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Listening In: Melissa Ferrick 'The Truth Is'

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:49:35 +0000

I have to admit, I've been a fan of Melissa Ferrick's music for years. Back around 1995, when I was first exploring the world of singer-songwriters and contemporary folk music, Melissa Ferrick's early recordings were instrumental in drawing me into the form. So, I've followed her career through the years and enjoyed watching her songwriting take all its twists and turns, exploring new themes and avenues, and expanding her horizons along the way. Her live shows have always been invigorating and her records have always piqued my interest.

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Artists to Watch: Tall Heights

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:55:44 +0000

Over the past couple of years, the American folk music scene has seen its share of songwriting duos. From the Milk Carton Kids to male-female duos like Shovels + Rope and Birds of Chicago, and beyond, folks seem to be moving away from the 10-person band lineups and closer to a more simplified roster (still striving to achieve as much of a lush sound as possible). Whereas the big bands of three-to-five years ago stretched the imaginations of their songwriters, challenging them to add as many instruments as possible without resulting in utter chaos, singer-songwriter duos have been doing their best to keep it to just two voices and two instruments. Their challenge has been how far two people can push the music within those confines.

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CD Review: Patty Griffin - 'American Kid'

Fri, 10 May 2013 08:15:38 +0000

Ever since her 1997 debut, Patty Griffin has become one of the most inspired and influential songwriters of her generation. You'd be hard-pressed to find an up-and-coming singer-songwriter who hasn't been touched by at least one of her songs along the way, and with good reason. Griffin has a skill for not only making a lovely melody bend around hard-hitting lyrics, but for getting inside her songs and delivering the complexity of emotions that's so difficult to nail.

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Artists to Watch: Ruth Moody (of the Wailin' Jennys)

Thu, 09 May 2013 11:14:29 +0000

Many fans of American and Canadian folk music will probably know about Ruth Moody through the fact that she is one-third of the much-beloved Canadian folk trio the Wailin' Jennys. Before that, she collaborated with members of the Duhks on another much-loved Canadian roots troupe called Scruj MacDuhk. And, she's also got a fledgling solo career that's well worth paying attention to.

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Artists to Watch: Aoife O'Donovan

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:56:30 +0000

Aoife O'Donovan is most likely best-known for being the breathy-voiced frontwoman and singer-songwriter at the helm of progressive bluegrass troupe Crooked Still. She co-founded the group in the summer of 2001 with a peer from the New England Conservatory, a student from MIT and one from the Berklee College of Music. Drawing from those schools' incredible interest in creative innovation, the band started its career almost innately pushing the boundaries of traditional music. But, as time wore on, Crooked Still's members became more and more intwined in other projects, eventually deciding to call a hiatus while they focused on other things.

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RIP Richie Havens: Jan. 1941 - Apr. 2013

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:14:18 +0000

Richie Havens - the folksinger best known for his lengthy set opening Woodstock in 1969 - died this week of a heart attack, at his home in New Jersey, at the age of 72.

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Lake Street Dive, Feist, Andrew Bird, JD McPherson, More Shape Pickathon 2013

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 09:39:55 +0000

Pickathon - the indie roots music festival which takes place each year outside Portland, Ore., on the lovely Pendarvis Farm - has announced some additions to its 2013 (15th Anniversary) lineup. Ty Segall, the Relatives, and Jessica Pratt will join a remarkable mix of other artists to round out this year's festival. No doubt there will be more lineup announcements to come.

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Artists to Watch: Andrew Duhon

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:28:12 +0000

When you listen to Andrew Duhon's new album The Moorings, you'd hardly believe he wasn't weened on New Orleans soul music. He grew up taking piano lessons but the music didn't really stick right away. It wasn't high school, when a sports injury kept him out of the game long enough to develop an affection for the guitar, that Duhon really found his musical haven. Then, in college, he finally moved from his suburban home in Metairie, Louisiana, to the heart of the French Quarter, and discovered what New Orleans music was all about.

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Black Prairie Announces Summer Dates

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:29:19 +0000

Portland-based indie folk stringband Black Prairie announced today that it has secured dates at two of the finest festivals in the Eastern half of the US - Newport Folk Festival and Bonnaroo 2013. The latter will see them on a special Bluegrass Situation stage, hosted by actor/banjo picker Ed Helms, representing the blog by the same name. (Full disclosure: I've written for that site.)

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Ani DiFranco Welcomes New Baby Boy

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 06:17:57 +0000

It seems like it hasn't been often in the folk music world that there's big baby news. But, there have been three big pregnancies lately that I'm aware of - Abigail Washburn and her husband Bela Fleck are expecting sometime later this spring. (Washburn was visibly pregnant during her Asheville show a month or two ago.) Anais Mitchell, on tour now with Jefferson Hamer, will be ending the tour right around the time she's too pregnant to drive around the country anymore.

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