“The blackest crow that ever flew
Would surely turn to white
If ever I proved false to you
Bright day would turn to night”

“Blackest Crow” is a traditional folksong from Appalachia and the Ozarks, likely with some Irish roots. Most modern versions go back to versions by Tommy Jarrell (1901-1985), a legendary fiddler, banjo player, and singer from the Mount Airy region of North Carolina’s Appalachian Mountains. Our version was inspired by the one done by Red Tail Ring, which seems to run though Bruce Molsky and back to Tommy.

The drawing is “Pesta Kommer, 1894–95 (Plague’s Coming)” by Norwegian artist Theodor Kittelsen (1857-1914), who made it for his 1900 book “Svartedauen (Black death).” And yes, it does change over the course of the video and, no, that has nothing to do with Kittelsen and everything to do with our perverse impulses.

Our friend Evelyne played cello on this one. All the other sounds are by us (Tim and Chrissy), aside from some samples from the 1956 movie “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

Happy Hallowe’en – here’s one more horror story in a traditional folksong. Because we couldn’t resist taking advantage of the glorious tunnel reverb and gorgeous assembled voices for one more song, despite it being damn cold.

Again, the talented music pals joining us for this were Sarah Howard, Kim Farris-Manning, Robin Kenny, and Rūta Auzina. (Big thanks to you all!)

We didn’t rehearse this as a group and this was only the second full take we got through.

“Dreadful Wind & Rain,” also known as “Two Sisters,” “Cruel Sister,” and similar variations is a traditional folksong that goes back to at least to the 1650s. Versions – or at least songs with similar themes and stories – have been collected in England, Scotland, Ireland, North America, Scandinavia, Poland, Hungary, etc. Our version is closest to the way Gillian Welch and David Rawlings do it in the soundtrack to Songcatcher, a pretty good film about collecting folksongs in Appalachia in the early 1900s

In the spirit of the Hallowe’en season, here’s our epic take on the traditional folksong “Cruel Mother,” a tragic ghost story that only seems to get more relevant all the time. (Spoiler alert: she’s not actually cruel, just cruelly alone and trapped by patriarchal forces.)

The video features Oddeline & Robin kenny and a whole crew of stellar friends, live from a tunnel near the Kitchissippi River. We didn’t rehearse this as a group and this was only the second full take we got through.

To introduce them properly, for this very special night, the extra members of Wychwood were:
– Oddeline , dream-folk singer-songwriter
https://oddeline.bandcamp.com/
– Robin Kenny, bardess and keytar wielder
https://www.instagram.com/robin.m.kenny/
– Kim Farris-Manning from Paramorph Collective,
experimental composer, arbor-artist, drag performer
https://www.facebook.com/paramorph.collective
http://kim.farris-manning.ca/
– Sarah Howard, singer-songwriter, slinger of simple chords and deep feelings
https://sarahhowardsongs.bandcamp.com/
-Rebecca Norton and Rūta Auzina, badass choir nerds
– Haley Wolk, banjoist, murder balladeer, half of Rubber Roses
-Megan Jensen, practiced jam-maestro, practical philosopher, pal, part-time clown
https://www.instagram.com/sunvvoyage/

Joshua John Kitz shot the video, wielding the (phone) camera artistic-like. We figure this is the beginning of his career as a videographer.

“Cruel Mother” is a folksong and traditional ballad from England that likely goes back to the 1600s in some form, with versions proliferating through much of the English-speaking world. The words we sing stitch together a few different versions collected by Francis James Child (it’s Child Ballad 20, for those who care). Musically, we were particularly inspired by the Frankie Armstrong’s raw and spine-tingling acapella version from her 1972 album Lovely on the Water. (https://youtu.be/X3MTAkj6phc)

Our words and chords are in this google doc.