Friday, January 10, 2025
Old Fellas New Music January 10, 2025
Bonny Light Horseman, Eric D. Johnson, Josh Kaufman, Anais Mitchell – When I was Younger
Alejandro Escovedo – Bury Me
Bon Iver – Speyside
Pernice Brothers – I Don’t Need That Anymore (feat. Neko Case)
Kazdoura – Gulli MetaShoofak
Joan Armatrading – ‘I’m Not Moving
Nemahis – Stick of Gum
Lady Blackbird – Let Not (Your Heart Be Troubled)
Jeremy Dutcher – Take My Hand
notes
Bonny Light Horseman, Eric D. Johnson, Josh Kaufman, Anais Mitchell – When I was Younger
again, another great musician I know nothing about.
Here from The Ark
ANAÏS MITCHELL is a Vermont and Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter, and the Tony and Grammy award-winning creator of the Broadway musical Hadestown for which she wrote the book, music and lyrics. Hadestown won 8 Tony Awards overall including Best Musical as well as the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. Mitchell was named to TIME’s prestigious TIME100 list in 2020, and her first book, ‘Working on a Song – The Lyrics of Hadestown’ was published by Penguin/Plume in the same year. Dubbed by NPR as “one of the greatest songwriters of her generation”, Mitchell comes from the world of narrative folksong, poetry and balladry. Her recordings include the original studio album of Hadestown (2010, featuring Justin Vernon and Ani Difranco) and Young Man in America (2012), along with reinterpretations of traditional music including Child Ballads(2013, with Jefferson Hamer) and Bonny Light Horseman (2020, as Bonny Light Horseman, which received two Grammy nominations). She has headlined worldwide and supported tours for Bon Iver, Josh Ritter and Punch Brothers, and her music has featured in year-end best lists including NPR, Wall Street Journal, MOJO, Uncut, The Guardian, Sunday Times and The Observer.
but, who are they Wikipedia?
Bonny Light Horseman is an American folk band consisting of Anaïs Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bats, The Shins), and Josh Kaufman (The National, Hiss Golden Messenger, Josh Ritter).[1][2] They released their debut eponymous album in January 2020.[3] Their sophomore album, Rolling Golden Holy, came out in October 2022.[4] Their latest release, Keep Me On Your Mind/See You Free, was released in June 2024.
and more about Hadestown
The Broadway production of Hadestown won eight Tony Awards in 2019 including the Tony Award for Best Musical. Mitchell received the Tony Award for Best Original Score; she was also nominated for Best Book of a Musical. The Broadway cast album of the show took home the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in 2020. Mitchell’s first book, Working on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown, was published by Plume Books on October 6, 2020. Mitchell was included in Time‘s 100 Most Influential People of 2020.[8]
Here is the Broadway website for Hadestown
Bonny Light Horseman – When I Was Younger (Official Lyric Video)
Bon Ivor – Speyside
Bon Iver – S P E Y S I D E (Official Video)
The new track, ‘SPEYSIDE’ (stylised ‘S P E Y S I D E’), serves as the first single from Bon Iver’s forthcoming SABLE, EP, which arrives on October 18th, 2024, and feature three other songs: ‘…’, ‘THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS’ – which Vernon performed at a 2020 Bernie Sanders rally – and ‘AWARDS SEASON’.
Accompanied by an atmospheric black and white music video on the release date, it’s safe to say ‘SPEYSIDE’ has been a long time coming. Bon Iver first performed the introspective offering during his 2022 tour-stop at the OVO Hydro Arena in Glasgow, UK.
Speyside seems to have a deep meaning. One site breaks down all ther lyrics here
When introducing ‘SPEYSIDE’ in at London’s OVO Wembley Arena in October 2022 following its live debut in Glasgow, Justin Vernon explained that the track pivots around a feeling of guilt. Although Bon Iver’s lyrics are often highly cryptic, it appears ’SPEYSIDE’ is written from the perspective of someone looking wistfully back at a past relationship, after realising that they were the cause of its breakdown.
some remarkable other songs I know nothing about like the one below
Bon Iver at AIR Studios 4ADJagjaguwar Session
Kazdoura – Gulli MetaShoofak
I don’t know why I chose such a short track, but it doesn’t matter Kazdoura is fantastic. So, I want to show a video where you can actuallt see her performing
Kazdoura – Marhaba Ahlen
Kazdoura is a Toronto-based band that serves up Arabic fusion with a modern twist. Equal parts nostalgia and reinvention, their style is a cross-cultural blend of Eastern and Western music, mixing old-world Arabic classics with jazz, funk, electro-pop, and disco.
Singer Leen Hamo and multi-instrumentalist Johnny Abou Chacra founded the project in the summer of 2020, quickly finding success online, with their videos collecting more than 3 million views on TikTok.
Leen is a singer and songwriter from Syria whose passion for classical Arabic music led her to collaborate with both classical and contemporary artists, aiming to reinvigorate this genre.
Johnny is a jazz-trained rocker who embraced the idea of learning and playing songs from his Lebanese background. As Kazdoura, he and Leen fused old Arabic classics into a repertoire that has resonated with audiences both in concert and online.
In October 2021, Kazdoura released their debut single, “Wain” which received support from radio stations in North America. The band has been performing extensively in Toronto and beyond, where they have built a strong fan base
This is the standard text from the website, not much other info, so maybe another video is a good way to get a sense of who they are
Al Ain Moulayitein – Kazdoura عالعين موليتين – كزدورة
Nemahis – Stick of Gum
Nemahsis – Stick of Gum (Official Music Video)
“Stick of Gum” is a love song, so rightfully, what more can i care for than where i come from and who i come from? The entire cast is my family, shot in our hometown Jericho, Palestine.
Another young female artist with new material. Nemahsis’ family is from Palestine, Kazdoura’s is from Syria.
Paired with an equally stunning video filmed in the artist’s hometown of Jericho, Palestine, and featuring her entire family under the direction of Aram Sabbah, “Stick of Gum” transcends its role as a mere love song for the artist’s roots. It emerges as a powerful declaration of resilience. Through the lens of familial bonds and against the backdrop of her beloved Jericho, Nemahsis’ spirit and love shine forth, inviting listeners to join her for a simple stick of gum and empathy.
Nemah Hasan, known professionally as Nemahsis, is a Palestinian Canadian singer-songwriter from Toronto, Ontario.[1]
more from Wikipedia
Hasan began her career on TikTok, posting beauty and fashion videos aimed at Muslim women alongside occasional videos of her singing Adele covers.[1] After being exploited by a company that hired her for an advertising campaign and then failed to pay her, in June 2021 she released her first original single and video “What If I Took It Off for You?”, about social attitudes toward Muslim women who wear the hijab.[4] She followed up with the singles “Paper Thin” in October 2021 and “Dollar Signs” in January 2022,[5] before releasing the EP eleven achers in March 2022.[6]
She followed up with the new non-EP singles “Criminal” in October 2022,[7] and “I Wanna Be Your Right Hand” in February 2023.[8]
In May 2024, She released her first single, Stick Of Gum, for her upcoming album. The song’s music video was shot entirely in Nemahsis’s hometown of Jericho in the occupied West Bank.[9] The single was selected by Spotify editors as one of the best songs of 2024.[10]
She has certainly had a challenging time as a young Arab-Canadian woman
On October 12, 2023, soon after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, and the subsequent bombardment and starvation of Gazans by Israel, the singer shared on social media that she had been dropped by her label, stating “My label just dropped me, a Palestinian artist, for being pro-Palestine”
Jeremy Dutcher – Take My Hand
Just love this song
Jeremy Dutcher – Take My Hand (Official Music Video)
I know this is his first song in English, but I didn’t know the history of the song
From CBC
The first English words we hear on Motewolonuwok come on the album’s third track. Over a gentle piano intro, Dutcher extends a literal welcome to listeners: “Take my hand/ Walk with me.” It’s a message of love that was passed on to him by his mentor and elder, Maggie Paul, who first guided him to the Wolastoqey wax cylinders at the Canadian Museum of History that inspired Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa. Dutcher says this was Paul’s first time singing to him in English (“It’s kind of a trip to hear her singing that way,”) and that she then tasked him to “sing this for the young people — they’re forgetting how to love each other.”
That one verse Paul offered him sat around for a while until he shared it with friend, Montreal singer-songwriter Basia Bulat, who went off and wrote seven additional verses for Dutcher to use as he pleased, making this track a result of collaboration and community. It uses English to honour the Wolastoqey language while also asking for a common ground, as he sings on the track: “Take my hand, but not my light/ The words that we find are new.”
Alejandro Escovedo – “Bury Me” – Echo Dancing
Alejandro Escovedo has been recording and touring since the late 1970s. Escovedo began performing in the punk rock group the Nuns, in San Francisco, California. In the 1980’s Escovedo moved to Austin, Texas, where he adopted a roots rock/alternative country style in the band Rank and File. This is a sample of their work.
Escovedo lest the band after their debut album and started the band The True Believers. In the late 80’s he went solo and since then has forged an incredible and lengthy career. Here he is performing probably his signature number, “Castanets”.
2024’s album Echo Dancing is a collection of older songs reimagined and updated by Escovedo. “Bury Me” originally appeared on the 1992 album, Gravity. Compare the versions:
His hometown newspaper approves!
Pernice Brothers – “I Don’t Need That Anymore” (feat. Neko Case) – Who Will You Believe?
Pernice Brothers are an American band formed by Joe Pernice in 1998 after the breakup of his old band, the Scud Mountain Boys. In 2001 they released the song “Our Time Has Passed” which is utterly sublime. It still one of my fave songs of all time.
The band has been an on and off proposition for the last 25 years. Last year they released their 9th album which includes this wonderful track:
Joan Armatrading – “I’m Not Moving”- How Did This Happen and What Does It Now Mean
Old Fellas are ringing in the New Year with the welcome return of Joan Armatrading! (To our ears anyway) Armatrading is a U.K. singer-songwriter and guitarist who came to our attention at the turn of 80’s with the album Me Myself and I.
She’s back with her 21st(!) studio lp, How Did This Happen and What Does It Now Mean. It was produced by Armatrading and a music video for our featured track was released in October.
The jury is out and the critics like what they hear:
Lady Blackbird – Let Not (Your Heart Be Troubled) – Slang Spirituals
Marley Munroe is known professionally as Lady Blackbird. She is an American soul singer based in the U.K. She has been releasing music since 2003 but in 2020 she recorded the 1966 song “Blackbird” by Nina Simone. This inspired Munroe to take up the moniker Lady Blackbird. She has now released 2 albums under this name. You cannot go wrong with Burning Wood’s assessment and appraisal.
This is a remarkable album and when I can find a reasonably inexpensive copy, I am going to grab it.
Whole-Hearted 
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