New Music 2017 - Part 22 - Offa Rex - The Queen Of Hearts

One of the things about doing this [writing a blog] is that it pretty much forces me to listen, read and then actually think about music. I can't really assimilate so-called background music anymore. If it's there than that is how it is, but I'll be either paying proper attention or simply not consciously noticing it at all. Sub-conscious listening is however very much a real 'thing'. I was doing chores at home this morning whilst I had the latest Spotify 'Discover Weekly' playlist playing from the stereo but until this came on I couldn't, had it been a crime scene, have given you a single useful piece of evidence to show that I had paying any attention to what was going on.
Had my head been inside a scanner that measures synapse connections I suspect that the images would have been quite interesting. It was, as subsequent investigations have shown, a song I have never heard before but the apparent jumble of concepts that my mind spewed out in response, much like the coins from a change machine, was surprisingly accurate.

What triggered all that, and it is also the title of the forthcoming LP, is this song:

Offa Rex is a project that sees UK singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Olivia Chaney transported to the Pacific Northwest to weave tradition from British and Celtic folk into a psych-folk influenced tapestry. The rest of Offa Rex will be familiar to many as the Decemberists. The album was recorded and produced by Tucker Martine at his studio in Portland, OR. The majority of the eleven tracks were arranged by Olivia Chaney

Offa Rex - The Queen of Hearts, (Nonesuch Records, 14 July 2017).

Offa Rex - The Queen of Hearts:

• The Queen of Hearts
• Blackleg Miner
• The Gardener
• The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
• Flash Company
• The Old Churchyard
• Constant Billy (Oddington) / I'll Go Enlist (Sherborne)
• Willie o' Winsbury
• Bonny May
• Sheepcrook and Black Dog
• To Make You Stay

To hear this in its entirety is something I am looking forward to very much indeed.  It is another journey in the story of how, for centuries, songs have travelled back and forth across the Atlantic to be reappraised and then returned.
A fine example is Willie o' Winsbury that is from Scottish tradition and probably of late 17th century origin. It is also Child #100 and has been back and forth a few times since. A version also appears on the LP Child Ballads - Anaïs Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer (2013).

2014. Whither am I bound?

Time to think about festivals again. From experience I can tell you this - it doesn't get any easier. The title applies just as much to artists too.
The first ever Behind The Castle Festival, a one day mostly folk event in Sherborne, Dorset, on June 14 is a must. I shall, of course be attending End Of The Road 2014 but then that probably goes without saying. This is the start of the road.
I'm not a great believer in resolutions for the New Year but this time I decided upon a few. Some are more instantly commenced than others.  This is one that certainly is active immediate.
I shall listen to - and pay proper attention to - at least eight hours of music that is new (to me at least) each week. The investment will be in time, for there is no reason for this to cost much and it could be done entirely legally on-line. It's going quite well I must say but then many good intentions founder before the end of January. The fact that it has rained almost continually has helped and that January looks like it will be a very quiet month for me as regards going to see live music isn't going to be a hindrance either, although that would also count if it were new to me.
One can spend many happy hours trawling through profiles, reading reviews and listening to Soundcloud, Mixcloud and the like, as quite often I do and it costs nothing. On the other hand the likes of Amazing Radio can provide much that is just there and ready for the listening. The presenters have done the pre-filtering for you but, and this is important, not too much filtering. It is free, legal and available worldwide.
I am happy to tell you that, until about twenty minutes ago, I was quite unaware of Finnish accordion player Johanna Juhola. Here is that track and Amazing Radio was the reason that I got to hear it.

You might like Olivia Chaney too ---  yet another one to watch in 2014.