Originally posted, with slight modifications, in August 2009. Because it's one of my favorite sets...and because bloggers need vacations, too. We're in Truro for a short weekend, just like in 2009, in the same rented beachhouse high on the dunes above the Cape Cod sound. Wakeless trawlers and shore fishermen, beach wanderers and bathers are few and far between, mere specks on an otherwise natural landscape that fills the sense with color: green grasses, faded yellow sand, the variable [...]
Regular readers know: Falcon Ridge Folk Festival is my home away from home, my happy place. An oasis amidst lush green farmland, nestled in the beautiful rolling hills of Hillsdale, NY, its four stages, dance tents, camping areas and vast vendor zones rise from the mist each summer to take over the alfalfa fields of Dodd's Farm, where they serve as much as 15,000 visitors with a cornucopia of music, food, fun and friendship. This will be our fourteenth year volunteering at Falcon Ridge. In that time, my wife and I, [...]
Two Decembers ago, I posted a set of snow songs, accompanied by a short vignette of my children in the first snowfall of the season. Looking back through the archives, I see that darkness was falling by the time the snow was thick enough for much of anything, and the white stuff must have been heavier, too: my account features snowmen, snow angels, and snowball fights, and not much else. Today, the girls are older, but the snow is higher: three feet and rising since midnight Tuesday, and still falling fast and thick enough to make [...]
It's surely more understatement than hyperbole to suggest that Nick Drake was a man before his time. The Cambridge dropout who found Dylan and dope more engaging than his studies certainly impressed the members of Fairport Convention, who would go on to support his 1969 debut Five Leaves Left in the studio, but he only confused British audiences, who found the chronically depressed insomniac anxious and disengaged, and his ecologically-grounded poetics and organic chorus-less songs completely anathema to the world of sea shanties and traditional brit-folk with which they were familiar. [...]
Loreena McKennitt returns to her Celtic roots in her latest album
We're long overdue for a comprehensive look at the Guthrie legacy here on these pages. And with Arlo's infamous long-form Thanksgiving narrative Alice's Restaurant Massacree riding the airwaves this weekend in anticipation of next week's inevitable all-Christmas-all-day switch-over, it seems there's no time like the present. Thinking more deeply, though, Woody's songbook also bears out well as a soundtrack for giving thanks. So many of his narratives point to the dustbowl world, with its depression-era desperation for that which we take for granted today, from freedoms to support structures, [...]
Richard Shindell: On A Sea of Fleur De Lis [ purchase ] Richard Shindell: On A Sea of Fleur De Lis [live] [ purchase ] Solas: On A Sea of Fleur De Lis [ purchase ] Solas: On A Sea of Fleur De Lis [live] [ purchase ] One [...]
While many people relinquish celebrating their Irish heritage to puking up green beer once a year on St. Patrick's Day, the city of Dublin, Ohio (a suburb of Columbus) has for the last 25 years earmarked a weekend in August for some Erin Go Bragh. The festival places particular importance on Celtic music and this year, from August 6 to 8, will feature 65 acts spread across seven stages. But the weekend also encompasses much more. With bagpipers, dance troupes as well as many other exhibits, cultural events and a traditional feis (a dance competition), the festival is expected to [...]
As predicted, it's been a strong year for tributes and cover compilations; here we are only halfway into summer, and already we're looking at our third feature post on the topic. Cover albums can go either way, of course - as can any cover - but there's plenty of cream in this particular crop: the coverlover's bread and butter is a fattening bounty, and we're thrilled once again to bring you the newest and most noteworthy from all corners of the folkworld. New folk supergroup [...]
American Wake was a 2004 independent film about a small, mostly Irish-American community in Boston. The film featured a cast of unknowns (including folk musician Sam Amidon) and a beautiful soundtrack by Amidon's band Assembly and Seamus Egan of Solas , who has a brief cameo. Seamus Egan's lovely music, which features vocals by Antje Duvekot , is what really carries film. The score and the pretty Boston scenery create a warm, comfortable atmosphere. While the main focus of [...]
For over a decade, Solas has not only redefined the concept of "Celtic folk", they've risen to the ranks of the finest purveyors of the genre -- a feat even more remarkable considering that the band hails from the U.S. A large part of the group's enormous appeal -- aside from their jawdropping technical prowess -- is their ability to meld traditional instruments and styles to songs outside of the usual Irish music standards. New album The Turning Tide , arriving February 16 [...]
![Basti Grub / M.in / Spedro – Sola [HOEHE11]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2182646_lg.jpg)
Artist: Spedro Title: Sola Label: Hoehenregler Records Cat.#: HOEHE11 Style: Tech House/Minimal Rip Date: 09-12-2009 Quality: 320kbps Size: ~54,56 Mb Tracklist: 01. Spedro feat. Lara Bello – Sola (09:22) 02. Basti Grub – Sola [...]
Solas : Pastures of Plenty [ purchase ] Woody Guthrie wrote several songs which relate to the harvest, in that they tell of the plight of migrant farm workers during the Great Depression. Pastures of Plenty is one of the best. The title is ironic; Guthrie tells of fields in California with bountiful harvests, but the workers partake of only a very small part of them. It is not surprising that this song would resonate with Irish musicians. Ireland is, after all, a place with its own history of [...]
We're in Truro for a short week, in a rented beachhouse high on the dunes above the Cape Cod sound. Wakeless trawlers and shore fishermen, beach wanderers and bathers are few and far between, mere specks on an otherwise natural landscape that fills the sense with color: green grasses, faded yellow sand, the variable blues of sky and water. At night the lights of Provincetown shine brightly just on the edge of the vista, a line of stars marking the difference between pitch-black sea and an invisible sky. Last [...]
The elderchild doesn't turn seven until Wednesday, but with grandparents spread far in every direction, and friends available on weekends only, we've been in full celebratory swing since Friday. This year's theme is the circus, and we're giving it a good go, following up a week of trapeze and tumbling camp with a trip to Circus Smirkus with a few friends tomorrow. The long stretch gives me license to ponder the child she has become, and I've tried, turning to memory and the albums that line our bookcases with an eye towards recovering the [...]
First and foremost: To my immense and pleasurable surprise, as of last week, Cover Lay Down has broken into the top 100 over at leading music blog aggregator Hype Machine . Thanks, folks. It is, as always, an honor and a privilege to serve the community, and I appreciate the recognition that such list-making signifies. It's worth noting here that although bandwidth costs rise with each new tier in popularity, we are probably one a very few blogs to make it that high on the list without [...]
MYNX sound so good they might even beat my daily chocolate fix! With their punchy lyrics, infectious hooks and razor sharp vocals they will hit you for six. Yes when you listen to 'So LA' you might think it's a mickey take, but hey it's great that they have made a song taking the Piss out of all those LA fakers. Go MYNX – Might be the perfect accompaniment to the new series of The Hills . It's fun, it's crass, but hey I [...]
It's been a busy week, what with re-election to the local School Board, midterm grading, and Passover coming to a head all-at-once. To compensate, I've timeshifted this post a bit, writing ahead in time stolen from sleep and paperwork, so that the family can spend the weekend in Boston while I pass words and coversong along via some template trickery. Which is to say: as you read this, I'm not here right now. And since we're drifting in the complex currents of past tense grammar, why not reach back [...]
Celti-Folk ensemble Solas puts on a show on the last leg of their tour.
My memories of an early nineties family outing to the Irish Connections festival is a bit hazed by Harp and hot sun, but a quick check with my mother confirms it: though I do remember a few snatches of some relatively decent irish pub music at a small outdoor stage near the beer garden, it's clear that, back then, the music was clearly not the centerpiece of what was otherwise a decent cultural festival on a small college campus. But good festivals evolve, and even a cursory glance at their festival lineup [...]
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