Woods also records new songs regularly and posts them on Soundcloud for us to enjoy. One of the newest, ‘I Saw On Facebook’, is a nice summation of his writing style – succinct songs that sad without being overly morose and a suggestion of a sense of humour. It’s a fine balance between sincerity and melodrama but, with his sprinkling of wry wit, I think you’ll find Woods has mastered it.

So please do check out his previous releases, although think twice before just playing them on Spotify. Woods shared his sales figures on Twitter back in 2012:

“My latest Spotify sales: 3942 plays earns $16.47395627. Big time. Enough to buy a Bruce Springsteen CD.”

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The reason I divulge these details is that they seem pertinent to the sound of the record. It’s the sort of album that seems to need state names and historical references in the review, it needs details of travelling and recording at home. In the age of the internet, where songs can be created entirely by a laptop, No Kingdom seems a relic to an older time, a reminder of what songs used to be about, stories that chronicle some pre-war region. There is a sense that we are listening in on some precious communication, messages from a time where words could not be broadcast across land and water instantaneously. As Moss sings in ‘Hammer’:

“Write me a letter 
Leave it at the door 
Tell me something 
You never have before”

Maybe these messages never reach their intended target, the plea for the person to write goes unheard. These could be wishes and regrets locked in time as well as space, emotions that are decades old but alive in song.

I recently read an interesting article on Paste Magazine that questioned whether true folk music is possible anymore, arguing that folk music is music that is played for friends and neighbours, shared only within a community, and anything else is pop music with different instruments. Obviously, the internet age has made sharing your talent with a wider range of people both easier and essential for budding musicians, meaning that maybe the true definition of folk is now nearly defunct.

Whatever the true meaning of folk really is (or whether is even matters), you get the impression that Sam Moss is as close as a musician who shares their music online can possibly get to true fok music. It is a paradox that I say this sat at my computer a with the entire Atlantic ocean between us, but Moss’ songs do seem personal, addressed to members of community I do not know. I earlier used the term pre-war and I think it’s a suitable way to describe the feeling on this record. It brings to mind a time where people knew less of the world but more of each other, a time before the great connective ability of air travel and telephones and the internet worked their (paradoxically) isolating magic.

No Kingdom is to be released on the 15th October. You can pre-order the CD or MP3 album via his Bandcamp page.

As well as a burgeoning solo career, Moss makes up half of The Howling Kettles, an old time folk duo that released two albums in 2012. You can find further details of The Howling Kettles here, and you can explore the back catalogue of Moss’ solo work here.

And while we are on the subject of buying from bandcamp – read Jeremy from over at HI54LOFI explain why it is a vital (and underrated) tool in modern music.

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A lot of what I want to say about Asheville’s Wes Tirey and his latest EP, I Stand Among Trees, has already been said this year about Small Houses and John Moreland, and I find myself trying to avoid painting them as slight variations of the same thing, some identikit brand of man with guitar. This would be extraordinarily unfair, sort of like criticising Flannery O’Connor and Cormac McCarthy because they both use a pen and paper to share their stories.

The literary comparison is no coincidence – I Stand Among Trees is a literate EP, a collection of atmospheric and evocative songs that owe as much to the American masters of writing as they do to Dylan and Van Zandt.

This fantastic interview with Hearth Music gives an insight into the writing process for a few of the songs. It not only confirms my original thoughts but also giving a new point of view, especially on ‘Wild Beasts’ where Tirey’s citation of McCarthy’s Blood Meridian (one of my favourite books, like, ever) takes the track on to a whole new level of bare desolation, conjuring a hostile and empty landscape of insects and dust.

I Stood Among Trees by Wes Tirey

Indeed the whole EP can be viewed through this bloodly lens. Consider ‘Final Resting Place’:

“The concrete is a-crumbling
The blind man is a-mumbling
Everyone is running for their life”

…and:

“The drummer’s are a-drumming
Even Lucifer’s a-running
I saw him from the corner of my eye

Maybe Jesus is a-coming
Wouldn’t that be something
But who could live by such a lie”

You can almost hear the hooves of Glanton’s men, the terrible breathing of Judge Holden. This really is stirring stuff.

Obviously the EP isn’t about cowboys, but hopefully those who have read the book know what I mean (I told you I was struggling to sound original). Anyway, With I Stood Among Trees, Tirey claims his rightful place among my favourite folk artists this year, and I will certainly be keeping an eye on what he does next.

You can get the EP on Bandcamp for whatever price you think is appropriate. or you can get a lovely physical copy for $5 (also check out Tirey’s Home Demos while you are there). If you are a fan, there is also a very interesting Indiegogo called ‘Wesley in Italy‘ where you can get nice things in return for your coin that will hopefully send Tirey on tour next January around various Italian towns and cities.

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Nathan K. is self-classified (probably with tongue in cheek) as anti-freak folk, but the important thing for you to know is that he is a songwriter. Here he shows that it doesn’t really matter how lo-fi the production is if the writing and execution is right. The songs come of sort of like a series of diary entries, a stream of consciousness that trickles into all sorts of different areas, wandering around the variations of folk music at will.

The album is a fine collection of songs as it is, but it is impossible to ignore the story of the recording process. The description from Bandcamp reads:

“In the middle of a tour, I had to come home early to be with my grandfather who was dying, and at his request, and I sang and played guitar, violin, and banjo for him during the last few weeks of his life. During the nights, when I couldn’t sleep (I slept at the hospital), I recorded on a 4-track recorder to pass the time in the waiting room.”

A second listen with this in mind causes the album to expand and blossom, what at first appeared throw-away words and lines with a pleasing cadence become something incredibly personal, almost ultimately so. The refrain in ‘Ghosts’ is a perfect example of this. First time around it was a nice, poetic phrase, but now it takes on a new quality; a curious mix of sadness and joy, haunting in the sense that it lingers but not completely morose or scary. Its more a nostalgic and poignant amalgamation of fondness and love and regret, something crushing yet life affirming.

And this is what you take away from the record upon understanding how it came into being – a sense of joy. Yes there is sympathy and sadness, but there something else that overides all of this. Knowledge of a life well lived, a pride and appreciation of a person who is responsible for your very being. A line in ‘For Your Own Good’ captures this better than I ever could:

“I was a kid last time I really felt that // the world was a beautiful place // and I guess it’s a beautiful place, but it’s hard to tell.”

You can buy the album on the Nathan K. Bandcamp, or download it on a pay-what-you-can basis.

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The new songs are more stripped back compared to her debut album Strangers Who Knew Each Other’s Names. For the most part only a strummed guitar supports her strong vocals. The gentle instrumentation and backing vocals never distract your ears from her voice, but rather creating an atmosphere, a backdrop to the stories that unfold across the songs. It makes for an effective record that feels fully in control on it’s sound. Statements are made subtly and without over-emphasis – for example the second track, ‘I Can’t Forget’, begins with the regular guitar but as the lyrics turn a little sadder a string arrangements starts up to support them. It would have been easy to be ham-fisted and dress up the ‘sad song’ with weeping violins from the beginning but Dressner is cleverer than that.

Because the music sounds so lovely, it can be tempting to forget about the lyrics and just enjoy the nice sounds. However, should you wish to delve a little deeper into the words of songs (I always do), there are some interesting stories to be found. As the title hints, East Twenties was inspired by Dressner’s experiences living and growing in New York, and you get the feeling that Dressner has poured a not insignificant part of her life into these songs. Despite the aforementioned loveliness of her voice and the delicate instruments, there is a strong cathartic element here. The songs are richly detailed; the everyday observations that coexist with the love/loss messages give each song a personal and narrative feel. Of course, only Dressner knows how much of the content is based upon reality, but if she can create the effect then does it matter?

Annie has a Pledge set up to fund the new EP with a number of interesting options, from the standard EP right up to home shows, handmade lyric books and ‘golden tickets’ that will get you into any/all of her shows for the next ten years (!). The target has already been reached but that doesn’t mean you have missed your chance to get something, you can purchase whatever you fancy until the 8th April. Ten percent of the money raised is going to the charity V-Day (an organisation that raises awareness of violence against women) so you will be supporting a good cause too. Also, if you find yourself in London, get yourself along to the release show in the Slaughtered Lamb. See the poster below for more details.

You have a number of chances to see Annie perform this summer, from small local shows to the Green Man festival in Wales. See all the dates here.

P.S Annie’s voice reminds me of someone else’s but for all the world I can’t think who. It’s been on the tip of my tongue all morning but still evades me. Answers on a postcard to @WaketheDeaf.

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Exactly Where you Wanted To Be is an album of recurring themes, where each song is placed precisely amongst it’s fellows. This isn’t a superficial collection of singles that has been thrown together, it is a piece of art that was assembled with care. Quentin’s finger-picking style sounds natural, organic, gloriously free from gimmicks and stylistic gestures. This isn’t to say it is overly simple or lacking in talent, but rather that the sound is faithful to the lyrics, the gentle piano evocative of the nostalgic summers of which he sings, the harmonica yelling into the wind of the freedom of travel. He avoids the temptation to try and score meaningless points from lazy listeners, to resort to the instant but empty gratification that is so often achieved by the musically belletristic tricksters that seem to win over the public for a fortnight before being dropped for the ‘next big thing’. It feels like music crafted for an individual listener as opposed to the faceless masses, a personal record, honest and warm. Of course, for this to work, it has to be backed up with quality songwriting. Luckily, Quentin delivers in spades.    

The overriding theme of the album (at least for me) is that of distance, both spatial or temporal. ‘Oh Hiding Out’ speaks of dreaming of Illinois, of St Louis awaiting his voice. It speaks of driving to the city and of travels to different and exciting places. ‘Our Sweet’ talks of summers and winters and of driving away. The closing track ‘Homes and Photographs’ is packed with nostalgic imagery, a song of promises to be places that he is evidently away from, and of a lot of driving in between. There is a perfect blend of home and travelling, maybe indicating our inherent need for both. The line ’give you something you can keep like a penny laid on a railway, I bought a diamond for your ring’ sums up the whole album, the juxtaposition of the adventure of being away with a vital sentimentality and desire for belonging.

This idea of distance, of time and travel, brings to mind an interesting thought that is often on my mind; the idea of our lives as a journey to (or away from) some ideal destination, some better time. David Foster Wallace, on describing Franz Kafka’s central humour, puts this better than I ever could.

That our endless and impossible journey toward home is in fact our home…

To envision us readers coming up and pounding on this door, pounding and pounding, not just wanting admission but needing it, we don’t know what it is but we can feel it, this total desperation to enter, pounding and pushing and kicking, etc. That, finally, the door opens…and it opens outward: we’ve been inside what we wanted all along. 

Whether it is intentional on Quentin’s part or whether he meant something else entirely, the title Exactly Where You Wanted To Be seems to encapsulate this sentiment. The album tells of nostalgic pasts and hopeful futures, but what it really does is illustrate the here and now – life’s long journey – people at the mercy of their hopeful dreams and rose-tinted pasts. It captures the present, exactly where we want to be.

You can get the album from Yer Bird Records from the 26th or pre-order it here. Check out the video by Zachary Gibson for ‘Oh, Hiding Out’ below and have a listen to this great little session from Folkpedia too.

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The setlist is superb, although with a back catalogue like CFTPA’s there was small chance of it being anything different. The overwhelming majority of the songs are from Etiquette and Vs. Children, with ‘The Subway Home’ from the older album Pocket Symphonies for Lonesome Subway Cars. Sure, there are favourites missing, but there was always going to be without a five-disc set.

I’ll end up just waxing lyrical if I try to write anymore so I’ll leave it at that. In my humble opinion, Owen Ashworth is one of the best songwriters  from the past decade (I’d include him amongst the best writers full stop), and is someone you owe yourself to get acquainted with*. In Cambridge is available as a digital download or in lovely Coke bottle vinyl from Orindal. His label also do some great merch so have a look at that too.

*I ended up waxing lyrical. Apologies

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Back to my home by Mike Tod

Roll on by Mike Tod

You can buy The Northern Country from Bandcamp.

The post WTD’s Advent Calendar – 18 – Mike Tod appeared first on Various Small Flames.

But please don’t judge her on cheap comparisons alone. Listen to my favourite track below and head over to her Bandcamp page to hear/buy the album, or get it from her own store.

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Sean Atkins

Sean Atkins is a songwriter from Pittsburgh. I was immediately taken by his sound; a heartfelt simplicity with a good dose of melancholic introspection and regret, while all the while underpinned by a faint hint of hope. This is an achingly beautiful release from someone who deserves much wider attention. Volume 2 and numerous other releases are available on Bandcamp for free.

Castanets

Castanets is the moniker Ray Raposa, a Portland resident with quite a few albums already under his belt. Unfortunately I have only recently stumbled across him but am looking forward to exploring backwards through his catalogue. Check out the Keith Whitley cover below.

Matt Olsson

Matt Olsson, from New Jersey, has that American acoustic sound that brings to mind Bob Dylan and Tallest Man On Earth. ‘Snakes’ is the first single from his new album The Sabotage and is available free on Bandcamp.

Reuben Bullock

Reuben Bullock, a songwriterfrom Calgary, has formed a band called Rueben And The Dark. They have a much fuller sound than the previous artists on the list but are no less enthralling. I’m hearing some similarities to band such as Hip Hatchet, which is no bad thing.

Jo Schornikow

I first caught Jo Schornikow on The Waiting Room radio show where she played a session (along with Scott Rudd, who we wrote about here). The Australian plays piano/keyboards for The Shivers and is now going it alone with her various bandmates in support. Here a song below.

Water Liars

Water Liars, fronted by Theodore’s Justin Kinkel-Schuster, have released their debut album Phantom Limb on Misra Records. A superb blend of loud and quiet (as opening track ’$100’ displays below), like Damien Jurado singing on Pope Killdragon. An album that is well worth your time.

While it would be better to give each of these their own post (and therefore the attention and focus they deserve), time isn’t something I have in abundance right now. You have my apologies but this will have to suffice.

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