I honestly don’t know if there are any people following this blog who expect a post a day. I do try my best to deliver. But sometimes in the summer it’s difficult to find something I’m passionate about (or at least interested in). This traditional sounding folk song from Fay Hield fits both categories. Clearly her voice is beyond beautiful, and while this style of folk often leaves me rather blase – this song and I expect this whole album (her debut) will be an exception to the rule.

Looking Glass is out in September in the UK but it appears you can order it now from the fine Folk mailing house – Fish Records UK here.

Two Brothers

Who wants to hear what it sounds like to combine Scottish folk with bluegrass? I do! I do! The band is called Southern Tenant Folk Union and the new record is The New Farming Scene.

South Ysthie

I was convinced I wouldn’t write about anything today and half convinced I wouldn’t write about music again period. That was until I learned of the new record from Martha Tilston. I have written about her brand of English folk here and here. She’s got an amazing voice that is put to great use on her songs of love, nature, and the English countryside.

Here’s her song “Rockpools” from the new record Lucy And The Wolves.

Rockpools

I’m not going to lie to you. I’d never really heard of Sam Barrett. Saw the name around a bit lately though. I guess I could read his bio and then relay it to you but really you could just do that for yourself.

While this song is fairly rough, I think it’s probably a good representation of the combination of acoustic blues, American folk, and traditional British folk that characterizes Sam’s sound. His delivery is much like that of The Tallest Man On Earth. I think I’d venture out to see Serious Sam Barrett.

Catch Serious Sam Barrett’s official showcase on Wednesday, March 17 at 8:20 PM at The Velveeta Room otherwise I imagine you’ll find him at the pub.

Lay a White Rose

“Lay A White Rose” video

Serious Sam Barrett – Lay A White Rose from James Rhodes on Vimeo.

I don’t know if this kid from England just emailed me or if he did a huge blast to every music blogger in town. For selfish reasons I hope I’m the only one, but for his sake I hope he at least hit up all the A-list music blogs. How does a kid like this just appear fully formed, with videos, songs, artwork and beautiful songs (did I say that yet)?

I’m going to give partial credit to the British school system and the rest to endless nights listening to Nick Drake, Felt, Bon Iver, and probably a fair amount of The Smiths.

Here’s Keaton Henson’s humble bio (check out his art as well here):

The songs i’ve put online are 7 of over 100 written since i was in pink converse and wearing headphones at the dinner table (about 16).

The fact that people can hear them is terrifying.

The fact that the people they’re about might hear them is mortifying.

I cannot play stairway to heaven. I struggle with bar chords. My songs are unashamed self indulgence and my only defense is that i didn’t think they would ever be heard.

They were recorded in my bedroom mainly, and occasionally in friendly studios, with help when needed from talented friends and family members.

I started charging for illustration in order to afford studio time. And got carried away.

My plan in the coming months is to release a limited edition cd in case anyone wants one, which would be madness.

I hereby promise not to blog about meals i’ve eaten, cool things ive bought or hilarious videos containing cats. I’m not entirely sure what that leaves to blog about but we’ll have to see.

i think that’ll do for now.

This is the song that struck me first and heaviest (although “Nests” below is steadily gaining ground with every listen).

Sarah Minor

Videos:

“Sarah Minor”

‘Sarah Minor’ from Keaton Henson on Vimeo.

“Nests”

‘Nests’ from Keaton Henson on Vimeo.

It’s been a couple of years since I wrote about Irish folk artist Kris Drever. As a result it’s almost time for his followup to his debut record Black Water. Kris is one of the new voices of Irish folk and has been nominated in the past as best male vocalist at the Irish Music Awards and also nominated by BBC Radio as best folk act. So his sophomore release is highly anticipated.

I’ve got the title track “Mark The Hard Earth” to share with you today. It’s a good example of traditional English folk accented with touches of more contemporary sounds.

Mark The Hard Earth

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I don’t post a lot of videos on songs:Illinois. For one reason I think it’s kind of lazy – we’re not called mp3 blogs for nothing and I think each post should have an mp3. Secondly the artists I write about don’t often have proper videos. They’re barely able to get their records out into the market, so I think doing a video is an afterthought if at all. So I was glad to get the new video for the Caroline Herring song “Tales Of The Islander”. The video does justice to Caroline’s beautiful song as well as showing her beautifully serene and peaceful personality.

The extent of my knowledge about traditional English folk is extremely limited. It just about starts and ends with Fairport Convention and subsequent albums by Richard Thompson. There’s something about that subgenre of folk that I find just too precious and self-conscious.

But something struck me as different when it comes to the songs of Nancy Wallace. Perhaps it was the artwork of the new record or perhaps it was the fact that it’s distributed by the unusually diverse (and divisive) Southern label. Either way listen to “Sleeping Sickness” off of Old Stories to hear how Ms. Wallace bridges the gap between tradition and the modern world of folk. Lots more info here.

Nancy Wallace English folk

Sleeping Sickness

Don’t ask me where I find this stuff cause I honestly don’t know. Just thank me in the comments;) Seriously, a folk opera of the old South by a band out of the UK, how cool is that? On the song “Southern Boys” it sounds like Joe Strummer meets Charlie Daniels and you know that can’t be bad. The band is called Lee’s Company and the new record is White Mansions.

Buy the new record here.

Southern Boys

Last Dance And The Kentucky Racehorse

The blogosphere was in a bit of a tizzy a month back with the announcement of the debut record from UK “folk singer” Ed Laurie. The track “Albert” was such a nice approximation of Leonard Cohen meets Gilberto Gil that it rightfully stoked a few fires in bloggers searching for tangible, authentic music. For now things have calmed down but expect to hear more from this artist as release date approaches.

In the meantime here are a couple demo’s. One from the new record and a bonus one that didn’t make the cut. As I’ve said before sometimes a demo is the best way to judge an artist. Stripped of any studio wizardry these songs are usually a good indication of whether the artist has the songs and the chops to succeed.

The new record, Meanwhile In The Park, comes out October 2 on Dangerbird. It was originally released in the UK in 2006.

Andalucia

Bonus demo

Midsummer’s Night Dream

And the title track from the new record

Meanwhile In The Park

London born and occasional Detroit resident Mr. David Viner has been signed by my favorite UK label Loose Records. It’s a great signing since David Viner’s brand of folk blues relies heavily on a gothic blues underpinning that should play well in Europe (think Nick Cave, Grinderman). His debut for Loose will be out Sept. 22 and is called Among The Rumours and the Rye. The first single will be a duet featuring Jaymay called “Go Home”.

You can hear bits of blues, Rolling Stones’ swagger, English folk and more in these three unreleased tracks from Viner’s archives.

Get Through This
Easier To Cry
Rolling Along