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.
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Folk Alley is able to produce and offer this weekly new music hour thanks to support from our members. If you enjoy the Fresh Cuts hour please donate to Folk Alley or consider becoming a sponsor.
Haley Heynderickx, “Seed of a Seed”
“Seed of a Seed” is the first single from Haley Heynderickx since her debut album, I Need to Start a Garden (March 2018). It’s a song that came about accidentally, one about searching for peace in a world that tells you peace is unattainable. It’s a song about tiny things, and time, and nature.
The self-titled Väsen & Hawktail album (out September 20) brings these two groups together at long last. Väsen (Sweden) is a folk-instrumental group of epic proportions internationally. It’s no secret that their music is foundational to the members of Hawktail (USA). The album features selections from both bands’ catalogues as well as new tunes written for this project. This is a natural collaboration built on years of mutual admiration, in which friends unite their 36 strings to create a euphoric wall of sound.
Yasmin Williams, “Virga” (featuring Darlingside)
Acadia (out October 4), the second album from guitarist Yasmin Williams, comprises of nine original, mostly instrumental, tracks written and produced by Williams. Discussing the song “Virga,” Williams says, “A virga is a meteorological phenomenon where streaks of rain hang from a cloud and evaporate before reaching the ground. I related this sentiment to how it feels for me to be an artist in an industry that doesn’t seem to always value art and reflection. I eventually realized that I needed to learn how to thrive ‘in virga,’ so to speak … to learn to be okay with feeling slightly suspended in time, with my hopes and dreams dangling in an environment I have no control over, never fully having my feet planted on the ground.”
Bill Callahan, “Keep Some Steady Friends Around” (live)
Resuscitate!, the new live album from Bill Callahan, features a live set recorded in Chicago with various guests. Why, Bill? “Songs tend to mutate after they’ve been recorded. These songs were mutating faster than usual. Like whatever happened to Bruce Banner in the lab – I knew these songs were about to get superpowers…this change needed to be documented.”
