music monday: johnny flynn & the sussex wit.
this is not about mumford & sons. although i do love them and this super quick french version of awake my soul, they are too obvious. see that guy playing fiddle in the video? that is johnny flynn and i have loved him for quite a while now.
i don’t even know how to describe their sound. pained? surely. folk? that sounds so lame. but there are definitely banjos… so… yes? as i’ve been googling i’ve read terms like ‘brit-folk’ and ‘whimsy’. both are stupid. there’s truth in their music – the lyrics deal with things that you and i might have experience with a great deal of sophistication that one might find in british literature. and the speed of the music and depth of the words bear a striking resemblance to the way your mind might work through some of your problems whether it be on a train going somewhere or as you lay in bed unable to sleep… only with a banjo.
‘it’s obvious that he’s absorbed a great deal of poetic clout from the old English texts he’s spent so long enacting– notice how he cleverly uses the written-letter motif of “The Wrote and the Writ” to offer sly insight into love, loss, and religious faith.’
Wonderful post. I love finding new music. I love the bluegrass sound that has been coming into mainstream music lately. It is something that a lot of the world doesn’t hear and it’s great to get it out there. I am going to have to get Johnny Flynn’s album. Thanks for the great selection.
its all about the banjo.
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I love him too! He’s amazing!
See him live and it will blow your mind!
If your buying his CD, buy both of them. A Larum and Been Listening. Both are excellent!
i completely agree, michelle!
My friend Rebecca Pierce introduced me to him – what a talent! Saw him last May and going again April 1 in NYC – tix are $10! Haha!! They don’t know him yet!!
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