Hadestown

by Anais Mitchell

Overview

Singer and songwriter Anais Mitchell wrote the first draft of her "folk opera" Hadestown in 2006 with arranger Michael Chorney and director Ben T. Matchstick. After numerous drafts and performances, it is set in stone here. Hadestown retells the Orpheus and Eurydice myth set in an America of hard times economically, socially, and politically. (There is a hint of the great Depression as a setting, but only a hint.) The cast includes Mitchell as Eurydice, Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) as Orpheus, Ani DiFranco as Persephone, Greg Brown as Hades, Ben Knox Miller (The Low Anthem) as Hermes, and the Haden Triplets -- Petra, Rachel, and Tanya) as the Fates. The large band includes Rob Burger, Jim Black, Josh Roseman, Nate Wooley, Todd Sickafoose, Marika Hughes, and Tanya Kalmanovich, to name a few. Hadestown's narrative, like the myth, steeps itself in ambiguities more than dead certainties. It moves past dualities of good and evil, life and death, hope and despair, while examining how commonly held beliefs about class reinforce poverty, how our desire for security is complicit in giving away our freedoms, and what real generosity in love actually is. Nowhere is this more evident than a Brown showcase number, "Why We Build the Wall." (With the cast/chorus unintentionally answering Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" anthem that would make him weep with grief.) There isn't a weak track here, but high points include "Our Lady of the Underground," sung by DiFranco; the fierce, yet tender "How Long" with Brown and DiFranco; both parts of Vernon's "Epic," Mitchell's and Vernon's "Doubt Comes In," and "I Raise My Cup to Him," by Mitchell with DiFranco. Everything here is ambitious, nothing is excessive. The music ranges with classic American folk forms: country gospel, ragtime, blues, and early jazz, to approximations of rock, swing, and avant-garde -- all of it immediate, accessible, and inviting. Vernon's vocal range -- husky baritone to sweet falsetto -- does justice to Orpheus. Only a singer like this could write a song beautiful enough to rescue his lover from the Underworld. Mitchell doesn't make herself the star, but is nonetheless. She is convincing as Eurydice; her lyrics are poetic, and her melodies unpretentious, yet sophisticated thanks to Chorney's arrangements. This 57-minute work goes by in a flash. Artfully conceived, articulated, and produced, Hadestown raises Mitchell's creative bar exponentially: there isn't anything else remotely like it. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	11/01/2019
Label:	Sing It Again Records
UPC:	0644216939497
Rank:	938

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Road to Hell
2. Any Way the Wind Blows
3. Come Home With Me
4. Wedding Song
5. Epic I
6. Livin' It Up on Top
7. All I've Ever Known ("In Spite of Herself...") (Intro)
8. All I've Ever Known
9. Way Down Hadestown
10. A Gathering Storm
11. Epic II
12. Chant
13. Hey, Little Songbird
14. When the Chips Are Down ("Songbird vs. Rattlesnake...") (Intro)
15. When the Chips Are Down
16. Gone, I'm Gone
17. Wait for Me ("Hey, the Big Artiste...") (Intro)
18. Wait for Me
19. Why We Build the Wall
20. Why We Build the Wall ("Behind closed doors...") (Outro)

Disc 2

21. Our Lady of the Underground
22. Way Down Hadestown (Reprise)
23. Flowers
24. Come Home With Me (Reprise)
25. Papers ("You're Not From Around Here, Son") (Intro)
26. Papers [Instrumental]
27. Nothing Changes
28. If It's True
29. How Long?
30. Chant (Reprise)
31. Epic III
32. Epic III ("They Danced...") [Instrumental] (Intro)
33. Promises
34. Word to the Wise
35. His Kiss, the Riot
36. Wait for Me ("If You Wanna Walk Out of Hell...") (Reprise) (Intro)
37. Wait for Me (Reprise)
38. Doubt Comes In
39. Road to Hell (Reprise)
40. We Raise Our Cups

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Anais Mitchell   Primary Artist,Guitar (Acoustic)
Michael Chorney   Primary Artist,Guitar (Acoustic)
Greg Brown   Primary Artist
Ani DiFranco   Primary Artist
Justin Vernon   Primary Artist
The Haden Triplets   Primary Artist
Ben T. Matchstick   Voices,Harmonica
The Original Hadestown Cast   Choir/Chorus
Marika Hughes   Cello
Rob Burger   Piano,Accordion
Josh Roseman   Trombone
Tanya Kalmanovitch   Viola
Todd Sickafoose   Bass,Piano,Pump Organ
Jonathan Goldberger   Guitar (Electric)
Rich Hinman   Pedal Steel
Brandon Seabrook   4-String Banjo,Guitar (Electric)
Mike Dillon   Vibraphone
Nate Wooley   Trumpet

Technical Credits

Ben Knox Miller   Cast
Michael Chorney   Score,Arranger,Composer,Orchestration
Traditional   Composer
Andre De Shields   Composer
Andy Taub   Engineer
Ani DiFranco   Cast,Mixing
Brian Grunert   Design,Art Direction
Peter Nevins   Illustrations
The Haden Triplets   Cast
Kay Trinidad   Composer
T. Oliver Reid   Composer
Ben Liscio   Assistant Engineer
Bennett Shapiro   Engineer
Amber Gray   Composer
Timothy Hughes   Composer
Patrick Page   Composer
Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer   Composer
Eva Noblezada   Composer
John Krause   Composer
Jessie Shelton   Composer
Afra Hines   Composer
Ahmad Simmons   Composer
Jewelle Blackman   Composer
Kimberly Marable   Composer
Malcolm Armwood   Composer
Anais Mitchell   Cast,Composer,Lyricist
John Svec   Engineer
Reeve Carney   Composer
Rich Breen   Engineer
Mike Napolitano   Mixing,Engineer
Todd Sickafoose   Mixing,Engineer,Producer,Instrument Arrangement
Alan Douches   Mastering
Justin Vernon   Cast,Engineer