The Folk Brothers for Jan. 26, 2022: Transatlantic crossings

The Folk Brothers love ballads, especially ones which have crossed the "pond" more than once. "The Golden Willow Tree," on Jake Xerxes Fussell's new album Good and Green Away, is a prime example. Originally penned in the early 1600s as "Walter Raleigh In The Lowlands,"  the warship and the title have been variously called "The Golden Vanity," "The Sweet Trinity," and "The Turkish Revelry."

This morning we also played Hannah Sander and Ben Savages' version of "(Rovin' On) A Winter's Night." They  learned their version from Doc Watson, but the ballad undoubtedy originated in England before travelling to Appalachia (and then back again to the UK!).

Davisville, Jan. 24, 2022, updating a top UC research story: How cattle plus seaweed will help the climate

You might remember this story from all the attention it got in spring 2021: Research at UC Davis says that adding small amounts of a certain seaweed to cows’ diets reduces the methane they produce by up to 82 percent. This change in diet could do a lot to help the climate, because cattle and other ruminants produce about 5 percent of greenhouse gases in the United States.

The University of California says this work was one of its 10 best UC research stories for 2021. Today we update the story with UC Davis Animal Science Prof. Ermias Kebreab, who explains the research, its value in feeding people and reducing climate change, and how far along they are in bringing their work to market.

The Folk Brothers for Jan. 19, 2022: Who connects the musical dots from The Detectorists to Worzel Gummidge?

It's Mackenzie Crook. After The Office, Crook wrote, directed and starred in The Detectorists, the hit BBC4 series featuring a theme song by Johnny Flynn. Most recently, Crook (pictured) has revived "Worzel Gummidge" -- the scarecrow from Barbara Euphian Todd's children's books -- with music from The Unthanks.

Also on today's show, find out how Iona Fyfe rewrote Richard Thompson's "Poor Ditching Boy" in Scots Dorian, and why Jason Isbell made an album of covers by Georgian songwriters. And much more!

The Folk Brothers for Jan. 12, 2022: Live from Glasgow

That is, Kris Drever will be live from Glasgow, Scotland, joined by a band including Louis Abbott (Admiral Fallow) who has been busy rehearsing for the livestream on Monday, Jan. 17. This morning we played the title track from Drever's 2014 release Mark the Hard Earth. We followed that with The Pogues' version of "Greenland Whale Fisheries," one of the songs Kris is working up for his online concert.

Also on today's show: old timey music from Molsky's Mountain Drifters, trans-European trad Celtic from Fourth Moon, the theme music by The East Pointers from New Zealand's Under The Vines TV mini-series, and much more!