Like Big Man Ned Kelly Australian, Irish, English, Scottish & American folk songs.  Celebrating the lives and exploits of popular & legendary heroes has long been a preoccupation in culture & song everywhere. While cleric-anointed, state sanctioned national idols abound (and nobody is more celebrated than Saint George in England) it's the common folk heroes who oft best caught the imagination of the masses - those who stood up in the face of oppression while looking after their own. Often seen as champions & poor people's defenders, these icons belong to the commoners and everyday folks have long been sympathetic to them as is also evident in the popularity of outlaw movies & literature. Ever since domineering minority ' elites ' seized control of grain surpluses (ie. 8-10K years ago) and set us off on this journey that we call ' civilization ' entrenched military/security apparatus has been paramount in order to protect those elites' sur...

Outlaws and Drifters Steppin' just outside the law for this country rock mixtape. Big names from the popular OUTLAW COUNTRY  movement over the years. Primarily centred around Austin, Texas and around the south, artists also interacted back and forth with Nashville & Californian musicians to forge a distinctive sound all of their own. The outlaw sound is far grittier, ballsier and less polished than any of the productions coming out of Music City, certainly before the late 1970's. Elements of country fused with blues and rock n roll and a whole heap of attitude to create a much headier, vibsy, fun sound, a marked contrast to the highly tailored, commercial-respectable and melodically pure Nashville product. Artists like Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson had helped outline the outlaw genre from as early as the mid 1950's, defined it in the 1960's and popularised it in the mid 1970's alongside the likes of  David Allan Coe and Kris Kris...

ยืนยง โอภากุล Yuenyong Opakul aka แอ๊ด คาราบาว Aed Carabao - World Folk Zen 1991 A personal favourite from the early 90's, a revolutionary and critical period in modern Thai history and the dawn of what was perhaps the closest the country has come to anything like true democracy (1992-97). Rebel rocker superstars   Carabao   คาราบาว  played no small part in that with a whole series of protest-themed albums stretching right back to the early 80's (and then on well into the millennium). They played out a musical backdrop to events (and boots) on the ground during the deadly suppression of the Bangkok Uprising in 1992, releasing numerous songs and album projects during that critical early-90's period. Aed Carabao   แอ๊ด คาราบาว solo set listed under his nom de guerre YeunYong Opakul ยืนยง (Upright) โอภากุล with a little help from his friends.. Features US guitarist  Todd ThongDii   ทอดด์ ทองดี . Strident steel guitar sounds. Several harmonica-heavy tunes...

  Strike a Resilient Chord A fresh americana selection of songs old and new with a few celebrated UK artists joining a predominantly North American folk roster. Folk, country & bluegrass spiced up with a likkle contemporary reggae music and even a couple of hit avent-garde rock numbers. Resilience in times of trouble fortifies the mind and strengthens the spirit . Never give up hope.       ^^stream & download^^ TAP PLAY ONCE THEN TWICE to play here or tap building icon to enter the internet archives page & stream or d/l^^     Title inspired by a few of the track lyrics here. The long awaited album by Jamaican star  Chronixx  -  Exile  - finally dropped in 2025 to wide appreciation. Its a long and eclectic, often reflective collection of songs. Resilient is a long song in a league of its own. Stephen Marley 's most recent LP Old Soul (2024) is rooted semi-acoustic reggae with overall uplifting vibes as would be expected fro...

Stephen Stills - Blues Man Another one from the vaults... Charting the career of celebrated guitarist Stephen Stills . All the big tunes; from his early solo efforts and Buffalo Springfield days to CSN & CSNY superstardom and then through the Manassas period and solo years and  countless tours  to his essential comeback in the 2000's and a surprise project in 2017.     ^^stream & download^^ TAP PLAY ONCE THEN TWICE to play here or tap building icon to enter the internet archives page & stream or d/l^^   Texan Stephen Stills was always an exceptionally gifted singer-songwriter and guitarst and was responsible for some of the most striking music of the late 60's & early 70's. Buffalo Springfield formed with Richie Furay & a youthful  Neil Young in 1966 and had a major hit with the Stills' penned  For What its Worth that year. They'd finally split up by 1968 after releasing three albums. Stills went to to record sessions with ...

Blues Rocks! Here's a fun & eclectic blues rock mix, From Jimi Hendrix to Muddy Waters , Led Zeppelin to the Allman Brothers , Rory Gallagher to the Black Crowes  and the Rolling Stones to JJ Cale , Bert Jansch & John Renbourn among others. Blues rock sometimes veering towards rock n roll. Plenty of classics and a few surprises... Pure enjoyable musical amusement for y'all - good vibes for good times.   ^^stream & download^^ TAP PLAY ONCE THEN TWICE to play here or tap building icon to enter the internet archives page & stream or d/l^^       On a visit i n 1980 my father gifted me his old record collection, around 50 to 100 LPs, that he'd evidently put together from the late-60's to the mid-70's. Not seeing much of him again I never did ask why he offloaded it or if he thought a wee man of 11 would actually appreciate the music. Well it turns ot that he did. In there was a lot of bluesy rock from that time though I don't remember the conte...

I Dreamt an Ocean - Songs of the Sea Fantasy mingles with time-old reality in an expansive & epic dream of titanic proportions. An enduring voyage. Tales of leaving and staying, farewells, great journeys, adventure, mermaids, endurance, stormy seas and calm, survival, reflection and then a final acceptance that nature is greater than man. We are of this world born and so on it we do depend. Eclectic folk rock mixtape.   ^^stream & download^^ TAP PLAY ONCE THEN TWICE to play here or tap building icon to enter the internet archives page & stream or d/l^^   Cat Stevens makes a rare appearance on the blog with three 1970 tracks from Tea With the Tillerman . I've been asked why we seldom play Stevens, a goliath of the folk world. Now then, while we have dropped two or three songs before I personally always found Steven's approach often a little bit too clean & precise for my taste (a bit too straight - the opposite of Jansch, for example). The sheer quality ...

Guy Clark Tribute   Celebrating the music of an original outlaw, the legendary Guy Clark  with an all-star mixtape. Bringing together various originals, live versions and covers along with a load of other folky Americana stuff. One for chillin' to.     ^^stream & download^^ TAP PLAY ONCE THEN TWICE to play here or tap building icon to enter the internet archives page & stream or d/l^^ Texan  Americana trailblazer  Guy Clark  first came to prominance in the mid-1970's with the release of his superb first two albums recorded in  Nashville . While his LPs were well received Clark was initially regarded primarily as a songwriter and remained very much an underground name until he enjoyed a strong rennaisance in later decades. S everal of his compositions were high profile hits for big name artists over the years.  Known for his relaxed, stripped-down approach to a playing and a distinctive spoken Texas drawl, he was an excellent songsmit...