On Friday, July 15, my family and I will head off on our annual jaunt to Hillsdale, NY, to help build the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival from the ground up, not to return until a full 11 days later, on the evening after the festival itself has ended. In case you're wondering why we go, just check out the image above: yes, that's me in the picture, at last year's festival, and by the Sunday morning Gospel Wake-Up Call, I fully intend to look just like that. As I noted in last [...]
No time for a full SXSW update but I did want to share these amateurish video's I took of Sam Baker, Danny Schmidt, Storyhill, Matt The Electrician, and Slaid Cleaves from various showcases. Although the quality may be lacking the songwriting and emotion behind the songs does come through. Danny Schmidt - " Serpentine Cycle of Money " Untitled from craig bonnell on Vimeo . Sam Baker - "Mennonite" Untitled from craig bonnell on Vimeo [...]
We live in complicated times, in a complicated country. Oil gushes into our waters, and each day, I watch the hurricane news, waiting for the perfect storm that will lead to the destruction of the East Coast beaches in whose warm waves and on whose clinging sand I have spent so many summers. The New Orleans project which won our hearts in the months following Katrina is out of money, though it shimmers with hope on the new series from the folks who brought you The Wire . My inner city [...]
Albums don't get much more spare and uncluttered than Shade of the Trees (Red House), the forthcoming April 20 album from acoustic folk duo Chris Cunningham and John Hermanson, aka Storyhill . Again working with noted producer and songwriter Dan Wilson (Dixie Chicks, Semisonic), the pair demonstrate why they've become one of the shining lights in contemporary folk: tales of love and war -- battles involving personal relationships and the Civil Wars' Stonewall Jackson -- are spun into engagingly melodic songs with an artisan's skillful ease. They've sung together since they were teenagers in Montana and it's [...]
Ann Reed is also slated to play the benefit concert tomorrow night for Katherine Ann Olson.
Local songs spun on today's Mischke broadcast.
There are two labels I shy away from writing about. The first is Red House and that's a shame since theyare one of the preminent folk labels. The reason I don't cover Red House artists is simple...they don't want me to. The second label I don't cover is Rounder and the same reason applies but I also have a prejudice against Rounder for some of it's heavy handed business practices. I think both labels would go the cease and desist route were I to link to mp3's from their artists. However I would [...]
Cover Lay Down
songsillinois
Direct Current
City Pages - Gimme Noise
The Corner Laughers “Poppy Seeds”
Pictures Of Andre 3000 As Jimi Hendrix
Sasquatch Day Three: The Day Many Men Cried for the First Time In Their Lives…
Planetarium (Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner, Sufjan Stevens) @ Sydney Opera House
