The city of Los Angeles has been put through the wringer the past month and the fact that the Grammy Awards were able to be held there on Sunday seems like a minor miracle. The ceremony opened with a heartfelt introduction by host Trevor Noah acknowledging the city and its role in popular music. The show then kicked off in earnest with a supergroup paying tribute to the city. And they did so with what seems like the obvious choice: Randy Newman’s “I Love LA.”
The group was led by the Goldsmith brothers, Taylor and Griffin from Dawes, who both lost their houses, their childhood home and their studio in the fires. They were joined on-stage by a diverse group of musicians including John Legend, Sheryl Crow, St Vincent, Brittany Howard and Brad Paisley.
A few of the lyrics were changed, removing Newman’s trademark snark, and replacing it with a tribute to the firefighters and first responders as well as celebrating the resilience of the city. (I’m usually not okay with changing lyrics, especially when they completely de-fang a song, but they get pass on this one.) Enjoy the performance and if you can, make a donation to help the people most affected by the fires.
The band Dawes open up the 2025 #Grammys celebrating Los Angeles in light the the devastating wildfires. pic.twitter.com/t0Z8WG1cFR
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 3, 2025
Rufus Wainwright’s Folkocracy is a reminder of how different a context is the word folk, when there is that Atlantic Ocean dividing America and Europe. This album feels a very North American version, where, broadly, anything much with an acoustic guitar, and on the softer side of rock, fits the bill, with often a fair old slice of the older social commentators, Seeger, Guthrie et al, chucked in for good measure. In the UK, folk tends more to the trad. arr., in style if not necessarily sacrosanct in content, and of a devoutly Celtic or Anglo hue. Wainwright doesn’t totally ignore any particular aul’ country, but Folkocracy is full of nods, sometimes eccentric, to an early 60’s heyday of Kingston Trios, Peter Paul and Mary and that ilk, if with a few left field lurches into Broadway and Hollywood. At times it is astonishing, in a beguiling way, sometimes bewildering and sometimes just plain odd. But, overall, this album is impressive, if more on the side of to be admired more than loved, with a slew of guests adding their varied (and variable) flavors at several stages along the way.
