Here are my picks for the Top 10
folk-rooted or folk-branched albums of 2021. As in past years, I started with
the list of hundreds of new albums (including reissues) that I listened to over
the past year and narrowed it down to a short list of about 30. I’ve been over
the short list several times over the past couple of weeks and came up with
several similar – not identical – Top 10 lists. Today’s list is the final one.
The order might have been slightly different, and there are several other
worthy albums that might have been included, had one of the other lists
represented the final choice.
1. Allison Russell –
Outside
Child (Fantasy). On this brave and compelling song-cycle,
Allison Russell – known for her work with
Po’ Girl,
Sankofa,
Birds of Chicago and
Our Native Daughters – documents
the childhood sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her step-father and how
she was able to overcome and break that cycle of abuse. On a personal note, I’m
about 25 years older than Allison and didn’t yet know her at the time of the
abuse she writes and sings about – we first met in 2003 when she was a member of Po’ Girl
and they were guests on my Folk Roots/Folk Branches radio program in Montreal –
but Allison as a child lived about a block away from me. I had no idea, at the
time, that such things were happening in my neighborhood. Now, of course, we
understand that such things happen in virtually every neighborhood.
2. Diana Jones –
Song to a
Refugee (Goldmine). Over the course of 13 poignant and moving songs, Diana
Jones sings about the plight of refugees in the modern world. Some of these
songs, like “We Believe You,” with
Steve Earle,
Richard Thompson
and
Peggy Seeger joining Diana, are addressed to refugees. Others, like “The
Sea is My Mother,” are sung from the perspective of refugees. As I mentioned to
Diana when she was my guest on the
July 13 edition of Stranger Songs, these are
magnificent songs that I wish did not have to be written.
3. Joni Mitchell –
Archives –
Volume 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971) (Rhino). This 5-CD set includes
home demos, studio outtakes and alternate versions, and several concerts
recorded live, including a 1968 set recorded here in Ottawa at the legendary Le
Hibou coffee house – which I featured in its entirety on the
December 7 edition of Stranger Songs. These often-enthralling recordings provide valuable insight
into
Joni Mitchell’s masterful songwriting as she developed and went
beyond her folk roots.
4. Reggie Harris –
On
Solid Ground (Reggie Harris). On his second solo album, after many as a duo
with
Kim Harris,
Reggie Harris offers another inspired and inspiring
set of mostly original songs including topical songs, civil rights songs, love
songs, and a glorious tribute to
Pete Seeger. He also includes superb
interpretations of songs from
Malvina Reynolds,
John Prine, and,
perhaps surprisingly,
The Beatles.
5. Murray McLauchlan –
Hourglass (True North). On one of the finest albums of a career that has
stretched back more than a half-century,
Murray McLauchlan offers a largely
topical set of songs that comments on such contemporary issues as income
inequality, racism, refugees, and threats to democracy. Most of the songs were
played when Murray was my guest on the
July 27 edition of Stranger Songs.
6. Maria Dunn – Joyful Banner
Blazing (Distant Whisper).
Maria Dunn’s inspiring original songs, deeply
rooted in folk and Celtic music traditions, capture the good in the human
spirit and the essence of communal common cause. She also includes a stunning
version of “From Dublin with Love,” written by the late, great Newfoundland
songwriting legend,
Ron Hynes.
7. Mary Chapin Carpenter –
One Night Lonely (Lambent Light). In November 2020, during the pandemic,
Mary
Chapin Carpenter was filmed and recorded at the Wolf Trap National Park for
the Performing Arts in Virginia, near Washington, DC, performing a PBS concert
with no audience. Now available as a 2-CD set,
One Night Lonely, is a beautiful
solo performance of many of the finest songs from throughout her career.
8. Hans Theessink & Big Daddy
Wilson –
Pay Day (Blue Groove).
Hans Theessink is a Dutch-born,
Austrian-based, singer and guitarist who has long been one of my favorite blues
artists. On
Pay Day, he offers a wonderful and subtle collaboration with
Big Daddy Wilson, a fine North Carolina blues singer, who has primarily
toured and recorded in Europe over the past several decades. The album includes in-the-tradition original songs from both, and exceptional interpretations of classics drawn
from
Blind Willie Johnson,
Mississippi John Hurt,
Skip James
and
Washington Phillips.
9. Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny
–
Let’s Get Happy Together (Stony Plain). On her latest collection,
Maria
Muldaur is backed by
Tuba Skinny, a marvelous group of traditional
New Orleans jazz musicians, for a set of wonderful old, mostly obscure, songs
from the New Orleans tradition. There’s much joy in Maria’s singing and Tuba
Skinny’s playing.
10. Peter Keane –
Blues/Ballads/Cowboy
Songs (Peter Keane). As indicated by the title,
Peter Keane’s latest
album is a terrific collection of mostly old songs from blues, folk and country
sources (plus one original), that are mostly performed solo by just Peter and
his archtop Gibson guitar – with some limited and tasteful overdubs on a few
tracks. If I have one criticism of this set it’s that at just 26 minutes, it’s
over much too soon.
I will be featuring songs from
each of these albums on Stranger Songs, Tuesday December 28, 3:30-5 pm, on
CKCU. The program is now available 24/7 for on-demand streaming by clicking "Listen Now" at this link.
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–Mike Regenstreif
