Fate is fickle, they say. On another day her pointing finger may have selected the indie pop of A Trick of the Light by The Villagers or the classical/folk guitar work of Impossible Air by Nathan Salsburg. But, today, she has guided Crotchety Man to a new single release by The Breath called Let the…Read more Let the Cards Fall
folk
As I Roved Out
I've always thought of oak trees as being quintessentially English. Robin Hood is supposed to have sheltered under the Major Oak in Sherwood forest, King Charles II hid from his enemies in the Royal Oak and the indomitable English navy was built from the wood of that noble tree until the 19th century. But, apparently,…Read more As I Roved Out
Cwlwm
When the Crotchety Kid was just nine or ten years old one of his teachers was a woman not so young in years but with all the best attributes of youth in her manner. There was a timeless beauty in her face and the fresh warmth of her personality has never been matched in all the…Read more Cwlwm
Days of Pearly Spencer
Sometimes I feel I'm losing the will to live. It's usually when I'm ironing - shirts are so darn fiddly, aren't they? So I do my ironing weekday afternoons between 1 and 4 pm so that I can listen to the Radcliffe and Maconie show on the radio. They play some good music and they…Read more Days of Pearly Spencer
The Black Rock
March came in with an icy blast here in the UK. We had 10 - 20 cm of snow, much of the country's transport system ground to a halt and some unfortunate motorists got stuck on a Scottish motorway for eight hours. It was all due to "the beast from the east" - a weather…Read more The Black Rock
River Man
I don't have much to say about this Track of the Week. So, instead, here's a silly little ditty about the Chinese fisherman's friend, the cormorant. The common cormorant, or shag, Lays eggs inside a paper bag. The reason you will see, no doubt, Is to keep the lightning out. But what these unobservant birds…Read more River Man
Whistle Down the Wind
This week it was announced that Joan Baez is releasing a new album on 2nd March. Whistle Down the Wind will be her first new recording for a decade and its promotion marks the end of more than 50 years of touring for Baez. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5-e4qqvKck The phrase, "whistle down the wind", evokes a forlorn sense…Read more Whistle Down the Wind
To Luminous Scale
A few days ago I was reading an article by Thomas Hatton on proglodytes.com titled "Some of modern prog's best frontmen are ... women". It makes the point that the progressive rock genre is usually regarded as something reserved for the male of our species, a decorative accessory to the boys' toys that we use to…Read more To Luminous Scale
Starless
For those who are unfamiliar with the British folk music scene The Unthanks are a five-piece folk group led by sisters Rachel and Becky Unthank. The band was formed in 2004 as an all female group called Rachel Unthank and the Winterset. After lineup changes that brought Adrian McNally into the band as pianist, arranger, producer…Read more Starless
Finale
A new album by Pentangle was released last year. Given that the band had split up shortly after I saw them in Oxford back in 1973¹ and, more pertinently, that two of them have died, it couldn't be a new recording. But it's not just another compilation, either. The original line-up reformed in 2008 and…Read more Finale
Crotchety Man 