Meet Pieta Brown

Clay Masters writes about Pieta Brown, Greg Brown's daughter, and her budding musical career.

"10 Great Folk Albums Released This Year"

Jody Rosen offers up selections for "10 Great Folk Albums Released This Year."

Fred Knittel's Americana best

Fred Knittel rolls out his choices for the Top 10 Americana releases in 2014.

"The Body Electric"

Ann Powers writes about "The Political Folk Song of the Year."

Folk Alley's Top 10 Folk And Americana Albums Of 2014

The headline says it all: "Folk Alley's Top 10 Folk And Americana Albums Of 2014"

The artists/songs featured:

* Steve Dawson, "Rattlesnake Cage"

* Rosanne Cash, "The River and The Thread"

* Parker Millsap, "Parker Millsap"

* Nickel Creek, "Destination"

* Hurray For The Riff Raff, "Small Town Heroes"

* First Aid Kit, "Stay Gold"

* The Duhks, "Beyond The Blue"

* Dom Flemons, "Prospect Hill"

* Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn, "Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn"

* Amerlia Curran, "They Promised You Mercy"

A David Mallett update

Owen McNally writes of David Mallett, the folk music icon out of Maine.

Here's a feature on Mallett from 2010.

Mike Regenstreif's Top 14 in 2015

Yes this is just one person's take, albeit a very respected individual, but Mike Regenstreif's Top 14 releases in 2015 tilts towards going back in time music plus veterans with their latest releases.

So where are the newer artists? This is not knocking any choices here, simply a question. Are the newcomers and relative newbies just not measuring up? Yet?

A Tom Russell update

Mike Regenstreif reports Tom Russell is readying a new folk opera for release and reviews three of Russell's earlier CDs that also have new cuts mixed in.

An excerpt from Bruce Cockburn's memoir

Here's an excerpt from Bruce Cockburn's memoirs "Rumours of My Glory."

Dylan's "Basement Tapes"

Stephen Deusner goes long on Bob Dylan's "Basement Tapes."

A Dougie MacLean update

Brian Ferguson writes about Dougie MacLean who has tough words for the BBC Scotland.

MacLean has a new release -- "Till Tomroow" -- out. Here's a review.

One cut is:

Kyle Carey's Gaelic Americana

Kyle Carey has a new release out titled "North Star" and Angel Romero offer a lengthy interview.

Anais Mitchell with a new release

Ian Youngs profiles the recent musical productions, including the uber-creative concept releases, of Anais Mitchell. A Q-and-A is also included.

Saints & Sinners

Not related to our on-going posting of folk songs/social themes but here is just one lovely-to-listen-to song -- a harmonization of words and music in an inviting rhythm. It's written by Canadian David Francey, with both him and Mollie O'Brien each performing their respective versions.

First the lyrics:

SAINTS & SINNERS

It was Sunday morning in our town
And I sat on my steps and I stared at the ground
And I bowed my head while they shuffled past
All the saints being called to the morning mass

Chorus
And off in the distance there rang a bell
Way off in the distance there rang a bell
And it rang for the saints and the sinners as well
Way off in the distance there rang a bell.

I remember the lessons of Sunday school
And I can't help but think maybe I'm the fool
But I see no sign of a greater plan
Just the joy and the sorrow of my fellow man

Chorus

And here we stand while life rushes past
Between the first breath and the last
And here we stand between East and West
And here we stand between birth and death

I was watching the news the other night
There was a war on the Left
There was a war on the Right
And it's no surprise that it's us or them
It's a long way from heaven to Bethlehem.

Chorus

David Francey



Mollie O'Brien

"The Basement Tapes"

Sasha Frere-Jones digs into Bob Dylan's "Basement Tapes."  She notes: "Next week, a six-CD set called “The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 11,” featuring a hundred and thirty-nine songs, will be released..." 

"...He was rummaging through American popular music to find sounds that might resonate and free him from whatever self he had created. Dylan had débuted as a thinly disguised Woody Guthrie imitator, turned into a folk-song writer of fearsome economy, and was moving into a third phase, which he described, in a 1978 interview, as “that thin, that wild-mercury sound,” referring to albums like “Blonde on Blonde” (1966) and the electric albums before it..." 

Folk Music & Social Issues #2

Neal Hagberg (of Neal & Leandra) wrote this song. It begins rather innocuously, leads into what could be interpreted as ominous considering what is known of history and then the 'surprise' is unveiled.


Ready for Memphis

Three ties and my black suit
Shaving kit and shiny shoes
Dusted off an old suitcase
Tucked in my bible and a bottle of booze

Fifty bucks in my pocket
Try to get me a cheap room
Three days, then it’s over
It’s just something I’ve got to do

Chorus
I’m ready for Memphis
There’s going to be a big meeting there
A whole lot could happen
There’s just something in that sweet magnolia air

Ten hours on a Greyhound
Old ladies and stale air
Hopeless men riding shotgun
I just look out my window and stare

Pick away at my sack lunch
My wife packed it before work
She thinks I’m crazy
She’s afraid that I’ll get hurt, but…

Chorus

Memphis streets are deserted
I guess because it’s so early
Garbage piled on the corners
I pick up an old paper and read
Feels like a storm coming
The air is hot and sticky
I’d better find a motel room
So I can wash up and be ready

Chorus

I heard he was coming
I don’t want to be late
I know I’m not colored
But I don’t think that should matter in 1968
I know it’s a long shot
But it would mean everything
If I could just shake hands
With Dr. King

Chorus

Folk Music & Social Issues #1

Let's begin a series of sorts: folks songs that depict social issues and summon a visceral emotional reaction.

One that always effects me is "Number One in America" by David Massengill.

First the lyrics, followed by the video:

In Nineteen hundred and sixty-three
In my hometown, Bristol Tennessee
I was sitting on my mother's knee
Watching "Amos 'n' Andy" on TV

Amos was Santa Claus on Christmas Eve
A little girl was tugging at his sleeve
Saying, "Can I have a doll my own color please?"
He Said, "Honey, you can make believe..."

Just then came a call on the telephone
It was the mayor, he asked if my daddy was home
This was for his ears alone
Mom and me listened on the second phone

Mayor said, "The freedom Riders are on their way
And they'll be here by Christmas day
Our laws they vow to disobey
'Cause our school is as white as the milky way

Well, now we're really in a fix
We can't let 'em show us up like country hicks
But once the races mix
It's good-bye Jim Crow politics

First it's forty acres and a mule
Then they want to swim in our swimming pool
Pretty soon they'll be wanting to go to school
Where we were taught the golden rule"

Imagine them telling us how to live
Imagine them telling us how to live

Chorus:
We're number one in America
Number one in America
Beat the drum for Uncle Sam
Overcome in Birmingham
Dynamite in a Baptist church
Four teenaged girls lost in the lurch
Fire hoses and the billy clubs
Police dogs and the racist thugs
Nightriders and the lynching mobs
Lawmen say they're only doing their jobs
To stay number one in America.

Ax-handles vs. the right to vote
All white jury, that's all she wrote
Back of the bus, don't rock the boat
Separate but equal by the throat

That was twenty-odd years ago
Where's the change in the status quo?
The freedom land is lying low
it's shackled down on rotten row

The black skinned man still gets the snub
When he applies to the country club
But he still gets hired to trim the shrubs
Get down on the floor and scrub

There's a businessman out on his yacht
He's a rain or sunshine patriot
He says it's all a commie plot
To be Number One in America...

[Chorus]
The Ku Klux Klan is still around
With a permit to march in my home town
But only on Virginia's ground
The Tennesse side turned them down

The sheriff stood there with his deputies
Ostensibly to keep the peace
But he made us this guarantee
"By God, They'll not march into Tennessee!"

The network cameras were triple tiered
We laughed and cried, we hooted and jeered
But mostly we stood there unfeared
'Til the Ku Klux Klan dissappeared

In some far off distant dawn
When a Black is president and not a pawn
Will they burn crosses on the white house lawn
And talk of all the days bygone

Imagine them telling us how lo live
Imagine them telling us how to live

We're number one in America...
[Chorus]

Last Christmas Eve at the K-Mart store
A white family there, they was dirt poor
Father said, "Kids, pick one toy - no more
Even though we can ill afford..."

I watched his son choose a basketball
The oldest girl a creole shawl
The littlest girl chose a black skinned doll
And she held it to her chest and all

I watched to see how they'd react
Since they were white and the doll was black
But the mom and dad were matter-of-fact
They checked to see if the doll was cracked

So may you make a rebel stand
Where black and white go hand in hand
Until they reach the freedom land
Where the lion lies down with the lamb

Chorus:
O Number one in America
Number one in America
Beat the drum for Uncle Sam
Overcome in Birmingham
Dynamite in a Baptist church
Four teenaged girls lost in the lurch
Firehoses and the billy clubs
Police dogs and the racist thugs
Turn back the clock to Little Rock
Bought and sold on the auction block
Nightriders and the lynching mobs
Lawmen say they're only doing their job
To stay number one in America

We shall overcome someday

Josh Ritter's "Thin Blue Flame"

Here is Josh Ritter performing "Thin Blue Line" followed by the lyrics  --  nothing will if this doesn't inspire you to believe that depth and soulful nourishment still exist.



I became a thin blue flame
Polished on a mountain range
And over hills and fields I flew
Wrapped up in a royal blue
I flew over Royal City last night
A bullfighter on the horns of a new moon's light
Caesar's ghost I saw the war-time tides
The prince of Denmark's father's still and quiet
And the whole world was looking to get drowned
Trees were a fist shaking themselves at the clouds
I looked over curtains and it was then that I knew
Only a full house gonna make it through

I became a thin blue wire
That held the world above the fire
And so it was I saw behind
Heaven's just a thin blue line
If God's up there he's in a cold dark room
The heavenly host are just the cold dark moons
He bent down and made the world in seven days
And ever since he's been a'walking away
Mixing with nitrogen in lonely holes
Where neither seraphim or raindrops go
I see an old man wandering the halls alone
Only a full house gonna make a home

I became a thin blue stream
The smoke between asleep and dreams
And in that clear blue undertow
I saw Royal City far below
Borders soft with refugees
Streets a'swimming with amputees
It's a Bible or a bullet they put over your heart
It's getting harder and harder to tell them apart
Days are nights and the nights are long
Beating hearts blossom into walking bombs
And those still looking in the clear blue sky for a sign
Get missiles from so high they might as well be divine
Now the dogs are howling at our door
Singing bout vengeance like it's the joy of the Lord
Bringing justice to the enemies not the other way round
They're guilty when killed and they're killed where they're found
If what's loosed on earth will be loosed up on high
It's a Hell of a Heaven we must go to when we die
Where even Laurel begs Hardy for vengeance please
The fat man is crying on his hands and his knees
Back in the peacetime he caught roses on the stage
Now he twists indecision takes bourbon for rage
Lead pellets peppering aluminum
Halcyon, laudanum and Opium
Sings kiss thee hardy this poisoned cup
His winding sheet is busy winding up
In darkness he looks for the light that has died
But you need faith for the same reasons that it's so hard to find
And this whole thing is headed for a terrible wreck
And like good tragedy that's what we expect
At night I make plans for a city laid down
Like the hips of a girl on the spring covered ground
Spirals and capitals like the twist of a script
Streets named for heroes that could almost exist
The fruit trees of Eden and the gardens that seem
To float like the smoke from a lithium dream
Cedar trees growing in the cool of the squares
The young women walking in the portals of prayer
And the future glass buildings and the past an address
And the weddings in pollen and the wine bottomless
And all wrongs forgotten and all vengeance made right
The suffering verbs put to sleep in the night
The future descending like a bright chandelier
And the world just beginning and the guests in good cheer
In Royal City I fell into a trance
Oh it's hell to believe there ain't a hell of a chance

I woke beneath a clear blue sky
The sun a shout the breeze a sigh
My old hometown and the streets I knew
Were wrapped up in a royal blue
I heard my friends laughing out across the fields
The girls in the gloaming and the birds on the wheel
The raw smell of horses and the warm smell of hay
Cicadas electric in the heat of the day
A run of Three Sisters and the flush of the land
And the lake was a diamond in the valley's hand
The straight of the highway and the scattered out hearts
They were coming together they pulling apart
And angels everywhere were in my midst
In the ones that I loved in the ones that I kissed
I wondered what it was I'd been looking for up above
Heaven is so big there ain't no need to look up
So I stopped looking for royal cities in the air
Only a full house gonna have a prayer

Also, do read the interpretive comments on this page, (scroll down a bit).

Eliza Gilkyson interviewed

James Kelly interviews Eliza Gilkyson. 

Old-timey music reborn

Matt Winick covers the territory of 'old-timey' music as released recently by a number of female artists -- Laurie Lewis and Kathy Kallick, The Quebe Sisters, Betse Ellis and Martha Burns.

Ed Miller loses radio program

Singer-songwriter and folk DJ Ed Miller is losing his longtime KUTX radio program down in Austin, Texas.

The late Roger Ebert on John Prine

The late Roger Ebert wrote about John Prine at least twice (included here) and his thoughts and words are accompanied by a number of Prine song videos.

10 Great Songs From John Prine

John Prine: 10 Great Songs -- see if you agree on these selections.

Best UK folk releases this year

Martin Chilton serves up his choices for the 29 best folk releases thus far of 2014 -- coming from a UK newspaper it's exclusively CDs from across the pond..

The latest on Mary Gauthier

Katherine Cole covers Mary Gauthier's veering into folk music and the release of Gauthier's latest batch of songs.

A video interview:



Some video featuring one of her new creations:

Presenting BettySoo

Katherine Cole features folk music singer-songwriter BettySoo.

Some video:

Didn't expect this

Bob Dylan comes in at #18 in the CMT Top 40 All Time: Artists Choice.

A snippet:

"...I don't think you can underestimate Dylan's influence," said [Rosanne] Cash. "With songwriters, everyone after him who wrote songs that were even remotely connected to the folk tradition, we owe a debt to Bob Dylan. His poetry, his unique approach to writing, his musicologist instincts -- he knows everything that came before him and the debt he owes to them, which I think is really the sign of a great artist..."

A feature on Dar Williams

Emily J. Weitz features Dar Williams.

20 Great Folk Albums to Add to Your Indie-Rock Collection

Jim Vogel checks in with "20 Great Folk Albums to Add to Your Indie-Rock Collection." Dig in and listen up.

Greg Brown performing

Below is 16 and a half minutes of music from and conversation with Greg Brown courtesy of the National Music Sanctuary.

John Craigie performing

Below is 21 minutes of music from and conversation with John Craigie courtesy of the National Music Sanctuary.

Downtown Fullerton not Folk MUsic Central

The headline is captivating: "Why is OC's Folk Scene So Terrible?" It has to do with authenticity of the music and the presentation.

New release from Garnet Rogers

Mike Regenstreif reviews "Summer's End" -- the new release from Garnet Rogers.

A Mark Erelli interview

Kathy Sands-Boehmer provides a Q-and-A with Mark Erelli, who has quite the interesting background.

Kerrville New Folk Competition winners

From Michael Kornfeld/Acoustic Music Scene:

Five songwriters and a duo have been named as winners in the 2014 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters. 

Daniel Boling (Albuquerque, New Mexico), Connor Garvey (South Portland, Maine), Frank Martin Gilligan (Dickinson, Texas), The Lovebirds featuring Lindsay White and Veronica May (San Diego, California), Matt Nakoa (Brooklyn, New York), and Caroline Spence (Nashville, Tennessee) were selected by a panel of judges from among 32 finalists who performed two songs each during the New Folk Concerts on May 24 and 25 as part of the Kerrville Folk Festival...

The six will perform in the New Folk Award Winners Concert on Sunday, June 1. They will receive cash honorariums and other prizes, as well as the opportunity to participate in the New Folk Concerts Fall Tour culminating with the opening slot on the 2014 Fischer Festival stage (previously Rice Fest). Established in 1972 at the urging of Peter Yarrow, the Kerrville New Folk concerts have become a highlight of the annual festival that is geared towards singer-songwriters of various musical styles.

RJ Frometa reports that The Lovebirds won the New Folk Songwriting Competition:

Folk/pop duo The Lovebirds are excited to announce that they have been named winners of the Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Folk songwriting competition in Kerrville, TX! The band’s Lindsay White was selected as a finalist in the competition for songs “Boat Train” and “Crimson Love” off their new album, Breakup Shmakeup. The “New Folk” competition has been a notable part in the early success of artists like Lyle Lovett and Nanci Griffith. Of the 800 entries received each year, 32 writers/performers are selected as finalists and are invited to perform their original songs at the Kerrville Folk Festival during the “New Folk” concerts over Memorial Day weekend. Of those 32 finalists, six are named winners and invited back to perform in Kerville the following weekend...

Folk music and narrative

Thought this from a John Lewis/The Guardian review of a Martin Carthy - Liza Carthy concert was very interesting:

"...Tonight's show reminds us that folk music, at its best, doesn't groove like rock, blues or jazz music. Its pulse is dictated by the narrative: it pauses, it hesitates, it bends time..." 

My next five arbitrary choices for the most moving folk songs

*** Here's my original list of five.

Keep in mind this type of list is so idiosyncratic that thankfully no two people would ever makes the same choices. In no particular order:

The songs of the late Dave Carter offers many possibilities and my selection is "The Gentle Arms of Eden" because of this stanza, particularly the last two lines, close to the conclusion:

Now there's smoke across the harbor, and there's factories on the shore
And the world is ill with greed and will and enterprise of war
But i will lay my burden in the cradle of your grace
And the shining beaches of your love and the sea of your embrace

It's nature as sanctuary for relief that draws me in and the repeating of it, mantra-like, is compelling. 



On a sleepy endless ocean
When the world lay in a dream
There was rhythm in the splash and roll
But not a voice to sing
So the moon fell on the breakers
And the morning warmed the waves
'Til a single cell did jump and hum
For joy as though to say

{Refrain}
This is my home
This is my only home
This is the only sacred ground that I have ever known
And should I stray
In the dark night alone
Rock me Goddess in the gentle arms of Eden

Then the day shone bright and rounder
'Til the one turned into two
And the two into ten thousand things
And old things into new
And on some virgin beach head
One lonesome critter crawled
And he looked about and shouted out
In his most astonished drawl

{Refrain}

Then all the sky was buzzin'
And the ground was carpet green
And the wary children of the woods
Went dancin' in between
And the people sang rejoicing
When the fields were glad with grain
This song of celebration
From their cities on the plain

{Refrain}

Now there's smoke across the harbor
And there's factories on the shore
And the world is ill with greed and will
And enterprise of war
But I will lay my burdens
In the cradle of your grace
And the shining beaches of your love
And the sea of your embrace

{Refrain}

+++++++

Next is Bob Franke's "For Real" for these lyrics in particular:

There's a hole in the middle of the prettiest life,
so the lawyers and the prophets say.
Not your father nor your mother nor your lover's
gonna ever make it go away,
And there's too much darkness in an endless night
to be afraid of the way we feel;
Let's be kind to each other, not forever, but for real.

We all have 'holes' that only we can fill (or try to) but need to share this 'condition' in order to ever have the chance to truly feel any connection of depth. That and living a life of kindness (however fully unattainable) towards others.



Death took the husband of a neighbor of mine, on a highway, with a drunk at the wheel. 
She told me "Keep your clean hands off the laundry he left, and don't tell me you know how I feel."
She had a tape that he'd sent her from a Holiday Inn, and she never played it much in the day, 
But when I heard him say he loved her through the window at night, I just stayed the hell away. 

There's a hole in the middle of the prettiest life, so the lawyers and the prophets say. 
Not your father nor your mother nor your lover's gonna ever make it go away, 
And there's too much darkness in an endless night to be afraid of the way we feel; 
Let's be kind to each other, not forever, but for real. 

My father never put his parachute on in the Pacific back in World War Two; 
He said he'd rather go down in familiar flames than get lost in that endless blue, 
And some of that blue got into my eyes, and we never stopped fighting that war, 
Until first understood about endlessness, and I loved him like never before. 

It's lucky that my daughter got her mother's nose, and just a little of her father's eyes, 
And we've got just enough love that when the longing takes me, well, it takes me by surprise, 
And I remember that longing from my highway days, though I never could give it a name; 
It's lucky I discovered in the nick of time that the woman and the child aren't to blame 

For the hole in the middle of a pretty good life, I only face it 'cause it's here to stay: 
Not my father, nor my mother, nor my daughter, nor my lover, nor the highway made it go away, 
And there's too much darkness in an endless night to be ashamed of the way I feel. 
I'll be kind to my loved ones, not forever, but for real. 

Some say that God is a lover; some say it's an endless void; 
Some say both, and some say She's angry, and some say just annoyed, 
But if God felt a hammer in the palm of His hand, then God knows the way we feel; 
And love lasts forever, forever and for real. Love lasts forever.

+++++++ 

Bob Franke earns another entry here and it's "Hard Love" -- the lyrics are a masterpiece throughout.



I remember growing up like it was only yesterday
Mom & Daddy tried their best to guide me on my way
But the hard times & the liquor drove the easy love away
And the only love I knew about was hard love

It was hard love, every hour of the day
When Christmas to my birthday was a million years away
And the fear that came between them drove the tears into my play
There was love in daddy's house, but it was hard love

And I recall the gentle courtesy you gave me as I tried
To dissemble in politeness all the love I felt inside
And for every song of laughter was another song that cried
This ain't no easy weekend, this is hard love

It was hard love, every step of the way
Hard to be so close to you, so hard to turn away
And when all the stars and sentimental songs dissolved to day
There was nothing left to sing about but hard love

So I loved you for your courage, and your gentle sense of shame
And I loved you for your laughter and your language and your name
And I knew it was impossible, but I loved you just the same
Though' the only love I gave to you was hard love

It was hard love, it was hard on you, I know
When the only love I gave to you was love I couldn't show
You forgave the heart that loved you as your lover turned to go
Leaving nothing but the memory of hard love

So I'm standing in this phone booth with a dollar and a dime
Wondering what to say to you to ease your troubled mind
For the Lord's cross might redeem us, but our own just wastes our time
And to tell the two apart is always hard, love

So I'll tell you that I love you even though I'm far away
And I'll tell you how you change me as I live from day to day
How you help me to accept myself and I won't forget to say
Love is never wasted, even when it's hard love

Yes, it's hard love, but it's love all the same
Not the stuff of fantasy, but more than just a game
And the only kind of miracle that's worthy of the name
For the love that heals our lives is mostly hard love

+++++++ 

Ralph McTell composes in a manner like no other on this subject in "Jesus Wept" and this is another one, taken in its totality, capable of moving both the devoutest believer or atheist.

 

The day that Jesus arrived in Jerusalem,
The adventure almost over, the night he hadn't slept
Dreams and premonitions made him tired and emotional,
And that's why Jesus wept.

He wasn't scared of dying, he'd made that commitment
Fulfilling the old prophecy, his bargain he had kept
He was due some satisfaction, but he was deeply troubled,
And that's why Jesus wept.

Was this his true destiny, or could he still make changes,
Someone else's nightmare into which he'd stepped?
Damage limitation couldn't save the situation,
And that's why Jesus wept.

In his dream he saw the crusade and all wars that would follow,
Declared in his name when he thought he'd been direct
Love thy neighbour, do not kill, and turn the other cheek,
And that's why Jesus wept.

He saw the inquisition and the burning of the saints,
The conversion of the innocents he swore he would protect
He saw them bless the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima,
And that's why Jesus wept.

Though Peter would betray him, he made him the rock
On which he would build his church to sort of keep him in his debt
A man about to die is allowed some confusion,
And that's why Jesus wept.

He thought of his disciples, especially of Judas,
The job that was ordained for him and the reward he'd collect
He saw him in the tree with the silver coins around him,
And that's why Jesus wept.

Then he thought about the good times when he turned the tables over,
Chastised the money lenders and he earned the boy's respect
He was proud of Godly anger, but ashamed of manly temper,
And that's why Jesus wept.

Rumours started flying about water into wine,
Sight to the blind and that he'd even raised the dead
The biggest miracle was that anyone believed it,
And that's why Jesus wept.

Then he mused on human nature, how fickle were the public,
So ready to accept him, so quick now to reject
Where were the five thousand he fed with loaves and fishes?
And that's why Jesus wept.

In his dream he saw a garden with all his friends asleep,
He walked away the hours until the morning crept
He wondered would the nails hurt, would he be man enough?
And that's why Jesus wept.

Was he supposed to bear it like a man or like a God,
Would tears show a weakness or a strength by their effect?
Would they be viewed as compassion or failure and self-pity?
And that's why Jesus wept.

Then he saw his houses burning on both sides of a border,
Saw the guiltless suffer with the guilty and the rest
And when they called his name and he knew he couldn't help them,
That's why Jesus wept.

Then he saw two armies marching and he heard their crucifixes
Reduced to superstitious muted jangling round their necks
And he heard his name intoned as they interred their companion,
And that's why Jesus wept.

Then he thought about his mother and the stories she had told him,
Who'd filled his dreams with angels, put voices in his head
Then the scent of pine trees made him think of dear old Joseph,
And that's why Jesus wept.

+++++++ 

In "Mr. Edison's Electric Chair," Ronny Elliott reels off a litany of hideous crimes perpetuated against adults and children by the singer/subject of this song. This is an element just not heard in folk music where brutality is generally more diffused and attributed to the actions of corporations, certain political figures, some in the military, racists, religious extremists -- not unknown individuals. You will be repelled by the acts laid out in the lyrics but being moved isn't always a pleasant reaction.



I didn't mean to hurt that kid, I just wanted to show him a little fun
A coca-cola bottle's not a real weapon and I don't even own a gun
I never would'a touched that little girl but for voices in my head
I thought she was just sleepin', I didn't know she was dead
Yeah, they washed me up and shaved my hair
They're gonna put me in Mr. Edison's electric chair

The Reverend Jacks always gave me a nickel for washin' his Model T
I figured it was worth at least a dime so I tied him to a tree
I should'a let him go but he started in to pleadin'
So, I crushed his skull, picked his pocket, and I left him broke and bleedin'
I heard 'em saying: boys, here he comes, I declare
They're gonna put him in Mr. Edison's electric chair

I never snatched that Wilson baby but I helped with the ransom note
And ol' Gibby couldn't read much so he didn't know what I wrote
I said they could find her in a crate down by the old school well
Yeah, I guess droppin' her over the edge seals me a special spot in hell
Yeah, call the chaplain to say a prayer
Before they put me in Mr. Edison's electrical chair

And those crazy folks in the home over by the county line
I'm always thinkin' of 'em when I've had too much red port wine
So, I blocked off the doors and I nailed shut the windows
And I set that place ablaze, and that's wrong, I s'pose
Yeah, throw the switch, boys, say a prayer
They're gonna kill me in Mr. Edison's electric chair
Keep an eye on this face, if you dare
They're gonna kill me in Mr. Edison's electric chair

My arbitrary choices for the five most moving folk songs

Keep in mind this type of list is so idiosyncratic that thankfully no two people would ever makes the same choices. In no particular order:

In the Joe Crookston's song "The Nazarene," the opening lines draw in the listener to this captivating and compelling combination portrait of family mental health:

"Dad coaches baseball
asd I am on the team
Mom thinks she's
Jesus Christ the Nazarene..."

* "The Nazarene" - Joe Crookston

+++++++

In "Lucy," these lines from the mother/cancer patient are so knowing and intimate:

My son’s just turning 15, he already tows the line
He’s so much like his father I know that he’ll be fine
Lucy is two years younger, but she smells like cigarettes
She still needs her mama, but she doesn’t know it yet

* "Lucy" - Chris Kokesh



Most of the time lately I am not myself
Sometimes I’m just so tired, sometimes I feel like hell
We made it through the winter and it’s starting to turn spring
But the cancer just keeps growing and killing everything

My son’s just turning 15, he already tows the line
He’s so much like his father I know that he’ll be fine
Lucy is two years younger, but she smells like cigarettes
She still needs her mama, but she doesn’t know it yet

Lucy, Lucy
There’ll be joy and there’ll be pain
Lucy, you have no idea what the world can throw your way
From the moment you could crawl you thought you’d seen it all
Little flame that burns so bright
Lucy, Lucy
Goodnight, sweetheart, goodnight

Lucy do you remember when your mama’s gentle hand
Woke you in the dark and flew you off to Disneyland
Now I never see you smiling as you creep around this house
But I know you keep a hotel soap in the shape of Mickey Mouse

Lucy, I remember when you found that baby bird
You were so mad at its mama because she never returned
But Lucy it’s a world of plans that fall apart
And you must be a brave girl and not let it break your heart
Lucy, Lucy
There’ll be joy and there’ll be pain

Lucy, you have no idea what the world can throw your way
From the moment you could crawl you thought you’d seen it all
You are a flame that burns so bright
Lucy, Lucy
Goodnight, sweetheart, goodnight

 +++++++

In "Stained Glass," Danny Schmidt leads the listener through the process of a stained glass crucifixion being rebuilt and then revealed. So much more appears -- the actual mass of humanity -- in the re-tooled version with a gushing pronouncement:

...The chapel fell to silence, it was more than just surprise
As the monstrosity of color slid its tongue across their eyes
And they shivered from exposure like babies born again
Cause in every pane of glass was all the joy and pain of man . . .

    There was every fearful smile, there was every joyful tear
    There was each and every choice that leads from every there to here
    There was every cosy stranger and every awkward friend
    And there was every perfect night that’s left initials in the sand
    There was every day that filled so full the weeks would float away
    And there was all those days spent wondering what to do with all those days
    There was every lie that ever saved the truth from being shamed
    And every secret you could ever trust a friend to hide away
    There was the fortune of discovering a new face you might adore
    And the thrill of coming home to find her clothes upon the floor
    And the prideful immortality of children in the home
    That the storm can’t grind the mountain down, it can only shift the stones
    And there was everything your mouth says that your lips don’t understand
    And every shape inside your head you can’t carve with your hands
    And every slice of glass revealed another slice of life
    Emblazened imperfections in a perfect stream of light
    It all flooded through the window like rapids made of fire
    And then God rode through on sunshine and sat down cause he was tired
    He was tired.

As the thunder and the hardwood settled back into its place
God removed his veil and there were scars across his face
And some folks prayed in reverence and some folks prayed in fear
As all the shades and chaos in the glass became a mirror.

* "Stained Glass" - Danny Schmidt

 +++++++

 In "That's How You Know,"  Lori McKenna writes about deep, mournful loss and recovery.

* "That's How You Know" - Lori McKenna



When you take the train to mid-town and have coffee by yourself
Pull the pictures from the drawer and put them back up on the shelf
When you hear the sound of church bells and it don’t make you want to cry
You’re not getting drunk just so you can hide

That’s how you know
That’s how you know

When you open up the curtains, start answering the phone
Stop driving around for hours ’cause you hate going home
You can talk about it, even say their name
When you start thinking you’ll survive even though you’ll never be the same

That’s how you know
That’s how you know
That’s how you know
That’s how you know

There’s no such thing as a long goodbye,
When you wish it would have lasted your whole life

You don’t need a cigarette or a pill to help you sleep
When you don’t end every night on the hard wood on your knees
When you wake up one morning surprised to see the world exists
And your eyes ain’t full of tears and your heart ain’t full of bitterness

That’s how you know
That’s how you know
That’s how you know
That’s how you know

When you’re thankful that you ever knew a love this strong
When you finally find the courage to write this song

That’s how you know
That’s how you know
That’s how you know you’re moving on.

+++++++

Although I love this line from Ferron's "Cactus,"-- seems to me the tools for being human are wicked crude -- but "Girl On The Road" has a greater impact on me.

These verses especially:

...I don't know what it's like for you but here's what it's like for me
I wanted to turn beautiful and serve Eternity
and never follow money or love withn greasy hands
or move the earth and waters just to make it fit my plans...

and

...But if music be a boulder, let me carry it a long while
Let it turn into a feather, let it brush against my smile
Let the life be somewhat settled with the life that song has made
Let there be nothing I am longing for in some plan I may have made...

"Girl On The Road" - Ferron

My momma was a waitress, my daddy a truckdriver. The
thing that kept their power from them slowed me down
awhile. I remember the morning that was the closing of
my youth, when I said goodbye to no one and in that way
faced my truth...and a walk along the river... and a
rain a'coming down...and a girl on a road.

There's a rhythm to a highway to match the rhythm of
your fears. My shopping bag possessions scattered with
my splattered tears. A string of nights in truck stops
and in darkness and in lies and a man they all called
Tigerboy...he just had to show me why. He just had to
give me something I'd forever understand...as a girl on
a road.

Rain upon the water makes footprints sunk in sand.
Anger upon angry hurt, take me by the hand. Take me by
the heartstrings and pull me deep inside and say I'm
one with your forgiveness and separate from my pride.

I don't know what it's like for you but here's what
it's like for me... I wanted to turn beautiful and
serve Eternity and never follow money or love with
greasy hands, or move the earth and waters just to make
it fit my plans. My eyes would be the harbor, my words
the perfect place for a girl on a road.

I met you in the Summer, I left you in the Fall. In

between we did some living...I like to think that's
all...but now I see words can be like weapons no matter
that they're small, and I used three tiny words on you
and then beat it down the hall. Does this road go on
forever? Does this terror know no end...for a girl on a
road? Would you like to sing it with me? Rain upon the
water makes footprints sunk in sand. Anger upon angry
hurt, take me by the hand. Take me by the heartstrings
and pull me deep inside and say I'm one with your
forgiveness and separate from my pride.

You cannot measure what it takes to mend a withered
heart. They'll tell you at the onset everybody does
their part. I did my best to follow the calling of my
soul. But, it's like that first guitar I played...at
the center is a hole, at the center is a...longing...
that I cannot understand as a girl on a road.

But if music be a boulder, let me carry it a long
while. Let it turn into a feather, let it brush against
my smile. Let the life be somewhat settled with the
life that song has made. Let there be nothing I am
longing for in some plan I may have made, in some story
quickly written during a long forgotten time as a girl
on a road. Sing it with me...Rain upon the...  

+++++++

Jim Page and his latest release

marthature profiles Jim Page's latest release "Wheel Spins Upstream." Here is his Wikipedia page.

Sixto Rodriguez royalties

Sean Michaels writes about a royalties lawsuit involving the recordings of Sixto ("Searching For Sugarman") Rodriguez.

Here's more from the New York Times.

Vikesh Kapoor does Willy Robbins

Cameron Matthews interviews Vikesh Kapoor whose "The Ballad of Willy Robbins" release is turning heads and pricking up ears for many reasons.

Here's another look.

Plus one more.

"For The Love of the Music: The Club 47 Folk Revival" documentary

This month heralds the release of "For The Love of the Music: The Club 47 Folk Revival," as Lesley Daunt writes.

Meet the Milk Carton Kids

Eric Sandy digs into the background of The Milk Carton Kids.

A Q-and-A with Antje Duvekot

Kathy S-B provides a written Q-and-A with Antje Duvekot.

Catching up with Rodney Crowell

Doug Freeman offers a long, informative look at Rodney Crowell.

Rod Kennedy has passed

Mr. Kerrville Folk Festival, Rod Kennedy, has died.

Peter Blackstock has more.

 Jim Caliguiri has collected a number of artist tributes.

Keep watch on Parker Millsap

Andrew Travers previews a concert by Parker Millsap who sounds (no pun intended) like one to watch based on his character-driven creations.

A taste:

Meet Kari Estrin

 

What's that line -- so-and-so is the hardest working person in show business? Well, that just might be Kari Estrin, artist manager and consultant extraordinaire. We recently had the opportunity for a Q-and-A with her and here is that interview:

Q - Is it true or just a myth that inside every music publicist is a singer/songwriter waiting to burst out?

KE - There is truth here that there are a lot of musicians who are in support jobs in the biz - perhaps even more at the A & R level, producers and those working at the record labels, but yes, some managers and publicists too. And case in point, I am a musician myself ! The good news is that having been a trained musician (college), performing and rehearsing, etc. has made me a better manager, publicist/radio promoter and career consultant since I know music and can understand first hand what the artists are talking about. I can offer more strategic advice at times because of it. (see next question) Interestingly, I do find that many publicists here in Nashville I know are not musicians, but still many jobs in the business end of music have their fair share of musicians in business roles.


Q - Why the direction of musical publicist for you?

KE - Music publicist (most often acoustic music radio promotion for me now) is only one direction that I pursue in the music business. My dream in high school was to be a concert producer starting when at 15 years old I volunteered to be on  staff for my high school coffeehouse, graduated the next year to running the kitchen and then onto booking the venue in my senior year. I founded my own company in Cambridge, MA in the early 80's - Black Sheep Concert and Publications, Inc. and I became one of the first large scale (1200 seats at Harvard's Sanders Theatre) and female acoustic music promoters that I know of in the country to do a regular concert series . I also published a folk magazine called "The Black Sheep Review" whose mission was to unite the NE and Northeast Regions (this was before Folk Alliance existed) but was subscribed to all over the world. At the same time I became an agent and then manager for the legendary guitarist/artist Tony Rice, going on to manage a world music band from the UK, The 3 Mustaphas 3 - and we went to No. 1 in the Billboard World Music Charts. Over the years I've tour managed acts like Suzanne Vega and Janis Ian and Steeleye Span. I was assistant festival director for both MerleFest and The Newport Folk Festival. At MerleFest I co-founded the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest. And that's only some of what I've done and do.

But my signature work in the music industry, besides the work I did with Black Sheep in the 80's, was establishing something I call "The Career Assessment System." I've worked with hundreds of artists over the years with a groundbreaking approach to career planning that I devised before coaching was heard of. I do very tailored and strategic career planning for artists with what I call a "holistic and integrated approach." As well, many artists come to me who might just be starting to record their next CD, so we can include how to "A & R" the CD into the artists marketing plan and career plan. Usually after the CD is done the artist will hire me to do the promotion. 

But back to the specifics of your question of why I do what I do (instead of being the performer in my case) is I love helping talent be heard. I made a conscious decision between performing for a living and "organizing" and felt by organizing - artist management, concert & festival production, radio promotion and publicity, etc. that I could help more people than if I were just promoting my own career. I didn't have the same drive to be the one on stage, though I love playing guitar and arranging and singing harmony as well. I have noticed that the drive to perform and write and sing your own songs to others is the separating point in order to survive staying in the business as an artist. It's a calling to be the artist. My calling was to support and promote -  yet that does not diminish my own love of singing and playing.


Q - Is this is position you saw yourself in from early on like some who say they wanted to be this or that from age eight?

KE - I thought I was going to be a teacher at the age of 8 - like my parents were! It was in high school at the coffeehouse that everyone around me told me my next "career" would be as a concert producer. I decided that's where I wanted to go in my dreams.


Q - What was your major in college and why?

KE - I started off in college as a speech/theatre major with an eye toward teaching. Then within the first week of college I found I could switch my major to music. I was ecstatic and devoured all the knowledge I could, learning theory, singing classical and early music, musical comedy, jazz and of course, folk, I then booked our college coffeehouse, became President of the Guitar Club (ok, geeky but fun), attended rehearsals in NYC at the Metropolitan Opera for one of my courses and produced a ticketed major folk festival for my seniors honors project with acts like the Boys of the Lough and Hedy West (who wrote 500 Miles). I was like a kid in a candy shop in college - what an opportunity to immerse myself in the music, performing and the business at the same time. I was technically a fine arts major with a minor in voice. Amazing time in my life.


Q - If there is such a thing as a typical day for you, can you describe it?

KE - Well, I'll try to describe a typical "composite" day. If I'm just doing my normal consulting and radio promotion I have scheduled calls with artists and I have many hours of computer work for radio promotion and email that have to be fit in during the week. I work at home, try to get up and walk 4 miles when I'm in my routine - which is my "alone" time to think, sort out my day, feel energetic. I do need some non-work time in the morning before starting my day. I typically don't schedule many "lunches" and "dinners" during the week as I have lots of work to do (!) and at night I may have to continue working after an hour or two break for dinner and to relax. I will attend industry events in Nashville during the week.

When I feel tired of too much time on the computer, I may take a break, do something to distract myself - could be a small errand or cleaning or something to be able to reset my mind and then go back to work. On Monday mornings I start my week by meeting with a group of female friends at the coffeeshop - a wonderful and inspirational way to get the week going. Saturdays I'm out doing errands, things I want to do, seeing friends and Sunday is more of a house day at times, seeing friends or being out with others or catching up on work and planning for the week ahead. This being said, I also travel a lot and try to keep up with friendships with phone calls - very old fashioned, I know. Personally, I am a minimalist on Facebook, but am on it!


Q - How did you end up in Nashville?

KE - I spent 12 years in Boston/Cambridge and then ended up in the idealic Portsmouth, NH. But I wanted to relocate to a new region of the US and considered industry towns like Austin, LA, (had already worked in NYC) and Nashville - as well as other cool places like Ann Arbor. But Tennessee is a beautiful state, many of my friends that I knew in the 70's and early 80's had moved there - Mark Schatz, Bela Fleck, Suzy Bogguss and country music at the time was inventive and cutting- edge too. I loved the friendliness, the beautiful country-like atmosphere and had worked there while touring with Tony Rice, so was familiar a little familiar with the south. I moved to East Nashville, at the time a run down section of town with old houses in disrepair and fell in love with it, not ever believing it would become the "it city." I promised myself that if I didn't make it in the music business, that Nashville would still be my home. That helped me get through those first few years. I loved Tennessee.


Q - What would you recommend (training/schooling) for someone interesting in pursuing this line of work?

KE - Schooling is a huge advantage that one should take advantage of. In the late 60's and early 70's music business schools were still virtually unheard of, and remember, there was no internet, we still used encyclopedias, long-distance phone calls were more expensive and mentoring was still somewhat of a rarity. Usually women didn't do then in the music business what is easily accepted now.  I learned a lot the hard way and broke into a "men's club" that is virtually unknown to most young women going into the business today. I would have been lucky to have had true "schooling" in the business end - I only learned bits and pieces of the actual business in college, though I was hungry for it and was lucky to have professors who sent me into NY to meet their friends to learn more. Take advantage of everything you can - school is the best place to learn the widest amount of skills.  Don't waste a second of it. I couldn't get enough! But what I lacked in business training, I experienced in both learning and performing music.  I became an entrepreneur by following my heart and my passions, with a healthy dose of both imagination and common sense.


Q - What's been the 'best' moment of your work, the work you are most proud of?

KE - Wow, so many - my highlights - having the legendary Harold Leventhal "invite" me by a handwritten note to produce Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie at Boston's Symphony Hall and saying he would be my backer. Years later calling Harold and asking him if he wanted a benefit for the Woody Guthrie Archives at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium and putting together a Woody Guthrie month there for Woody Guthrie's 90th Anniversary Celebration. Meeting Woody's first wife, first singing partner and the whole family who traveled there from all over the country. And during the finale of "This Land is Your Land" bringing them on stage one by one to sing with Arlo, Guy Clark, Janis Ian and a host of others.

In my early years in Cambridge it was standing on the stage of Harvard's Sanders Theatre and EmCeeing sold-out shows I produced- Doc [& Merle] Watson, Silly Wizard with Phil and John Cunningham, a double bill with David Bromberg and Steve Goodman together - what a night!.....; publishing my magazine and all the wonderful comments and letters we got including Pete Seeger who was one of my biggest supporters and encouragers; serving on the Sing Out! Board of Directors in the 80's with fellow directors Pete, Utah Phillips, Faith Petric, Rosalie Sorrels, Andy Spence, Michael Cooney - and of course Mark Moss...

Touring Japan first with Tony Rice, then getting to go back 25 years later with Janis Ian; booking Summer Lights and Fest De Ville - two Nashville city-wide music festivals as well as Caffe Milano and Radio Cafe and special Celtic shows at 3rd and Lindsley; managing my first artist - Geoff Bartley, whom I had booked in 1976 at my college Folk Festival and almost almost 35 years later promoting two of his CD's that went to No. 1 at Folk DJ;  while emceeing on the Sanders Stage during an Alan Stivell concert, [Celtic harpist] there was a delay in Alan being ready yet I had already finished the announcements - so I asked the audience if they would be prefer "question and answer period" or Slavic Folk Music  and there were many requests for the Slavic Folk Music! I asked anyone who knew the words to Shto Me A Milo (I could be spelling that wrong here) to sing with me and throughout the lovely wood theatre, you could hear maybe 20 or more people in the theatre singing with me - beautiful. Anytime I hear the thrill in an artist's voice when their CD goes to No. 1 at Folk DJ - or even in the top five or ten that I've promoted. And after consulting sessions and doing Career Assessments with artists who come to work with me, giving thanks afterwards for the work I am able to do in helping make people's lives and careers happier and more successful than when they came to me. I am fortunate to have been doing what I've been doing for almost 45 years now and still have a huge amount of enthusiasm for the future.

We thank Kari for her time.

Kari Estrin Management/Consulting
Celebrating 40 Years Working with Amazing Artists!
Acoustic Music Radio Promotion
EuroAmericana Chart Promotion
PO Box 60232  Nashville, TN 37206
615/262-0883
kari@kariestrin.com
http://www.kariestrin.com

Jesse Winchester has passed

Jesse Winchester has died -- Bob Mehr offers a wonderful stroll through Winchester's life..

Tom Kimmel -- "Bones (Live)"

This is an oldie (try 1994) but times are extremely few that a release by anyone retains similar impact and eloquence from the first cut to the last. "Bones" does just that.

This one ("Fatherless Son") will especially stick with you --

Got his snakeskin boots and his steel guitar
A ring with his initials, that’s all his daddy left him
When he set out driving a cold blue dawn

Got a half-moon scar where his mama’s new boyfriend
Taught him how to watch his mouth, a wound the size of Texas
No one ever wanted to talk about

Ain’t it true boy in this old world no one hangs around too long?
Were the heroes you looked up to just out for number one?

Outside his window tonight he cuts the screen
The boys are looking for a fight
Running wild and mean
The stage is set, the street swept clean
And wrong is close enough to right
You can see his hands shaking
He’s loading his gun
A hurt this big gotta hurt someone
It can’t be fooled or outrun
He’s a Fatherless Son

There’s an old blue Dodge sittin’ back in the yard
Daddy always meant to fix, took a hammer and a black crowbar
Bashed that baby, just for kicks

And there’s a cold wind rising off the desert floor
A sign of things to come, the wheel of war in motion
Rolling ‘cross the border of a heart so young

There’s a road laid at his feet, the wind is at his back
He’s racing like an eagle straight down the track

Outside his window tonight he spreads his wings
The boys are looking for a fight
Running wild and mean
The stage is set, the street swept clean
And wrong is close enough to right
You can see his hands shaking, he’s aiming his gun
A hurt this big gotta hurt someone
It can’t be fooled or outrun
He’s a Fatherless Son

As will "What You Stole From Me" --

It was last year in December on a night much like this one
In fact, way too much like it for me
When the snow fell on the rooftops and a soft rain soon followed
And the town closed to sleep off the freeze

When you called me you were nervous, but you hid that in anger
That’s how you so often come clean
But the sad part and the truth is you imagine it’s righteous
When it’s just how you cover your grief

You ask how I am, and I’m keepin’ you guessin’
With some lies even I don’t believe
But I’ve shut down in rage and I’ve raged in my sorrow
I’m still trying to pay for what you stole from me

So your promise, was it nothing?
Was it your good intention?
Was it only a figure of speech?
Was it real for a moment?
And did the moment have meaning?
Was it lost in the folds of our sheets?

When you whispered I love you, did I misunderstand it?
Do you just want what you’ll never reach?
And was our love a mirror, and your own reflection
What you were most frightened you’d see?

You ask how I am, and I’m keepin’ you guessin’
With some lies even I don’t believe
But you lied when you said love is given, not borrowed
And I’m trying to pay for what you stole from me

Yeah it’s cold out, but colder inside
And I fear it may turn even colder tonight

Now there’s someone with a new plan, in a new line of business
A new kind of ice to fall through
With a suitcase and a true heart and a new kind of trying
To give me what I need from you

I’ve prayed for release, I’ve prayed for your blessing
And I’ve prayed I would die in my sleep
I’ve prayed to forget you in the love of another
And I’ve prayed you would come home to me

So I’m holding her out, and I’m keepin’ her guessin’
With some lies I wish I could believe
This hurt here inside is too much for one man
And she’s trying to pay for what you stole from me
Yes, she’s trying to pay for what you stole from me 

Plus, "Poetic Justice" --


So I was not the one you wanted
Well you can see I’m reconciled
Must you be so disappointed?
Can you not carry on in style?

Is it too much to say we loved hard
Till the world fell back in place
And left us where we are?

I feel like the king when the queen loses faith
And the crowd rushes in to tear down the gate
While the whole palace slept, and I never rang the bell
Maybe that’s poetic justice, but it’s pretty hard to tell

When the fortune wheel is spinning
Luck is fortune’s dirty joke
And a player’s chance of winning
Is diminished by his hope

Can’t you laugh just to think of the gold
We had running through our hands
When we were on a roll?

I feel like the king when the queen loses faith
And the crowd rushes in to tear down the gate
And declare what was mine I stole from someone else
Maybe that’s poetic justice, but it’s pretty hard to tell

It’s hard to tell why solid ground surprised us when we fell
It’s hard to say it’s life or death
Or just so many bitter words beneath your breath

Is it too much to say we loved hard
Till the world fell back in place
And left us where we are?

I feel like the king when the queen loses faith
And the crowd rushes in to tear down the gate
And declare what was mine I stole from someone else
Maybe that’s poetic justice, but it’s pretty hard to tell

I feel like the king when the queen loses hope
And the crowd rushes in to raise the gallows pole
And declare what they must do, I’m doing to myself
Well if that’s poetic justice, how can anybody tell? 

The Play List

01 A Small Song
02 Bigger Than Both Of Us
03 Hearts Are Bound To Be Broken
04 Fatherless Son
05 The Blue Train
06 The Bridge
07 Next Of Kin
08 History
09 What You Stole From Me
10 More Like The Devil Than Dana Cooper
11 Poetic Justice
12 Shallow Water

Do check "Bones" out on ITunes.

The Bluegrass Situation's best discoveries from the 2014 Folk Alliance

The Bluegrass Situation offers its top discoveries from the 2014 Folk Alliance get-together in Kansas City.

Kith Folk's Folk Alliance Finds 2014

From Kith Folk comes performers who impressed at the recent Folk Alliance in Kansas City.

A Susan Werner Q-and-A

Kathy S-B serves up a print Q-and-A with Susan Werner.

A sample of her music:

Insight into Shane MacGowan

Matthew Hennessey writes about the life of music icon Shane MacGowan in a marvelously interesting read.

The 10 best songs of Nick Drake

Tim Jonze looks back on Nick Drake's brief discography and selects the 10 best songs.

A Lori McKenna Q-and-A

Kathy S-B provides a print Q-and-A with Lori McKenna.

Love McKenna's song  "That's How You Know"

A David Francey Q-and-A

Kathy S-B serves up a print interview with Canada's David Francey.

Folk & feminism

Tim Chipping offers a provocative article titled "Has folk forgotten feminism?"

A Top 10 of Folk Alliance musicians

Michael Sangiacomo offers his Top 10 performers/bands that impressed him during the recent Fol Alliance.

More Folk Alliance features

Timothy Finn authors "Day 3 of Folk Alliance Conference delivers array of roots and acoustic music"

Here's more on this year's FA.

And more.

And more.