The Folk Show this week features music from some of our current Featured Albums of the Month as well as from Lisa O’Neill, our Artist of the Month for November.
We also have music from Ye Vagabonds alongside some old vinyl recordings I’ve acquired over the years (which I’ve recently cleaned up for recording) including Dick Gaughan‘s True & Bold – Songs of the Scottish Miners (1986) and Jean Redpath‘s Frae My Ain Countrie (1973). There are also new releases from Fara, Gilmore and Roberts, Karine Polwart, Siobhan Miller, Talisk, The Furrow Collective, The Willows, The Trials of Cato, Dylan Walshe, Daoirí Farrell and Sons of Mowgli. And finally – music from the newly re-mastered The Music of Bagpuss which features songs by Sandra Kerr and John Faulkner. Lots more detail on the music played can be found below.
The Music We Played
00:00 Siobhan Miller – The Western Edge
from Mercury (Album Review)
“…one of Mercury’s most memorable and engaging songs, The Western Edge. Inspired by Kenneth Steven’s remarkable suite of poems, A Song Among the Stones is an imagined journey by the very earliest Celtic monks, setting forth from Iona to seek solitude on Iceland. Siobhan’s musical retelling of these fragments echoes the evocative imagery of Steven’s work. With Lauren MacColl’s violin and Kris Drever’s guitar, The Western Edge weaves a rich, colourful tapestry; a song that lingers in the memory, and draws the listener back for frequent visits.” Neil McFadyen (review of Mercury).
04:32 The Willows – Pearl Hart
from Through the Wild (Album Review)
“The songwriting has a deceptively light touch – the recurrence of nautical imagery lends a poetic resonance to a piece that is already dripping with emotional candour. Pearl Hart is impressive in a very different way. Propelled by Savage’s electric guitar and some kinetic fiddle, it is a lesson in how to manipulate the atmosphere with music. Its lyrics tell the story of the eponymous Pearl, a Canadian-born woman whose obsession with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show eventually led her to a life of crime.” Thomas Blake (review of Through the Wild).
08:34 The Trials Of Cato – These Are The Things
from Hide and Hair (Album Review)
“These Are The Things, which has the anger and outrage of the best Oysterband songs. The lyrics list a catalogue of crimes against justice, put on trial by the Cato band, ending with a call for the tables to be turned on the rich and powerful. It’s bold and beautiful.” Peter Shaw (review of Hide and Hair)
11:51 Talisk – Cabot Trail
from Beyond (Album Review)
“…built around Hayley’s melody in praise of Cape Breton’s natural wonders. Part dance, part birdsong, but all beautiful, the track opens like a warm summer day, and as the heat builds towards a storm to unleash belligerent strings, a strong sense of the wild.” Neil McFadyen (review of Beyond)
16:36 Gilmore & Roberts – Just A Piece Of Wood
from A Problem of Our Kind (Album Review)
“Gilmore’s final song, Just A Piece Of Wood, is a layered reflection on a musician’s relationship with her art, and the physicality of playing a particular instrument. It also becomes a deeper commentary on the lasting nature of objects and the memories they carry.” Thomas Blake (review of A Problem of our Kind)
20:46 Karine Polwart – Crow On The Cradle
from Laws of Motion (Album Review)
“…the bird theme continues, but in an entirely different vein, for Sydney Carter‘s anti-war song, Crow On The Cradle, with a guitar duet and a resounding chant for the dramatic closing section.” Neil McFadyen (review of Laws of Motion)
25:01 Lisa O’Neill – The Factory Girl
from Heard a Long Gone Song (Album Review)
“For The Factory Girl, Lisa returns to the singing of Margaret Barry for inspiration, along with Dubliner Nellie Weldon. Again, this is a beautifully unhurried traditional ballad, but for this vocal-only performance, Lisa is joined by singer Radie Peat(Lankum). It would be no exaggeration to say that the impact of the arrangement Lisa and Radie have developed together surpasses any I’ve experienced. With voices as well matched as a set of uilleann pipes; these two 21st century women are inspired by the performances of two 20th century women in an 18th-century song about feminine pride and dignity. It’s utterly spellbinding.” Neil McFadyen (review if Heard a Long Gone Song)
31:25 Ye Vagabonds – Pomegranate
from Ye Vagabonds (Album Review)
“There appears to be something of a lineage from Irish poetry, in particular perhaps the ruminations of Yeats and James Joyce, but there also seem to be resonances of Dylan Thomas. Deceptively, a depth of emotion can be hidden beneath imagery that’s less personal or precise…Pomegranate would seem to be an honest if enigmatic study in obsession and possession.” David Kidman (review of Ye Vagabonds)
34:33 Dick Gaughan – Schooldays End
from True and Bold – Songs of the Scottish Miners (1986)
37:37 Jean Redpath – The Gairdner Child
from Frae My Ain Countrie (1973)
From liner notes: “Murray Shoolbraid, originally from Leslie in Fife, was living in Vancouver, B.C.’ when we met. I envy him his card index of Scottish songs and his ability to provide text with a melody like this. The words are found in Greig’s Folk-song of the Northeast, the original text being from Mrs. Jaffray of Mintlaw. The apparent confusion of this version as it stands (who is saying what and to whom?) is cleared up by the second text on Grieg which, although fragmentary, has a complimentary story line…”
Introduction notes to the album below:
41:33 The Furrow Collective – Write Me Down
from Fathoms (Album Review)
“Continuing the themes of hope and love, Write Me Down is much more contemplative but no less impressive. This version draws heavily on that by Cecilia Costello (an Irish singer who emigrated to Birmingham) but it was also known to be in the repertoire of the Copper family.” Thomas Blake (review of Fathoms).
44:06 Fara – Song (Love Gathers All)
from Times from Times Fall (Album Review)
“Edwin Muir‘s poem ‘Song’, from The Labyrinth, was the inspiration for Love Gathers All and provides the album with its title. A recently featured Song of the Day on Folk Radio, soft piano and pizzicato violin frame Jeana’s exquisite vocal, for Muir’s beautiful poem, before the song expands to embrace quietly intricate layers of vocal, violin, and keyboard.” Neil McFadyen (review of Times from Times Fall)
47:37 Dylan Walshe – At Sea
from All Manner of Ways (released 26 October 2018)
Press: ‘All Manner Of Ways’ is the new album from Irish singer-songwriter Dylan Walshe. It was recorded in East Nashville, Tennessee, where Dylan currently resides. This self-released debut studio record of ten original songs features guests such as James Feamley of The Pogues & Andy Gibson of Hank Williams III. It is the sound of Dylan’s journey, from Dublin to Tennessee, a record & artist steeped in tradition, but never bound by it.
The verses of the song are an alternating conversation between father and son (starting with the father).
50:35 Sandra Kerr and John Faulkner – The Bony King of Nowhere
from The Music of Bagpuss (read our release article here)
Sandra Kerr (mother of Nancy Kerr) has a long and distinguished career in English folk music which began with her training in the famous Critic’s Group (1963-72 ), under the guidance of Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. London-born multi-instrumentalist and songwriter John Faulkner also fell under their guidance before being introduced to the world of British and Irish folk music. Faulkner went on to play with some of the best, including West Clare fiddler Bobby Casey, piper Tom McCarthy, and Sligo flautist Rodger Sherlock (read more).
53:51 Daoirí Farrell – Rosie Reilly
from A Lifetime of Happiness (due for release in early 2019)
The single Galway Shawl/Rosie Reilly is released today (November 9th). Daoirí is currently on tour including the Komedia Bath here in the South West on 13th November (Tickets and Full Tour details here)
57:03 Sons of Mowgli – What Hope?
from Wasted Years EP (Released 28 October 2018)
Sons of Mowgli are a 3-piece acoustic dream folk band from Merseyside, that formed in 2014 by former members Dean Mack & Marc Price of Liverpool based band “Mowgli”. The band launched their debut EP in 2014, quickly followed in 2015 by the “We had a time” album released by Hoylake based record label Ako Records. Em Hughes, who in her own right was an established solo musician joined the band in 2015 and after collaborating with other musicians over the years (Barry O’Neil – Piano, Steve Ako – Harmonica & Bass, Andy Royden – Drums) the band stripped back to their original acoustic roots in January 2018 as a 3-piece band to work on live shows and new material. Dean, Marc & Emily have re-worked many of their older tracks and created many new ones and have played many live shows in 2018 including various festivals.
Available on Limited Edition CD via the Sons of Mowgli Facebook Page – www.facebook.com/sonsofmowgli
Photo by oldskool photography on Unsplash