I noticed in another thread that some of us have non-mainstream music tastes. I'm a music nerd myself, and thought we could share our favorites here. I gonna include links where possible. The Poxy Boggards: Very NSFW, Bawdy and Drinking songs. I've seen them perform and they are hilarious! The Merry Wives of Windsor: Some NSFW, Also great live! The Belles of Bedlam: Mostly NSFW, ribald and just plain naughty. Alexander James Adams, Heather Alexander, Uffington Horse, Pheonyx: This one requires a bit of explanation. I first saw Heather Alexander perform in an after-hours party at the Northern LHC Renaissance Pleasure Faire in the "Black Point" forest north of San Fransisco, in 1988. She was with her Rock/Folk band Pheonyx at the time, they were just wonderful, and I spent money I shouldn't have spent to buy their CD "Keepers of the Flame." I played that CD to death. Many years later I heard through the grapevine that Heather would be performing at a local bookstore. She performed there many times and I drug anyone who I possibly could to her concerts. I even paid for their tickets a couple of times. She formed another Folk/Rock band called Uffington Horse, I am listening to their CD "Enchantment" right now. Then in 2006 she announced that she was going to stop performing, "The Fairies had been calling her name, and this time she would answer." She also announced that their would be an "Heir" to her music. A year later Alexander James Adams emerged. I got a chance to see him at the Oklahoma Ren. Faire. It took me hearing him perform one of her songs to realize the he had transitioned, I is stupid sometimes. Both of their music is mostly original tunes played in Celtic and Folk styles. I miss her and appreciate him. There are even a few CD's where he does duets with her. I can't recommend this music enough! Tricky Pixie: a trio consisting of, S.J. Tucker, Alexander James Adams, and Betsy Tinney. They describe their music as "Fairytale Celtic Folk Rock for Naughty Punk Faeries." Original music with Pagan influences. Good tunes! You can see some of their performances on YouTube. The Minstrels of Mayhem: It looks like they are gone, how sad. But you can still find some of their tunes on YouTube. They did classic and original tunes in a Celtic/Folk style. Emerald Rose: I is getting sad now, They are performing their last concert on Oct 8th. Thankfully their music is still available. Rocking Celtic tunes mostly original, with strong Pagan influences. I'm quite fond of "The Vampire Girl from Orn", and "Red Haired Mary". Leslie Fish: Occasionally NSFW. The gold standard of Filk artists. Many CD's, all good, if you are a Sci-Fi nerd. Aurelio Voltaire: Often NSFW. Gothic and Filk tunes, most of his music can be found on YouTube, and you can find links to them, by CD on his site. Mercedes Lackey: If you are a fan of her books you might not know that she has several CD's of music based on them available on her website. Bob Kanefsky: Alright, this one is very obscure, Bob writes parodies of Filk songs, and gets the original artists to sing them. His CD is called Roundworm, and I've added the link. So, I know I missed lots. What are your favorites? Any particular songs you like? Why? Let's chat....
Michael "Duke Moonwulf" Longcor, filk-and-folk singer from the SCA! Does songs about a really wide variety of stuff, from space travel, to the SCA, to settings of Kipling poems, to... I'm not even sure how to describe this. My family sings a setting of "Rimini" that's apparently by him, but I've never managed to find any evidence that he recorded it; I really wish I could find a recording of it by him. and seconding the happyflailing about AJA and Fish and Voltaire!
http://littlepinkbeast.tumblr.com/post/151441919631/words-by-rudyard-kipling-tune-by-michael-duke Decided to record myself singing his tune for Rimini, since there don't seem to be recordings of it and it needs to not be lost.
not sure if this also might go here? Instrumental, harp with accompaniment Sylvia Woods, The Harper's Vision from The Harp of Brandiswhiere
I think I've got a few more that fit here. Mary Crowell: Good tunes! Quite a few gaming songs. I'm quite fond of "I Put My Low Stat," and anyone who has played any "Planescape" based game might like "City of Doors." Lindsey Stirling: She's becoming a bit more mainstream, but I will include her here anyway. She plays electric violin and dances. Two of my favorites by her are: "Shatter Me" and "Roundtable Revival" Steam Powered Giraffe: One of my son's favorites. They are hard to describe, but worth checking out. Especially if you are into the steampunk genre . More as I think of them...
A lot of my favorites have already been listed, but I will add: Kate Rusby - Good tunes and a gorgeous voice, lots of traditional stuff (I found my way to her via I Am Stretched On Your Grave) and more modern songs (like Radio Sweethearts) Heather Dale - Another lovely voice, not sure how much of her work is traditional-traditional, but she sings a whole lot about old-timey things, especially Arthurian legend, as well as covering things like Sedna (Inuit myth) and The Greyhound (a shanty-type thing) Joan Baez - She's a pretty big name, but I never heard about her until I tripped across her stuff while digging for child ballads, so hey! She has a divine voice, and has sung an insane amount of stuff over the years (The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, about the civil war, is one of my favorites) And not an artist, but an album: Rogues Gallery. It's a collection of sea shanties by a bunch of different artists (including John C. Reilly, the obvious choice for an artist to perform on an album like this, natch. Though I can't lie, My Son John is one of my favorite songs on the whole thing)
Peatbog Faeries. Lovely little Celtic folk fusion band from Scotland. In particular they like mixing it with jazz and electronica in my experience!
