This playlist is a mix of old favorites, new discoveries, and my latest obsessions. Artists like Odetta and Leadbelly who inspired me to play folk music in the first place and artists like Woody Guthrie and Big Bill Broonzy who always inspire me to have a message in my songs. I have also chosen songs from different parts of the world as I have always tried to fight the barriers of language and geography when seeking new music.
Carl "Buffalo" Nichols does things with the blues that might catch you off guard. His vision for the blues is of a form of music that’s intimately tied to everyday life in the present, something that’s reflected not only in the choice of instrumentation—808 programming, chopped up Charley Patton samples, washes of synth—but also in the complexities of the songwriting and the gray areas his lyrics explore. Produced by himself at home, Nichols’s second album, The Fatalist, sounds unlike any blues record that’s come before it. He’s currently touring across Europe and the US.
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