Folkdates
By 'Folkdates' I wish I meant 'dates in which folk music was discussed and/or heard' (I'm looking at you, Charlie Fink doppelgänger in the corner), but in this context I mean updates. Folk updates. Get it? Thankfully, the winter season seems to bring out the best in acoustic music; I guess it's natural for folkies to get in the Christmas spirit, but there's plenty of non-seasonal folk popping up as well, like Three Blind Wolves' new single 'Parade' on Spinner. Anyway, onto the updates:
Anyone who's ever met me has probably heard about Folkroom, the label/folk night that showcases an increasingly wide variety of artists from ye olde Londontown. I visited one of their nights at The Queen's Head when I visited London last year, and co-founder Stephen Thomas even wrote me a guest post a while back. I'm a fan.
For the holiday season, Folkroom artist Lucy Cait has been running an advent calendar on her new website, lucycait.com. From giveaways to gingerbread recipes to new songs, these treats are way better than the usual advent offering of stale chocolates. Lucy's music is the gift that keeps on giving, and she seems to have quite a bit up her sleeves for 2013.
[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/70672059" params="" width=" 100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]
My past few Christmases have been accompanied by the excellent For Folk's Sake It's Christmas albums, and this year is no exception. The latest version features some of my favorite up-and-coming UK folksters: Ellen and the Escapades, Tom Williams, Gerard & the Watchmen, Feldspar, Admiral Fallow, Gibson Bull, Stylusboy, and more.
[bandcamp album=2366929901 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=grande2]
Feldspar doesn't just cover one of my favorite Christmas songs on the FFS album ('In the Bleak Midwinter'), they've also released a video for awesome original track 'The Flat and Paper Sky'. Watch the video below, and catch them at my all-time favorite London pub, The Old Queen's Head, on January 16th.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VePQN8Nr9P8&w=560&h=315]
Props to the old lady getting inked in the church.