folk music

Letters to The Hobbledehoy, Thanksgiving 2025

by

Cynthia writes:

I stumbled upon The Hobbledehoy while looking up Cliff Edwards on the internet to learn more about him. I’d spent several hours on YouTube listening to his recordings as I have done periodically over the last years, as I fell in love with Jiminey Cricket’s voice as a child. Then I found your website and saw your I Stand with Ukraine flag; Richard Thompson’s music; a repost of Heather Cox Richardson’s post; and knew I’d found a kindred spirit out in the ether. My heart is lifted. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Hi Cynthia!
I’m glad that you stumbled upon The Hobbledehoy, and thank you for your kind words about the website.
I, too, was introduced to the talents of Cliff “Ukelele Ike” Edwards through his iconic performance voicing “Jiminy Cricket” in Disney’s 1940 film Pinocchio. I grew to love Cliff’s distinctive voice and ukulele on tunes like “Singing In the Rain”(recorded for a film by Cliff in 1929, over twenty years before Gene Kelley’s version), “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” and of course, Cliff’s “Jada” – one of the first big hits of the jazz age

Glad to have lifted your heart!

For fellow hobbledehoy that missed it, here’s a link to my piece:
Give a little whistle: The life and sad death of Cliff Edwards, voice of Disney’s Jiminy Cricket

Monte writes:

Hi Mike, Forgive me if I’m barking up the wrong tree here, but I’m trying to contact Oliver Kornetzky (sic) to seek approval for the use of an article he wrote about his return to his hometown in Wisconsin. I have recently done a road trip through the red states of the US and am currently editing the resulting book, and would love to republish the work in full therein, since it is the most articulate explanation of America’s degradation at a human level as I have encountered. Please advise if this is acceptable, and if you wish to see the relevant chapter to view its inclusion. Warm regards, Monte

Hi Monte!
Thank you for your letter and best of luck with your upcoming book.
Unfortunately, I do not have any contact information for Oliver Kornetzke.
Kornetzke’s post remains one of The Hobbledehoy’s most viewed. There is growing suspicion online that Oliver Kornetzke is actually an AI creation. If true, that’s one AI that I would welcome to my Thanksgiving dinner table.

Felipe (again)writes:

I’m writing to you because many women between 25 and 40 are actively seeking solutions to improve their quality of life. If this is a topic that resonates with your audience, this information is for you
•••• is a unique, natural formula that delivers concrete results.

It’s specifically designed to help women achieve:
Increase desire and sexual response.
A real boost in day-to-day vitality. Improve comfort and natural lubrication.

Hello again Felipe!

Your product sounds wonderful! Tell me – can I also use your product for the purpose of home insulation? I have several old windows that allow drafts into the house, and New England winters can be brutal! Please let us know asap, as Hobbeldehoy subscribers will surely also benefit from this information!

Letters to The Hobbledehoy, October 2025

by

Kathy writes:

For Oliver Kornetzke ~ EVERYONE IS Equally Important, Beautiful And Sinful. We are Also ALL Equally And Uniquely LOVED BY GOD. THANK GOD for our President, Melania and Barron. Whoever thinks that they are better than someone else ~ Luke 18 NLT ~ Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector … We’re equal sinners, but in our own ways.

Hi Kathy!
Thanks for visiting The Hobbledehoy. The post by Oliver Kornetzke remains one of The Hobbledehoy’s most viewed. I do agree with you that we are all sinners. I’m not so sure about your “equal sinners” idea, however. Also, it’s curious that you thank God for Trump’s son, Barron, without mentioning Trump’s older sons, Beavis and Buthead. I’m informed by The Google that Trump also has two daughters, both blonde. So you probably should thank God for these siblings as well.

Howard writes:

Just read your comments about Rex Allen. [Cowboy singer Rex Allen and the Carousel of Progress]
First, I live in Tucson and did not know how Rex Allen died. Truly sad Wish I knew he was around. I would have reached out to him when he was alive. Second is “Carousel of Progress’” I remember it very well. First, as the General Electric. exhibit at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. “It’s a Great Big Wonderful Tomorrow” was magic as it played as the transition between the “ scenes” of GE’s technological progress. The show moved to Disneyland and, I think, Disney World. GE eventually dropped the sponsorship, but Disney continued to run it. They had to update the show as “tomorrow’s technology” became yesterday’s technology. If you didn’t know, the “carousel” in the show was the audience moving around the different scenes. In the 1970’s I had the opportunity to work with Marty Sklar, the first head of Disney Imagineering on EPCOT’s Land Pavilion. I realized then that so much of the honest, kind, warm culture expressed in so many of Disney’s “show” were a reflection of Marty’s world view. He was a gem.

Hi Howard!
Thank you for your letter. Like you, I love Rex Allen’s work, as you may have guessed from my article. Though I’ve traveled all around the world, I’m one of the few Americans who has never once been to Disney! I just turned 68 years old. Do you think it’s too late for me?

Steven writes:

I love your blog! Are you from Scotland or Wales, by chance? I’m from Pennsylvania originally, but have lived in Spain, Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico and am now in God-Forsaken Florida!

Hi Steven!

I live in Rhode Island – the smallest state in the USA. Yes, my people originated from Scotland, Ireland and Wales on my Dad’s side, Ireland and Germany on my mom’s side. My Welsh great-aunt Theresa once told me our ancestry goes back to the Pirate Morgan! I’m a huge fan of several Welsh folk performers currently making music: Katell Keineg, Gwenifer Raymond, and Cerys Hafana, especially.

As for “God-forsaken” Florida – I have no real desire to visit there. I do like their orange juice, however.

You are a well-traveled soul, Steven. Good for you! Check out this article written by travel authority Rick Steves, Britain’s Pub Hub. We’ve been in Rick’s company many times and enthusiastically recommend his tours. Here’s Rick’s advice for seniors traveling in Europe

Felipe writes:

I’m writing to you because many women between 25 and 40 are actively seeking solutions to improve their quality of life. If this is a topic that resonates with your audience, this information is for you
•••• is a unique, natural formula that delivers concrete results.

It’s specifically designed to help women achieve:
Increase desire and sexual response.
A real boost in day-to-day vitality. Improve comfort and natural lubrication.

Hi Felipe!

Your product sounds wonderful! Tell me – can I also use your product for the purpose of home insulation? I have several old windows that allow drafts into the house, and New England winters can be brutal! Please let us know asap, as Hobbeldehoy subscribers will surely also benefit from this information!

Review: Lost Crowns’ “The Heart is in the Body”

by

Six years in the making, Lost Crowns’ second album is a stunning feat of complex composition that takes their dark folk sound into bold new territory, finds Sean Kitching

By Sean Kitching

Following a pandemic-era Zoom call in which several traditional British folk musicians attempted to play together but fell out of sync, Lost Crowns main man Richard Larcombe was supposedly inspired to pick up instruments he’d never played before – fiddle, harp, tin whistle, concertina and English border bagpipe. The resulting recording stakes a serious claim to being the most exciting, most advanced music of its kind. The caveat being that there are few other artists who have even attempted to sound like this – and some listeners might well consider the entire enterprise a kind of monstrous folly to begin with.

 

The eight songs contained within this album are not entirely without precedent. One might consider Lost Crowns to be akin to a wilder Gentle Giant, had they been inspired by Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern and Conlon Nancarrow, instead of medieval and baroque chamber music. The work of the Henry Cow and Art Bears-inspired American Rock In Opposition groups Thinking Plague and 5uus are also obvious touchpoints, although Lost Crowns use of the darker kind of English folk exemplified by Comus, as well as a propensity for undeniably earworm-worthy riffs and vocal melodies, mark them apart from those bands. Undoubtedly, they will have crossover appeal for Cardiacs fans too, though it’s harder to draw any direct comparison there, with Tim Smith having always had an ear for a certain kind of psychedelic pop. This music will not be for everyone. Accusations of being wilfully difficult or overly composed are often fielded at such music (and are not entirely without foundation).

A friend who I played this to (whose work I am also very fond of) told me that he felt that the main problem with overly composed music is often “unmotivated dissonance” and opined that he’d rather have “a pretty melody grounded in a necessary harmony.” Certainly, there are such bands who would incline me to agree with this assessment, far more so than when considering Lost Crowns. There’s a fine line between originality and simply being wilfully awkward, but equally a ‘pretty melody’ will not be exactly the same for all sets of ears. There is too, the kind of ugly beauty exemplified by Troutmask Replica, which perhaps sidesteps the issue of being too academic in its construction by virtue of its radically ‘primitive’ compositional technique – an untrained composer creating on an unfamiliar instrument. Lost Crowns tread this fine line with aplomb, and the symphonically rendered chaos of their tightly scripted tunes transcends being simply intellectually interesting with a visceral dynamism usually absent from such complex music.

Three of the best tracks on The Heart is in the Body, ‘She Didn’t Want,’ ‘Et Tu Brute’ and ‘Did Look A Fool’, are almost insanely compelling and offer unique delights I’ve honestly yet to find elsewhere. That two of those tracks were among the earliest recorded for the album perhaps hints at a future problem of the band’s own making. After taking this sound as far as they have done on this release, one wonders where there is left for them to go next. Wherever that may be, put me down for a ticket.

Source: Lost Crowns – The Heart is in the Body | The Quietus

Review: Oysterband / June Tabor, Bristol Beacon – ‘A hell of a goodbye”

by
photo Matt Congdon

It’s a magical last show from the band that are taking a long, long time to retire

By Gavin McNamara

After 45 years of touring, folk-rockers Oysterband have decided that the time is right to retire. They are, of course, taking a long, long time to say goodbye with a huge tour that spills well into 2025 – and they’re bringing along a special guest too.

The three albums that they have made with June Tabor are absolute cult classics, Tabor adding her depth, her gravitas, her subtleties to a band always best experienced live.

And so it is this evening, on a night of saying goodbye to Oysterband, June Tabor steals the show.

As soon as she steps, haltingly, on to the stage, Tabor is the focal point. On Mississippi Summer the harsh, dust choked fields are evoked with ease, Tabor exuding desperation and defiance as Ian Telfer’s fiddle flickers around her.

That fiddle seems to course through Tabor, sending jolts of energy into her frame: she grows as it plays, becoming an utterly commanding presence. It is, as she says, “one hell of a song”.

There are times when she spits out lyrics, unable to contain the fury that seethes within. On Bonny Bunch of Roses, taken from the classic album Ragged Kingdom, there’s disdain and an almost unspeakable power to her.

She may not move much but when you have a voice that can convey love and hate, joy and dismay in the way that she can, who cares? All the while Oysterband creates a huge storm around her, Sean Randle’s drums the prelude to a deluge.

It speaks volumes that, on their own farewell tour, there are moments when Oysterband leave Tabor on stage to sing solo. Les Baker’s Roseville Fair is entirely unaccompanied, darkly humorous and show-stopping, the story delivered with a wink and a sly grin. Hills of Shiloh, simply performed with Alan Prosser’s acoustic guitar, is heartbreaking, a remembrance of war soaked in emotion.

Perhaps, though, it is when everyone is on stage that the power of these seven brilliant musicians is felt most strongly. Susie Clelland sees the boys in the band massing around Tabor, their voices buoying her up along with some foot-tapping folk-rock.

Trad favourite, John Barleycorn, is muscular, driven by Telfer’s fluid fiddle. Sweet Sixteen is a capella, seven voices swelling, warming, enveloping. It is glorious.

There are contemporary(ish) cover versions too. All Tomorrow’s Parties sees fiddle and cello buzzing and thrumming around Tabor’s skeletal take on the Velvet’s classic. An encore of Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit is suitably psychedelic, as forgotten words fall down a swirling rabbit-hole.

It’s Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart that is nothing short of remarkable though. In the hands of June Tabor and Oysterband’s singer, John Jones, it becomes the ultimate lovegonewrong song. It’s even more creepy, even darker, even more restrained than the original and all the better for it.

Tabor, occasionally, takes a break and when she does Oysterband are left to say goodbye in their own way. Where the World Divides, River Runs and Roll Away are wonderfully solid folk stompers, choral harmonies and a beautiful interplay between fiddle and cello effortlessly inspiring grins and handclaps.

Jones’ voice is strong, only wavering when, every now and again, the emotions of farewell get too much. For All That Way For This, the six range across the stage, shuffling drums and mandolin showing that Oysterband are capable of fun as well as heart-string tugging.

By the time Put Out the Lights rolls ‘round there are people in the packed Beacon with tears streaming down their faces. Not only will this be the last time we get to see Oysterband on a Bristol stage but, between Jones and Tabor, every emotion has been comprehensively wrung from every person in the place.

It was a hell of a way to say goodbye.

 

Source: Review: Oysterband / June Tabor, Bristol Beacon – ‘A hell of a goodbye”