Judy Dyble and SftBH, "I Don't Know Where I Stand."

I've had a crush on Judy Dyble since I got Fairport Convention's first album in 1970 and heard her sing this lovely Joni Mitchell song. Here is a recent video of her doing it with Songs from the Blue House, "the world's best ever East Angliacana group." Four years ago I posted a video of her, along with Vicki Clayton and a protean version of Fairport, one of Britain's leading folk-rock groups, doing an obscure Dylan song in French (go figure), which you can see here.  I also included a video of Fairport from the time of that first album, doing the driving rocker "Time Will Show the Wiser" with Judy on harmony, in my iPod Log 4.


Above is a clip of Judy singing "(In the) Dreamtime," a song she wrote with John Gillies, from her 2009 album Talking With Strangers. She's joined here on vocals by another of the legendary ladies of British folk, Jacqui McShee of Pentangle.

Rich & Dan's Rye IPA, by Harpoon

You may have notced, if you've been following this blog for a while, that I like India pale ales, or IPAs. Most--indeed all that I had encountered to date--are, like most beers and ales, based on barley malt. So, my curiosity was piqued when I saw "Rye IPA" on the label of a bottle from Harpoon, a craft brewer with breweries in Boston and Windsor, Vermont. Yesterday I tried it, as an accompaniment to a Hanco's classic Vietnamese sandwich, prepared spicy. Here are my tasting notes:

Color: medium amber.

Head: modest, not long-lasting.

Aroma: hoppy; slightly floral.

Taste: like most IPAs, there is a forward hop bitterness, but here it's not overwhelming. I was wondering what difference the use of rye would make, expecting something that might taste like rye bread. It doesn't, but there is a subtle difference. In comparison to IPAs using barley, I'd say that the rye IPA has a flavor balancing the hops that I can only describe as "deeper." There's a pleasant toasty finish.

Overall: well made and satisfying. It went nicely with the spicy sandwich.