Seasonal Celebrations: Finding the Light Through Long Dark Nights

As we approach the longest night of the year, move through the holiday season, and head on toward the dawn of a new year, in this week’s Song Parlor we’ve assembled a cornucopia of seasonal songs and tunes old and new!

Moving From November to December in Pandemic Post-Election Times + A Bite to Eat & a Jog Around Scotland for St. Andrews Day

This week’s show begins with three sets of songs and tunes – many from new or recent releases – that in one way or another seem appropriate as November slides into December in this drawn-out pandemic and post-election season. Then, later on, we’ll take time for a bit of food-related stuff, including a new (old) recipe and some gravy, before heading off for a jog around Scotland in honor of St. Andrews Day.

Some Conversations in November

After a long and tumultuous election season, this week’s show brings together a bunch of songs and tunes that might be thought of as an extended musical November conversation – a number of pieces that seem to offer opportunities for oblique commentary on the events taking place around us, a few songs about our dreams of freedom and justice and the challenges we face, several songs for the season (as days grow short and birds take flight), and, finally, several bits of advice -- including a call for the music of healing.

Deeper Into Autumn – Toward Halloween & Election Day

As the calendar inexorably leads us deeper into autumn and Halloween draws near, this week in the Song Parlor we start out with a few spooky encounters (old and new), follow up with some songs and tunes that come to mind as Election Day approaches (including reminders to vote), and finish off with more music for the fall season as we move on into late October and November.

Our Times (Old & New) -- & Some Moon Songs

This week our opening sets feature recent songs and tunes (with a few older pieces stirred in along the way) that address issues with which we wrestle in 2020 – the ongoing struggle for social and racial justice in America, trying to navigate our way through various pandemic problems, managing environmental and political challenges, and so on. Then, later on, since this October opened with a Harvest Moon and will end with the arrival of the Hunter Moon, it seemed only fitting to save a little time for some Moon songs.

Mail, Flames, Hopes & Dreams

This week we start out with a musical visit with Uncle Sam’s Postman (a tempting topic with the challenges of mail-in voting so much in the news these days). Later on, we move on to several sets of songs and tunes that explore other contemporary issues (and their background), many of them centering around the environmental challenges that are so apparent as fires rage through the American West.

Late Summer Issues & Memories . . . & Going Fishing

This week we start out with a few mostly new or recent songs that speak to aspects of our season as we head into September 2020. After that, a few late-Summer memories – and then we’re off to go fishing (and we’ll encounter several mermaids along the way).

From Dog Days of August to Thoughts of Flowers

This week’s show carries us from the Dog Days of August to some Thoughts About Flowers (mainly from the British Isles) with stops in between to hear a number of pieces, many from new and recent releases that somehow seem to speak to this extraordinary summer season. Along the way, we save a few minutes for several songs by Michael Smith, the great songwriter who died early in August.

Summer Scenes & Songs

This week’s show features a varied assortment of songs and tunes involving summertime thoughts and activities – starting with a few memories and dreams, then moving on to encounters with some pesky critters that tend to make their appearance in the summertime. Later on, after a couple of sets that sample several new and recent releases, we’ll finish off with a few summertime rambles through England and Scotland.

Singing Our Times, Celebrating a Birthday, Off to a Dance

This week’s show begins with several recent releases that in various ways speak to the challenges and hopes of our times. Then we move on to a couple of sets honoring Woody Guthrie, the great chronicler of American life who was born on July 14, 1912. After that, a quick musical excursion that with help from several new releases carries us around much of the world, before we finish off with a few pieces that take us to dances in Wales and England.