Uncle Stu

The Art of Living

[uncle-stu]

The Fire: Marigold

If you’ve ever chatted with Mr. David Brewer, Scottish highland piper extraordinaire, you might remember that one of his favorite words is “epic.” David is well known in the American piping community for composing epic pipe tunes, arranging them into epic pipe sets, and bringing them to the stage in an energetic style that can only be described as epic. Now, after leading his former band Molly’s…

View On WordPress

[uncle-stu]

Evie Ladin Band: Playing Our Hand

Evie Ladin Band: Playing Our Hand

Evie Ladin continues her ongoing mission to meld old-time banjo with modern folk sounds with her newest EP titled Playing Our Hand, released last month. Calling this an album of cover songs is perhaps redundant (what old-time music isn’t a cover?) but still accurate, since these are covers of contemporary pieces that range from Paul Simon to the Greatful Dead, and the result is surely not what we…

View On WordPress

[uncle-stu]

Grits & Gravy Stringband: Ain't Nothin' but a Thing

Grits & Gravy Stringband: Ain’t Nothin’ but a Thing

The new album from Ireland-based oldtime outfit Grits & Gravy, their first release, is jam-packed with a passel of high-octane traditional American fiddle tunes and songs. The music on this record shines like a mirror, reflecting our American music back to us across the Atlantic with an authentic patina that belies the Old World roots of the Appalachian fiddle tradition. Myself, I haven’t been…

View On WordPress

[uncle-stu]

Marla Fibish: The Bright Hollow Fog

Marla and her 1922 Gibson A mandolin

Marla Fibish just released a brilliant solo album titled The Bright Hollow Fog. What a thrill this record is to me. To sit back and soak in the glory as Marla Fibish makes her mandolin sing the good old jigs and reels… it’s just magical. The arrangements feature her 1922 Gibson A mandolin and 1914 Gibson H1 mandola, both of which are deeply revered as go-to…

View On WordPress

[uncle-stu]

Spencer & Rains: The Old Texas Fiddle Vol III

Spencer & Rains: The Old Texas Fiddle Vol III

American old-time music has undergone quite a revival in these past few years. As in other genres of “trad” music (such as Irish or bluegrass), old-time music has its repertory of standards that everyone knows and everyone plays when the devotees gather to jam and share tunes. But the Holy Grail of old-time music must surely be the unknown gems that have yet to be drawn up from the well, whether…

View On WordPress

[uncle-stu]

Kris Drever: Hill and Shore

Kris Drever: Hill and Shore

  Orkney folksinger Kris Drever has a new record out called Hill and Shoreon Reveal Records. On it, Kris continues his musical journey of exploring the deep connections between the land and sea of his native Orkney Islands (Scotland) along with newer sounds that nicely keep pace with the most current of modern folk music. Traditional tunes picked on guitars, both acoustic and electric, sit well…

View On WordPress

[uncle-stu]

Vasen: Rule of 3

Vasen: Rule of 3

Swedish folk supergroup Väsen celebrates 30 years with the release of a new album on April 19. The title “Rule of 3” refers to these three decades as well as their favorite time signature, shared by both polskas and waltzes, forms which which they often play. The band is a trio, forming of course a solid triangular foundation for the music itself, and among writers, the Rule of 3 is “a writing…

View On WordPress

[uncle-stu]

Foghorn Stringband: Rock Island Grange Happy New Year from Fiddlefreak World Headquarters! As I gaze out over Morro Bay here on California's Central Coast, the skies above me are gray and a much-needed winter rain falls outside, while eucalyptus logs crackle in my Jotul woodstove.

[uncle-stu]

Pharis & Jason Romero: Sweet Old Religion

Pharis & Jason Romero: Sweet Old Religion

Jodie Ponto Photo

  Sweet Old Religion, the new album from Fiddlefreak favorites Pharis and Jason Romero, hits the streets on May 18. It’s the fourth release from this Juno award-winning Canadian duo and their first collection of all original songs. Throughout their respective careers, Pharis and Jason have always been a big influence within the old time music scene — shining stars that…

View On WordPress

[uncle-stu]

Rita Hosking: For Real

Rita Hosking: For Real

Rik Keller Photo How is it that the music of Rita Hosking keeps getting better and better? Maybe that’s not a surprise to some, but I have another question: how is that she is not a household name among folk music enthusiasts? Maybe she is–what do I know anyway. She should be by now. We know her music around this house. Fiddlefreak has reviewed the last three of her previous 6 albums, and we were…

View On WordPress

[uncle-stu]

Cliff Stapleton: The Tumbling of Creatures

Cliff Stapleton & Friends Present – The Tumbling of Creatures: Music For The Hurdy-Gurdy Cliff Stapleton with Ossian Brown of Cyclobe. The CTM Festival, Hau Theatre, Berlin, January 2014 I first heard the intoxicating music of Cliff Stapleton at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, WA (USA) when I stumbled upon a hurdy-gurdy jam as I roved out to enjoy a golden summer’s…

View On WordPress

[uncle-stu]

Old Blind Dogs: Room With A View

Old Blind Dogs: Room With A View

What is it about blind musicians that makes them so dang good at their craft? Doc Watson. Ray Charles. O’Carolan. Stevie Wonder. I could go on, but I won’t. The Old Blind Dogs can still see pretty well, they’re not that old yet–but they are surely among the best folk bands in the world, and certainly the best in Scotland, in my humble opinion. Their 13th album, called Room With a View, came out…

View On WordPress

[uncle-stu]

Lindsay Straw: The Fairest Flower of Womankind

Lindsay Straw: The Fairest Flower of Womankind

Old ballads draw some singers like a siren song that cannot be denied. Part of the joy of collecting and presenting these ancient songs to a modern audience comes from finding, combining, dropping and adding words and verses, swapping melodies and hooks and finally recording an arrangement that resonates with the listener of today. This is what young Boston-based vocalist Lindsay Straw has done…

View On WordPress

[uncle-stu]

Väsen: Brewed

Photo courtesy of Väsen. A handful of times in your life, you hear a band or a soloist who rocks your world. You hear the music on the radio or at a live show, or at a friend’s house, and you fall in love. Sometimes that song or that record will become a “gateway drug” to a whole new genre or style that opens up to you and becomes a lifelong passion. I remember the first time I heard Irish folk…

View On WordPress

[uncle-stu]

Rayna Gellert: Workin's Too Hard

Rayna Gellert: Workin’s Too Hard

Seven tracks — does that make an EP, or full length album? A burning question for sure. In the mean time, I’m here to heartily recommend the new release from Rayna Gellert called Workin’s Too Hard. As with her previous release (reviewed here), there’s not a fiddle tune to be found here, even though she is known far and wide for her skill on the instrument. After all, she grew up immersed in the…

View On WordPress

[uncle-stu]

The Immigrant Band

The Immigrant Band is John Doyle, Rafe Stefanini, Clelia Stefanini, John Herrmann, and Eamon O’Leary. Their self-titled debut album (on Yodel-Ay-Hee Records) hit the streets earlier this year to much well-deserved fanfare in both Irish and oldtime music circles. John Doyle is listed as producer and he recorded, edited, and mixed this record; it’s infused with his humor and complexity. Here is a…

View On WordPress

[uncle-stu]

Bruce Molsky: Can’t Stay Here This a-Way

Bruce Molsky: Can’t Stay Here This a-Way

Photo courtesy of David Holt’s State of Music. Living legend Bruce Molsky recently recorded a wonderful collection of his favorite tunes and songs on fiddle, banjo, and guitar at an unlikely location for rural traditional music: the urban landscape of Los Angeles, California. Released as a single package on both CD and DVD on Tiki Parlour Recordings, the album is titled Can’t Stay Here This…

View On WordPress