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I’d Like to Walk Around In Your Mind: A British Folk Mixtape by Scott Hirsch
Scott Hirsch is one of our very favorite musicians, not only because of he’s a tremendous writer of songs and maker of sounds, but also because he’s a true head with a deep love for the classics and a wealth of musical knowledge. Scott turned me onto “the purple one” (Andy Irvine & Paul Brady), and talked about the time Linda Thompson came to the studio to record with his old band The Court & Spark, so I knew he’d be the perfect source for more unknown-to-me tracks within this tradition of music I love so much but have felt…
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Norman Blake – Day by Day : Review by Cameron Knowler
Petal Motel is pleased to publish this piece by musician/author/artist Cameron Knowler. We’re aware of Norman Blake’s relevance in the world of guitar and banjo music mainly through getting to know Cameron, and who better to discuss Norman’s latest release on Smithsonian Folkways than his #1 admirer? Day by Day, a collection of both originals and trad tunes, is out 10/22. Day By Day by Norman Blake Day By Day is the latest recording effort by every left-of-center folk guitarist’s hero, Norman Blake. Through his storied history as a quiet sideman, iconoclastic frontman, and earnest steward of America’s most goggled-at…
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Falling Hard : An Autumn Playlist
It’s fall and that means it’s loner folk season. British folk too, although I really think dead of winter is when Lindisfarne sounds best. For me though, fall is really about classic Cosmic American Music. People like fall, right? I’m not too into the foliage thing, preferring sweeping snow-dusted desert vistas to foggy ochre mountains. Luckily, my falls tend to look like low light making chilly hills covered in yucca trees glow, or hanging clouds over my mountain while I shiver away in a sweatshirt when the temperature goes down to 57°. Less extreme surroundings have certainly eased my usual…
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Dori Freeman – Ten Thousand Roses
Ten Thousand Roses by Dori Freeman Dori Freeman continues a prolific streak of album releases with Ten Thousand Roses, out tomorrow on her own boutique label Blue Hens Music. Her past albums have proved her abilities as a songwriter and singer to convey raw emotion and conjure evocative and lush imagery in perfectly polished, succinct songs that never overstay their welcome and sound somehow classic yet completely fresh. Ten Thousand Roses exemplifies this blend perhaps more than any other, involving more mainstream tones yet firmly rooted in tradition. Dori’s latest is sweeping and cinematic, with larger-sounding production, reverberating drums, and…
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Ruby Landen – Martyr, well
Martyr, well by Ruby Landen When you hit “play” on Ruby Landen’s Martyr, well– you might do a double take. Ruby’s clear, lilting voice, accompanied by soft fingerstyle guitar parts will immediately make you believe you’re listening to a late 60s Brit folk record. Ruby’s soft, sweet songs are wistful and sincere, injecting beauty and the odd wry smile characteristic of that sound. Ruby was born in northern California where she was raised on a steady diet of trad folk and Americana, attending live shows of Bill Frisell (who later became a mentor) and Eileen Ivers and picking up an…
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Whisperer: Piedmont Pastimes – an interview by Lou Turner
Petal Motel is blessed to have contributing author Lou Turner return with another fantastic interview with a musician creating understated intricate folk from Appalachia. Sam Fuller Smith, aka Whisperer’s Piedmont Pastimes is a tender and sentimental collection of tunes, pondering fatherhood, the musical roots of the Carolinas, and the possibility for a future of possibilities for his newborn son. Featuring gorgeous slide, Fuller’s mesmerizing picking, and his gentle vocals and pensive lyrics, Piedmont Pastimes is ultimately about a sense of home and its meaning, both on a micro and macro level. Piedmont Pastimes by Sam Fuller-Smith LT: The record is…
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David John Morris
David John Morris found himself taking Red River Road to Gambo Abbey in Nova Scotia, Canada and smiled to himself. It was one fortuitous signal among many along the way that led him to this place. Inside the Abbey, the Cornish songwriter became a temporarily ordained Buddhist monk and spent several months inside sans musical means of expression. After several months, he made a compelling argument to the elders and was permitted to acquire a guitar. From there, the songs fled from him and the idea to make an album, Monastic Love Songs, was conceived. Monastic Love Songs is a…
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Cameron Knowler announces Places of Consequence, premieres “Puerto Suelo”
Petal Motel is so excited to announce the release of Cameron Knowler’s upcoming solo album, Places of Consequence. The album will be out on American Dreams on July 16th (>>Pre-order here!<<). Knowler’s musical vision is strongly tied to location, and the album acts as a transportive vessel, exploring the intersection of place and sound. On the heels of the highly acclaimed album with Eli Winter, Anticipation, and following two previous full-length solo releases, Cameron’s latest album retains his deliberate, thoughtful playing style, yet as you can hear in “Puerto Suelo,” a certain enigmatic element is present, a desolate, intriguing echo…
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Wes Tirey : An Interview by Lou Turner
Petal Motel is pleased to publish our first contributor who isn’t Lara. Musician, poet, and writer Lou Turner was kind enough to conduct this wonderful interview with the most talented Wes Tirey about his latest album, The Midwest Book of the Dead, out April 30th on Dear Life Records. The Midwest Book of the Dead by Wes Tirey Like most of us, Wes Tirey had a tough 2020. The Asheville-based songwriter and poet lost his full-time job and went through a break-up, but emerged with a double album of new songs called The Midwest Book of the Dead—as well as…
