He Mistook Her For a Swan

hey everyone - as some of you know - between March 2020 and April 2021 I put out a weekly show affectionately known as the HMHFAS Emergency Broadcast History of Folk (with Swearing) every Sunday for 52 weeks.   The whole thing started out pretty shakey and lo fi but gradually I got the hang of it and it got better.   Every week I'd pick some folk related topic and dive deep into it, taking time to veer off carelessly into any old side story I happened to run into.  At the end of most of the shows - I'd do a song.     I went through all the songs over the last month and picked 12 that seemed to be pretty good.   I tidied them up as best as I could and I'm putting them out there for anyone to listen to.   They are all traditional songs except End of the Show by the great Frank Nevada and Dying Crapshooters Blues by Blind Willie McTell.    Mostly I'd just figure out the song the day before and then sit down in front of the camera on Sunday and record them so there's a lo-fi punk approach to alot of them.    A few of the later ones got more production but were mostly put together over just a few days.    

Now that I've got this done - Colleen and I are already talking about the next album.   Cant wait!

Its Canadian Thanksgiving!  This week we take a little walk in the woods, just like Katie Cruel did, but this time its "In the Pines" which is even scarier!     Taking a deeping dive into Leadbelly's amazing life and legacy as well.

He Mistook Her For A Swan - Emergency Broadcasting System - Episode 28

and dont forget to check out the Joe Hill and Pete Seeger shows (Episode 27 and 26) , some pretty interesting stuff there...

hi everyone,

its been a while but the EBS shows keep coming every Sunday.   We're up to 25 this week believe it or not!   This week - we take a look at the Cuckoo and its not pretty!   Check it out:

The Cuckoo with He Mistook Her For A Swan Episode 25

Its episode 16 and it's national Daiquiri day!   Talking a bit today about our upcoming album release, a bit about our friend over at Parallel Universe and his on-line shop launch, a little bit about folk guitar gods John Martyn and Nick Drake.   Then we pull out all the stops and give you an actual live performance from the deck with Colleen and myself. 

Episode 16

No! not the Broadway show, the actual musical world of Oklahoma!   And its pretty deep.    From Woody Guthrie to Hoyt Axton to modern day Red Dirt music, it is happening in OK and we'll take you there.   

Willie's got anew album out you might want to check out - if you love Willie Nelson, you'll love this:

Willie Nelson - First Rose of Spring

Its Pierre Berton's birthday and I've gotta revisit my favorite clip from the Rick Mercer show where Pierre at 84 shows a youngster the correct way to roll a coner.

Pierre Berton on Rick Mercer

Mostly I'm thinking about Woody Guthrie and the seismic impact he has had on American music.  Here's the link to Episode 15:

He Mistook Her For A Swan - Episode 15

I did a take of Walking Down The Road Feeling Bad which is a Traditional folk song 'of uncertain origin' which is my favorite kind of origin.   Lots of people have done it before and after Woody but he kind of owns it doesnt he?

Steve

Episode 14 is out and we're doing the Townes!    Townes Van Zandt - one of the greatest song writers of recent times and a fascinating guy.    Lets dig it!   And then we do a traditional song Townes had in his set - Cocaine.    Check it out!

Episodes 11 and 12.   Good Grief - its an even dozen now!     Episode 11 is all about Karen Dalton and we have a performance of Katie Cruel by HMHFAS, and Episode 12 is about the Cameron Public House, Handsome Ned and the great Ned song Steel Rail Blue.    Check it out on the tube of you.

Here's the link to the channel (its on our home page too!): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjAcj81GRqWRoyzo--cnnOA/

Here they are :

Episode 11

Episode 12

holy schmoley - 2 more episodes of the EBS...    

9 digs into the gruesome tale of the 2 sisters with an actual performance by HMHFAS for ya

10 sets the way back machine to 1982 and we see what's going on in Rock'a'Billy world until Herald Nix comes to down and burns our playhouse down.

Episode 8 is out and its a good one.   A new smash folk rock much music video by the Parkdale branch of He Mistook Her For A Swan kicks it off!   Then we get into the meaning of life via Open D tuning believe it or not.   In our stream of consciousness travels I we touch on Elmore James, Jelly Roll Morton, Elizabeth Cotton, Calgary Glam in the 70's, Johnny Lovesin and more! 

Here's the link:: 

Episode 8

Here's the link to the channel: 

HMHFAS Emergency Broadcasting System Channel

as you can see - we're still called UCjA81 blah blah blah instead of something normal cause we dont have 100 subscribers.   HELP!   Call your uncle - get him to subscribe.... 

Hope you're all well, safe and sane and not in jail.   Love hearing from you so feel free to reach out any time.

hi everyone, 

happy Victoria day, happy Wreckless Eric's birthday, happy National Cheese Soufle day!    Today I'm off on a bit of a tangent talking about the Viletones, punk rock, rock'a'billy, Gang of Four and Elizabeth Cotton. 

Hope everyone is doing well and hanging in there.    We've got a bunch of stuff in the works for next week but in the meantime check out Episode 7! 

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Dont forget to subscribe if you haven't already.   Let us know how you're doing - always great to hear from everyone! 

Here's the link: 

Episode 7

And here's a few other interesting things for you if you're bored: 

Wreckless Eric

Skiffle Version of Elizabeth Cotton's Freight Train

Elizabeth Cotton Shake Sugaree