Crazy Man Michael is a folk rock classic, written by Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick. It could have been written for us. This is the simple story of a man who goes to the beach and gets angry with a raven and kills her, only to find out that she was really his true love.
Madness, magic and murder, a corvid and a beach. It’s very us.
I’ve been singing Crazy Man Michael since my teens, so, when we had to find a way of taking a graphic novel series to a book festival, I sang it as part of the set we put together to explore island life. This year, it’s in the Ominous Folk show.
The story in the show hangs between two songs – this one, and the equally beautiful and perplexing response to it written by Talis Kimberly.
The Hopeless Vendetta 
I loved the quartet’s performances at the Tales of Witchcraft and Wonder in Gloucester over the weekend. Nice to hear the original Mad Michael as part of this post.
thank you!