A girl upon the shore did ask a favour of the sea;
"Return my blue eyed sailor boy safely back to me.
Forgive me if I ask too much, I will not ask for more,
but I shall weep until he sleeps safe upon the shore."

For nearly 20 years, Newfoundland group Great Big Sea have been creating acoustic Celtic folk-rock covers and interpretations of traditional Newfoundland and Labrador sea shanties, folk, fishing and party songs, which draw from the island's rich 500-year-old multicultural (Irish, English, Scottish and French) heritage. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Aug 23, 2012 - 49 comments

NPR: "Folklorist Alan Lomax spent his career documenting folk music traditions from around the world." Now, nearly ten years after his death, thousands of the songs and interviews he recorded are available for free online, many for the first time. "It's part of what Lomax envisioned for [his] collection — long before the age of the Internet." (Mr. Lomax, Previously on MeFi) [more inside]
posted by zarq on Mar 28, 2012 - 27 comments

The Cranberries: NPR Tiny Desk Concert [more inside]
posted by zarq on Feb 23, 2012 - 30 comments

Full Utah Phillips concert from 2007: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. If you don't know who Utah Phillips is, be prepared to meet one of the great performers of our age, telling funny stories and cracking jokes, singing great songs, and generally being a world treasure. If you want to know more about this great singer, songwriter, and peace and labor activist, you can watch an hour long documentary on him from Democracy Now that was made after he passed away in 2008. [previously]
posted by Kattullus on Dec 15, 2010 - 26 comments

John Prine Live in 1980 on youtube--with interspersed interviews from around his hometown: in his 1951 Ford Custom Club Coupe (Automobile), down by the train tracks (Bruised Orange) on the porch ( How Lucky) and at the Scene of the Crime (The Accident). Previously [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue on Nov 16, 2008 - 13 comments

My name's not Brian! Ryan Adams gives a fan a refund and asks him to leave a concert when said fan asks him to play "Summer of '69". Have you ever been to a concert where the performer lost it at the audience? I guess even folk rockers can be divas...
posted by PenDevil on Oct 17, 2002 - 119 comments