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Hearth Music

On the Road in Saskatchewan for Northern Lights

On the Road in Saskatchewan for Northern Lights

Arriving from the air, the Canadian province of Saskatchewan seems like a place that doesn't want to give up its secrets. I'm flying in to Saskatoon to attend the 2015 Northern Lights Bluegrass and Old Tyme Festival & Camp, and all I'm seeing is

Ironing Board Sam Renaissance: Interview with Tim Duffy of Music Maker Relief Foundation

Ironing Board Sam Renaissance: Interview with Tim Duffy of Music Maker Relief Foundation

The blues are no joke. That’s what eclectic-soul singer Ironing Board Sam found at the end of his rope, nearly broke and burned out after a lifetime spent running around the edges of the music industry track. He’d lived in Nashville and Memphis, cut singles for major labels

A Hearth Music Visit with 94 Year Old Cajun Fiddler Milton Vanicor

A Hearth Music Visit with 94 Year Old Cajun Fiddler Milton Vanicor

This time last year, I was sitting in the light-filled kitchen of an old officer's house in the historic Fort Worden, an old military complex in Port Townsend, Washington that's been converted into the home of the influential arts organization, Centrum. Every year I and 500

N. American Fiddle Traditions: James Bay Cree Fiddling

This is the second article in an ongoing series on lesser-known North American fiddle traditions, or at least fiddle traditions that deserve more press and attention. Our first article focused on the Tennessee fiddling of Joseph DeCosimo. Now we have a guest post from ethnomusicologist Dr. Frances Wilkins from the

Gay Traditions: Texas Songwriter Emily Herring's Honky Tonk Pathways

Gay Traditions: Texas Songwriter Emily Herring's Honky Tonk Pathways

Texas songwriter Emily Herring 's new album, Your Mistake , came over my desk about a month ago and I fell for her ice-cold honky-tonk songwriting almost immediately. She sings with such confidence, and nails hard-lived country songwriting like nobody's business. And she gets the culture of Texas

N. American Fiddle Traditions: Joseph Decosimo's Tennessee Roots

N. American Fiddle Traditions: Joseph Decosimo's Tennessee Roots

Young Tennessee old-time fiddler/banjo player Joseph Decosimo’s album, Sequatchie Valley, is one of my jealously guarded treasures. It’s an album filled with unexpected delights: beautiful tunes and songs learned directly from elder musicians from Joseph’s home state. The fiddle tunes are often beguiling: the softly loping

Celtic Colours Festival Review

Celtic Colours Festival Review

Guest Blog by Llyn De Danaan The Celtic Colours Festival, named for the adornment of brilliant fall foliage that cloaks the hills on Cape Breton in October, recently finished its 16th year. Its mission, as Joella Foulds, founder and artistic director told us at one evening session, is to “promote,