata Arctica during the The Days of Grays Tour 2011.

Sonata Arctica's latest album was released on September 16, 2009 in Finland and September 22 in the USA.^[5] Henrik stated that the new album would be in the same vein as Unia, but not as complex and darker.^[5] Singles from this album include "Flag in the Ground" and "The Last Amazing Grays". On August 28, 2009, the music video of "Flag In The Ground" was released to the web. The limited 2CD European edition of the album featured many of the album tracks with all instruments performed by a symphony orchestra.^[6]

The band also recently toured with DragonForce for the third U.S. leg of the Ultra Beatdown tour, and will be touring the US "two or three times," as well as doing a European tour and Asian tour covering Indonesia, Taiwan, China, and Japan. In early 2010 they engaged on an Australian tour with Ensiferum and Melbourne band Vanishing Point.

In April 2010, Sonata Arctica embarked on their USA and Canada Headlining tour for The Days of Grays. In October they headlined in Chile in support of the same album.^[7]

[edit] Stones Grow Her Name (since 2011)

In January 2011, the band hinted in an online interview for Metaleater magazine that they are currently writing songs for a new album while on their current tour. Elias is quoted as saying, "I've been working on some new riffs, quite dark. Tony's been stuck in his bed scratching notes about some girl and her 'Luna Lust'." Tommy states later, "We've just got back from Cozumel, we had a good time, had lots of beers, loads more sun and thought about putting a bit more Queen stuff back into the music again."

While playing in Wolverhampton, Tony stated to the audience that they were in fact hoping to start recording the new album this autumn and have it available for purchase before summer 2012.

In April, the band recorded a live DVD in Oulu, Finland, entitled "Live in Finland", which was released on November 11, 2011 (11/11/11).

It was announced on February 20, 2012 through the official Sonata Arctica website that the new album entitled Stones Grow Her Name would be released on May 18 in Europe and May 22 in North America .^[8][9]

Influences[link]

In a 2007 interview with C.B.Liddell, Tony Kakko cited the English rock band Queen as his biggest musical influence. "A lot of people seem to mention a Queen influence in our music," he said. "Queen have always been the biggest band for me."^[10]

Members[link]

Tony Kakko.

Elias Viljanen and Marko Paasikoski.

Tommy Portimo.

Henrik Klingenberg.

Current[link]

• Tony Kakko
  • Vocals (1996−present)
  • Keyboards (1996–2001, 2003, 2007–present)
• Elias Viljanen
  • Guitars (2007−present)
  • Backing vocals (2007−present)
• Marko Paasikoski
  • Bass guitar (2000−present)
  • Backing vocals (2000−present)
  • Guitars (1996–1997)
• Tommy Portimo
  • Drums (1996−present)
• Henrik Klingenberg
  • Keyboards/keytar (2002−present)
  • Backing vocals (2002−present)

Former[link]

• Pentti Peura
  • Bass guitar (1996−1998)
  • Backing vocals (1996−1998)
• Janne Kivilahti
  • Bass guitar (1998−2000)
  • Backing vocals (1998−2000)
• Mikko Härkin
  • Keyboards (2000−2002)
  • Backing vocals (2000−2002)
• Jani Liimatainen
  • Guitars (1996−2007)
  • Backing vocals (1996−2007)

Guest musicians[link]

• Raisa Aine − flute (on "Letter to Dana")
• Nik Van-Eckmann − spoken passages (on "...of Silence", "The End of This Chapter", "Last Drop Falls" and "The Power of One" from Silence and "Don't Say a Word", "White Pearl, Black Oceans..." and "Wildfire" from Reckoning Night)
• Timo Kotipelto − vocals (on "False News Travel Fast" from Silence^[11] and "Only The Broken Hearts (Make You Beautiful)", "Shitload Of Money", "I Have A Right", and "Alone In Heaven")
• Renay Gonzalez − spoken female passage (on "The End of This Chapter")
• Jens Johansson − keyboard solos (on "The Cage", "Silver Tongue", "Victoria's Secret" and "Champagne Bath")
• Peter Engberg − acoustic guitars, bouzouki, viola caipira, banjo, chromaharp, cavaquinho and Q-chord (on "They Follow", "Under Your Tree", "The Harvest", "It Won't Fade" and "Fly With the Black Swan" from Unia and "Cinderblox", "I Have A Right", "The Day","Don't Be Mean", and "Alone In Heaven" from Stones Grow Her Name
• Johanna Kurkela − female vocals (on "Deathaura" and "No Dream Can Heal a Broken Heart")
• Pekka Kuusisto - violin (on "Don't Be Mean", "Cinderblox", "Wildfire II, One With The Mountain", and "Wilfire III, Wildfire Town, Population: 0")
• Lauri Valkonen - double bass (on "Cinderblox", and "Wildfire II, One With The Mountain")
• Mika Myllari - trumpet (on "Shitload Of Money")
• Mikko P. Mustonen - orchestrations (on "Wildfire III, Wilfire Town, Population: 0")
• Anna Lavender - spoken passage (on "I Have A Right")
• Mediocre Media Ogre Choir - hey's (on "Shitload of Money")

Discography[link]

Studio albums:

• Ecliptica (1999)
• Silence (2001)
• Winterheart's Guild (2003)
• Reckoning Night (2004)
• Unia (2007)
• The Days of Grays (2009)
• Stones Grow Her Name (2012)

Cover songs[link]

• "Black Diamond" − Stratovarius (live, short clip in Stratovarius - Infinite Visions VHS/DVD)
• "Speed of Light" − Stratovarius (at the end of "False News Travel Fast" in Songs of Silence)
• "Fade to Black" − Metallica (Victoria's Secret, Takatalvi, A Tribute to the Four Horsemen)
• "Wind Beneath My Wings" − Bette Midler (Orientation)
• "Die With Your Boots On" − Iron Maiden (Last Drop Falls, Orientation)
• "World in My Eyes" − Depeche Mode (Don't Say a Word)
• "Two Minds, One Soul" − Vanishing Point (Don't Say a Word)
• "Still Loving You" − Scorpions (Takatalvi)
• "I Want Out" − Helloween (Takatalvi)
• "Out in the Fields" − Gary Moore (Paid in Full, Unia)
• "Silent Jealousy" − X Japan (live)
• "Crash & Burn" − Yngwie Malmsteen (live)
• "Excuse Me While I Kill Myself" − Sentenced (live)
• "I Was Made for Lovin' You" − KISS (live)
• "Smoke on the Water" − Deep Purple (live)
• "Child in Time" - Deep Purple (live)
• "Gaston y'a l'téléfon qui son" − Nino Ferrer (live)
• "One" − Metallica (live)
• "We Will Rock You" − Queen (live)
• "No More Tears" − Ozzy Osbourne (live)
• "Hava Nagila" ("The Cage"/"Vodka", "For the Sake of Revenge")
• "Master of Puppets" − Metallica (live)
• "The Trooper" − Iron Maiden (live)
• "Cowboys From Hell" - Pantera (live, Jani Liimatainen's Young Guitar DVD and Into The Storm bootleg DVD)
• "Metropolis" - Dream Theater" (live)
• "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" - Bonnie Tyler" (live)
• "Runaway" - Del Shannon (live)
• "Hell Is Living Without You" - Alice Cooper (One For All, All For One)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sonata Arctica

• Sonata Arctica's official website
• Sonata Arctica on Myspace
• Sonata Arctica's official fanclub
• Winterheart's Guild video game

This article is an orphan, as few or no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from related articles; suggestions may be available. (February 2009)

Caleb Chapman (born August 15, 1973) is an American music educator, entrepreneur and musician from Derry, New Hampshire who currently resides in Utah. Chapman is best known as the founder and director of the award-winning Crescent Super Band and the Little Big band and six other bands.^[1][2]Additionally, Chapman is President of Caleb Chapman Music, a professional musician training program. Previously, Chapman was the founder and executive director of The Music School, one of the largest private music instruction institutions in the US.^[3][4] Chapman currently serves on the executive board of the GAM Foundation, presenters of the JazzSLC Concert Series. Chapman is recognized for his contributions to music education worldwide.^[5][6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Caleb Chapman Music
• Crescent Super Band
• Park City Jazz Foundation
• GAM Foundation

This article about an American musician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch performing at MerleFest in 2007
Background information
Born	(1967-10-02) October 2, 1967 (age 44) New York City, New York, U.S.
Origin	New York, U.S. (born in); moved to LA, California with family; Nashville, Tennessee (currently resides)
Genres	Bluegrass, Americana, Country
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	singing, acoustic guitar, banjo, drums
Associated acts	Dave Rawlings Machine
Website	gillianwelch.com
Notable instruments
1956 Gibson J-50

Gillian Welch (/ˈɡɪliən ˈwɛltʃ/; born October 2, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and Americana, is described by The New Yorker as "at once innovative and obliquely reminiscent of past rural forms".^[1]

Welch and Rawlings have released five critically acclaimed albums. Their 1996 debut, Revival, and the 2001 release Time (The Revelator), received nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Their 2003 album, Soul Journey, introduced electric guitar, drums and a more upbeat sound to their body of work. After a gap of eight years, they released their fifth studio album, The Harrow & The Harvest, in 2011.

Welch was an associate producer and performed on two songs of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, a platinum album that won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2002. Welch has collaborated and recorded with distinguished musicians such as Alison Krauss, Ryan Adams, Jay Farrar, Emmylou Harris, The Decemberists, and Ani DiFranco. Welch and Rawlings perform at many music festivals.

Early life[link]

Gillian^{[a 1]} Howard Welch was born on October 2, 1967 in New York City, and was adopted by Ken and Mitzie Welch, comedy and music entertainers.^[1] Her biological mother was a freshman in college, and her father was a musician visiting New York City.^[1][2][3] Welch has speculated that her biological father could have been one of her favorite musicians, and she later discovered from her adoptive parents that he was a drummer.^[1][2][3] Alec Wilkinson of The New Yorker stated that "from an address they had been given, it appeared that her mother ... may have grown up in the mountains of North Carolina".^[1] When Welch was three, her adoptive parents moved to Los Angeles to write music for The Carol Burnett Show. They also appeared on The Tonight Show.^[1]

	"Orphan Girl" noicon The first track on Gillian Welch's first album Revival. This song exemplifies Welch and Rawlings' minimal arrangements and Welch's lyrics about outcasts
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

As a youngster, Welch was introduced to the music of American folk singers Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and the Carter Family. She performed folk songs with her peers at the Westland Elementary School in Los Angeles.^[1][4] Welch later attended Crossroads School, a high school in Santa Monica, California. While in high school, a local television program featured her as a student who "excelled at everything she did".^[1]

When a student at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Welch played bass in a goth band, and drums in a psychedelic surf band.^[1] In college, a roommate played an album by the bluegrass band The Stanley Brothers, and she had an epiphany:

The first song came on and I just stood up and I kind of walked into the other room as if I was in a tractor beam and stood there in front of the stereo. It was just as powerful as the electric stuff, and it was songs I'd grown up singing. All of a sudden I'd found my music.^[5]

After graduating from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in photography, Welch attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she majored in songwriting.^[6] During her two years studying at Berklee, Welch gained confidence as a performer.^[1][6] Welch met her music partner David Rawlings at a successful audition for Berklee's only country band.^[7][8]

Career[link]

Rawlings and Welch performing in Seattle in 2009

Upon finishing college in 1992, Welch and Rawlings moved to Nashville, Tennessee.^[9] She recalled, "I looked at my record collection and saw that all the music I loved had been made in Nashville—Bill Monroe, Dylan, The Stanley Brothers, Neil Young—so I moved there. Not ever thinking I was thirty years too late."^[1] Rawlings soon followed. In Nashville, after singing "Long Black Veil", the two first realized that their voices harmonized well and they started to perform as a duo.^[1] They never considered using a working name, so the duo were simply billed as "Gillian Welch".^[1] A year after moving to Nashville, Welch found a manager, Denise Stiff, who already managed Alison Krauss. Both Welch and Stiff ignored frequent advice that Welch should stop playing with Rawlings and join a band.^[1][4] They eventually signed a recording contract with Almo Sounds.^[4] Following a performance opening for Peter Rowan at the Station Inn, producer T-Bone Burnett expressed interest in recording an album. Burnett did not plan to disturb Welch's and Rawlings' preference for minimal instrumentation, and Welch agreed to take him on as a producer.^[10]

[edit] Revival

For the recording sessions of Welch's debut, Revival, Burnett wanted to recapture the bare sound of Welch's live performance.^[10] Welch recalled, "That first week was really intense. It was just T-Bone, the engineer, and Dave and myself. We got so inside our little world. There was very little distance between our singing and playing. The sound was very immediate. It was so light and small."^[10] Later, they recorded several more songs and played with an expanded group of musicians; guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee James Burton, bassist Roy Huskey, Jr., and veteran session drummers Jim Keltner, and Buddy Harman.^[10]

The album was released in April 1996 to positive reviews. Mark Deming of Allmusic called it a "superb debut" and wrote, "Welch's debts to artists of the past are obvious and clearly acknowledged, but there's a maturity, intelligence, and keen eye for detail in her songs you wouldn't expect from someone simply trying to ape the Carter Family."^[11] Bill Friskics-Warren of No Depression praised the album as "breathtakingly austere evocations of rural culture".^[10] The Arlington Heights, Illinois Daily Herald's Mark Guarino observed that Revival was "cheered and scrutinized as a staunch revivalist of Depression-era music only because her originals sounded so much like that era." He attributed this to the biblical imagery of the lyrics, Burnett's threadbare production, and the plainly-sung bleakness in Welch's vocals.^[12] Ann Powers of Rolling Stone gave Revival a lukewarm review and criticized Welch for not singing of her own experiences, and "manufacturing emotion."^[13] Robert Christgau echoed Powers: Welch "just doesn't have the voice, eye, or way with words to bring her simulation off."^[14] Revival was nominated for the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, but lost to Bruce Springsteen's The Ghost of Tom Joad.^[15]

[edit] Hell Among The Yearlings

The duo's 1998 Hell Among the Yearlings continued the rustic and dark themes; the songs' subject matter varies from a female character killing a rapist, a mining accident, a murder ballad, and an ode to morphine before death.^[16] Like Revival, Hell Among The Yearlings featured a sparse style that focused on Rawlings and Welch's voices and guitars.^[16][17]

Gillian Welch performing at the 2007 New Orleans Jazz Fest

The album also received favorable reviews. Robert Wilonsky of the Dallas Observer observed that Welch "inhabits a role so completely, the fiction separating character and audience disappears".^[18] Thom Owens (Allmusic) stated that the album "lacks some of the focus" of Revival, but is "a thoroughly satisfying second album" and proof that her debut was not a fluke.^[19] No Depression's Farnum Brown commended the live and "immediate feel" of the album, Welch's clawhammer banjo,^[20] and Rawlings' harmonies.^[15] Similar to Revival, Welch was praised for reflecting influences such as the Stanley Brothers, but still managing to create an original sound,^[17] while Chris Herrington from Minneapolis's City Pages criticized the songs' lack of authenticity. He wrote "Welch doesn't write folk songs; she writes folk songs about writing folk songs."^[21]

[edit] O Brother, Where Art Thou?

David Rawlings, Gillian Welch and Alison Krauss performing at the 2008 Austin City Limits Music Festival

Welch sang two songs and served as an associate producer for the Burnett-produced soundtrack to the 2000 film of the same name.^[22] She shared vocals with Alison Krauss on a rendition of the gospel song "I'll Fly Away." Dave McKenna of The Washington Post praised their version: the singers "soar together."^[23] Burnett and Welch wrote additional lyrics for the song "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby," sung by Welch, Emmylou Harris, and Krauss. The song is an elaboration of an old Mississippi tune discovered by Alan Lomax, and was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.^[24] The platinum album won the 2002 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The surprise success of the soundtrack gave Welch a career boost.^[25][26] Welch also made a cameo appearance in the film.^[27]

[edit] Time (The Revelator)

When Universal Music Group purchased Almo Sounds, Welch began her own independent label, Acony Records (named for the Appalachian wildflower, Acony Bell, subject of the eponymous song on Revival).^[4][12] Rawlings produced the first release on Welch's new label, the 2001 album Time (The Revelator).^[12][28] All but one song on the album was recorded in the historic RCA Studio B in Nashville.^[29] "I Want To Sing That Rock and Roll" was recorded live at the Ryman Auditorium in the recording sessions for the concert film Down from the Mountain.

David Rawlings and Gillian Welch performing at the 2009 Newport Folk Festival

Welch has said the album is about American history, rock 'n' roll, and country music.^[30] There are songs about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the Titanic Disaster, John Henry, and Elvis Presley.^[29] Time continues Welch and Rawlings' style of mellow and sparse arrangements. Welch explained, "As opposed to being little tiny folk songs or traditional songs, they're really tiny rock songs. They're just performed in this acoustic setting. In our heads we went electric without changing instruments."^[31]

Time (The Revelator) received extensive critical praise, most of which focused on the evolution of lyrics from mountain ballads.^[22][31][32] For Michael Shannon Friedman of The Charleston Gazette, "Welch's soul-piercing, backwoods quaver has always been a treasure, but on this record her songwriting is absolutely stunning."^[32] Critics compare the last track, the 15-minute "I Dream a Highway", to classics by Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Zac Johnson of Allmusic described I Dream... as akin to "sweetly dozing in the [river] current like Huck and Jim's Mississippi River afternoons".^[31][32] No Depression's Grant Alden wrote, "Welch and Rawlings have gathered ... fragments from across the rich history of American music and reset them as small, subtle jewels adorning their own keenly observed, carefully constructed language."^[22] Time finished thirteenth in the 2001 Village Voice Pazz & Jop music critic poll.^[33] Time (The Revelator) appeared in best of decade lists of Rolling Stone, Paste, Uncut, The Irish Times, and the Ottawa Citizen.^{[28][34][35][36][37]} The album was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, but lost to Bob Dylan's Love and Theft.^[38] Time peaked at #7 on the Billboard Independent Album chart.^[39]

The Revelator Collection DVD was released in 2002. It featured live performances and music videos of songs from Time, and some covers. The concert footage was filmed in 2001, and the music videos included Welch and Rawlings performing three songs at RCA Studio B. No Depression's Barry Mazor praised the DVD as an accompaniment for Time, calling it "one last exclamation point on that memorable and important project".^[40]

[edit] Soul Journey

	"Wrecking Ball" noicon The final track on Gillian Welch's fourth album Soul Journey. The electric guitar and drums represent a new sound for Welch and David Rawlings
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

For the 2003 release, Soul Journey, Welch and Rawlings explored new territory. Welch said: "I wanted to make it a happier record. Out of our four records, I thought this might be the one where you're driving down the road listening to it on a sunny summer day."^[41] Rawlings again produced the record. The album also reflected a change in the typically sparse instrumentation: Welch and Rawlings introduced a dobro, violin, electric bass and drums, and Welch later said, "Everything's not supposed to sound the same, you want it to reflect change and growth."^[7]

Justin Townes Earle & Gillian Welch performing in 2009

In three songs of Soul Journey, for the first time Welch and Rawlings recorded their own versions of traditional folk songs.^[42] On the original compositions, Welch's lyrics are more autobiographical than previous albums.^[12]

The album received mixed reviews. Allmusic's Zac Johnson wrote that it was "too casual and off-the-cuff", but called it a "wonderful, dusty summertime front-porch album, full of whiskey drawls and sly smiles, floorboard stomps and screen-door creaks".^[43] Jon Caramanica of Rolling Stone criticized the slower songs as stagnant, but complimented the upbeat songs.^[44] Soul Journey also garnered significant acclaim. John Harris of Mojo magazine described the album as "pretty much perfect", and Uncut's Barney Hoskyns favorably compared it to Bob Dylan and The Band's The Basement Tapes.^[45][46] Will Hermes of Entertainment Weekly wrote that Welch has "never sounded deeper, realer, or sexier."^[47] Soul Journey peaked at #107 on the Billboard charts, and reached #3 for Independent Albums.^[48]

Dave Rawlings Machine[link]

Welch and Rawlings continued their partnership in the band Dave Rawlings Machine. Welch co-wrote five of the songs with Rawlings, and provided guitar and harmony vocals.^[49][50] Andy Gill of The Independent described the 2009 debut album A Friend of a Friend as "akin to one of Welch's albums, but with the balance of their harmonies swapped to favour Rawlings' voice".^[51] Although ostensibly Rawlings' first solo album, Alex Ramon of PopMatters noted the similarities to Welch albums.^[50] Paste Magazine's Stephen Deusner praised A Friend of a Friend for incorporating "a wide swath of traditional American music," comments echoed by Rolling Stone's Will Hermes and in the PopMatters piece.^[50][52][53]

[edit] The Harrow & The Harvest

In a 2007 feature in The Guardian, critic John Harris expressed frustration that there had not been a Gillian Welch release in four years.^[54] Creation Records founder Alan McGee showed optimism about Welch and Rawlings testing out some new songs while opening some concerts for Rilo Kiley, and wrote in a 2009 blog entry "the long gestation period signals nothing less than a perfect album".^[55] In 2009, Rawlings said that recording for the next Gillian Welch album has started, but did not give a release date.^[56]

The Harrow & The Harvest was released on June 28, 2011.^[57] Welch attributed the long time period between releases to writer's block and dissatisfaction with initial recording attempts.^[58] She explained: "Our songcraft slipped and I really don't know why. It's not uncommon. It's something that happens to writers. It's the deepest frustration we have come through, hence the album title."^[58] The writing process involved "this endless back and forth between the two of us," Welch said, stating that "It’s our most intertwined, co-authored, jointly-composed album."^[59]

The album received praise from publications such as The Los Angeles Times, Uncut, and Rolling Stone.^[60][61][62] Thom Jurek of Allmusic wrote that the album "is stunning for its intimacy, its lack of studio artifice, its warmth and its timeless, if hard won, songcraft".^[63]

The album peaked at #20 on the US Billboard 200 and #25 on the UK Albums Chart.^[64][65]

Musical style[link]

Welch and Rawlings incorporate elements of early twentieth century music such as old time, classic country, gospel and traditional bluegrass with modern elements of rhythm and blues, rock 'n' roll, jazz, and punk rock.^[1] The New Yorker's Alec Wilkinson maintained their musical style is "not easily classified—it is at once innovative and obliquely reminiscent of past rural forms".^[1]

Gillian Welch playing banjo in a performance with David Rawlings

The instrumentation on their songs is usually a simple arrangement, with Welch and Rawlings accompanying their own vocals with acoustic guitars, banjos, or a mandolin.^[1] Welch plays rhythm guitar with a 1956 Gibson J-50 (or banjo), while Rawlings plays lead on a 1935 Epiphone Olympic Guitar.^[66] The New Yorker's Wilkinson described Rawlings as a "strikingly inventive guitarist" who plays solos that are "daring melodic leaps".^[1] A review in No Depression by Andy Moore observed that "he [Rawlings] doesn't play his big, coffee-colored, hollow body Gibson so much as he squeezes, strokes, chokes and does just about everything but blow into it".^[67] Jamie Cowperthwait of Rolling Stone wrote that Rawlings' guitar playing "makes the music swell and vibrate at all the right moments."^[68]

Themes[link]

Many songs performed by Welch and Rawlings contain dark themes about social outcasts struggling against such elements as poverty, drug addiction, death, a disconnection from their family, and an unresponsive God.^[1] Despite Welch being the lead singer, several of these characters are male.^[1] Welch has commented, "To be commercial, everybody wants happy love songs. People would flat-out ask me, 'Don't you have any happy love songs?' Well, as a matter of fact, I don't. I've got songs about orphans and morphine addicts."^[9] To reflect these themes, Welch and Rawlings often employ a slow pace to their songs. Their tempo is compared to a "slow heartbeat", and Cowperthwait of Rolling Stone observed that their songs "can lull you into near-hypnosis and then make your jaw drop with one final revelation".^[1][68]

Reception[link]

Gillian Welch performing at the 2009 Newport Folk Festival

Welch has received broad critical praise. Geoffrey Himes of The Washington Post described Welch as "one of the most interesting singer-songwriters of her generation".^[69] In 2003, Tom Kielty of The Boston Globe observed that she was "quietly establishing one of the most impressive catalogs in contemporary roots music", and a 2007 piece in The Guardian by John Harris called Welch "one of the decade's greatest talents".^[54][70] Critic Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "At every turn, she demonstrates a spark and commitment that should endear her to anyone from country and folk to pop and rock fans who appreciate imagination and heart."^[71]

When Welch's first two albums came out, critics questioned the authenticity of her music, as she was raised in Southern California, but performed Appalachian themed songs.^[8][17][72] For Revival, Welch was criticized for "manufacturing emotion", and a review of Hell Among the Yearlings by Chris Herrington of City Pages stated, "Welch is someone who discovered old-time music in college and decided that her own sheltered life could never be worth writing about", and that she is "completely devoid of individuality".^[13][21] Other critics rejected the notion that her background affects the authenticity of her music. Music critic Mark Kemp defended Welch in a The New York Times piece:

The first-person protagonist of Ms. Welch’s song ("Caleb Meyer") may be a young girl from a time and place that Ms. Welch will never fully understand, but the feelings the singer expresses about rape, and the respect she displays for her chosen musical genre, are nothing if not poignantly authentic. Likewise, it matters not whether Ms. Welch has ever walked the streets of "the black dust towns of East Tennessee" about which she sings in "Miner's Refrain" because the sense of foreboding that she expresses for the men who once labored in coal mines with futile hopes of a better life comes through loud and clear.^[73]

The Wall Street Journal's Taylor Holliday echoed this: "Stingy critics give Ms. Welch a hard time because she's a California city girl, not an Appalachian coal miner's daughter. But as Lucinda or Emmylou might attest, love of the music is not a birthright, but an earned right. Listen to Ms. Welch yodel, in a tune about that no-good "gal" Morphine, and you know she's as mountain as they come." ^[17]

Influences and collaborations[link]

Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead and Gillian Welch at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass

Welch emphasizes music from a previous era as her major influence. She said that "by and large I listen to people who are dead. I'm really of the tried-and-true school. I let 50 years go by and see what's really relevant."^[72] Welch has acknowledged inspiration from several traditional country artists, including the Stanley Brothers, the Carter Family, the Louvin Brothers, and the Blue Sky Boys.^[1][74] She explained her relationship with traditional music by saying, "I've never tried to be traditional. It's been a springboard for me and I love it and revere it and would not be doing what I do without the music of the Monroe Brothers, the Stanley Brothers and the Carter Family. However, it was clear I was never going to be able to do exactly that; I'm a songwriter."^[75]

In addition to the strong country influence, Welch also draws on a repertoire of such Rock 'n' Roll artists as Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, the Grateful Dead and the Velvet Underground.^[1][8][76] She has noted alternative rock bands Throwing Muses, Pixies and Camper Van Beethoven "don't directly inform my music, but they're in there."^[72][76]

Welch has recorded songs with a variety of notable artists, including Ryan Adams, Ani DiFranco, Emmylou Harris, Jay Farrar, Alison Krauss, Old Crow Medicine Show, Bright Eyes, Robyn Hitchcock, Steve Earle, Ralph Stanley, The Decemberists, Solomon Burke and Mark Knopfler.^{[7][8][52][77][78]} Welch and Rawlings' contributions on Hitchcock's album Spooked was described by Christopher Bahn of The A.V. Club as "subtle but vital".^[79] Mark Deming of Allmusic wrote that their work on Ryan Adams' album Heartbreaker "brought out the best in Adams".^[80][81]

Artists who have recorded songs written by Welch include Jimmy Buffett, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Trisha Yearwood, Joan Baez, Allison Moorer, Emmylou Harris, Miranda Lambert, and Kathy Mattea.^{[1][7][82][83][84][85]}

Performances[link]

The Dave Rawlings Machine performing at Waterloo Records in Austin, Texas, 2009

Welch and Rawlings have played many music festivals, including The Newport Folk Festival, Coachella Festival, The Telluride Bluegrass Festival, The Cambridge Folk Festival, MerleFest, The Austin City Limits Festival, and Farm Aid.^{[8][75][86][87][88][89][90][91][92]} They have toured North America extensively, and have played in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.^{[8][20][75][93]} Concert reviews have praised the chemistry between Welch and Rawlings on stage.^[7][93][94] Tizzy Asher of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote "there was a startling unspoken intimacy between them. They anticipated each other's movements and shifted when necessary to fit each other."^[94]

The Dave Rawlings Machine have toured North America, with the band composed of Rawlings, Welch and three members of Old Crow Medicine Show.^[95] Welch and Rawlings also participate in group tours with notable musicians. In 2004, they were part of the Sweet Harmony Traveling Revue, a three-week US tour with Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller and Emmylou Harris.^[96] In 2009, The Dave Rawlings Machine joined Old Crow Medicine Show, The Felice Brothers and Justin Townes Earle for The Big Surprise Tour, a US tour described as a "roots-music extravaganza".^[97] In 2011, Welch was a support act for the recently reformed Buffalo Springfield.^[98]

Discography[link]

• 1996 – Revival
• 1998 – Hell Among the Yearlings
• 2001 – Time (The Revelator)
• 2003 – Soul Journey
• 2011 – The Harrow & The Harvest

Footnotes[link]

1. ^ Pronounced with a hard /ɡ/

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gillian Welch

• Official website
• Gillian Welch at Allmusic

David Rawlings
David Rawlings and Gillian Welch performing in 2006
Background information
Origin	North Smithfield, Rhode Island, United States
Genres	Bluegrass, neotraditional country, Americana, old time, folk, American Primitivism
Instruments	Singing, guitar
Associated acts	Dave Rawlings Machine, Gillian Welch
Website	http://www.daverawlingsmachine.com/
Notable instruments
1935 Epiphone Olympic Guitar

David Todd Rawlings is a professional guitarist and singer. He is best known as the longtime musical partner of bluegrass singer-songwriter Gillian Welch.

David attended the Berklee College of Music and studied with guitar professor Lauren Passarelli.

He is known in his own right as a producer, having produced Welch and bands such as Old Crow Medicine Show. He has recently performed under the billing of "Dave Rawlings Machine". He has also contributed to the Bright Eyes album Cassadaga, the Ryan Adams album Heartbreaker (which opens with "Argument with David Rawlings Concerning Morrissey"), and the Robyn Hitchcock album Spooked.

Rawlings co-wrote the tracks "To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)" and "Touch, Feel and Lose", with Ryan Adams.

David Rawlings achieves his signature guitar sound flatpicking a small archtop guitar. The 1935 Epiphone Olympic that has been his primary instrument was a mid-priced guitar for its time, with a carved arched solid sprucewood top, carved arched solid mahogany back and mahogany sides.^[1] It sold for about $35 in 1935.^[2] The guitar's lower bout measures 13 5/8 inches wide, and it has three piece f-holes.^[1]

The Dave Rawlings Machine album A Friend of a Friend was released on November 17, 2009. Rawlings recorded the album in Nashville, and produced it himself. Co-writers and musicians on the album include Welch, members of Old Crow Medicine Show, Bright Eyes, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.^[3]

Discography[link]

• Dave Rawlings Machine - A Friend of a Friend (November 2009 · Acony Records)

Album appearances[link]

• Also see Gillian Welch Discography
• Sara Watkins - Sara Watkins (2009 · Nonesuch Records)
• The Whispertown 2000 - Swim (2008 · Acony Records)
• Bright Eyes - Four Winds (2007 · Saddle Creek)
• Bright Eyes - Cassadaga (2007 · Saddle Creek)
• Robyn Hitchcock - Spooked (2004)
• Old Crow Medicine Show - Old Crow Medicine Show (2004)
• Ryan Adams - Demolition (2002)
• Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker (2000)
• Ani DiFranco - Swing Set (2000)

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• David Rawlings on Myspace
• David Rawlings and Gillian Welch NPR Tiny Desk Concert Video
• David Rawlings on PBS NewsHour