Folk Roots Radio Episode 574: feat. Philip Scott Poli – Live At The Sun Parlour Coffee House Sessions & More New Releases

We have another great performance from our sister video show – The Sun Parlour Coffee House Sessions to bring you on Episode 574 of Folk Roots Radio. This time around we’re joined by Windsor ON based singer-songwriter Philip Scott Poli. Actually, we should say songwriter Philip Scott Poli because Phil is adamant that songwriting is what he loves to do and that he’s not that much of a singer or performer – but we’re going to let you be the judge of that. Phil gave us a great session late last year, and we’re pleased to bring part of that to you on this episode. As always, we also take a look at more of the latest new releases and this time around – it’s all by Canadian artists, as we hear from Bùmarang, Jean-Paul De Roover, Susan Ellenton, Craig Cardiff, Stéafán & Saskia, Scott MacKay, Shane Pendergast, Emmet MacLellan and David LaFleche. Check out the full playlist below.

Interview

Philip Scott Poli is a veteran of the Toronto music scene where he performed as a tenor vocalist with “The Fabulous Haircuts” for ten years.

A graduate of the Songwriting certificate program at the Berklee College of Music, Philip Scott Poli regards himself as much more of a songwriter than a live performer.

Phil released his first solo album “One Sky” in 2020, a collection of songs written over the past ten years. Recorded during months of Covid-19 isolation, One Sky is truly an international effort with musician friends from multiple countries collaborating on the project. He is currently hard at work on another album.

Philip Scott Poli joined us in the Quantum Sound Productions studio in Kingsville in late 2020 to record a safely socially distanced episode of the Sun Parlour Coffee House Sessions under the watchful eye of our video director Gary Glass.

More than 50 different artists have joined us in the studio to record a session. You can visit the Sun Parlour Coffee House Sessions online at sunparloursessions.com.

Visit Philip Scott Poli online at philipscottpoli.com.

Show Notes

David Gossage, Kate Bevan-Baker and Sarah Pagé make music together as Montreal folk trio Bùmarang. With a deep love and appreciation for Irish and Scottish Celtic music and English and Appalachian folk songs, they also weave in a wealth of other influences from classical to jazz, to African and Indian music. “Single Girl” is an old Appalachian folk song Kate found in “English Folk-Songs from the Southern Appalachians” by Cecil Sharp (which was originally published in 1917) and contains the lyrics and tunes for 274 different songs. Single Girl is normally played quickly which can makes it sound strident however Bùmarang decided to give it a dreamy makeover and more mournful feel. Their beautiful version will appear on their debut album “Echo Land” which is due later this year.

“The lyrics and situation in Single Girl are so timeless. We can look back to our mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers and feel this song will resonate with any of them and almost anywhere in the world,”

Prolific singer-songwriter Jean-Paul De Roover recently released a pair of thematic albums – the acoustic “Love” (2019) followed by the more electric alternative/rock album “Loss” from 2020. Jean-Paul De Roover’s latest single “This Letter” is intended to be a follow-up to the acoustic project. An absolutely beautiful song, it brings things right up to date as it tells the story of a letter from a frontline doctor to his family – torn between his dedication to keeping strangers alive during the pandemic, while wanting to keep his own family as safe as possible.

“The idea behind the song is that this frontline health care worker was well aware of the risk to his family but still knew he had to do it – something that I found both depressing and fascinating. Appreciate your frontline workers as often as you can.”

Susan Ellenton from Victoria BC has written a touching tribute to her father on “My Father’s Trees”. You can find it on her latest album, “Learning To Listen”.

Ottawa based singer-songwriter Craig Cardiff has just released his sixteenth album “All This Time Running”, and it’s his first for True North Records. The title track reflects on how far Craig has come in his career, while recognizing that it’s important to never lose touch with your roots.

The instrumental on this episode comes from Cobourg ON’s Stéafán Hannigan and Saskia Tomkins as Stéafán & Saskia with support from Sam Allison (Lotus Wight) and Oisin Hannigan. “Snowy Evening Waltz / The Severwright Waltz” comes from their fourth album, “The Loon’s Call” an album of tunes, written by Anne Delong. The Loon’s Call features multi-instrumentalist Stéafán Hannigan on guitar, flute, tin whistle, bagpipes (and more), with Saskia Tomkins (violin, viola and nyckelharpa), Sam Allison (double bass, banjo and jaw harp) and Oisin Hannigan (bodhran and assorted percussion).

Prince Edward Island’s Scott MacKay has a real love for country music from the 50s and 60s. This latest album “Stupid Cupid” has a wonderful vintage feel to it. On this episode we slow things down with the thoughtful and reflective “They’re Makin’ Love Below Us”.

Staying on PEI, Tracadie Cross singer-songwriter Shane Pendergast has just released his second album of maritime folk, the appropriately entitled “Second Wind” which was recorded live off the floor at St. Bonaventure’s Church at the mouth of the Tracadie Bay.

We have one more song from PEI on this episode. We feature Emmet MacLellan with their poppy new single “Fine”, a co-write with producer Adam Gallant (Rose Cousins, Tara Maclean) and a song that’s all about wanting to escape to a more authentic life. This catchy song definitely has a touch of a young Mo Kenney about it. Emmet (who is related to Catherine MacLellan), is definitely one to watch.

“This song is about wanting to escape, codependency, and repressed anger fuelling the ego/subconscious mind. It is emotionally chaotic lyrically and peppy at the same time (because everything is fine).”

“We Collided” is the first single from Quebec music director turned singer-songwriter David LaFleche‘s debut album, “Everyday Son”, which is due later this year. Written with fellow singer-songwriter and partner Marie Mai (who provided the lyrics), David’s musical path changed dramatically when he picked up an 1988 Martin guitar on a trip to Nashville and started to play.

“I understand inspiration can come from anything, it might be the time of day, the weather, the person in front of you, or the place you’re traveling to. Being away from home, in a city that erupts with musical energy, made me feel free as a bird and unlocked this creative process. Only then did my music start pouring out of me like an unstopping force of nature. I felt at that moment that this was just the start of many ideas to come.”

That’s all we have time for. Thanks to all the artists who share their music with us, and thank you for listening. We have lots of great music and interviews to bring you on future episodes.

If you enjoy the music we play on this show and want to support the artists – many of whom aren’t able to play live at the moment because of the Covid-19 pandemic, don’t just stream their music – that earns them much less than a penny per play. Instead, buy their music – and really make a difference to their income. They’ll love you for it!

Listen

You can listen to this episode again on Soundcloud by following the link below. You can also listen to episodes of Folk Roots Radio, on demand, via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and Tune-in Radio. (Click on the highlighted link to reach your chosen platform.)

Playlist

Nicolas & The Iceni (Theme)
Lucy She Rises
Roll Right (2019, self)

Bùmarang
Single Girl
Echo Land (2021, Fallen Tree Records) CDN

Jean-Paul De Roover
This Letter
This Letter (2021, Self) CDN

Susan Ellenton
My Father’s Trees
Learning To Listen (2020, Self) CDN

Craig Cardiff
All This Time Running
All This Time Running (2021, True North Records) CDN

Stéafán & Saskia
Snowy Evening Waltz / The Severwright Waltz
The Loon’s Call – Tunes From The North Shore By Anne Delong (2020, Self) CDN

Philip Scott Poli
One Sky (Live)
Live at the Sun Parlour Coffee House Sessions (2020, Self) CDN

Philip Scott Poli
In My Father’s Heart
Live at the Sun Parlour Coffee House Sessions (2020, Self) CDN

Philip Scott Poli
String Of Pearls
Live at the Sun Parlour Coffee House Sessions (2020, Self) CDN

Interview: Philip Scott Poli discussing his songwriting at the Sun Parlour Coffee House Sessions.

Philip Scott Poli
Where Do All The Hit Songs Go?
Live at the Sun Parlour Coffee House Sessions (2020, Self) CDN

Scott MacKay
They’re Makin’ Love Below Us
Stupid Cupid (2021, Self) CDN

Shane Pendergast
Second Wind
Second Wind (2021, Self) CDN

Emmet MacLellan
Fine
(single) (2021, Self) CDN

David LaFleche
We Collided
(single) (2020, Self) CDN