FolkBlog

These are some of the CDs that I’ve really been enjoying lately.  Feel free to chime in with who you’ve been listening to lately.

• Brooks Willams – Baby O! : I’ve been a big fan of Brooks Williams since I first heard him on WCBE in the mid-90s (it seems like so long ago now).  I still can’t understand why a guy who sounds like James Taylor and has amazing finger-style guitar skills hasn’t blown up into a monster mega-star by now.    Like Williams’ last few CDs, this CD blends a mix of originals and covers, with an emphasis on the acoustic blues.  The instrumental version of “Amazing Grace” on resonator guitar is alone worth the price of this disc, but he also does fine covers of Son House, Mississippi John Hurt and Duke Ellington.
• Red Molly – James:  Red Molly continues to excel, bringing top-flight acoustic musicianship and tight three-part harmonies to a collection of mostly cover songs.  Their fascination with coal songs continues with a cover of Lynn Miles’ underrated “Black Flowers” as well as Darrell Scott’s “You”ll Never Leave Harlan Alive.”  They also totally rip up Gillian Welch’s “Tear My Stillhouse Down.”  If you like the Dixie Chicks, then you should go out and buy everything that Red Molly has ever recorded, starting with this new one.  Right now.
• Catherine MacLellan – Water in the Ground/Dark Dream Midnight:  The first thing I noticed about Catherine MacLellan is her gripping, rich alto voice.  As I spent more time with the album, I became more impressed with the way the generally acoustic production wrapped itself around these catchy songs.
• Lynn Miles – Black Flowers Volume 1 and 2: Lynn Miles has long been criminally under-appreciated in the United States.  She is a gifted songwriter, and for the ongoing Black Flowers project she has been re-recording some of her best songs in a more “unplugged” style.  These CDs have been available only from Lynn at her website and concerts, but now True North has released the first two volumes as a two-CD set.
• Patty Griffin – Downtown Church: Patty Griffin goes gospel and tears the roof off.  When I hear her sing “If I Had My Way (Tear This Building Down)”, I halfway expect the building to come down.  It’s a full-on gospel throwdown, produced by the great Buddy Miller and backed up by some of Nashville’s finest.
• Grace Pettis – Grace Pettis:  Perhaps being raised around music by a musician has helped (father Pierce Pettis is an outstanding singer/songwriter), but 22-year-old Grace Pettis shows an impressive maturity on her debut CD.  The standout track is “Nine to Five Girl” about the trials of low-paid working women that many take for granted.

That’s my list – what have you been grooving on lately?  And remember, I moderate the comments, so don’t post your spam here, please.

The FolkBlog Top 10 CDs  of 2008 are totally subjective and based solely on the opinion of the author.   Among the criteria are the amount of time spent in my CD player, and my perception of quality or innovation.

1. The Horse Flies – Until the Ocean

Featuring swirling pan-world rhythms melded with covers of traditional songs as well as creative originals and compelling instrumentals, this was by far the most original album I received all year.

2. Kate Campbell – Save the Day

Kate Campbell is a great storyteller who weaves stories of Elvis, Jesus, Thomas Merton, Harper Lee and others into a compelling whole.  I don’t know about you, but I need to be constantly reminded that we are all “shining like the sun.”

3. Andrew Calhoun and Campground - Bound to Go

This album features 35 songs of freedom drawn from historical African-American and civil rights sources, including both spirituals and songs depicting the harshness of slavery and hopes for freedom, whether in this life or the next.   Calhoun is joined by a host of guest artists who fill out the sound.  If you have any interest in historical folk music, particularly music from the African-American experience, get this CD.

4. Bob Dylan – Tell Tale Signs

Bob Dylan makes better albums of music he doesn’t consider ready to be released than most artists make of the music they release.  This album consists of studio out-takes,  unreleased tracks and live versions of material since 1989,  when the first set of bootleg tracks was released.  Particularly fascinating are the two different alternate takes of  “Mississippi”

5. Kathy Mattea – Coal

Kathy Mattea went back to her West Virginia roots, inspired by the Sago Mine Disaster, to record this collection of songs about coal and country from such stellar songwriters as Billy Edd Wheeler, Hazel Dickens and Jean Ritchie.  She treats the songs with sparse folk/bluegrass production(as opposed to Nashville New Country production), and the result is truly outstanding.

6. James McMurtry – Just Us Kids

James McMurtry brings his scathing wit and anger to simmer on such topics as the Iraq War, miscarriages of justice, the New Orleans hurricane, child abuse, and getting older.

7. Red Molly - Love and Other Tragedies

Red Molly is back, with a more fully-produced sound, but the same tight three-part harmonies, quality originals and inspired choices of covers, including a fantastic a cappella rendition of Susan Werner’s “May I Suggest”.

8. Tommy Emmanuel – Center Stage

Australian finger-picking guitar master Tommy Emmanuel shines in this 2-cd live set, showing the true range of his virtuosity.  A DVD of this performance is also avaialable.

9. Joe Crookston – Able Baker Charlie and Dog

Singer/songwriter Joe Crookston put forward a collection of thoughtful stories, many drawn from his time working for an oral history project in the Finger Lakes region of New York.

10. David Stoddard – Get Off My Lawn

David Stoddard, to the best of my knowledge, is the only performer that prominently features a quote from one of my reviews on his website.  I don’t mind, because I really think he’s that good, and this album is just the latest reason why David Stoddard should be mentioned near the top of a list of great singer/songwriters that are surprisingly not very well known.  He plays both piano and guitar extremely well, his lyrics are witty and insightful and he ought to be a star on the folk singer/songwriting circuit.  Standout cuts include a retelling of the Thanksgiving story from the point of view of the natives (“where are all these people coming from?) and a re-recording of his great song mocking NASCAR (“We’re fascinated by the way they’re driving in a circle/round and round and round and round and round”).

Really Outsanding CDs That Did Not Make the Cut

In alphabetical order by artist

• Angel Band – With Roots and Wings
• Boiled in Lead – Silver
• Billy Bragg – Mr. Love and Justice
• Chuck Brodsky – Two Sets
• Eliza Carthy – Dreaming of Breathing Underwater
• Vance Gilbert – Up on Rockfield
• Donal Hinely – Blue State Boy
• Paul Kelly – Stolen Apples
• The Kennedys – Better Dreams
• Kelley McRae - Highrises in Brooklyn
• Tift Merritt – Another Country
• Joel Rafael – Thirteen Stories High
• The Refugees – Unchained
• Royal Pine – Chanty Town
• Ben Sollee – Learning to Bend
• Brooks Williams – The Time I Spend With You

I often get offered music for review, and most of the time, giving airplay is sufficient.  However, every once in a while I get something special.  At the request of Festivalink.net, I downloaded the live set from the Levon Helm Band from Merle Fest, and it’s barely left my CD player at work since.  Helm is backed by a crack horn section and killer full band and they rip through a 79-minute set of classics from The Band, Dylan, Bruce Springsteen as well as some classic blues and Americana and from his recent album Dirt Farmer.  If you like what Springsteen did with the full band treatment of folk classics, you will really dig this. 

The nice thing about Festivalink.net is that the downloads are not bootlegs – they’re made with the full cooperation of the band, and the sound quality is generally outstanding.  In addition to mp3 album downloads, they also offer FLAC files as well as physical CDs for those of you who prefer the lossless format.  They have been recording at major festivals (Merle Fest, Philly Folk and others) for the last several years and they have a growing catalog (though be careful – some of the shows are quite short, and it does not seem that the price is adjusted any based on the length of the set).

We’ve entered Lent, one of the most important periods in the annual Christian calendar. During Lent, I like to pull out my albums of hymns, and I thought I would share some of my favorites.

• Innocence Mission: Christ is My Hope. This is one of my favorite albums of hymns, and I get it out every year during Lent. This CD was recorded by the group in 2000 as a fundraiser for Food For the Poor, a US-based organization working to aid the poorest of the poor in Latin America and the Caribbean. It contains a mix of classic hymns (“O Sacred Head Surrounded”, “Were You There”), folk songs (“500 Miles”) and original hymns (“Christ is My Hope”). A highlight of the album is a musical setting of a Gerard Manley Hopkins poem. All of it features Karen Peris’ hauntingly beautiful voice backed by stripped down accompaniment, often just an acoustic guitar or piano. This CD is only available directly from the band at http://www.theinnocencemission.com.
• Kate Campbell: Wandering Strange and For the Living of These Times: Kate Campbell is the daughter of a prominent Baptist minister, and her faith has always informed her songwriting. Kate now has two albums of primarily gospel material. Wandering Strange focuses on the traditional “Baptist-style” hymns with which she grew up. For the Living of These Days, recorded with the legendary Muscle Shoals keyboardist Spooner Oldham, takes a more contemporary and contemplative approach, including a couple traditional hymns, but also including tunes that one would not traditionally think of as gospel album material, like Woody Guthrie’s “Jesus Christ” , Kris Kristoffersen’s “They Killed Him” and “Would They Love Him Down in Shreveport.” The highlights of this album, though, are the originals, including “Prayer of Thomas Merton”, a prayer of Catholic monk Thomas Merton set to music by Campbell, “Dark Night of the Soul” and “Terrible Mercy.” Both albums are highly recommended. The best place to find these albums is at Kate’s website, http://www.katecampbell.com
• Iris DeMent: Lifeline - Iris DeMent’s tribute to the old-time gospel music that inspired her to pursue music. In the liner notes, she discusses that sometimes when she’s down, all she has to do is sit at a piano and play some of these old time tunes to get her through a rought spot, hence the name Lifeline. This is a particularly interesting revelation of the power of the music since Iris also admits her own doubts about the faith in which she grew up. Regardless, she performs these tunes as if she believes every word is true, which is enough for me. The tracks here read like the program from an old-time revival session: “Blessed Assurance”, “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms”, “Sweet Hour of Prayer.” The highlight of this album is the original, “He Reached Down”, which sounds every bit a timeless hymn as the others she covers on this CD. The best place to find this one is at her website, http://www.irisdement.com
• Iona: Journey Into the Morn, Heaven’s Bright Sun – If you like your music with Celtic or progressive influences, then Iona may be the band for you. The best way I know how to describe this band is “Enya meets Yes.” There are elements of Celtic music (flutes, pipes, whistles), and elements of progressive rock (long, intricate instrumental work featuring keyboards and other elements). By combining these elements with copious references to Celtic theological symbolism, this group has carved out a unique place for itself. All of their albums are top notch, and most of them are loosely based on some overarching theme: The Book of Kells is loosely based on the Book of Kells, an illustrated Bible crafted by Irish monks, while Beyond These Shores is loosely woven around the voyage of St. Brendan, known as the Navigator, who set off on a legendary sea voyage. My favorites, though are Journey Into the Morn, which is based around the lyrics to the classic Irish hymn “Be Thou My Vision” and their 2-disk live CD Heaven’s Bright Sun, which displays their stunning live virtuosity. Both contain amazing versions of “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” particularly appropriate for Lent.

I had never heard of Nathan, a folk/rock group from Winnipeg, before receiving their new release Key Principles in the mail last week. I don’t know how I missed them before, but I was so impressed with this disk that I went on emusic.com and downloaded their previous CD as well, the Juno-nominated Jimson Weed.

The best way I can think of to describe Nathan is that they have echoes of the McGarrigles and Kate Jacobs. They have the same kind of female harmony front, occasionally quirky song structures and pop sensibilities as the McGarrigles, though neither singer has a voice as rich as either McGarrigle. Their songs also remind me very much of Kate Jacobs, one of my absolute favorite artists, at her best – their songs tell seemingly small stories that are deceptively simple but greater than the whole. Plus, the lead singer sounds a lot like Kate.

Here’s a sample of the writing quality, from the Keri Latimer-penned song “The Wind”-

“The wind, the wind, brings me cards from Argentina
It brings scarves from finer ladies
And the scent of the gardenias
Won’t sleep or rest, or sit itself beside me
If I run out, there’s no one that can hide me.
And I know that I’ll regret it,
But I think I’m gonna let it in.”

Another standout song, “John Paul’s Delivery,” tells about teenagers sneaking out of the house late at night and getting drunk around “a campfire fueled by some old fence and skies like planetariums.”

But there’s more – Nathan is wonderfully eclectic stylistically – their songs range from breezy, bouncy pop (“Daffodils”, “Scarecrow”) to loping banjo-driven folk stylings of “The Wind,” the accordion/banjo waltz of the title track, to western-swing (“You Win.”) Their instrumentation features banjo, accordion, pedal steel, and occasionally some dixieland/western swing-style horns.

Nathan’s Key Principles is the first clear candidate for the year-end Top 10 list I’ve yet heard from the 2007 releases I’ve received so far. They are a cult-favorite band waiting to happen.

It is interesting to note that there seems to be a really vibrant music scene in Winnipeg, what with The Wailin’ Jennys, The Duhks, Nathan Rogers, and now Nathan as some recent acts out of Winnipeg making noise in the folk/Americana scene.