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.
On November 17, longtime Louisville musician Tyrone Cotton releases his debut album, produced by Josh Kaufman (Bonny Light Horseman) and drummer Ray Rizzo. The title track is based on a phone call with a friend and a book on the history of the Mafia. Cotton shares, “I let my imagination go to work. The storyteller comes out of the gate with empathy: ‘I understand…’. There is a contrast of textures: soft and gritty.”
Leyla McCalla covers rapper Kenrick Lamar’s “Crown.” She talks about the first time she heard Lamar’s 2020 song: “I was gripped by the feeling of the song. It was a pure emotional connection… I always wondered how the song would hit, coming from a Black woman’s voice. I’m grateful that I was able to actualize my dream of recording this stripped-down version of the song.”
Scottish Fiddler Hannah Read’s new album, The Fungi Sessions Vol. 1, is a collection of fungi-inspired instrumental compositions. This isn’t the California-based musician’s first exploration of fungi through music. Hannah grew up around the world of mycology through her late father Nick Read, a world renowned mycologist and deep appreciator of music.
Amelia Curran & Duane Andrews – “Dark River”
From an upcoming tribute to beloved Canadian musician Ron Hynes, Amelia Curran and Duane Andrews share their version of “Dark River.” Hynes, who died in 2015, was a supportive figure in the scene. Curran shares, “In the late 1990s, you could find me working the door at the Ship Inn or the Rose & Thistle in downtown St. John’s. Ron would play fairly often then… I was allowed to hang around. We smoked cigarettes, and I played songs. I was 20. Maybe 19. I could count my original compositions on one hand, and he gave me room to play them all. It’s all I’ve been doing since.”
