08 July 2007

Janet Reno: Hitmaker?

Former U.S. Attorney General and the often lampooned Janet Reno has Parkinsons Disease now and its quite sad. I heard her on NPR and it was an uplifting bum out. Best way I can describe it.

Oddly enough Reno is the mastermind behind an upcoming CD compilation which maps out centuries of American history through the reinterpretation of beloved songs such as "Yankee Doodle Dandy", "Home on the Range" and "Rosie the Riveter"


New versions of 50 American classics — performed by artists ranging from the Blind Boys of Alabama to Devendra Banhart and Martha Wainwright to Harper Simon (Paul's son) — will be featured on "Song of America", a 3-CD set to be released in September.

Reno even made a special trip to the Grammy Awards in '05 to drum up interest in the project, which began as a casual conversation between Reno and her niece's husband, alt-country artist and producer Ed Pettersen — who also contributes a song to the CD set.

Head over to NPR for the full monty avec sound clips...

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