Thank you for a year of Folk Files! Your comments, encouragement, and continued listening have meant so much to me 🖤🎶
A little clip from the end of the 11th episode of Folk Files, in which I take a stab at Daisy O'Danny’s parody of “Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy” 🙈
Filk Files - Brobdingnagian Bards
The 11th Episode of Folk Files is now available everywhere you listen to podcasts! Brobdingnagian Bards have joined me as guest speakers. You can hear more from their interview (and a little of "Hobbit's Dance"!) during the episode. If you'd like to hear their full interview, head to the Folk Files Patreon (also...the Brobdingnagian Bards have their OWN awesome Patreon - and they have a new album coming down the pipeline!)
The origin of Filk Files
Basically: it’s all Daisy O'Danny’s fault
You can now access my blog post on Patreon with one payment rather than monthly payments (pssst - don’t use the iOS app, though. There’s a huge up-charge). A direct link to my Patreon is in the comments.
Folk Files Episode 10
The tenth episode of Folk Files is now available on all podcast platforms. It discusses some dark, disturbing themes, so listener discretion is advised.
A Hard Folk Song To Sing
The next episode of Folk Files will deal with some difficult themes. How do folk songs treat women who have been forced to make extremely painful decisions because of their lack of choices or support?
Alouette
The next episode of Folk Files will discuss BIRD SONGS! (The ones sung by people, not birds 🤓🕊️)
This is your reminder that there is a Folk Files Patreon! One of the tiers includes a blooper reel for each episode. Here's a little taste of the bloopers for episode 8...so now you all know that I talk to myself incessantly in the recording booth. Explore all the tiers (and sign up to hear the full bloopers, including more of the Saga of the Spider) here: https://www.patreon.com/FolkFilesPodcast
Memories of Heather Wood
This week, the world lost Heather Wood (perhaps best known in the folk music community for being part of the 1960s folk group The Young Tradition). In the two weeks leading up to her death, I mentioned her twice to listeners in my comments: I posted a photo of her extended lyrics to Terry Pratchett's "The Hedgehog Can Never Be Buggered At All" and I discussed The Young Tradition's version of "Bright Morning Star". That gives you a small indication of what an impact she's had on me.
Heather attended Exceedingly Good Song Night in New York, and so I was lucky to witness her talent, irreverence, vibrance, humor, and range firsthand. She would have you leaning in to hear her barely whisper a sweet little ballad one minute, and then the next you'd hear her voice soaring above everyone else's with a robust harmony. She had so many facets. I remember once during a sea shanty event, she set up a snack table with labels saying things like "Weevily Bread (Sorry, no weevils)" and "Chocolate Chip Cookies (ok, they MIGHT be weevils. But probably not)". She was an encyclopedia for English folk music and a brilliant mind for parody (I'm not sure if she wrote it, but I loved her version of "The Gallant Frigate Amphitrite". She sang it as "The Gallant Frigate Amphitrite, it sank in Plymouth Sound." Done.).
Part of me regrets that I never told her how much I idolized her, because she is truly what I want to be when I grow up (whenever that is). But part of me knows that if I HAD pushed through my stuttering and blushing to tell her, I would have just been met with one of her deliciously sassy replies...which maybe makes me regret it more? I remember Ken Schatz (the host of Exceedingly Good Song Night) said "I wouldn't be here without Heather" and she responded, "I'm not your $%@&ing mother." Another time, a singer inserted her name into a ballad and she simply responded with a rude gesture.
So I miss her. And more grandly, the folk community (and literary community, and any other
Why this guy? Why not some other random ballad collector…maybe one who wrote down TUNES? Also, Folk Files Episode 8 comes out tomorrow (7/17) on all platforms.
Episode 7 is now available on all podcast platforms! Head to the comments for the link tree, which has direct links to places where you can listen!
