How is it that the music of Rita Hosking keeps getting better and better? Maybe that’s not a surprise to some, but I have another question: how is it that she is not a household name among we folk music enthusiasts? She should be by now. We know her music around this house. Fiddlefreak has… Continue reading Rita Hosking: For Real
Cliff Stapleton & Friends Present – The Tumbling of Creatures: Music For The Hurdy-Gurdy I first heard the intoxicating music of Cliff Stapleton at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, WA (USA) when I stumbled upon a hurdy-gurdy jam as I roved out to enjoy a golden summer’s evening. The sun filtered… Continue reading Cliff Stapleton: The Tumbling of Creatures
What is it about blind musicians that makes them so dang good at their craft? Doc Watson. Ray Charles. O’Carolan. Stevie Wonder. I could go on, but I won’t. The Old Blind Dogs can still see pretty well, they’re not that old yet–but they are surely among the best folk bands in the world, and… Continue reading Old Blind Dogs: Room With A View
Old ballads draw some singers like a siren song that cannot be denied. Part of the joy of collecting and presenting these ancient songs to a modern audience comes from finding, combining, dropping and adding words and verses, swapping melodies and hooks and finally recording an arrangement that resonates with the listener of today. This is… Continue reading Lindsay Straw: The Fairest Flower of Womankind
A handful of times in your life, you hear a band or a soloist who rocks your world. You hear the music on the radio or at a live show, or at a friend’s house, and you fall in love. Sometimes that song or that record will become a “gateway drug” to a whole new… Continue reading Väsen: Brewed
Seven tracks — does that make an EP, or full length album? A burning question for sure. In the mean time, I’m here to heartily recommend the new release from Rayna Gellert called Workin’s Too Hard. As with her previous release (reviewed here), there’s not a fiddle tune to be found, even though she is… Continue reading Rayna Gellert: Workin’s Too Hard
The Immigrant Band is John Doyle, Rafe Stefanini, Clelia Stefanini, John Herrmann, and Eamon O’Leary. Their self-titled debut album (on Yodel-Ay-Hee Records) hit the streets earlier this year to much well-deserved fanfare in both Irish and oldtime music circles. John Doyle is listed as producer and he recorded, edited, and mixed this record; it’s infused… Continue reading The Immigrant Band
