I give to you Frankie Archer. I first heard this lady on Mark Radcliffe’s BBC Folk Show and I was impressed. See comments for a video.
Alex Campbell: The godfather of troubadours in Britain
A public service upload: Alex Campbell (1931-87), the godfather of all modern troubadours in Britain – ‘there’ before all the 60s people – live at the BBC 1966-79. These recordings are sourced from transcription discs and give a flavour of his folk club act in the middle 60s and then a concert recording from the mid 70s and finally Cambridge Folk Festival in 1979.
Alex was foremost an entertainer – from the Paris streets in the 50s to being a top draw during the peak of the folk club boom in the 60s and on into being a grand old man of the European folk festival scene in the 70s and 80s. He did write some songs – ‘My Old Gibson Guitar’ is among the songs in the montage, while ‘Been On the Road So Long’ (not in the montage, alas) remains his compositional classic.
Repertoire-wise, he was a bit like Leadbelly in the US in the 30s and 40s – a repository of songs from all kinds of sources, from Scottish traditional songs to Music Hall numbers, blues, Woody Guthrie songs, and original songs by his peers that took his fancy. He was, for instance, among the first to » Continue Reading.
Murkey’s Marvellous Mixtape 2018
I’ve finally got around to writing up my notes of my Spotify mix for 2018. I hope you enjoy it!
Here’s a mix of my favourite pieces of music, new or old, that I discovered in 2018. Eight different countries are covered this time, but bar a couple of African and a couple of Indian numbers it’s fairly Western-centric.
As ever, remember Spotify pays bugger all, so please check out the artists, follow them, buy their music, go to gigs etc.
Here it is: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7mssuvgesf2F6xhuQjJFVi
1. Anna & Elizabeth – Mother in the Graveyard
It’s traditional that I start with my favourite discovery of the year, which I concluded was this one, by the same American singers that closed last year’s mix.
From ‘The invisible comes to us’ (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 2018)
2. Kylie Minogue – Golden
I adore Kylie and she’s back with a great new album, complete with a country tinge.
From ‘Golden’ (BMG, 2018)
3. Norma Waterson and Eliza Carthy with the Gift Band – Strange Weather
This mother and daughter are stalwarts of the English folk tradition, but Norma’s wonderful voice works just as well (or possibly, whisper it, better) on jazzy versions of original songs » Continue Reading.
Folk music in England: is it a busted flush?
I noticed in Ian Anderson’s editorial in the current fRoots (formerly ‘Folk Roots – the long-ago disguising of its origins perhaps ironic in the circumstances) that he despairs at the current audience demographic at folk music shows in England, which he notes has been a long-ticking time bomb.
In short, almost all the punters – even at shows by young performers (‘BBC folk-person-under-30-of-the-year’ awardees et al.) – are in their 60s and beyond. He ends by saying that his last mission will be to try and ‘get young folk musicians their own audience’. It’s a telling phrase. 20 / 30 year old artists in the folk idiom in England have essentially been borrowing, and living off, the early 70s Fairport convention audience for the past 50 years.
I don’t live in England and have only occasionally been at folk music gigs there so I can’t really bring much to the discussion, but from my limited experience Ian’s words ring true. What say others here?
The question isn’t about people saying ‘Oh, I saw young Sophie Swithins at the Toad & Sandcastle folk club last week and she was really good – and only 29!’ – it’s a matter » Continue Reading.
Maura Guerrera
A Facebook pal in Brittany suggested I gave Ms Guerrera here a listen. I can do better than that. I can post her on the AW, thus ensuring international stardom.
I have a soft spot for the kind of small, tightly packed folk club where this was filmed. Full of serious young men stroking their goatees or serious older men scratching their bald heads and knocking back the local cider.
