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 [...]
For Love and Laughter is the new release by Irish band Solas. Lead by founding member Seamus Egan, the band has a new vocalist in Kilkenny native Máiréad Phelan. Karan Casey was the original singer for the group, and I believe Dierdre Scanlan was their lead vox when I saw them perform at Mountain Stage in 2006 (both singers appeared on last year's Reunion ). As always, though, it's the cohesive sound of the band's instrumentation that is the focus of the new album. [...]
Let me open with a warm thank you to Boyhowdy for inviting me to do this, and for helping to bring it to life. My name is Darius. I have been an eager reader of and listener to this blog for some time now. One day, I followed a link from here and found myself at Star Maker Machine , where I am now an occasional poster. That's where Boyhowdy found me. Life is indeed a circle. Many great folk songs found in this country were born in the British Isles, [...]
Hey, tomorrow it's the blog's birthday - we started posting July 12th, 2004, a whopping four years ago, and to celebrate, CHECK OUT THE PHAT NEW REDESIGN! I really wanted to do something special for the birthday this year, but...
Being a coverfan means spending an awful lot of time scouring the universe for obscurities. Cover songs are often found outside of an artist's core output: tribute albums, radio or web exclusives, and live recordings are all rich sources for the sort of music any cover blogger counts as bread and butter. And notably, much of this material comes from labels, radio stations, and fans, rather than from the artists themselves. That said, unless you're a madcap collector like myself, you've got a right to be suspicious of any artist who [...]
Whether stripped-down so as not to overwhelm the authenticity of the song and singer, or jazzed up to resonate with modern musical sensibilities, it is the passage of familiar song, motif, and situation between audience and performer which makes the "folk" in folk music. Songs about trains are ultimately songs about longing; songs about the road resonate with those who wander and those who long for a change, though in different ways. Such songs play broadly to universal themes, the better to leave room for such connection. In collapsing the participant/observer gap, the songs have [...]
Cover Lay Down
Muruch
Comfort Music
Pictures Of Andre 3000 As Jimi Hendrix
The Corner Laughers “Poppy Seeds”
Today I Feel I’ve Sprung A Leak
