105. Single Review of The Communal Well by Juneau
Originally Published on March 28th, 2025
The Legacy of Folk Music
About a week ago, I got a message from somebody asking if Fifteen Minutes of Fame had a classic rock playlist. I explained how our playlists were general. The gentleman then asked if one of his songs could be considered. That he was an artist from Paris, France. He explained that he’s “not seeing fifteen minutes of fame,” but wanted his music to be considered anyway.
I started listening.
Something immediately stuck out to me. This wasn’t classic rock music. Maybe it could be associated with it in some ways, but I wasn’t hearing hard rock so much as I was hearing folk music. It was an instrumental song, but it was folk. I went to the next song; folk, roots, and maybe a dash of bluegrass.
I wrote back.
“I have a very ignorant question, I apologize. Is folk music prominent in France?” He kindly responded that he didn’t see much of a folk scene there.
I’ve always considered folk music and roots music to be a less popular genre that sort of resonated within the eastern half of the US. But it’s been emerging in different places. Since the late 2000’s and early 2010’s, mainstream artists like Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, and others started to build a scene for it. Then Mumford and Sons hit airwaves from over in England (they’re folk with a twist of bluegrass, but still). Now, artists like Taylor Swift and many more are experimenting with the genre.
Fifteen Minutes of Fame have had their own exposure to folk music with artists like Kathi Deakin, Novelley, John Wallace, and Viktor & Grace - all from countries outside of the US - all musicians with a very rich folk influence. Now, as I am listening to The Communal Well, it has me wondering where this gradual expansion of folk music is coming from.
Not even a month ago, my wife and I sat down to watch A Complete Unknown, the story about Bob Dylan and how he came to be known in the music industry. In the story, the character Pete Seeger was the most prominent name in folk music at the time, but the genre was struggling and Seeger wanted to revive it.
From out of nowhere, walks this young man who resonated with Seeger the moment he struck his first chord. The real moment came, though, when Dylan’s character was playing at a folk festival in New England and he surprised the audience with a performance of the song The Times They Are A-Changing.
Understanding the climate of the world then, I began to realize folk is a meaningful reaction people have to a violent, volatile world. It almost senses the world breaking and, like Johnny Appleseed who emerged from Pennsylvania to sew seeds and create orchards all along the eastern part of the states, it sews its message of peace. Well, the world is violent. The world is volatile. Times are, indeed, “A-Changing,” once again. Last night, my wife and I went to see Joy Oladokun perform in the historic Ryman Auditorium. A relatively new but prominent voice in folk. Defying stereotypes, we watched this young, beautiful, black, homosexual woman shatter every glass ceiling around her for miles. I finally connected the dots. The voice of peace is rising and it will once again prevail.
About the Artist
The Communal Well are a collection of individuals who, around founding member Roger Hoeberichts, produce a pleasant bland of classic and southern rock, roots, soul, and yes, folk music. Their first release came in 2011 with the release of their EP, Wonderland, a 6-song collection of organic and roots-rich acoustic music.
Their debut album, Under a Western Sky, released in 2013. This album seems to debut their more rock/southern rock sounds as they incorporate electric instruments into their music. Stylistically, there are elements of both rock and folk in this album.
In their follow up, Rise Up, they lean heavily into the southern rock sound and style of their debut album.
In 2024, they released the album, Bound to Break, in sequentially released singles over the course of the year. Bound to Break saw a return to a more diverse sound as they reincorporated more acoustic elements to their music.
Now, the Communal Well are poised to release another album in sequence, entitled Skating, with the title track releasing on December 4th, 2024, Hard Times releasing on January 31st, 2025, and most recently, Juneau on March 20th.
About the Music
In the 3 sequentially released tracks, The Communal Well have taken steps to revert back to their original work released in their debut. The music is primarily acoustic, and soft in nature. Two of the songs, Skating and Juneau, are instrumental tracks.
There is a “jam” element to these latest releases. I could almost believe that there are a room full of musicians who were just sitting in a circle, improvising together. The vibe is very in-tuned to one another.
Juneau reminds me of the composition of the acclaimed composer Carter Burwell. The improvisation of the floutist, almost sounding as it were a butterfly flying through the air; random but with purpose.
I appreciate the give and take of energy between some of the entrances of the organ and the syncopated guitar parts sharing the energy and responsibility for facilitating what intends to be more complex or more simplistic in nature at times, then merging to a unison performance. The flow is so natural, I could listen to this song if it were twenty minutes long.
Final Thoughts
The Communal Well may very well be performing in a geographical location that doesn’t present much in the ways of folk music, but their dynamic energy and enthusiasm for the genre is the same recipe that has historically proven to start a movement.
What makes The Communal Well particularly special is Hoeberichts’ willingness to name this project in acknowledging the musicians who contribute. In not naming them individually, but collectively, it’s as if to say his “band” is the movement to where this music has been taking them, and takes us now. The Communal Well is playing the soundtrack to our lives; to the climate of the world we live in. We are all members of “The Communal Well.”
I don’t know if I’m seeing it because I’m looking for it or if I am simply becoming aware to it, but musicians seem to be “banding together” around the world in a collective call to arms. The Communal Well have enriched passion into their music and shown, without lyrics, music is the way out of it.
If The Communal Well are leading the way, I feel compelled to follow.
Their YouTube Channel can be located here.
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