Mumford & Sons: From Calgary to Taos to Telluride



The folk/rock band Mumford & Sons has announced its Summer Stampede tour.


The popular British-roots folk/rock band Mumford & Sons has announced its “Summer Stampede” tour.

Fans in Denver may be disappointed that their show at the Telluride Bluegrass festival is sold out.

But, as the Denver Post’s blog Reverb points out, tickets to the Taos show are still due to go up for sale. And, Taos is actually closer to Denver.  (By the way, check out the great photos taken at their Red Rocks show last year.) 

I hail from a southern Colorado town not too far from Taos. It’s a good place to soak up southwestern culture and art.

If you want to get caught up on Mumford & Sons songs, you can download them free from Freegal.

“They blew Bieber out of the water”: Mumford & Sons: Babel

Mumford & Sons' album Babel won Album of the Year.

It’s a bit heartening to see where music is going these days. Mumford & Sons’ Babel was the year’s biggest debut.

And it sounds like—well--music. A bunch of guys with banjos and guitars and a whole lot less electronic overlay.

"It blows Bieber out of the water," says Keith Caulfield, Billboard's director of charts. "Mumford isn't a traditional singles act. They appeal to consumers who still want the experience of an album. They have a wide appeal, from young folks who see them on tour to older NPR listeners."

The largest weekly take of 2012 belongs to Adele, another musician who sounds like she’s more interested in voice and other instruments than synthesizers.

Both Mumford & Sons and Adele are available for free download on Freegal.

Source Citation

Gundersen, Edna. "Mumford & Sons' 'Babel' ranks as year's biggest debut." USA Today 4 Oct. 2012: 01D. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.

From Vineyard Church to the Grammys: Mumford & Sons

Album of the year. The Big Kahuna.

Mumford & Sons won Album of the Year in 2013

Though it’s considered a British band, founder Marcus Mumford was born in California to ministers at the Vineyard Church, which held that the world was under Satanic domination.

There’s a childhood to inspire you.

Some say their appeal is partly because of their sartorial choices, but more for their music which mixes Contemporary Musicians describes“folk and bluegrass flavors with a good deal of literary ambition.”

Mumford became interested in this music when he received a copy of the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? “He considered bluegrass ideas music for traveling. CM tells us "Like John Steinbeck said, a journey is the thing in itself….England doesn't have the wide-open frontiers America has, but with those bluegrass tunes on the car stereo, you are almost there."

Quoting Steinbeck. Literary ambition. Perhaps next will be The Great American Album.

For now, you can get the songs on all their albums free, if you download them from Freegal.


Source:

"Mumford & Sons." Contemporary Musicians. Vol. 74. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.

First Grammy Win for Mumford & Sons: “Big Easy Express”

Mumford & Sons are Grammy winners in Best Long Form Video

Since the Grammy telecast only shows the presentation of 9 awards, we are left to glean the internet to find out the other winners.

Mumford & Sons won Best Long Form Music Video: "Big Easy Express" Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros & Old Crow Medicine Show.

Songs from Mumford & Sons are available on Freegal.

2013 Grammy Predictions: Mumford & Sons Babel

Mumford & Sons' album Babel has been nominated for album of the year.  (Image credit)

Babel is up for album of the year. EW says that “Mumford are right in the Grammy strike zone. Their other experts are going for fun. and Frank Ocean.

All the songs on Babel are available for free download on Freegal.

Since I live in the Denver area, I can’t resist the Colorado connection. Their new DVD Road to Red Rocks (our excellent outdoor concert venue) is available now.

Top of Freegal: Mumford & Sons and Old-Fashioned Stores

Mumford & Sons songs, including "The Cave" are available for free download from Freegal.


It just makes you feel cool to have songs from a group called Mumford & Sons. But you have to ask yourself if they would have done as well if they had gone with their original name “Marcus Mumford & His Merry Men.”

I’m thinking not so much.

Mumford explains the name change, "We called ourselves Mumford & Sons because we liked the idea of an old-fashioned family-owned store that sold cheese and whiskey, cigarettes and tools, stuff you cannot live without."

The Brit bluegrass-style band has lit up Freegal with songs “I Will Wait,” The Cave,” “Lover of the Light,” “Little Lion Man,” “Babel,” “Holland Road,” and “Where Are You Now?” all on the Top 100 downloads.


"Mumford & Sons." Contemporary Musicians. Vol. 74. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 1 Feb. 2013

“These Days of Dust”—“I Will Wait for You” by Mumford & Sons

Photo: NOAA George E. Marsh Album

Some people are into periods of history like Tudor England or WWI.

I’m into the Dust Bowl.

Maybe because I know what it’s like to be in a dust storm so bad you can’t see across the road. Maybe because I used to travel with my family across the belly of the dust bowl, through Clayton, New Mexico and Dalhart, Texas.

Maybe because I read a remarkable book called The Worst Hard Times. I found out that the static electricity in a duster would knock out the electronics in cars. People tried not to touch each other during a dust storm; the shock was so painful. They also tried canning thistles to eat. No food growing anywhere.

So when I hear a banjo and a line like “These days of dust,” well I just have to get the song.
It’s available, along with the rest of Mumford & Sons’ album Babel, from Freegal.