Folk albums of 2007

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: ThreeSheds
Date: 31 Oct 07 - 07:25 AM

Beware clicking on Banjimans link if youre in a hurry, it links to so much excellant stuff that you'll not get out of the house!!

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: Banjiman
Date: 31 Oct 07 - 06:29 AM

OK Shimrod......listen to this and tell me it is crap

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 31 Oct 07 - 06:19 AM

You know you're getting old (alt. explanation: the world is going mad)when you read a thread on recent folk albums and you haven't heard, or heard of (!), about 90% of the artists mentioned in it.

Still, I'm not too worried about this state of affairs as 'Sturgeon's Law' probably applies ie. "90% of everything is crap".

I have heard of (and heard) Mary Humphreys & Anahata, by the way - and they are excellent and definitely not crap.

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: wrotham-arms-jen
Date: 31 Oct 07 - 05:12 AM

Duncan,
Incase you haven't found it...

Kim Headley, Artistic Director
Broadstairs Folk Week
Pieremont Hall
Broadstairs
Kent
CT10 1JX

e-mail [e-mail]

Good luck to you!
waj

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: Cobble
Date: 30 Oct 07 - 08:34 PM

Real folk music is written by people that have experienced what they are singing about, not a load of crap by someone who is out to make a fast buck off what they have seen on the news etc.

Cobble.

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: Declan
Date: 30 Oct 07 - 08:26 PM

Diane said "I'd have extreme difficulty in accepting a definition of 'contemporary folk' applied to Bellowhead and Bodega. Good grief! They are bang up-to-date bands".

Not wanting to start a slagging match here, and I may be quoting selectively, but what does the word contemporary mean if it is not bang up to date - so what is the problem with the word contemporary describing the bands in question.

The English language, which I speak, but have no claim to ownership of, is being strangled in these silly folk definition wars. I like both Bodega and Bellowhead. They are both,as Diane has said, well rooted in their traditions - but if that means they can't be described as contemporary, we're all using the wrong words.

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: HipflaskAndy
Date: 30 Oct 07 - 07:29 PM

I'll send Kim a CD or two - thanks for the info - presumably via any addy found on their fest website?
Nowt wrong wi' first album - second is divisions better in class tho'
- read an independant review on www.folkwords.com
Never met them folks - but they seem to know that it's quality folk-rock they've encountered!
Thanks for the encouragement folks! - D

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: Banjiman
Date: 30 Oct 07 - 04:21 PM

w-a-j......not was the pinnacle but will be the pinnacle...The Winter Warmer Weekend is in February 2008.

In all seriousness, The Duncan McFarlane Band do deserve a much bigger stage than we can give them at Kirkby Fleetham....I don't know what is wrong with the first album personally never mind the current release.

Paul

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: BB
Date: 30 Oct 07 - 03:36 PM

Duncan, Kim Headley who is the Artistic Director at Broadstairs, does listen to the CDs she's sent, and often books on the strength of them, although a personal word from someone she trusts also helps sometimes. She also goes to the AFO conference and talks to a lot of people there, as she's not a 'folkie', so listens to those 'in the know' to some extent.

If you're really pleased with the new CD, it might be worth sending it, although she's already got most of her main stage line-up for next year booked, I think.

I haven't heard you yet, but the various things on here about you make me want to.

Good luck.

Barbara

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: wrotham-arms-jen
Date: 30 Oct 07 - 10:01 AM

Duncan,

Assuming Paul's wrong and that wasn't the pinnacle of your career...
I can put a word in, but my clout is very limited, alas. IMHO would be a wonderful addition to a good fest.

A thread is a great idea. Would have to say that I may not be the best to start it since I am less than anonymous and have a business interest...hmmmm me thinks time to change my identity...where's the closest phone box these days?

Go on, I dare someone to start it up so I can at least observe from behind my screen.

waj

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: Banjiman
Date: 30 Oct 07 - 08:13 AM

Duncan,

I thought you had already reached the pinnacle playing Kirkby Fleetham Folk Club in February for the Winter Warmer Weekend

....you mean you need more than this!!!!

Paul

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: HipflaskAndy
Date: 30 Oct 07 - 06:22 AM

No royalties neccessary waj.
Quite pleased someone actually heard of the song & album!
Bless!
It's bloomin hard to get exposure on the 'scene' when you put
out on 'own label' with no management or agent.

- just hoping the newie 'All Rogues & Villains'
gets more of a 'fair go' than 'Woodshed'.
So far so good - lotsa fine reviews (try www.folkwords.com)
and plenty of BBC radio plays - local level! - Shropshire, Derby, Leeds etc - all to high acclaim
- but not Radio 2 - wonder why?
We truly believe this is a grand CD!
(well they would say that.....hah!)

Broadstairs - a fest we'd gladly bring the band to...
got any clues for us as to how we get noticed by 'em?
Sending a CD (when they get so many) seems fruitless in the main.
I wonder if the right folks get to hear - when we post out
- one rarely gets feedback - but perhaps that's fodder for another thread discussion?
Cheers - D

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 03:21 PM

- says it's grand enough but we're better in the raw!

This is dangerous talk Dunc!

Best of luck

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: wrotham-arms-jen
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 03:15 PM

duncan

tis my pub where we are holding 'Woodshed Sessions' led by the talented Bob Kenward. he named the sessions after the story in "woodshed boys"...hope you arent expecting any royalties!!!

stop by if you are passing through broadstairs...oh, hold on...nobody passes thru broadstairs

waj

wrotham arms

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: HipflaskAndy
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 02:30 PM

Thanks Les - how I wish we could get a gig over your neck o th woods
- so we can play for ya - you allus say grand things about us!
Cheers!
Side note - another thread mentions the DMcF band's Woodshed Boys album
- says it's grand enough but we're better in the raw!
The new one (All Rogues & Villains) is much more like our live efforts innit
- glad you like it - cheers - Duncan

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 01:42 PM

Buy The Duncan McFarlane album, put it on the dansette and you will be excited by the excellent music that comes out.

Certainly album of the year, great tunes, new songs interesting arrangements.

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: wrotham-arms-jen
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 11:10 AM

thx leveller have not heard of it but will certainly check it out.

waj

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: theleveller
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 09:32 AM

"theleveller has just mentioned my 3 fav cd's"

Great stuff, w-a-j. Have you heard The Imagined Village, yet? Very different, but I think it's great (see the thread on it).

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 09:08 AM

oooh - I bought Harlan County USA from iTunes, Dick G, and have to agree that it's fantastic!

Fenlandia is very good. I think Martin Simpson will win album of the year for Prodigal Son. I've only listened to Jim Causley's CD once so far, but I liked it a lot.

I heard Bella Hardy's CD recently, and I really liked her voice.

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: GUEST,Graham.R.
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 08:44 AM

my vote goes to Mary Humphreys & Anahata's Fenlandia

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: wrotham-arms-jen
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 04:20 PM

theleveller has just mentioned my 3 fav cd's

oysterband...meet you there
martin simpson...prodigal son
steve knightley...cruel river

so need to check out his other leads, thanks leveller

J

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: HipflaskAndy
Date: 27 Oct 07 - 08:06 AM

Thanks Dave - wish we could achieve a wider audience!

But I must point out - it's a band effort - the other five...
Geoff, Anne, Steve, Tony and Nick....
on leccie guitar, fiddle, melodeon, bass guitar and drums respectively...
....have made a magnificent contribution to that album,
one that we all agree is far superior to any work we've all done before.

Six way credit then, not just me - cheers - Duncan

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 26 Oct 07 - 05:34 AM

I love Traitor's Love, George, nice one! Froots review didn't seem to pick up on it although it did mention Jim duetting with Sandra Kerr on Lady Skin & Bone even though she isn't even on that track and doesn't actually sing anywhere on the album!

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: theleveller
Date: 26 Oct 07 - 05:04 AM

Albums I've particularly enjoyed this year are:

Oysterband - Meet You There
Martin Simpson - Prodigal Son
Steve Knightley - Cruel River
Waterboys - Book of Lightning

and a CD from a young singer/songwriter from York called Dan Webster - The Other Side of Brightness. Not everyone's cup of tea, maybe, but it keeps finding its way onto my CD player.

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: Folkiedave
Date: 26 Oct 07 - 04:28 AM

Can I just echo the Duncan McFarlane record as a nomination?

This guy needs and deserves to be much better known.

If this was heard on a wider scale it would walk Album of the Year.

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: mattkeen
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 02:30 PM

Yves Lambert & Le Bebert Orchestra - self titled

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: GUEST,The Ballad of the Bold Researcher
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 12:20 PM

"Can anyone suggest a better term?"

John Tams has refered to it as popular music...works for me

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 10:04 AM

Martin Simpson - Prodigal Son

June Tabor - Apples

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: GUEST,Dazbo at work
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 07:06 AM

If anyone doesn't know the Askew Sisters, and for those who already do, there are some clips taken from one of their Sidmouth Folkweek 2007 gigs on youtube. Search on Askew Sisters should find them. (PS videoed and put on youtube with their approval)

PPS I really like their CD and John Kirkpatrick's Bare Bones but it has been a quiet year for the stuff I like

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 05:48 AM

I'd have extreme difficulty in accepting a definition of 'contemporary folk' applied to Bellowhead and Bodega. Good grief! They are bang up-to-date bands playing mainly trad music rooted firmly in their respective English and Scottish traditions. Bodega won the Young Folk Award a couple of years ago and Bellowhead have a prime position on the touring circuit and are, individually, heavily involved in vast numbers of ceilidh bands and concert combinations.

To answer the question, truly outstanding releases (among many others) I have come across this year include Fenlandia, Askew Sisters, Trespasser and Jim Causley, all I think, already mentioned.

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: Banjiman
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 03:43 AM

Dick,

Thanks for your clarification....I've fallen off my high horse now....how about just calling it contemporary folk?

Paul

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: pdq
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 09:06 PM

John Prine and Mac Wiseman did a really nice record this year called "Standard Songs For Average People" which, despite the tongue-in-cheek quality of the title, is fine effort by both singers.

Prine is better known to folkies, but Mac Wiseman is a legend in Country Music and one of it's best lead tenors. He is 82 and still handily out-sings Prine who is 59. In all fairness, Prine has worked very hard to improve his diction (which it needed). Wiseman has phrasing that is hard to match.

I listen to the more than any other CD from this year and find it "works" driving to a job or sitting around in the evening having a beer.

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 06:35 PM

Sorry-I didn't mean to sound derogatory. It's just that there is a vast difference between, say, Bellowhead or Bodega and many of the more contemporary performers that have been mentioned in this thread and the Brazil Family or John Roberts, say. It's a difference in kind, not of quality. Can anyone suggest a better term?

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: C. Ham
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 06:32 PM

C Ham: James Keelaghan's UK rep assures me she received the album in 2007. I certainly received my copy this year. Could it have come out across the Atlantic first and not hit the UK until his tour?

I got it in the summer of 2006. According to Festival Distribution's catalogue site, the release date was June 27, 2006.

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: GUEST,Jeff
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 06:28 PM

Tom Dundee: Fleeting Moment: Live performances from 1973 to 2006. Available @ http://www.cdbaby.com/all/tomdundee

This is a retrospective set of live performances culled from many, many hours of recordings from variety of places. He was a friend of Steve Goodman and John Prine and though lesser known his body of work is every bit as strong. For those who take joy in finding gems this would be an unpolished, but brilliant stone. Tom died last year in April at the age of 59.

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: Banjiman
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 06:07 PM

Dick....Folk pop...can you define?

I would not say the Young 'uns (traditional a'capella except 1 track) Keeper's Fold (a high proportion of traditional material, mainly English) or Wendy Arrowsmith (half the album traditional, mainly Scottish) really fit into your clearly derisory categorisation.

Paul

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 05:55 PM

Is this discussion being limited to folk-pop recordings?
There's a ton of fine trad-style material that was released this year.
To name a very few,
"There's Gangs of Them Digging"   Frank Harte (Daisy)
"Fenlandia" Mary Humphries and Anahata (Wildgoose)
"Harlan County" various (Rounder)
"Down By the Old Riverside" the Brazil Family (Musical Traditions)
"Sea Fever" John Roberts (Golden Hind)
"White Wings" Alison McMorland and Geordie McIntyre (Greentrax)
"Feathered Maiden" Lisa Null (Folk-Legacy)
"Three Score and Ten" Peggy Seeger (Appleseed)
"These Bones" Cooper & Nelson (Self Produced)
"Take the road to Aberfeldy" Margaret Bennett (Camsco)

I could go on and on, but why bother. I'm having enough trouble keeping the list up-to-date at camscomusic.com

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: GUEST,Greg Doucette
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 05:00 PM

Whoops. I forgot John Roberts' "Sea Fever". It's a joy.

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: Banjiman
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 04:45 PM

Oh, I forgot one!
Steve Bailey: "Words, Lines & Rhymes" http://www.myspace.com/stevebaileyacoustic

Now this is a seriously cool album, you really should have a listen if you like your folk with a touch of blues & country, Steve writes great songs!

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: Banjiman
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 01:39 PM

My faves of 2007, none of these are huge releases, mainly done for the joy of music rather than substantial financial return.

You can hear songs from most of them on MySpace, I implore you to have a listen:

Brother Crow: "One for sorrow" http://www.myspace.com/brothercrowfolk

Dave Gibb: "Avalon"   http://www.myspace.com/davegibb

The Young 'uns: "To Hell with Pirate John" http://www.myspace.com/theyoungunsmusic

Wendy Arrowsmith "Now Then?" http://www.myspace.com/wendyarrowsmith
(Listen without prejudice....I have to declare a vested interest....I'm married to her!)


I haven't heard the full album below yet but I was there at the live recording and felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up at the harmonies (from the audience as well as from the stage!!!):

Keepers Fold: "Songs for The Singing vol 1"

Paul

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: GUEST,Arnie
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 12:07 PM

These are supposedly good folk albums. Anyone have these on their lists?
http://www.canadianfolkmusicawards.ca/cfma/index.php?page_id=16

I'd venture to say there are many many great recordings in 2007 not even thought of by any given person or organization making up their best of list,(who can possibly have listened to the enormous output of cds in a year) when you delve into the various folk genres. These kinds of contests are becoming a bit ridiculous. So many great recordings aren't even submitted to any kind of contest. I know one thing - that much of the recorded music coming out of a brand new generation of great players and awesome talent is better than ever! We are in for an exciting time. Enjoy the music.

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 11:34 AM

Damn, I forgot Fenlandia - indeed there's a worthy candidate!
No, Anahata, mine should come out February (tentative title "Lifeseyes").

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: Folkiedave
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 11:08 AM

The Askew Sisters record is terrific (as are the Askew Sisters).

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: GUEST,Colin Randall
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 11:06 AM

Treewind: Yes, that was my post - I appeared as a guest because I'd forgotten my password and then compounded it by not adding my name. And thanks for the Askew Sisters/Fenlandia tips - living abroad is no excuse for having to admit these names are new to me

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: treewind
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 10:18 AM

George: will your new one be out before the end of the year?

Nigel: OK - the cheque's in the post!

And for the guest (apparently Colin R.) who wanted to investigate: Askew Sisters (a bit out of date, but I'm sure you can follow the advertised CD buying procedure for "Four by Two" to get a copy of "All in a Garden Green" and Fenlandia ("buy online" link recommended!) both on WildGoose of course.

Anahata
(brazenly exploiting possible Xmas sales opportunity)

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: Santa
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 10:18 AM

Bob Fox? John Tams? I must admit not remembering any recently-bought cd as outstanding, or playing non-stop (as some kind of guide). Of course, a new Threlfall Trio CD is mentioned as coming this year, so there is still hope.

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: GUEST,Guest: Greg Doucette
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 10:10 AM

Banjo Monologues by Joel Mabus

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 09:55 AM

Er...Jim Causley's "Lost Love Found", released 2 weeks ago....
And VickiSwan/Jonny Dyer's Sliptease.
And Lynn Heraud/Pat Turner's new one - is it September Song?

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: The Sandman
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 09:52 AM

Daniel O Donnell,the cup of tea?

Subject: RE: Folk albums of 2007
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 09:47 AM

Definitely Duncan McFarlane!