Tag: folk

Discover the melancholy folk of “The Wooden Wolf”

Led by the melancholy voice of Alex Keiling, the Alsatian band “The Wooden Wolf” released a 6th album last November. “Winter Variations” takes you into a folk and melancholic mood. An ode to open spaces and introspection.

“My music, I want it poetic and profound” explains the singer and composer of “The Wooden Wolf” Alex Keiling. Meeting in Strasbourg on the occasion of the group’s 6th album,  “Winter Variations”  (Deaf Rock Records)

Source CULTUREBOX: Discover the melancholy folk of “The Wooden Wolf”

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When the French song takes folk colors: 6 young artists to discover

The new French scene has its roots in various Anglo-Saxon musical influences, be it rock, pop, rap. More and more, there are new artists who bring a folk color to their songs, as in their time Hugues Aufray, Graeme Allwright, Malicorne or Francis Cabrel. Overview of their heirs.

1 Leila and The Koalas – “In the mountains”

Originally from Rennes, the trio Leïla and The Koalas  mix Irish and French influences . The texts in both English and French are carried by typically folk and bluegrass arrangements (acoustic guitar, banjo and bass) inspired by the singer’s travels across the Atlantic. The themes are profoundly human, like this hymn to tolerance: “What I am”

And the voices harmonize beautifully, as for example on the sublime ” Everything ” or ” My Pa”. The last album “In the Mountains” was released in 2018 at “Allez là! Productions”. The group is currently on tour , and will come out of our borders to visit Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands.

2 Julie Meyer – “Fragile mood”

Intimate texts and melancholy, but never lead, this is what offers the young Toulouse Julie Meyer . The sober arrangements navigate between pop and folk. So the beautiful “Your songs resound” that makes you want to sit by the fireside. Continue reading “When the French song takes folk colors: 6 young artists to discover” →

“FOLK” by Nolwenn Leroy: “Nostalgia is what characterizes me”

Nolwenn Leroy has chosen to collect in an album all his Madeleines of Proust. These folk songs of the 70s she loves since childhood. A tribute to the French artists who inspired him, such as Nino Ferrer, Jacques Higelin or Francis Cabrel. Thirteen times that make up “Folk”.”

I like to dive back into my memories, into this music of the past, which makes it easier to face the present, which is sometimes difficult,” explains  Nolwenn Leroy  on the 19/20 stage of France 3 Paris-Ile-de-France. An assumed nostalgia, almost a trademark. “Nostalgia is what characterizes me,” she explains. Her powerful yet gentle voice pays tribute to those French songs that have rocked her younger years and still follow her.

Songs that do good

Folk, Nolwenn Leroy fell in when she was small. And as with her Brittany is never far away, she reminds that in France one of the pioneers of this musical genre is none other than Alan Stivell. This project is a bit of a continuation of his work on the album “Bretonne”. “These are songs that have the power to warm the soul and the heart, songs that do good.” Among the titles on offer, Nino Ferrer’s “La Rua Madureira”, “Diabolo-mint” by Yves Simon, “I loved you, I love you, and I will love you” by Francis Cabrel, or ” So Far Away From LA “by Nicolas Peyrac. Nolwenn Leroy will return on stage from March to discover “Folk” to the public. 

Source: “FOLK” by Nolwenn Leroy: “Nostalgia is what characterizes

 

me”

Topette!

“A new Anglo-French band playing self-penned and traditional music from anywhere. They create exciting acoustic dance music, which is equally good to sit and listen to. The playing is top-class and the vibe is ‘Party!’”

The band features:

Andy Cutting (twice Radio 2 Folk Awards Musician of the Year) on Diatonic Accordion and Melodeon (Blowzabella, June Tabor, Kate Rusby, Roger Daltrey and many more)

James Delarre on Violin (Mawkin, Jim Moray, James Delarre & Saul Rose)

Julien Cartonnet on Bagpipes (of central France) and Banjo (Lost Highway, Mister Klof)

Tania Buisse on Bodhran (Lost Highway)

Barnaby Stradling on Acoustic Bass Guitar (Blowzabella, Eliza Carthy, Dark Northumbrian and many more)

Chanson Du Jour: Quand Le Marin

Henriette and Elie Zmirou “Quand Le Marin” (When the Sailor)

While on assignment at the UN in New York in 1954, French couple Henriette and Elie Zmirou remembered their homeland by singing folk songs. Henriette learned all of hers from her mother, grandmother, and people among whom she lived in Normandy. The lyrics of these unaccompanied solos and duos are translated into English. (Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage)