Back in May, I set off on a new experiment for the music section of Orient Lodge. I set up an account with SonicBids so that emerging artists could submit their music to me for review. The initial agreement was to run for three months, and at the end of three months see how it went and how best to proceed.

My goal was to put up a review on a weekly basis, or as close to it as possible. I recognized that in some cases I might be writing about other music as well, such as the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival which I regularly attend. So, I committed to reviewing a minimum of five submissions, but potentially reviewing considerably more.

As of August 4th, which was the end of the submission period, I have received 71 submissions. My review today will be my ninth review. I hope to get a few some more reviews completed before September 4th which was the date that I agreed to finalize my decisions about whom I will review. That said, some of my reviews might end up being posted online after September 4th.

It has been a great process and I’ve really enjoyed listening to some of the artists. I hope some of you have enjoyed finding out about some of these new artists as well. With that, let me talk about today’s selection.

I first listened to Spuyten Duyvil’s electronic press kit that they submitted for Falcon Ridge. I liked their music, but it didn’t wow me. Musically, they sound great but the lyrics didn’t resonate with my life. Then, at Falcon Ridge, I heard them play as part of the Thursday evening activities and I liked them much better, and they also sounded great on the main stage as part of the Emerging Artists Showcase.

What does resonate with me about Spuyten Duyvil is that for me they capture an important spirit of folk music. They are probably best heard at festival and farmers markets. On some Saturday’s they play at the Hastings Farmers Market. Local food, local music; it doesn’t get much better than that. Besides Falcon Ridge they also recently played at the Huntingon Folk Festival. They also Tweet about what is going on in the folk scene. Yet where they seem to be at their best is swapping songs and stories late at night on a hill in Hillsdale, NY, or other places where the hard core folk music fans gather.

So, pay attention to their calendar of events, and seek out opportunities the hear them live.