Tag Archives: folk music

The Holy Modal Rounders & Friends’ I Make a Wish for a Potato

The Holy Modal Rounders have been making musical mischief and mayhem for just about 40 years now. In lieu of the comprehensive box set that I think they deserve, the good folks at Rounder (who named their label after the … Continue reading

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Red Mountain White Trash’s Chickens Don’t Roost Too High

Red Mountain White Trash is a traditional band with a decidedly untraditional name. But don’t let the moniker put you off. This outfit plays old-time fiddle-based dance music with roots deep in the rich Southern soil. The Birmingham septet produces … Continue reading

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Nolan Porterfield’s Last Cavalier: The Life and Times of John A. Lomax

“John Lomax got Leadbelly out of prison.” That’s the commonly accepted story; you can still see it being bandied about if you do a web search under his name. But as every biblical scholar and IRS auditor knows, the truth … Continue reading

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Various artists’ Cajun & Creole Music 1934/1937, vols. I and II

Between 1934 and 1937 father and son folklorists John and Alan Lomax recorded Cajun and Creole musicians in Louisiana, as part of a national project for the Library of Congress. Musicians from the region have been mining that treasure trove … Continue reading

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Roam’s Ragged In the Rain

Judith Gennett wrote this review. “In such an ugly time the true protest is beauty.” –Phil Ochs “Roam is an acoustic folk band from Yorkshire.” So begins my review of Roam’s first album Count the Stars. Luckily, this third album … Continue reading

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The Horse Flies’ Two Traditions: Contemporary Fiddle Music with Ethnic Percussion Accompaniment and Ancient Hand’s Tranze is the Danze

These two recordings could be billed as The Horse Flies with Jim Roberts and Friends, and Jim Roberts with The Horse Flies and Other Friends. The Horse Flies are a New York-based nouveau-folk outfit that has explored and exploded the … Continue reading

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The Holy Modal Rounders’ Too Much Fun!

The Holy Modal Rounders’ new disc scares my dog. Now, ol’ Agnes Of Dog puts up with a lot, from Richard Thompson to Social Distortion, bagpipes to ragas to blasting guitar, with nary a whimper. Well, she does whine a … Continue reading

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John McCutcheon’s Storied Ground

John McCutcheon is one of America’s great traveling troubadours. For a quarter of a century, he has criss-crossed the country and circled the globe, delivering his signature brand of thoughtful, heartfelt folk music. In that time, he has averaged about … Continue reading

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Tahuantinsuyo’s Music of the Andes

Many residents of the Northern Hemisphere first heard the music of the Andes as performed by the group Urubamba, which played on two tracks of Simon and Garfunkle’s last studio album, Bridge Over Troubled Water. Both “Cecilia” and “El Condor … Continue reading

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Aiyana Elliott’s The Ballad of Ramblin’ Jack

Elliott Charles Adnopoz, born in Brooklyn to an immigrant physician and a school teacher, reinvented himself as the cowboy and folk singer Jack Elliott. Although he was a protege of Woody Guthrie, and was at the forefront of the folk … Continue reading

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