Folk Alley New Music Adds for April

by Ann VerWiebe, folkalley.com

Singer/songwriter David Francey has long been a Folk Alley favorite (heck, he even headlined our 5th anniversary party at Cain Park). His music is the best kind of contemporary folk – taking his own story of immigrating from Scotland to Canada and the many lives he lived before becoming a professional musician and turning them into personal songs. Francey’s work connects with listeners on a variety of levels, all of them sincere and authentic. His newest CD is So Say We All.

When an American Idol contestant sang a Patty Griffin song last month, I was both excited and mortified. Griffin’s music is so beautiful that she should get more national (and international) exposure. But NOBODY sings Patty better than the woman herself – a unique voice that rises above the masses. Griffin says that most of the songs on her new album, American Kid, are about her father, “a World War II veteran who returned home to live for a time in a Trappist monastery before becoming a high school teacher and raising seven children.”

The Bills formed in 1996 as the Bill Hilly Band and have become extremely popular in their native Canada and beyond. Although the band is known for their energetic live shows and the humor they incorporate in The Bills’ music, they are very serious about what they do – winning two JUNO Awards in the process for Best Roots & Traditional Music. Discover what the buzz is about and listen to the band’s latest release, Yes Please.

The East Coast of Canada has such a strong music scene that the region has even produced its own much celebrated music awards. Rose Cousins won

this year’s Folk Award – which might be Amelia Curran’s prize in 2014 for her 2012 release, Spectators. Both women are part of a community of artists in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that also includes Old Man Luedecke. All three were nominated for the JUNO – Canada’s equivalent of the Grammy in the US. It must be something in that Atlantic Ocean water!

More new music added to Folk Alley:

Amy Speace – “How to Sleep in a Stormy Boat”
Dervish – “The Thrush in the Storm”
Go Jane Go – “Go Jane Go”
HEM – “Departure & Farewell”
John Reischman – “Walk Along John”
Kim Richey – “Thorn in My Heart”
Maya & the Ruins – “Take This Song with You”
Rita Hosking – “Little Boat”
Run Boy Run – “So Sang the Whippoorwill”
Run Boy Run – “Run Boy Run”
Ruth Moody – “These Wilder Things”
Stella! – “Sorry, Stella”
Steve Martin & Edie Brickell – “Love Has Come For You”
The Lone Bellow – “The Lone Bellow”
The Steel Wheels – “No More Rain”