Music from the bones: old time folk raaaaawks

Today Risa, Erik and James came over for a little jammy jam. In the last week we’ve played two folk traditionals from Great Britain - “Ca’ the Yowes,” a Robbie Burns tune, and a traditional Welsh carol/lullaby “All Through the Night.” Both these songs are traditionals I’ve grown up singing in choirs. And the last few days of humming these folk tunes has got me thinking up a new project: a traditional World-folk Christmas Carol revival.

Because I’ve been singing in choirs my whole life, I know about 40-hours worth of Christmas repertoire from across the world - Portuguese carols, Hungarian carols, Medieval Anglo-Saxon carols, Haitian carols, you name it. And we’re not talking no Jingle Bells (although I would never dare diss Jingle Bells). Some of these tunes are unspeakably beautiful - haunting, ethereal and warming melodies that express the essence of this magical holiday. They date from times when Christianity was inseparable from people’s daily lives, and from places where life was way more brutish and short as it is now.4630

At the risk of stating the obvious, old-time folk music is aaaawesome. It is so easy to play, because it comes from a universal place. James stopped at one point this afternoon as he was playing and remarked, “I don’t even know where I’m getting this from.” This kind of music gets in your bones. Kinda like Christmas music.

So. Stay tuned for the Christmas Folk-Carol Revival show.