Cordelia's Dad is a band from

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...

that combines

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

and punk rock influences and was instrumental in the creation of the genre later to be dubbed " No Depression". The band formed in 1987 and was active until 1998, when the members relocated to different parts of the country. After releasing an album of older material in 2002 the band reunited in 2007 for their twentieth anniversary.

Career

Cordelia's Dad was founded in 1987 by

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

students

Tim Eriksen Tim Eriksen is an American musician, musicologist, and professor. He is the leader of the band Cordelia's Dad, a solo artist, and was a performer and consultant for the award-winning soundtrack of the film '' Cold Mountain''. Cordelia's Dad C ...

(bass, vocals), Peter Irvine (drums), Tom King (guitar). Although all three had previous experiences with

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

American music their initial sound was closer to that of

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

bands like

Dinosaur Jr. Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984, originally simply called Dinosaur until legal issues forced a change in name. The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter), Lou Barlow ( ...

and accordingly they recorded their first,

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

album at

Fort Apache Studios Fort Apache Studios is a New England recording studio focusing on alternative rock sessions produced there since 1986. History The studio was initially built by a collective begun in 1985 by musician/producer Joe Harvard and members of a band ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. The main distinguishing characteristic from their Fort Apache peers was that with few exceptions, their early recorded output consisted entirely of Anglo-American traditional folk tunes recorded as rock songs. Their second album ''How Can I Sleep'', recorded by Dave Schramm continued the prominent use of traditional material, but increased the share of songs played as acoustic folk songs, starting a trend to call the sound of the band "

schizophrenic Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

". The transition to folk outfit was completed in 1993 with the recording of the limited release mini-album ''The Joy Fun Garden'' for German mail order label Return to Sender (a sublabel of Normal Records, which released all Cordelia's Dad albums in Germany). King left after the recording to be replaced by bassist Cath Oss. Eriksen switched to guitar and their third regular album, ''Comet'' (1995) continued the conversion toward an acoustic sound, with only a single song, the closer "Jersey City", being played with rock instruments. In 1996, the band released the punk-infused live album ''Road Kill'' (1996) as a farewell to their rock side, which for the next years would continue only as a side project named "io". The members of the main, now fully acoustic band had previously taken up

shape note Shape notes are a musical notation designed to facilitate congregational and social singing. The notation, introduced in late 18th century England, became a popular teaching device in American singing schools. Shapes were added to the noteh ...

singing, and the new interest made an appearance on the

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal en ...

produced album ''Spine'' (1998), for which folk fiddler

Laura Risk Laura Risk is a California-born violinist. She specializes in performing and teaching the diverse fiddle repertoire of Scotland and Quebec. Risk performs both solo and in collaboration with such artists as Sandy Silva, Ken Kolodner, and Paddy Lea ...

joined the band. ''Spine'' would become their most critically acclaimed album, but also the last for four years, as band members moved away from their Western Massachusetts home base. Irvine moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

to become a music lawyer, Oss moved to

Newcastle Upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

, later joining Spraydog, while Eriksen moved to

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

and later participated in creating the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

for the movie '' Cold Mountain''. The album ''What It Is'', while released in 2002, contained music recorded during two sessions in 1997–98, and the band remained in hiatus until Eriksen and Irvine moved back to Massachusetts, and to celebrate their 20th anniversary, decided to reunite for local shows, playing both acoustic and electric sets.

Discography

* 1990 ''Cordelia's Dad'' (

OKra Okra or Okro (, ), ''Abelmoschus esculentus'', known in many English-speaking countries as ladies' fingers or ochro, is a flowering plant in the mallow family. It has edible green seed pods. The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with su ...

)

Allmusic review AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

/small> * 1992 ''How Can I Sleep?'' (OKra)

/small> * 1993 ''The Joy Fun Garden'' (Return to Sender, limited release)

/small> * 1995 ''Comet'' (Omnium)

/small> * 1996 ''Road Kill'' (Scenescof, live album)

/small> * 1998 ''Spine'' (Appleseed)

/small> * 1998 " How Can I Keep from Singing", song on ''Where Have All the Flowers Gone: The Songs of Pete Seeger'' (Appleseed)

/small> * 2002 ''What It Is'' (Kimchee)

Various reviews
/small> * 2003 "Jane"/"Promise"/"Closing Year" three-song EP (Dark Beloved Cloud) * 2011 "Double Live" one disc acoustic, one disk electric

External links

Band website

Tim Eriksen's website

References

* Colin Larkin: "Cordelia's Dad" (profile), ''The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', p. 938, Guinness World Records Limited; 2nd Rev Ed (1995). * Irwin Stambler, Lyndon Stambler: "Cordelia's Dad" (profile), ''Folk and Blues: The Premier Encyclopedia of American Roots Music'',

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

(2001). * Stewart Mason: ''Cordelia's Dad Biography'', ''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' [] Retrieved 26 January 2008. * Michael Ruff: "''Cordelia's Dad''" (album review), ''Spex (magazine), Spex'' December 1990, pp. 55f. * Jörg Heiser: "''How Can I Sleep''" (album review), ''Spex'' January 1993, p. 80. * Paul A. Harris: "Quick Change Act: Cordelia's Dad Moves From Pure to Punk", ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-Dem ...

'', 10 March 1995. (via Factiva) * Wolfgang Doebeling: "''Comet'' (Vinyl)" (album review) ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' (German edition), April 199

Retrieved 27 January 2008. * Bill Eichenberger: "Playlist: ''Comet'' Leaves Dark Trail From Our Past", ''

The Columbus Dispatch ''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication in 19 ...

'', 6 July 1995. (via Factiva) * ''

Edinburgh Evening News The ''Edinburgh Evening News'' is a daily newspaper and website based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded by John Wilson (1844–1909) and first published in 1873. It is printed daily, except on Sundays. It is owned by JPIMedia, which also ...

'': "Reviews - Tim Eriksen - Folk ready to be punk-rocked to its foundations", 3 April 2002. (via Factiva) * Larry Katz: "The shape note of things to come", ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulit ...

'', 26 December 2003. (via Factiva) * Randy Harward: "''What It Is''" (album review) ''

CMJ New Music Monthly CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

'' Issue 765, 3 June 2002. * Chuck Eddy: "Cordelia's Dad; A Thousand Times Yes; Sullen", ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

'' 8–14 October 200

Retrieved 27 January 2008. {{Authority control Musical groups from Massachusetts