For no real reason, this month's mix happens to be the least eclectic and also contains zero electronica or ambient—the genre that, until now, has felt like the unifying thread of all my monthly mixes. At any rate—as usual, this mix is meant to be listened to in order. Aside from the Andrew Bird track, everything here dates from 1972 or earlier, and most fall on the narrow spectrum between folk and country. So be it! If you like any of these songs, visit my sources to hear more. Blossom Toes: [...]

A couple decades before the city of Derby in the rural midlands of England was awarded city status by Queen Elizabeth II (1977), residents Tony Doré and John Clark had become boon companions at the tender age of 11. In this gentle and eminently civil environment they quickly began to play music together in various rock bands or "beat groups" as they were then called, eventually stepping up to the folk club circuit in the surrounding boroughs of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire. It is this same bucolic atmosphere of the mid-60's folk scene in the UK with its [...]