Well, what a busy August it has been. Gigs. Holidays. That sort of thing. But never fear, we’d never let you down without a set of Folk Tracks for the month. And it shortens the waiting tracks list in quite a delightful way. We continue our theme of not really having a theme – other than showcasing the breadth of the folk genre.
And first up is Tapir! who on ‘Hallelujah Bruv‘ are really rocking an Incredible String Band vibe – the song is their follow up to the debut album release ‘The Pilgrim, Their God and the King of My Decrepit Mountain‘ which came out on Heavenly Recordings in January. The band describe it as: “Tender as a welcome hug, warm as a glowing campfire.” Ike Gray who plays guitar and adds the lead vocals for the London based band said of the song: “One day after finishing work in a coffee shop in a church yard I narrowly avoided getting locked in by the groundskeeper. He signed off our conversation with ‘hallelujah, bruv’. This song is dedicated to this man.”
Next we have Canadian quartet Fretless who have a new album ‘Glasswing‘ upcoming from which this tune ‘Lost Lake‘, written by fiddle/violist band member Trent Freeman, is taken. Freeman explained the inspiration behind this gently flowing piece: “As a young teen, I spent my summers roaming between fiddle camps and festivals, following my idols and soaking up every note they played. I stayed up all night jamming with friends I’d just met, learned tunes from traditional masters, and for the rest of the year, would dream of the moment one of my heroes sat down and traded solos with me. When the Fretless arrived at the Pure Dead Brilliant camp outside of Boston, I could feel the familiar, feverish energy of fiddle tunes waiting to burst from the fingers of every attendee. I felt a nostalgic hint of nerves when my hero Natalie MacMaster began jamming tunes beside me, and a new emotional wave of astonishment and pride as a few young folks began ripping into a Fretless tune.”
And as we seem to be accidentally straying into a theme of campfires, let’s go someplace else – maybe hit a bar. Because that’s where we’ll find San Francisco-based Mission Hill whose music we’d be tempted to describe as jugband if, and this is a significant point, they had a jug in the mix. ‘Runaway‘ is, lyrically, a little less joyful and uplifting than it may at first appear as it chronicles a spiral down into the comfort of drink as one thing after another goes awry. Mission Hill are a core trio of Richard Lamar Moore on mandolin and lead vocals, Aaron Zorndorf on guitar, and harmonies, and Woody Lauer on bass – with friends helping them out on their new album ‘So It Goes‘ adding banjo, dobro and fiddle.
Of course, if you’ve been drinking a good idea would be to follow the advice of Chris Murphy and hop on a bus. Of course in this particular case this isn’t totally a matter of choice, as ‘I Never Learned To Drive‘ self-explanatory makes clear. This is taken from Chris Murphy’s 21st release ‘The Red Road EP‘ of which he says: “My goal on this album was to make as much music as possible with the most basic tools – a violin, a voice, a bit of melancholy, and plenty of good ol’ fashioned foot-stomping. These are the kind of time-honored, tribal elements that can ably translate even the most ancient of feelings. I love ensemble work, but this is a special kind of artistic challenge that I really enjoy.”
Something a little different now – a very traditional sound from Seth Lakeman and Fisherman’s Friends on this song about the RNLI. But ‘Brave Volunteers’ is actually a new song written as part of BBC Radio 2’s 21st Century Folk initiative which puts the spotlight on folk music by celebrating in song the inspiring real-life stories of five listeners from across the UK whose lives are entwined with the sea. ‘Brave Volunteers’ tells the true story of lifeboat crewman Al Kassim who, after being rescued at sea off the south coast in 2015, joined the Tower lifeboat on the River Thames – the busiest station in Britain. There’s some discussion about the song at the end of the video.
And that would seem to be that, except for our now traditional Classic Folk Track. Taking a hint from Tapir!, let’s revisit a real classic of Psych-Folk – the album is ‘Unicorn‘ and the band is Tyrannosaurus Rex the never to be bettered duo featuring the talents of Steve Peregrin Took and Marc Bolan. Far away their finest album (well, so I say) any track would be just a perfect choice so let’s just go with this one on which Took performs Bongos, Vocals, Percussion, Bass Guitar, and Piano, and Bolan adds Vocals, Guitar, Harmonium, Organ, and Fiddle.
