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listen hear! Song of the Day: Rufus Wainwright announces new album sharing first single "Down In The Willow Garden" feat. Brandi Carlile

Miranda Penn Turin

WFPK’s listen hear! Song of the Day spotlights a song we like weekdays at 11:10.

With the preview single, "Down In The Willow Garden,” Rufus Wainwright has announced his star-studded new album, Folkocracy, celebrating his 50th birthday, coming on June 2 via BMG.

"This album is almost like a recorded birthday party and birthday present to myself," says Rufus. "I just invited all the singers that I greatly admire and always wanted to sing with." Guest artists include John Legend, Chaka Khan, Madison Cunningham, Sheryl Crow, Andrew Bird, ANOHNI, David Byrne, Nicole Scherzinger, sisters Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche,

“Singing with Rufus feels like watching birds swirl around together instinctively in flight,” Brandi shared. Rufus added, “Brandi I see a lot, often with Joni Mitchell. I chose us a cheery little number – not! The song is so blatantly brutal and masochistic that I had to sing it with a woman. Sadly, we still live in a violent world. The amazing thing about so many folk songs is that, content wise, they sound very contemporary. Think of the gun crime in the States right now.”

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John is the mid-morning host on WFPK. Email John at jtimmons@lpm.org