Siv Jakobsen is a Norwegian mystery. She has no page on Wikipedia. Her Facebook page is uninformative. Even Google struggles to find much information about the singer/songwriter who recorded her latest album, A Temporary Soothing, in the rugged beauty of Devon, UK as 2018 marched on into 2019. But a little perseverance at the Crotchety…Read more A Temporary Soothing
folk
The Priest
Grantchester is a village just outside Cambridge (the UK city famous for its university, not the suburb of Boston, MA). It was the setting for a series of whodunnit short stories, The Grantchester Mysteries, by James Runcie. The books spawned a TV series called simply, Grantchester - the headline picture here is a still showing…Read more The Priest
Radar Blips
My Release Radar this week included several interesting new pieces by not-so-new artists spanning a wide range of styles. I'm featuring them in another Spotify playlist this week. But before we get to that, I must pay tribute to Peter Green, who's death was announced yesterday. Rolling Stone placed the blues/rock guitarist born Peter Allen Greenbaum…Read more Radar Blips
Midnight Commander
Has there ever been a better time for tales of heroes? Here's a story to lift our spirits from the latest album by modern-day minstrel, Kray van Kirk. Kray has appeared in these pages twice before; the last time was in October 2015 when Shiloh was my track-of-the-week. Back then the song was about a…Read more Midnight Commander
In a Lifetime
I write this piece with a mixture of profound joy and heart-wrenching sadness. Five days ago the Crotchety Couple enjoyed another Clannad concert. We saw them perhaps 20 years ago and they were a delight, although the sound then was a little muddy where we sat in the wings. This time we had just about…Read more In a Lifetime
Excalibur
A valuable work of art had gone missing. Detective Inspector "Crotchety" Mann was on the trail. His only clue was this track on Spotify from an album called Excalibur II: The Celtic Ring, under the artist name, Excalibur. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLJ3aQ6MaeY The thieves should have been more careful to cover their tracks. Although Spotify had no information…Read more Excalibur
Love & Hate
When it comes to human emotions there can be no greater contrast than that between love and hate. And I guess that goes for cartoon characters, too. Bugs Bunny loves all the other characters he meets, even the ones that hate him - especially the ones that hate him, in fact, because they lead to…Read more Love & Hate
Blind
Our village magazine carried the following listing this month: Saturday, 9th November The Black Feathers in Concert "A gorgeous mixture of Americana, Folk and Acoustic Indie Rock ... great tunes and sumptuous harmonies" ... 'Absolutely wonderful' Bob Harris Radio 2 The venue was Hoton Village Hall in the next small village to the west…Read more Blind
Blue Angel
The prog folk theme continues this week with the Dave Cousins song, Blue Angel. Born David Joseph Hindson, Cousins was the leader and primary songwriter with the Strawbs from its formation in 1964 through to the present day. The band has at various times included: Sandy Denny (Fairport Convention); Rick Wakeman (Yes); and John Hawken (Renaissance,…Read more Blue Angel
Europa’s Fall
A couple of years ago there was a small folk music festival in the grounds of Bradgate House. The house is a ruin now but it was once the home of a former queen of England. Lady Jane Grey was queen for just nine days but she spent her early childhood in that house surrounded…Read more Europa’s Fall
