I’ve placed special notations on a list of artists performing at this week’s Folk Alliance International Conference in Kansas City. The music made by the likes of Sandy Denny, Roy Harper and June Tabor is my favorite form of folk. Everyone with an official showcase at the conference working in that vein received a gold star.
Reverent of tradition yet constitutionally peculiar, those musicians created something new yet timeless five decades ago. Naturally, I’m partial to the musicians who follow in their unconventional footsteps. While she’s two generations younger and from the Americas rather than Britain, Meg Baird builds on that legacy.
Her new album Furling is utterly enchanting. The plaintive psychedelia of "Ashes, Ashes" and the wistful grooviness of "Will You Follow Me Home?" are worthy of Fairport Convention and Pentangle. Baird won’t be in Kansas City, but I’ll be on the prowl for equally entrancing sounds this week.