Folk Alley now includes both an Android application as well as the Folk Alley iPhone app.
Our high-quality iPhone stream offers amazing audio quality, with a lower-quality option available for older phones or slower networks.
For a guy who grew up in a sort of musical royal family -- he's the son of Steve Earle, and was named for Townes Van Zandt -- it's surprising that Justin Townes Earle has only been making music publicly for a little more than two years. He made his debut in 2008 and quickly followed that recording last year with the much-acclaimed Midnight at the Movies; on Sept. 14, he'll release his third album, Harlem River Blues.
What's especially noteworthy about the new recording -- besides Earle's simple, heartfelt lyrics and his ability to change from swinging gospel to old-time railroad ballads to twangy country -- is that even though he's been on the road constantly since 2008, the album doesn't sound rushed or tired. In fact, it's exactly the opposite.
The music Earle creates on Harlem River Blues is fresh and appealing in an old-fashioned kind of way. Listen to "Move Over Mama" -- you know you've heard it before, but it sounds different somehow. The ability to explore familiar styles and sounds while not just imitating them is Earle's gift.
The album offers an impressive variety of styles. While the title track sounds like gospel music that's been kicked in the backside by Elvis, Earle follows it with what might initially seem like the standard "I've lost my love and I'm sad" kind of ballad. But it's really a metaphoric slap in the face -- a call to stop wasting time with those who aren't willing to give us what we want or need.
He changes things yet again with some Johnny Cash-esque sounds and a nod to his hero, Woody Guthrie, as the album progresses. ("Workin' for the MTA" is a modern-day railroad story that would make Guthrie proud.) Throw in some solo piano and a ballad that sounds as if Bruce Springsteen might have written it in the late 1980s ("Rogers Park"), some virtuoso harmonica playing and a 30-second reprise of the title track that hints at a different path he might have taken with this new album, and you've got Harlem River Blues -- proof that Justin Townes Earle will be around, making relevant and interesting music, for a long time to come.
Artists often ask if Folk Alley plays music from "unknowns." The answer is yes, with an asterix. The songs must hold their own against the classics. When Jim heard Nora Jane Struthers, he thought just that - here was a young woman without a lot of history, but with a collection of fresh, original Americana songs. It doesn't hurt that on her self-titled debut she is working with a top Nashville producer and all-star musicians Stuart Duncan, Rob Ickes, Bryan Sutton, Scott Vestal, Dennis Crouch and Tim O'Brien. Check her out and see what you think.
Speaking of Tim O'Brien, the Grammy Award-winner is back with Chicken & Egg. One of roots music's most successful songwriters, O'Brien fills his latest with an effortless mix of sweet songs, funny songs and songs that will stick with you long past the first listen. O'Brien spoke of his father (who passed away last year) when he opened for Steve Martin at the Newport Folk Festival. His dad makes an appearance in Not Afraid of Dyin' - facing his later years with humor and acceptance.
I also heard a lot of songs from Twistable Turnable Man at Newport. This new tribute to the late, great humorist Shel Silverstein includes contributions from multiple generations of musicians - from John Prine, Lucinda Williams and Kris Kristofferson to Andrew Bird, Sarah Jarosz and My Morning Jacket - all playing songs by the illustrator and author of such classics as "Where the Sidewalk Ends" and "A Light in the Attic."
When Jim started talking up All the Good Summers, a CD he'd discovered by Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand, it was a little like deja vu. That's because the VanNorstrands were one of Folk Alley's featured Open Mic artists. Each month the Folk Alley staff comb through submissions to highlight up and coming artists. Several (like Jim Pipkin, Chris Castle and Chad Elliott) have had their CDs added to the stream.
Here are more CDs for your musical discovery:
Red Horse (John Gorka, Eliza Gilkyson, Lucy Kaplansky) - "Red Horse"
Abalone Dots - "Traveler" and "From a Safe Distance"
Lonesome River Band - "Still Learning"
Angel Band - "Bless My Sole"
Justin Townes Earle - "Harlem River Blues"
Bill Kirchen (feat. Dan Hicks) - "Word to the Wise"
Cherryholmes - "Common Thread"
Sally Spring - "Made of Stars"
Asleep at the Wheel & Leon Rausch - "It's a Good Day"
Mollie O'Brien & Rich Moore - "Saints & Sinners"
Gregory Alan Isakov - "That Sea, The Gambler" and "This Empty Northern Hemisphere"
David Mallet- "Alright Now"
Jory Nash - "New Blue Day"
Mike & Ruthy- "Million to One"
Chatham County Line - "Wildwood"
Indigo Girls (live)- "Staring Down the Brilliant Dream"
Nate Grower - "Nate Grower"
Michael Martin Murphey- "Buckaroo Bluegrass II: Riding Song"
Michael McGoldrick - "Aurora"
Justin Rutledge- "The Early Widows"
Storyhill - "Shade of the Trees"
Forest Sun- "Harlequin Goodnight"
Steve Smith, Chris Sanders & Hard Road - "Signs Along the Road"
Folk Alley has added an Android app to its arsenal of ways that listeners can connect with streaming folk music 24 hours a day. The free app is available for download now from the Android Market. Folk Alley's iPhone app, which was launched in 2009, has already been downloaded by more than 6,300 users. The smartphone apps allow listeners instant access to folk music anywhere they can use their phones. Folk Alley brings the best of traditional folk, Americana, singer/songwriter, bluegrass, Celtic, world and acoustic instrumental music styles to an international audience. Listener-supported Folk Alley is dedicated to the promotion and preservation of music that is often overlooked by the commercial radio networks.
The Folk Alley Android app was developed in-house by the Folk Alley web development team under the lead of IT Director Chuck Poulton. The Android app was created by James Savage, a recent graduate of Hoban High School (Akron, Ohio) who will attend Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind., in the fall. Savage also created the Folk Alley Player iPhone app.
Folk Alley Programming and Marketing Director Linda Fahey says, "We are so happy to have James develop an Android app for Folk Alley. Ever since we released our iPhone app, listeners have been clamoring for an Android app, too, so they can stream Folk Alley on the go. These apps are the perfect convergence of modern technology and music with long roots. Now, Folk Alley can be everywhere your phone goes."
Streaming non-stop hosted folk music around the globe since it went online in 2003, FolkAlley.com has expanded its reach both online and on radio. A two-hour radio program is now heard on public radio stations across the country, as well as Gene Shay's weekly show on SIRIUS XM Satellite Radio's The Village.
Savage constructed the Folk Alley Android app in part using code from NPR's app. In the same atmosphere that prompted public media powerhouse NPR to share content on NPR.org through an open source API, the network invited input from the community in the development of the its Android app. Sharing this type of information reflects the spirit of the Android operating system and also NPR's mission of public service and cooperation between content providers and the listening audience.
The "coffee house that never closes," FolkAlley.com offers music fans songs from their favorite artists, an interactive discussion area, Open Mic (an area for new artists to upload songs), exclusive live concert downloads, interviews, videos and more around the clock. Folk Alley is heard online at FolkAlley.com, iTunes, Windows Media, RealAudio, Live 365, XPN.org and as one of the founding partners of NPR Music. FolkAlley.com is a non-profit Internet venture produced by WKSU-FM, an award-winning public radio station with nearly 60 years of broadcasting history. A service of Kent State University, the station also presents the Kent State Folk Festival and broadcasts 13 hours of original folk music programming throughout Northeast Ohio each week over WKSU 89.7, four repeater stations and two translator signals.
Thumbing through the bountiful supply of new releases, reviewers often look for clues which might promote a listen. On the back of Nora Jane's CD was a whole list of clues: Stuart Duncan, Bryan Sutton, Dennis Crouch, Tim O'Brien, Jeff Taylor, Scott Vestal, Rob Ickes, and producer Brent Truitt. When players of this caliber are involved, the CD is usually worthy of attention. As it turns out the singer and her songs are the main course, and the musicians are the gravy.
A former high school English teacher in Brooklyn, Struthers' appreciation of both history and fiction flows out of her own songwriting. In the song "Greenbriar County," a Telluride Troubadour finalist, she notices that the workers in the mines and the stone quarries both end up in the same pub after work. She paints for us a wonderful statement of harmony. In "He's A Free Man," she takes the voice of the oldest son who tries to make sense of why a father would leave his wife and family during hard times.
A love of nature reveals itself often. She sings of the chestnut blight during the early 20th century. This was the East's most prevalent tree and it was gone in just a few years. "Thistle" offers us an insight to why she feels protected by wildflowers and tall grass. Usually environmentalists coax us into protecting habitat, but Nora Jane makes the same point by reversing the argument.
This whole album is solid and Brent Truitt has assembled a top notch cast which embellishes, but does not overpower. Fiddler Stuart Duncan, in particular, is smooth and reflective, as always, and really shines backing up original material. Struthers doesn't wish to be categorized, so we won't try. Duke Ellington once said that there are only two types of music, good and bad. Nora Jane's debut is really, really good.
NPR Music and Stations to Exclusively Webcast and Broadcast Full Concerts From George Wein's Newport Folk Festival, July 31-August 1
July 27, 2010
NPR Music, together with six partner radio stations, is exclusively live webcasting and broadcasting dozens of performances from George Wein's Newport Folk Festival and CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival, offering four days of music by some of the country's most acclaimed artists. NPR Music and WFUV New York, FolkAlley.com (WKSU) Kent, Ohio, and mvyradio in Martha's Vineyard and Newport are covering many acts from the Folk Festival on July 31 and August 1 - which offers performances by favorites The Avett Brothers, Andrew Bird, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, and more.
At the Jazz Festival on August 7 and 8, NPR Music with WBGO Newark, WGBH Boston and WICN New England are broadcasting and webcasting line-ups from three stages, with potential sets from Jamie Cullum, Chick Corea Freedom Band, Ahmad Jamal and Wynton Marsalis.
NPR Music will archive all content and provide podcasts of many performances; audiences can also relive both festivals from the past two years, with on-demand listening and free downloads of dozens of folk and jazz sets.
Listen to all of NPR Music's festival coverage live on the NPR Music App for iPhone and iPod Touch (available for free download now in the App Store).
NPR Music, together with WFUV, Folk Alley and mvyradio, will webcast and broadcast two days of performances from the Folk Festival on July 31 and August 1 from 11:30AM to 7:30PM (ET). Many performances from the festival will be available to stream on demand at NPR Music and the station websites, and download through NPR Music's "Live in Concert" podcast. Performers during these two days include John Prine, Yim Yames of My Morning Jacket, Blitzen Trapper, The Low Anthem and Nneka.
Leading up to the festival, NPR Music, WFUV and Folk Alley present a Newport Folk Festival 2010 Mix to stream at npr.org/newportfolk, featuring artists who will be performing this year.
The next weekend, August 7 and 8 from 11:30AM to 7:30PM (ET), NPR Music teams with WBGO, WBGH and WICN to live webcast and broadcast three stages from the Jazz Festival. Audiences will hear selections from Saturday's and Sunday's bills, which include Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, Chris Botti and Arturo O'Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.
Does the Mercury Prize Shortlist Celebrate Nu Folk?
July 26, 2010
The Barclaycard Mercury Prize shortlist was announced last week. The contest celebrates the best of cutting edge British music. Of the 12 CDs included, two are already being played on Folk Alley (Laura Marling and Mumford & Sons) and three others are acoustic enough to warrant a listen(Biffy Clyro, I Am Kloot and Villagers). Recognizing that the UK and USA music scenes can often be as different as they are similar, I still thought the rising popularity of a new new wave of folk music over there could be a sign of things to come over here. If a band can build enough recognition creating music that favors lyricism and melody over pyrotechnics, that could mean the next generation is thinking for itself and picking out music it likes - not just that it's being told to like. And, the music world is getting much closer. Waves of folk singers could wash from the streets of London on to the radio beaches in the U.S.
Or, I'm just being wildly optimistic. Like so much of my homeland's culture, the American music business loves the big hit, the bigger stars and the biggest stage shows. The biggest trend in touring bands right now are tribute bands - basically pop hit cover bands that pick the catalog of a single artist. I've yet to see a tribute to Pete Seeger, even though there is roughly one Beatles band for every ten residents of Ohio. Young kids need the inspiration that Paul and John found in blues and roots music - start at the beginning and make there own way.
So, let's applaud the Mercury Prize people for thinking outside of the box, and let's open all of our boxes to make it easier for all generations to connect with what we already know is great - folk music of heart and substance that deserves to live on with younger listeners hungry for a new sound that's actually aged like a fine wine.
New to our music library, and perhaps to yours after you listen, is Amelia Curran. She comes from a musical family from Newfoundland, but her interests are not typical. Though her sound is an Americana/old timey mix, she loves Nirvana and Thelonius Monk. She likes the raw energy of the former and the space between notes from the latter. Fusing both influences has helped create an original style, which is what you need in this crowded musical world.
Another notable influence is Leonard Cohen and many of her lyrical insights may have come from him. "Hands on a Grain of Sand" sounds like a typical Cohen double take: Your hand can't easily grasp one grain of sand, so at first the line doesn't make sense, but that's exactly her point. What's worth understanding may not be obvious and make take an effort to grasp. Curran's album is full of this kind of subtlety, and that goes for the music too. The banjo/guitar/drum brush rhythm creates almost a Monk like tension and release.
The song everyone is talking about is called "The Mistress." This one features Amelia alone and is edgy and wordy - almost a talking blues. She sings in first person offering a perspective on an illicit relationship not often heard. She demands your attention and she'll get it. For a first international release Hunter, Hunter shows promise of more to come.
The names may sound familiar: This group is a combination of Mr. Everything, Keller Williams, along with flatpick whiz Larry keel and his wife Jenny. I'm guessing that they met at a jam festival somewhere, because that's where they seem to be getting booked now.
The amusing title Thief is in reference to the fact that this is a cover album, and that's the way Keller views covers. Actually, this is the perfect opportunity for such a combination, because the arrangements cannot help but be unique.
Keller does most of the singing and Larry provides the impressive and entertaining acoustic guitar leads. "Uncle Disney," written by Patterson Hood, is a jabbing commentary about what a conversation with a thawed out (cryogenically frozen) Walt Disney in the future would sound like. Other highlights are Ryan Adams "Cold Roses," The Grateful Dead's "Mountains of the Moon," and "Pepper" from of all groups - The Butthole Surfers.
This album is consistent: offering energy, melody, licks, and satire throughout. Thief would be great on a road trip or as a backdrop for any project you are working on. Once it starts playing you'll find yourself moving faster.
A founding member of Lunasa, John is a specialist on whistles and uilleann pipes. He has also played with Clannad, Sinead O'Connor, Nanci Griffith, and Donal Lunny. Obviously he got an early start as he won two All-Ireland championships before he turned 15.
With that background in mind, you might imagine that McSherry knows what he's doing.
He does. He has also learned a few things over the years about how to make his high pitched instruments more appealing to ears which were not raised on Celtic music. Soma has a driving rhythm section. Backing him are guitar (Tony Byrne) AND bouzouki (Ruban Bada), plus keyboards (Donal O'Connor). For more drive he adds both drums and bodhran. The only other lead player is Joanne McSherry on fiddle, so John's intent here is to create energy behind him.
Highlights are "The Maid of Murlough" inspired by a trip to Slovenia and "Aillie's Antics" which begins slowly and builds in intensity. "The Slide from Grace" is also a clear example of the extra care McSherry brings to the table. This is a medley of 4 tunes, but to differentiate them each tune is played at a different pace and often with different instruments being prominent. Soma is one of those albums that lead you to follow the McSherry tree in the search for more fruit.
Jory is a thoughtful and somewhat overlooked songwriter from Toronto. I mention overlooked because although several of his songs have found their way to Folk Alley before, this new album got lost in a plethora of submissions. Thanks to Mr. Nash's gentle reminders, we now have several new gems shining upon us from New Blue Day.
First songs are important first impressions, and "Our Time Again" offers a solid start. Very catchy with three part harmony, the song asks what we have all asked for at one point, a second chance. "Before You Get There" is a clever analogy comparing the recession to preparing for heaven. They may seem out of sorts, but as you follow Nash's implications, you begin to get his point. The organ and slide guitar offer a nice backdrop.
The album's standout might be "Homily," which Nash began as a salute to downtown Toronto. As the song took shape it became something deeper and more mysterious:
"Sometimes it's good to be
a thought, a rhyme, a theory
but if I saw more clearly
the opposite would be true..."
As your head begins to boil trying to figure this out, you also get caught up in the subtleties of the fiddle, accordion, and shaker backing Jory's compelling delivery. Songs like this are examples of what good songs should be: instantly ear-catching while all the layers of music and thought make it worth revisiting again and again. It's the same reason that we return to some restaurants and simply pay the check at others.
New Blue Day offers folk, blues, and roots, with acoustic or electric guitar, with strong solos that don't interrupt Jory's pleasant voice and carefully arranged harmonies.
I mentioned in my Taylor Swift blog that her name came up during a tour of the studios. We give many community tours (really, it's mostly Cub Scouts) and I thought you might enjoy a taste of the space. Walk with me through the music library, the Skylight Room and on to Jim in the studio. Enjoy!
I was taking a group of daycamp kids through the studios last week. When we arrived in the Music Library ("Why do we call it a music library? Because it's a library - made up of CDS!" Kids love that kind of stuff), one of the girls asked me if we play Taylor Swift. Of course, the answer is no. But that doesn't mean she will never make it into the stream. For those who don't know, Taylor Swift is a 20 year-old pop/country artist who is very popular with the tween set. She's no slouch, her CD Fearless won Album of the Year at the Grammys last year (she picked up three other statues as well). Taylor writes her own music and, as a mature singer/songwriter, she might release a collection appropriate to Folk Alley.
It certainly wouldn't be the first time that a rock or pop singer has changed tunes. Robert Plant's collaboration with Alison Krauss, Rising Sand, is a great Americana album. Dierks Bentley has taken a break from HOT Country to release a Bluegrass collection. Even popster Mandy Moore put out an acoustic covers CD (it helps that she's married to Ryan Adams - it adds to her roots cred). Plus, there's Jewel, who has gone from folkie living in her car in Alaska, to Top 40 Queen, Country star and back to singer/songwriter.
Maybe music is a cyclical process. Start out on an old guitar with lyrics scratched on the back of an envelope. Become a huge star with enormous production and lots of drums and amps. And then, return to a place where the craft takes center stage again. As she was leaving, the little asked, "When will you be playing Taylor Swift?" I'm guessing 10 years from now.
Who do you think is the next rock star to come home to folk?
