Live music feature for this weekend: Joe Crookston is sold out for tonight, but is helping launch a brand new folk series called River Folk.  River Folk is presented by Jill’s Kitchen, Calkins Creamery, Beach Lake Bread & WJFF.  See   http://www.jillskitchen.com/riverfolk/index.php   for upcoming shows.  February 6th 2008 is David Roth.   

And here to bring in our new year is David Roth. Consider calling to make a reservation for Febrary to catch David before that show is sold out. 
Following David is another cut about the new year, and two on resolutions before addressing some bests and favorites by folk djs for 2008.

1. David Roth - This is the Year 255  - Nights at the Chez - www.davidrothmusic.com/

2. Herdman, Hills and Mangsen - Turning of the Year 453 - Turning of the Year - Hand and Heart Music

3. Artisan - Kicking the habit 336 - Our Back Yard - http://www.bedspringmusic.co.uk/albums.html

4. Linkin Park - Breaking the Habit 316 - Meteora - Warner Brothers

7: Red Molly -   Summertime 237
Love And Other Tragedies,  [Self, 5/08] (380)

8 Joan Baez - God Is God 330
Day After Tomorrow,  Razor And Tie, 9/08] (323)

9: Joel Mabus - Naked Truth 439
Retold  [Fossil, 1/08] (313)

Still Crooked Crooked Still [Signature, 6/08] (311)  "Tell Her To Come Back Home" dont own this
   

10. Kathy Mattea -(Phillips) Green Rolling Hills 347
Coal,"  [Captain Potato, 4/08] (302)

13: Tim Grimm - Or Bust 256
Holding Up The World,"  [Vault, 5/08] (278)

15: Robin And Linda Williams - Maybelle's Guitar And Monroe's Mandolin 330
Buena Vista,"  [Red House, 9/08] (265)

   
"Chameleon," Tim O'Brien [Obus, 3/08] (264)  "Get Out There And Dance" Dont own    

16: The Refugees - Unbound 409
Unbound -  [Wabuho, 7/08] (261)
  

17. Carrie Newcomer - One Woman And A Shovel 320There Is A Tree
The Geography Of Light  - [Philo, 2/08] (259)


18. Kitty Donohoe - When I was the Queen 437  Northern Border - Roheen Records

19  Greg Greenway - Lately The Church of What is 334 - Standing o n the Side of Love - greggreenway.com

20. Kallet, Epsein, Cicone - Sally Free and Easy - HeartWalk -

21. Enoch Kent - Supper is Na Ready 35 - One More Round - Borealis

22. Lowen & Navarro - U Still Belive 330 - Learning to Fall - Lownav.com

23. Magpie - Wash Our Spirits Clean - In This world - Sliced Bread

 Rich Warren is host of The Midnight Special & Folkstage Chicago Illinois.
www.midnightspecial.org    at 98.7 FM WFMT Radio (syndicated / XM15)  Here is his full list and reasoning.

I refrain from calling these "The Best of 2008" because the following list is but one listener's biased opinion. I have culled these from the many good recordings that crossed my CD player this year. I'm sure I forgot to include a few notable recordings. All told, I estimate The Midnight Special received at least 800 new recordings, and I listened, however briefly, to about 400 new recordings, of which about 200 made it into the WFMT library, and about 150 received airplay. I do not include reissues and most compilations among these favorites. As the cut-off date is November 15, some of the newest recordings will not be considered until next year.

Maybe I am becoming jaded or maybe just overwhelmed by mediocrity. There are ten favorites this year. There was good music, but only these grabbed me. While I thought about these choices long and hard for several weeks, if not most of the year, had I made the list a day earlier or a day later it might have been slightly different.

If a good friend visited from out-of-town with only an hour or two to spare, and asked me to play my favorites from 2008, I would play the following. Actually, I have purchased quantities of several of them to give to friends for the holidays. Listed below alphabetically.


Susie Burke & David Surette:  When the Small Birds Sweetly Sing
(Madrina MM104) www.burkesurette.com
An absolutely charming, highly melodic CD from two people who lovingly perform the songs of others rather than writing their own. They've made wonderful choices from the likes of Pierce Pettis, Mark Simos, Pete Sutherland, Jean Ritchie, Pat Donohue, Elmer Beal, and even Stephen Sondheim. The instrumentation and production of this CD is as perfect as it gets. I'd buy this CD just for Burke & Surette's performance of Pat Donohoe's "All My Life." They only issue a new recording about once every seven or eight years, so the enjoy the luxury of making it perfect.

Joe Crookston:  Able Baker Charlie & Dog (Milagrito JBJO 78) www.joecrookston.com
Crookston is a weirdly eclectic songwriter and his songs vary widely. They range from inebriated roosters to the building of the runways on Tinian Island in the Pacific for the Enola Gay (which is the title song, the alpha designations for those runways). Crookston's pleasing voice and ample, but appropriate production supports his songs well. Although very simple, "Bird By Bird" is a song that's hard to get out of your head. It took awhile for this album to grow on me, but once I accepted its diversity and unusual topics I realized its greatness.

Kitty Donohoe: Northern Border (Roheen RR007) www.kittydonohoe.com
Donohoe only records a new album about once every seven years. (More singer-songwriters should follow her lead.) So she whittles it down to her best songs carefully honed. This CD shows impressive attention to detail highlighting memorable songs. Her Irish roots imbue the CD with a strong Celtic flavor aided and abetted by rich acoustic production. She's one of the rare songwriters who composes truly sticky melodies. This is her first CD to include "There Are No Words," perhaps the best song drawn from the tragedy of September 11, 2001.

Greg Greenway: Standing on the Side of Love (Face SOH 005) www.greggreenway.com
There's no defining Greenway, he's all over the map in context and style. He's a bit of Jacques Brel, Phil Ochs, and Ray Charles. He also knows how to compose great melodies and complex lyrics to weave into them. He's at home on guitar and piano. The production varies from loud to intimate, but the quality never wavers. His song for his mother "The Weight of Feathers" is worth the entire CD.

Cindy Kallet - Ellen Epstein - Michael Cicone: Heart Walk  (Overall Music OM-3) www.cindykallet.com
Heart Walk is the fruit of the tree of friendship. These longtime friends unite about once a decade to record a CD. Their personal styles widely vary, but when they come together it's a match made in heaven. About half the CD consists of original songs, which are very good and the other half their favorites by other writers. The performance style varies from a cappella harmonies to simple acoustic instrumentation. It's an amazing CD.

Enoch Kent: One More Round (Borealis BCD190) (www.enochkent.ca)
If you like traditional music, Kent is your man. Raised in Scotland, resident in Canada, the music runs in his blood. I consider him the best traditional interpreter since Ewan MacColl and those are mighty words of praise considering my worship of MacColl. Of course, Kent sneaks in a few originals and a few by other traditional sounding writers, just as MacColl did. His assured voice and absolute love of the music affirm the timelessness of traditional music. And his own closing song, "Crematorium Song" shows his droll sense of humor.

Lowen & Navarro with Phil Parlapiano: Learning to Fall  (Red Hen EGG 6) www.lownav.com
This poignant CD could be the duo's last after a long and impressive career together. Many of the songs reflect upon or are colored by Eric Lowen's debilitating fatal illness, but none are bathetic or maudlin. While I normally don't choose a "pop" oriented CD as a favorite, this one is so well produced with such strong songs I could not resist. Since Eric no longer plays guitar, talented Parlapiano fills in admirably on a variety of instruments and back-up vocals. This CD richly flows out of the speakers with songs that make you think about life. And you can hum them while doing that thinking.

Magpie:  In This World: Looking Back, Moving Forward  (Sliced Bread CDSB75315) www.magpiemusic.com
There's always an exception to the rule. While compilations and collections rarely are favorites, this one is so radiant and phenomenal that I have to include it. Greg Artzner and Terry Leonino, who are Magpie, celebrated 35 years of making music together by recording this CD of 16 of their favorite songs from the past 35 years. These are fresh takes, recorded in 2008, of songs they truly love. These performances always match and usually exceed the original recordings. There's a new depth, maturity and inner radiance found in each song. It is a mixture of originals and covers, the latter extremely well chosen. Their originals "Before the Morning" and "Give Light" along with Rachel Bissex's "One Another" and Phil Ochs' "When I'm Gone," are worth twice the price of this CD. (This is a different version of "When I'm Gone" than the closing theme of The Midnight Special.") The instrumentation and its musicianship, harmonies, and of course songs, make this an outstanding recording.

Kathy Mattea:  Coal  (Captain Potato 7653260-2) www.mattea.com
One of the most gorgeous voices in Nashville put her successful country-folk career on hold to record this CD of conscience and passion. She was raised in coal country and felt the need to give back by making people aware of the struggle and strife through the 11 songs on this CD. Normally coal mining songs are performed by artists with more heart than voice. Mattea sings these songs with heart and voice, making them more accessible to a broader audience. She's chosen some of the best songs of the genre including Jean Ritchie, Utah Phillips, Billy Edd Wheeler, Si Kahn and Hazel Dickens. Mattea is accompanied by some of the best studio musicians in the trade. This is not casual listening, but it is beautiful.

Carrie Newcomer: The Geography of Light (Philo 11671-1253-2)  www.carrienewcomer.com
Newcomer is philosopher, sage, mystic and poet with an alto voice that I would follow to the ends of the earth. She also finally reached the perfect balance of accompaniment/production with her voice. The thoroughly engrossing songs require several listening to see all the light (and dark) within them. Newcomer improves with every CD and her poetry grows more complex and luminous. Or perhaps it's her voice that grows more complex and luminous. There's also a postscript on this CD is her hilarious and timely "Don't Push Send."   

Here are some honorable mentions, which, if you caught me on a different day, might have made this list:
Debra Cowan: Fond Desire Farewell (Falling Mountain FM1054 (www.debracowan.com)

Randall Williams: Praying for Land (Musafir 06) www.whereisrandall.com
(Just a  note on this one: Incredible voice, outstanding songs, dreadful production.)
Tom May: Blue Roads Red Wine (Waterbug WBG80) (www.tommayfolk.com)

Various"The Imagined Village" (Real World). Electrifying reinventions of
British folk classics, with an intriguing, divergent cast, including Billy Bragg,
Martin and Eliza Carthy, Simon Emmerson, Tunng, Sheila Chandra, and Benjamin
Zephaniah.

Rosalie Sorrels "Strangers In Another Country" (Red House). Raw, tender,
wise, and wounded, Sorrels creates an intimate musical wake for
songwriter-raconteur Utah Phillips, whose legend she did so much to create.

Malinky "Flower & Iron" (Mad River). This young Scottish quintet may be the
best ballad band in the Celtic realm. Their sound is as primal as Highland
moors in March, as seductive as a first kiss.

Various "Red House 25" (Red House). The superbly realized retrospective
tracks the modern songwriter movement from Greg Brown's Grant Wood naturalism and
John Gorka's romantic realism, Meg Hutchinson's intimate impressionism to the
primitive neotrad landscapes of the Pines.

Tony Rice "Night Flyer: the Singer-Songwriter Collection" (Rounder). The
bluegrass guitar god's earthy, spacious, and propulsive vocal style is finally
given its due. Find out why this old picker is Alison Krauss's favorite singer.

Jonatha Brooke "The Works" (Bad Dog). Woody Guthrie's lyrics find urbane new
voice within Brooke's sleek, winking alt-pop. If the Dust Bowl troubadour had
matriculated at Amherst, he'd sound just like this.