What a wonderful festival, and so much great music.
Going Old School (pardon my penmanship)
Newsletter Summer
#1 on the Folk Charts!
YES "THERE'S A BRIGHT SIDE SOMEWHERE"#1 On the Folk Charts! Many many thanks to all the wonderful DJ's who work so hard listening and curating music coming from all directions to share their finds with listeners around the world. We, Molsky's Mountain Drifters are so delighted that our song, There's a Bright Side from our brand new album Closing The Gap (http://bit.ly/ClosingTheGap_CDBaby) was the top April #1 SONG on the FolkDJ Charts! (https://www.folkradio.org/Charts/FolkDJChartApril2019.html#songs) Here's the Bright Side Story. While on tour in Australia we were asked to lead a multicultural musical workshop at the wonderful Woodford Folk Festival, for all to join in a piece of music together. We wanted to present a musical setting that offered a spark of hope and optimism in troubled times, something both beautiful and accessible that could bridge across cultures. Bruce suggested one of his favorite songs from the great Reverend Gary Davis - ‘There’s a Bright Side Somewhere’ which we reworked from Reverend Davis’ very personal bluesy guitar rendition into a fiddle/banjo stringband with harmonies that everyone could sing along with. We love playing it and singing with everyone at the festival so much we made it our first track on our new CD "Closing the Gap" - and hope you'll join us along our UK CD release tour and sing along too! Thanks to Beehive Productions for the great video work & The Hoot for hosting us this Winter. Thanks to William Kennedy for spreading the word!
Posted by Bruce Molsky on Thursday, May 9, 2019
Jamming on Old Sledge with the amazing Mike Block
Brand new Mountain Drifters! CLOSING THE GAP - out TODAY
Allison, Stash and I will be starting our CD Release tour next week! Closing the Gap goes on sale too, you can pre-order on our store: http://brucemolsky.com/store We loved recording this -- and love recording live. I think you'll enjoy it too.
There's A Bright Side Somewhere
Time to find some more joy and peace - There's a Bright Side Somewhere! Would love it if you clicked this link: https://show.co/W6Rj96v to Pre-Save our song on Spotify - our very first single release for Molsky's Mountain Drifters' upcoming record - this puts it into your song queue so you hear it automatically on its release date Nov. 16! Since this is our first try at this would love to know what you think!!
Bringing Folk Home and Drifting into Fall
It’s been so great having some breathing space this summer, to regroup, get organized a little, light the barbecue a lot and get ready for a very busy fall and winter. I’m always looking forward to the next musical thing. Hope your summers all have been great!
I had a memorable Beacon-to-Brooklyn weekend last week with the very formidable Michael Daves and Tony Trischka. (Tony, Michael & me warming up at the Towne Crier!) There’s simply no holding back when playing with those two - it was a big highlight. Festivals Chants de Vielles and Edmonton Folk Festival with the Mountain Drifters were a blast as well. 
And for me, a soggy-but-wonderful trip to Clifftop, aka The Appalachian String Band Festival in “Wild Wonderful West Virginia” was an exercise in music and staying dry. Have to say I did better with the music part than the staying dry part. And I *love* long solo drives . . .
Good things are on the horizon moving into the fall. Closest up, Allison and I will be at the long-standing Turtle Hill Folk Festival near Rochester, New York this coming weekend. Then straight to Berklee College in Boston to start the school term with the most amazing students, some of whom will be at Fresh Grass Festival the following weekend. So will The Mountain Drifters! Then it gets busy.
See the schedule page, and hopefully we’ll be close to you somewhere along the way. In addition to MMD touring - Here's "Drifters in September", I’ll be regrouping with Aly Bain and Ale Möller for some shows in the UK and Sweden in October, then back to the UK for a solo tour at the top of December: brucemolsky.com/tourdates
MMD is also completing our second CD! The official release is a few months away, but look for some singles coming soon. Allison, Stash and I have been growing our musical voice and pushing it into a new place, and loving the journey. We're so happy about this next musical snapshot. facebook.com/mountaindrifters
Here’s a thing: I’m on the Board of Directors for what promises to be a wonderful new organization based here in Beacon. The American Center for Folk Music (ACFM) is getting off the ground, and we hope to make it a place to celebrate, educate and promote our diverse and unique American folk culture. On September 12, Rhiannon Giddens has graciously agreed to play for an ACFM benefit at the Towne Crier here. If you’ve followed Rhiannon through the Carolina Chocolate Drops into her amazing solo career, you’ll understand why we’re so excited and stoked to see where this is going! For info about the ACFM and it’s mission, check out http://centerforfolkmusic.org
That’s about it for now. And if you'd like some lessons, I have video lessons onPeghead Nation, and keep writing on my blog there. It’s great to hear from you.
Oh yeah, one last thing: Please, please vote, in the upcoming primaries and in the general election. It’s never been more important than it is now.
Stay well, and thanks for staying in touch!
Warm wishes, Bruce
Back from a great time in UK & Ire w/ the Mountain Drifters
So many highlights, but one of the biggest was having some tunes with John Paul Jones at Kings Place in London on our last night. Thanks, John!
And thanks to Jonathon Cuff for the photos. . .
Rockygrass Academy and Festival 2017
The amazing community at Rockygrass made for a fantastic week for Molsky's Mountain Drifters.
Allison joined me my "Guided Tour of Old-Time Fiddle" in the Wildflower pavillion.