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Sunday, February 3, 2008

Music can change people's minds



Music can change people's minds, says Karine Polwart



WITH a Masters degree in philosophy and plenty of life experience under her belt, you'd expect Karine Polwart's lyrics to be of the 'deep and meaningful' kind.

The Cambridge Folk Festival regular, who came to the attention of many music fans through her critically acclaimed second album Scribbled in Chalk,released last year, plays at the Junction on Sunday.

"I'm a person who likes to ponder on things so philosophy was a perfect subject for me," says the Scottish borders folk singer. "It's all about asking why things are the way they are and that's essentially what I do through my songs.

"There's a cryptic-ness about some of my songs I think which comes from the philosophy. When I did my Masters my dissertation was all about how to change people's minds. The conclusion I came to was that art and music is a more effective way of changing people's minds than argument.

"Arguments don't change people's minds very often because they don't change anything about the way you see things. But I think personal experience and art and music and literature do."

Although she has been known to write the occasional love song, she admits that there are others who do it far better than she does. Many of the most affecting songs she has written were motivated by the experiences she had in her previous job working with child victims of domestic abuse and violence at a women's aid charity.

"That has been a source of inspiration, and not necessarily always in a negative way. It can be a very depressing kind of work but it can also be very inspiring.

"I'm interested in why things go wrong between people and there is that dark undercurrent in half my songs.

"I have a song called Daisywhich has the line 'There are people in this world who don't think like you do' which has definitely been inspired by working with children and trying to explain to them why things aren't as simple as they should be sometimes.

Although her parents were music lovers when they were growing up in Stirlingshire, a career playing and performing was not one anyone would have predicted for Karine and her siblings. But, as well as Karine, her brother Stephen and her sister Kerry are now also in the business. Stephen tours with Karine and plays guitar for her while Kerry is a member of up and coming indie band The Poems.

Although folk is enjoying a current renaissance across the UK thanks to acts like Kate Rusby and Seth Lakeman, in Scotland there has been a youthful movement bubbling under the surface for several years.

" I didn't get into it until I was in my 20s and moved to Edinburgh. Contrary to what a lot of people think it's a very youthful scene, there's a lot of people playing traditional music up here and it's a lot cooler and more mainstream than elsewhere in Britain."

Her arrival in Cambridge will see her performing a host of new material she has recently recorded.

Plans for her to release two albums earlier this year, one featuring traditional music and another of new tunes, were put on the back burner when she became pregnant and gave birth to her son.

But they are now scheduled for release three months apart in December and March, and she is playing the songs for the first time live on the current tour.

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About Karine Polwart



Karine Polwart (born 1971) is a Scottish singer-songwriter. She writes and performs music with a strong folk and roots feel, her songs dealing with a variety of issues from alcoholism to genocide. She has been most recognised for her solo career, winning three awards at the BBC Folk Awards in 2005, and was previously been a member of Malinky and Battlefield Band.


Biography

Polwart grew up in the small Stirlingshire town of Banknock and had an interest in music from an early age. She has described her whole family as being interested in music and one of her brothers, Steven, is also a professional musician who plays guitar in the Karine Polwart band, whilst her sister is developing her own musical career with the group The Poems.

Despite an active musical career from a young age, including forming her own band KP and the Minichips at age 10, Karine was discouraged from studying music at school and ended up studying politics and philosophy at the University of Dundee. After graduating with a First Class Degree in Philosophy Karine moved to Glasgow to study for a Masters in Philosophical Inquiry.

Her first job after her studies was as a philosophy tutor in a primary school, a job she describes as giving her a 'massive buzz'.[1] After this she spent six years working for the Scottish Women's Aid movement on issues such as domestic and child abuse and young people's rights and these experiences have influenced her songwriting.

Polwart left her job in January 2000 to concentrate on her musical career. After successful stints with Malinky and Battlefield Band she decided to embark on a solo career. In 2003 she released her first solo album, Faultlines. Written and recorded with assistance from the Scottish Arts Council, Faultlines won the Best Album award at the 2005 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. This award, along with 2 others at the same ceremony, increased Karine's profile not just in the folk community but also in the wider musical arena.

The songs on Faultlines cover a variety of topics, and although she has claimed at live performances that they are all quite depressing, many have an uplifting aspect. This is particularly notable in "The Sun's Comin' Over The Hill" (which won Best Original Song at the BBC Folk Awards 2005) which tells the story of woman who reacts to the death of her partner through a period of depression, drink and drugs, but has a more optimistic chorus, with the narrator foreseeing an end to this period. There are exceptions to this: "Waterlily" — the tale of a man whose lover is killed during the war in Yugoslavia — offers no such comfort. "Only One Way", on the other hand, is an upbeat song with a strong political theme and some biting humour.

In April 2006 Karine released her second solo album Scribbled in Chalk. This album was heralded with much critical acclaim receiving impressive reviews from amongst others, The Scotsman, The Sunday Times, The Independent on Sunday, Time Out and BBC Music online. A UK wide tour followed as well as appearances on BBC 2's Culture Show, Simon Mayo's Album show on Radio 2, Mike Harding's folk show on Radio 2, BBC Radio Scotland on the Janice Forsyth show and the Janice Long Late show on Radio 2. Karine's music also reached a wider audience when her songs were used during the opening sequence of a Hollyoaks episode in July 2006 and for the final programme of The Hairy Bikers' Cookbook.

Like Faultlines, Scribbled in Chalk often looks at the darker side of life with tales of sex trafficking ("Maybe there's a Road"), the holocaust ("Baleerie Baloo") and the uncertainties of life ("Hole in the Heart"). But these stories of despair are balanced by others that describe the joy of a slower life ("Let it All Hang Out"), of hope triumphing over cynicism ("Where the Smoke Blows") and the wonder of the universe ("Terminal Star").

According to her official website, she believes that songs should stand up by themselves. However, for the sake of those interested in the backstory behind the songs, the website provides information about each of them on the basis that even if a song does work by itself, sometimes the story behind it can make it more meaningful. She has also made guitar tablature available for several of her songs through her website, including notes on tuning and style.

As well as her solo work, Karine spent much of 2006 collaborating with other artists on a variety of projects; Roddy Woomble, the lead singer of Idlewild, asked Karine to help co-write and provide backing vocals for his solo album, My Secret is My Silence, whilst Karine provided many songs for the BBC Radio 2 music/social documentary series The Radio Ballads. Karine also supported The Beautiful South on their tour and she guested with David Knopfler at The Globe Theatre for a charity benefit for Reprieve.

"BlackBerry blackouts"



"BlackBerry blackouts" aim for life/work balance

It may be wishful thinking, but a Canadian government ministry has sent out a directive to its employees urging them to relax and not to use their BlackBerry smartphones at night or on weekends and holidays.

Trying to re-establish a proper balance between work and life, Citizenship and Immigration Canada is starting by trying to cut the chains to what some have called CrackBerries.

The department's deputy minister, Richard Fadden, sent out a memo asking employees to implement a BlackBerry "blackout" between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. and on weekends and holidays.

"Work/life quality is a priority for me and this organization because achieving it benefits us both as individuals and as a department," Fadden wrote.

"When we can 'balance' our work and personal responsibilities, we, as a team, stand to not only serve and perform more effectively, but also to attract and keep employees to help us build a stronger Canada."

BlackBerries, made by Canadian-based Research In Motion, are handheld communication devices that can be used to send e-mails and make phone calls -- thus allowing people to bring the office to their homes, vehicles or even the ski slopes.

They have become an essential workplace tool in politics, business and the professions.

Fadden also asked employees not to use BlackBerries during meetings and also not to schedule meetings over lunch.
I expect that some of you will consider the above a bit artificial. They may be a little, but I believe we have to start somewhere, and since reducing the quantity of work is unlikely to yield short-term results, we are 'attacking' some of the stresses around work," he said.

He said he understood there might be times when implementing all his requests won't be possible, but people should do their best to respect the new rules.

A spokeswoman for the department was unable to say what guidelines would be given for handling emergencies .

The New York Giants stand between the New England Patriots



Giants stand between Patriots and the history books

The New York Giants stand between the New England Patriots and their date with destiny when the two teams square off in the Super Bowl on Sunday.

New England is unbeaten in 18 games this year and are bidding to become the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to win the NFL championship without losing.

The Patriots had an easy day on the eve of the game, skipping a scheduled light practice at the University of Phoenix Stadium in favor of an hour of family time.

"We're as ready as we're going to be," New England coach Bill Belichick said Saturday. "It's time to go play."

The Patriots' Tom Brady, the engineer of the NFL's highest scoring team, appears to have recovered from an ankle injury as he tries to become the third quarterback to win four games in four Super Bowl appearances.

Standing in his way are the Giants, a 13-6 team that had an up-and-down season before finding their stride in the postseason as a wild card.

New York had a 50-minute walk-through session on Saturday.

"We're excited and we're ready to go," said Giants coach Tom Coughlin. "It's been a nice week in terms of working up to (the game) and we find ourselves right here, so we're looking forward to it."
Giants' wide receiver Plaxico Burress, unable to practice this week because of ankle and knee injuries, participated in the walk-through at the Arizona Cardinals' practice facility in Tempe.

"I think he's a little bit better today," said Coughlin. "He gets a little bit better each day, and hopefully we'll be able to have some further improvement sunday.

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Patriots' face Giants in final run for record books
The New England Patriots' pursuit of a perfect season reaches a climax on Sunday when they face the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.

After reeling off 18 straight victories, New England hopes to secure their fourth championship in the last seven years by beating the two-touchdown underdog Giants at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Either the Patriots become arguably the greatest team in NFL history or they become a benchmark for squandered opportunities. No team has gone 19-0 in a season.

"I think it's the biggest game of all of our lives -- my life, the entire team, our coaches," double Super Bowl MVP quarterback Tom Brady told reporters. "We're going to be remembering this game for as long as we live, win or lose.

"We're going to have great memories of this experience or we're going to look at it truly as a missed opportunity.

"There's not too many teams in the history of the NFL -- none, in fact -- that have been 18-0 going into this game."

New England is the highest scoring team in NFL history and Brady's 50 touchdown passes also is a record. Toss in wide receiver Randy Moss's record 23 TD catches and you have what could be the NFL's all-time best offense.

But the Giants (13-6) and their up-and-down quarterback Eli Manning have played in the postseason like a team determined to prove it belongs among the NFL's elite
Coach Tom Coughlin is enjoying the role of David as he faces Goliath.

"We have been underdogs pretty much every time we've played," he said. "We've gone on the road and been underdogs, and been underdogs at home. So its kind of been a natural thing.

"The main theme that comes out of that for our team is having something to prove. We always have something to prove. And there's nothing wrong with that."

SQUANDERS LEAD

The two teams played in the regular-season finale with New York blowing a 12-point third-quarter lead and succumbing 38-35 before a rowdy sold-out crowd at Giants Stadium.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick, a Giants assistant for 12 years, cautioned about reading too much into the teams' prior meeting.

"I think each game takes on its own personality," he said. "There are some elements of that game that probably will carry a similar pattern. I think there will be other elements that will be different.

"I certainly hope that we can hold them to less than 35 points. I'm sure they're hoping to hold us to less than 38."

Injuries will not appear to play a major role in the outcome. Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who earlier in the week predicted a 23-17 Giants victory, is nursing a sore knee but should play.
New York wide receiver Amani Toomer believes the Giants will have plenty of support.

"The Patriots are trying to make history and we are trying to make history," he said. "I think we have more people on our side because no one wants to see an undefeated team.

"A lot of other teams are going to be behind us because we have the last shot at them. Hopefully, we will take advantage of it."