Dayna Kurtz & Mamie Minch to release For the Love of Hazel

Brooklyn-based musicians Mamie Minch and Dayna Kurtz were brought together by their mutual love of the pure, old-time music of Hazel Dickens for this special EP, For the Love of Hazel, available online on Tuesday, March 2. Mamie Minch is an NYC country blues artist with a traditional bent who found a fellow Hazel Dickens’ fan in NYC recording artist Dayna Kurtz.

This collection is a loving tribute to singer/songwriter Dickens inspired by her songwriting, her voice, and her groundbreaking collaborations with Alice Gerrard. Says Kurtz, “Dickens is probably in many ways one of the more under acknowledged artists of her era; we hope this EP does even a tiny part in shining a light on the artist and her work. The duo will be performing songs from the EP as part of the Diamonds Teeth and Yarn: Shara Worden (aka My Brightest Diamond) Spotlight at 92Y Tribeca to kick off Women’s History Month. Worden will be guest curator March 4 & 6; Dayna and Mamie will be performing Friday, March 5 at 9:45 pm (92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson St. * 212.601.1000)

For collectors, Kismet Records is issuing a limited edition white vinyl 10” EP (1000 hand-numbered copied) which also includes a CD of the EP. For Kurtz fans, this is the songwriter’s first release since 2006’s Another Black Feather (Kismet Records). A new full-length by Kurtz, , American Standard, has already been released in Europe to rave reviews. Look for a stateside release in summer 2010.

DAYNA SAYS:
Mamie and i had just met and connected on so many levels - especially musically. we were in the studio doing a few tunes together, and Mamie started playing “scars from an old love,” and it was just the most beautiful, sad song I’d ever heard. Basically, we just wanted to do more work together. And although Hazel didn’t perform all these songs we recorded, she was very much in our mind and her sensibility and spirit very much informed these sessions. We thought it was appropriate to dedicate the record to her.

MAMIE SAYS:
Dayna and I clicked so well when we met a couple years back in Brooklyn, and just had a great time talking about and listening to music. We found that Hazel Dickens resonates with both of us, especially the duets between her and Alice Gerrard. The songs people identify with Hazel are the more stark recordings about coal mining and unions, but her songs about heartbreak are just devastating and so lovely. We wanted to sing them together, so we took a few into the studio along with some other tunes we loved, and it felt sort of magical- this 10” is the result.



"For the Love of Hazel" by Dayna Kurtz Mamie Minch - release date: 03/2/10..