Tom Russell – AcousticMusicScene.com

Remembering Ian Tyson, 1933-2022

Michael Kornfeld — Sat, 07 Jan 2023 16:48:05 +0000

Ian Tyson

Ian Tyson, an influential Canadian troubadour best known for having penned the hit songs “Four Strong Winds” and “Someday Soon” as half of the internationally acclaimed folk duo Ian & Sylvia, died on December 29, 2022 at his ranch in southern Alberta at age 89. Folk DJ Charlie Backfish will pay tribute to him and his music during a special edition of his long-running weekly radio show Sunday Street that airs January 8 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET on WUSB 90.1 FM on Long Island, NY and online at wusb.fm or https://tunein.com/radio/WUSB-901-s2324/.

Born to British immigrants in Victoria, British Columbia on September 25, 1933, Tyson grew up in Duncan, BC. He was a rough-stock rodeo rider in his late teens and early 20s and took up the guitar as “the means by which to pass the time” during a two-week hospital stay while recovering from a shattered ankle — an injury he sustained in a bad fall while competing in the Dog Pound Rodeo in Alberta.

Tyson hitchhiked from Vancouver to Toronto in 1958 after graduating from the Vancouver School of Art and became part of the city’s nascent folk scene centered around the coffee houses of its bohemian Yorkville neighborhood. There he met a young singer named Sylvia Fricker, who would become his musical and life partner for a while. They moved to New York, where noted manager Albert Grossman (Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul & Mary, Pozo Seco Singers, etc.) signed Ian & Sylvia to Vanguard Records and they became an important part of the early 1960s folk revival.

The duo released its eponymously titled debut album in 1962 before getting hitched two years later. They would go on to record and release nearly a dozen albums. Although Ian and Sylvia’s 1964 sophomore release, Four Strong Winds, featured primarily covers of songs by others, its original title track became one of Canada’s best-loved songs and, along with “Someday Soon” and Sylvia’s “You Were on My Mind,” has been covered by numerous other artists — a number of whom will be featured on Sunday Street.

Here’s a link to view a video of Ian and Sylvia performing Four Strong Winds for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3m7ckGhnsc

As the folk boom began to wane later in the 1960s, spurred in part by the British Invasion, Ian & Sylvia moved to Nashville and began incorporating elements of country and rock into their music. They formed the band Great Speckled Bird in 1969 and becoming pioneers of country-rock, along with the Byrds and others.

After hosting a national Canadian television music show from 1970 to 1975, Tyson realized his dream of returning to the Canadian West. His marriage to Sylvia had ended in divorce in 1975 and Tyson, disillusioned with the Canadian country music scene, opted to return to his first love – training horses in the ranch country of southern Alberta.

Tyson Turns to Cowboy Songs and Western Music

His songwriting was greatly affected by his change in lifestyle – most notably on his third solo album, 1983’s Old Corrals & Sagebrush, comprised solely of traditional and new cowboy songs that he recorded after spending three idyllic years cowboying in the Rockies at Pincher Creek. Although Tyson didn’t know it at the time, a cowboy renaissance was about to find expression at the first Elko Cowboy Poetry Gathering that year in a small cow town in northern Nevada. Invited to perform his ‘new western music” at it, Tyson was a regular attendee at the gatherings for more than 30 years. Tyson’s 1987 album Cowboyography also helped to re-launch his touring career across Canada and the U.S.

Tyson seriously damaged his voice following a particularly tough performance at an outdoor country music festival in 2006. “I fought the sound system and I lost,” he said afterwards. With a virus that took months to pass, his smooth voice was now hoarse, grainy, and had lost much of its resonant bottom end. After briefly entertaining thoughts that he would never sing again, he began relearning and reworking his songs to accommodate his ‘new voice.’ To his surprise, audiences now paid rapt attention as he half-spoke, half-sung familiar words, which seemed to reveal new depths for his listeners, according to publicist Eric Alper. Although a heart attack, followed by open heart surgery in 2015, further damaged his voice, Tyson continued to release music well into his senior years – including the 2015 album Carnero Vaquero and his last single, “You Should Have Known.” Released in September 2017 on Stony Plains Records, the Canadian label on which he released 15 albums since the 1980s, that song unapologetically celebrates the hard living, hard drinking, hard loving cowboy life.

Tyson was a Much-Honored Artist During His Lifetime

Tyson earned numerous awards and accolades over the years. A Juno Award recipient for country male vocalist of the year in 1987 and a Canadian Country Music Hall of Famer since 1989, Tyson was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame – along with his former wife and singing partner, Sylvia, three years later. He became a member of the Order of Canada in 1994, received a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award in 2003, and was inducted into the Alberta Order of Excellence in 2006. ASCAP paid tribute to him during the 20th annual Folk Alliance International Conference in 2008, while he was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019.

January 7 Sunday Street Tribute to Ian Tyson will Feature Music, Stories and Reflections

On the January 7 edition of Sunday Street, Backfish will explore Tyson’s wide-ranging career. He’ll share some recently-recorded reflections from Tom Russell, a widely acclaimed folk and Americana singer-songwriter, painter and essayist who co-wrote may songs with Tyson and recorded Play One More: The Songs of Ian and Sylvia (2017), featuring some of the duo’s lesser-known songs.

A Tom Russell painting of his longtime friend, mentor and musical collaborator Ian Tyson.
“It’s hard to come forth with words about the passing of Ian Tyson, wrote Russell in a Facebook post shortly after he died. “My friend and mentor for so many years. He was the best man at our wedding in Elko. We co-wrote at least 10 songs including Navajo Rug [the 1986 Canadian country song of the year], Claude Dallas, Rose of San Joaquin, When The Wolves No Longer Sing, and Ross Knox. We had a good talk a little while ago. My thoughts go back to many great memories of co-writing songs in a cabin in the Rockies. It’s a sad day. He’ll be with me forever.”

Here are links to view videos of Russell and Tyson performing Tyson’s classic “Summer Wages” and their co-write “Navajo Rug” in Calgary in 2019:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4Rk-E_spoI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGlbCQ_DjdE

The three-hour radio show will also feature stories and observations from Tyson himself, Sylvia Tyson, and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, interspersed with music. “Many of Tyson’s songs, as well as his vocals on the songs of others will be part of the three-hour program, according to Backfish. Besides Tyson himself, Ian and Sylvia, The Great Speckled Bird, and Tom Russell, listeners will hear from Neil Young (who covered “Four Strong Winds” on his 1978 album Comes A Time), Gordon Lightfoot (who Ian and Sylvia mentored and whose song “Early Morning Rain” was the title track of their 1965 release), Greg Brown and Bill Morrissey, Lucy Kaplansky, Fourtold, Gretchen Peters, James Keelaghan and Jez Lowe, Marianne Faithfull, Cindy Church, Corb Lund (an Alberta-based Canadian country artist with whom Tyson performed a series of concerts in 2018 and who told CBC News in a 2019 interview “He’s kind of our Willie Nelson or Johnny Cash or Leonard Cohen. He’s a guy who’s most embodied the region in art, musically at least.”), Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, The McDades, Michael Martin Murphey, and Bob Dylan (who recorded Tyson’s song “One Single River,” along with the Band, in Woodstock, New York, in 1967).

Remembering Nanci Griffith, 1953-2021

Michael Kornfeld — Mon, 16 Aug 2021 15:23:11 +0000

Nanci Griffith, a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, whose music straddled the line between folk and country, died on August 13, 2021 at age 68.

Griffith was best known for her colorful, narrative tales of small town life that she sang in her warm, crystalline pure voice with a Texas twang — many of which were covered and recorded by other artists. Honored by the Americana Music Association with its Lifetime Americana Trailblazer Award in 2008, Griffith released her 18th and last studio album, Intersection, in 2012.

Born on July 6, 1953 in Seguin, Texas, Griffith moved with her family to Austin as a child. Her parents divorced in 1960. Five years later, she began writing songs and performing them in Austin clubs. “When I was young, I listened to Odetta records for hours and hours,” she told The New York Times in 1988. “Then when I started high school, Loretta Lynn came along. Before that, country music hadn’t had a guitar-playing woman who wrote her own songs.”

Following graduation from the University of Texas, Griffith worked briefly as a kindergarten teacher before turning to music full-time in 1977. After being named a winner in the prestigious Kerrville New Folk Competition, she released her first album, There’s A Light Beyond These Woods, in 1978. Griffith followed that up with 1982’s Poet in My Window on another regional label and two nationally distributed releases on Philo, Once in a Very Blue Moon and The Last of the True Believers, prior to moving to Nashville in 1985 and signing with MCA, which released her major label debut, Lone Star State of Mind, in 1987. It was also around this time that she put together the Blue Moon Orchestra, with whom she recorded and toured for more than a decade.

Before moving to Elektra Records and returning to her folk roots, Griffith made the country charts with such songs as “Lone Star State of Mind, “I Knew Love,” and “Trouble in the Fields,” and recorded several more albums for MCA. These included Little Love Affairs (1988), Storms (1989), which saw her veer in a more adult contemporary or pop direction, and Late Night Grande Hotel (1991). Her 1993 Elektra release Other Voices, Other Rooms – featuring covers of 17 songs by other songwriters who had inspired her – won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Griffith was also the first artist to record Julie Gold’s “From A Distance,” although Bette Midler later had a big hit with it.

[Here’s a link to listen to Griffith’s recording of “Love at the Five and Dime”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgGG61nQX0w]

A number of notable artists have also covered Griffith’s songs, with a few attaining more airplay and accolades for them than she did herself. “Love at the Five and Dime,” perhaps Griffith’s best-known song, was a 1986 country hit for Kathy Mattea. Griffith appeared to be nonplussed by that. In a 1993 interview with Rolling Stone, she said: “It feels great that Kathy has to sing that for the rest of her life and I don’t.” For her part, Mattea wrote on her Facebook artist page on August 13: “… We were not close friends, Nanci and me, but our paths were entwined in a very specific way. We changed each other’s lives. And we got to sing together a few times. … I could write about so many songs, but Five-and-Dime was my special connection to her. So I’ll leave it at that. She was brilliant.”

Among the other artists who have recorded Griffith’s songs are Mary Black, Suzzy Bogguss, Emmylou Harris, Maura O’Connell, and Dolly Parton. Bogguss, who had a country hit in 1991 with her rendition of “Outbound Plane,” a Griffith co-write with Tom Russell (a longtime friend, who co-wrote other songs with her) that appears on Griffith’s Little Love Affairs album, was among those very saddened to hear of Griffith’s passing. In an Instagram post, Bogguss wrote: “My heart is aching. A beautiful soul that I love has left this earth. I feel blessed to have many memories of our times together along with almost everything she ever recorded. I’m going to spend the day reveling in the articulate, masterful legacy that she’s left us.”

Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, hailed Griffith as “ a master songwriter who took every opportunity to champion kindred spirits.” In an official statement on behalf of the Nashville-based institution,” he wrote: “Her voice was a clarion call, at once gentle and insistent. Her brilliant album The Last of the True Believers is a template for what is now called Americana music, and her Grammy-winning Other Voices, Other Rooms is a compelling guide to 20th century folk songs. Nanci offered gifts that no one else could give.”

Pete Kennedy, who, along with wife and musical partner Maura Kennedy, was part of Griffith’s Blue Moon Orchestra for a decade, writes:

“The name ‘Nanci Griffith’ is synonymous with Texas. Not the Texas of the oilmen in their mansions on the hills and long black limousines. Nanci’s voice, sometimes dry like a tumbleweed, sometimes rich and full like the Colorado River after a spring rain, was the voice of the working people–the oil riggers down on the Gulf of Mexico and the red dirt farmers out west. She sang about their struggles, their heartaches, their sun-drenched days and their dark nights of the soul. Most of all, she sang about a small-town Texas girl’s dream to see the world at the other end of the two-lane blacktop that stretched out past the city limits, through the mesquite and the cottonwoods. There’s a light beyond those woods, and Nanci grew up longing to stand in it. Her songs are gems that reflect that longing, and as she once wrote, when the diamonds fall, they burn like tears. She’s finally home now from that long, long road.”

Top Albums and Songs – November 2018 (FOLKDJ-L)

Michael Kornfeld — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 14:55:29 +0000

Appleseed’s 21st Anniversary: Roots and Branches by Various Artists was the top album on folk radio for a second consecutive month, while Tellico’s “Courage for the Morning” was the #1 song during November 2018. So say charts compiled from radio playlists submitted to FOLKDJ-L, an electronic discussion group for DJs and others interested in all folk-based music on the radio.

The November charts are based on 13,430 airplays reported on 524 playlists submitted by 137 different DJs. The number of reported spins is shown below in parentheses. The top albums and songs charts are compiled under the auspices of Folk Alliance International (www.folk.org), a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen, and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion. The monthly top albums and songs charts are posted on AcousticMusicScene.com, with permission.

A three-CD retrospective collection, Appleseed’s 21st Anniversary Roots & Branches, features socially conscious contemporary, folk and roots music by a wide array of established and lesser-known musicians who have recorded for Appleseed Recordings. Founded by activist attorney Jim Musselman, the Pennsylvania-based independent label is dedicated to “sowing the seeds of social justice through music and exploring the roots and branches of folk and world music,” and it contributes a percentage of its profits to environmental, human rights, and other progressive organizations.

The collection’s 57 tracks include a few previously unreleased songs by Donovan, John Wesley Harding, Tom Morello, Tim Robbins, Bruce Springsteen, Jesse Winchester, and more. Among the other featured artists are Eric Andersen, Joan Baez, Billy Bragg, David Bromberg, Jackson Browne, Aoife Clancy, Johnny Clegg, Judy Collins, Ani DiFranco, Lila Downs, Jonathan Edwards, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Dick Gaughan, John Gorka, Emmylou Harris, Kim & Reggie Harris, Levon Helm, Anne Hills, Rev. Robert B. Jones, Sharon Katz & the Peace Train, Dolores Keane, The Kennedys, Roger McGuinn, Natalie Merchant, Tom Paxton, Joel Rafael Band, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Rush, Tom Russell, Tommy Sands, Pete Seeger and his siblings Mike and Peggy, Al Stewart, John Stewart, and Sweet Honey in the Rock.

“Courage for the Morning” is the first single off Woven Waters, the sophomore release by Tellico. The Asheville, NC-based four-piece band also had November’s second most-played album on folk radio and topped the month’s Top Artists chart. Its sound blends Southern Appalachian folk, Americana, bluegrass, old time, and blues – a musical mix that the band’s Facebook page calls Appalachiacana. Noted Irish musician John Doyle produced the band’s new album.

Top Albums of November 2018

1. Appleseed’s 21st Anniversary: Roots and Branches by Various Artists (100)
2. Woven Waters by Tellico (93)
3. Pickup Cowboy by Jonathan Byrd and the Pickup Cowboys (66)
4. Horrible World by Kathy Kallick Band (63)
5. More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 14 by Bob Dylan (60)
6. A Startle of Wings by Noah Zacharin (57)
7. Royal Traveller by Missy Raines (47)
8. Family Recipe by Michael Jerling (42)
9. Last Day on This Earth by David Roth (41)
9. Don’t Apologize by Beth Snapp (41)
9. Reflections by Andy and Judy (41)
12. Vintage by John Flynn (40)
12. Little Beast by Lucy Wainwright Roche (40)
14. Grenades by Kaia Kater (38)
15. Where Do I Come From by Maggie Roche (36)
16. Some People I Know by The Brother Brothers (34)
17. Stardust Lodge by Grain Thief (33)
17. Home for the Harvest by Craig Bickhardt (33)
17. She Remembers Everything by Rosanne Cash (33)
20. Damn Sure Blue by Kate Campbell (32)
20. Live at the CMA Theater in the Country Music Hall of Fame by The Earls of Leicester (32)
22. Secularia by Eliza Gilkyson (31)
23. Thanksgiving by Rachel Baiman (30)
23. The Hillbenders by The Hillbenders (30)
23. Invisible Forces by The Whispering Tree (30)
23. Rize Up by Roy Zimmerman (30)
23. Pretty Bird by Kathy Mattea (30)
23. A Good Dog Is Lost: A Collection of Ron Hynes Songs by Ken Tizzard (30)
29. Everyday Street by Lucy Kaplansky (28)
29. Wings by Zoe Speaks (28)
31. Vote by Mike Laureanno (26)
31. Songs of the Plains by Colter Wall (26)
31. Rise by Lucky Nows (26)
34. Roses in November by Tret Fure (25)
34. Shout and Shine by Fink, Marxer & Gleaves (25)
36. Dance in the Street by Donna the Buffalo (23)
37. Music of Our People by Darol Anger and Emy Phelps (22)
37. The Bloom of Youth by Childsplay (22)
39. Dead Reckoning by Jellyman’s Daughter (21)
39. The Longest Night of the Year Volume One by Various Artists (21)
39. King of the Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller by Various Artists (21)
39. Austinology – Alleys of Austin by Michael Martin Murphey (21)
43. Triumph by Kate Callahan (20)
43. Keep the Flame Alive by Spook Handy (20)
43. Down the Road Wherever by Mark Knopfler (20)
43. March Through Storms by House of Hamill (20)
43. The Man I’m Supposed to Be by Rod Abernethy (20)
43. Reckless Abandon by Susan Shann (20)
43. Welcome to the Ether by Wes Collins (20)
50. Sentimental Season by Randall Kromm (19)
50. The Man With Everything by Matt Campbell (19)
52. Live From Chester by D.B. Rielly (18)
52. Stubborn in My Blood by Tia McGraff (18)
54. The Hermit’s Spyglass by Ben Bedford (17)
54. River’s Rising by Nancy Cassidy (17)
54. Rifles and Rosary Beads by Mary Gauthier (17)
57. Stages by Storyhill (16)
57. Supposed to Fly by David Graff (16)
57. Nature by Paul Kelly (16)
57. Bright Hills by Appalucians (16)
57. No One Travels Alone by Jon Brooks (16)
57. Didn’t He Ramble: Songs of Charlie Poole by David Davis and the Warrior River Boys (16)
57. Make Your Own Luck by Mustard’s Retreat (16)
64. Sing the Winter Away by Naming the Twins (15)
64. The Broken Heart of Everything by David Francey (15)
64. Wilderness Years by Jory Nash (15)
64. Further Down the Line by Scott Cook (15)
64. Barry Abernathy and Darrell Webb Present Appalachian Road Show by Barry Abernathy and Darrell Webb (15)
64. See You Around by I’m With Her (15)
64. It’s All About the Song by Tim Hildebrandt (15)
64. Let It Pass by Stray Birds (15)
64. The River and the Light by Martha Scanlan (15)

Top Songs OF November 2018

Tellico had the most-played song on folk radio and the #2 album i November 2018. (Photo: Sandlin Gaither)
1. “Courage for the Morning” by Tellico (33)
2. “Vote” by Spook Handy (22)
3. “When the Well Runs Dry” by Jonathan Byrd and the Pickup Cowboys (20)
4. “Voting Day” by Mike Laureanno (14)
4. “Pickup Cowboy” by Jonathan Byrd and the Pickup Cowboys (14)
6. “Like November” by Tellico (13)
7. “Veterans Day” by Tom Russell (12)
7. “West of the Cumberlands” by Tellico (12)
7. “Roses in November” by Tret Fure (12)
7. “Starlings” by Noah Zacharin (12)
11. “Woke Like a Lark” by Noah Zacharin (11)
12. “Thanksgiving” by Rachel Baiman (10)
12. “Crossing to Jerusalem” by Rosanne Cash (10)
12. “That’s Why Republicans Hate Trains” by Michael Jerling (10)
12. “Easy to Love” by Beth Snapp (10)
12. “Vote ‘Em Out” by Willie Nelson (10)
17. “Madison Tennesee” by Rachel Baiman (9)
17. “Thanksgiving Song” by Mary Chapin Carpenter (9)
17. “Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts” by Bob Dylan (9)
17. “Urge for Going” by Katherine Rondeau (9)
17. “Family Recipe” by Michael Jerling (9)
17. “Over” by Noah Zacharin (9)
17. “Canyonland” by Kaia Kater (9)
17. “It’s a Horrible World” by Kathy Kallick Band (9)
17. “Thanksgiving” by Si Kahn (9)
17. “Turn Off the Noise” by Andy and Judy (9)
17. “Veteran” by Tim Hildebrandt (9)
17. “Lakota Sioux” by Jonathan Byrd and the Pickup Cowboys (9)
17. “Trouble” by Lucy Wainwright Roche (9)

Top Albums, Songs – October 2018 (FOLKDJ-L)

Michael Kornfeld — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 16:23:52 +0000

Appleseed’s 21st Anniversary: Roots and Branches by Various Artists was the top album on folk radio during October 2018, while singer-songwriter John Flynn had the month’s #1 song (“She Persisted”). So say charts compiled from radio playlists submitted to FOLKDJ-L, an electronic discussion group for DJs and others interested in all folk-based music on the radio.
The October 2018 FOLKDJ-L charts are based on 14,886 airplays reported on 641 playlists submitted by 136 different DJs. The number of reported spins is shown below in parentheses. The top albums and songs charts are compiled under the auspices of Folk Alliance International (www.folk.org), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to serve, strengthen, and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation, and promotion. The monthly top albums and songs charts are posted on AcousticMusicScene.com, with permission.

A three-CD retrospective collection, Appleseed’s 21st Anniversary: Roots & Branches, features socially conscious contemporary, folk and roots music by a wide array of established and lesser-known musicians who have recorded for Appleseed Recordings. Founded by activist attorney Jim Musselman, the Pennsylvania-based independent label is dedicated to “sowing the seeds of social justice through music and exploring the roots and branches of folk and world music” and contributes a percentage of its profits to environmental, human rights, and other progressive organizations.

The collection’s 57 tracks include a few previously unreleased songs by Donovan, John Wesley Harding, Tom Morello, Tim Robbins, Bruce Springsteen, Jesse Winchester, and more. Among the other featured artists are Eric Andersen, Joan Baez, Billy Bragg, David Bromberg, Jackson Browne, Aoife Clancy, Johnny Clegg, Judy Collins, Ani DiFranco, Lila Downs, Jonathan Edwards, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Dick Gaughan, John Gorka, Emmylou Harris, Kim & Reggie Harris, Levon Helm, Anne Hills, Rev. Robert B. Jones, Sharon Katz & the Peace Train, Dolores Keane, The Kennedys, Roger McGuinn, Natalie Merchant, Tom Paxton, Joel Rafael Band, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Rush, Tom Russell, Tommy Sands, Pete Seeger and his siblings Mike and Peggy, Al Stewart, John Stewart, and Sweet Honey in the Rock.

John Flynn, a folk-rock troubadour and social justice activist following in the footsteps of Woody Guthrie, Phil Ochs and Pete Seeger, has been performing and recording for more than three decades. He has brought his powerful voice and songs to stages at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, among others. “She Persisted” is from his latest release, Vintage. Here’s a link to the song’s lyrics on his website: https://www.johnflynn.net/jfnet/lyrics/she_persisted.htm.

Top Albums of October 2018

1. Appleseed’s 21st Anniversary: Roots and Branches by Various Artists (111)
2. Horrible World by Kathy Kallick Band (87)
3. Live at the CMA Theater in the Country Music Hall of Fame by Earls of Leicester (83)
4. Vintage by John Flynn (77)
5. Little Beast by Lucy Wainwright Roche (74)
6. Grenades by Kaia Kater (72)
7. Everyday Street by Lucy Kaplansky (67)
7. Music of Our People by Darol Anger and Emy Phelps (67)
7. Pretty Bird by Kathy Mattea (67)
10. Damn Sure Blue by Kate Campbell (66)
11. The Bloom of Youth by Childsplay (64)
12. Family Recipe by Michael Jerling (54)
13. Last Day on This Earth by David Roth (50)
14. Home for the Harvest by Craig Bickhardt (49)
15. Royal Traveller by Missy Raines (47)
16. Songs of the Plains by Colter Wall (45)
17. Make Your Own Luck by Mustard’s Retreat (40)
18. Secularia by Eliza Gilkyson (39)
19. Dead Reckoning by Jellyman’s Daughter (38)
20. One at a Time by George Mann (37)
20. Nowthen by Rich Krueger (37)
20. Wings by Zoe Speaks (37)
23. Acrobats by Moors and McCumber (36)
24. Reckless Abandon by Susan Shann (34)
25. Reflection by Andy and Judy (33)
25. March Though Storms by House of Hammil (33)
27. Roses in November by Tret Fure (32)
27. Shout and Shine by Fink, Marxer & Gleaves (32)
29. Ready to Go by Reggie Harris (31)
29. The Hermit’s Spyglass by Ben Bedford (31)
29. 40th Anniversary Bash by Hot Rize (31)
29. The Tree of Forgiveness by John Prine (31)
33. Sing Me Back Home: The DC Tapes by Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard (29)
34. This Too Shall Light by Amy Helm (28)
35. Invisible Forces by The Whispering Tree (27)
35. Didn’t He Ramble: Songs of Charlie Poole by David Davis and the Warrior River Boys (27)
37. Black Cowboys by Dom Flemons (25)
37. Lucky Star by Brooks Williams (25)
39. No One Travels Alone by Jon Brooks (24)
39. Welcome to the Ether by Wes Collins (24)
41. The Broken Heart of Everything by David Francey (23)
41. Sentimental Season by Randall Kromm (23)
41. Holler by Amy Ray (23)
41. Kanawha County Flatpicking by Tyler Grant and Robin Kessinger (23)
41. Homestead Hands by Lark and the Loon (23)
41. Years in the Making by Loudon Wainwright III (23)
41. Beginning Again by Rod Macdonald (23)
48. Lovers Tree by Claudia Russell and Bruce Kaplan (22)
49. 2018 by Holly Near (21)
49. Armadillo on a Hot Tin Roof by Vi Wickam and Justin Branum (21)
49. Don’t Apologize by Beth Snapp (21)
49. Been on Your Side by Courtney Hartman and Taylor Ashton (21)
53. Rize Up by Roy Zimmerman (20)
53. Hot Jazz, Cool Blues and Hard-Hitting Songs by Barbara Dane (20)
53. Help Me to Believe by Charlie Koch (20)
53. Glory Bound by Wooks (20)
53. Ghost Light by John McCutcheon (20)
58. Triumph by Kate Callahan (19)
58. Some People I Know by The Brother Brothers (19)
58. A Good Dog Is Lost by Ken Tizzard (19)
58. Vote by Mike Laureanno (19)
58. Time to Fly by Mare Wakefield and Nomad (19)
58. The River and the Light by Martha Scanlan (19)
58. True in Time by John Gorka (19)
65. Full Detroit by Paul Sachs (18)
65. Come Hell or High Water by Malcolm Holcombe (18)
65. See You Around by I’m With Her (18)
65. Letters Never Read by Dori Freeman (18)
69. Supposed to Fly by David Graff (17)
69. Dying Star by Ruston Kelly (17)
69. Wilderness Years by Jory Nash (17)
69. Quarter Past Tonight by Chicago Farmer (17)
69. The Lies the Poets Tell by Laurie MacAllister (17)

Top Songs of October 2018

John Flynn’s “She Persisted” was the most-played song on folk radio during October 2018.
1. “She Persisted” by John Flynn (15)
2. “Soft Line” by Lucy Wainwright Roche (14)
2. “Steady as She Goes” by Craig Bickhardt (14)
2. “New Colossus” by Kaia Kater (14)
2. “Vote ‘Em Out” by Willie Nelson (14)
6. “If I Had a Hammer” by Bruce Springsteen (13)
6. “Up on the Roof” by Darol Anger and Emy Phelps (13)
6. “Sing Me on My Way” by John Flynn (13)
6. “Trouble” by Lucy Wainwright Roche (13)
6. “Saskatchewan in 1881” by Colter Wall (13)
11. “Voting Day” by Mike Laureanno (12)
11. “Let in the Song” by John Flynn (12)
11. “Swept Away” by Missy Raines (12)
11. “Pockets Full of Rain” by Kathy Kallick Band (12)
11. “Old Friends” by Lucy Kaplansky (12)
11. “Where Are You Tonight I Wonder” by Childsplay (12)
11. “When Fall Comes to New England” by Cheryl Wheeler (12)
18. “Damn Sure Blue” by Kate Campbell (11)
18. “That’s Why Republicans Hate Trains” by Michael Jerling (11)
18. “Canyonland” by Kaia Kater (11)
18. “Quit With Me” by Lucy Wainwright Roche (11)
22. “Salty Dog Blues” by Earls of Leicester (10)
22. “Is It Too Much to Ask” by David Roth (10)
22. “Train of Zombies” by Randall Kromm (10)
22. “If I Had a Hammer”(excerpt)” by Pete Seeger (10)
22. “I Hope” by Jellyman’s Daughter (10)
22. “Little Falcon” by Ben Bedford (10)
22. “Sailing Off to Yankeeland” by Childsplay (10)
22. “October Song” by Kathy Mattea (10)

Top Albums & Songs – June 2017 (FOLKDJ-L)

Michael Kornfeld — Tue, 04 Jul 2017 21:20:11 +0000

Tom Russell’s Play One More: The Songs of Ian and Sylvia was the #1 album on folk radio during June 2017, while Joe Jencks had the most-played song (“Let Me Sing You a Song“ from Poets, Philosophers, Workers and Wanderers, May’s most-played album and #2 in June). Rosalie Sorrels, who died last month, was the most-played artist in June, followed by Russell and Jencks. So say charts compiled by Richard Gillmann from radio playlists submitted to FOLKDJ-L, an electronic discussion group for DJs and others interested in all folk-based music on the radio.

Russell, himself one of America’s most-covered singer-songwriters, pays homage to the Canadian folk duo Ian and Sylvia Tyson on his latest album, Play One More: The Songs of Ian and Sylvia — featuring 14 of their songs. Jencks, best known to many as part of the folk harmony trio Brother Sun, lets his own resonant tenor shine on “Let Me Sing You a Song” and other tracks on his new solo release.

The June 2017 FOLKDJ-L charts are based on 13, 617 airplays from 137 different DJs. Label and release date appear in brackets below, while the number of reported spins is shown in parentheses. The top albums and songs charts are posted on AcousticMusicScene.com, with permission.

Top Albums of June 2017

1: Play One More: The Songs Of Ian And Sylvia, Tom Russell [True North, 5/17] (82)
2: Poets, Philosophers, Workers And Wanderers, Joe Jencks [Turtle Bear, 5/17] (72)
3: Revolution Now, Emma’s Revolution [Moving Forward, 5/17] (61)
4: Lines Of Longitude, Chris And Meredith Thompson [Alkali, 5/17] (56)
5: Against All Tides, Harpeth Rising [harpethrising.com, 5/17] (48)
5: Shame, Rachel Baiman [Free Dirt, 6/17] (48)
7: God Bless The Grass, The Malvinas [Soona, 4/17] (46)
8: When The Bloom Falls From The Rose, Sarah Jane Scouten [Light Organ, new] (45)
9: Alastair Moock, Alastair Moock [moock.com, 6/17] (42)
10: God’s Problem Child, Willie Nelson [Legacy, 4/17] (41)
10: Land Of Doubt, Sam Baker [sambakermusic.com, new] (41)
12: The Nashville Sound, Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit [Southeastern, new] (36)
12: This Highway, Zephaniah Ohora [zephaniahohora.com, new] (36)
14: Hands In The Dirt, The Resonant Rogues [theresonantrogues.com, 5/17] (35)
14: Treasure Of The Broken Land: The Songs Of Mark Heard, Various Artists [Storm Weathered, 6/17] (35)
16: Wild As We Came Here, The Steel Wheels [Big Ring, 3/17] (32)
17: The Fairest Flower Of Womankind, Lindsay Straw [lindsaystraw.bandcamp.com, 4/17] (31)
17: Manic Revelations, Pokey LaFarge [Rounder, 5/17] (31)
19: Amanda Anne Platt And The Honeycutters, Amanda Anne Platt And The Honeycutters [Organic, new] (30)
19: Turn Your Face To The Sun, I Draw Slow [Compass, 4/17] (30)
19: You See This River, Janie Barnett And Blue Room [Minor Regrets, 3/17] (30)
22: Black Irish, Shannon McNally [Compass, 6/17] (29)
23: Freedom Highway, Rhiannon Giddens [Nonesuch, 2/17] (28)
23: Lucky Stars, Loretta Hagen [Bearfort, new] (28)
23: Singin, Heather Pierson Acoustic Trio [Vessel, new] (28)
23: Smoke Behind The Clouds, The Bucking Mules [Free Dirt, 4/17] (28)
27: If It’s Alright With You: The Songs Of Gene MacLellan, Catherine MacLellan [True North, new] (27)
27: Resistance, Beth DeSombre [bethdesombre.com, new] (27)
27: Where The River Meets The Road, Tim O’Brien [Howdy Skies, 3/17] (27)
30: Different Hymnals, Joel Mabus [Fossil, new] (26)
30: So You Wannabe An Outlaw, Steve Earle And The Dukes [Warner, new] (26)
32: Ghost On The Car Radio, Slaid Cleaves [Candy House Media, new] (25)
33: 50 Years Of Blonde On Blonde, Old Crow Medicine Show [Columbia, 4/17] (24)
34: Americana, Ray Davies [Legacy, 4/17] (23)
34: Eyes Brand New, Zoe And Cloyd [zoeandcloyd.com, 4/17] (23)
34: A Stranger In This Time, Tim Grimm And The Family Band [Vault, 3/17] (23)
37: O’Connor Band Live!, O’Connor Band [Omac, new] (22)
37: Positively Bob: Willie Nile Sings Bob Dylan, Willie Nile [River House, new] (22)
37: You’ve Been Away So Long (EP), Alice Howe [alicehowe.com, 2/17] (22)
40: All My Heroes Sang The Blues, Sandy Ross [Slr, new] (21)
40: Almost Anyone, Montgomery Delaney [montgomerydelaney.com, 4/17] (21)
40: Binary, Ani Difranco [Righteous Babe, 6/17] (21)
40: Boots No. 1: The Official Revival Bootleg, Gillian Welch [Acony, 11/16] (21)
40: A Calm Sun, Lesley Kernochan [Maple Syrup, 12/16] (21)
40: Tunes From David Holt’s State Of Music 2, Various Artists [High Windy, 4/17] (21)
46: Colter Wall, Colter Wall [Young Mary, 5/17] (20)
46: Fading Mystery, Taarka [taarka.com, 1/17] (20)
46: From Where I Started, Sera Cahoone [Lady Muleskinner, 3/17] (20)
46: Phat Live, Phil Henry Acoustic Trio [philhenryband.com, 5/17] (20)
46: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles [Apple, 1967] (20)
46: Threads, Tom Chapin [Sundance, 3/17] (20)
52: Balance, Shawn Taylor [Self, new] (19)
52: Divining Rod, Wyatt Easterling [Phoenix Rising, 3/17] (19)
52: Ironbark, The Waifs [Compass, 3/17] (19)
52: Songs I Left Behind, Rebb Firman [Lemon Cove, 4/17] (19)
52: Transient Lullaby, The Mastersons [Red House, 5/17] (19)
57: Turning The World, Rick Drost [Self, new] (18)
57: What She Said, Fred Gillen Jr [Dys, 4/17] (18)
59: Further Down The Line, Scott Cook [scottcook.net, 3/17] (17)
59: Kids In The Street, Justin Townes Earle [New West, 5/17] (17)
59: My Last Go Round, Rosalie Sorrels and Friends [Red House, 2004] (17)
59: Undercurrent, Sarah Jarosz [Sugar Hill, 6/16] (17)
59: Wow And Flutter, Amilia K Spicer [Free Range, 4/17] (17)
64: Beautiful World, Eliza Gilkyson [Red House, 2008] (16)
64: Bonfire To Ash, Porter Nickerson [Weasel, 1/17] (16)
64: Colors, The Farm Hands [Pinecastle, new] (16)
64: Report From Grimes Creek, Rosalie Sorrels [Green Linnet, 1991] (16)
64: TajMo, Taj Mahal And Keb’ Mo’ [Concord, 5/17] (16)
64: Time Machine, Peter Calo [En Route, 10/16] (16)
70: Cimarron Manifesto, Jimmy LaFave [Red House, 2007] (15)
70: Coming Down The Mountain, Mipso [mipsomusic.com, 4/17] (15)
70: The Dustbowl Revival, The Dustbowl Revival [Signature, 6/17] (15)
70: Rise, Molly Tuttle [Self, new] (15)

Top Songs of June 2017

Joe Jencks
1. “Let Me Sing You A Song” (19)
by Joe Jencks
from Poets, Philosophers, Workers And Wanderers
2. “Sing People Sing” (14)
by Emma’s Revolution
from Revolution Now
2. “Thrown To The Wolves” (14)
by Tom Russell
from Play One More: The Songs Of Ian And Sylvia
2. “When I Go” (14)
by Chris And Meredith Thompson
from Lines Of Longitude
2. “Wild Geese” (14)
by Tom Russell
from Play One More: The Songs Of Ian And Sylvia
6. “Night The Chinese Restaurant Burned Down” (13)
by Tom Russell
from Play One More: The Songs Of Ian And Sylvia
7. “God’s Problem Child” (12)
by Willie Nelson
from God’s Problem Child
7. “Make It Great” (12)
by Alastair Moock
from Alastair Moock
9. “Old Cheyenne” (11)
by Tom Russell
from Play One More: The Songs Of Ian And Sylvia
10. “Crow” (10)
by The Malvinas
from God Bless The Grass
10. “I Know What Love Is” (10)
by Chris And Meredith Thompson
from Lines Of Longitude
10. “Never Tire Of The Road” (10)
by Rachel Baiman
from Shame
10. “Summer Wind” (10)
by Sam Baker
from Land Of Doubt
10. “When The Wolves No Longer Sing” (10)
by Tom Russell
from Play One More: The Songs Of Ian And Sylvia
15. “535” (9)
by Harpeth Rising
from Against All Tides
15. “Dream” (9)
by Alastair Moock
from Alastair Moock
15. “God Bless The Grass” (9)
by The Malvinas
from God Bless The Grass
15. “Going Home” (9)
by Joe Jencks
from Poets, Philosophers, Workers And Wanderers
15. “Gonna Be Great” (9)
by Tim Grimm And The Family Band
from A Stranger In This Time
15. “Hands In The Dirt” (9)
by The Resonant Rogues
from Hands In The Dirt
15. “My Last Go Round” (9)
by Rosalie Sorrels and Friends
from My Last Go Round
also Borderline Heart
15. “Same Kind Of Blue” (9)
by Sam Baker
from Land Of Doubt
15. “Shame” (9)
by Rachel Baiman
from Shame
15. “She Persisted” (9)
by Beth DeSombre
from Resistance
15. “Sing Me Like A Folk Song” (9)
by The Steel Wheels
from Wild As We Came Here
15. “Way Down In My Soul” (9)
by Zephaniah Ohora
from This Highway

Remembering Rosalie Sorrels, 1933-2017

Michael Kornfeld — Sat, 17 Jun 2017 14:25:30 +0000

In the summer of 1970, when I was just ten years old, my family began what was to be a one-year stay in the San Francisco Bay Area. We were weekending at a small, resort just down the coast, near Santa Cruz; the evening’s entertainment was to be provided by a folksinger and storyteller named Rosalie Sorrels. I guess I was too young to appreciate – or even now, 47 years later, recall the exact experience. But it must have resonated with me considering how active I’ve since become in folk and acoustic music circles. Many years later, I saw Sorrels, who died June 11, in concert and related the experience to her. She told me at the time how she had frequented that resort — whose name escapes me and has long since closed – – for years and how much she enjoyed spending time there.

An Idaho songbird who wrote heartfelt, expressive, often deeply personal songs of love and loss, loneliness, poverty and social injustice, and sung them in her fluid, mellifluous yet sometimes heartbreaking voice, Sorrels passed away at the Reno, Nevada home of her daughter Holly Marizu, where she had been living for the past several years. Although the cause of death was undetermined, Sorrels, 83, had been suffering from dementia and colon cancer. Nearly 20 years earlier, she had beaten breast cancer after having suffered a cerebral aneurysm ten years earlier in 1988.

Sorrels also was a folklorist and a collector of folk songs of all kinds – ranging from English ballads to Mormon songs and the works of contemporary songwriters — who had a near-encyclopedic knowledge of musicology.

Five generations of her family lived and worked in Idaho. Her paternal grandfather, Rev. Robert Stringfellow, was an Episcopalian preacher who came to Idaho during the state’s early years, while her grandmother, Rosalie Cope Stringfellow, for whom she was named, was a photographer and journalist. Interestingly, her maternal grandfather, James Madison Kelly, was “an Irishman and an Atheist,” who she recalled “having cursed at his horses in Shakespearean language.”

Many of her family members were storytellers, and Sorrels grew up surrounded by books and songs and immersed in ideas and poetry She was born in 1933 and lived in Idaho for many years in a cozy handmade cabin that her father, Walter Stringfellow, a piano-playing and musical-loving engineer, had built on Grimes Creek, located in the mountains near Boise, the state capital. Her mother, Nancy Stringfellow, who ran a bookshop in downtown Boise and through whom she acquired her love of literature, had named the cabin “Guernica,” meaning “little place that holds your heart.” Although she later returned there, Sorrels left Idaho at age 19 — determined to see the world beyond its boundaries.

In the early 1950s, she married Jim Sorrels, whom she met while both were performing at the Boise Little Theatre. A few years later, they moved to Utah. She launched a career as a folklorist at the University of Utah during the 1950s and also taught folk guitar classes there and promoted concerts in the area – including Joan Baez’ first Salt Lake City appearance.

After 14 years of an often stormy and abusive marriage, she left her husband and Salt Lake City in 1966 and with her five children headed back home to Idaho. Taking to the road, Sorrels followed her true passion – music – with her children in tow – embarking on a lifetime of traveling that resulted in her being known as the Travelin’ Lady, also the name of one of her early songs and albums, which tells of her divorce and heading out on the road. For a brief period of time, she and her children lived in Saratoga Springs, New York with Lena spencer, founder of the famed Caffe Lena there.

During a career that spanned more than six decades, Sorrels recorded more than 25 albums and appeared on many others. She performed at numerous clubs and venues and at many major music festivals. She graced stages at the Newport Folk Festival in 1966 (where she first drew notice while performing with Mitch Greenhill) and Woodstock in 1969 (where she jammed with Jerry Garcia), and received a standing ovation following her performance at the 1972 Isle of Wight Festival. Sorrels continued performing actively through the 1990s, touring both as a solo artist and with longtime close friend Bruce “Utah” Phillips. Health issues prompted the “travelin’ lady” to cut back on her touring and eventually retire to her home in Idaho during the next decade. However, she returned to the studio in 2007 to record an album, the Grammy-nominated Strangers in Another Country: The Songs of Bruce “Utah” Phillips, to benefit her friend who had congestive heart failure and died the next year.

Considered among the top artists of the Beat Generation, Sorrels earned the admiration and friendship of such famed writers as Hunter S. Thompson and Studs Terkel, both of whom wrote liner notes for her. Thompson, the gonzo journalist and author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, referred to her songs as “so close to the bone, I get nervous listening to them.” A Rosalie Sorrels Archive is maintained as part of the Beat Generation Archives at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Through the years, Sorrels also earned praise from the Boston Globe, which hailed her as “one of America’s genuine folk treasures” and from fellow folksingers and storytellers like the late Gamble Rogers, who called her “the hillbilly Edith Piaf.” Sorrels, who was herself influenced by Malvina Reynolds, also helped to inspire a new generation of folk artists during the 1980s – including such notables as Mary Chapin Carpenter, Guy Clark, Nanci Griffith, Christine Lavin, and Tom Russell.

Although most of the songs Sorrels recorded and performed (accompanying herself on acoustic guitar), she also helped to preserve the oral folk tradition through her fine interpretations of traditional songs and those written by others. Sorrels also wrote or co-authored several books — including Way Out in Idaho, a collection of songs, stories, poems and recipes published by the Idaho Commission for the Arts in connection with the state’s centennial celebration in 1991.

Sorrels received two Grammy Award nominations, the Idaho Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1986, the World Folk Music Association’s Kate Wolf Award in 1990, a Circle of Excellence Award from the National Storytelling Network in 1999 for “exceptional commitment and exemplary contributions to the art of storytelling,” and an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the University of Idaho in 2000. She also was a featured artist in the Smithsonian Institution’s Founding Members of Folk exhibit and accompanying recordings.

Besides her daughter Holly, Sorrels leaves behind another daughter, Shelley Ross, a son, Kevin, her brother Jim, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Her eldest son, David, committed suicide in 1976, and she paid tribute to him in her plaintive song, “Hitchhiker in the Rain.” Another daughter, Leslie, died last year.

A multi-CD set of songs entitled Tribute to the Travelin’ Lady is expected to be released soon and may expose Sorrels’ songs to a new generation.

Here’s a link to a video promoting an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds for the tribute album.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/rosalie-sorrels-tribute#/

Cactus Cafe at UT in Austin Faces Closure

Michael Kornfeld — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:47:36 +0000

The nationally renowned Cactus Café on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin may be closing later this year. Citing a desire “to minimize the impact of budgetary reductions on students and to protect student core services,” the Texas Union board of directors on Friday announced plans to “phase-out” the intimate live music venue that has attracted a wide array of local, regional, national and international touring acoustic artists since it opened in 1979. The board’s plans are slated to take effect in August.

According to a statement posted on the university’s website by The Texas Union, the Cactus Café has been largely used by non-students and in recent years required significant subsidies to remain in operation. “Although popular with some audiences, [it is] no longer profitable and do [es] not fit within the core student mission of the Texas Union and Student Affairs,” said Wm. Andrew Smith Jr., executive director of University Unions.

A Save the Cactus Café group has been established on Facebook; those wishing to express their thoughts regarding the planned closure also can contact the university’s vice president of student affairs at juan.gonzalez@austin.utexas.edu and c.c. President William Powers at president@po.utexas.edu.

Editor’s Note: I enjoyed a performance by Tom Russell at the Cactus Café several years ago during my only visit to Austin to date and am saddened to hear of its planned closing. The national reputation of the Cactus Café must be helpful to the university. I hope the Texas Union board of directors will reconsider this decision.