Best Minstrel Podcasts (2024)

1
The Minstrel Boy 2:14

6d ago2:14

2:14

For National Poetry Month this year I'm looking at and performing poems found in a pair of 1920s anthologies of verse for children. The Girls of Verse and The Boys Book of Verse. Though "The Minstrel Boy" was included within books of poetry, this poem by Irish poet Thomas Moore was quicky adapted as a song and is best known as such today. Which sav…

1
The Wind 2:03

2h ago2:03

2:03

For National Poetry Month this year I've been looking at poems from a pair of 1920s books of verse for children. Today's selection is a charming poem by Robert Louis Stevenson performed with an electric folk-rock band. The Parlando Project does this, takes words (mostly literary poetry) and combines them with original music. We've done over 750 of …

1
140. In or Out? 6:41

18h ago6:41

6:41

Thank You to my church New Creation Church SLC also to all my friends from out of town Thank You again!! Love all of you. Blessings | Thank You for coming below is the Bandcamp:https://worshipingmusicianschool.bandcamp.com/God is faithful!--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worshipingmusician/support…

1
Funny girl 27:27

1d ago27:27

27:27

Although the stage and screen hit Funny Girl is inspired by the life of singer-actress Fanny Brice, the plot is mostly fiction with an occasional fact thrown in. Both the play and movie were produced by Fanny Brice's son in law, Ray Stark, who had the unenviable task of appeasing Fanny's surviving family and associates -- including Nick Arnstein. W…

1
Hills: Children's poetry, but written by a child 2:34

5h ago2:34

2:34

To observe this National Poetry Month I've been diving into a pair of poetry anthologies for children published in the 1922/1923. One poet included in them was an unusual case: Hilda Conkling, a child herself. That this grade-schooler was composing poems that often seemed to share Imagism's approaches intrigued some Modernists. Here's one of her po…

1
The Coromandel Fishers 2:40

5d ago2:40

2:40

Sarojini Naidu's poem of stalwart Bengali fishermen asked to be sung, so I sang it. The author may have had a melody in mind, as she published this in a section of her poetry she called "Folk Songs." Naidu began as a promising poet ("The Nightengale of India") but left verse to for work for women's suffrage and Indian independence. The Parlando Pro…

1
The World Is Too Much With Us 2:04

2d ago2:04

2:04

William Wordsworth's well-known sonnet performed, as the word sonnet means, as a little song. Within the next 24 hour or so, I hope to have more to say about what you may have overlooked in this short poem on the Parlando Project's blog (see below). We've got a lot at the blog celebrating poetry and National Poetry Month. The Parlando Project combi…

1
The Grafonola Grandad 26:53

11d ago26:53

26:53

A Graphophone was a phonograph made by the Columbia Phonograph Company under one of its many corporate identities. There were Graphophones that played both cylinder and 78rpm records. A Grafonola was an internal horn phonograph made by the Columbia Phonograph Company that played 78rpm records. Columbia began selling disc records and phonographs in …

1
139. Well Do You or Not? 12:54

8d ago12:54

12:54

Thank You for coming below is the Bandcamp: https://worshipingmusicianschool.bandcamp.com/ God is faithful! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worshipingmusician/support

1
Each in His Own Tongue 2:29

8d ago2:29

2:29

Today I read a summary of poet Mary Oliver's approach by poet and critic A. M. Juster. He concluded: "I also think her spirit wanted to write religious poetry, but her mind wouldn't let her." Lo & behold I was working this week on a singable version of this 1906 poem that I found in a collection of verse for children published in the 1920s that I'm…

1
Sea Fever 2:14

10d ago2:14

2:14

We're celebrating National Poetry Month with musical presentations of poems taken from a gendered pair of 100-year-old anthologies published as The Girls and The Boys Book of Verse. Today's is John Masefield's famous poem of seafaring. The Parlando Project takes words (usually literary poetry) and combines them with original music we write and perf…

1
There is no Frigate like a Book 2:01

12d ago2:01

2:01

We continue our National Poetry Month feature examination of a pair of century-old children's poetry anthologies with this famous invocation of book-fed imagination. The Parlando Project combines various words (usually literary poetry) with original music in different styles. We've done over 700 of these things, and you can listen to them and find …

1
Piping Down the Valleys Wild 2:33

14d ago2:33

2:33

My feature this National Poetry Month is going to be examination of two 1920's poetry anthologies, one for girls and one for boys. This William Blake poem invoking childhood visions bringing joy was in the opening section of the girl's volume and it seems like an apt poem to set to music and lead off our celebration this month. The Parlando Project…

1
Emerson ... Carson and Hunting shady beginnings 29:01

16d ago29:01

29:01

Emerson Records was an American record company and label created by Victor hugo Emerson in 1915. Victor was the chief recording engineer at Columbia Records. In 1914 he left the company, created the Emerson Phonograph Company, and then Emerson Records the following year. He began producing small records, 5-inch discs that sold for 10 cents and 7-in…

1
Singing at Dusk 2:33

25d ago2:33

2:33

Emmy Hemmings is a forgotten Dada artist, launching the famous Cabaret Voltaire during WWI as am organizer, performer and poet -- yet no one translated her poetry from German until this century. I just got done doing a somewhat free translation of one of her poems, and since Hennings was a performer, it seems fitting to present her work here in the…

1
Whispering Often 1:58

21d ago1:58

1:58

Here's a poem for March, for Spring, and for Easter now turned into a song, The words were written about a hundred years ago by a largely forgotten Midwestern American poet Edwin Ford Piper. This month I wrote music for Piper's words, and today's piece is taken from a demo session where I recorded the freshly made song. The Parlando Project does st…

1
The stuff of Edison's nightmares 24:10

21d ago24:10

24:10

The first Edison Talking Doll record to benefit from optical scanning was a tin cylinder, The small metal ring had been so severely distorted from its original cylindrical shape decades ago, that the out-of-round record could not be properly played by a traditional stylus-contact based approach. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley…

1
Cool Tombs 1:56

23d ago1:56

1:56

Poet Carl Sandburg goes gothic-graveyard for this poem about Love & Death. I decided to accompany my performance of it with some new music in my "punk orchestral" style, which means it's short, not-to-fancy, and uses whatever virtual orchestral instruments I can figure out something for them play. The Parlando Project takes various words (usually l…

1
Sons of the Pioneers 25:18

1M ago25:18

25:18

The Sons of the Pioneers were the most successful western harmony group of all time, enjoying a career longevity that began in the early 1930s and still continues today, with, of course the obvious personnel changes. They were formed originally as The Pioneer Trio because of Ohio-born Leonard Slye’s , love of harmony singing and his desire to be pa…

1
The Wind Didn't Come from the Orchard Today 3:54

28d ago3:54

3:54

Here's a playful and mysterious Emily Dickinson poem for World Poetry Day. The Parlando Project enlists The LYL Band in this one to create a full-band folk-rock song out of Dickinson's poem. The Parlando Project has done that sort of thing for several years, taking words (usually literary poetry) and combining them with music in different styles. W…

1
John Philip Sousa Patriot 24:06

1M ago24:06

24:06

Among America's greatest treasures is John Philip Sousa, "The March King." The music of this beloved bandleader and composer, whose most prolific period straddled the turn of the 20th century, continues to fill hearts with a wave of national pride and patriotism. Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever" is, in fact, the national march, and his creat…

1
138. Do You Have A Halal? 12:55

1M ago12:55

12:55

Do You Have A Halal? Worshiping Musician Workshop ⁠⁠https://form.jotform.com/232578111911149⁠⁠ Worshiping Musician 30 day devotional⁠ below; ⁠⁠https://www.amazon.com/Worshiping-Musician-30-day-devotional/dp/B0BYM6Z6FY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=29M8HH9P642TI&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.RNbelwgFIiirdui-sml_s-Vqr-BtsvNHATk4VmRWdt1FYWsfeAYdQYSgIb506WIw9O9g29NuPUSQk8yjDGkmc…

1
The Drunken Singer 4:11

1M ago4:11

4:11

I remind myself today that I sometimes write lyrics, so here's a piece that features my own words and music. What the Parlando Project usually does is combine other people's words (usually literary poetry) with the variety of original music we compose and make. You can hear over 700 examples of that at our blog and archives located at frankhudson.o…

1
Grey Gull records 23:52

1M ago23:52

23:52

The band names on the labels are meaningless; the records were also used to cover groups including the so-called Grey Gull house band. They introduced a new method of selling phonograph records...one which would much later become standard practice in the record industry. Grey Gull would place display racks offering their latest product in newsstand…

1
The Late Singer 2:06

1M ago2:06

2:06

William Carlos Williams' Spring poem reminds us that it's never too late to sing. I had to cancel a more pristine time in a recording space this week but produced this quick & dirty version of this song using Williams' words instead. Spring itself, has a way of being quick & dirty -- and I'll remind you of the musicians' and composers' prayer: "May…

1
137. Is Your Worship for Sale? 12:54

1M ago12:54

12:54

Worship for Sale? Worshiping Musician Workshop ⁠https://form.jotform.com/232578111911149⁠ Worshiping Musician 30 day devotional⁠ below; ⁠https://www.amazon.com/Worshiping-Musician-30-day-devotional/dp/B0BYM6Z6FY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=29M8HH9P642TI&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.RNbelwgFIiirdui-sml_s-Vqr-BtsvNHATk4VmRWdt1FYWsfeAYdQYSgIb506WIw9O9g29NuPUSQk8yjDGkmc9Bxjy5…

1
The Last Antelope 4:23

1M ago4:23

4:23

Edwin Ford Piper is an early 20th century Midwestern American poet who's largely been forgotten. I've only started to read him this week, but this poem captured me immediately and I had to perform it with music, Parlando style. The Parlando Project combines various words (usually literary poetry) with original music in different styles. We've done …

1
When the Dream Outruns the Real 4:09

2M ago4:09

4:09

Poet Dave Moore's song about when "Follow your dream" or "Do what you love..." meets up with reality. Here's the cool thing about this piece: it's not a put-down. I play on it with The LYL Band, and I think the song applies to me. One of the Parlando Project's mottos is "All Artists Fail." You have to accept that and do what you choose to do anyway…

1
136. Keys for Authority 12:54

2M ago12:54

12:54

God is Faithful. Worshiping Musician Workshophttps://form.jotform.com/232578111911149 Worshiping Musician 30 day devotional⁠ below; https://www.amazon.com/Worshiping-Musician-30-day-devotional/dp/B0BYM6Z6FY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=29M8HH9P642TI&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.RNbelwgFIiirdui-sml_s-Vqr-BtsvNHATk4VmRWdt1FYWsfeAYdQYSgIb506WIw9O9g29NuPUSQk8yjDGkmc9Bxjy5KTSnY…

1
Two Aunties by Fenton Johnson 3:37

2M ago3:37

3:37

Black Chicago poet Fenton Johnson published these two free-verse poetic portraits in Others magazine in 1919, gaining him some notice as an Afro-American who was working in the avant-garde forms of Modernism. I performed his two poems with a rock band accompaniment for today's example of what the Parlando Project does: combining various words (most…

1
The World's Greatest Minstrel Man 23:30

2M ago23:30

23:30

The words of one of this famous musician song could very well been his epitaph .. oh why was I so soon forgotten ...James A. "Jimmy" Bland, the greatest Black writer of American Folk Song composed over seven hundred songs, a number of which were outright contributions to Americana. You might not know this name but you probably know a few of his son…

1
The Prodigal Son 3:58

2M ago3:58

3:58

Pioneering Black Chicago Poet Fenton Johnson termed this poem a literary spiritual in his 1915 collection Visions of the Dark. I read it as predecessor to later Gospel songwriting, and so set it to music for this spare solo performance with just acoustic guitar and voice. This is one example of what the Parlando Project does. We explore various wor…

1
135. Devotional or Dismiss 10:37

2M ago10:37

10:37

Worshiping Musician 30 day devotional https://www.amazon.com/Worshiping-Musician-30-day-devotional/dp/B0BYM6Z6FY/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=1NFFITQ39X4NN&keywords=manuel+d.+rodriguez&qid=1707959512&sprefix=%2Caps%2C223&sr=8-1 Subscribe; https://worshipingmusician.org/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worshipingmusician/sup…

1
Spindle holes from hell 27:12

2M ago27:12

27:12

The Standard Talking Machine Company was an American record label that was created in October 1901 and operated until March 1918. The Chicago, Illinois based company distributed several models of phonographs from Columbia Graphophone Company parts and issued single-sided and double-sided disc records from Columbia Records masters. Despite the label…

1
Bonus Track: Mistah Witch as a simulated worn 78 RPM record 2:06

2M ago2:06

2:06

BONUS TRACK Black Chicago poet Fenton Johnson was using Blues Language as early as his 1913 poetry collection "A Little Dreaming." That could make this poem an early example of a literary page poet using Blues Language. Just for fun I decided to create one of our rare Parlando Bonus Tracks. This version has been made to sound like an old, somewhat …

1
Mistah Witch 2:03

2M ago2:03

2:03

Even in 1913, Black Chicago poet Fenton Johnson was already using Blues-language in his literary poetry. In this poem he printed in dialect from his first book-length poetry collection "A Little Dreaming" Johnson may be encoding a message not every listener will understand. There will be a discussion of that and more than 700 other combinations of …

1
The Aeolian bag of wind 24:26

2M ago24:26

24:26

The name derives from Aeolus, the mythical ancestor of the Aeolians and son of Hellen, In Greek mythology, Aeolus, was the ruler of the winds encountered by Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey. To ensure safe passage home for Odysseus and his men, Aeolus gave Odysseus a bag containing all the winds, except the gentle west wind. And we know what happened ..…

1
The Wraithie's Message 3:22

2M ago3:22

3:22

Early 20th Century Afro-American poet Fenton Johnson again shows his range with this Celtic dark fantasy poem that I've turned into a song. That "turned into a song" is something the Parlando Project does. We've created over 700 combinations of various words (mostly literary poetry) with original music in various styles. You can find them at our bl…

1
Waters of Forgetfulness 3:14

2M ago3:14

3:14

Early 20th Century Black Chicago poet Fenton Johnson's dream poem references Virgil's "The Aeneid." I've turned it into a song as part of my month-long celebration of this lesser-known Midwestern poet who preceded the Harlem Renaissance. That's what the Parlando Project does: it takes other peoples words (mostly literary poetry) and combines them w…

1
Man of Steel - Ellie Mannette 28:48

3M ago28:48

28:48

At the turn of the last century, steel pan pioneer Ellie Mannette was filmed in Port of Spain, Trinidad, the subject of a documentary, ‘Man of Steel’, by Caribbeing® founder, Yao Ramesar.Mannette, who can justifiably lay claim to the title of father of the modern steel drum, provides here a revealing chronology of the invention and evolution of the…

1
134. Find Your Cry 8:08

3M ago8:08

8:08

When you cry your cry, God will answer. Partner with us. ⁠⁠https://worshipingmusician.org/partnership⁠⁠ Patreon link below; ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/worshipingmusicianschool⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://worshipingmusicianschool.bandcamp.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠The Practice of Selah’ing book on Amazon --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod…

1
Fenton Johnson's "Dunbar" 2:20

3M ago2:20

2:20

In 1906, Paul Laurence Dunbar, the first Afro-American poet to receive substantial notice, died, only 33 years old. Only a few years later in 1913, a 24 year old Black poet from Chicago, Fenton Johnson, publishes his first poetry collection which in which he pays tribute to Dunbar as he tries to pick up the standard from the fallen Dunbar. I've mad…

1
The two sides of Ademor Petit 25:22

3M ago25:22

25:22

It seems obvious to us today that disc records would always have two sides, but they didn’t The story behind such an apparently simple idea was fraught with the usual patent wars, false starts and stops, and the appearance of a bevy of talented, even tragic, inventors on three continents. Ademor Napoleon Petit might have been rather petite in physi…

1
Robert Frost's Stars 2:03

3M ago2:03

2:03

American poet Robert Frost assiduously read the book of nature even when the pages were blank. Here's a beautiful short poem that looks out on a wintery night and sees a blank whiteness. I've made the poem into a song accompanied by acoustic guitar. The Parlando Project takes words, usually other people's words, usually literary page poetry, and co…

1
Ashley and Foster 28:59

3M ago28:59

28:59

The oldest known recording of the song, under the title "Rising Sun Blues", is by Appalachian artists Clarence "Tom" Ashley and Gwen Foster, who recorded it on September 6, 1933, on the Vocalion label Ashley said he had learned it from his grandfather, Enoch Ashley, Several notable musicians cite Ashley as an important influence. Now Foster with hi…

1
The A&R man 25:01

3M ago25:01

25:01

In the 1880s, the record industry began by simply having the artist perform at a phonograph. In 1924, the trade journal Talking Machine World, covering the phonography and record industry, reported that Eddie King, Victor Records' manager of the "New York artist and repertoire department", had planned a set of recordings this perhaps the earliest p…

1
133. Discovering Your Prophetic Minstrel/Psalmist Call 2:01

3M ago2:01

2:01

Discovering Your Prophetic Minstrel/Psalmist Call Partner with us. ⁠https://worshipingmusician.org/partnership⁠ Patreon link below; ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/worshipingmusicianschool⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://worshipingmusicianschool.bandcamp.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ The Practice of Selah’ing book on Amazon --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/po…

1
If all the griefs I am to have 2:42

3M ago2:42

2:42

At least on the face of it, this short Emily Dickinson poem asks for a lifetime of experience all at once, all its grief and joy. As I understood it while creating this performance with original music, she weighs grief and joy as Taoist components. My music today for this has a touch of a slowcore approach. but I was also thinking of John Lee Hooke…

1
BBQ Bob 23:39

3M ago23:39

23:39

Bob Hicks was one of Atlanta’s most popular Bluesmen in the 20s. His gruff voice and 12-string bottleneck style got him a recording contract when a Columbia scout went to a Barbecue where Bob would cook, serve and sing! His ‘Barbecue Blues’ and ‘Going Up the Country’ were among his hit records and he put down many interpretations of classic Piedmon…

1
Wanderers Nightsong II 1:41

3M ago1:41

1:41

Goethe's short lyric poem in German wanders into this short folksong arrangement via an English translation by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that I slightly modified for this song performance with my music for 12-string guitar, bass, and piano.By Frank Hudson for the Parlando Project

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