Miriam
Nora Jones, video cap from the music video for âMiriamâ Hell hath no fury⌠Quite some time ago, I shared a three bedroom apartment with three roommates, a man and two women. At some point, rather early in our time … Continue reading →
STEVE GILLETTE and CINDY MANGSEN: Berrymania
     STEVE GILLETTE and CINDY MANGSEN Berrymania Compass Rose www.compassrosemusic.com  Marvelous vocalists and acoustic multi-instrumentalists Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen have spent a lot of time driving around the country for the last two decades … Continue reading →
ALASDAIR FRASER and NATALIE HAAS: Abundance
     ALASDAIR FRASER and NATALIE HAAS Abundance Culburnie Records www.culburnie.com  Classic Scots fiddlers like Niel Gow saw little contradiction between playing for a fashionable drawing room audience by day and sawing out tunes for village … Continue reading →
JENNIFER LEONHARDT: Songs My Mother Sang
     JENNIFER LEONHARDT Songs My Mother Sang Grassroots www.jenniferleonhardt.com  This charming collection of traditional folk and hymns, plus one by Leonard Cohen, features simple arrangements and heartfelt emotion. Itâs dedicated to the person who (one … Continue reading →
ROD PICOTT: Hang Your Hopes On A Crooked Nail
     ROD PICOTT Hang Your Hopes On A Crooked Nail Welding Rod Records www.rodpicott.com  Some songwriters adopt a blue-collar persona. For Picott, a former sheetrock worker, itâs an honest voice. After growing up in Maine … Continue reading →
Conversations with Death – 1 – “Oh, Death”
Introduction We here at Murder Ballad Monday would love every week to bring you a fully researched âdeep diveâ into a particular ballad, but time doesnât always allow for that, given that we donât make a penny from this work. … Continue reading →
Josephine, pt. 2 – Interview with Adrian Roye
Adrian Roye This is the second installment of two on the song âJosephineâ by Adrian Roye, of Adrian Roye and the Exiles. You can read the first post here. Roye was kind enough to do a Skype interview with me … Continue reading →
Josephine
 Adrian Roye  In our travels through the murder ballad genre, we go into a few kinds of terrain with some regularity. Sometimes, itâs a deep dive into an âold countryâ of traditional, if not ancient, murder ballads. These … Continue reading →
Listen to a Pete Seeger Interview Radio Special
In the fall of 2008, Matt Watroba (then the host) interviewed Pete for a special feature for The Sing Out! Radio Magazine. The interview, interwoven with lots of recordings of Peteâs songs, both by Pete himself and a wide range … Continue reading →
Sing Out! Mourns the Passing of Pete Seeger
Last night, at around 9:30 pm, Pete Seeger passed on. He was 94, so it shouldnât have been a huge shock or surprise ⌠but Pete was always so engaged, inspiring, and such a curious amalgamation of sage wisdom with … Continue reading →