"Folk Songs" with Kronos Quartet and Singers Sam Amidon, Olivia Chaney, Rhiannon Giddens, Natalie Merchant Out Now on Nonesuch

Browse by:
Year
Browse by:
Publish date (field_publish_date)
Submitted by nonesuch on
Article Type
Publish date
Excerpt

Folk Songs, a new album joining Kronos Quartet with Nonesuch Records labelmates Sam Amidon, Olivia Chaney, Rhiannon Giddens, and Natalie Merchant is out now. The artists on the album first came together to perform these songs, most of which are traditional with contemporary arrangements, when Nonesuch celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014 with festivals at the Barbican Centre and Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). The group later recorded the songs with Doug Petty as the album's producer. You can take a quick look at the project in an album trailer here.

Copy

Folk Songs, a new album joining Kronos Quartet with four Nonesuch Records labelmates—Sam Amidon, Olivia Chaney, Rhiannon Giddens, and Natalie Merchant—is out now. You can take a quick look at the album below, and pick up a copy on iTunes, Amazon, and the Nonesuch Store, where CD and vinyl orders include a download of the complete album at checkout. The album can also be heard on Apple Music and Spotify.

The artists on the album first came together to perform these songs, most of which are traditional with contemporary arrangements, when Nonesuch Records celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014 with festivals at London's Barbican Centre and New York's Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). The group later recorded the songs with Doug Petty as the album's producer.

For more than 40 years, San Francisco's Kronos Quartet—David Harrington and John Sherba (violins), Hank Dutt (viola), and Sunny Yang (cello)—has combined a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to continually re-imagine the string quartet experience. In the process, Kronos has become one of the world's most celebrated and influential ensembles, performing thousands of concerts, releasing more than sixty recordings, collaborating with many of the world's most eclectic composers and performers, and commissioning more than 900 works and arrangements for string quartet. Kronos is the recipient of more than 40 awards, including the Polar Music Prize and the Avery Fisher Prize. Last season, a five-year initiative, Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire, began commissioning new works designed to train students and emerging professionals; the pieces are distributed online for free. Kronos has had a close relationship with Nonesuch since 1985, when the group recorded Philip Glass' soundtrack to Mishima. Nonesuch has since released forty-seven albums by Kronos, including Pieces of Africa (1992), a showcase of African-born composers; Nuevo (2002), a celebration of Mexican culture; and the 2004 Grammy winner, Alban Berg's Lyric Suite, featuring Dawn Upshaw—as well as motion picture soundtracks such as Requiem for a Dream and albums dedicated to composers including Glass, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Henryk Gorecki, and Astor Piazzolla, among others.

Nonesuch released Sam Amidon's label debut, Bright Sunny South, in 2013, followed by Lily-O the next year. The Vermont-born and -raised, London-based Amidon is known for his reworking of traditional melodies into a new form. In addition to country ballads and shape-note hymns, his work features interpretations of traditional and contemporary songs. Previous solo albums include I See the Sign, But This Chicken Proved Falsehearted, and All Is Well. Amidon has also collaborated on performance pieces with Nico Muhly, toured as part of Thomas Bartlett's group Doveman, collaborated with Beth Orton, and embarked on a series of live shows with the guitarist Bill Frisell. His new album, The Following Mountain, was released on Nonesuch last month.

Classically-trained singer / pianist Olivia Chaney graduated from England's Royal Academy of Music before teaching herself guitar and Indian harmonium, delving back to the inspiration behind the British folk revivalists. She has since built a loyal and growing following as a songwriter and interpreter, both in the UK and internationally, through her acclaimed and eclectic live performances and recorded works. Over the past few years, Olivia has collaborated and shared the stage with a diverse range of artists including Robert Plant, Alasdair Roberts, The Decemberists, Zero 7, and The Labèque Sisters. In 2013, she self-released an eponymous EP, which was followed by her critically-acclaimed 2015 Nonesuch debut, The Longest River. This sophomore release, which the Guardian hailed as "an enchanting and stately creation", was noted in a number of Best of 2015 lists (Uncut, Mojo, PopMatters, and more);while the Independent featured it in their Top 5 Albums of the Year, calling it "a landmark release." Offa Rex, a new project pairing Olivia Chaney with The Decemberists, releases its debut album, The Queen of Hearts, on Nonesuch on July 14.

Rhiannon Giddens, who had previously won accolades and a Grammy Award as a founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, made her solo debut with Tomorrow Is My Turn, which was one 2015's most highly praised albums. The album was Grammy nominated, and Giddens received the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Singer of the Year. Giddens, who studied opera at Oberlin, made her acting debut with a recurring role on the CMT television drama Nashville this season. Earlier this year she won the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Bluegrass and Banjo. Giddens' second solo album, Freedom Highway, was released in February 2017 to critical acclaim: Pitchfork said, "Giddens has emerged as a peerless voice of roots-minded music as a solo artist on her new album."

Natalie Merchant's career began in 1981 when, as a college student, she joined the seminal alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs. As lead vocalist, lyricist, and sometimes pianist, Merchant released six critically acclaimed studio albums with the band, including the platinum-certified In My Tribe (1987), Blind Man's Zoo (1989), Our Time in Eden (1992), and MTV Unplugged (1993). She left the group in 1993, and in 1995 released her multi-platinum solo debut, Tigerlily, followed by the platinum Ophelia (1998), Motherland (2001), and The House Carpenter's Daughter (2003). In 2010, Merchant made her Nonesuch debut with Leave Your Sleep, for which she set 19th and 20th-century children's poetry to music. In 2014, Nonesuch released Natalie Merchant, her first album of entirely original songs in thirteen years. That was followed by the 2016 reimagining of Tigerlily, Paradise Is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings, which featured new recordings of the beloved songs as they have evolved over two decades of live performance. Natalie Merchant will tour the US this summer, performing songs from across her entire career, with Natalie Merchant: 3 Decades of Song in anticipation of a 10-CD career retrospective boxed set, The Natalie Merchant Collection, due June 23 on Nonesuch.

featuredimage
"Folk Songs" w: Kronos Quartet, Sam Amidon, Olivia Chaney, Rhiannon Giddens, Natalie Merchant

Ramona Rey (not verified)

Fri, 04/27/2018 - 15:52

Hi -I found what I think is an error in liner notes on Folk Songs, Kronos Quartet. Cover photography: Rhiannon Giddens is listed as Tanya Rosen-Jones. Tanya is the photographer. Rhiannon is on the cover. Just a heads-up.

Thanks for decades of great music,
Ramona Rey

Hi Ramona, thank you for the kind words about the music and for writing in about Folk Songs. Sorry for any confusion in the booklet credits. There is a cover photo caption on the first page inside the booklet that lists all of the artists' names. The credits in the back of the book are for the photographers, who all happen to be the artists themselves (taking selfies!), except for Rhiannon, who was photographed by Tanya Rosen-Jones. Thanks again.

  • Friday, June 9, 2017
    "Folk Songs" with Kronos Quartet and Singers Sam Amidon, Olivia Chaney, Rhiannon Giddens, Natalie Merchant Out Now on Nonesuch

    Folk Songs, a new album joining Kronos Quartet with four Nonesuch Records labelmates—Sam Amidon, Olivia Chaney, Rhiannon Giddens, and Natalie Merchant—is out now. You can take a quick look at the album below, and pick up a copy on iTunes, Amazon, and the Nonesuch Store, where CD and vinyl orders include a download of the complete album at checkout. The album can also be heard on Apple Music and Spotify.

    The artists on the album first came together to perform these songs, most of which are traditional with contemporary arrangements, when Nonesuch Records celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014 with festivals at London's Barbican Centre and New York's Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). The group later recorded the songs with Doug Petty as the album's producer.

    For more than 40 years, San Francisco's Kronos Quartet—David Harrington and John Sherba (violins), Hank Dutt (viola), and Sunny Yang (cello)—has combined a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to continually re-imagine the string quartet experience. In the process, Kronos has become one of the world's most celebrated and influential ensembles, performing thousands of concerts, releasing more than sixty recordings, collaborating with many of the world's most eclectic composers and performers, and commissioning more than 900 works and arrangements for string quartet. Kronos is the recipient of more than 40 awards, including the Polar Music Prize and the Avery Fisher Prize. Last season, a five-year initiative, Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire, began commissioning new works designed to train students and emerging professionals; the pieces are distributed online for free. Kronos has had a close relationship with Nonesuch since 1985, when the group recorded Philip Glass' soundtrack to Mishima. Nonesuch has since released forty-seven albums by Kronos, including Pieces of Africa (1992), a showcase of African-born composers; Nuevo (2002), a celebration of Mexican culture; and the 2004 Grammy winner, Alban Berg's Lyric Suite, featuring Dawn Upshaw—as well as motion picture soundtracks such as Requiem for a Dream and albums dedicated to composers including Glass, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Henryk Gorecki, and Astor Piazzolla, among others.

    Nonesuch released Sam Amidon's label debut, Bright Sunny South, in 2013, followed by Lily-O the next year. The Vermont-born and -raised, London-based Amidon is known for his reworking of traditional melodies into a new form. In addition to country ballads and shape-note hymns, his work features interpretations of traditional and contemporary songs. Previous solo albums include I See the Sign, But This Chicken Proved Falsehearted, and All Is Well. Amidon has also collaborated on performance pieces with Nico Muhly, toured as part of Thomas Bartlett's group Doveman, collaborated with Beth Orton, and embarked on a series of live shows with the guitarist Bill Frisell. His new album, The Following Mountain, was released on Nonesuch last month.

    Classically-trained singer / pianist Olivia Chaney graduated from England's Royal Academy of Music before teaching herself guitar and Indian harmonium, delving back to the inspiration behind the British folk revivalists. She has since built a loyal and growing following as a songwriter and interpreter, both in the UK and internationally, through her acclaimed and eclectic live performances and recorded works. Over the past few years, Olivia has collaborated and shared the stage with a diverse range of artists including Robert Plant, Alasdair Roberts, The Decemberists, Zero 7, and The Labèque Sisters. In 2013, she self-released an eponymous EP, which was followed by her critically-acclaimed 2015 Nonesuch debut, The Longest River. This sophomore release, which the Guardian hailed as "an enchanting and stately creation", was noted in a number of Best of 2015 lists (Uncut, Mojo, PopMatters, and more);while the Independent featured it in their Top 5 Albums of the Year, calling it "a landmark release." Offa Rex, a new project pairing Olivia Chaney with The Decemberists, releases its debut album, The Queen of Hearts, on Nonesuch on July 14.

    Rhiannon Giddens, who had previously won accolades and a Grammy Award as a founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, made her solo debut with Tomorrow Is My Turn, which was one 2015's most highly praised albums. The album was Grammy nominated, and Giddens received the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Singer of the Year. Giddens, who studied opera at Oberlin, made her acting debut with a recurring role on the CMT television drama Nashville this season. Earlier this year she won the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Bluegrass and Banjo. Giddens' second solo album, Freedom Highway, was released in February 2017 to critical acclaim: Pitchfork said, "Giddens has emerged as a peerless voice of roots-minded music as a solo artist on her new album."

    Natalie Merchant's career began in 1981 when, as a college student, she joined the seminal alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs. As lead vocalist, lyricist, and sometimes pianist, Merchant released six critically acclaimed studio albums with the band, including the platinum-certified In My Tribe (1987), Blind Man's Zoo (1989), Our Time in Eden (1992), and MTV Unplugged (1993). She left the group in 1993, and in 1995 released her multi-platinum solo debut, Tigerlily, followed by the platinum Ophelia (1998), Motherland (2001), and The House Carpenter's Daughter (2003). In 2010, Merchant made her Nonesuch debut with Leave Your Sleep, for which she set 19th and 20th-century children's poetry to music. In 2014, Nonesuch released Natalie Merchant, her first album of entirely original songs in thirteen years. That was followed by the 2016 reimagining of Tigerlily, Paradise Is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings, which featured new recordings of the beloved songs as they have evolved over two decades of live performance. Natalie Merchant will tour the US this summer, performing songs from across her entire career, with Natalie Merchant: 3 Decades of Song in anticipation of a 10-CD career retrospective boxed set, The Natalie Merchant Collection, due June 23 on Nonesuch.

    Journal Articles:Album ReleaseArtist News

Enjoy This Post?

Get weekly updates right in your inbox.
terms

X By submitting my information, I agree to receive personalized updates and marketing messages about Nonesuch based on my information, interests, activities, website visits and device data and in accordance with the Privacy Policy. I understand that I can opt-out at any time by emailing privacypolicy@wmg.com.

Thank you!
x

Welcome to Nonesuch's mailing list!

Customize your notifications for tour dates near your hometown, birthday wishes, or special discounts in our online store!
terms

By submitting my information, I agree to receive personalized updates and marketing messages about Nonesuch based on my information, interests, activities, website visits and device data and in accordance with the Privacy Policy. I understand that I can opt-out at any time by emailing privacypolicy@wmg.com.

Related Posts

  • Thursday, March 28, 2024
    Thursday, March 28, 2024

    The original cast album of Adam Guettel’s Broadway musical Days of Wine and Roses, with a book by Craig Lucas, starring Kelli O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James, will be released on CD on May 17, following its recent digital release.  “Repeated listenings compound the amazement,” the New York Times says of Guettel’s work, which “has always offered that kind of challenge—initially leaving a feeling of: Beautiful, but wait, I need to hear it again—and those up for it have a way of coming away shining like Moses down from the Mount. The new score has the same effect.”

    Journal Topics: Album ReleaseArtist News
  • Friday, March 22, 2024
    Friday, March 22, 2024

    The Staves’ new album, All Now, produced by John Congleton (Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen), is out now, marking their debut album as the duo of Jessica and Camilla Staveley-Taylor, after their sister Emily’s departure. “There was a delayed reaction to trauma and these big changes out of your control,” Jess says of the period after the February 2021 release of their album Good Woman, as the band—like everyone—was forced to sit with their thoughts. Struggling after two years of deep solitude and pain, The Staves did what they know how to do best: they got back to writing with the idea of going back to basics and focusing almost solely on each other and their guitars as a starting point.

    Journal Topics: Album ReleaseArtist News