June Tabor : The Great Valerio [ purchase ] June Tabor’s arrangement of The Great Valerio has no rhythm track. Tabor sings the melody over a near-drone played on diatonic accordion, fiddle, and viola. So she gets very little help with the melody, and none with keeping time. For a singer, this is the equivalent of working without a net, and that is the point. The Great Valerio is about a tightrope walker who represents the courage in life that the watchers in the seats cannot find in their own lives. [...]
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June Tabor and Oysterband - That Was My Veil (John Parish and Polly Jean Harvey cover)
One of our most accomplished exponents of traditional song, June Tabor, has once again teamed up with folk-rock heroes Oysterband to produce a collaborative collection, Ragged Kingdom. As with their former hugely successful meeting of minds, Freedom And Rain (21 years ago…you can’t rush these things), the amalgamation of June Tabor’s regal voice and Oysterband’s lively eclecticism promises much and delivers even more. Read more »
There are places I remember... A moment in time, on a stone bench with Pia, our backs to the rubble that was once her home. Showed her an AP photo of a man holding a page from her account book, which had flown 80 miles to make the news. Admired the clean hole that was her home's foundation, and the clothes - her daughter's, her son's, her husband's, her own - she has been collecting from the neighborhood. Left her looking in the flat mound next [...]
I speak of two Mays on this warm, sunny Spring afternoon: of the request, and of the calendar. Yet the two terms are related, in their way. For Spring is a metaphor of rebirth, and "mother may I" is a sort of rebirth, too: of the moment, of the allowance to move forward, of the soul. Appropriate, I think. This past year, I've given myself permission to act again, treading the boards for the first time since a failure to learn my lines in time caused my high school director to [...]
The new album by veteran troubadour Ralph McTell, brings back my belief in the idea that it’s all about good songwriting. There you got a mega-respected singer/songwriter, who’d written one of the most classic 60’s songs (Streets Of London), who is considered to be one of the best singer/songwriters ever – and you probably didn’t [...]
Filed under: Exclusive , Count Five Richard Thompson has written and recorded more than 400 songs over the course of his 40 year music career. Through his work with British folk rock group Fairport Convention, collaborations with now ex-wife Linda Thompson , and decades spent as a solo artist, Thompson has earned a reputation as one of the best and [...]
I love unique voices. During the many years I’ve been listening to music, I ran into couple of them. Unusual. Mysterious. Jaques Brel, Tom Waits, Dylan and Mark Lanagen, Smog, Robyn Hitchcock – all of them are like that. On the feminine side, you’ve got Karen Dalton and her twin sister Billy Holiday, Marissa Nadler [...]
A time of many changes is here. Changes is good for ya, it's not always easy, but in the end of it - good things are waiting. I take comfort knowing this, otherwise I'd go crazy with the current times. STR Mixtape - Love Me, Tender 1. REM - Star Me Kitten 2. My Second Surprise - If [...]
June Tabor and the Oysterband: Mississippi Summer [ purchase ] The original recording of this tune from American folksinger Si Khan drips with social justice and the sweat of the fieldhand. But in the hands of British folk superstars June Tabor and the punk-slash-tradfolk combo Oyster Band, who came together in 1990 for the fine collaborative effort Freedom and Rain , the tune takes on a traditional UK folk rock vibe, upbeat and driven. The conceit seems anomalous, at first - what [...]
Ghosts , The debut album by UK duo Smoke Fairies really killed my plans for this Saturday. I planned on listening to the many cd's and lp's and mp3's waiting to be played and maybe shake my world. They ruined it. Indeed, my world was shaken. But it was only one album, that I've heard about five times today, and nothing else. Well, I also played the first albums by Trees , the 70's UK folk band, but that was just because I was searching for references. [...]
Quebequois folk artist Kate McGarrigle , whose name will be forever entwined with that of her sister and performing partner Anna, passed yesterday after a long struggle with cancer. Kate & Anna McGarrigle were performers first - taught to play the piano by nuns in their rural village, the singer-songwriters played the Montreal coffeehouse circuit in the sixties as part of The Mountain Four. But like so many artists before and after, it was their songwriting which paved the way for fame, especially after Linda Rondstadt not only recorded but [...]
You have to back to 1976 and an album called Silly Sisters for this song. MP3 File yousendit
Today's deep breath is unaccompanied and reflects my love for the embittered soldier's song. It also shows that these sorts of songs don't have to be "Trad." to be stunning. Dave Van Ronk - Luang Prabang from 1994's Going Back To Brooklyn And on a quieter note, June Tabor - The Band Played Waltzing Matilda (written in 1972) from Airs And Graces And jeez, if you're going to do a [...]
Just a short post for Friday as the holiday continues...sun, sand, beach football, crazy golf, fish & chips, oh and a bit of rain of course.So what better than this perfectly titled track from English folk stalwarts The Oyster Band with equally well respected folk songstress June Tabor. Combined they make this song a real keeper, though I have no idea where it is from - any information gratefully
June Tabor - The Dancing* Photo by nicholasbdotnet
Tomorrow night, Jews across the world are commanded to retell the story of Exodus. And here in the Howdy House, that means a night of roasts, toasts, revelry and ritual as friends and family descend on the house like plagues. The story of the Jews' escape from slavery, and their emergence as a people, has much to offer as a modern parable of freedom. The seder meal is bittersweet, tinged with sorrow for those who had to die that others could be free. As a metaphor for struggle itself, it asks [...]
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Ears Wide Open: Dignitary
