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 great 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.
Allison Russell – “The Returner”
Are we ready for Allison Russell’s new album (out September 8)?! Probably not, but let’s take this time to get ready with her new song/title track “The Returner.” Featuring Russell’s “Rainbow Coalition” band of all female musicians, this record promises GROOVE. According to Russell, “In just a word, it’s funkier. But as is the history of anything funky, it’s never just a party. It is a multiverse of energies that merges the celebration and the battle cry. For while an embrace of the present tense is a celebration, it is equally an unquestioning leap into battle – cultural, political, environmental.”
Mainstay Ellis Paul has a new record (55) today! This year, he celebrates his 30th career anniversary, which he thought might not continue after a “Dupuytren’s contracture” diagnosis that tightly closes the fingers into a fist. He’s had surgery to release three of his left fingers, which allows him to make chords. Opener “Cosmos” sets the stage for a record about the necessity of gratitude.
Hiss Golden Messenger – “Nu-Grape”
Wow this song rolls and this video is award-worthy. MC Taylor’s dry sense of humor is revealed in the video, which shows him being suckered into a sponsorship with “Ol’ Grape,” a soda company run by a huge slimeball. The music lives on its on without the video featuring Hiss’ signature boppy rhythm alongside sweet harmonies from the likes of Aoife O’Donovan and Amy Helm.
Holly McGarry and Chris Bloniarz are Honeysuckle! This is an upstate NY-based band that I first came across while they were living and thriving in the Club Passim scene out of Cambridge, MA. Holly and Chris don’t have a bad song between them. Recently, they’ve been releasing some singles with some next-level production. While they are still solidly able to stand in the folk music camp, I am loving that Steve Winwood-inspired key change on their song, “Not So Bad,” which is out today.
