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Song Analysis with the Songwriter

folk music

NEM#160: John McCutcheon Learns the Lessons of Folk

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John has released 45 albums since 1975 of original folk, traditional folk, children’s music (garnering six Grammy nominations for those), and instrumentals: He is fluent on guitar, banjo, violin, dulcimer, and more.

His songs very often tell stories, and we discuss several of those: “Atonement” from Bucket List (2021), “Soup” from Wintersongs (1995), and “Water from Another Time” from Gonna Rise Again (1987). We end by listening to “The Night John Prine Died” from Cabin Fever: Songs from Quarantine (2020). Intro: “Christmas in the Trenches” from Winter Solstice (1984). For more, see folkmusic.com.

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NEM#72: Sarah McQuaid Kills Her Darlings

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Sarah has recorded five solo albums since 1997, starting with traditional folk songs, sometimes guitar instrumentals, and now focusing on originals that mix British and American folk in a style influenced by Joni Mitchell, among others. She has lately pared back her songwriting to ensure that every note counts.

We discuss the title track and “The Silence above Us” from If We Dig Any Deeper It Could Get Dangerous (2018) and “Hardwick’s Lofty Towers” from The Plum Tree and the Rose (2012). Closing song: “Yellowstone” from Walking into White (2015). Opening instrumental: “The Day of Wrath, That Day,” also from the new album. For more, see sarahmcquaid.com.

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NEM#70: Amy Annelle’s Natural Environments

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Amy has recorded nine albums of emotionally stark but often artistically decorated original folk music, punctuated by cover tunes like the opening music here, Townes Van Zandt’s “Buckskin Stallion Blues,” which appeared in the film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
We discuss “Mouth to Mouth” from The Autopilot Knows You Best (2000), “The Nightjar’s Blues” from The Cimarron Banks (2010), and “Natural Arc” from Songs for Creeps (2006), which also contains our closer, “I’m A-Gone Down to the Greenfields.” Visit amyannelle.bandcamp.com.

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