January 2012
January 2012
Every month I put together a list of the recordings I’ve been listening to most over the past few weeks. Here’s my list for January 2012. I’ve played multiple songs from each of these CDs on my radio show, Ramblers’ Retreat.
- Blink: Blink (Norway / Denmark / Sweden / Finland)
Blink put out their debut album last year, and it’s a world-class collection of traditional and original Nordic tunes with some stellar arrangements. This album was on last month’s list. - Downtown Ramblers: On The Other Side Of The City (Sweden)
Downtown Ramblers is an impressive bluegrass band from Sweden, and they’ve put together a very nice collection of original compositions. - Wylie & The Wild West: Rocketbuster (Montana)
I’ve mentioned Wylie & The Wild West often on this blog; Rocketbuster is the first 2012 release to make the list. - Hal Cannon: Hal Cannon (Utah)
Hal Cannon was also on last month’s list; I wrote a review of this CD for RootsWorld magazine. - Jen Hajj: Orn-I-Tho-Lo-Gie (Utah)
Jen Hajj’s new collection of songs about birds runs a big emotional gamut, much bigger than one might expect from a collection of songs about birds.
Downtown Ramblers: “I’ll Go”
Hal Cannon
Hal Cannon: Hal Cannon (2011)
Hal Cannon is best known as the founding director of the annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. He has been collecting songs and stories from the people of the American West for the past three decades. This self-titled CD is his debut recording as a solo artist, and it was one of my favorite recordings of 2011. Read my full review of Hal Cannon and listen to the album streaming on RootsWorld magazine.
Ramblers’ Retreat 2011 Favorites
Today’s Ramblers’ Retreat looked back at the show’s favorite music of 2011. (Here’s a list of my personal Favorites of 2011.) As always, the full playlist is posted.
Below are a few videos of songs featured on today’s show.
Downtown Ramblers: ”Singing With The Birds”
Hal Cannon: “Alone Town”
Utah Slim: “Sigurd”
John McCutcheon: “Pretty Boy Floyd”
December 2011
December 2011
It’s been a few months since I put together a list of the recordings I’ve been listening to most over the past few weeks. I’m ready to re-establish the habit. Here’s my list for December 2011. I’ve played multiple songs from each of these artists on my radio show, Ramblers’ Retreat.
- Hal Cannon: Hal Cannon (Utah)
- Utah Slim: Introducing Utah Slim (Utah)
- Spring Creek: Hold On Me (Colorado)
- Mia Edsall: Good Horses And Other Matters (Idaho)
- Blink: Blink (Norway)
Here’s a video of Hal Cannon performing “Alone Town.”
Lee Penn Sky
Lee Penn Sky on Ramblers’ Retreat
My guest in studio this morning was Lee Penn Sky. We played some music from his CD Prelude to Hindsight, and he played five songs live including “One and the Same” from Prelude and three new songs, two of them so new they are yet to be named. He also dazzled us with a Rolling Stones cover that he made his own.
In the first hour I played new music from Spring Creek and Hal Cannon. I also put together a set of rodeo songs to celebrate this week’s Caldwell Night Rodeo, and did a brief preview of what you can hear this weekend at the Council Mountain Music Festival including music from Wanigan and High Desert Band. Here’s a link to the full playlist for Ramblers’ Retreat, August 17th, 2011.
And here’s a video of Lee playing “One and the Same.”
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