American folk

Watch Clifton Hicks performing Barbara Allen in the woods on his banjo. He learned this version from George Gibson of Knott County, Kentucky.

Fen, Farm & Deadly Water is an album filled with fun, thought and good tunes. The Trio bring a distinct flavour of versatility – in tunes, songs and arrangements. A lovely album with a great variety; a very accomplished set of parts and a very cohesive whole.

Our Tune of the Day comes from Laura Feddersen, Joel Wennerstrom, and Owen Marshall, a trio from Boston, Massachusetts who play great old-time and Irish traditional music.

Our Song of the Day comes from Amanda Opelt, a singer-songwriter whose style is rooted in the re-emerging Americana/folk style. She now lives in the mountains of North Carolina and has found a home in the strong community of artists and musicians there.

On the evidence of this recording, The Jellyman’s Daughter, have plotted a careful course and are set fair for the greater horizons that undoubtedly lie ahead. 

Watch Appalachian songwriter Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno performing Time Is Everything, the title of Leva’s debut album. They arrive in the UK next month and they come very high up on our list of gigs to see.

Sarah Louise’s Deeper Woods offers a broader sonic palette and the textures are more intricate and ambitious. The result is at once beautiful and beguiling; a hugely listenable spiritual abstract journey through deep and ancient landscapes, where there is always much to find and delight.

The Nelson Brothers are undeniably very fine songwriters and musicians – Migrant Tales leads the listener on a thoroughly enjoyable and evocative musical trip, it would be foolish not to get on board and share in their journey.

Brilliant writing and no-frills singing from a veteran of the game and a band of experienced musicians and guests who leave the words and the nuanced experience coming through in the vocals and lyrics to stand in the foreground, while weaving a musical web that keeps the whole thing perfectly cohesive throughout.

I can’t fault the playing here one jot, nor indeed the production quality of Volunteer, nor for that matter the songs themselves which clearly display both affection and craft. But I’m left with a nagging feeling that there’s more than a hint of contrivance, “adopting a role” and being all things to all listeners with this album.

Dom Flemons pays tribute to the music, culture, and the complex history of the golden era of the Wild West’s and sheds light on the role that African-American, Native American and Mexican men and women pioneers played in westward expansion. An enduring testament to the Black cowboys and what they represent.

Taken from his new album ‘Black Cowboys’, watch Dom Flemons performing “Going Down the Road Feelin’ Bad”, a favourite of the old-time string bands. The album is out now on Smithsonian Folkways.