Following in the footsteps of The Chieftains, Planxty, the Bothy Band and more recently Altan or Lúnasa, The Gloaming is one of the rare traditional Irish music bands to enjoy a commercial and critical success both a home and abroad while at the same time making a significant impact on the contemporary musical landscape. Since ... [Continue Reading]
songwriting
Peter Broderick: All Together Again
Somewhat like the public letter-writers of the past, American artistic polymath Peter Broderick has adopted a similar role lately as a “public” musician, in addition to his creative work as a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer. “Ever since I started releasing records in 2007”, notes the musician, “people have ... [Continue Reading]
Alela Diane: Cusp
Life and death meet in a cusp. The two are intrinsically linked. My second daughter was born on the cusp. Alela Diane Strongly influenced by British singer songwriters like Vashti Bunyan or Sandy Denny and associated with contemporary acts like Fleet Foxes or Mariee Sioux, Oregon-based singer songwriter Alela Diane’s indie-folk ... [Continue Reading]
Trio Da Kali and Kronos Quartet: Ladilikan
Opening the record, Trio Da Kali’s balafon (a wooden xylophone), bass ngoni (a traditional lute) and vocals clearly transport the listener to West Africa. But the introduction of Kronos Quartet’s classical strings a minute into “Tita” triggers an unexpected yet uplifting musical shift, thus unveiling an extraordinary fusion ... [Continue Reading]
Planetarium
We’ve returned to the question of identity and humanity and human rights, and what does it mean to be a person in our world? What is our relationship to our world, and the environment? What does it mean to believe in a divine being, and what does that divine being require of us? That divine being is often inspired by the cosmos. ... [Continue Reading]
Rhiannon Giddens: Freedom Highway
Know thy history. Let it horrify you; let it inspire you. Let it show you how the future can look, for nothing in this world has not come around before. Originally from North Carolina, banjo, fiddle player and singer Rhiannon Giddens is also a music historian at heart. Through her work with Carolina Chocolate Drops, the ... [Continue Reading]
Hurray for the Riff Raff: The Navigator
I feel like my generation, through groups like Black Lives Matter, is really focusing on that type of intersectionality—if one of us is not free, then none of us are free. The Navigator’s role is to tell the story, tell it to the people who don’t know their own story, so they can be free. Alynda Segarra Born and raised in the ... [Continue Reading]