Anyone familiar with Jenn Butterworth will be aware of how well-respected a guitarist she is on the folk scene. Collaboration seems to be a field in which she seems at home, and a glance through her profile reveals many of them to be significant milestone projects. She’s a member of the award-winning Kinnaris Quintet, was part of Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton’s SYMBIOSIS Big Band and was also a member of hugely popular Songs of Separation project. She also picked up ‘Musician of the Year’ at the most recent Scots Trad Music Awards (where Kinnaris Quintet also won The Belhaven Bursary for Innovation in Scottish Music).
On her 2017 duo album ‘Bound‘ with Laura-Beth Salter, they blended guitar, mandolin and voice in superbly crafted songs covering the likes of Mindy Smith and Jean Ritchie. It’s no surprise then with such trans-Atlantic tastes she should turn towards a song by Gillian Welch to reflect on the need for inner strength during these strange times we find ourselves in.
‘Hard Times Ain’t Gonna Rule My Mind’ featured on Welch’s 2011 album The Harrow And The Harvest. It was a prevalent song for many fans of Welch who knew that for eight years prior, between this release and her previous 2003 album Soul Journey Welch had struggled with writers’ block, an anxious time for any song writer. While it references the need for inner-strength it also serves as a reminder that there are others in our society today who will be carrying a far heavier burden.
Watch Jenn performing ‘Hard Times Ain’t Gonna Rule My Mind’ which is also our Song of the Day.
Singing, hard times ain’t gonna rule my mind, brother
Hard times ain’t gonna rule my mind
Hard times ain’t gonna rule my mind no more
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