Milly Raccoon’s “That Girl I Left Behind Me” is a Modern Ballad for History Lovers

Nashville-based fiddle player, Milly Raccoon rips a page from the history books to breathe new life into “That Girl I Left Behind Me.” The song’s roots can be traced back to Elizabethan England when the tune was sung by British soldiers.   “It remained a wartime song for the next five centuries, with new lyrics added for each new wartime era. Notably the American Civil War and World War I,” Milly Raccoon says. Before its English title, the song was an Irish ballad known as “An Spailpin Fanach,” Gaelic for “The Wandering Laborer.”  Milly’s version is less about a romance … Continue reading Milly Raccoon’s “That Girl I Left Behind Me” is a Modern Ballad for History Lovers

Tommy Stinson’s New Band Cowboys in The Campfire to Release Debut Album “Wronger”

Founding member of The Replacements, Tommy Stinson (also of Guns N’Roses, Soul Asylum, Bash & Pop, and Perfect), and his good friend Chip Roberts makeup the duo Cowboys in The Campfire. Their debut album, Wronger, will drop on June 2nd of this year. Described as “the most American album” Stinson has ever made, Wronger will coincide with a tour starting in Nashville, Tennessee.  Tommy Stinson intends to keep Cowboys in The Campfire on the road. “Chip and I are going to make a real run for it with this record,” Stinson says. “I’ve got some ideas; they’re just in my head … Continue reading Tommy Stinson’s New Band Cowboys in The Campfire to Release Debut Album “Wronger”

The Sound, Spirit, & Edutainment of Sihasin

“These are rez dogs,” Clayson Benally is surrounded by puppies, who are bouncing excitedly at his feet. The Arizonian landscape behind him shows an azure horizon that stretches for miles. Before long, his sister and lifelong bandmate, Jeneda Benally, arrives on schedule. Jeneda & Clayson Benally have quite the resume. Together with their brother Klee, they formed the punk rock trio, Blackfire, protested (and sued) the federal government, and balanced their Ramones albums with the traditional Diné songs told to them by their father. In fact, their star power runs in the family. Their mother/momager Berta Benally was a folk … Continue reading The Sound, Spirit, & Edutainment of Sihasin

Kate Dressed Up Delivers a Folkloric Dream with ‘In Another Lifetime’

When you listen to In Another Lifetime by NJ rock-folk band, Kate Dressed Up, you are transported to a space of storied wonder and ethereal expansion. Intended as a concept album inspired by The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the anticipated timeline for In Another Lifetime was pushed back due to the pandemic. During that time, frontwoman Katie Miller found that the album had taken on new meaning. What Miller did not expect was that she had more to say beyond the themes found in Antoine’s philosophical children’s book.   Never being the sort of songwriter who chooses when or … Continue reading Kate Dressed Up Delivers a Folkloric Dream with ‘In Another Lifetime’

Sharon Van Etten Releases New Single, “Used To It”

Indie-folk singer Sharon Van Etten released her second single of 2022, “Used To It” following the emblematic synth-pop track, “Porta.”   “Used To It” was initially drafted as a part of a score for the HBO documentary Baby God, about Dr. Quincy Fortier who used his own sperm to inseminate his fertility patients. When HBO chose to go in a different direction musically, Van Etten was left in a position that challenged her to “write a song about the concept of family, connection through blood, nature vs nurture, while attempting to incorporate ideas of love and the complexities of science and … Continue reading Sharon Van Etten Releases New Single, “Used To It”

Sharon Van Etten Announces New Album, ‘We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong’ 

Indie-folk musician Sharon Van Etten has announced a new album, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong, set to release on May 6th. The album will be Van Etten’s sixth studio album, following the successful Remind Me Tomorrow (2019). The new album will not contain her latest singles, “Porta” or “Used To It.”   According to a press statement, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong highlights the questions that arise within us when we think the world—especially our personal one—is ending. Much of the new album was strung together from experiences of loss, growth, and transformation, and the terror that those experiences ignite … Continue reading Sharon Van Etten Announces New Album, ‘We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong’