Matthew Price - Freedom Machine

Artist: Matthew Price

Song: Freedom Machine

Album: Stranded (2009)

Genuine acoustic songs with lyrics and harmonies that become part of your life.

Matthew Price describes his music as freewheeling folk rock. He combines vivid, authentic stories with rhythmic, contagious melodies to offer listeners songs that they will never forget. Imagine Jack Johnson meets John Prine. The album was produced by Rob Stroup of 8 Ball Studios in Portland, Oregon. Matthew and Rob brought in some of the finest musicians in the Northwest to participate on the album. Credits include Tony Furtado, Skip Von Kuske, Drew Shoals, and Arthur Parker, among others. The seven song EP that resulted is a breathtakingly beautiful and tasteful representation of the music. Instrumentation includes, upright bass, acoustic drums, piano, Hammond B3 organ, dobro, cello, pedal steel, acoustic and electric guitar, electric slide, and rich harmonies. There is no filler on this album; just seven of Matthew’s best songs, period.

Video: Matthew Price plays guitar and sings his original song, Freedom Machine, while riding his bike, live sound and all. Filmed by Dan Smith.

Bela Fleck - Maura on a Bicycle, Stout and ...

Artist: Bela Fleck

Song: Maura on a Bicycle, Stout and Molasses, Way Back When

Album: Bluegrass Sessions: Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 2 (1999)

Premier banjo player Béla Fleck is considered one of the most innovative pickers in the world and has done much to demonstrate the versatility of his instrument, which he uses to play everything from traditional bluegrass to progressive jazz. He was named after composer Béla Bartok and was born in New York City. Around age 15, Fleck became fascinated with the banjo after hearing Flatt & Scruggs' "Ballad of Jed Clampett" and Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell's "Dueling Banjos," and his grandfather soon gave him one. While attending the High School of Music and Art in New York, Fleck worked on adapting bebop music for the banjo. (…)

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David Rovics - The Bicycle Song

Artist: David Rovics

Song: The Bicycle Song

Album: Make It So (1996)

David Rovics (born April 10, 1967) is an indie singer/songwriter and grassroots political protestor from the United States. His music is most accurately described as protest-folk and concerns topical subjects such as the 2003 Iraq war, anti-globalization and social justice issues. Rovics is an outspoken critic of not only George W. Bush and the Republican Party, but also figures like John Kerry and the Democratic Party as a whole. He is vocal on these subjects on stage, radio shows and in press releases.

Everybody's wondering what they're gonna do
Everything's a mess and folks are feeling blue
If your troubles get you down so much you can't abide
Get on that bicycle and ride

(chorus)
Yeah, get on that bicycle and ride
'Neath the sunny skies or along the oceanside
Just ride, ride, ride, ride, ride

They're doing it in Eugene, Havana and Shanghai
Even folks in Boston-town are giving it a try
Throwing out their gastanks, the clean air by their side
Get on that bicycle and ride

(chorus)

It's good for your heart and it's good for your brain
When those fluorescent lights are driving you insane
Your toes'll tingle in your shoes, when to the pedal they're applied
Just get on that bicycle and ride

(chorus)

If you're having troubles with your lovers, the tandem's made for that
You'll work together wonderfully or else you'll just go splat
Gonna shut down Main Street, make the bike paths far and wide
And get on that bicycle and ride

(chorus)

Skylark - Raining Bicycles

Artist: Skylark

Album: Raining Bicycles (1996)

Admirers of the superlative instrumental talents of accordionist Mairtin O'Connor, fiddler Gerry O'Connor and multi-instrumentalist Garry O Briain, or of the unique singing skills of Len Graham, will welcome this latest offering from Skylark. (more)

Defiance Ohio - To Lanterns, Denver, And One Last Lament

Artist: Defiance Ohio

Song: To Lanterns, Denver, And One Last Lament

Album: Defiance Ohio - Ghost Mice (split ep 2004)

Defiance, Ohio is an acoustic punk (typically referred to as folk-punk) band from Columbus, Ohio. They are known for their extensive touring and intense, enthusiastic live shows.

this song is about friends going their seperate ways. it's about missing the friends that I left behind in columbus. sometimes I have drifted away from people and now want nothing to do with them, but they still possess all the amazing traits that made me want to spend all the time I did with them. I want to remember this, and I want them to know this as we move on.

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saying "i hate" and "i didn't think the time was right," are sometimes the same or at least alike in action. i think you should say "this is what i want." maybe columbus went to far and bloomington, well that's where we are, but i'd like to think we would be relevent to each other again one of these days. (i want) you to be what all the printed cloth and papers proclaim! what all your favorite bands seem to explain.

who would have thought that i'd end up here, that you'd end up here, but that this is where you and i should end? though i think it should and know it's for the best, i want you to know that you're still just as beautiful as the day we met.

and when we speak again, i can tell you how i still can't roll cigarettes, or how i showed up in denver, once almost by accident, or how i learned of diogynes' haunts of rome in search of honest men. and you'd tell me things i could never predict, of bikes or of the baltic sear or the woes of your last laments. things i'd never expect ...

we write the songs of revolution, and we write the songs of the love. it's not always easy to sing along, and it's near impossible to sing twice as loud, when your best friend quits singing along!!!

Defiance Ohio - Bikes and Bridges

Artist: Defiance Ohio

Song: Bikes and Bridges

Album: Share What Ya' Got (2003)

Defiance, Ohio is an acoustic punk (typically referred to as folk-punk) band from Columbus, Ohio. They are known for their extensive touring and intense, enthusiastic live shows.

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Even columbus looks better on the back seat of a bike and all my fears get washed away in a stream of blinking lights and the concrete strip below seems less like a noose and more like a tie that binds or at least a tourniquet. it's been such a hard season and the bridges we burned might be all we had to keep us from drowning. but at least we had this time; and i'd like to think we're better off for it. i'll remember this. sometimes broken things make the best building supplies. and we'll keep on building. hearts aren't made of glass, they're made of muscle and blood and something else. and they don't so much as break as bend and tear. we have what it takes to keep it together; and move on.

Any relationship that matters - a friendship, a family, a romance, a band - anything - is a perilous and fragile thing because along with all the amazing experiences and creations that can come from something so intimate and exhausting comes the possibility for things to crumble and shatter or whither and die. when that happens, it's easy to forget what was precious amidst all the disaster. we should always carry our history with us but never let it bury us.

The Roches - My New Bicycle

Artist: The Roches

Song: My New Bicycle

Album: Will You Be My Friend? (1994)

Noted for their lush harmonies, quirky songs, and impressive stylistic range, the three Roche sisters -- Maggie, Terre, and Suzzy -- were among contemporary folk music's most endearing artists. The Roches began singing together while growing up in New York during the late '50s and early '60s, taking to the streets of the city each holiday season to regale passersby with Christmas carols. At the end of the decade both Maggie (the oldest) and Terre (the middle daughter) quit school to begin touring professionally as a duo. In 1970 they met Paul Simon, who tapped them to sing backup on his There… more

The three Roche sisters, Maggie, Suzzy, and Terre, have made one of the most enduring kids' records in a long time that speaks as easily to kids as it does to parents. Will You Be My Friend? is packed with melodic and inventive ditties that touch on meaningful subjects ranging from doing the laundry and facing disappointment to befriending the friendless (told as a story about a toad and turtles). The downright playful tune "Uncle Dave" sounds like an early American folk song plunked out by a fledgling kids' band (when was the last time you heard a couplet that rhymed "Brooklyn" with "good lookin'"!?!). The real prize here, among the many gems, is "Greetings," an imaginative look at our solar system told from the viewpoint of someone living on Mercury (which makes us the "aliens"). There hasn't been a space song this cosmically compelling since the Monty Python troupe sang "The Galaxy/Lighten Up." --Martin Keller

My New Bicycle is a folk tune, in a juvenile vein, has fun lyrics and nice harmonies.

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My new bicycle is race car blue
It used to belong to my big sister sue
She grew a little too tall
Then traded it to me
For my old basketball.

Riding that thing
I gotta sing
It's a blast
I never believed
I could go so fast

Up and down hills
Zipping through the town
Past the reservoir
When the sun slips down

I'm flying!

Back home I collected some rags
I snuck them out of my ma's old clothes bags
Bucket of water
And a squirt of soap
My bicycle's as clean
As the soul of a pope

Try My Bicycle - Lessons on Love and Junk

Artist: Try My Bicycle

Song: Lessons on Love and Junk

Album: Voicings (2007)

Folk with a solid jazz sensiblity.beautifully organic production with an emphasis on rich vocals/harmonies, musicianship, and recording live heartfelt studio performances.

Try Me Bicycle consists of four major players: Andy Naylor (Voice and Guitars), Jay Novak (Harmonies and Bass), Jacob Koller (Piano), Laraine Kaizer (Violin).

The history of Try Me Bicycle dates back to the fall of 2005, when we first met up to play through some material Andy had been working on. It was nothing serious, but the connection felt great from end to end, so we just kept working on material as Andy made it available. Eventually, we had mustered a live set’s worth of songs and began scheduling shows locally in our hometown of Phoenix, Arizona. Following one of those performances, we came in contact with songwriter/producer Michael Krassner (Patrick Park, Califone, Boxhead Ensemble, Simon Joyner). Michael wanted to record and produce the quartet and, given Michael’s reputation, we were ecstatic with such an offer. In November of 2006 we started recording and have since finished our first record together entitled “Voicings.”

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A light post off the desert plain down a road I’ve worn old
Lead me to a junkyard mirage of bicycle bones
There was a man with a heart
For his field of mechanical parts
He said take all the parts you like.
I found a bike with one tire
Found the handle bars, two pedals, and a chain entwined in the brior
With the rusted iron rot
Built this beautiful bike that I bought
Across the valleys, the moon lit the road that I’m ever to ride
Of but a prayer to see me thru
Take the old and make it brand new
And alright
I’ll ride that all night

Offer me something warm. Well I’d rather get high
To wine and dine with cultured crimes and eek my way by.
To be a moron with brains and whatever it takes to get laid
Turns out life just swept a broom over me
Sometimes I maybe right, sometimes I maybe wrong
In the end, love built a life out of me

R. Crumb and the Cheap Suit Serenaders - Pedal Your Blues Away

Artist: R. Crumb and the Cheap Suit Serenaders

Song: Pedal Your Blues Away

Album: R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders Number 3 (1978) – Singing in the Bathtub

 

R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders are a string band playing songs from, and in the style of, the 1920s. As a novelty, they issued a number of recordings on 78rpm discs in the 1970s, long after the format was obsolete. Their three albums (33rpm), all recorded in the 1970s on the Blue Goose label, were titled R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders, R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders No. 2 (1976), and R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders No. 3 (1978); the latter two have been reissued on the Shanachie label as Chasin' Rainbows (No. 2) and Singing In the Bathtub (No. 3). R. Crumb was the band's frontman and album cover artist though he is no longer much involved with the band. The band currently includes Bob Armstrong (vocals, saw, guitar), Bob Brozman (vocals, various steel instruments, guitar, ukulele), Al Dodge (vocals, mandolin), Terry Zwigoff (saw, cello, Stroh fiddle, and mandolin), and Tony Marcus

The group played old blues, white jazz and some original tunes, mostly with a 1920's pop / novelty sensibility. Most of the vocals for the band were sung by Crumb himself.

But who’s really R. Crumb? Robert Dennis Crumb is an American artist and illustrator recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream.

Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded as its most prominent figure. Though one of the most celebrated of comic book artists, Crumb's entire career has unfolded outside the mainstream comic book publishing industry. One of his most recognized works is the "Keep on Truckin'" comic, which became a widely distributed fixture of pop culture in the 1970s. Others are the characters Devil Girl, Fritz the Cat, and Mr. Natural. He also illustrated the album cover for Cheap Thrills by Big Brother and the Holding Company

 

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Pedal Your Blues Away, (Miller - Wells - Griffin)

Lundberg - V / Armstrong - STG / Dodge - MD / Marion - G / Brozman - U / Crumb - BJ / Zwigoff – VC

Pedal your blues away,
forget all your troubles for play.
Hop on your bike any time you like,
and pedal your blues away.
Pedal your blues away
and ride down the ol’ highway,
singing your songs as you roll along
pedaling your blues away.
CHORUS: You’ll fine lots of happiness as you spin along;
things are hunky-dory as you fly.
In the middle of your heart,
you’ll find a new song,
with your palsy-walsy riding by your side.
Pedal your blues away,
you’ll find love in every by-way.
Hold up your chin,
let them see you grin,
and pedal your blues away.
(REPEAT CHORUS)
Pedal your blues away,
you’ll find love in every by-way.
Hold up your chin,
let them see you grin,
and pedal your blues a-way!

John Renbourn - Bicycle Tune

Artist: John Renbourn

Songs: Bicycle Tune

Album: The Hermit (1976)

John Renbourn  is an English guitarist and songwriter. He is possibly best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle, although he maintained a solo career both before, during and after that band's existence (1967-1973). 

The Hermit is an all solo-instrumental set with no vocals (though another truly exceptional guitarist, John James, sits in on several tracks as well), featuring both originally composed material and adapted works by O'Carolan and others. I like this particular album by Renbourn because his treatment of the material does not fall victim to his one occasional weakness as a guitarist: a tendency toward repetition.

 

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Uncle Eck Dunford - My First Bicycle Ride

Artist: Uncle Eck Dunford

Song: My First Bicycle Ride

 

Uncle Eck Dunford, born in 1878 in Caroll County, West Virginia, was an old-time musician, singer and comedian as well as an eccentric character. During the 1920’s, he played mostly with Ernest Stoneman’s band on fiddle or guitar but also recorded a few sides by himself as lead singer. Later,in the 1930’s he played with members of the Ward family in a band called ”The Bogtrotters”. 

Apparently, Uncle Eck is best remembered for his archaic voice and eccentric personnality than for his playing on fiddle or guitar. From the few 78rpm records that went out under his name, two features him telling comic stories over Ernest Stoneman’s banjo playing.

 

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Tuna Helpers - Bicycle

Artist: The Tuna Helpers

Song: Bicycle

Album: Starring in… The Suspicious Fish (2002)

 

The Tuna Helpers are the queens of performance art in Austin, combining props, sign language and twisted childhood fantasies in a way that is both touching and hilarious. Adrienne's voice is probably the most fetching aspect of the band, but the lovely harmonizing keyboard melodies provided by Bethany, Stacy's eerie violin work, and Khattie's sparse and simple rhythms provide a truly original sound and live performance.  (…) In their world, it's all bicycles, dolls, and shit-smeared doors. The only thing missing on the album is Bethany's sign language. CD Review By Vanity Girl of Citizen Snob

 

"Bicycle" is a bucolic, Sunday-go-to-meeting waltz that barely conceals the underlying prurience…

 

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windy road
Down to the church house
Singing hymns
"he is all that is
smooth and unpainted"
"are you smooth are you
painted today?"
no, she's opened her blouse
to the mail man and his letters
send him off first class
he's a paper doll
but who'll sing the lullabies
who'll bake the dreams
in her apple pie?
Bicycle
she's our friend
you take her home now
tuck her in close her eyes
turn on the sugarplums
I'll sing the lullaby
I'll bake the prayers
in her book of light
don't ask for me
I'll send her my love
through a rosary
still stringing beads
and counting prayers and wishes
until she sees me

 

John Kirkpatrick - Pig On A Bicycle

Artist: John Kirkpatrick

Song: Pig On A Tricycle

Album: Carolling & Crumpets (2006)

 

A thorough understanding of folk traditions and a virtuosic mastery as an instrumentalist, John Kirkpatrick has risen to the top echelon of British folk music. A master of the button accordion, Anglo concertina, and melodeon, Kirkpatrick has balanced solo work; collaborations with his ex-wife and hammered dulcimer and oboe player Sue Harris in the 1980s; and session work with a lengthy and diverse list of artists, including Richard Thompson, Pere Ubu, Steeleye Span, Tarika Sammy, Gerry Rafferty, Tony Bird, and Loudon Wainwright III. Kirkpatrick has combined traditional folk music and modern… 

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(…) The delicious melodeon tune Pig On A Tricycle is a none-too-tenuously-named offering for the Redcar Sword Dancers, while John delights in his "swinging concertina bells" party-piece before ending the CD on a rousing note with the Lowry carol Rolling Downward. (…)

Sons Of The Never Wrong - Stylish Deb

Artist: Sons Of The Never Wrong

Song: Stylish Deb

Album: Nuthatch Suite (2005)

 

Sons of the Never Wrong are a folk trio from chicago made up of Bruce Roper, Deborah Lader, and Sue Demel. The band has been creating original "turbo-charged folk music" for 15 years to a cult-like national following. With their different take on three part harmony on top of witty, whimsical songs, Sons’ style springs from a tradition you’d swear you've heard, but this just ain't your grandpop's folk music.

 

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"Though very, very few and far, far between, it is discs like Nuthatch Suite that quickly exhaust a pundits descriptive dictionary while giving hope to the musically starved. Collectively, this hyper folk trio from Chicago are whimsical and wise folk alchemists, nudging their tradition based songs towards the edges of jazz, bluegrass, classical, oom-pah and lest we forget where it all comes from, gospel. Add all that to a literate lyricism and a vocal choreography that surpasses the usual 3 part harmony entering into jazzy syncopation and 'Nuthatch Suite' is the disc that keeps on giving. No matter how many times you listen, there's something new that catches your consciousness, making you smile, which makes choosing favorite tracks an injustius ... You owe it to yourself to hear this..." Mike Jurkovic, Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange

 

A kind of Twin Peaks version of Peter, Paul and Mary, the songs are wacky, original & uplifting, combining exquisite vocal harmonies which spill and spiral all over the place, glorious melodies and...er... unique lyrical perspective

 

Little children watch them grow

of proud parents on that birth day.

In adolescence it starts to show,

that's why daddy's turning gray.

The tricycle thief that steals

the heart turns the corner on the better part.

You give your best

but they inherit a baby-sitter and an old grandparent.

Hey ho we all know we're in too deep but so it goes.