Janos (Jani) Lang is a Hungarian fiddler living in Glasgow and in this episode he shares a unique story of moving to Scotland to follow his love of Celtic music only to find himself tapping back into his roots playing Romanian, Hungarian and Roma music. He talks about the experience of immigrating to the UK and his current work with Ando Glaso, featuring traditional musicians from the local Roma community to build bridges between them and the mainstream Scottish culture.
Ando Glaso: https://www.andoglaso.org/
Dallahan: https://www.dallahanmusic.com/
Music in this episode: opening is a Romanian tune we learned from the Slovenian Fiddle Gang and the closing is a couple of tunes by Liz Carroll: Anne Lacey's and Sevens.
A pillar of the traditional music community of northern Vermont, Pete Sutherland is widely recognized across the US and beyond for his unique musical voice on fiddle, piano, banjo, song and as a songwriter. This conversation focuses in on Pete's work mentoring the next generation and his thoughts on tune and songwriting, but hits on many other subjects in the process. It was recorded at the Northeast Heritage Music Camp, partly in front of a live audience and completed later in the week at a spare moment.
Music in this episode: The Dying Californian (opening) and Rye Straw (closing)
Pete's current project: https://www.petesposse.com/
Fiddler, composer and one of the lead organizers of the Stringmania camp in Australia, Chris Stone chatted with Neil live in front of an audience at Alasdair Fraser's Sierra Fiddle Camp 2019. The conversation ranges from Chris' search for his musical voice to the traditional music scene in Australia to the work of building communities and cultures that are open to connection and understanding across social boundaries.
Music: And That’s Ok (Chris Stone) and A Song for All Seasons (Oliver Schroer)
Flynn Cohen has toured the world with major Irish music acts and been a mainstay in the Irish and Bluegrass music scenes of New England. In many ways his path is a classic example of a folk musician growing up in the wake of the folk revival. In other ways it is a study in contradictions. In this episode Flynn shares his path discovering acoustic music through Led Zeppelin, Irish music while studying in America and Bluegrass while studying in England.
Check out Flynn's new Irish Backup Guitar course here: https://pegheadnation.com/string-school/courses/irish-backup-guitar/
Flynn's Website: www.flynncohen.net
One of Scotland's top folk singers, Jim Malcolm is well known for both his original folk songs and his interpretations of great traditional Scots songs. He and Neil sat down backstage before a show in Boston to talk about his journey from aspiring rock star to being a key member of legendary folk band Old Blind Dogs to arrive finally at his solo show, which features his voice, musicality and humor front and center.
For more on Jim: www.jimmalcolm.com
Music in this episode is two songs by Jim: "The Road to New York" and "Lochanside" (based on the bagpipe tune by the same name)
One of the biggest names in Gaelic song today, Mary Jane Lamond can just as easily be found at a small Gaelic community event on Cape Breton, at an academic conference in Scotland or thrilling an audience of thousands at a folk festival somewhere around the world. She sat down with Neil to talk about her unconventional journey and her thoughts on practicing a traditional art in the 21st century.
Music: The Blue Mountains Lullaby (Jeff MacDonald and Brian O hEadhra) and a medley of traditional Puirt a Beul
Ruthie Dornfeld's fiddling has been a huge influence on dance musicians in New England and her native Northwest and her work with Scandinavian musicians over the years has seen her tour overseas extensively. Neil caught up with her at her home in Seattle to talk about her musical journey from her first experiences with the fiddle to current creative projects in the US, Denmark and Finland. Along the way she talks about following her ear to all kinds of musical projects like writing an album of music for the medieval fiddle and more.
A legend of American Old-Time music, Bruce Molsky shares his story and philosophy towards playing traditional folk music with reverence, respect, and personal expression. He talks about his story falling head over heels for American folk music and names some of his heroes and mentors in the Round Peak style that is one of the roots of his sound.
There's no better way to reach our 50th episode than with the third and final member of Väsen, legendary 12-string guitarist Roger Tallroth. Roger has developed his own style, sound and tuning for playing Swedish music on the 12-string guitar and has composed some of the most popular melodies played by fiddlers around the world, including Josephine's Waltz.
More info on Roger: http://tallroth.se/ and https://vasen.se
More info on this episode: www.tradcafe.org
Susan Watts is a brilliant trumpeter and singer who is also a fourth generation Klezmer musician and daughter of a legendary drummer who broke the paved the way for women in music. Neil caught up with Susan at her home in Philadelphia to chat about growing up in such a musical household, finding her voice on the trumpet and her ongoing work to promote women in Klezmer and female musicians in general.
Music in this episode: Der Freiling Zeisinke (Sweet Spring) off of her album Hartsklap and Shalom Aleichem, a traditional song that welcomes in Shabbat with a melody written in 1918 by Rabbi Israel Goldfarb.
The middle voice of Väsen, Mikael Marin brings a breadth of influences and musical influences to bear in his countermelodies and textures on the 5-string viola. In this wide ranging conversation he discusses the history of "second voice" playing in Swedish music, his own development as a classical and traditional musician and how a being passionate about your own specific culture and tradition can be common ground for connecting to traditional artists and cultures around the world.
Music: opening piece is Knust Av Sorgens Hammer (crushed by the hammer of grief) and the closing piece is a Polonesse sourced from historical archives.
More info: www.vasen.se as well as the album Sorpesoll and the archie at smus.se