The Wind Will Change Again is the fourth album released by The Twangtown Paramours (Mike T. Lewis and MaryBeth Zamer), who met in 2009 while working on their own individual musical projects, started dating, and released their debut recording as a duo the following year. Not easily musically pigeonholed by genre, The Twangtown Paramours perform a mix of Americana, folk and blues. However, The Wind Will Change Again reflects the duo’s acoustic folk roots.

Mike T. Lewis, who began learning classical and jazz guitar as a youngster growing up in New York City, has also occasionally played upright bass with Jimmie Dale Gilmore. MaryBeth Zamer, who was born in Washington, DC and raised on a mix of opera and American Songbook-style music, credits the late Eva Cassidy — in whose band (Method Actor) she was a backup vocalist — as a major influence on her singing style. The Twangtown Paramours have been two-time finalists in the prestigious Kerrville New Folk Competition and winners in Wildflower! Performing Songwriter Contest in Richardson, TX.

“Field of Stars” is the title track of the 45th album produced and released by John McCutcheon during a career that has spanned more than 50 years and shows no signs of slowing down. A prolific songwriter, master of the hammered dulcimer (among other instruments), and frequent presence on the folk radio charts, McCutcheon was the most-played artist of 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022. He had both the top album (To Everyone in All the World: A Celebration of Pete Seeger) and the top song (“Well May the World Go”) on folk radio during 2019. A number of his other previous albums and songs have topped the monthly charts in recent years, while McCutcheon’s classic “Christmas in the Trenches” has been among the most-played songs on folk radio during the holiday season for years.

[Here’s a link to enjoy listening to John McCutcheon’s “Field of Stars”: link]

The January 2025 top albums, songs and artists charts are based on 11, 601 airplays reported on 387 playlists submitted by 107 different folk DJs. The number of reported spins is shown below in parentheses.

Folk Alliance International (folk.org) is a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen, and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion. Its annual conference takes place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, February 19-23.

Top Albums of January 2025

1. The Wind Will Change Again by The Twangtown Paramours (150)
2. Field of Stars by John McCutcheon (137)
3. Reclamation by Crys Matthews (61)
4. Gold in Your Pocket by Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms (54)
5. Songs to a Wild God by Mallory Chipman (49)
6. Glimmer by Carol Crittenden (41)
7. Ride in the Light by Cindy Kallet (39)
8. Hydra by Nuala Kennedy and Eamon O’Leary (30)
9. A Complete Unknown (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by
Timothee Chalamet (28)
9. Woodland by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings (28)
11. Up From the Mud by Diane Coll (25)
12. Deep Feeler by Liv Greene (24)
13. Look Up by Ringo Starr (23)
14. Looking for the Thread by Mary Chapin Carpenter, Julie Fowlis,
Karine Polwart (22)
14. Wildfire by House of Hamill (22)
16. “Earl Jam by Tony Trischka (21)
17. “The Silence of the Stars by Linda Marks (20)
17. “Trail of Flowers by Sierra Ferrell (20)
17. If the Sky Fell by Michael Henchman (20)
20. Things Done Changed by Jerron Paxton (19)
20. Last Leaf on the Tree by Willie Nelson (19)
22. The American Dream by Amy Speace (18)
23. In the Real World by Eric Bibb (17)
23. Willie Watson by Willie Watson (17)
23. Highway Prayers by Billy Strings (17)
26. Thirteen by Colin O’Brien (16)
26. Hear My Call by Cristina Vane (16)
26. Polaroid Lovers by Sarah Jarosz (16)
26. Live at the Raven Gallery by Josh White Jr (16)
30. Parallel Lives by David Mallett (15)
30. From China to Appalachia by Cathy Fink, Marcy Marxer and Chao Tian (15)
32. Ten Good Sermons by Eugene Ruffolo (14)
32. Turning Over Stones by Bett Padgett (14)
32. Now, O Now by Rakish (14)
35. Ravens and the Roses by Cris Williamson (13)
35. This Hen’s Gonna Crow by Colleen Kattau (13)
35. The Very Best of Peter, Paul and Mary by Paul and Mary Peter (13)
35. Who We Are by Dan and Faith (13)
35. Trees by Laurie Lewis (13)
35. Roadmap by Roy Zimmerman (13)
35. Boarding Windows in Paradise by Rebecca Frazier (13)
35. Into the Wild” by Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway (13)
43. Golden by Genevieve Racette (12)
43. Beacons by Nefesh Mountain (12)
43. Cortelia Clark by Josh White Jr (12)
43. With a Guitar and a Pen by Tish Hinojosa (12)
47. Waiting for Inspiration by Socks in the Frying Pan (11)
47. Around the Campfire by Paul and Mary Peter (11)
47. Fever Longing Still by Paul Kelly (11)
47. Reach by Becky Buller (11)
47. Manos Panamericanos by Larry and Joe (11)
47. Still Troubled by Mike Ward (11)
47. Snappy Comeback by L.A. Moore (11)

Top Songs of January 2025

1. “Field of Stars” by John McCutcheon (30)
2. “The Wind Will Change Again” by The Twangtown Paramours (25)
3. “Old Friends” by The Twangtown Paramours (21)
4. “A Room in Bordeaux” by The Twangtown Paramours (19)
5. “Sincerely Yours No More” by The Twangtown Paramours (18)
6. “A Heart That Never Closes” by Mary Chapin Carpenter, Julie Fowlis,
Karine Polwart (17)
7. “Tonight I Think I’m Gonna Go Downtown” by The Twangtown Paramours (16)
8. “Hopeful Hearts” by Judy Kass and Sloan Wainwright (15)
9. “Stars Without a Heaven” by The Twangtown Paramours (14)
10. “When Winter Comes to Call” by Bett Padgett (13)
11. “Big Sky Country” by Mallory Chipman (12)
11. “The Goodwill Store” by The Twangtown Paramours (12)
11. “None” by The Twangtown Paramours (12)
11. “That Thing You Do” by The Twangtown Paramours (12)
11. “Waiting for the Moon” by John McCutcheon (12)
11. “Here” by John McCutcheon (12)
17. “Peace Can Be Louder Than War” by Merry Hell (11)
17. “Wild Geese” by Liv Greene (11)
17. “The Garden” by The Twangtown Paramours (11)
17. “Too Old to Die Young” by John McCutcheon (11)
21. “Tikkun Olam” by John McCutcheon (10)
21. “Immigration Nation” by Mike Ward (10)
21. “Only Ones Dancing” by John McCutcheon (10)
21. “Garden Song” by David Mallett (10)
21. “Empty Trainload of Sky” by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings (10)
21. “Ms St. Louis” by John McCutcheon (10)
21. “Luckier Than Most” by Jon Shain (10)
21. “Mercury & Mars” by Christine Lavin (10)
21. “Sing Me Home” by Mallory Chipman (10)
21. “Sleeves Up” by Crys Matthews (10)

Top Artists of January 2025

1. John McCutcheon (157)
2. The Twangtown Paramours (153)
3. David Mallett (92)
4. Paul and Mary Peter (88)
5. Crys Matthews (82)
6. Bob Dylan (67)
7. Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms (54)
8. Josh White Jr (52)
9. Mallory Chipman (49)
9. Cindy Kallet (49)
11. Carol Crittenden (41)
12. The Band (37)
13. Pete Seeger (35)
14. Willie Nelson (34)
15. Peter Paul and Mary (32)
15. Timothee Chalamet (32)
17. Nuala Kennedy and Eamon O’Leary (30)
18. Gillian Welch and David Rawlings (29)
18. Peter Yarrow (29)
20. Mary Chapin Carpenter, Julie Fowlis, Karine Polwart (28)
21. Billy Strings (26)
21. House of Hamill (26)
21. Tony Trischka (26)
24. Sarah Jarosz (25)
24. Diane Coll (25)
26. Iris Dement (24)
26. Ringo Starr (24)
26. Liv Greene (24)
29. John Gorka (23)
29. Sierra Ferrell (23)
31. Stan Rogers (22)
31. Bett Padgett (22)
33. Amy Speace (21)
33. Michael Henchman (21)
33. Tom Paxton (21)
33. Eric Bibb (21)
37. Linda Marks (20)
37. Joan Baez (20)
37. Nanci Griffith (20)
40. Becky Buller (19)
40. Jerron Paxton (19)
40. Colleen Kattau (19)
40. Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway (19)

Years ago, I encouraged Lois to attend the annual Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) conference and to apply for showcases at it. Accompanying herself on a mini-piano during the Suzi Wollenberg Folk DJ Showcase at the 2011 NERFA Conference, she drew a standing ovation from an audience that was captivated by her and thoroughly enchanted with her funny songs. Selected for an official juried showcase in 2012, Lois repeated that feat (a rarity at NERFA conferences). At my urging, she applied for and secured another official juried showcase a few years later.

Lois earned the praise of noted folk DJs like John Platt and Rich Warren. “Don’t be deceived. Underneath Lois Morton’s sweet grandmotherly demeanor lurks a wickedly clever songwriter,” Platt, host of Sunday Supper on New York’s WFUV, once commented. “The legacy of Tom Lehrer lives on in Lois.” Warren, the recently retired host of the long-running, nationally syndicated The Midnight Special, played her songs frequently and also invited her to perform live in Chicago on his WFMT radio program and concert series, Folkstage. Her song “The Diet is Cast” received an Imprint Radio Award from the late upstate New York folk DJ Terry Doyle for Best Live Performance and also was nominated for a 2012 MAC Award by the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs. She received a 2014 MAC Award for a New York City cabaret revue, 20th Century Girl (featuring songs from her 2013 album of the same name), that was performed at Don’t Tell Mama and The Duplex.

[Here’s a link to a video of Lois Morton performing “The Diet is Cast:”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZb30xZjUZc.]

Lois was also the subject of a cover feature in Acoustic Live! in New York City & Beyond. Richard Cuccaro, its editor & publisher, opined: “For any concertgoer who loves intricate wordplay, Lois is a lodestone discovery. Truly a gem.” Singer-Songwriter Jimmie Dale Gilmore, with whom she took courses at the Omega Institute, described her songs as “a beautiful blend of biting wit, constant surprises and poignant, human stories. They alternately provoke us to laughter at our modern foibles and touch our hearts with timeless, tender, heartfelt sharing.” Lois was also a frequent attendee of the Summersongs and Wintersongs songwriting camps in upstate New York.

She released three CDs of original songs – As I See It, Doorways In Time and 20th Century Girl – and, in November 2019, a six-song EP entitled Thinking It Through. In addition to her own topical songs, which she began writing in the late 1960s, and several of which were published in Broadside Magazine, Lois brought to life the legendary Edith Piaf in a lecture-cabaret program featuring songs and stories and also performed a show called “Raisins and Almonds: Jewish Songs for the Heart.”

Lois leaves behind a daughter (Amy), a son (Philip), three grandchildren, and a trove of songs that I hope will be discovered and enjoyed by people for years to come. Below are links to just a few of the many videos of her performing them that appear on YouTube:

“Twentieth Century Girl”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQaY9R2aBtk

“The Cell Phone Song”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f84Kg2n-cTI

“Confessions of a Clutterholic”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5kbjYkFR58

“The Diet Is Cast” (performed live at the 2016 NERFA Conference)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PemwZlKZzA

A longtime bluegrass music lover, Hellman sponsored a free day-long bluegrass concert in 2001 that evolved into an annual three-day event that attracts hundreds of thousands of people to Golden Gate Park each fall and remains free thanks to an endowment created by him. Through the years, the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival has become known for its eclectic mix of American roots music. Besides such notable acoustic artists as Hazel Dickens (who performed at every festival until her death last April), Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch, the festival has featured performances by the likes of Elvis Costello, MC Hammer, Bruce Hornsby and John Mellencamp, among others.

An amateur banjo player, who began taking banjo lessons from multi-instrumentalist Jody Stecher in 2002, Hellman also was part of The Wronglers, a group that played at the festival several times beginning in 2006. “Simple tunes played by complicated people,” is how Hellman described the group’s music. Earlier this year, The Wronglers recorded an album of traditional folk-rooted American songs from the 1930s and 1940s entitled Heirloom Music with Jimmie Dale Gilmore, a perennial favorite at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, and toured in support of it during the spring and summer.

The billionaire former president of Lehman Brothers and co-founder of a private equity firm that bears his name, Hellman also was a philanthropist who invested heavily in causes dear to his heart – ranging from local ballot measures and an underground parking garage to the San Francisco Free Clinic. He also helped to create an online citizen journalism website, the Bay Citizen. Yet, he considered the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival – whose next installment is slated for Oct. 5-7, 2012 – to be his greatest legacy. Just days prior to his death, Hellman learned that the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Commission plans to rename Golden Gate Park’s Speedway Meadow, where the festival is centered, as Hellman Hollow.

Memorial services for Hellman are set for Dec 21 at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco, while a community celebration of his life will take place early in 2012.