The Roches have been a favorite since about 1979. Good to hear them going on in whatever incarnation. Thanks Jim and thanks Folk Alley for this site. I would not have heard of half of the artists on Jim's list if not for listening in here.

Great Website,Newsletter very informative.
HAPPY, HEALTHY andPROSPEROUS NEW YEAR,or as we SCOTS say "WE WISH YOU ALL YOU WISH YOURSELVES".

Is there a way to post a new topic instead of making a comment on a different topic? I ask because I am getting married and would like some suggestions of good folk love songs to be in our wedding and as our "first dance." I've got a couple of ideas but I wanted to get some suggestions that will get my head turning more because I don't want to overlook a song I once loved and have forgotten! I know there are a million, but that's why I need help! Alison Kraus "I Will" is already on the list... at the top.

Ann-- As of right now, no. Listeners can only add comments. However, I would be more than happy to pose your question myself. It's a great question. I saw Jay Ungar and Molly Mason play a wedding waltz that I thought would almost be worth getting married for and there have to be lots of others. Stay tuned!

01/05/05
Jim's Top 15 list is incomplete! He failed to include Tift Merritt's remarkable "Tambourine," which gets my vote as album/CD of the year!
In case you're interested, here is a letter, which I penned to NPR's "Weekend Edition" hostess, Sheila Kast, a few weeks ago. (I have also used it as an Amazon.com Review.)

November 25, 2004

As Ms. Merritt's fans know, the angels envy her voice, and she plays guitar as well as she sings. On November 7, 2004, National Public Radio's Sheila Kast introduced Ms. Merritt and her latest CD, "Tambourine," to the "Weekend Edition" faithful. Ms. Kast duly noted Ms. Merritt"s equally remarkable debut CD, "Bramble Rose," which is one of the most arrestingly beautiful and literate collections of (eleven) songs that I have ever heard. Although I do not disagree with the "alternative country" moniker, which reviewers have attached to "Bramble Rose,"� its wonderful individuality defies categorization. It deserves a place on a short list of bright lanterns with which a few great acoustic artists have flagged down and boarded the American music fast freight.
Like "Music From Big Pink," The Band's meteoric first album, "Bramble Rose" is a CD that lovers of idiosyncratic, folk-country-blues-rock will wear out and have to buy again. Ms. Merritt's debut deserves to be mentioned, however, not just with other artists' first works, but also with the more mature offerings of such poets and performers as Doc Watson and James Taylor (two other North Carolina comets), Joni Mitchell, Dolly Parton, Steve Goodman, Bonnie Raitt, Kris Kristopherson, Nanci Griffith, Robert Earl Keen, Roseanne Cash, Ian and Sylvia Tyson, Shelby Lynne, and Lucinda Williams.
In the course of her interview, Ms. Kast asked Ms. Merritt if her father had taught her to play guitar. I appreciated how she responded, by crediting him with her love of music, and by paying tribute to her mother's love of great writers, such as Eudora Welty. In their conversation, Ms. Merritt remembered her father's affection for Bob Dylan songs. In a previous interview, _1/ she had remembered how she and her father had sung Otis Redding songs together. I was thrilled to learn that Ms. Merritt had drawn "Tambourine" together from her love of the sweet soul music with which I grew up._ 2/
While she conversed with Ms. Merritt, Ms. Kast played several excerpts from "Tambourine,"� such as the rollicking "Good Hearted Man"� and "Ain't Looking Closely,"� and the title track, "(I Am Your) Tambourine."� The two others that she chose, "Shadow In the Way," and "Plainest Thing,"� would fit in well with the earlier eleven that comprise "Bramble Rose,"� which, by Ms. Merritt's own description, is a quieter and more introspective body of work. The sum of the terrific (twelve) songs that comprise her second CD is much more, however, than a follow-up collection of louder and more energetic songs. Like its predecessor, it is an astoundingly original body of work. It will refresh the disciple of Macon-Muscle Shoals-and-Memphis Soul and inspire those who miss that water to revisit that well.
A small group of singer-songwriters has produced a body of work whose instrumental and vocal artistry, infectious melodies, and well-crafted lyrics have captured the hearts and minds of fans and critics alike. "Tambourine"� should admit Ms. Merritt to membership in an even smaller company of artists whose inspiring works prove to be both critically acclaimed and commercially viable. Ms. Merritt refuses to bend to the average "mainstream country"� station's preference for assembly-line drivel. Her talent for setting intelligent lyrics to memorable music is amazing and endearing. I can hardly wait for her next offering.
___________________________
1/ Ms. Merritt gave that previous interview to a contributor to Music World's "On the Scene" column, who did not sign his article. It may be found at this site: .

2/ With a certainty that rarely offends, Macon natives proudly recognize Otis Redding as the greatest of all soul singers. Also a fine songwriter, Otis Redding penned such classics as "Respect," with which Aretha Franklin shook the "house that Jack built."� (Legions of Ray Charles' fans know that he was the real "Jack,"� the real architect of the Soul Music house). The Rolling Stones jumped from another pillar of the Otis Redding songbook, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction,"� on to the stage of The Ed Sullivan Show and into Rock n Roll immortality. When Otis wrote his most famous song, the posthumously released "Dock of the Bay,"� he turned his yearning for home into a ballad that the whole world loves to sing. In celebrating Georgia, it has only one rival, the Hoagie Carmichael classic, "Georgia On My Mind"� (which Ray Charles made his own).

Jim's right on the money with "Vuelta" and "Impossible Dream" - those recordings are definite keepers. Be on the lookout for a new CD by Terence Martin, to released in the spring. It may be one of Jim's picks for 2005 (and yours...).

Does Folkalley produce and sell CD's of its online programming? I would love to have such a CD for in the car.

That would be a bit sticky, what with copyrights and such - in Arizona a group of us contributed wholly-owned tracks from our CDs to a fundraising project "Folk Sessions", based on the Folk Sessions Live radio show in Prescott. That worked OK for all parties - the radio station made money, and listeners got a nice sampler of AZ talent.

Folk Alley has brought so much joy into my life. I fiddle alittle with an acoustic guitar. Folk music has always been suuh an influence in my life. Thank you for all the greeat music that is on the air.
pwf

iron and wine
why dont we run more of them on this website?