The Incongruous City

Mrs L sees and hears it on the streets of Manhattan

 

Reviews and Press, Rules of Travel

Rosanne’s widely acclaimed album "Rules of Travel" was released in March 2003. Her first album since 1996, "Rules of Travel" was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

Black Cadillac Named One of 10 Best Albums of 2006

The New York Times, Billboard, NPR, Nashville Scene Critic’s Poll and many others have named "Black Cadillac" in their lists of the 10 Best Albums of 2006
Buy It Now | Album Sampler: Songs, Photos, Video, Comments from Rosanne

Studio 360: Rosanne Reads a Favorite Poem

Studio 360, Kurt Andersen’s weekly radio program on PRI, aired an August segment called "Poetry from the People:"

"A few weeks ago, after featuring actor Bill Murray’s passion for poetry, we asked you to send us your favorite poems. Kurt calls up a few listeners—including a surprise celebrity listener—to tell us theirs." Click the audio player, below, for our favorite celebrity’s reading.

Listen Online to Rosanne’s Acoustic Set on Mountain Stage

NPR.org streams audio of Rosanne’s Mountain Stage performance from October 2008

Listen Now: Rosanne Cash On Mountain Stage

November 24, 2008: Recorded at New York City’s historic Town Hall in October 2008, singer and songwriter Rosanne Cash performs an acoustic set for her third appearance on Mountain Stage. Listen to audio stream on NPR.org.

Friday, December 5

We have a friend who recently moved from Tennessee to New York, and we had him over for dinner a few nights ago. We were listening to him describe the pros and cons of moving to New York, and  the enormous transition he is currently navigating.  He mused about how long he might stay in the city.  After listening quietly for a few minutes, my nine-year-old son finally interjected with some stridency, "But… are you going to get your green card??"
I’ve always maintained that Manhattan is indeed an island off the coast of America, but I didn’t realize how fully my son had integrated that notion.

University of Notre Dame

September 13

Notre Dame, IN

Performing Arts Center, University of Notre Dame info

What is Music to Your Ears? The Science of Hearing

April 29

New York, NY

"Science of the Five Senses" Series, NY Academy of Science info/tix

Spring Gala and Benefit, Ossining Matters

April 18

Ossining, NY

Spring Gala and Benefit, Ossining Matters Education Foundation info/tix

John Wesley Harding’s Cabinet of Wonders

March 11

New York City

Le Poisson Rouge

Passionskirche, Berlin

March 5

Berlin, Germany

Passionskirche info/tix

Kulturkirche, Cologne

March 3

Cologne, Germany

Kulturkirche info/tix

Muffathalle, Munich

March 2

Munich, Germany

Muffathalle info/tix

Picks for November 2008
Nov. 29, 2008: Five Things You May Not Know
Rosanne Sings with the Young People’s Chorus of New York City

Rosanne contributes vocals to The CoolSide of Yuletide, an album of traditional carols with new arrangements and songs from The Young People’s Chorus of NYC, with a global mix of choirs from around the world. More info, photos and video.

“Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison” Has Preview Screening

Nov. 14, 2008: "Last night in a screening room lit by flickering candles at New York City’s exclusive Norwood Club, less than 40 people attended an intimate screening of Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison, the documentary about Cash’s seminal live album currently making the international festival rounds. Rosanne Cash, director Bestor Cram and writer Michael Streissguth were on hand to field questions in a living-room-sized room that felt more like a hangout session than a screening." Read the entire Rolling Stone Article

Wednesday, November 5

I live in Chelsea, about twenty blocks straight south of Times Square, and I could hear the roars from my bedroom window at about 11 pm election night, when Obama was declared President-elect.  The celebration here in Chelsea, and all around the city, went on until the wee hours.  There was literally Dancing In The Streets.  There was a group in the East Village who gathered spontaneously to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner".  American flags went up all over.  Personally, we posted a little handmade sign in the window, next to the pumpkin decorations, that said "Yes, We Did!"
What an exciting moment.

NYTimes on “Science of the Five Senses”

Rosanne will be a panelist on a new lecture series by the New York Academy of Sciences. The series, "Science of the Five Senses", connects leading scientists with artists in an exploration of their work. Rosanne will be appearing with psychologist Daniel Levitin on April 29, 2009. For more information on the series, read the NY Times article and visit the New York Academy of Sciences web site.

November 5, 2008: The Walls Come Down
Wednesday, October 29

We had our first real cold day in the city yesterday and it was fun to see everyone break out their winter duds.  I have made an informal observation over the years about who really dresses for the weather, and who rebels against appropriate cold-weather garb.  If I want to know how cold it is, and how to dress, I look out my window and watch passers-by for a few minutes to get my cue. Just opening the door and sticking my hand out never works, because once I’m out for a few minutes it is always colder than I thought.  Okay, here comes a young, straight man, wearing a hoodie.  No, can’t trust him.   I’ll freeze to death.  Teenage girl in a mini-skirt and Ugg boots with only a scarf for warmth?   Are you kidding?  I’ll have pneumonia by 4 pm.  Pizza delivery guy?  Shirtsleeves.  Right, he just ran out of the restaurant and didn’t bother putting a jacket on.  No reliable information there.   Okay, here comes the exact right person for my weather info:  a mom pushing a stroller.  She AND the baby have on coat, scarf, gloves and a hat.  Thank you, Mom!   I’ll be toasty all day.

Wednesday, October 22

Because the euro is so strong and the dollar so weak, the city is overrun with foreign tourists right now, all laden down with shopping bags.  I see plenty of signs in store windows that say ‘Euros accepted’.  I even saw one sign that said, ‘Euros ONLY’.  I won’t mention any names.  You know who you are, nice antique store.  My daughter and I were in Bloomingdales last month, going up the escalator and as we got off, we saw a tall, striking young woman with a thick Brooklyn accent hawking perfume where people were getting on and off the escalator.  No one paid any attention to her, so she amped up the volume and, in full Brooklynese, said, "BONJOUR!  CA VA!  BONJOUR, PEOPLE!"

Cash Festival Is Front Page News

...in the Mississippi State University student newspaper. "I have to think my dad would bring a bit of defiance and humor to this," Rosanne said. "Maybe he wouldn’t repeat the public drunkenness, but the illegal flower picking is not out of the realm of possibility."

NY Times on the Johnny Cash Flower Pickin’ Festival

October 19th: Dan Barry writes about the Starkville, Miss. festival in his "This Land" column in the NY Times. “I usually don’t make a habit of making pilgrimages to a place where my father spent one night,” said an amused Rosanne, who headlined the festival. More photos and Starkville history accompany the NY Times article.

Picks for October 2008
Why I’d Be a Better VP than Sarah Palin

Published in TheNation.com, Oct. 10: “I’d like to formally submit myself to replace Sarah Palin on the GOP ticket. I feel confident that John McCain will see that the very attributes he desired in his VP choice can be met, and even exceeded in some areas, by me.

“For your consideration, my big, fat résumé:”
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081027/cash 

Wenesday, October 8

I stepped into an elevator which was full of seven or eight African-American women, all leaning over a stroller and cooing at an adorable, pudgy-cheeked, wide-eyed African-American baby, who looked to be about 2 years old.

Her mother kept saying gently, "Tell them your name. Tell them your name," but the baby would not comply. The elevator door opened and all the ladies started to walk out and suddenly the baby bellowed, in a voice loud enough to fill a ball park, "MY NAME IS BARACK OBAMA!" Everyone broke into peals of laughter. I leaned over and said to the baby, ‘So, you’re going to be president!" and she bellowed back, "YES!"

Rosanne Guests on “Spectacle,” Elvis Costello’s new TV show

January 21, 2009: The Sundance Channel will air the 8th episode of "Spectacle," with Rosanne, Kris Kristofferson, John Mellencamp and Norah Jones. Modeled on the "guitar pulls" held in Johnny Cash’s living room in Tennessee, each singer/songwriter brings new songs and new versions of old hits to the program. Taped live at the Apollo Theater in NYC in September. More details on the Sundance web site: also see Jim Farber’s article in the Daily News.

Albisgütli Country Music Festival

February 27-28, 2009

Zurich, Switzerland

Albisgütli Country Music Festival

Tuesday, October 7

I know it’s summer when the old guy in the building next door parks his plastic lawn chair on the sidewalk in front of his apartment building sometime after lunch, and sits there for the entire afternoon watching the traffic and the passersby as if he is watching the waves and boats from the seashore. And I know it’s Fall when he stops bringing his plastic chaise outdoors and he becomes just another sidewalk surfer, head down and jacket zipped all the way up as he trudges down the street. It’s Fall.

October 4, 2008: Post from Bochum, Germany
Concerts from The Library of Congress

November 21

Washington, DC

Concerts from The Library of Congress info/tix

4th Annual Bluegrass and BBQ Benefit

November 10

New York, NY

4th Annual New York City Bluegrass and BBQ Benefit info/tix

John Lennon Tribute and Benefit

December 7

New York City

John Lennon Tribute/Benefit, The Ailey Citigroup Theater info/tix

Tuesday, September 23

a memory:  when my son was three years old, he went to the library with a group of kids and two other moms.  One of the moms was showing the kids the globe of the world and pointing out different countries.  She asked my son, a native New Yorker who has never lived above 23rd Street, "Do you know what country you live in?"  He stuck out his chest proudly. "I live in the country of DOWNTOWN!"  he said. Still true.

Rosanne Guests on Elvis Costello’s New TV Show, “Spectacles”

Rosanne is a guest on the 11th episode of "Spectacles," a new music and talk show premiering on the Sundance Channel in December. The TV taping was held on September 15 at the historic Apollo Theater in New York City. Host Elvis Costello also welcomed guests Kris Kristofferson, Norah Jones and John Mellencamp. More about the show in the Press Release

Saturday, September 13

A car alarm directly across the street from my living room window went off for forty-five minutes before I called 311, the city services hotline. First, however, I taped a note to the window of the car saying, ‘YOUR CAR ALARM IS STUCK! PEOPLE LIVE IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD!’. Within 10 minutes of calling 311, a squad car was there, and one of New York’s finest was writing a ticket. I walked across the street. "Hi, I’m the one who called." The officer looked up. "Are you also the one who wrote the nice note taped to the window?" "Yes, I am!" I said. "But I did restrain myself from throwing eggs." The officer told me to call 311 again and have the car towed, since they couldn’t turn it off. I went inside and told my daughter what he said. "But mommy," she said, ‘If you have their car towed, you’ll ruin their day." True. I didn’t call 311 back. The alarm stopped about ten minutes later.

Picks for September 2008
Friday, September 12

JRC 1932-2003
with love always

Show Tickets: Confirm Entry
Apollo Theater, with Elvis Costello
Apollo Theater: Performance and Interview, with Elvis Costello
Tuesday, September 9

September 11th: I sang at the memorial service at the World Trade Center site on the fourth anniversary of the attacks, September 11, 2005. The request had come from the Mayor’s office, and even the choice of song was specified. I sang "Danny Boy", a somewhat difficult song in the best of circumstances, but actually physically painful in the midst of a sea of grieving survivor’s families on that warm day three years ago. I will never forget it, and I will never forget that day four years earlier, how I watched the towers burn from the middle of Greenwich Street. My initial reaction, which still holds: No one should have to experience this, ever. Anywhere.

God bless the whole world, no exceptions.

“Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison”: Legacy box set with Rosanne interview

On October 14, 2008, Columbia/Legacy releases Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison: Legacy Edition 40th Anniversary 2-Cd + Dvd Box Set. The set includes previously unissued tracks and DVD with interviews with Rosanne, Steve Earle, Merle Haggard, more. YouTube trailer includes excerpts from Rosanne’s video interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmve1IH7_bw

Thursday, Sept 4

My husband, Mr. L, who is no fan of dog owners in the city (it’s a long and sordid history) went outside to take out the trash and saw a dog owner, a middle-aged woman, walking away from the nice pile her pooch had just left on the sidewalk in front of our house.  Mr. L, being as polite as he could manage under the circumstances of living in a city of about 100 million dogs and sidewalks that we all share, said, ‘Ma’am!  You forgot to clean up after your dog!"  The woman turned around and screeched at him, "YOU SHOULD PROVIDE BAGGIES" and turned and ran quickly away. I am not making this up.

An Interview with Rosanne on New “Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison” Box Set

On October 14, 2008, Columbia/Legacy releases Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison: Legacy Edition 40th Anniversary 2-Cd + Dvd Box Set. YouTube trailer includes excerpts from Rosanne’s video interview.

Sunday, August 31

coming out of the subway on 14th St. and 1st Avenue, I hear a Hispanic lady talking to herself and she slowly climbed the stairs.  I only understand a few words of Spanish, but I could swear she was saying ‘Ocho Dios… Ocho Dios...’. Doesn’t that mean Eight Gods?  I was dying to know which Eight Gods she was praying to, or listening to, or checking up on.  I must know.  The Eight Gods of Harlem?  The Eight Gods of Washington Heights?  The Eight Gods of the Lower East Side?  The Eight Gods of Mothers Everywhere?

August 29, 2008: Country Counseling
Wednesday, August 27

I was having one of those days, and one of those phone calls.  I was in a taxi, in an intense conversation about what seemed an insurmountable problem.  I started crying into the phone.  A few blocks went by, and a hand came through the window between me and the driver, with a tissue. I took the tissue and the driver said, sweetly, ‘Calm yourself, dear.’  
What a great city.

Tuesday, August 26

I got in a taxi on Broadway and 58th Street, going to 7th Ave. and 23rd Street, a straight shot downtown through Times Square.  When I told the driver my destination, he said, "Do you want me to take the Queensboro Bridge?"  "What? No, I’m going to SEVENTH AVENUE and 23rd STREET," I said, thinking he had completely misunderstood me.  "Oh," he said. "You want me to take the Lincoln Tunnel?"  His eyes twinkled in the rear-view mirror.  I smiled.  "No, no, just take the TIMES SQUARE BRIDGE", I said.  The driver broke into guffaws. "All the years I make this joke, you are the first person to make a good joke back."  He shook his head and looked at me in the mirror. "You are funnier than me."  "I don’t think so," I said. "So what do tourists say when you make your joke to them?" I asked.  "Aw, they always ruin the joke.  They always say, ‘I don’t care which way you take me’".  All the way downtown he was shaking his head and chuckling to himself. Several times he said, "You’re funnier than me."  Several times I answered, "I don’t think so."

Home Page blurbs: summary is “Music”, body is “News”, extended is “Tour”

Current release: Black Cadillac. Photos, music clips, liner notes, reviews and more on the Black Cadillac pages.  Legacy Reissues: Seven Year Ache, King’s Record Shop, Interiors.    MORE MUSIC

Monday, August 25

walking down 8th Avenue, a pushcart guy stands in front of his cart with arms outstretched and says, to no one in particular, ‘You don’t think from 2 o’clock in the morning until now is EARLY?!’
I’m still thinking about this.

Monday, August 25

A memory:  When I first moved to Manhattan, in 1991, there was a great, legendary dive of a restaurant called Shopsins at the corner of Bedford and Morton Streets in the West Village.  A family ran it, and they had about a hundred unbelievably delicious soups on the menu.  Mr. Shopsin, the owner and chef, was notoriously bad-tempered and all manner of epithets and abuse came out of the kitchen.  His wife took the orders, and his behaviour, with equanimity. She would let you go behind the counter and pour your own coffee after she’d seen you come in a couple of times, but she absolutely would not give up the coveted front table, which sat right in the window, for less than a party of four, even if the entire restaurant was empty.  One day I took two of my daughters in for lunch and we ordered.  My youngest asked for french fries.  Mrs. Shopsin rolled her eyes and sighed and tapped her pencil against the pad.  She shook her head.  "Don’t piss him off," she said.  We forgot about the french fries.

a memory, 1992:  I got into a taxi in Soho late at night, raining, and when I got in the taxi the driver crossed himself, floored the gas and ran straight into a parked car.

Rubin Museum with Joe Henry

November 7

New York, NY

Acoustic Cash at the Rubin Museum, with special guest Joe Henry

Mountain Stage Radio Show, Town Hall

October 25

New York, NY

Mountain Stage Radio Show, Town Hall info/tix

Monday, August 18th

A well-dressed guy comes up to me on the corner and starts in on an articulate, detailed and compelling story about how he is a designer who got locked out of his apartment and he needs ten dollars to..... "Wait a minute,"  I said.  "This sounds really familiar. Oh, I know!  You came up to me on this same corner two years ago and told me the same story!" He abruptly turned and walked away.

Columbia/Legacy Reissues Early Albums and A New Compilation

November 1st, 2005: Columbia/Legacy has released expanded editions of Seven Year Ache (1981), King’s Record Shop (1987), and Interiors (1990), plus a new collection spanning 1979-2003, The Very Best Of Rosanne Cash. Bonus tracks include previously unreleased live tracks and studio recordings, demo and b-side material, with new liner notes written by veteran journalists Chet Flippo, Geoffrey Himes, Anthony DeCurtis, and Alanna Nash.

Album Notes and Track Listings

Track by track information on the new releases.

Background

Rosanne Cash was born in Memphis on May 24, 1955, two months after Johnny recorded his first sides with Sam Phillips at Sun Records (with “Hey Porter”), and the same month he recorded his second sessions (with “Cry, Cry, Cry”).  Three summers later, following his signing to Columbia, Johnny used his advance funds to move his family to the Los Angeles suburb of Ventura, where Rosanne grew up as the daughter of one of popular music’s most volatile and idiosyncratic figures.  When she was 11, her parents divorced and Rosanne was raised in the Valley by her single mom.

Liner Notes

Each one of the albums includes new liner notes by writers who’ve followed Rosanne’s career since she first emerged on the scene in the late-1970s.

Friday, August 14th

I saw a white stretch limo pull up to the Barneys Warehouse Sale on W. 17th Street. Whatever they saved on that Prada jacket was spent on the gas for the stretch. Don’t you think?

Allentown Morning Call

August 15, 2008: "Rosanne Cash’s concert Saturday night at Lehigh University was nothing less than a soul scrapbook.... Cash sang cleanly and compellingly, with moonlit heartache and lullaby yearning." Read the review

Regarding the Use of My Father’s Name To Further Political Agendas:
Charities
Johnny Cash 1932-2003

Rosanne’s eulogy for her father at the Johnny Cash Memorial Tribute at Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN, November 10, 2003

Vivian Liberto Cash Distin 1934-2005

Rosanne’s column on the death of her mother, written in July 2005

June Carter Cash 1930-2003

Rosanne’s eulogy, delivered at June’s funeral, May 18, 2003, Hendersonville, TN

John Stewart 1939-2008

"My friendship with John Stewart changed my life irrevocably, and for the better."

December 27, 2004: Mrs. L’s Best of 2004
November 4, 2004: @#%&!
October 3, 2004: Vote With A Woman
September 13, 2004: Anniversary
August 27, 2004: Tempests, Teacups and Republicans
July 3, 2004: Auction, Movie, Vote!
May 17, 2004: Memories and Merlefest. And Vote, OK?
April 19, 2004: No One Said It Better
February 26, 2004: Magical Mystery Tours, Part Two: Scotland
January 26, 2004: Two Magical Experiences. Part 1: Oslo
November 16, 2003: A Season Of Loss
September 10, 2003: Hi Howard, Thanks Martha
July 28, 2003: Bus Tour
June 4, 2003: Losing June
April 10, 2003: Uncle Joe and Aunt Louise
March 20, 2003: Taking A Stand
February 23, 2003: Musicians United Against The War
December 7, 2002: Cover Session - Resurfacing in Maine
October 29, 2002: New Album Is Finished!
Tuesday, August 12th

I was in a taxi, stopped at 8th Avenue and 50th Street, when I saw a woman walking across the street flossing her teeth as she walked.  She was holding a long, white piece of dental floss and just happily going at it as she talked to her companion and made her way to the corner.  "OH my God.  Do you see that?" I said to the taxi driver.  He looked up and saw her and held up his hands.  ’AW, don’t show me that, don’t show me that!"  He turned around and looked at me seriously.  "Once about five years ago I was on the train, and a man standing next to me took out a q-tip and started cleaning his ears.  I’ve never gone on the subway since."  We both shook our heads in disgust and the light changed.

Pardon Johnny Cash festival

October 17-19

Starkville, Mississippi

"Pardon Johnny Cash" Flower Pickin’ Festival

Century of Song, Ruhr Triennale

October 3

Bochum, Germany

"Century of Song," Ruhr Triennale info/tix

Picks for July 2008
July 25, 2008: The Next Record
Stephen Talkhouse

September 5

Amangansett, NY

Stephen Talkhouse info/tix

Picks for May 08

Essays on food, "Indiana Jones" (yikes),"Momofuku" (Elvis, not noodles) and World Science

December 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004