With: Lau, Lleuwen, Liz Green, Nancy Elizabeth, King Creosote, Sweet William, Dick Gaughan, Karine Polwart & Dave Milligan, Anna & Elizabeth, Tommy Reck, Serious Sam Barrett, Jim Ghedi, Kathryn Tickell & Corrina Hewat, Bendith, Fernhill, The Ciderhouse Rebellion, Dave Burland, Lal Waterson, Lisa O & # 39; Neill, Nic Jones.
I've included extensive notes on this week's music which you can read below (I don't always have the time to provide such extensive background information, but I've made an exception here – I really enjoyed putting this together).
Enjoy
Alex
Music played
- Lau – Sunken Waltz (Calexico)
- Lleuwen – Lle Wyt Ti Heno Iesu Grist?
- Liz Green – Battle
- Nancy Elizabeth – Cornfield
- King Creosote – Diamantina Drover
- Sweet William – Rambleaway
- Dick Gaughan – MacCrimmon's Lament / Mistress Jamieson's darling
- Karine Polwart & Dave Milligan – The farewell glass
- Anna & Elizabeth – Orfeo
- Tommy Reck – The Kilfrush The Trip to Durrow
- Serious Sam Barrett – The Wagoner
- Jim Ghedi – Ah Cud Hew
- Kathryn Tickell & Corrina Hewat – Brose
- Bendith – Mis Mehefin
- Fernhill – Llif
- The Ciderhouse Rebellion – Setting iv
- The Apple Cider Rebellion – Rose
- Dave Burland – The Bleacher Lassie O'Kelvinhaugh
- Lal Waterson – So that you stay
- Lisa O'Neill – No train to Cavan
- Nic Jones – Annachie Gordon
Folk Show 106 Liner Notes
This week's folk show opens at Lukewarm Cover the Calexico with Sunlen Waltz; a track included on the deluxe version of their fourth studio album, The Bell That Never Rang, which was released in 2015. The album was produced and mixed by Joan Wasser – known to most as Joan As Police Woman; the album got its title from the coat of arms of the city of Glasgow and also included the Elysian Quartet on its theme song.
We will then take you back to 2011 Lleuwen& # 39; S Lle Wyt Ti Heno Iesu grist? from their album Tân, the Welsh and Breton word for fire, something that this album had plenty of. The album was created with the experimental double bass player Vincent Guerin – they played all the instruments on this album, which in addition to instruments such as the zither also included pots and pans.
The fight is taken Liz Green2014 album Haul Away, their second album which, as the title suggests, was a sea-inspired sequel to their earthbound debut. Liam Watson produced it in his analog recording studio in Hackney, London, where Emily Barker recorded her Toerag Sessions album, on which she left a secret message on the lead-out groove of the vinyl release.
The unmistakable singing of Nancy Elizabeth provides a beautiful cover of Lal Waterson's Cornfield. It comes from a Lal Waterson tribute album called Migrating Bird, which was released on Honest Jon in 2007. Later on in the show, there's another great build from Honest Jon that features Lal. We recently shared the news about the recent unveiling of the plaque at 160 Park Avenue in Hull to mark their former home – read more here.
Also from a deluxe edition comes from King Creosote Diamantina Driver, which can be found on his 2009 release Flick The V (Ltd Edition). Though covered by a few, including Christy Moore's Ordinary Man, in which Eithne Ni Bhraonain on vocals, later known as Enya, it was a Redgum song that was first recorded on their 1983 album Caught in the Act.
Rambleaway from the new ballad duo Sweet William with Jacob Book and Eileen O’Connor. Although performing (very well) in the English and Irish folk tradition, Jacob lives in Kentucky and Eileen in Ohio. Here you can get her EP "If the World Had Been Ended" on Bandcamp. The ballad on Shirley Collins‘‘ Heroes in Love ’, their 1963 release on Topic Records, which was later reissued as 7 ″ as part of its 75th anniversary in 2014. We interviewed David Suff about the label this year; You can read it here. Johnny Flynn also covered the song on a Shirley Collins tribute album Shirley inspires.
I had planned to record this next track for a while. I'm a big fan of Dick Gaughan, and this track is one of my personal favorites, although this recording is not as well known due to its lack of availability. MacCrimmon's Lament / Mistress Jamieson’s Favorite comes from "No More Forever", which was released on trailer in 1972. The album was not reissued and Celtic Music now owns the rights. They also own the rights to a wealth of British folk music released between 1970 and 2000, including leader and trailer releases. It's a shame they haven't been reissued yet. Their catalog includes Mike and Lal Waterson's Bright Phoebus, which was released in 1972 by Leader Sound on the Trailer Records label. Domino Records attempted to reissue Bright Phoebus in 2017 and was blocked by Celtic Music after copyright lawsuit. In a press release on winning the case against Domino, Celtic Music stated: “Since the death of their joint founding partner Dave Bulmer in August 2013, Celtic Music has limited the development of its large and diverse back catalog of recordings and is currently reviewing a program of re-releases to recover valuable Seeing folk music performances from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s in a new light. ”We can only hope this follows – no news yet, but if I ever hear anything I will let you know. Instead, in order to get your hands on one of these albums, you have to pay far more chances of getting used copies, which are often anything but like new.
Fortunately, Honest Jon managed to get this compilation gem entitled. to publish Never The Same – Farewell to the British Folk Revival 1970-1977 (on CD and vinyl 2006/7). Also included are Lal Waterson, Nic Jones, Dick Gaughan, The Boys of the Lough, Dave Burland, Dorothy Elliott, Aly Bain, Alistair Anderson and Tony Rose. I've pasted tracks from Dick Gaughan, Dave Burland, Lal Waterson and Nic Jones.
We have another track from our current Artist of the Month Duo: Karine Polwart & Dave Milligan with a great version of The Parting Glass, a track they originally recorded at Margaret Atwood's request, which you can read about in our last interview here.
from Anna & Elisabeth& # 39; s debut album from 2015 we have Orfeo… in his review of her debut here Thomas Blake notes: “Orfeo retains its old Scottish ballad form, but sets it against a cool roar of uilleann whistles, interrupted by occasional flourishes and rounded with Roberts-Gevalts Gevalt ”. The overall effect is simply amazing: wild and claustrophobic at the same time. "
Tommy Reck is another gem out there Fire Draw Near (An Anthology of Traditional Irish Songs and Music), one of our favorite albums of the month. It was published on River Lea and curated by Ian Lynch of Lankum. Read the album review here. From the liner notes on Tommy Reck:
Tommy Reck was born on John Dillon Street in Dublin's Liberties in 1921. Tommy learned the Uilleann Pipes at a young age from "Old" John Potts from the well-known Potts dynasty of traditional musicians. It is difficult to say what makes Tommy's pipes so fascinating and unique, but his idiosyncratic ornamentation, his gentle approach to energetic roles as well as his unusual settings of frequently played melodies – as heard in the second half of this track – all make for beautiful ones Piping in a very unique style.
from Serious Sam Barrett‘S Seeds of Love (reviewed here), the album title is taken from the British folk anthology by Stephen Sedley, published in 1967 in collaboration with the English Folk Dance & Song Society. He told us:
“I love the way wagoners always come across as fun-loving, tough, villainous guys in these songs. "The Jolly Wagoner," as sung by The Watersons, describes him drinking with the hosts of the inns he delivers to and generally enjoying an adventurous life. This song seems to be sung from the perspective of an admiring lover who can't seem to get enough of its rugged charm and glorious imperfections. I'm pretty sure this song is referring to the wagoners pushing carts full of coal into mines rather than the beer deliverer as described in the Watersons song. In the book The Seeds of Love published by EFDSS, the song is thought to be taken from the text in A.L. Lloyds Come All Ye Bold Miners, with Bob Davenport credited for the final verse. The melody I use is a melody I made up, but it's pretty faithful. The guitar playing and melody here are heavily influenced by Dick Gaughan, especially his arrangement of 'Glenlogie'. "
As I said earlier, Sam's version has a touch of Nordic courage that, when combined with beautiful guitar fingerwork, makes for a great modern rendition that also has a rough authenticity that is a delight in a time when it is hard to hear is to hear come over.
Let's stay up north, we have a great cover version of Ed Pickfords Ah Cud Hew from Jim Ghedi, from his latest album In the Furrows Of Common Place (reviewed here). Jim told us:
"Ah Cud Hew is a song written by North East Folk singer and songwriter Ed Pickford, a song from the tale of a former miner suffering from the effects of coal sickness, a reflection of his work life, family and community, with which he was associated too.
“I first heard Ed's version of the song on a folk compilation that was given to me a few years ago. I remember the opening line which completely missed me, I had repeated it for days and couldn't shake it off, mesmerized by Ed's voice and his ability to tell a story with such humanity and lyrical imagery.
“At that time, I was researching the history of social injustice, the miners' strike, and particularly the 'Battle of Orgreave'. Check out Yvette Vanson's impressive documentary, The Battle for Orgreave, and find a huge resource on the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign website (https://otjc.org.uk/). Somehow Ed's song really hit a nerve and correlated with issues I was drawn to, the starting point of political discourse on community breakdown, state and police brutality, and further control and privatization of the working class. But the nice thing about Ed's song is that it shows this through the personal perspective and the narrative of the individual that connects the listener through the raw emotion. "
This month, Jim participated in a new exhibition called From the Estate, a collaborative effort with photographer Laura Merrill that explores green spaces in four Sheffield community and council estates. Jim created a soundtrack that consisted of field recordings, archive recordings of singers in Sheffield, and subtle ambient musical contributions to create a sound piece for Laura's photography. I wish I had seen news of this earlier as I am very interested in it, the exhibition is over now, but you can read more about it here: https://www.s1artspace.org/programme/from-the- Estate /
I also recommend you check out the work of Multi-story, a community arts organization based in West Bromwich in the Sandwell borough that builds meaningful connections between local communities and artists to produce creative projects that tell stories of everyday life. "We believe in the power of art to reflect the time we live in and to tell stories to bring people together." More here: https://multistory.org.uk/
I have spoken to Scottish singers and harpists, composers, educators, directors and great thinkers Corrina Hewat the other week, after that, I dug up this favorite 2006 album that she did Kathryn Tickell. Brose: Brose and Butter / Bob and Joan / Drops of Brandy are as great now as they were when I first heard them.
According to Linernotes, the melody (Brose and Butter) was supposedly a favorite music of Charles II in his exile, which was dated to 1640 at the latest. It is known on both sides of the border and is known in Northumberland as "The Peacock Followed the Hen". The words are often attributed to Burns … there are multiple versions of what is usually a crude song, but they keep it clean here. Bob and Joan was first published in 1740, while Drops of Brandy is another tune popular in Scotland, England, Northumberland, and Ireland. Together with brose and butter, it was one of the original melodies to which the Scottish Lilt was danced.
Mrs. Mehefin is taken from Bendiththe 2016 album of the same name, a project that brought together Welsh bands Colorama and Plu. Back then, Carwyn Ellis of Colorama said:
“I was so happy that Elan, Marged and Gwilym von Plu wanted to work with me on this project. I like their music very much and their voices fit together perfectly. "
The songs are inspired by the roots – the feeling of place, family and home, with most of the songs being based on and named after a particular area of Carmarthenshire that Carwyn cares about. Many other instrumentalists appeared on the album, including Georgia Ruth and Patrick Rimes.
In Wales, Llif is taken from Fernhill ’s 2014 album Amser. Band member Julie Murphy told us at the time:
“The double album was recorded live over 3 days in January with producer (and musician) Rob Harbron in a beautiful old house on the Welsh / English border. It's an ecstatic musical exploration of love poetry, Welsh dance rhythm and ballad form. We are very proud of it.
"It contains many new musical settings of poetry, including Thomas Hardy's exquisite 'The self unseeing' ', while the words of Welsh poet Vernon Watkins are woven into the title song Amser, a collision of winter folk customs Wassail, Mari Lwyd, Calennig and the wren hunt."
We have Ciderhouse Rebellion’s from another Featured Album of the Month Genius Loci 1: White Summit. There are two tracks on the album here, the first, movement iv, is a poetry reading, followed by the instrumental Rose, one of the more meditative pieces. In his review, Thomas Blake noted that the entire album is related like a story, perhaps due to its portrayal of a type of journey that is both physical and emotional. It's a wonderful album and highly recommended.
The last track to be covered is from Cavan Folk singer Lisa O'Neill before we lead to Nic Jones, mentioned in the Honest Jon compilation above. "No Train to Cavan" comes from Lisa's 2013 album "Same Cloth or Not". This became such a favorite that I ended up getting a vinyl copy too, and it's a song that is still in high demand at their gigs. It was an eventful album released by Whelans (Dublin), followed by an Ireland tour with Glen Hansard and a UK tour with James Yorkston – we reviewed one of those nights here.
The album was recorded during the winter months in a beautiful rented cottage in Wicklow with David Kitt as producer and Karl Oldum Engineering and includes her band Stina Sandstrom (vocals) and Mossy Nolan (bouzouki) and some wonderful interventions by the London string duo Geese (Emma Smith and Vincent Sipprell).
That was & # 39; s people …
