We listen to a lot of music here at FestivaLink HQ, and we admit, we're partial to great songwriting.

We hope something captures your ear this autumn weekend.

First, the ladies:

Robinella

Robinella performed at MerleFest, backed by her band that included the classic country sound of Cruz Contreras's pedal steel guitar. Here is what Robinella says about her music:
"What can I say about my music but that it is intertwined with my life. These words I know because I have either lived them or seen them or felt them over and over, over and over, over and over again. I've seen many things. Some people would say I was naive. Maybe naive is a choice. I believe in beautiful, beautiful, beautiful."

Sample Robinella singing "Down the Mountain"

Kim Fox and 3 Fox Drive

Kim Fox has a busy songwriting life in Nashville, in addition to fronting the current version of her family band. We caught their set at Wintergrass. Nigel Tuffman wrote in Bluegrass Works about her music: "Some songs have familiar themes, but they're just not a rehash of old songs. They're good new songs, written from a slightly different perspective. And there's a real variety of rhythms and feels here. More bluegrass artists need to come to the realization that fresh material is really what can make or break a very talented bunch of musicians and singers as a band."

Sample 3 Fox Drive singing "Short Walk to the Moon"

Diana Jones

Diana Jones's appearance at Philadelphia Folk Festival was a revelation for many festival-goers. Sing Out! Magazine recounts how she wrote many of the songs she performed as she was house-sitting the Institute for Musical Art's 1816 farmhouse: "There was a ballroom on the second floor where there had been dances many years ago, and I swear you could still feel the music in that house. I would play some guitar, drink some tea ... walk around the grounds, read some poetry. Just like a runner might do things other than running to get in shape, I was doing things other than songwriting to unblock whatever was blocked. When I finally did sit down to write a song, it was easier to access my resources, and once I learned how to access them, I no longer needed the house; I could do it anywhere, even on the road."

Sample Diana Jones singing "Pretty Girl"

And some of the men in our collections:


Reid Genauer and Assembly of Dust

Assembly of Dust performed at the All Good Festival. Reid Genauer wrote or co-wrote all of the songs we captured for download. Reid is quoted on the band's website: "I think any art form is most successful when it reflects or replays elements of life that people can relate to. You may not have an epiphany listening to our music, but odds are you will find a reflection of your life experience or an emotion that you can own hiding in the recesses."

Sample Assembly of Dust singing "Paul Henry"

David Bromberg

The David Bromberg show we captured at Philadelphia Folk Festival came from the Camp Stage, a small stage tucked in the woods at the beautiful festival site in rural PA. Reams have been written about Mr. Bromberg's return to touring and recording in the past couple years, including these words from Rolling Stone reviewer David Fricke: "The fluid, orchestral invention of Bromberg's finger-picking...is in undiminished bloom invigorating sturdy old blues and ballads."

Sample David Bromberg singing "Summer Wages"

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