FAI Folk Radio Airplay Charts – July 2020

Cabin Fever: Songs From the Quarantine by John McCutcheon was the top album on folk radio for a second consecutive month in July 2020, while the revered folksinger-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist also was the month’s top artist and folk-rock harmony trio Gathering Time’s rendition of “Get Together” was the month’s #1 song. So say charts compiled by Folk Alliance International based on radio playlists submitted to FOLKDJ-L, an electronic discussion group for DJs and others interested in folk-based music on the radio.

John McCutcheon, a performing and recording artist since the mid-1970s, was the most-played artist for three consecutive years (2017-2019) and also had both the top album (To Everyone in All the World: A Celebration of Pete Seeger) and the top song (“Well May the World Go”) on folk radio during 2019. McCutcheon’s classic “Christmas in the Trenches” has been among the most-played songs during the holiday season for years. Cabin Fever: Songs From the Quarantine is his 41st recording. McCutcheon, also a longtime labor and social activist, wrote its 17 songs while self-quarantined in his north Georgia cabin during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, after returning from an Australian tour in mid-March.

Gathering Time — the Long Island, NY-based trio of Stuart Markus, Hillary Foxsong and Gerry McKeveny — is known for its three-part harmonies and instrumental acumen on both originals and choice covers. The group has drawn the attention of folk fans with a sound reminiscent of musical luminaries such as The Byrds, Peter, Paul & Mary, and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Gathering Time’s songs have been widely played on folk radio; its last three albums having made the top five on the monthly folk radio airplay charts. Its most recent full-length release, Keepsake, was the #1 album and featured the month’s most-played song on folk radio during March 2016. Its cover of The Youngbloods’ classic “Getting Together” appears on the trio’s new album, Old Friends – a collection of classic folk-rock songs from the 1960s and 1970s that is slated for release on September 1.

The July 2020 Top Albums, Songs and Artists charts are based on 11,909 airplays reported on 408 playlists submitted by 103 different DJs. The number of reported spins appears in parentheses.

Folk Alliance International (www.folk.org) is a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen, and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion.

To view the monthly top albums, songs and artists charts, click on the link below:

https://www.folkradio.org/chart/july-2020/#albums