by Jonathan Frahm • • Comments Off on Interview | FFS 5 with Paula Standing
Paula Standing describes her new LP, The More I Give, as “a brief history of me.” Cut from the same tapestry as the likes of Dar Williams or Shawn Colvin, Standing’s folk is blended with subtle pop sensibilities and a…
by Erika Severyns • • Comments Off on Interview | Hanging out with Denise Dombrowski
Denise Dombrowski is an unsung hero. Throughout my conversations with singer-songwriters in the Berlin folk scene, the name of the violinist kept cropping up, together with the harmonica player Sebastian Hoch. Somehow, the two instrumentalists seemed to be ubiquitous –…
by Jonathan Frahm • • Comments Off on Interview | FFS 5 with Crossroad Saints’ Daryl Venable
They’re based in Indiana, but their music is decidedly Southern Rock. The Crossroad Saints are purveyors of hearty roots rock meant for long hauls out on the highway. It recalls the Muscle Shoals sound with some Capricorn thrown in for…
by Jonathan Frahm • • Comments Off on Interview | FFS 5 with George Gritzbach
George Gritzbach is an old-school cool. Inspired by vintage R&B greats and having grown up amidst blue-collar grit, Gritzbach translates a hard-earned life into soulful, powerful music. His latest release is Full Circle, invoking his forward-moving style as a frontman…
by Jonathan Frahm • • Comments Off on Interview | FFS 5 with Plain Mister Smith
Mark Jowett is Plain Mister Smith. A purveyor of the consummately offbeat, Jowett’s “Smith” project has enabled him to develop no-holds-barred indie pop. Replete with crunching guitar tones, dithering percussion, and a collection of captivating vocal structures, ‘The Rat’ is…
by Jonathan Frahm • • Comments Off on Interview | FFS 5 with Ben Stalets
Ben Stalets has seen his songwriting renaissance with Everybody’s Laughing. The album, due 27 August, was based less around a sound and more around a saying: “Collective suffering allows us to collectively suffer less.” It finds beauty both in irreverence,…
by Erika Severyns • • Comments Off on Interview | Cameron Laing and the Birth of the Most Popular Folk Studio in Berlin
“You have to speak to Cameron,” James Michael Rodgers told me after I interviewed him months ago. “He’s got all the great stories. And you need to see The Famous Gold Watch – the building used to house the Stasi…
by Jonathan Frahm • • Comments Off on Interview | FFS 5 with Ad Vanderveen
Though born in Holland, Ad Vanderveen has Canadian parentage. It shows through in his musical influences—one can trace touches of Neil Young or Jackson Browne in the strum of Vanderveen’s guitar, or in his earnest croon. He’s got a rich…
by Jonathan Frahm • • Comments Off on Interview | FFS 5 with Van Plating
In 2019, Van Plating returned from a nine-year musical hiatus with her self-titled LP. Influenced by folk traditions and contemporary Americana alike, she wasn’t quite sure how her return would be received—both due to the length of time she’d spent…
by Jonathan Frahm • • Comments Off on Interview | FFS 5 with The Rose Petals
Peter Donovan and Elijah Ocean have been meshing minds since 2008. Bonding over Dylan and the Beatles, they were quick friends and collaborators. Their songwriting efforts were less Lennon/McCartney and more McGuinn, making roomy, rootsy guitar-pop. Eventually, this led way…