We arrive in Kyiv on our virtual trip, formerly better known with it's Russian pronunciation of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine and where the famous chicken dish originated.
We start with the folk music quartet DakhaBrakha, who have garnered quite a large audience abroad and have somewhat become international ambassadors for Ukraine. They were established in 2004 as a live theatre crew for an avantgarde theatre company the Dakh Contemporary Arts Centre, their name being a play on words of the the name of the centre Dakh meaning roof and Dakha (give) and Brakha (take). They perform Ukrainian songs combined with various other world music influences in what they call 'ethnic chaos', dressed in elaborate costumes. I first came across them at the NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert, and have been hooked on their music ever since. It's so unique and full of joy!
One of the members of DakhaBrakha is also a member of all female dark cabaret troupe Dakh Daughters, also associated with the Dakh theatre. They have moved further away from tradition towards a poetry of anger to the rhythms of drums of war, with lyrics in various languages and often based on texts by classical authors. Here is a song from their 2021 album Make Up called Rosy, based on Shakespeare's Sonnet 35:
Music producer Pavel Lenchenko, aka CEPASA from Kyiv produces electronic music that sits somewhere between downtempo, house and techno music rooted in Ukraine. Synths, drum machine, guitar and his voice create a moody soundscape. Here is an ode to his home city Kyiv with some nice shots of the city from his 2022 album Niby Chaiky:
Fusion project Bleu are a coming together in 2022 of Ukrainian singers Borys Cholewka and Sophie Tabakov with a group of Moroccan musicians playing the likes of oud and darbukka, plus Belgian accordionist Maurice Blanchy. Their repertoire consists of traditional Slavonic songs from the wider region, rearranging them to suit the unusual instrumentation. The result is their 2022 album Tchekala, which was recorded in Belgium. Here is a stirring song from the album called Kozak:
Ukrainian folk ensemble Bozhychi were established in 1999 and are very traditional in outlook. They went on expeditions all around the country including a canoe trip up the rivers to unearth dance tunes and songs from the villages. They now advise the Ukrainian parliament in matters of youth policy and culture. Here are some extracts from a live performance in 2014:
That's it from Kyiv, next we are going to explore the rest of Ukraine, including some of the currently occupied territories. Meanwhile you can follow my virtual journey on my Tripline map.
We arrive in Belarus, another country I haven't visited and I don't know a great deal about, apart from the fact that it is governed by a pretty repressive dictatorship, a fact I don't think is too controversial internationally. The national language is Belarussian, but Russian is spoken widely. As far as the music is concerned, the government stipulates that 75% of music played on the radio has to be Belarussian, whether it be in the Belarussian or Russian languages, and presumably voices critical of the regime don't get a look in.
First stop is the western city of Lida, where multi-instrumentalist Ivan Kirchuk was born. He specialises in the ethnology and folklore of his homeland and plays rare and ancient instruments such as the ocarina, domra and bagpipes, as well as singing songs. He is a larger than life character with a beard to match his personality, who now teaches at Minsk university. Here is a song from his 1999 album Heritage of the Lost Villages called Oy, ishli-prayshli da try yangali:
Accordionist Aliaksandr Yasinski was born in the city Baranavichy in western Belarus in 1989, but now resides in Prague. He draws on Belarussian and Balkan music as well as tango and jazz in a unique and dramatic style. Here is the title track to his first 2022 solo album Hlybini (Depths):
Instrumental trio Port Mone were established in 2006 in the capital Minsk. They have forged their own roots style with influences from minimalism, jazz and ambient music. In 2012 they got together with the inimitable DakhaBrakha from neighbouring Ukraine to form the Khmeleva Project. Here is a track from the resulting album called Єлена (Elena):
The Camerata Vocal Group were established in 1992 in Minsk and appear to be quite proudly state sponsored, which isn't to say they are not talented. The seven or so members give their own orchestral accompaniment to their songs with their voices, using both electronic enhancement and at times techniques like beat-box. Here is a song from their 2000 album Angels called Сокол (Falcon), complete with snowy backdrop and (bizarrely) fighting knights:
Ethno-musicologist and multi-instrumentalist Zisl Slepovitch is a native of Minsk, but now resides in New York, where he lectures on Eastern European Jewish music and culture and klezmer, in which he holds a PHD. He has released 2 albums recreating songs remembered and described by Holocaust survivors. Whilst this sounds like a heavy subject matter, most of the songs are surprisingly resilient, even satirical, a testament of the power of music in adversity. The lyrics are in Yiddish, French and Polish and are sung by Latvian singer Sasha Lurje. Here's a song from the 2021 album Cry My Heart, Cry! Songs from Testimonies Vol. II called Kidush Hashem:
Early music folk band Stary Olsa was established in 1999 playing Medieval and renaissance music on from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, of which Belarus was once a part of. To keep it interesting though they also play covers of classic rock songs on the same instruments. Here's their 2021 single Балада пра Цмока (Ballad of the Dragon):
Finally spare a thought for the members of Tor Band whose protest songs about the regime in Belarus got them into trouble with the government and were sentenced to up to 9 years in prison in October this year for inciting hatred, creating an extremist group, discrediting Belarus and insulting the president. Their song не народец (Not a Nation) has become an anthem for the anti-government protest movement:
That's it from Belarus, next stop is Ukraine, where we linger a little longer. In the meantime you can follow my virtual musical journey on my Tripline map as usual.
Continuing our exploration of the music of Helsinki, we start with young progressive folk band Vimma. Lead vocalist Eeva Rajakangas has been dubbed the Greta Thunberg of Finland for her environmental activism alongside fellow band member and violinist Pessi Jouste. This apparently is reflected in much of their lyrics, which sadly I don't understand. Here is a song from their 2019 debut EP Studio Live called Kuu:
Their latest YouTube release that hasn't found it into any recordings yet has some English subtitles and was filmed after a train carrying coal was blocked by the 2 activists and others in protest against climate change and fossil fuel exploration:
Folk metal band Ritva Nero formed in Helsinki in 2017. They combine 18th century dance tunes such as Mazurkas, Polkas and Maanitus on instruments such as saxophone, Finnish bagpipes and nyckelharpa with metal drum and bass to create a contemporary party metal folk style of their own. Here is a tune from their debut 2022 album Immortal Tradition called Master of Maanitus:
Acid folk duo Akkajee consists of two women or 'akkas', akka translating as a head strong woman with a decisive attitude and a sharp tongue, playing the viola and nyckelharpa as well as singing and playing a home made stomp box. They tell stories (which sadly I can't understand) seasoned with pulsating beats and floating soundscapes. This is the title track from their 2021 album Lastenkerääjä (Child Collector):
I first came across singer and pianist Vilma Talvite when she started a series on her YouTube channel called 100 songs from 100 countries, where she took her viewers and listeners on a virtual tour of the world during lockdown. Apart from her solo projects she is also lead singer of the folk/pop band Valma
& Varsinaiset. Here is a song from their 2018 album Laulaja vailla äntää (Singer without a stutter) called Eturivin tyttö (Girl in the front row):
Contemporary folk trio Pauanne mix old archive recordings with violin, keyboards and drums and a fascinating blend. The recordings, some of them 100 years old include spells from Sámi healers, a sermon from a western Finnish prison and cattle calls from Karelia. They say, they are fascinated by the 'outrageous beliefs' of the past and its endemic prejudices, paranoia, fear of foreigners and persecution of women. They feel that these traits are still very much alive, just dressed in modern clothes. Here is a song from their 2019 self-titled album called Siihen laihin eläny (Lived up to that law):
That's where I'll leave it today, as it looks like we will linger a bit longer in Helsinki next time. Until then you can follow my virtual travels on my tripline map.
For the next leg of our virtual journey we need to take a plane or hitch a ride on a fishing boat from Iceland to Greenland. It's the largest non-continental island in the world, which geographically belongs to the North American continent, but politically is part of Denmark, with a population of only about 56,000.Donald Trump famously wanted to buy it off Denmark, but the Greenlanders were not massively impressed. The population is made up of 89.5% indigenous Inuit and the climate is raw. The settlements are connected by plane or a ferry service that runs once a week and fishing is the main economic activity with no roads in the interior. Musically there is a surprising amount of it being put out. Traditionally the frame drum and shamanic chanting are the main forms of musical entertainment, but various modern influences are now predominant.
Now, given the harsh climate and long winter nights, Greenland has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, so I suppose they need to let off some steam every now and then and heavy metal and hard rock feature heavily in the music scene. So we start our trip in the far northwest of the country in the town Uummannaq, situated on a rocky island and the northernmost ferry terminal in Greenland (and apparently where Santa Claus lives...), where heavy metal band Siissisoq hail from. They were formed in 1994 and are one of most popular rock bands in Greenland. Their name means rhino in Greenlandic and all their lyrics are in Greenlandic. Heavy Metal is not my favourite genre, but we'll play you some to represent the north of Greenland. This a song called Tunersuilo, not sure where you'd get the album:
Next we are taking the ferry southwards along the west coast of Greenland to arrive in Maniitsoq, where singer-songwriter Rasmus Lyberth was born in 1951. His music style can best be described as jazz influenced pop-rock with a definite Greenlandic character. He is one of the most popular artists in the Greenlandic music scene. On his latest 2019 album Inuunerup opafigaanga/Livet skal leves på ny he includes a climate song in Greenlandic (with helpful English subtitles), a subject that affects this part of the world harder than elsewhere:
There isn't much I can find out about folk accordionist Louis Andreasen, except that he was from somewhere in Greenland and died in 1988 aged 71. However some of his music has survived in recorded form such as this polka called Saqisaaq which features on the Rough Guide to Scandinavian Music released in 2000:
In 1976 a Greenlandic rock band formed that initiated the start of a velvet revolution. They were called Sumé (which means where in Greenlandic), and although they started off in Denmark, they were the first band to sing highly political songs in the Greenlandic language advocating independence from Denmark. Whilst they haven't succeeded in their ultimate goal, Greenland now has a high degree of autonomy. Their debut album Sumat (where to) was bought by 20% of the Greenlandic population and gained iconic status in the country. In 2014 a film was released called Sumé - The Sound of a Revolution, documenting the story of the band and its influence on Greenlandic history. Here is the trailer:
Here's a live version of their song Innuneq (with helpful Danish subtitles...), which features on their 1977 self-titled album:
That's it from Greenland for the moment, next we are visiting the capital Nuuk and the south of the country. In the meantime you can follow my virtual ramblings on my tripline map as usual.
Next we are heading to the port cities and city states of Bremen and Hamburg. Now there is an intense historical rivalry between these two cities as to which is the better, prettier, more important or has the better football team. Now I was born in Bremen so I'm biased and we'll leave the argument aside for the moment... (of course Bremen is much prettier and as for the football teams Werder Bremen vs Hamburger SV, it's not even a competition!).
Bremen's most notorious claim to fame is the Grimm's Brothers fairy tale of the Town Musicians of Bremen, a troupe of elderly domestic animals that run away from their cruel owners to become musicians. There is a bronze statue erected in their honour behind the main cathedral in the centre of town.
I loved this story when I was a kid and appreciate it even more now that I'm older. To the people of Bremen themselves the true symbol of the city is its Roland though, a tall statue of a proud knight erected in 1404, which according to legend watches over the city's free and independent status. Here he is sporting a large gingerbread heart to celebrate Bremen's Freimarkt, the funfair season in October.
Musically we start with a band that I very briefly led in Belfast. Our stint as a band was so brief, that we didn't even get around naming ourselves and we only had one gig at the European Permaculture Convergence in County Wicklow. Apart from myself, the flutist Julia Cross is also from Bremen and coincidentally we grew up within 1/2 a mile of each other, although 10 years apart, so our paths only crossed when we met here in Northern Ireland. This is a first rehearsal of one of my songs called The Economic Myth with me on Bulgarian tambura, Julia on flute, Liz on violin and my Brazilian friend Victor on guitar. As for the genre... I always like to say that one of my inspirations is Bob Dylan, as he couldn't sing or play the guitar either... :) Julia Cross is a musician in her own right (a much better one than me I hasten to add) and now lives in Mallorca. Must be something in the water where we grew up to become travelling town musicians. She writes songs in a number of styles and has recorded some music, which is available on Bandcamp here and here. Here is a Reggae inspired song by her called HumanKind:
In 2003 3 school friends from Bremen-Nord got together to form hip-hop band De Fofftig Penns (The fifty pence) singing their lyrics in Low German, a language they had to learn as the younger generation didn't learn it any more. I was amongst the last generation who still learned Low German in primary school. The band disbanded in 2018 and here is a song of their last album Dat Läppert
Sik (That adds up) in homage to the local football club Werder Bremen called Gröön
un Witt (Green and White after the colours of the club):
In 1968 a couple of bored students in Hamburg started Irish and Scottish folk band Hawkers and Tramps. From 1975 onwards they switched to German folk, both traditional and own compositions with a good dose of humour, and renamed themselves as Liederjan. Here is a song from their 2015 40th anniversary album Vierzig Jahre - Sowieso (40 years - anyway) called Ein kleiner Frieden mitten im Krieg (A small peace in the middle of war), which tells the famous story of Christmas Day 1914, when the soldiers from both sides downed their weapons for a day and started a football match in no-man's land instead:
Derya Yildrim & Grup Şimşek are a Turkish psychedelia band. Derya was born in Hamburg of Turkish decent and sings in Turkish. If you don't understand the lyrics, she is not bothered, just learn Turkish, she says. Last year they released their second album called Dost 1, from which this song is taken called Haydar Haydar:
Caribbean steel drum sounds is not what you expect from Hamburg, but that is exactly what the Funk band Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band deliver. Established in 2007 by bandleader Björn Wagner, who spent some time in Trinidad & Tobago where he studied the steel drum, they developed a bit of a cult following with a bunch of 7'' vinyl releases of mostly cover versions. They have now released their 3rd album with both originals and cover versions called Expansions from which this tune is taken called Dirt of Your Shoulders:
Finally composer, sound designer and multi-instrumentalist Andi Otto from Hamburg is mostly known for his cello playing, but not as you know it. He calls his instrument a fello, where the bow of the cello his fitted with electronic sensors that manipulate a computer to produce an electronic soundscape. He has collaborated with musicians from all over the world to create unique fusions, and in his 2018 album Rwandance he worked with Rwandan singer and dancer Evariste Karinganire. This a track from the album called Igisasa:
That's it from Bremen and its suburb Hamburg for the time being, next we're off to the far north of Germany. As usual you follow my virtual ramblings on my Tripline map.
Baden-Würtemberg is another region I have close family ties to. My mother originally came from Ludwigsburg just north of the regional capital Stuttgart and my parents lived on the northern edge of the Black Forest for many years. The state is actually made up of 2 regions of distinct tribes, the Badeners who inhabit Baden and the Swabians living in Würtemberg, and God forbid if you were to confuse the two, you'll never hear the end of it. Historically the state is famous for the Black Forest mountains and cuckoo clocks, pretty timber-framed houses and a distinct cuisine, which is influenced partially by Italian cooking with their own pasta versions. In more modern times it has become known as an efficient economic powerhouse, home to the likes of Mercedes Benz and Porsche.
Timber-framed house in Endingen
Our first stop is the small town of Münsingen in the Swabian Alp mountains, where singer-songwriter Thomas Felder was born 1953. He has been active in the peace and protest movement most of his life and sings political songs both in his native Swabian dialect and in standard German. He is even proud of his criminal record for busking in Stuttgart in the 70's. Here is a song from his 1984 album Nie Wieder Frieden Kriegen (Never get peace again) called Mutter Kugel (Mother ball or maybe better Mother Earth), which is now as relevant or even more than it was then. It is sung by Mother Earth and one verse goes:
"My youngest fruit at the moment is an animal with an upright gait, that spreads itself, feeling smart, yet has lived for mere seconds."
Moving on to Stuttgart, where folk-duo Zupfgeigenhansel were active during the folk revival between 1974 and 1986 consisting of Erich Schmeckenbecher and Thomas Fritz. They brought traditional songs around themes of freedom and resistance against the state and clergy. Here's a song called 's Wieder März Geworden ('tis March again), a ballad recalling the March revolution of 1848 where liberals fought for human rights and democracy against the aristocracy, but which ultimately was unsuccessful. The song features on the 1978 album Volkslieder III:
Now for something a bit different, based in Stuttgart, but very much a pan-European collaboration, a new band called Lakvar. They were so pleased I bought their 2020 debut album Sabotage and Tradition recently that they sent me a personal thank you message. Here's their short bio in their own words:
Lakvar are a new Contemporary Folk Music group, founded by Hungarian-Bulgarian singer Hajnalka Péter
and Zura Dzagnidze. The band includes an array of talented and diverse musicians:
Hungarian Jazz player Florian Vogel, Italian drummer Santino Scavelli and Lithuanian accordion player
Aleksejs Maslakovs. Lakvar's sound brings together the band's musical and cultural backgrounds, drawing on roots in traditonal Folk from the East of Europe, Jazz, as well as progressive Rock and experimental rhythms.
Moments of stillness and fragility meet free and fearless improvisation and virtuosity. Hajnalka's vocal character
use different traditional, emerging from the music likea mystical and ancient spell. Not limited by convention, Lakvar take musical risks to break through the borders and boundaries of musical tradition and open new path between them.
I can highly recommend you buying the album and I dare you not to swing a dancing leg to this song from the album called Dilmano Dilbero:
Heading north from Stuttgart we are arriving in the small town of Waiblingen for something more traditional again. This is where Angelika Maier and Reinhard Fischer hail from who formed not one, but two folk troupes. Their first band was called Linnenzworch and was active between 1976 and 1983 singing songs mostly in their Swabian dialects. In 1990 the founded Saiten, Fell & Firlefanz, which played more instrumental balfolk. I'm not sure if they still play and their music is hard to get hold off these days. Here's is a song from their earlier incarnation called Komm Heit Nacht (Come tonight) from their 1979 album Ghupft Wia Gsprunga:
Wikipedia seems a bit contradictory about the birthplace of Turkish/German musician GültekinKaan. On the side it says Backnang, near Stuttgart, whilst the text says he was born and raised in Remscheid in North-Rhine Westphalia. We'll stick to Backnang, as we are in the area. He only recorded 2 albums of Turkish psychedelic rock with his band DiVan in 2011 and 12 respectively and seems to have disappeared from the scene since. He sings in Turkish telling stories of Turkish history and fables and dresses like a sultan on stage. Here's a song from his second album Sofra called Avya Cicek Acmis:
Next we are heading into the heart of the Black Forest for some cake perhaps?
The best Black Forest gateau ever!
Folk group Kaikai started as a school project 'Music from self-built instruments' in a school in Simmersfeld in 1980. Now 40 years later they still build instruments such as harps, guitars, accordions, bass, dulcimers, ocarinas, hurdy-gurdies, etc, and play their own balfolk type music on it based on traditional tunes and own compositions. Here's a song called Bohneneintopf (Bean stew) from their 2004 album Lebenszeichen (Signs of life):
Finally we stop in the pretty university town of Freiburg im Breisgau in the far southwest. This a photo from a visit a few years ago.
View of Freiburg
This is where Bakan beat quintet Äl Jawala hail from. They have been combining Balkan rhythms with dance beat and modern klezmer since 2000 and have received numerous awards for their music. This a live version of their song Satelite from their 2016 album Hypnophonic:
That's it from Germany for the time being. As I said we'll return to the eastern and northern half of the country on our way back north, but next we'll tour around Switzerland. In the meantime you can follow my virtual travels on my Tripline map.
We arrive in Bayern or Bavaria on our virtual trip. I have always been very suspect of this state. Traditionally the Bavarians have always been closest to the stereotype of Germans, lack of humour, lederhosen, Octoberfest with ladies in dirndls serving beer in 1 litre jugs, etc... My ultimate Bayern experience was many years ago when I visited a friend deep in the Bavarian mountains, who was doing a placement as a forester and living in a log cabin. One day we were invited by the woodworkers who were celebrating the day of their patron saint for a breakfast. As we arrived on my friends Heinkel scooter even deeper in the forest, we were greeted by 5 portly men with bushy moustaches and in Lederhosen and Tyrolean hats and served a breakfast of pretzels, white sausages and beer... at 9 am!
As we were sitting and eating and drinking I was having trouble following the conversation as it was held in the broadest Bavarian dialect. So being slightly bored I cracked open another beer. My friend raised an eyebrow and said: "having another beer this early?". To which I flippantly replied: "Well Bavarian beer is alcohol-free anyway," referring to the fact that Bavarian beer is slightly lighter than Northern German Pilsener styles. That of course offended our host who promptly challenged me to a drinking competition. Thankfully we ran out of beer before I slid under the table. I've been avoiding Bavaria ever since.
Anyway back to the music, first stop is Fürstenfeldbruck just west of Munich where the band Biermösl
Blasn were founded in 1976 by brothers Hans, Christoph and Michael Weil. At first glance they are your typical Bavarian folk band, dressed in traditional garb, singing in Bavarian and yodelling accompanied by accordion and alphorns. However their lyrics are satirical and very political, protesting against nuclear power, environmental destruction and political corruption. Due to the dominant political party of Bavaria being the right wing Christian Social Union, they were long banned by Bavarian state radio. I saw them live at the anti-nuclear festival in Wackersdorf in 1986 I keep mentioning. Incidentally here is a photo of myself being at the festival:
Myself on the right
When during their set the power failed, they simply grabbed their alphorns and were heard even without amplification at the back of the 100,000 crowd. It sounded something like this:
And here a live performance of their interpretation of the traditional Bavarian dance the Schuhplattler or as they call it, the Kung Fu-Plattler:
Moving on to the capital of Bavaria, Munich or München. Staying on the traditional theme we meet folk band Fraunhofer Saitenmusik, whose members first met at an historic Munich pub called Fraunhofer. They play instrumental numbers on a number of stringed instruments such as the hammered dulcimer, harp, guitar, various zithers and double bass. Their repertoire includes folk tunes from all over Europe, such as Ireland, Scandinavia and the Balkans as well as from more local alpine traditions. Here's them playing Appenzeller Choscht in a typical Bavarian pub:
Right, let's leave stuffy pubs behind and find something a bit fresher. Contemporary Balfolk duo TradTöchter (Trad daughters) consists of fiddle players Vivien Zeller and Ursula Suchanek. They re-interpret traditional songs and tunes and pen their own material in a lively and fresh manner. Their music is currently not available as a download, but they are promising to put it on BandCamp soon. Their only album to date Liebeslieder im Rahmen der Möglichkeiten (Love songs within the realms of possibilty - sounds like a good title for lockdown...). Here is a wee tune, which doesn't feature on the album, Warten aud den Meister (Waiting for the master):
Now for some yodelling, but not as you know it. Multi-instrumentalist and 'voice acrobat' Albin Paulus was born in Munich in 1972 of Austrian decent. His speciality is the Jews harp as well as yodelling, body percussion and overtone singing. He sometimes performs solo sometimes with his band Auli, which makes his performances something of an Alpine version of Riverdance. Quite spectacular really. Here is the band version of his song Maijodler, which features on the 2019 album Voices of the Ancestors:
Here is the solo version of the same song, which skill-wise is even more impressive, yodelling and playing Jews harp simultaneously and doing some body percussion:
We'll leave it at that and continue our journey around Bayern next time. In the meantime you follow my virtual trip on my Tripline map.
Next we are heading to Düsseldorf where possibly the internationally most famous Krautrock band hails from, Kraftwerk. They formed in 1970 around Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider, who are considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music. They were amongst the first to experiment with synthesizer driven music with basic repetitive rhythms, drum machines and vocoders. Here is a live version of their 1975 song Radioactivity from the album of the same name:
And talking about radioactivity, I also saw punk-rock band Die Toten Hosen at the legendary anti-nuclear festival in 1986. They are also very much from Düsseldorf. The name of the band literally translates as the dead trousers, which is a reference to a German phrase meaning dead boring or nothing happening. They have been touring pretty much non-stop since 1980 and their concerts are very much the opposite of dead boring. Here is a recent live performance of their song Du Lebst Nur Einmal (You only live once), which features on their 2019 live album Zuhause Live: Das Laune der Natour-Finale:
I promised you some German folk as well, so here comes folk trio Fiedel Michel, who were formed 1973 in Münster inspired by the big folk revival of the time. Here's a pair of polkas from their early days called Mecklenburger Polka and Kreuzpolka with some pictures of the Mecklenburg region:
And a popular anti-war and protest song against the power of the nobility and church from the First World War called Mein Michel, which features on their 1994 compilation album Retrospective:
Singer/songwriter Hannes Wader was born in 1942 in Bielefeld. He burst onto the scene during the 1960's folk revival amidst the student protest movement and quickly became a champion of the political left. He was a member of the West-German Communist party until 1991 and as such was boycotted by the media for periods of his life. In fact I'm sure I saw him live in the Communist party May tent in the 1970's. I loved that annual event, not because I was a Communist, but because I loved the scents of exotic foods from Kurdidistan or Chile and the sounds of many global music acts. I once bumped into one of my teachers there, much to his embarrassment, as teachers could loose their jobs back then if they were even just suspected to have any sympathies with Communism.
Wader's songs are a mixture of traditional and self-written protest songs. It's difficult to pick just one song from his long back catalogue, but here is a live version of the anti-capitalist anthem Trotz Alledem (Despite everything), which features on his 2006 album Mal Angenommen (Let's presume):
Singer/songwriter Holger Saarmann was born in 1971 in Hagen, although he is now based in Berlin. He accompanies his folk-inspired songs on an acoustic guitar as well as flute and accordion. Here's the light-hearted title song from his 2009 album So Küsste Mich Meine Friseuse (This is how my hairdresser Kissed Me):
That's it from Nordrhein-Westphalen, next we are heading south to the state of Rheinland-Pfalz. As usual you follow my virtual travels on my Tripline map.
As we're hanging on in the beautiful port and university city of Gent (or Ghent), we encounter some already familiar faces in instrumental folk and Gypsy jazz quintet Broes. Their line up includes violinist Anouk Sanczuk and guitarist Florian de Schepper, which we have already met on this trip as Duo de Schepper-Sanczuk. This is the title track from their 2015 debut album Route du Soleil:
Also from Gent were folk band Ambrozijn, who were active from 1997-2008. Apart from traditional polkas and mazurkas, they also played Anglo-Saxon inspired folk, and they sing in English and French. This song from their 2004 album Botsjeribo is more Gypsy influenced, and I suppose with Christmas just behind us is quite apt: Jésus qui joue l'Accordéon:
Instrumental folk band Elanor started off in Gent in 2013 and have only 1 full album to their name so far entitled A Clear Look. Their material is very much traditional balfolk with the addition of an electric bass for a more contemporary feel. Here's a pair of tunes from the album called Blown Away & Nuit Noire (Cercle):
Singer and sculptor Willem Vermandere was born in 1940 in Lauwe in West Flanders. He now resides in Veurne, where he has become an honorary citizen. His songs often have a socio-political content, which has made him a target of far-right groups. He sings and talks in the south-western Flemish dialect. Here's one of his songs from 1991, which is as current now with the Black Lives Matter movement as it was then: Bange Blanke Man (frightened white man). His latest album, Confessies, is available now.
There isn't much information available on Flemish progressive folk band Klakkebusse except that they were formed in the seaside town of Blankenberge in 1984 and that they rework 18th and 19th traditional French Flemish songs. Presumably they are now inactive, but I uploaded one of their songs some years ago, but can't remember for the life of me, which album it came from. The song is called Guezelied. Gueze is a style of Belgian beer:
This is it from Belgium, next stop my home country of the Netherlands. As usual you can follow my virtual ramblings on my Tripline map.
East Anglia is a flat landscape with sweeping sandy beaches along its coasts on the bulge of land to the north of London. Above a beach in northern Norfolk. Hailing from Norwich, the capital of county Norfolk is folk trio Alden Patterson and Dashwood, who weave rich vocal harmonies, fiddle, guitar and dobro around beautifully written original songs and melodies, some of them influenced by bluegrass. Here's a song from their 2018 album By The Night called The Cobbler's Daughter:
Near Norwich is the village of Raveningham, where performer, composer and improviser Laura Cannell hails from. She is mostly known for her baroque violin playing and the eerie drones of her recorder producing experimental sounds exploring links between medieval traditional and modern musical idioms. Last year she got together with fellow East Anglia singer Polly Wright to record a purely vocal album called Sing As the Crow Flies, which is a collection of haunting melodies inspired by the landscapes of Norfolk and almost puts you into a trance like state. The source of their material apparently was a 19th century book snappily entitled 'The Norfolk Garland: A Collection of the Superstitious Beliefs and Practices, Proverbs, Curious Customs, Ballads and Songs of the People of Norfolk'. This is the opening track called One for the Rook One for the Crow:
Folk singer, guitarist and concertina player Nancy Wallace was born in East London, but was raised in an unspecified Suffolk seaside town, but now resides in Montreal, Canada. Her songs have featured on many compilation albums, but only released one full length solo album in 2009 called Old Stories. This is a song from that album called I live not where I love:
Finger-style guitarist and singer/songwriter Adrian Nation was born in the Essex seaside village of Holland-on-Sea in Essex. He lists his influences as the theme song of TV series Black Beauty, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and Gordon Lightfoot and is said to have something of a young Martin Simpson about him. Here's a demonstration of his guitar skills called Five Finger Rapids from his 2009 album Fall or Fly:
Legend in his own lifetime Billy Bragg was born in 1957 in Barking, Essex. It's hard to believe the singer/songwriter and political activist is only 62, as he seems to have been around forever playing his brand of folk punk and protest songs. Here is one of his classics, The World Turned Upside Down, performed live. I like this version because of the intro, which says it all really. It features on his 2016 release Back to Basics amongst other places:
Mother and daughter duo Belinda Kempster and Fran Foote have traditional folk running through their veins. They've decided to record songs they have learned from Belinda's uncle Ernie, who was a farm labourer near Colchester in Essex, to document their family tradition. The result is an album called On Clay Hill released in 2019, which just features the voices of these two women, plus a short bonus song, sung by Uncle Ernie himself. This is a song called Dark-Eyed Sailor off the album:
Another family affair are multi-instrumentalists and folk singers Emily and Hazel Askew known as the Askew sisters from London (as we are passing through London again). They aim to give ancient traditional songs a contemporary feel accompanying their voices with fiddle, melodeon, concertina and cello. Their latest 2019 album is called Enclosure and this is the opening track, I Wandered by the Brookside:
Folk singer Chris Wood started out his musical journey as a choir boy at Canterbury Cathedral in Kent. He has been part of the Oysterband and many other collaborations including with Andy Cutting and others, playing English, French and Québécois folk as well as his own compositions. Here's a slightly dark song called Non the Wiser, which is the title track from his 2013 album:
And talking about the Oysterband, they are a folk punk band who started life in 1976 in Canterbury as the Oyster Ceilidh Band, then as the Oyster Band and finally adopting its present name with various changes in personnel over the years. Here's a song from their 2008 album The Oxford Girl and Other Stories called Early Days of a Better Nation:
Also from Canterbury are progressive folk band Arlet, whose music according to their own words falls somewhere between the folk club and the chamber music hall. Composer and accordionist Aidan Shepherd creates a fresh sound, which is drawing from English folk tunes, reminding one of the Penguin Café Orchestra and hints English composer Vaughan Williams. Here's a tune from their 2013 album Clearing called V12:
Multi-instrumentalist and composer Tim Edey was born in the Kent village of Broadstairs near Dover, but lives in Donegal these days and is involved there in the Irish folk scene, having been part of the Chieftains and Lúnasa. He also collaborated with New Zealand harmonica player Brendan Power to produce according to a BBC reviewer "one of the more colourful folk albums of 2011" entitled Wriggle and Writhe. This is the title track off that album:
Sorry this was a bit of a longer post, but this concludes our trip around the British Isles, around Ireland, the Isle of Man, Scotland and its islands, England and Wales. After one year and almost 5 months, covering 5,120 miles or 8,240 km, stopping at 178 places, we're next heading over the channel to France and the rest of Europe. As usual you can follow my virtual tour on my tripline map.
Heading east along the south coast of England we stop in Dorset. Accordion player Paul Hutchinson is a native of Dorset and he recently recorded an album with a new quartet he named The Maniacs together with Seona Pritchard on violin and viola, Gil Redmond on cello and Karin Wimhurst on clarinet. Whilst the name The Maniacs suggests a heavy metal band the title of the album released in February is more explanatory: The Maniacs - De-composed 18th Century Dance Music. The album was recorded in Shroton Church in Dorset. Here's a song from that album called Roodulum:
Moving on to Southampton in Hampshire we meet folk punk band The Men They Couldn't Hang. They've been going on since 1984. Here's a song from their 2005 album Smugglers and Bounty Hunters called The Ghosts of Cable Street about an antifascist protest in London in 1936 in opposition to a march by the British Union of Fascists. The antifascists clashed with the police and the events became known as the Battle of Cable Street.
Next stop is the popular seaside city of Brighton in East Sussex, where folk duo Hickory Signals hails from. They consist of Laura Ward and Adam Ronchetti, their sound is based around Ward's powerful leading vocal and Ronchetti's vibrant acoustic guitar and pulsing cajon to which they add flute, percussion and shruti drones. They released their debut album Turn to Fray in 2018 and this is an atmospheric number from it called Noise of the Waters:
The pair are also part of the Brighton-based folk music collective Bird in the Belly. They go around collecting little known and forgotten lyrics, poems and stories and set them to their own hypnotically original compositions. Here's a song from their 2018 debut album The Crowing called Horace in Brighton:
Virtuoso guitarist Richard Durrant was born in Hollingbury just outside Brighton. His music kind of defies categorisation incorporating elements of classical guitar, jazz, folk, prog rock and electronica. In 2014 he released a minimalist album called Cycling Music, combining his guitar playing with mechanical bicycle noises and electronica. He launched his album by cycling almost 1500 miles across England from venue to venue. Here's the story of that ride. It's 44 minutes long, but well worth a watch and of course full of music:
Folk singer Shirley Collins was born in Hastings in 1935 and was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960's and 70's. She lived with American Folk Collector Alan Lomax for a while and went on a folk collecting trip across the southern United States with him in 1959, where she was credited with the discovery of Mississippi Fred McDowell. She originally retired from music in 1979 after a painful divorce and the loss of her voice, but miraculously picked up singing again in 2014. Here's a song from the latter part of her career from the 2016 album Lodestar. Sorry it's a bit morbid, the song is called Death and the Lady:
Shirley Collins actually is going to have a new album out on the 24th July called Heart's Ease. Not bad for an 85 year old! This is a song from that album called Wondrous Love:
That's it today from the south coast of England, next we are heading into the big smoke that is London. As usual you can follow my virtual ramblings on my tripline map
Next stop on our virtual journey is Nottingham, where fiddler Sam Sweeney was born. He has played in a number of bands and collaborations including Kerfuffle and Bellowhead. He recently released a solo album called Unearth Repeat, from which this tune is taken: Highway to Warrington.
Singer/songwriter Grace Petrie from Leicester is the rare modern phenomenum of an old school protest singer. Here are a couple of songs from her 2018 album Queer As Folk starting with A Young Woman's Tale:
and Farewell to Welfare:
Now for something completely different from the West Midlands, some Blues Rock. Joanne Shaw Taylor was born in Wednesbury near Birmingham and continues in the finest tradition of British Blues Rock. She has since moved to Detroit, and there are similarities between her and Detroit born Suzie Quatro, both confidently fronting a band with her guitar and often clad in leather. She counts Joe Bonnamassa , Stevie Wonder and Annie Lennox amongst her fans. This is a track from her latest album Reckless Heart called In the Mood:
Folk band Blowzabella were actually founded in London, but they do have a nice Staffordshire song in their repertoire, The Uttoxeter Souling Song, which features on their 2018 album Two Step:
Lucy Ward from Derby is a singer/songwriter performing with a voice described as expressive and powerful traditional folk songs as well as her own material. She plays guitar, ukulele and concertina. This is her 2012 debut single For The Dead Men, another protest song:
Here's an a capello song about a woman's solution to deal with her drunk abusive husband from her much acclaimed 2011 album Adelphi Has to Fly, A Stitch in Time:
Vocal folk trio Coope Hayes & Simpson describe themselves as from Derbyshire and South Yorkshire and have been together since the early 1990's. Here's a song that is of particular relevance to these strange times we are living in at the moment, Keep Your Distance, from their 2010 album, As If:
Contemporary folk singer Bella Hardy is from Edale in Derbyshire's Dark Peak. She performs both traditional material as well as her own songs and has won the 2014 BBC Folk Musician of the Year award. In 2012 she released an album of songs from her home region, The Dark Peak and the White. This is a song from that album, The Drunken Butcher of Tideswell:
That's it for today from the English Midlands. As usual you can follow my virtual journey on my Tripline map. Next stop Manchester. I'll finish with a picture of an autumnmorning in Derbyshire
