FolkWorld #69 07/2019

German News


Happy Birthday

Cathal McConnell

Artist Video Cathal McConnell
@ FROG


www.cathalmcconnell.com

Elena Ledda

Artist Video Elena Ledda
@ FROG


Si Kahn

»Mother Jones In Heaven«

Artist Video Si Kahn
@ FROG


www.sikahn.com

Bobby Gardiner, by Sean Laffey

Artist Video Bobby Gardiner
@ FROG


bobbygardiner.com

Greg Brown (*2 July 1949, Iowa, USA). Born Gregory Dane Brown, the singer-songwriter had recurring performances on the radio variety show A Prairie Home Companion and self-published two albums. In 1983 his friend Bob Feldman founded Red House Records (named for a farmhouse in Iowa where Brown was living) and Brown became its first recording artist. His 2000 album Covenant won the Association for Independent Music's award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. 2002's Going Driftless: An Artist’s Tribute to Greg Brown featured performances by Lucinda Williams, Ani DiFranco, Eliza Gilkyson and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Greg Brown is the father of singer-songwriter Pieta Brown.
[www.gregbrown.org]

Bobby Gardiner (*16 June 1939, Aughdarra, Lisdoonvarna, County Clare, Ireland). The Irish accordionist began playing at the age of 8 with the likes of Micho Russell and Micleen Conlon. At the age of 15, he was asked to join the Kilfenora Céilí Band. In 1957 he joined Malachy Sweeney's Céilí Band from Armagh and travelled throughout Ireland as a professional musician. In 1960, Bobby Gardiner followed his siblings to Connecticut. During the day he worked as a mechanic while playing for dances with the likes of Paddy Killoran, Joe Cooley, Ed Reavey, Joe Derrane and Andy McGann. Over the years Gardiner made several critically acclaimed recordings. These days he is an active accordion teacher back in Ireland. He was recruited by Micheal O'Suilleabhain to the Music Department in University College Cork where he has been teaching traditional music for the last 25 years. Some of his past students include Ciarán Ó Gealbháin and Benny McCarthy both of whom were part of Danú.

Cathal McConnell (*8 June 1944, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland). Coming from a family of flute-players in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, Cathal McConnell is an All-Ireland champion in both flute and whistle. His early musical collaborator was Robin Morton. They met Aly Bain and Dick Gaughan at Falkirk Folk Festival in Scotland and formed the group Boys of the Lough. They played instrumentals and the occasional song, equally divided between traditional sources from Ireland and Scotland.

John Sheahan (*19 May 1939, Marino, Dublin, Ireland). The Irish fiddler is the last surviving member of the definitive five-member line-up of The Dubliners. He had joined The Dubliners in 1964 and played with them until 2012 following the death of founding member Barney McKenna. John Sheahan had studied classical violin, which sometimes led him to improvise on the classics by putting in a few embellishments. His tutor would not approve his "composing"; however, Sheahan continued to apply the classical technique to his traditional playing which would ultimately lead to the development of his unique style. He recently announced that he was working on a solo album which would contain a collection of unrecorded compositions he had written over the past 50 years and was developing a book containing his poetry.

Elena Ledda (*17 May 1959, Selargius, Sardinia, Italy). Her soprano voice was suitable for opera, which she performed early in her career, but Elena Ledda was attracted by the folk singing of her native Sardinia and eventually recorded primarily in that genre. She worked with Cooperativa Teatro di Sardegna in the late 1970s and has toured internationally world with other Sardinian musicians. In 2006, Ledda participated in Visioni di Sardegna, restored film footage of Sardinia, and assembled 18 musicians including Greek singer Savina Yannatou. The latter resulted in the joint album, Tutti Baci. Her collaborators have also included singers Noa (Israel) and Maria del Mar Bonet (Mallorca) as well as harpist Andreas Vollenweider. Elena Ledda is the artistic director of the Andrea Parodi World Music Award.

Judy Collins (*1 May 1939, Seattle, Washington, USA). American singer and songwriter Judith Marjorie Collins is known for her eclectic tastes, which has included folk music, pop music and rock'n'roll. Collins' debut album A Maid of Constant Sorrow was released in 1961, but it was "Both Sides Now" written by Joni Mitchellthat gave Collins international prominence in 1967. The single hit the Top 10 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and won Collins a Grammy Award for Best Folk Performance.
[www.judycollins.com]

John Sheahan

Artist Video John Sheahan
(The Dubliners)
@ FROG


Richard Thompson

Artist Video Richard Thompson
@ FROG


richardthompson-music.com



Artist Video Savina Yannatou
@ FROG


www.savinayannatou.com

Steve Knightley (*30 April 1954, Southampton, England). The English singer and songwriter was attracted to folk music after hearing Joan Baez records. Together with Paul Downes he began playing songs from the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. In 1985, Steve Knightley opened a guest house in rural Dorset. He also worked as a part-time teacher and gave guitar lessons (most notably to PJ Harvey). The following year, he met up again with Phil Beer (then a member of the Albion Band); the two performed as a duo and began laying the groundwork for what would become Show of Hands. When Beer eventually left the Albion Band, Steve Knightley concentrated himself on his music career.
[www.showofhands.co.uk]

Alison Kinnaird (*30 April 1949, Edinburgh, Scotland). Alison Kinnaird earned a MA in Celtic studies and archaeology at the University of Edinburgh and studied glass engraving. Her works are on display in many galleries and private collections. She also plays, teaches and lectures on the Scottish harp, being one of the first acts signed to Temple Records during the 1970s and releasing eight albums through the label. In 2010 she was inducted into the Scots Trad Music Awards Hall of Fame.
[www.alisonkinnaird.com]

Wizz Jones (*25 April 1939, Thornton Heath, Croydon, Surrey, England). When he became infatuated with the bohemian image of Woody Guthrie and Jack Kerouac and grew his hair long, his mother started calling him Wizzy after the comic strip character Wizzy the Wuz. Acoustic guitarist Raymond Ronald Jones, better-known as Wizz Jones, has been performing since the late 1950s. He has worked with many of the notable guitarists of the British folk revival, such as John Renbourn and Bert Jansch. In 2012, Bruce Springsteen opened his concert at Olympic Stadium Berlin with Jones's song, "When I Leave Berlin".
[www.wizzjones.com]

Si Kahn (*23 April 1944, Pennsylvania, USA). Singer-songwriter Si Kahn moved to the American south as an activist in the Civil Rights Movement and settled in Charlotte, North Carolina. Though he writes songs about a variety of topics, he is especially known for songs about workers and their families, like "Aragon Mill" (1974). Music critic Robert Christgau called Kahn "the most gifted songwriter to come out of the folkie tradition since John Prine."



Artist Video »My Festival
Romance«


John Sebastian

Artist Video www.johnb
sebastian.com

Doyle Lawson (*20 April 1944, Fordtown, Sullivan County, Tennessee, USA). The bluegrass mandolin player and vocalist is best known as the leader of the 6-man group Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. During the 1970s he had played with The Country Gentlemen. In 1981, he released the critically acclaimed album Rock My Soul, that would become a landmark bluegrass gospel project. Doyle Lawson is a recipient of a 2006 National Heritage Fellowship and was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2012. He hosts the annual Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver Festival in Denton, North Carolina.
[www.doylelawson.com]

Richard Thompson (*3 April 1949, Ladbroke Crescent, Notting Hill, West London, England). The English singer, songwriter and guitarist made his début as a member of Fairport Convention. Richard Thompson continues to write and record new material regularly and frequently performs live at venues throughout the world. His eighteenth studio album, 13 Rivers was released in September 2018.

Thomas Brooman (*1 April 1954, Bristol, England). The festival organiser and music promoter is best known for his role as co-founder and artistic director of the WOMAD (World of Music Arts & Dance) festival organisation. Thomas Brooman took a path in music, firstly as a drummer during the heyday of punk music in the late 1970s. In 1980, he co-established a magazine called The Bristol Recorder, and through this project made contact with former Genesis singer Peter Gabriel. In 1982, Thomas Brooman, with Gabriel and a group of colleagues, organised the first WOMAD Festival. Over the following 26 years he worked as Artistic Director, establishing a wider audience for many international artists and contributing to the identification of world music as a description of music from a global context.

David Lindley (*21 March 1944, San Marino, California, USA). He has mastered such a wide variety of (string) instruments that Acoustic Guitar magazine referred to Lindley not as a multi-instrumentalist, but instead as a "maxi-instrumentalist." From 1966 to 1970, David Perry Lindley was a founding member of the all-styles psychedelic band Kaleidoscope. He has worked with many other performers including Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon and Dolly Parton.
[www.davidlindley.com]

John Sebastian (*17 March 1944, New York City, USA). His father had been a noted classical harmonica player, John Benson Sebastian himself developed an interest in blues music hearing such players as Lead Belly, Mississippi John Hurt, Sonny Terry and Lightnin' Hopkins. He is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful, blending folk-rock and pop with elements of blues, country and jug band music. The group was noted for hits such as "Summer in the City." In 1970, Sebastian released the first in a series of solo albums.

Savina Yannatou (*16 March 1959, Athens, Greece). In 1979, Greek singer Savina Yannatou (Greek: Σαβίνα Γιαννάτου) began working as a professional artist and two years later participated in the recording of the critically acclaimed album Εδώ Λιλιπούπολη ("Lilipoupolis here"). Since then she has since released numerous albums, collaborating with many Greek composers. In the mid-1990s, she joined forces with jazz and traditional musicians forming a band known as Primavera en Salonico, which started by interpreting Sephardic and Mediterranean songs, but later expanded to music from various areas of the world.

Tim O'Brien (*16 March 1954, Wheeling, West Virginia, USA). In 1973, Tim O'Brien dropped out of College to pursue music professionally. He wrote to his mother saying, "I'm heading west. I know 200 songs now, and I figure if I keep learning more I should be all right." In 1978 he formed Hot Rize, the quartet earned recognition as one of America's most innovative and entertaining bluegrass bands over the next twelve years.
[www.timobrien.net]

Dave Goulder (*1 January 1939, Derbyshire, England). The singer and guitarist is best known for his song "January Man" and for his collections of railway songs, having worked as a porter, engine cleaner, fireman, steamraiser, tubecleaner and knocker-up. From his base in north west Scotland he was able to view the age of steam with compassion and humour. Dave Goulder is still actively involved in music, mostly with the Rosehall Ceilidh Band.
[www.davegoulder.co.uk]



Rest in Peace



Artist Video Věra Bílá
@ FROG

Paddy Fahey (1916-2019). Irish fiddler Paddy Fahey from Kilconnell in East Galway was considered one of the finest contemporary composers of tunes that are in the style of traditional Irish music. 43 compositions have been attributed to Fahey who are simply named "Paddy Fahey's Reel No.1", "Paddy Fahey's Jig No.2", etc. His music has been widely recorded, however, there are only privately made recordings of Fahey himself. In 2001 Fahey was named Composer of The Year by Irish language TV station TG4. The award ceremony incorporated an extremely rare public performance with Fahey appearing alongside fiddler Paddy Canny, harpist Máire Ní Chathasaigh and traditional group Altan. Paddy Fahey died on 31 May 2019 at the age of 102.

Věra Bílá (1954-2019). Often called the "Ella Fitzgerald of Gypsy music" or the "Queen of Romany," Věra Bílá was one of the most famous Romani singers in the Czech Republic. In 1999 she played the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, recently she rarely had public appearances and lived in poor conditions. Věra Bílá died on 12 March 2019 of a heart attack, aged 64.

Bill Caddick (1944-2018). Caddick’s debut solo album, Rough Music (1976), featured his best-known song, John O’Dreams set to a tune from Tchaikovsky's. This and others have been covered by numerous other musicians including June Tabor, Alex Campbell, Christy Moore, Peter Rowan, John Kirkpatrick, and Coope Boyes & Simpson. From 1980 to 1985 Caddick was a member of the renowned folk-rock band Home Service. In later life Caddick ran a folk club in his home village of Jackfield. He died on 19 November 2018, aged 74.


  Amsterdam Klezmer Band Back in Theaters



Amsterdam Klezmer Band @ FROG

www.amsterdamklezmerband.com

Maghreb & Mediene, A Music Spectacle by the Amsterdam Klezmer Band and the Amsterdams Andalusisch Orkest

These two renowned Amsterdam based groups decided to team up to create a musical theatre show. Their collaboration is named Maghreb & Mediene. The show is meant for a seated audience and will be on tour in the Netherlands as well as Marocco, France and Spain from November 2019.

We have two groups that leap upon their music with originality, virtuosity and subtility. A coulourful company of driven musicians that build a bridge between the Arabic and Jewish culture. Together they create a festive mix of adventurous Chosidl, Chaabi Andalus, Cocek, Tarab, Sirba and not to forget the Sufi Andalusi with its beautiful mystical solos.

Since 2001 the Amsterdam Klezmer band is known for its immersive and exciting theater shows. This internationally operating band brings us a surprising mix of unorthodox, renewing and catchy Klezmer, as well as Gypsy music and oriental sounds. The Amsterdams Andalusisch Orkest is directed by violinist Abderrahim Semlali and on a quest to the roots of North African traditional music. Their search results in a fusion of Arabo Andalusian music styles around the Mediterranean Sea. A blend of dynamical rhythms, melancholic melodies and fine improvisations in a mix of eastern and western instruments.

16.11 -  Eindhoven, Muziekgebouw Frits Philips
30.11 - Utrecht, Tivolivredenburg
08.12 - Den Bosch, Verkadefabriek 

More to be announced


  Luke Kelly Sculptures



Artist Video Luke Kelly
@ FROG

Two sculptures have been unveiled in Dublin in celebration of the life of folk legend, actor and activist, Luke Kelly, by Irish president, Michael D. Higgins. The statues were erected on both sides of the Irish capital, to mark the 35th anniversary of the death of a man who is regarded as one of the country’s greatest folk singers.

The sculptures by Vera Klute is more than 2 metres high, made of marble and metal. It is freestanding and mounted on a large concrete plinth along the Royal Canal in the north inner city docklands, near Kelly’s birthplace. The pose is based on a performance of Scorn not his Simplicity on the programme The McCann Man in 1974, and has Kelly with his eyes closed, immersed in the song with his head tilted downwards. Klute says Kelly “generated a raw, intimate response – that’s what I wanted to achieve. For me it’s all about the face, the passion and the emotional connection. By stripping the sculpture down to just that and making this expression huge, I want to confront people with that energy and intensity.”

John Coll’s life-size figurative piece in cast bronze is of a cross-legged Kelly, playing on his five-string banjo. The sculpture has been erected at South King Street, a position favoured by the Kelly family, and an area associated with Kelly as a musician and Dublin figure. Coll was after Kelly’s “elusive nature” and “unique texture” . “The way Luke performed his music was unique. The intensity of purpose, the emotional charge, the texture of his voice, were completely his own.”

Born in 1940 on Sheriff Street in Dublin city into a working-class family, Luke Kelly moved to England in his late teens, where he got involved in folk music and was influenced by Ewan MacColl. Back in Dublin in the 1960s, he became a founding member of The Dubliners, for whom he played the banjo and sang. He played with them for 19 years. Kelly was known for interpretations of songs including On Raglan Road, Scorn Not His Simplicity and The Town I Loved So Well. As an actor he played King Herod in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. He died in 1984 following the diagnosis of a brain tumour and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.

Family friend and author of Luke Kelly A Memoir, Des Geraghty says of him: “The voice of Luke Kelly rang out loud and clear in the early 1960s to lift up the heart and soul of a dismal Dublin city. He captured the latent spirit of the Irish people and gave new hope and inspiration to the poor and oppressed in many a distant land. Like Joe Hill, the great American union organiser and folk singer, his voice and passion for justice and liberty will never die.”


  Billy Bragg: Rock Island Line

‘Rock Island Line – The Song That Made Britain Rock’, a wonderful new documentary presented by Billy Bragg has been broadcast on 12th April on BBC 4 and subsequently on iPlayer. Billy travels to America, then back to the UK to tell the story of how one song – ‘Rock Island Line’ - kickstarted the skiffle craze in 50s Britain and gave birth to the great British bands of the 60s and is inspired by Billy’s acclaimed 2017 book ‘Roots, Radicals & Rockers – How Skiffle Changed The World’.



Billy Bragg @ FROG

www.billybragg.co.uk

Skiffle sparked a revolution that shaped pop music as we have come to know it. Emerging from the trad-jazz clubs of the early ’50s, it was adopted by kids who grew up during the dreary, post-war rationing years. These were Britain’s first teenagers, looking for a music of their own in a pop culture dominated by crooners and mediated by a stuffy BBC. Lonnie Donegan hit the charts in 1956 with a version of ‘Rock Island Line’ and soon sales of guitars rocketed from 5,000 to 250,000 a year. Like punk rock that would flourish two decades later, skiffle was a do-it-yourself music. All you needed were three guitar chords and you could form a group, with mates playing tea-chest bass and washboard as a rhythm section.

Griff Trio

www.edinburghsfestivalofireland.org

Billy Bragg has announced his "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back" tour that will take him to all corners of the UK this year commencing in July and finishing up in December. He will publish his fourth book, a state of the nation polemic, ‘The Three Dimensions Of Freedom.’

  Special Sale of Bagpipes in Glasgow

Edinburgh’s Festival of Ireland (EFI) is pleased to announce that it received a donation of Highland, Lowland and European bagpipes, pipe and practice chanters, bagpipe books, reeds and accessories. All these will at a special sale at McTears auctioneers Glasgow, on Thursday 15th August 2019. This is during the week of Piping Live and the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow.

The sale consists of instruments, made in Scotland by makers such as Henderson, Lawrie, Kilberry, Kintail, Sinclair, Drumran, with Warnock and Warmac, as well as European folk bagpipes. There are also lots of tune, tuition and history books of the bagpipes.

There are over 100 lots in the sale and this will be the first ever auction devoted entirely to this instrument. The auction can be checked on-line at www.mctears.co.uk.


  Wales Folk Awards

On the 11th of April 2019, Wales celebrated the recent success of its folk scene with its own brand-new Folk Awards.

Calan

Artist Video »Best of Welsh Folk«

www.trac.wales

www.calan-band.com
www.thetrialsofcato.com
www.lleuwen.com
www.alaw-band.com
www.gwilymbowenrhys.com
www.vri.cymru
www.martynjoseph.net
pendevig.bandcamp.com

The awards celebrated the many talented performers from the Welsh folk and traditional music scene which has been mushrooming at home in Wales as well as making a splash recently at festivals across the UK and abroad. 2018 was the year of Wales as International Partner at the English Folk Expo showcase festival in Manchester. Wales was also Featured Nation at the huge Lorient Interceltic Festival in Brittany which welcomes 70,000 visitors each year. Top Welsh folk band Alaw played the Royal Albert Hall in August 2018 as part of the BBC Folk Prom.

The Wales Folk Awards have been created by a partnership of trac, BBC Radio Wales and Radio Cymru, the Arts Council of Wales, and other significant figures from the world of Welsh folk such as Huw Williams and Stephen Rees. The awards were presented on April 11th at an evening celebration at the BBC Hoddinott Hall at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay. There were live performance throughout the evening from The Trials of Cato, Gwilym Bowen Rhys, VRï and Calan.

The winners were chosen from a long-list created by a Nominating Panel representing folk club and festival organisers, young musicians, tradition bearers, music journalists and broadcasters, promoters, folk activists and enthusiasts. Here are the winners:

Best group: Calan
Best emerging artist/band: Trials of Cato
Best original Welsh-language song: Bendigeidfran - Lleuwen 
Best instrumental track: Dawns Soïg/ Dawns y Gŵr Marw - Alaw 
Best solo artist: Gwilym Bowen Rhys 
Best album: Tŷ ein Tadau – VRï 
Best traditional Welsh song: Ffoles Llantrisant – VRï 
Best original English-language song: Here Come The Young – Martyn Joseph 
Best live act: Pendevig 

The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Roy Saer for his many decades of work and scholarship with the traditional songs of Wales. Roy began collecting and recording Welsh folk songs in the 1960s and his collection is at the heart of the St Fagans National Museum of History folk song archive. The Folk Prize for the best collection of three original tunes went to Huw Roberts of Anglesey, well known for his playing of the iconic Welsh instruments the triple harp and the crwth as well as the fiddle.

Two Carmarthen craftsmen made the trophies – blacksmith Aaron Petersen and woodturner Rob Hopkins. Based on 18th century rushlight holders, each one is unique, and uses locally sourced wood. The trophies have quite a folk family connection – Aaron’s father is blacksmith David Petersen who led the Welsh Delegation at Lorient Interceltic Festival for many years, and his nephew Sam is a member of trac’s Youth Folk Ensemble of Wales.


Don McLean

Artist Video Don McLean @ FROG

www.don-mclean.com

  Don McLean Awarded George & Ira Gershwin Award

Don McLean, America’s legendary singer and songwriter, has been awarded the George and Ira Gershwin Award for lifetime musical achievement on behalf of the Student Alumni Association of UCLA. In recognition of George and Ira Gershwin’s contributions to American music and in honor of their gift to UCLA, the UCLA Student Alumni Association established the annual George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement in 1988.

"On behalf of UCLA, I am thrilled to present the 2019 George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement to Don McLean," said Award Director, Isabella Dohil, "whose poetic lyrics have transcended time and remain a staple of American culture. Don's contributions to music have been profound and he continues to capture audiences both young and old through his dynamic storytelling."

“I am such a great lover and admirer of the work of the Gershwin’s that to receive this award is a thrill," said McLean. "In popular music the modernism of their music put them in a class by themselves.” Reserved for influential musical figures, past recipients include Tom Petty, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, James Taylor, Julie Andrews, Lionel Richie, Anthony Kiedis, The Who and last year's recipient, Linkin Park.

Since first hitting the charts in 1971, Don McLean has amassed over 40 gold and platinum records world-wide and, in 2004, was inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame. Classic hits like “American Pie”, “Vincent (Starry Starry Night)”, “Castles in the Air”, “And I Love You So”, “Crossroads” and “The Grave” propelled McLean into the mainstream. Many of his songs have been recorded and sung by musicians from every genre, including Madonna‘s No. 1 recording of “American Pie” in 2000, George Michael’s rendition of “The Grave” in 2003, and James Blake's version of “Vincent (Starry Starry Night).”


  Hadestown Make it to Broadway



Artist Video Anaïs Mitchell
@ FROG


www.anaismitchell.com

Thirteen years after it was first staged, Anaïs Mitchell's Hadestown is being celebrated as a feat of storytelling at the not-obvious-until-now intersection between Broadway, Greek mythology, and folk music. Penned by Anaïs Mitchell, the production is sung-through on a rolling landscape of New Orleans-infused roots music, nominated for 14 Tony Awards this year.

The story of Hadestown brings into parallel two love stories from Greek mythology: Orpheus and Eurydice alongside Hades and Persephone. In Mitchell’s narrative, both couples are torn in some way by doubt and fear. Orpheus (Reeve Carney) is the musician working on a song to change the world; Eurydice (Eva Noblezada) is the daring girl who falls in love with him. Hades (Patrick Page) is the king of the underworld and his wife Persephone (Amber Grey) is the plucky goddess who brings the spring and summer before returning to Hades’s side when the seasons change.

Hadestown premiered as a community theater production in Vermont in 2006. Four years later, Mitchell made it an album where she sang as Eurydice and Justin Vernon was Orpheus. Greg Brown was Hades, Ani DiFranco was Persephone, Ben Knox Miller was Hermes, and the Haden Triplets were the Fates. Mitchell toured around, performing the album with a rotating cast of local singer-songwriters wherever she went. In 2012 she began a collaboration with Chavkin (Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812) and since then Hadestown has journeyed from a small thrust stage at New York Theatre Workshop in the East Village, to a larger proscenium stage in Edmonton, Alberta, then to the National Theater in London, and finally to Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theater.

Anya Hinkle

Tellico
Artist Video Tellico
@ FROG


www.tellicoband.com

  Anya Hinkle wins Chris Austin Songwriting Contest

Tellico’s Anya Hinkle took home first place in this year’s Chris Austin Songwriting Contest in the Bluegrass category with “Ballad of Zona Abston,” a song based on a true story of a woman who grew up in a mining town in middle Tennessee. Hinkle tells of the lack of education, health care and job security — and the poverty — that resulted when a once booming business shut down. “Ballad Of Zona Abston” has already earned 3rd place honors earlier this year in the Hazel Dickens Songwriting Contest. The song is from Tellico’s latest album, Woven Waters.[68]

“Zona told me her life story over her kitchen table,” says Hinkle. “It illustrates her strong will to survive through decades of crisis, stress and difficulty and reflects the desperation of struggling people, particularly women. When you really listen to what someone’s been through, you naturally develop a lot of compassion for what people have to deal with in this world. It was a story I had to put to song.”

The Chris Austin Songwriting Contest, now in its 27th year, allows up-and-coming songwriters to perform for a panel of music industry professionals and serves to give talented songwriters exposure. Hinkle performed the song in the final round of competition at MerleFest on Friday for judges Cruz Contreras (The Black Lillies), Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan (The Milk Carton Kids), and Radney Foster. John Doyle, the legendary Irish guitarist who produced Tellico’s recent album, Woven Waters, performed alongside Hinkle with his signature groove.

“On my way to the contest I had called Zona to tell her I was about to sing our song for the competition. She said ‘OK honey I’ll be a-prayin' for ya. That should help.’ But honestly the reason I called Zona was to help remind myself that the real power of this song is her story, which she had to live every day of,” says Hinkle.


  NoiseTrade Joins Forces with Paste

www.noisetrade.com
pastemagazine.com

Online audio and book distribution platform NoiseTrade has joined forces with Paste and Daytrotter to create a powerhouse of music discovery that includes the largest collection of live music performances on the internet in addition to NoiseTrade's vast library of albums. NoiseTrade will continue to offer fans the ability to download and stream hundreds of thousands of songs and books on their platform.

PasteMagazine.com provides in-depth coverage of music, books and comics as well as topics like TV, movies, games, comedy, politics and craft beer. From the best albums to stream each week to the latest Game of Thrones recap to the 50 best horror novels of all time, the site covers all your pop-culture needs. You can also watch live-streams of bands performing every day in the Paste Studio in New York at the Paste YouTube channel or directly at PasteMagazine.com, or stream the entire Daytrotter archive.

Recent posts include:

Ani DiFranco Molly Tuttle Rhiannon Giddens


  Rural Roots Music Commission Announces Winning CD's

For 44 years 'traditional and classic country/folk/bluegrass music has been well represented by the National Traditional Country Music Association. This year the 501(c)3 non-profit, associated with the Smithsonian Institution, will move it's festival and awards show to the Christensen Field House in Fremont, Nebraska. Dates set for the move are October 3-4-5,6, 2019.

www.music-savers.com

According to the President of the NTCMA, Bob Everhart, 'We've had to move several times in the 44 years that we've been doing this event, mostly because of huge rate increases or sometimes simply because the venue did not suit the needs of the festival. After many years of promoting the music of the upper Midwest music makers, we managed to make a connect with the Rural Roots Music Commission. This group was created to honor the original music of the upper Midwest rural music makers that release CD's of their own creations. We are so far removed from the 'Nashville' sound, we are actually 'roots' music, from the very earth that makes us so agricultural, and so close to nature. We are very unlike living in a small apartment in New York City. Our 'music makers' are living close to nature, close to the food-raising Garden of Eden in America, for us it's the 'real-deal' there isn't any 'lets pretend we're country' in anything produced or created in this area of America. That is why the Rural Roots folks have taken up honoring those recording artists from allover the world, with their first announcement (of two) naming the CD's they have chosen for their various "CD of the Year" awards. 'Perfection' is not the pursuit of down-to-earth real farmers that actually create music. To them, 'perfection' is really nice in classical music, but can become very boring in a 'story-telling' genre like original country music. According to Rural Roots Music Commissioner member, Francis Hahn a writer for the Johnny Cash music publishing company 'House of Cash, 'We're not really interested in how many albums an artist can sell, or how much bribe-money it takes to get something listed on a top-40 music chart. The artists we listen to, are filled with dedication. Their foremost objective is authenticity, and a loyalty to the genre, as well as originality. We're very happy to be able to announce the first selections for CD of the Year awards from the Rural Roots Music Commission, and we're also happy to be able to announce those artists at an international level that have submitted material to be considered."

The Center State

Artist Video
www.thecenterstate.com

WINNERS OF CD OF THE YEAR AWARDS FROM THE RURAL ROOTS MUSIC COMMISSION, 2019, FIRST ROUND:

Lindsay Waddington, Queensland, Australia, "International Classic Country CD of the Year" for 'Nullarbor.'
'Hurricane Mike Thompson, New Market, Canada, "International Instrumental CD of the Year" for 'A Dobro Christmas'
Edwin Tibbals, Frazier Park, Ca, "Classic Western CD of the Year" for 'Western World'
Siegmann Family from Wisconsin, "Bluegrass Gospel CD of the Year" for 'In The Shadow Of Your Wings'
Hilary Scott from St. Louis, Mo, "Popular Country CD of the Year" for 'Don't Call Me Angel'
Okee Dokee Brothers from Denver, Co, "Children's CD of the Year" for 'Winterland'
Jason Martin from Newfoundland, "International Heritage CD of the Year" for 'Our Newfoundland'
Larry Mercey from Ontario, Canada, "International Classic Country CD of the Year" for 'Full Speed Ahead'
Pam Linton from Minneapolis, Mn, "Country-Folk CD of the Year" for 'Loves Ring of Fire'
Luanne Hunt from Apple Valley, Ca, "Contemporary Country CD of the Year" for 'Backroads, Bottles, & Blues'
Christian Davis of Lebanon, Tn, "Contemporary Bluegrass CD of the Year" for 'The Big Picture'
The Center State from Mn, "Progressive Folk CD of the Year" for 'Wilderness'
Kimberly Kaye from S.D., "Traditional Gospel CD of the Year" for 'Old Time Gospel'
Barbaro from Mn, "Progressive Bluegrass CD of the Year" for 'Barbaro'
Bobby Atkins from Greensboro, NC, "Traditional Country Music CD of the Year" for 'The Heart & Soul of Country Music'
Kylie Austin from Aukland, New Zealand, "International Honky-Tonk CD of the Year" for 'Where You Been'
Annie & Teri Avery from Iowa, "Old Time Traditional CD of the Year" for 'Playing Favorites'


Rolling Thunder Revue

Artist Video Bob Dylan
@ FROG


www.bobdylan.com

  Music on the Big Screen

Broom Bezzums

Artist Video Broom Bezzums
@ FROG


www.broombezzums.com

Broom Bezzums have some exciting news! Their song, Keep Hauling, which appears on No Smaller Than The World, has been taken up by Fisherman’s Friends as the title track of their forthcoming album. It is also the soundtrack of the upcoming feature film entitled Fisherman’s Friends, based on the true story of their rise to international fame.

The song is a firm favourite with Broom Bezzums’ audiences, with its sea shanty call and response – though written by Andrew Cadie in his land-locked home town. It’s a song about standing up for what you believe in. Keep Hauling has also been popularised by Show of Hands who regularly perform it live and have involved various choirs in the performances too, including at the Albert Hall.

And meanwhile, just a little taster of the film: www.fishermansfriendsfilm.co.uk

Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese is a pseudo-documentary film, composed of both fictional and non-fictional material, covering Bob Dylan's 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue concert tour. Directed by Martin Scorsese, it is the director's second film on Bob Dylan, following 2005's No Direction Home. The bulk is compiled of outtakes from Dylan's 1978 film Renaldo and Clara, which was filmed in conjunction with the tour.

The film was released by Netflix on June 12, 2019. Columbia Records also released a box-set album entitled Bob Dylan – The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings to correspond with the release.



Coming Soon

25th Na Fir Bolg 2019

Vorselaar, Belgium

6-8 July 2019


Levellers  
Irdorath  
Guy Swinnen Band
Natalia & Jef Neve
De Koperdieven  
Old Chevy  
Diamonds on the rocks
Apichat Pakwan's Esantronics  
Lenny & de Wespen
 feat. Eva De Roovere
Yevgueni
Moodcollector  
Duo Beerten / Finsson  
Ghost Rockers
A La Rum  
Jacquelines 
Stoomboot  
Bart Peeters

www.nafirbolg.be

Levellers

www.levellers.co.uk

Irdorath

www.irdorath.by

26 Jun - 1 Jul 2019 Sommelo Festival, Finland
ft. Värttinä, Vassvik, Solju, ...
www.sommelo.net

29 Jun - 7 Jul 2019 Musik vid Siljan, Sweden
ft. Hoven Droven, Frigg, Sofia Karlsson, ...
www.musikvidsiljan.se

30 June - 6 July 2019 La Croisée des Cultures, Genève, Switzerland
www.adem.ch

3 - 7 July 2019 Førde Festival, Norway
ft. Accordion Samurai, Karl Seglem, Vassvik, ...
www.fordefestival.no

4 - 7 July 2019 Rudolstadt Festival, Germany
ft. Focus: Iran; 40th Euroradio Folk Festival;
Cowboy Junkies, Lúnasa, BraAgas, Lüül, Herbert
Pixner Projekt, Otto Lechner, Gankino Circus,...
www.rudolstadt-festival.de

5 - 7 July 2019 Folkfestival "Na Fir Bolg", Vorselaar, Belgium
ft. Levellers, Irdorath, ...
www.nafirbolg.be

5 - 7 July 2019 Newcastleton Traditional Music Festival, Scottish Borders, UK
www.newcastleton.com

5 - 7 July 2019 Festival de Musique des Pays Alpins, Plaine Joux les Brasses, Alpages de Bogève et Onnion, France
www.feufliazhe.com

8 - 14 July 2019 Kaustinen Folk Music Festival, Finland
ft. Tsuumi Sound System, Vildá, Antti Paalanen, ...
www.kaustinen.net

11 - 14 July 2019 Festival Internacional do Mundo Celta de Ortigueira, Galicia, Spain
www.festivaldeortigueira.com

17 - 20 July 2019 Hebridean Celtic Festival, Stornaway, Isle Of Lewis, Scotland
ft. Mànran, Breabach, Fara, Eabhal, JigJam, Duncan Chisholm, ...
www.hebceltfest.com

17 - 21 July 2019 Međunarodna Smotra Folklora (International Folklore Festival) Zagreb, Croatia
www.msf.hr

25 - 28 July 2019 Warwick Folk Festival, UK
ft. Calan, Breabach, Skerryvore, Billy Bragg,
Karan Casey, Blair Dunlop, The Trials of Cato,...
www.warwickfolkfestival.co.uk

27 July - 3 Aug 2019 Belfast Tradfest, Northern Ireland
ft. Lúnasa, Ulaid, Connla, ...
www.belfasttraditionalmusic.com

1 - 3  August 2019 Urkult Festival, Sweden
ft. Maija Kauhanen, Skenet, ...
www.urkult.se

2 - 4 August 2019 Festival du Bout du Monde, Camaret, France
www.festivalduboutdumonde.com

2 - 11 August 2019 Festival Interceltique de Lorient, France
The Year of Galicia: Carlos Núñez, Mercedes Peón, Tiruleque,...
www.festival-interceltique.com

8 - 10 August 2019 Fairport's Cropredy Convention, Banbury, Oxfordshire, UK
ft. Richard Thompson, The Waterboys, Gogol Bordello, Martin Simpson, ...
www.fairportconvention.com

Womex

Tampere, Finland

2-27 October 2019


www.womex.com

Vildá

facebook.com/...

Lajunen Oskala

facebook.com/...
8 - 11 August 2019 Telemark Festival, Norway
ft. Väsen, Eivør, Suistamon Säkhö, ...
www.telemarkfestivalen.no

16 - 18 August 2019 Folk East, Glemham Hall, Suffolk, UK
ft. Richard Thompson, Calan, Sharon Shannon, Cara Dillon,...
www.folkeast.co.uk

20 - 25 August 2019 Festival du Houblon, Haguenau, Alsace, France
www.festivalduhoublon.eu

22 - 25 August 2019 Tønder Festival, Denmark
ft. Finbar Furey, John Prine, Skipinnish, Dreamers' Circus, Mandolin Orange,
Kate Rusby, Julie Fowlis, Maija Kauhanen, Old Man Luedecke, James Keelaghan, ...
www.tf.dk

23 - 26 August 2019 Shrewsbury Folk Festival, UK
ft. Oysterband, Capercaillie, Kate Rusby, Eddi Reader,...
www.shrewsburyfolkfestival.co.uk

12 - 15 September 2019 Gig 'n the Bann, Portglenone, Antrim, Northern Ireland
ft. Red Hot Chilli Pipers, Sharon Shannon Trio, ...
www.gignthebann.com

13 - 15 September 2019 Gerry Whelan Memorial Weekend, Cootehill, Co. Cavan, Ireland
www.gerrywhelanweekend.com

14 - 22 September 2019 Warsaw Cross-Culture Festival, Poland
www.festival.warszawa.pl

2 - 6 October 2019 Cork Folk Festival, Ireland
www.corkfolkfestival.com

4 - 17 October 2019 Celtomania, Pays de la Loire, France
www.celtomania.fr

10 - 12 October 2019 Andrea Parodi Awards, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
www.fondazioneandreaparodi.it

22 - 27 October 2019 WOMEX World Music Expo, Tampere, Finland
ft. Vildá, Pekko Käppi, Suistamon Sähkö, Pauanne, Duo Lajunen
Oskala, Ahlberg Ek & Roswall, Monsieur Doumani, Omiri, ...
www.womex.com


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