Music

Among
Friends

Two couples in
perfect harmony
as Annie &
the Hedonists

BY PHILIP SCHWARTZ
Gazette Reporter

GUILDERLAND

e saw her singing in a coffeehouse.  He was immediately drawn in. He had to know her.
    This is how Jonny Rosen met his wife nearly 25 years ago.  It was in Milwaukee, where the two had lived — first separately, then together — before moving here in 1990 for Jonny's job at a labor union.
   Jonny and Annie Rosen, half of the local acoustic/roots band Annie & the Hedonists, told that story and others between playing songs at a recent rehearsal.  They were sitting in a circle with fellow bandmates — another married couple, Betsy and Steve Fry — inside the Rosens' suburban home on the town of Guilderland's western fringe.
   They were preparing for a string of shows that will accompany the release of their second CD, “Moonglow on the Midway,” an album of all cover songs — some more obscure than others.  The next performance in this string of shows is Saturday at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs.

FUZZY MEMORIES

   As this quartet recalls old stories, there are certain details that are gone now.  With time, a memory can do that.  And given how long Annie & the Hedonists have been together, it's inevitable that some things get hazy.  For a brief moment in an interview, there's even a minor dispute over when the band formed, until they nail it down to a date 15 years ago.
   And when asked about the place she and her husband met, Annie Rosen, who fronts the group, says, “Was it the 18th Street coffeehouse? Or the 19th Street coffeehouse? Oh wait, I think it was the

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8th Street coffeehouse.”    Here, Steve Fry — a multi-instrumentalist who plays the mandolin, guitar, flugelhorn and keyboards on this latest album — chimes in. “Were there coffeehouses on every street?” he asks. “Is that why you're confused?”
   It is part of the friendly banter of people who are completely comfortable with each other.  Separately, the members of Annie & the Hedonists say their longstanding relationships contribute to the chemistry of the band.  Getting together to rehearse is like a social hour for them.  They've even raised kids together.  In fact, 15-year-old Hannah Rosen appears on the new CD, contributing harmony vocals on two tracks and sax on one track.  And Amanda Fry, Steve and Betsy's 20-year-old daughter, sings the lead on “River,” a cover of the 1971 Joni Mitchell classic.
   Annie & the Hedonists are known as a band that melds several genres — everything from acoustic blues and early jazz to bluegrass and country.  And listening to the latest album is almost like a lesson in American roots music history.  “Moonglow on the Midway” opens with “Everybody Loves My Baby” — an up-tempo acoustic jazz tune written in 1924 that sets the tone for the entire record.  Yet there's still an eclectic mix here even a Yiddish-flavored track, “Bei Mir Bist du Schoen,” taken from a short-lived 1932 musical.  Or “You Don't Know My Mind," an old Lead Belly song that's given a folk-blues feel.
   Despite the range of song selection — whether listening to the first CD, 2001's "Side of the Road," or this new one — the sound is still pulled into a cohesive whole by arrangements and interpretations that are distinctly Annie & the Hedonists.  And while they don't concentrate on writing originals, the creativity is in that arrangement, Jonny Rosen said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JONNY ROSEN

Annie Rosen sits with her daughter,
Hannah, who sings harmonies on the
new Annie and the Hedonists CD.

   "The truth of the matter is, we feel that what we're playing is so well-received that that's part of the reason there hasn't been a lot of motivation to write originals, he said. "And we consider our arrangements to be original. We've gotten into this niche of playing these old songs and playing this eclectic mix of songs — and doing them in our own way."     Then there's the motivation to preserve and revitalize old roots music, Steve Fry said, by recording it and taking it in new directions.  Still, behind nearly all the tracks on the CD are Annie Rosen's rich, sultry lead vocals — the same pipes that drew in her husband the first time he heard her.
   Kevin Maul, a dobro player from Round Lake, has also been drawn in.  Maul, who tours regularly with the folk trio The Burns Sisters, likes working with strong singers.  So he has appeared on both Hedonist albums.  And of all those singers he has worked with, he said, Annie Rosen is among the best.  "They're great, great singers," he said of the Burns Sisters in an interview earlier this month.  "And I think Annie is in a class with them.  She can do blues.  She can do swing stuff.  She can do pop and country.  She's got a really nice approach to everything she does."

KIND OF A LOW PROFILE

   To date, the band's output has been sparse — only two CDs in 15 years.  And live shows have been limited because of the responsibilities of everyday living: raising families, going to day jobs.  Their daytime employers range from the Association for Retarded Citizens to the state Health Department.
   But Jonny said he is looking forward to more touring as everyone in the band — ranging in age from 48 to 60, with Annie as the youngest — approaches “pre-retirement.”  Still, others in the band are just happy to be where they are, making music and doing shows in, say, Rochester or Bennington, Vt.
   “If we go farther, we'd need a bigger car,” Betsy deadpans.
   “I'm happy with what we're doing. I don't know if I'd want to play four or five nights a week,” Annie adds. “But it would be fun to have roadies.”
   “Makeup artists, too,” Steve replies.
   At this point, talk somehow wanders to an old Bob Dylan song they once played, one that's no longer in their live repertoire.  It's “Man Gave Names to All the Animals,” off his “Slow Train Coming” album.  Steve is basically saying what a great song it is when Annie just spontaneously launches into it.  And then the others follow.  They haven't played it in years.  So it's a little rough, but the spirit and energy is still shining through, and you can see them warming up to the song.
   And then Annie forgets the words. Everyone stops.
   “Ah, shoot.  Senior moment,” she says.  “That's a great song though.  We should work that up again.”
   They chatter some more, talking about Dylan's genius.  And then suddenly Annie starts singing again out of the blue. She remembered the lyrics.  Then the others join in one by one, and they're on their way.