New Music for June
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It’s summertime – and that means many of your favorite artists are on the road supporting new CDs (even if they had to apply for visas to visit the U.S.).
After a three-year-long "vacation," The Duhks are touring behind Beyond the Blue. The Canadian group is still reconfiguring its line-up – Jessee Havey and Leonard Podolak are back, recruiting a new band that honors the spirit of the original Duhks recordings more than a decade ago. It’s an exciting reunion long in the making! See the band onstage in Harbor Springs, Michigan, at Blissfest on July 13.
We first saw First Aid Kit live at the Newport Folk Festival when we were recording the Harbor Stage in 2012. The sisters from Sweden were discovered on YouTube covering a Fleet Foxes song and have become international favorites for their American-style folk music and close harmonies. The pairs new album, Stay Gold, is getting a lot of positive buzz.
When our old pal Jim Blum brought I Draw Slow to Folk Alley, we were a bit thrown by the band’s name. What did it mean? I still don’t know – and their skill as contemporary bluegrass artists has rendered the issue moot. Formed around siblings Dave and Louise Holden, I Draw Slow is a high-powered bluegrass band from Ireland, who discovered the genre while busking in Australia. Perfect for an all-American musical mish-mash of Appalachian Mountain music, blues, jazz and traditional country! Hear for yourself on White Wave Chapel or – if you’re near Gateshead on July 20 – enjoy the band live at SummerTyne Americana Festival.
There was a discussion yesterday on Twitter about grit in Americana music. John Fullbright earned his grit honestly, coming out of the same Oklahoma flatlands that created Woody Guthrie. His newest album, Songs, is a reaction to the phenomenal success of his label debut – From the Ground Up. Suddenly, he was the newest Americana star and earned nationwide notice for his songwriting. Fullbright’s second effort proves he is the real thing and cements his place as a voice to be reckoned with. He takes the show on the road this summer, including a stop at Pete Seeger’s Clearwater Festival in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, on June 21.
Scorching CDs added to the Folk Alley stream:
