Hear the Best New Folk Music with Fresh Cuts Friday
Ready for some of the best new music we’ve heard this week? It’s a darn good list as you’ll see below — and as you’ll hear when you join me for my “Fresh Cuts” radio hour! Listen every Friday at 2 p.m. Eastern, 11 a.m. Pacific via the 24/7 stream on our website, app, or your smart speaker.
Or, just click on the Fresh Cuts stream whenever it’s convenient for you.
In the meantime, check out some of the best new music we’ve been listening to this week.
Joanna Sternberg – “I’ve Got Me”
Joanna is giving me some real freaky underground folk vibes like Karen Dalton, Vashti Bunyan, Kimya Dawson and Devendra Banhart. There is a childlike wonder living alongside some intense wisdom on this song which is also the title track to their upcoming June 30 record. “I do not remember if I wrote this song before or after reading the poem ‘Oh Yes’ by Charles Bukowski, but the song is definitely meant to reflect the same sentiment,” Sternberg said in a statement.
Maura Shawn Scanlin – “We’ve Got Our Friends”
It’s nice to remember that you’ve got yourself AND you’ve got your friends and some music. Maura Shawn Scanlin, of the Boston duo Rakish, releases her first solo album on May 5. She recorded it with some of her dearest friends. Of THIS song, she shares: “…it came from a moment when I needed reminding of the most simple joys: friends, music, the sunrise, coffee in the morning…” Enjoy the reminder!
This time around Tinariwen, the Tuareg musicians from the north of Mali, are working with producer Daniel Lanois on the album Amatssou (out May 19). Meditative and percussive, the song pays homage to the Tuareg revolution in the Kel Adagh region of Mali.
Rachel’s latest, Common Nation of Sorrow, is out today!!! Of this song, she shares: “Debt has been my constant companion throughout my adult life. It feels like anytime I get a little bit ahead, it’s only for the purpose of paying down a loan. I struggle with shame surrounding financial debt, but this song is about the kind of debt that should be condemned, moral and ethical debt; taking, and taking, and taking, and never giving back. The narrator has lived their whole life off of the backs of others, and they know it.”
Mandolinist and New Englander Ethan Setiawan unleashes Gambit, his latest collection of instrumental tunes. This lively album features producer Darol Anger, Tony Trischka (banjo), Ethan Jodziewicz (bass), Louise Bichan (fiddle), Joe K. Walsh (mandolin) and a host of additional stellar players.
