THE DEEP DARK WOODS ARE SET TO RELEASE A COLLECTION OF REIMAGINED FOLK STANDARDS, BROADSIDE BALLADS VOL. III, VIA VICTORY POOL RECORDS TOMORROW, MAY 1
BUY / STREAM BROADSIDE BALLADS VOL. III HERE
WATCH / SHARE “BRIDGET O’MALLEY” HERE
Photo Credit : Rima Sater // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Tomorrow, the long celebrated, and JUNO Award nominated group, The Deep Dark Woods, release their new LP, Broadside Ballads Vol. III, an 8-song record lends a familiar melancholic warmth to a collection of traditional folk songs spanning centuries and continents.
Today they are sharing the new video for the album track “Bridget O’Malley”. Of the track, songwriter Ryan Boldt says, "Bridget O'Malley is another Irish tune that I first heard from the Scottish Group Silly Wizard off of their record So Many Partings produced by the great Scottish traditional singer and songwriter Archie Fisher. The song was collected by the fiddle player and song collector Peter Kennedy in 1953 from the Irish singer Hudai ó Duibheanaigh. I believe the song was translated from Irish to English by Phil and John Cunningham of Silly Wizard. But it’s hard to find out who actually translated it. The Irish name is ‘Brid Óg Ni Mhaille’. I heard a beautiful version done by the English singer June Tabor with two fiddle players, playing almost a Renaissance or baroque-type version, I wanted to do that, so I got my string arranger Marie Grigoryeva to come up with a wonderful arrangement for the violin, viola and cello."
WATCH / SHARE “BRIDGET O’MALLEY” HERE
BUY / STREAM BROADSIDE BALLADS VOL. III HERE
MORE ABOUT THE DEEP DARK WOODS
Intertwined amongst their albums of original material, Deep Dark Woods has been steadily building up a series of releases called Broadside Ballads, focusing on traditional Irish, English, and Scottish folk songs. It's a fitting tribute to the music that influenced Ryan Boldt’s writing and singing since first forming the band, and like their forebears, Deep Dark Woods aims to take their own experiences of traditional music and create something new and vital. The songs in this collection mine some of the more brutal depths of human experience, touching on broken hearts, love, murder, and the act of leaving. Boldt notes that “there are not too many jolly songs in there”, but the album is not a dour affair, instead benefiting from tasteful, unstated arrangements and an organic, no-frills recording sound. The songs on Vol. III generously display Deep Dark Woods' deep-seated links to the past while still sounding just like themselves.
One might be tempted to think of the Deep Dark Woods as a band steeped in ‘capital-T’ tradition, and that may be true, but now nearly two decades into their life as one of Canada's finest folk-roots ensembles, that tradition is one of their own invention. The voice of founding member Ryan Boldt sits at the forefront of the band, and it doesn't take long to reveal that he is a master of subtlety and shading, working in the lineage of iconic singers like Bob Dylan, Bert Jansch, Rick Danko, and Jason Molina. Boldt, a relentless lifelong listener of music, says “It's all I do. When I'm not playing music, I'm listening to it, trying to find songs that make me feel an aching pain in my chest.” Accordingly, his singing is full of highly emotive nuance and an elegant, relaxed precision that makes it seem downright effortless, a perfect vehicle for the band's particular brand of updated folk music.
WATCH / SHARE “SPANISH IS THE LOVING TONGUE” HERE
WATCH / SHARE “THE BANKS OF THE LOUGH ERNE FEAT. ERIN RAE” HERE
Fellow travellers like keyboard whiz Geoff Hilhorst, veteran drummer Mike Silverman, and Evan Cheadle round out the Deep Dark Woods unit, and they are often assisted by like-minded collaborators such as singer-songwriter Ellen Froese, Erik Nielsen, Leon Power, and the acclaimed duo Kacy & Clayton. This crew creates a powerful combination, and has amassed a pile of celebrated albums, EPs, and host of nominations from music awards outfits from across the country. Together they recall classic units like The Band, mid-period Wilco, and American Beauty-era Grateful Dead, but also legendary late '60s UK groups like Fairport Convention, Pentangle, and Steeleye Span.
BUY / STREAM BROADSIDE BALLADS VOL. III HERE
BROADSIDE BALLADS VOL III
1 The Banks of the Lough Erne (feat. Erin Rae)
2 Brigg Fair
3 My Lagan Love
4 Spanish is The Loving Tongue
5 The Cocky at Bungaree
6 The Boatman
7 Peggy Gordon
8 Bridget O'Malley