A folk sampler #1

Last month I wrote about my love of folk music (here). So, today, I thought I'd point you towards some of my favourite contemporary folk artists.

We start with Jim Moray (pronounced 'Murray'). I saw him live in 2003 before I bought any of his music and I was completely blown away. I was in Liverpool delivering a speaking gig and found myself with an evening free. By sheer fluke, Jim was playing at a venue near to my hotel so I wandered in to listen. He played a set that was both traditional and modern, using guitar, keyboards and his computer to create an extraordinary depth of sound for a solo artist. It was a fantastic gig. So I wasn't at all surprised when his debut LP, Sweet England, won Best album at the BBC Radio2 Folk Awards and went on to be included in Songlines magazine's top albums of the decade in 2010. 

I've since seen him live half a dozen times and, in a peculiar quirk of fate, he then married a lady I know who lives in this area so I've got to meet him a few times too. He even has a piece of my artwork on his wall at home. A lovely man and an amazing performer and arranger. 

Here he is with an old classic - Early One Morning.

Next up we have Manran, a very talented group of musicians from Scotland.

Here they are performing a piece called Parallels at a live gig. And yes, they are that good live - they really know their instruments. Like many bands from the Celtic nations of Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Cornwall and the Isle of Man, they sing quite a few songs in their native language. I have to applaud that, even if it means I can't sing along.

From Scotland, let's move to Wales and the fantastic Calan.

Again they're all incredibly talented musicians and they mix up traditional tunes with new compositions. Here's one called Pat the Lucky Dog.  

Incidentally, Calan's lead singer, clog dancer and accordion player, Bethan Rhiannon, and guitarist Sam Humphreys also perform with a 'Trash Trad' combo called Nogood Boyo who almost veer into Prog territory. It's wonderful stuff. 

Here's their most recent single, One Day.

Now, back to Scotland again and one of the country's most talented contemporary singer-songwriters, Karine Polwart. She's another artist that I've seen live a number of times and her voice is always utterly bewitching. She's also, like many folk artists, happy to chat to the audience before and after her gigs or during the interval. She even takes requests - Mrs C was delighted when Karine agreed to play a favourite song, especially for her.

Here's what I consider to be her most beautiful ballad - Faultlines.

And now a trip to my native Cornwall for a song by Hireth called Dus Tre (Come home). The song was written by the late Richard Gendall, my old languages teacher at school. He was a wonderful songwriter and performer and a dear friend (his son Phil used to play in a band with me). Richard was heavily involved in the revival and consolidation of the Cornish language (at one time three slightly different versions of the language had survived - they've now been drawn together to make Modern Cornish). In Modern Cornish the title would now be spelled Deus Tre.  Meanwhile, Tanya Brittain's voice is, as ever, hauntingly beautiful.

The Celtic word hireth has no direct English translation. It means a kind of deep homesickness, a deep longing for somewhere and for times past. The Welsh spell it as Hiraeth and the Bretons call it Hiraezh. All I know is that it's something I feel intensely some days for the Cornwall where I grew up.

I am so delighted to see that there are more and more Cornish folk bands emerging and singing in the language. Back in the pre-internet 1970s, my bandmates and I saw no opportunity to take our music anywhere. Cornwall had few concert venues and the chances of any kind of record company scout wandering that far West were remote. Things are different now and location is no barrier. It's great news.

You see? Folk music doesn't have to be a bunch of beardy men in Aran sweaters singing about fishing.

Modern folk is exciting, vibrant and varied.

More soon!