Tuesday 29 January 2013

The Folk and Acoustic Music Show playlist 28 Jan

This week's show was a selection of tracks by artists who have or are about to appear at the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow. Listen to the show on Mixcloud.

http://www.celticconnections.com/

Breabach - Sorry I'm Late
Battlefield Band - Song Composed In August
Martha Wainwright - Factory
Eric Bibb - The Cape
Emily Smith - Gypsy Davy
Karine Polwart - We're All Leaving
Martin Stephenson - Me & Matthew
The Be Good Tanyas - House Of The Rising Sun
This Is The Kit - Our Socks Forever More
The Pictish Trail - I Don't Know Where To Begin
Moulettes - Horses For Hearses
Kate Rusby - The Wishing Wife
Blazin' Fiddles - Mackays

Martha Wainwright & and Erin McKeown - 29 January, Royal Concert Hall
Heritage Blues Orchestra with Eric Bibb - 31 January, Royal Concert Hall
Fiddlers' Bid and Emily Smith - 2 February, Royal Concert Hall
Karine Polwart, Anais Mitchell & Jefferson Hamer - 2 February, City Halls
Battlefield Band and Tom McConville - 3 February, Mitchell Library


Here are 3 members of Moulettes with some lovely vocal harmonies -

Monday 28 January 2013

Kate Rusby, Celtic Connections, 24 Jan 2013

I've been a fan of Kate Rusby for a number of years but it wasn't until January this year that I finally got round to seeing her in concert. The previous year saw her celebrating twenty years of making music and she marked the occasion by re-recording some favourite songs from her own back catalogue with various guests, the resulting album being simply titled “20”.

She explained all this at the start of her set at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall. There was no support act but instead we got a good two hours' worth of music from herself and some special guests including Eddi Reader, Dick Gaughan and Jim Causley. Her backing band included the likes of Michael McGoldrick on whistles and John Joe Kelly on bodhran along with Sarah Jarosz on mandolin and vocals. Kate was in danger of running out of superlatives when she was introducing all her backing musicians and guest singers and even said she was going to adopt Dick Gaughan as an uncle, such is her obvious affection for the man who is arguably Scotland's greatest political folk singer.

The songs performed were taken, not surprisingly, from “20” with the evening starting off with the new version of 'Elfin Knight' though not with the introduction familiar to those listeners of The Folk and Acoustic Music Show and previously, Off The Beaten Tracks on the now defunct Diversity FM. Other highlights included 'Planets', with Sarah Jarosz on harmony vocals, and 'Bitter Boy' (written about her uncle and not her ex) where she was joined by festival organiser Donald Shaw on piano and a string quartet who were used to nice effect on and off during the evening. Fans of the banjo were in for a treat with Ron Block being part of the backing band, Ron being best known for his work with Alison Krauss and Union Station. He showed us that it is possible for the banjo to be played quietly during a lovely lullaby, the name of which escapes me.

Where most singers come on stage with a glass or bottle in hand, Kate came on with a mug which she assured us contained Yorkshire tea. Seemingly a member of her crew had managed to find some locally, though I suspect a large box of Yorkshire tea bags is always packed whenever Kate heads out on the road. As with so many of us at this time of year she was suffering a bit from a cough and told us that if we found that the pharmacy nearest the venue had sold out of cough mixture it was because it was all in her room backstage. Hopefully she had shared some with Dick Gaughan as he was suffering in that department too. But fortunately the linctus had done the trick and her voice sounded just fine.

Kate gave herself a break during the evening and left her partner Damien O'Kane to introduce a set of tunes which included the theme to The Muppet Show. The end came all too soon and the encore brought everyone back on stage, that being a total of 17 singers and musicians. While Kate gave the impression that she felt as if she was going to be upstaged by some of her famous friends, it was very much her night and what a first gig it was for me.

Tuesday 22 January 2013

The Folk and Acoustic Music Show playlist 21 Jan

Here's the playlist for Monday's show. The following Monday will have a Celtic Connections theme as I'm off up to Glasgow on Thursday to see Kate Rusby.

Listen to the show at http://www.mixcloud.com/cmbertram/the-folk-and-acoustic-music-show-17/

Rachel Unthank & The Winterset - January Man
Peter Knight's Gigspanner - Mad Tom of Bedlam
Turnstone - Grey Bird
Kathryn Tickell - Alan & Catherine's Wedding Jig
Jamie Smith's Mabon - Yes We Sing Now
Birds of Chicago - Sans Souci
Cam Penner - Hour of Need
J Shogren & Shanghai'd - Stumble
Gren Bartley - The Last Time I Saw Richard
Bryony Holden - Who Knows Where The Time Goes
Dead Flamingoes -  Bonnie Portmore
Richard Thompson - She Sang Angels To Rest

Here's an earlier version of Grey Bird...



Thursday 10 January 2013

Monday's playlist \ Next show

I've finally got round to posting Monday's playlist which, along with the show, is also available on Mixcloud. I've been somewhat under the weather these last few days which means that unfortunately I won't be recording a show for broadcast next Monday. So all being well, or at least me being well, the next edition of The Folk and Acoustic Music Show will be broadcast on Monday the 21st of January. There are, of course, plenty of other great shows to listen to on Acoustic Spectrum seven days a week.


Thea Gilmore - London
The Cadbury Sisters - Coloured Autumn
Ewan Robertson - One For The Ditch
Patsy Matheson - If You Ask Me
Charlotte - Lennon's Song
Oysterband - The Oxford Girl
Spiers and Boden - Rochdale Coconut Dance
Rab Noakes - Take This Letter
The Coaltown Daisies - In Your Wake (I Call)
Peter Nardini - Hug
The Coarse Envelope - Misericorde
The Imagined Village - The Handweaver And The Factory Maid

Here are The Cadbury Sisters with a live version of Coloured Autumn



Friday 4 January 2013

First show of 2013


After my New Year's Eve break I'm back on Monday the 7th with my first show of 2013. I'll be playing tracks from albums by Spiers & Boden, Thea Gilmore and Oysterband which I got for Xmas. Also on the show will be The Cadbury Sisters, Ewan Robertson, Patsy Matheson, The Coaltown Daisies, Peter Nardini, The Coarse Envelope plus The Imagined Village's take on 'The Handweaver And The Factory Maid'.

I'm always on the lookout for new music to feature on the show so if you're either in a band or have heard someone you'd like to recommend then please drop me a line either on here, on the Folk and Acoustic Music Show page on Facebook or on Twitter where my username is @thebeatentracks.

I'm aware of other radio presenters using Dropbox on Soundcloud for people to pass on mp3s so I'll have to look into setting that up. It's difficult keeping up with the technology sometimes!

Tune in at 9pm on Monday at http://www.acoustic-spectrum.co.uk/radio-stations/as-radio-folk-roots-blues/

Here's The Imagined Village with a live rendition of the afore-mentioned song...