How boring it must be to live in a land where the weather is the same almost every day.  Sun up and down at the same time, predictable rains (or droughts), and a mostly constant temperature throughout the year.  Those of us in what are called "temperate" regions may go to such predictable lands with constant climates for a brief time, but there is always relief in returning to a land that changes over the year, and even from day to day.  Leaves on the trees one day, the ground the next, and covered with snow the next, and so on...  Thus, today on Routes & Branches & Beyond we have a set of mid-autumn rambles.  You'll hear happy session tunes, intense ballads, languid hornpipes, quirky songs about frogs and mice, laments on the passing of time, foggy politics, rocking stars, fathers & sons, smooth jazz liberties, old school ties, North African blues, and Celtic harps.  

From musicians such as Sean Nua, Touchwood (Christine Crawley & Kerstein Blodig), Eileen Ivers, Miaghread & Triona ni Dhomhnaill & Donal Lunny, Nanci Griffith, Chieftains & Sinéad O’Connor, MacKeel, Cat Stevens, Strung-out Troubadours, Billy Bragg, Djélimady Tounkara, and Alan Stivell.  Let those leaves rake themselves and join me.


Routes & Branches & Beyond show # 387 2025 11 13

Ivan Emke