Release: ZOE MULFORD - Bonfires

- - - -

Distributed to Folk Radio by Hudson Harding.
Mailing Date: Sept. 30 - Oct. 2
Not sure if you are on Hudson Harding distribution list? Request your copy offline

- - - - -

A set by songwriter Zoe Mulford is like a small volume of short stories - evocative, beautifully crafted, and endlessly varied. With a clear voice, an ear for poetry, and a slightly skewed sense of humor, she may take on any subject from polar exploration to domestic sabotage.

Zoe was raised near Philadelphia, learned to play the guitar in the picking circles of North Carolina, and came into her own as a performer in Washington, DC. She had released two albums on Azalea City Recordings, an award-winning folk and roots label based in Takoma Park, MD, and was gaining notice as a touring artist when her spouse’s job brought another move - this time to England.

Since then, she has been making the rounds of British folk clubs and festivals, often by public transport, equipped with a guitar, a banjo, a small rolling suitcase, and a large umbrella. She has also returned to tour in the US, including appearances as an emerging artist at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival and a New Folk finalist at the Kerrville Folk Festival.

October 2009 sees the release of her third album, “Bonfires” on Azalea City Recordings. Celebrating folk traditions from Appalachia to Liverpool, the mix of original and traditional songs presents a cast of wayward ghosts, takers of chances, and practitioners of love against the odds.

Recorded in the hills of Yorkshire by Brian Bedford (Artisan), “Bonfires” features musicians from both sides of the Atlantic, including English ceilidh fiddler Tom Fairbairn, Canadian bassist Al Parrish (Tanglefoot), Canadian-American percussionist Cheryl Prashker (RUNA) and members of the popular Manchester-based Dr. Butler’s Hatstand Medicine Band.

The title is taken from “Welcome In Another Year”. Originally written for the Hudson Harding Holiday Sampler #1, the song draws on traditions from all over the world and all around the calendar that mark the beginning of the new year with fire.

“This original song sounds like it could have been around for hundreds of years, performed at pagan-inspired bonfires at the Winter Solstice, or at a News Year’s Eve. In my opinion, "Welcome in Another Year" is a song that deserves a long, long life and many performances by trad-leaning folkies all over the world.” Larry Hoyt [Common Threads ,WAER-FM, Syracuse NY]

Some sparser arrangements honor the spirit of the English folk club, where microphones - and sometimes even instruments - are regarded as an unnecessary intrusion between the singer and the listeners. “The Wise Maid” (inspired by one too many English folk songs about a morning in May) is sung a cappella in the traditional style. “Red Rocking Chair” and a cover of Richard Thompson’s “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” are powerfully delivered with solo voice and clawhammer banjo.

Zoe's website



- - - -

Hudson Harding currently representing:
- Angelo M.: Steelwork
- Barbara Garriel: Ample Patience
- Carla Ulbrich: Live From Outer Space
- Dana & Susan Robinson: Big Mystery
- Dala: Everyone is Someone
- David Ferrard: Across The Troubled Wave
- Liz Longley: Somewhere In The Middle
- Mark Stepakoff: Some Assembly Required
- Mason Daring: self-titled
- Terry Holder: Ticket To The Moment
- The Sweater Set: Surprise Visit
- Zoe Mulford: Bonfires

- - - -

Hudson Harding Music - Folk Radio Promotion
"committed to the living tradition of folk music...
connecting independent artists with
independently programmed folk radio."'
" m u s i c . t h a t . m a t t e r s . l a s t s "
Folk Alliance/FolkDJ sponsor
Philadelphia, PA | 215.868.3855 | hudsonharding.com