Owain Phyfe
Berkley singer-songwriter
"Poets, Bards & Singers of Song"
Nightwatch Recording
The instruments of Renaissance music are as exotic as the languages in which the songs are sung: chitarra battente, bass viola da gamba, vihuela, corneto; ancient French, middle English, Latin, Ladino. Berkley singer-scholar-musician Owain Phyfe and his accompanists somehow make it all seem welcoming and familiar. Must be the kind of magic that Phyfe salutes in his introductory words about the mystic moods of twilight. This is mellow music, mostly about love, the sort of stuff they play while you're buying candles in gift shops up north. In an automobile, it also makes an ideal vaccine against road rage; new vehicles should come with an Phyfe recording as standard equipment.
Owain Phyfe performs at the Michigan Renaissance Festival each weekend. It ends its run Sept. 26. 248-634-5552 or 800-601-4848. OWAIN PHYFE; RENAISSANCE; MUSIC