Tune in this Sunday at 9PM EST (7PM MST) to the Hootenanny Cafe Radio Show with Jon Stein for a special Ruth Bader Ginsburg tribute show. He will be playing "Shine On", track #3 from Big Blue Sky In The Morning. I am so honored to be a part of a tribute for RBG.
Listen here: https://wtbq.com/
Thank you IndieShark 🎵🤠💙
“Big Blue Sky in the Morning” (LP) by Barbara Jo Kammer
September 21, 2020
Mark Druery, Indie Shark Music Magazine
Bluegrass’ cultural presence isn’t isolated to Appalachia, nor is its influence nearly as insular as it was just a century ago. In 2020, bluegrass is seeing a revitalization alongside an Americana revival critics have been more than enamored with in recent years, and the biggest reason why just might have something to do with independent players like Barbara Jo Kammer. A Colorado-based artist covering classics in the ‘grass, folk and country genres, Kammer’s Americana-saturated Big Blue Sky in the Morning is a picture window into a modern roots music that doesn’t demand a lot out of its audience in exchange for a wealth of melodic charm.
“Revival (ft. Darrell Scott),” “Springfield Mountain Coal Miner” and “Cheap Whiskey” each have a heady folk tone to their presentation in this LP that proves once and for all that demeanor is everything in an acoustic setting. While Kammer is coupling the harmonies with a mild country stylization in her delivery of the lyrics in all three of these songs, the arrangement of the instrumentation remains relatively homespun in a truly folky manner. We’re getting a hybrid, but it never feels especially removed from the traditional versions of this material (a feat many of this artist’s peers have attempted to pull off while few have actually succeeded).
Producer KC Groves really did an amazing job with the definition of the strings in “Carnival,” the rambling “Sister’s Coming Home,” “Cattle Call” and iconic “Free Again,” and overall I think his work in the producer’s chair is partly why Big Blue Sky in the Morning feels as easygoing and friendly as it does. There’s some seriously brooding content in this tracklist – “Free Again” deals with recovery while “Shine On” aches in its stomp in a fashion linguistics could only somewhat capture on their own – but never does any narrative here feel inaccessible, even to the casual listener.
Judging from the structure of Kammer’s arrangements for “That’ll Be the Day,” the title track (which she also composed) and “You Gotta Walk That Lonesome Valley,” I definitely think that there’s enough substance to her style for fans to ask for an original LP out of her camp in the near future. She’s more devoted to covering classics out of the songbook of Americana than she is launching anything on her own, but if convinced to do so, this album tells me she could absolutely convert a lot of her historical appreciations into fresh, inspired ‘grass crossovers capable of spellbinding a new generation of fans.
I only just recently found out about Barbara Jo Kammer, but Big Blue Sky in the Morning has left me ready to hear even more of her unique sound. She doesn’t hold back from us in tracks like “Come from the Heart” and “A Perfect World,” the latter of which features Greg Blake in a dazzling duet – she puts everything into her performance here, and if it’s just a teaser for what’s still to come, this won’t be the last headline-making collection of songs she releases in her career.
Read the original review here.
Best Birthday ever because I was able to go back to Balfour Cherrywood- with better air quality they could open the windows again 👏🤠👍
Mom gently suggested I sing in my (higher voice) for my second album. This is for my wonderful Mother - LOIS MARIE KAMMER 💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🙏
A special "hello song" for my new Morning Star friends!
As intoxicating as a bottom shelf bourbon but far easier to digest, the vocal Barbara Jo Kammer gives up in the song “Cheap Whiskey” is undeniably one of the strongest featured on her new album Big Blue Sky in the Morning, but it doesn’t especially dwarf the performances she gives in tracks like “You Gotta Walk That Lonesome Valley” and “Shine On.” The truth is, Kammer’s singing tends to be the strongest catalyst for emotionality in this album, from the slow-rolling melodies of the string-heavy “Free Again” to her duet with Greg Blake in “A Perfect World.” Produced by the remarkable KC Groves, Big Blue Sky in the Morning doesn’t sacrifice detail for perceived production decadence, and if you follow popular music, you know just how big a gem that makes this Americana-inspired LP.
Despite most of the content here being cover material – save for the title track – Kammer scarcely misses an opportunity to breathe fresh vitality into songs like “Cattle Call” and “Sister’s Coming Home.” Her aesthetical interests span from country and moderate southern swing to western twang, bluegrass and a self-aware folk music synonymous with scenes in Wyoming, Arizona and her home state of Colorado, and yet there isn’t any unfocused conceptualism to be found in Big Blue Sky in the Morning. Her approach to the rocking “That’ll Be the Day” is as original as her brooding attack in “Springfield Mountain Coal Miner” is, drawing together continuity amidst a backdrop otherwise too diverse to be united by a single artist.
This tracklist enjoys a spectacular flow from start to finish, and for me personally, it feels quite reflective of the gripping fireside performance we’ve been mostly deprived of in 2020 due to circumstances created by nature and mankind alike. “Come from the Heart” gets us on a roll with its lush electric melody, and past songs like “Revival (feat. Darrell Scott)” all the way to “Carnival,” there’s never an instance in which Kammer sounds anything less than confident and on-point with the music, as if to suggest a stream of consciousness not typically afforded to studio albums. It makes Big Blue Sky in the Morning all the harder to put down once it’s been picked up for the first time, and I doubt I’ll be the only critic to say as much before the season is over.
A stunning blend of Rocky Mountain-style bluegrass, folk, conservative country harmonies and a uniquely western moxie behind the microphone in general, Barbara Jo Kammer’s Big Blue Sky in the Morning is a must-listen LP for Americana fans around the world this September, and absolutely one of the smartest records of its kind to have come across my desk in the last couple of months. It’s been an interesting era for the Americana movement in general, with some of the brightest players the genre has seen in a generation coming forth with a colorful take on its standards, and if you’re curious why the momentum behind it only continues to swell, I’d recommend giving this album a spin for immediate clarity.
—Mindy McCall, Indie Pulse Music
(September 18, 2020)
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Read the original review.
A big huge thank you to The Small Time Radio Show for playing ‘Cheap Whiskey’ CKOL! I appreciate your program very much and your support of me and all independent musicians. 🤠💙🎶
We just couldn’t of had a more wonderful late afternoon today singing for our dear friends at Frasier Meadows! 🤠💜🎶🤓💚🎶
At Frasier Meadows - I enjoyed the opportunity to sing 'That'll Be The Day' from my new album "Big Blue Sky In The Morning" 💜🎶🤠🎶💚
Such a wonderful time at Balfour Senior Living for me and Kent by the their beautiful fish pond! 🐟🐠🐡 🎶🤠💙🤓🎶
Happy to sing a song from my first album “One Song at a Time” NEW SHOES by the one and only Caleb Klauder 👍🤠💙🎶
Shine On is the third song from my album Big Blue Sky In The Morning.
Sister's Coming Home is the tenth song on my album, Big Blue Sky In The Morning.
Listen toBig Blue Sky In The Morning here:
Aligning the power of time-proven RADIO SHOW EXPOSURE with UNIQUE MODERN SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKING A weekly radio show produced by Indie Network dedicated to s...
Great to be back with my family at Balfour Cherrywood! 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶💗💗💗💗💗
Just a wonderful music therapy afternoon at AltaVita today in Longmont - thank you Jeanne & Kim for inviting me to come!
A big shout out to CountryFile from the Netherlands for playing “Shine On”! Thank you so much for the airtime 🙂
CountryFile is the country/americana show on Radio HavenstadFM. Broadcasted live on air, each Sunday 12.00 – 14.00 CET. Cable FM 104.1, ether FM 105.4 and live stream on www.Havenstad.FM
Big Blue Sky In The Morning video from Barbara Jo Kammer
Posted on July 29, 2020 By John Lawless
Barbara Jo Kammer has created a socially-distanced music video for her original song, Big Blue Sky in the Morning, which has gotten a great deal of attention online.
Read the full article here.
Happy to be going back to Balfour Lavender Farms with some of my bandmates today! 🤠❤️🎶
One of the best things about making an album (maybe the best actually) is how happy MOM is about it all. She was thrilled when I made my first album 3 years ago, and I would say she is pretty much OVER THE MOON with the second.
In case you missed it, here is my interview with Artie Martello from Mostly Folk, aired July 12, 2020.