Folk Music Notes: 2012

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Mostly Folk Playlist, December 16, 2012

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Mostly Folk Playlist, November 18, 2012

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Best albums, October 2012

So far, after listening to 30 of the 51 new albums for October, I don't have any that rise to the level of "best." However, honorable mention goes to Small Braveries by Carey Creed.

In addition, the following songs caught my attention:

"Don't You Know Boy" on Grandma's Rules for Drinking by Annie Lou, a tale of lonely people finding love.
"The River and the Canyon," on The Day I Fell in the Water by Melissa Crabtree, a slow, sultry song about getting older, from the perspective of a canyon.
"Bees," on The Day I Fell in the Water by Melissa Crabtree, a song about colony collapse disorder.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Mostly Folk Playlist, October 7, 2012

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Best albums, September 2012

Of the albums that arrived at the station in September 2012, my favorite was:

A More Perfect Union by Pete Seeger and Lorre Wyatt. I like the way it's from the perspective of an older person. In "Old Apples, they sing, "by spring they're wrinkly, something is lost, but I guess old apples still can make good sauce." In "A Toast to the Times" they sing, "we tried on songs like pairs of boots. We never knew they'd become our roots....Here's a toast to all the songs we sang and to all the songs we've yet to sing."

Honorable mention goes to When We Get to Shore: Live at Empty Sea Studios by Coty Hogue. She covers two songs that were popular in the 70's/80's and also does a number of folk classics, such as "Going to the West" and "Handsome Molly."

At least, those are my favorites so far. I still have more to listen to, so I'll be updating the list later.

Best albums, August 2012

Of the albums that arrived at the station in August 2012, my favorite was:

Red Apples and Gold by Gathering Time

At least, that's my favorite so far. I still have more to listen to, so I'll be updating the list later.

Best albums, July 2012

Of the albums that arrived at the station in July 2012, my favorites were:

Wilderness Songs and Bad Man Ballads by Tim Grimm
Between the Breaks...Live! by Stan Rogers
Turnaround by Stan Rogers

Honorable mention goes to Woody at 100 -- Selections from the Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection.

At least, those are my favorites so far. I still have more to listen to, so I'll be updating the list later.

Best albums, June 2012

Of the albums that arrived at the station in June 2012, my favorites were:

Orange on Blue by Donna Hébert and Max Cohen
Silver Lining by The Honey Dewdrops

At least, those are my favorites so far. I still have more to listen to, so I'll be updating the list later.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Mostly Folk Playlist, September 30, 2012

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Mostly Folk Playlist, September 2, 2012

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Mostly Folk Playlist, August 19, 2012

Monday, July 16, 2012

Mostly Folk Playlist, July 15, 2012

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Gonna Get Through This World

Today while preparing for my radio show, I listened to Wonder Wheel by The Klezmatics. One song from the album has stayed with me: "Gonna Get Through This World." Like all the songs on this album, it was written by Woody Guthrie. I like the sound of it, and I like the way it starts out as getting through hardship, and then as strength builds over the course of the song, it becomes not only surviving, but also contributing to something larger than oneself.

Lyrics are at
http://woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/Gonna_Get_Through_This_World.htm.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Best albums, May 2012

Of the albums that arrived the station in WRPI in May 2012, the best were:

King, Bill. Gloryland (Tales from the Old South).
Le Vent du Nord. Tromper le Temps.
Marley's Ghost. Jubilee.
Tophenjamin, Fine Wine.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Mostly Folk Playlist, May 6, 2012

Best albums, April 2012

Of the albums that arrived at the station in April 2012, my favorites were:

Voice of Ages by The Chieftains.
The Secret of the Water Sound by Four Shillings Short.
Go On Now, You Can't Stay Here by The Wandering
Stonewall Country by Robin and Linda Williams

Honorable mention goes to:

Oasis Acoustic, Volume XII, #3. These compilations tend to be mixed, with a lot of songs that aren't so good, but in this case, there were five songs I liked:

If I Don't Get You by Hank and Shaidri Alrich with Doug Harman
I Will Wait for You by Allison Altherr
A Soalin' by the Derry Aires
Now I Walk in Beauty by Janice March-Prelesniki
No Road to Follow / Katie Cruel by Three of Cups

Hambone's Meditations by Luther Dickinson
Faith of the Simple by Millville Rose

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Mostly Folk Playlist, April 29, 2012

Monday, April 16, 2012

Flying

I heard two songs about flying today:

From Soar On by the Nellies: "Let the joy of the song be the only sound as you fly with the breeze.”

From Beautiful Skies by Bill and Kate Isles, "If it's fight or flight, I'd rather fly. Beautiful skies bright blue and clear. Beautiful skies rise above the fear. Beautiful skies grow wings and fly."

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Mostly Folk plus post-baseball instrumentals, April 8, 2012

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Beggar Folk

I have been listening to the Beggar Folk often lately. I love their sound. For many songs, I don't much like the lyrics, but I really like the lyrics of "Dearest Lord."

Monday, April 2, 2012

Best albums, March 2012

Of the albums that arrived at the station in March 2012, my favorite was The Plum Tree and the Rose by Sarah McQuaid. Also of interest were two albums by Christina Linhardt, Voodoo Princess and Circus Sanctuary. These two albums weren't really folk, and I didn't like everything on them, but they were kind of interesting and different.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Best albums, February 2012

Of the albums that arrived at the station February 2012, my favorites were:

Safe Crossing by West of Eden
Garden Concert by Pilgrim Celtic Harp Trio

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Steeleye Span station

I've been listening to the Steeleye Span station on LastFM. I've enjoyed some songs by Fotheringay and by the Silly Sisters, and I heard a very interesting song called The Minotaur's Song by The Incredible String Band.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Some nice older songs

A lot of the music WUMB plays is more modern than my tastes, but today they have played some nice older songs:

The Song Will Remain by Steeleye Span
Peace Will Come by Tom Paxton

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Rainbow by the Wood Brothers

I heard an interesting song. When I search for the lyrics, I found them at http://www.lyricsfreak.com/t/the+wood+brothers/rainbow_20914454.html. It says there that the song is Rainbow by the Wood Brothers.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Some musicians I'd like to hear more of

I've always liked the song Wayfaring Stranger. I recently heard a really nice version by Anonymous 4. I should listen to more Anonymous 4.

I also want to listen to more music like Steeleye Span and Fairport Convention.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Mostly Folk Playlist, March 4, 2012

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Mostly Folk Playlist, February 5, 2012

Friday, February 3, 2012

Best albums, January 2012

Of the albums that arrived in the station in January 2012, my favorites were:

Home by Dark by Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen. Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen are superstars in the folk world. You can see lyrics and buy the CD on their web site at http://compassrosemusic.com/HomeByDark.html. I try to buy music directly from the musicians, so that they will get more of the money. If you want to hear samples or download mp3s, you can do that at iTunes or amazon.
Front Porch by Michael Johnathan. You can buy the CD on his web site at http://www.michaeljohnathon.com/merchantile.html, or you can hear samples or download mp3s on amazon.
Midwinter by Peter Mayer. I first got excited about Peter Mayer when his album Heaven Below arrived at the station in September. The songs on Midwinter are mostly suited to being played in December. It is not an album of Christmas carols or anything like that, but many of the songs contain references to December or Christmas. An exception is "Magical World" which celebrates the beauty of the world at all times, but starts with tulips in May. Peter Mayer's web site offers lyrics and samples, and provides links for buying the album from CDBaby or iTunes.
Enthralled by Oliver Schroer and Nuala Kennedy. This album offers instrumentals with fiddle and flute, with influences from a variety of cultures, especially Celtic.
Move by The Sultans of String. This album is mostly instrumental, and draws on a variety of styles and cultures, especially flamenco. You can listen to the music at http://www.sultansofstring.com/.
Look Back Don't Stare by Triskele. This is a local group that plays Irish music. There's an article about the group at http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2011/dec/29/1229_Triskele/.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Song "Too Tired"

I remember when I had mono, and I spent my days lying down listening to music, and noticed there were an awful lot of songs about people doing active things, whether it was sailing, labor organizing, or whatever. I could not relate to people who had the energy to stand up. A good song for such a situation is "Too Tired" by Austin and Elliott.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Mostly Folk Playlist, January 1, 2012

For today's show, I played selections from my favorite albums of those that arrived at WRPI in 2011.

Great Day | Kim and Reggie Harris | Steal Away: Songs of the Underground Railroad

Best albums of 2011

Today, in honor of the New Year, I will be playing selections from my favorite albums of 2011. I chose my favorites from the albums that came into the station in 2011. Some were originally released earlier. I did not aim to pick any specific number of albums, just to pick those I thought were the best. The albums I picked:

Beggar Folk. The Beggar Folk.

Cassidy, Eva. Simply Eva.

Crookston, Joe. Darkling and the Bluebird Jubilee.

Grimm, Tim. Thank You Tom Paxton.

Harris, Kim and Reggie. Steal Away: Songs of the Underground Railroad.

Hogue, Coty. To the West.

Isles, Bill and Kate. Still Beneath the Stars and Moon.

Mayer, Peter. Heaven Below.

McCutcheon, John. This Land: Woody Guthrie’s America.

Miller, Ed. Come Awa’ Wi’ Me.

Mills, Gene and Gayla. If Stones Could Talk.

Nellies, The. The Nellies.

Newcomer, Carrie. Everything is Everywhere.

Red Molly. Light in the Sky.

Rogers, Stan. Fogarty’s Cove.

Rogers, Stan. The Very Best of Stan Rogers.

Rovics, David. Har, Har, Har – Songs About Pirates, Penguins, and Punk Rock Babies.

Seeger, Mike and Peggy. Fly Down Little Bird.

Smithfield Fair. Every New Day.

Teumim, Philip. All Over the Map.

Wailin’ Jennys. Bright Morning Stars.