The folking.com music archive for album reviews and news

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This is a list of everything we have on folking.com in date and month order. So if you like trawling the depths of the site for amazing content that you may have missed then this is the place to “net” an article, feature or review or two.

The archive is a work in progress as we still have gaps to fill from 2009 back to 2001. Most of the missing content are older album reviews which require reformatting with each article having to be submitted back on to the site with album covers and links to where they can be obtained from (where available).


RYAN YOUNG – Just A Second (own label RYM02CD)

Ryan Young’s Just A Second is his second album and much delayed (his debut came six years ago) because of a problem in his left ...

MISCELLANY OF FOLK – Atlantic Sounds (Doon Productions)

A Canadian-Irish trio comprising Benny McCarthy on button accordion, Billy Sutton variously on fiddle, mandolin, mandola, bodhran, bass and percussion and Eddie Costello on guitar ...

Louis de Bernières announces new album

Delicate Lies is the new album from Louis de Bernières. As with his previous release Despatches, this album was engineered by David Booth at Louis’ ...

Pierre Schryer & Seán Gray announce tour dates

Whenever Canadian top gun Pierre Schryer chooses a playing partner for a project, you can bet it will be a crème de la crème pairing ...

JERRY JOSEPH – Baby You’re The Man Who Would Be King (Cosmo Sex School CSS202301)

Written during 2020 lockdown and recorded back in 2021, Joseph’s follow up to the Patterson Hood-produced The Beautiful Madness finally sees light of day, this ...

SINGLES BAR 94 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

Following on from their debut EP, Animals which featured songs about Dian Fosse, a colony of bees painted gold by a tropical forest tribe as ...

BLUENOSE B – Hoping For Purgatory (own label SMCD001/23)

The musical alias of Liverpool’s Stephen Dawson, this teams him with longtime Merry Hell friends John and Virginia Kettle as well as the band’s former ...

The London Lasses – more live dates

The London Lasses continue their series of 25th Anniversary Concerts with three UK dates in October! LL25, the 25th anniversary album from The London Lasses, ...

Elizabeth Sharkey – Why Britain Rocked

Why Britain Rocked: How Rock Became Roll and Took Over the World travels deep into Britain’s history to trace the events that led to its ...

PISKEY LED – Piskey Led (own label)

To avoid any confusion, Piskey Led are a Welsh band playing Celtic music with a predilection for Cornwall. The quartet consists of guitarist James Bower ...

BEN STUBBS – Light Of My Life (own label)

Originally from the Isle Of Wight, while he released a download only acoustic project on Bandcamp in 2014, Light Of My Life is Ben’s debut ...

GREGG HILL – Bayou St. John (Skippy Records)

Gregg Hill’s Bayou St. John, recorded in New Orleans, is music that soundtracks a vision of (to quote the great John Fogerty!) “Barefoot girls dancin’ ...

GILMORE & ROBERTS – Documenting Snapshots (GR! Records GRR009)

Five years, a pandemic and two children on from A Problem Of Our Kind, the title of their sixth album succinctly captures its reflective tone ...

GAZ BROOKFIELD – Morning Walking Club (own label)

Gaz Brookfield’s new album, Morning Walking Club, entered the folk album chart at number 1 last month which is quite an achievement. This is his ...

MARTIN SIMPSON & THOMM JUTZ – Nothing But Green Willow: The Songs of Mary Sands and Jane Gentry (Topic TSCD614)

In the summer of 1916, Cecil Sharp and his assistant Maud Karpeles visited Madison County in the North Carolina Appalachians where they lodged at the ...

JOHN REED – Elevation (digital download)

I have had the pleasure of a preview of Elevation before its launch on 23rd October and I have been absolutely bowled over! Three singles ...

AUKA – Wild Waters (own label)

Auka are a trio of talented instrumentalists with a passion for the natural, who draw inspiration from the beauty to be found in and around ...

Stevie Jones and the Wildfires announce their third studio album

Announcing the release of Clarity In Dusk - the third studio album by East Northants alternative rock band Stevie Jones and the Wildfires featuring front ...

ALEX SEEL – All Sails To the Sun (Ballymore Records)

Contemporary singer-songwriter Alex Seel is unleashing his latest album All Sails To The Sun on September 29th, 2023, which is self-produced allowing Alex to have ...

Michael Chapman tribute album on the way

Michael Chapman (1941-2021) released his debut album Rainmaker in 1969 on Harvest. He went on to release over fifty albums and influence many with his ...

TAMSIN ELLIOTT & TAREK ELAZHARY – So Far Have We Come (Penny Fiddle Records PFR2309CD)

I love going to festivals. I suspect we all love going to festivals but there’s something particular in my case, that I really enjoy, which ...

WARD KNÚTUR TOWNES – Unanswered (Betty Beetroot Records BETTY05)

Unanswered is a votive candle folk album that burns with melodic wisdom. While Sir Paul McCartney may have found “the meaning of life” in “seven ...

TOM PAXTON & JOHN MCCUTCHEON – Together (Appleseed Songs)

Longtime friends but coming together as songwriters for the first time during lockdown, this debut collaboration (the second this month from Paxton who’s also teamed ...

ADAMS & COSTELLO – One By One (own label) 

I must begin with a confession. It took ages to rid my mind of the “Who’s on first” routine – childish I know – but ...

LAU-LAND 2023 – Saturday 14 – Sunday 15 October

Lau bring their jubilant Lau-Land festival back to Edinburgh’s Summerhall and The Queen’s Hall on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 October for another open-hearted celebration ...

Gaz Brookfield’s new album hits number 1

Morning Walking Club is west country based Gaz Brookfield's 9th studio album. Written, recorded, produced and mixed by Brookfield in his own studio, and mastered by ...

VAN PLATING – Orange Blossom Child (Singular Recordings)

Hailing from Florida, for her third album Orange Blossom Child, Van Plating announces a new country genre she terms Orange Blossom Country, a coming together ...

Copperplate podcast 285 presented by Alan O’Leary

folking.com brings you the latest podcast from that aficionado of Irish music, the one and only Mr. Alan O’Leary with his regular monthly instalment of ...

CARLA FUCHS – Songbird (Talking Elephant TECD487)

Back in 2010, while working on the complete Sandy Denny box set, Phil Lloyd Smee came across notebooks with lyrics for uncompleted songs. Several of ...

The Unthanks re-release three landmark albums

Did you know that 2008 Mercury Music Prize nominated The Bairns was the only British folk album to make The Guardian and Uncut’s Albums Of ...

LUCIA COMNES – Have We Met Before? (Delfina Records DR393-LC20)

Following on from her collaborative album with John Palmer as Open Road, Comnes reverts to solo mode for Have We Met Before?, a countrified collection ...

ANDY SMITH – An English Village (digital download)

Andy Smith is one third of that wonderful trio Harp And A Monkey whose metier is the songs of the Northern working classes and of ...

Official Folk Album Chart – August 2023

On Tuesday 5 September the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo reveal the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released ...

GABRIEL MORENO – Wound In The Night (Poetry Mondays 005)

A Gibraltarian ex-pat now based in London (in 2022 he was awarded the title Cultural Ambassador of Gibraltar), Moreno is a published poet, with 12 ...

LAURA MULCAHY – Sub Nubibus Margarita (own label)

Releasing her debut album back in 2017, and earning a Mercury Music Prize nomination, a multidisciplinary artist, musician and writer from County Clare, Mulcahy is ...

THE GENTLE GOOD – Galargan (Bubblewrap Collective BWR71CD)

Gareth Bonello, in his professional identity as The Gentle Good, has achieved something I’d thought impossible. He has garnered a 5* album review from The ...

SISKIN GREEN – Siskin Green (Limpet Records LIMPET003)

Taking their name from a pastel shade of colour (and not to be confused with the Dutch/Icelandic jazz-folk duo of the same name), Jane Bentley ...

MÁIRE NI CHATHASAIGH – The New Strung Harp (Old Bridge Music OBMCD25)

When this reissue first came to my attention I was convinced that I had a copy of the 1985 original. Alas, that was just wishful ...

Beans On Toast announces hard-hitting new album

The latest Beans On Toast album hits hard and hits home. The cult folk artist takes centre stage, delivering unfiltered takes on the environment's dire ...

THE LANDLUBBERS: Mytholmroyd Music Festival, West Yorkshire, 27th August 2023

Halifax in West Yorkshire’s Calder Valley may be around 70 miles inland from the sea, but it’s home to a solid shanty fanbase. Among several ...

BETH WIMMER – Nature (own label)

Based in Switzerland but raised in Boston, Nature, the mini-album follow-up to last year’s Chemical Reaction, is the first to feature her partner, go-to sideman ...

The Gentle Good talks about his forthcoming album

Gareth Bonello (The Gentle Good) talks about his upcoming album in which he reworks some old Welsh ballads. The record begins at the beginning, with ...

JOHN NAPIER – More White Elephants (own label)

Though embracing an array of different musical genres, the Birmingham singer-songwriter is generally associated with folksy acoustic. However, while that may be the bedrock here, ...

MAX ZT & DAN WHITEHOUSE – Ten Steps (Want To Know WTK006)

Ten Steps is a seven track album playing at 45 rpm. That is enough of numbers but, although it will be available in digital format, ...

NINEBARROW – The Colour Of Night (Winding Track 9BTCON)

Again featuring Lee MacKenzie on cello, double bassist John Parker and both producer Mark Tucker and Evan Carson on percussion, close harmony duo Jon Whitley ...

JOHN ALEXANDER – Face The Wind (own label)

John Alexander is a Scottish songwriter and guitarist. He releases his new album, Face The Wind, on September 15th. At the Edinburgh Festival, he has ...

BEAU – Deep In The Dark: Unreleased Rarities 1971-1991 (Cherry Red BEAUDITTD1)

Released in 2009, Edge Of The Dark was a collection of recordings made between 1972 and 1995 when he’d essentially publically retired from the music ...

CALUM STEWART – True North (own label EMCD03)

Calum Stewart has come to our attention once or twice before but this is the first time one of his solo albums has landed on ...

Skinny Lister – new album, single and tour dates

Skinny Lister are excited to confirm details of their sixth studio LP titled Shanty Punk, for release on 20 October via Xtra Mile Recordings. The album ...

PETE ATKIN – The Luck Of the Draw (HILL01)

As those of a certain age and a certain musical temperament will know, back in the 70s Atkin released six albums featuring his collaboration with ...

DAPHNE’S FLIGHT – Love Is The Weapon Of Choice (Fat Cat Records FATCD048)

So familiar individually are the names of Chris While, Julie Matthews, Helen Watson, and Melanie Harrold that it comes as something of a surprise to ...

Georgia Shackleton announces her debut solo album

Georgia Shackleton’s debut solo album is a celebration of East Anglian traditional singers, and the music and musicians that inspire her own work. ’Harry’s Seagull’ ...

SINGLES BAR 93 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

GAVIN MARWICK releases the third of his Quarterdays series, Lammas, this time in the company of his partner, nyckelharpa player RUTH MORRIS. The nyckelharpa, for ...

The Routes Quartet release their second album

The Routes Quartet have announced their new album Arche is out now, featuring their signature edge and unique mix of classical and folk music. The ...

Sarah McQuaid announces three-month international tour

Singer-songwriter Sarah McQuaid will be kicking off a 3-month, 59-show autumn USA and UK tour with high-profile hometown shows in both West Cornwall, England, where ...

Van Plating announces her third album

Van Plating, the captivating and genre-defying artist, unveils her third album, Orange Blossom Child, on September 15th, 2023. With an unwavering determination to capture the essence ...

BERNADETTE MORRIS – To The Well For Water (own label – EAN 5056628082442)

To The Well For Water is the second album from Irish singer-songwriter Bernadette Morris and comes some ten years after her debut All The Ways ...

The Magical Cropredy Festival 2023

It All Comes Round Again....... Well another year passes as our biggest coverage of Fairport’s Cropredy Convention this year continues. Our new Pre Cropredy audio ...

EDD DONOVAN – Anchovy (own label EDD004)

Anchovy is the fourth album from Edd Donovan, a singer-songwriter labelled ‘the singing social worker’ by The Guardian because of his day job. Edd has ...

THE PAPER KITES – At The Roundhouse (Nettwerk Records)

The Paper Kites’ At The Roundhouse is country folk-rock album that burns a sad neon light into any damp and foggy late Sunday night reverie ...

John Alexander’s new album is on the way

Scottish songwriter and guitarist John Alexander brings together the latest instalment of dustbowl blues with the release of his new album Face The Wind. This ...

RAB NOAKES & BROOKS WILLIAMS – Should We Tell Him (Red Guitar Blue Music RGBM-2301)

Brooks Williams seems to have the happy knack of meeting people and, being a nice bloke, befriending them and then convincing them to record with ...

Billy Bragg steps into the breach

With just over two weeks to go, Birmingham's Moseley Folk and Arts Festival (Friday 1 to Sunday 3 September 2023) have announced the addition of Billy ...

Gilmore & Roberts – new album and tour dates

Documenting Snapshots is the sixth album from acoustic roots duo Gilmore & Roberts, and their first since 2018’s A Problem Of Our Kind. “So much ...

MORNING TOURIST – The Endless Eve (Blaggers Records)

Morning Tourist’s The Endless Eve is an ever-churning alt-folk album (with incredibly persistent percussion!) that zigs and zags in oddly melodic curves, nice acoustic guitar ...

KEEPING IT LIVE – A Day of Lincolnshire Folk

In December 2016, I wrote my first review for folking.com, the Doghouse Roses album Lost Is Not Losing, an album I still play (thanks Editor) ...

Gibraltarian singer-songwriter-poet Gabriel Moreno announces his fifth album

Wound In The Night is the fifth studio album from Gabriel Moreno. It is the work of a troubadour who favours protest songs and acute ...

THE 19TH STREET BAND – Near Perfect (own label)

Named for the street in Arlington where Caolaidhe and Meghan Davis lived, The 19th Street Band play an amalgam of Irish and American folk-rock. Near ...

DANIEL RODRIGUEZ – Vast Nothing (CD Baby)

Daniel Rodriguez is a Colorado singer-songwriter, who released Vast Nothing, his second solo full-length album, on July 1st in the UK. It’s a thing of ...

GARETH WILLIAMS – Songs From The Last Page (own label GWC01CD)

Gareth Williams could have called this album Music From Big Pink but it’s been done before although the pink house on the cover gets a ...

Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening – new album and tour dates

Award-winning Northumbrian roots musician Kathryn Tickell is to release her second album with The Darkening, cloud horizons on September 1 via Resilient Records. The new ...

THE JOHN RICHARDS BAND – Hard Times And Heroes (JRB JRB0723)

When John Richards released his most recent solo CD, he expected it to be his last album. When I reviewed that album for this site, ...

PEATBOG FAERIES – I See A World (Peatbog Records CDBOG009)

We know the Peatbog Faeries. From Skye with a sound as big as the Cuillin itself and the ability to generate great excitement on stage ...

JOSHUA BURNELL – Glass Knight (own label MNR23A)

Born in France and raised in Scotland, Burnell is an unpredictable quantity when it comes to his idiosyncratic approach to folk. So it’s hard to ...

Moseley Folk and Arts Festival announce line-up details

With Birmingham’s Moseley Folk and Arts Festival 2023 just a few weeks away, the line-up for the woods area of the festival has now been ...

The Official Charts Company announce the Folk Albums chart for July 2023

On Tuesday 1 August the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo revealed the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released ...

DOT ALLISON – Consciousology (Secret Cathedral)

Dot Allison’s Consciousology is a wispy voiced Scottish singer-songwriter album filled with obtuse and quite beautiful melodies and music that’s doused in madcap electronics and ...

BETH BOMBARA – It All Goes Up (Black Mesa BMR 74)

“There’s a lot of it about.” This was the reply I got some years ago when I asked a friend their views on Americana.  The ...

Andy Smith announces debut solo album

Multi-instrumentalist Andy Smith, best known for his work with award winning modern folk trio Harp & A Monkey, is releasing a debut solo album An ...

SINGLES BAR 92 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

From Northern Ireland but based in Oxford, Iranian-Irish DANIEL MA'ANI has an Immigrant Mentality, or at least that’s the title track of his new ‘sense ...

Annie Keating – new album and tour dates

Annie Keating- released her new album Hard Frost in early June ahead of her UK tour in the Autumn. The album has already been described ...

ELIZA CARTHY TRIO – Conversations We’ve Had Before (Hem Hem)

Available only as a Bandcamp download, dedicated to Paul Sartin and featuring long-time collaborator Saul Rose on accordion and reuniting with David Delarre on acoustic ...

Rab Noakes and Brooks Williams sing Don Everly

The plan to record Should We Tell Him was hatched long before Rab Noakes and Brooks Williams actually got into the studio. Five years, to ...

JONO WRIGHT – Special Measures (own label digital release)

Jono Wright has another life which I don’t propose to talk about although the title of his debut album may give you a clue. Special ...

Alex Seel announces new solo album

Alex Seel is excited to announce of his forthcoming album All Sails To The Sun (Release 29th September). The album is a dynamic mix ranging ...

BELLA GAFFNEY – Reflections (own label BGCD01)

Bella Gaffney has risen almost imperceptibly but purposefully through the ranks of British folk music. Playing guitar, banjo and double bass she appears solo, as ...

NORMAN PATERSON – Torn (own label NP2023CD)

Making his recording debut at 65, Stornoway-born Paterson reflects on life well-lived and characters met along the way with the traditional folk-informed collection of self-penned ...

Tamsin Elliott and Tarek Elazhar announce debut album

So Far We Have Come is the debut duo album from Tamsin Elliott (UK) and Tarek Elazhary (Egypt), two artists who have recognised in each ...

SEAN TAYLOR – Short Stories (STCD118)

Sean Taylor has been making music for 20 years now, and with his latest release, Short Stories, shows that he's at the top of his ...

ANNIE BARTHOLOMEW – Sisters Of White Chapel (Klondike Gold Rush Songs)

The concept was intriguing enough but then I heard the single, ‘White Chapel Woman’, and I was hooked. Annie Bartholomew is from Juneau, Alaska, plays ...

Bruce Cockburn announces UK dates

Revered Canadian singer-songwriter and activist Bruce Cockburn has announced UK live shows for 2023, with dates in Oxford and London. Heading to Oxford’s O2 Academy on 24 August and London’s O2 Shepherd’s ...

Day-splits confirmed as Cambridge looks forward to a sizzling folk festival weekend

Tickets selling fast. Book now at: https://www.cambridgelive.org.uk/folk-festival/tickets THURSDAY 27 JULY  STAGE 2 Ibibio Sound Machine - Symbio – Flyte – Gnoss  STAGE 3 Jesca Hoop ...

JIM CAUSLEY – Songs Of Dartmoor (Hrōc Music HROC08)

Songs Of Dartmoor is Jim Causley’s fourth album of Devon songs, all packaged in matching sleeves designed by Karen Cater. Having previously ranged across Devon, ...

Blas Festival returns in September

Gaelic culture and music to be celebrated in September across the Highlands & Islands at Blas Festival The Highland 9-day festival returns in September Some ...

SARAH DEERE-JONES – A Little Piece Of Eden (own label FPCD016)

Born in Dorset and now based in Cornwall, Deere-Jones is a pure-voiced, classically trained harpist, a lecturer on the medieval harp in England, Royal Academy ...

JON PALMER ACOUSTIC BAND – Vacca Wall (Splid Records SPLID CD31)

Jon Palmer must lead the most electrifying acoustic band in the country – we must stage a battle of the bands between them and M***y ...

Jacob Furr – Fort Worth songwriter announces new album

Jacob Furr is a folk songwriter from Fort Worth, Texas, and is an intersection of Wilco-esque folk-rock and a seeker’s honest heart. He is one ...

Paul Johnson talks to Joshua Burnell for our pre-Cropredy interviews

Paul Johnson talks to Joshua Burnell for our pre Cropredy interviews. Here our very own Paul Johnson chats to Joshua Burnell about how pleased and ...

Old Crow Medicine Show announce new album and UK dates

Old Crow Medicine Show will release their new album Jubilee on 25th August via ATO Records. Arriving as the two-time GRAMMY award-winning band gears up ...

LUCIO BARBARINO –The Blue Evenings (own label)

Singer-songwriter Lucio Barbarino’s album, The Blue Evenings, touches every conceivable folk music port of call (from his native Cape Cod, Massachusetts) yet manages to avoid ...

MELTWATER GHOSTS – Stargazing (digital stream)

Stargazing is the debut release from cosmic folk, americana and country group Meltwater Ghosts.  With songs written in shepherds’ huts and on black mountain sides, ...

Sean Taylor announces new album

Over the past two decades, London troubadour Sean Taylor has established himself as a world class songwriter and performer. He was nominated for the 2023 ...

ERIN K – Sink To Swim (own label UPIGO01 CD)

I didn’t know anything about Erin K but a description of her third album, Sink To Swim, intrigued me. And I was right to be ...

Andy White to play one-off London gig

After a successful January UK and Irish tour to launch his latest album This Garden Is Only Temporary, itinerant Belfast songwriter Andy White plays a one-off ...

Max ZT & Dan Whitehouse announce debut duo album

New York's celebrated Max ZT (House of Waters), and Tokyo/Black Country’s lauded Dan Whitehouse combine their inventive energy to present their debut album Ten Steps. ZT, the hammered dulcimer player (compared to Hendrix) and ...

IAN BRUCE – Together Forever (Ruglen Record Company LUMSCD0117)

Anyone with even a passing interest in the Scottish folk scene will be aware of Bruce who, since he first dedicated his life to making ...

ÁED – Leaf (own label)

The route to an album review often begins with an email, usually extolling the virtues of a record that’s the greatest thing since sourdough. The ...

Pre-Cropredy Interviews

Listen to the great interview by our very own Paul Johnson with Wilson & Wakeman. We can't wait to see them this year with their ...

GWENAN GIBBARD – Hen Ganeuon Newydd (Sain SCD2850)

Hen Ganeuon Newydd, subtitled The Folk-Songs Of Llŷn And Eifionydd for the non-Welsh speakers, is a collection of songs from the late 19th and early ...

SETH LAKEMAN – The Somerset Sessions (Honour Oak Records HNR10)

Originally released as a limited edition for Record Store day and now given a wider distribution on CD and vinyl, The Somerset Sessions was recorded ...

The Official Folk Album Chart

On Tuesday 4 July the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo revealed the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released ...

Charlie Dore announces new tour dates

Venerated singer-songwriter Charlie Dore has announced her biggest UK tour for over four years, with a storm of dates to wrap up her three Short ...

Rachel Sermanni announces her new album

Hailing from the Scottish highlands, Rachel Sermanni is an enchanting singer-songwriter, whose performance and lyrics draw from a deep well of mysticism, dreams, nature and ...

Mavis Staples plays two nights at the Union Chapel

Mavis Staples returns to the UK next week for two shows at London's Union Chapel on Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th July. Mavis, who released Carry Me Home ...

CARRIE MARTIN – Evergreen (Psychotron Records)

Hull singer-songwriter Carrie Martin’s Evergreen rekindles the folk-rock-progressive vibe of the late 70’s, just before punk rock with its spit, safety pins, pogo dancing, and ...

Shrewsbury Folk Festival announces final list of guests

The only UK festival gig of 2023 for Scottish songstress Eddi Reader and a debut visit from the Red Hot Chilli Pipers top the list of the final acts ...

Video Wall 26

It's hot and sticky and there really is no incentive to do very much in the way of thinking. We have quite a collection of ...

Matthew Bannister announces his Big Walk for charity

The host of the multi-award-winning Folk on Foot podcast, Matthew Bannister, is to set off on a 180-mile sponsored walk this summer to raise money ...

WESTWARD THE LIGHT – Flow Country (Braw Sailin’ Records CD011BSR)

Westward The Light released their debut album in 2020 to great acclaim. Their second album Flow Country, named after the landscape between Caithness and Sutherland ...

BLUEBYRD – Song And Dance (own label)

Although Bluebyrd don’t want Song And Dance to be seen as a lockdown album, they’re clear that it’s influenced by the thoughts and feelings they ...

The National Youth Pipe Band Of Scotland invites applications

Applications can be made to: nypbs.co.uk/applications ...

JUDE EDWIN-SCOTT – Rambling Rose (Bellyhead 9 Records BH9CD09)

First learning guitar when he was six, now based in Cheshire, alongside his career as an acrylics greeting cards artist) Edwin-Scott has developed a very ...

RIDERS OF THE CANYON – Riders Of The Canyon (Great Canyon Records GCR-013 CD)

Joana Serrat released her fifth album on June 23rd. Serrat is a Catalonian singer-songwriter and she has combined with Northern-Irish singer-songwriter Matthew McDaid and two ...

JOSHUA RADIN – Though The World Will Tell Me So (Vol 1 & 2) (Nettwork Music Group)

Joshua Radin’s new album, Though The World Will Tell Me So (Vol 1 & 2), elicits the hyperbolic comment: “One Billion People Love Folk Music!” ...

Bella Gaffney announces new album and autumn tour

Bella Gaffney is set to captivate listeners with her new album, Reflections. This remarkable collection of songs has been meticulously crafted to reflect the profound ...

PATAKAS – When You’re Ready (WildGoose WGS441CD)

With stunningly unfortunate timing When You’re Ready arrived the day after we put this month’s Singles Bar to bed. A day earlier and it would ...

Wickham Festival announces a host of stars

The Proclaimers, Midge Ure and the Saw Doctors will head up a star-studded line-up at The Wickham Festival. Tickets are already selling fast for the ...

SINGLES BAR 91 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

COHEN BRAITHWAITE-KILCOYNE has moved on from being folk’s latest wunderkind to being a seasoned professional as this EP, Come Make My Bed, testifies. His voice ...

DÁIMH – Sula (Goat Island Music GIMCD006)

Dáimh’s new album, Sula, travels from Moidart to Mabou and back home again to the island of Bernera off the coast of Lewis (“during a ...

MALCOLM HOLCOMBE – Bits & Pieces (Proper/Need To Know)

Diagnosed with cancer in 2022, alongside regular collaborator Jared Tyler Holcombe resolved to knock his 18th and potentially swan song album into shape as quickly ...

BRENNEN LEIGH – Ain’t Through Honky Tonkin’ Yet (Signature Sounds)

Making her Grand Old Opry debut on June 24th, with her follow up to last year’s Western Swing styled Obsessed With The West, Leigh ably ...

DAVID EDWARD BOOTH – All My Days (The Recording Booth)

David Edward Booth’s All My Days cuts melodic tendons. And, like really nice folk music, it sings with melodies that are etched with Half Moon ...

Irish Music And Dance In London present their annual fundraiser

On Friday 30th June at 7pm IMDL present their annual fundraiser - a quadruple bill concert of traditional Irish music, song and dance featuring performances ...

Erin K announces new album

With a growing audience of over 3 million streams on Spotify, following the fruitful collaboration on 2019s I Need Sound, the American-born London-resident musician Erin ...

KASSI VALAZZA – Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing (Loose Music)

Kassi Valazza’s Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing is a lovely Americana folk album that blossoms, like a southwestern cactus flower, from the roots of all the ...

Gate To Southwell Festival – Global Summer Sounds

This summer’s 16th Gate To Southwell Festival (June 29-July 2) looks certain to be the East Midlands’ most international, entertaining and musically diverse event yet ...

HANNAH ALDRIDGE – Dream Of America (Icons Creating Evil Art / ICEALP446)

American singer / songwriter Hannah Aldridge has grown up surrounded by music. Her father, Walt Aldridge, has written numerous songs including Number 1 country hits ...

Iain Matthews announces summer tour dates

There’s a purity about Iain Matthews’ voice. And it’s mirrored by the integrity of his career. The singer-songwriter has never been seduced by fame. His ...

MERRY HELL – Let The Music Speak For Itself (Merry Hell MHMCD00123)

Recently released Merry Hell’s Let The Music Speak For Itself is a retrospective look at the band’s back catalogue in a double CD and digital ...

AGS CONNOLLY – Siempre (Finstock Music FINST002 CD)

Siempre is Spanish for always and, combined with the cover decoration, it sort of sums up Ags Connolly’s musical philosophy. Ags is a British country ...

Joe Broughton’s Conservatoire Folk Ensemble celebrate 25 years

The behemoth that is Joe Broughton's Conservatoire Folk Ensemble return with their sixth album, Twenty-Five, and a string of live appearances. The album documents the ...

RACHEL HAIR & RON JAPPY – Élan (March Hair Records MHRCD 007)

Celtic harpist Rachel Hair and guitarist Ron Jappy met during a European tour and decided that they clicked, musically.  The result of that meeting was ...

The Official Charts Company announce the folk album chart for May

On Tuesday 6 June the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo reveal the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released ...

SHOW OF HANDS – High Germany – 900 Miles To Bremen (MIG MIG02732)

I imagine that the Longdogs already own everything that Show Of Hands have ever done but this may just have eluded even them. High Germany ...

WHAPWEASEL – 7 (Whap Records WW0014)

Renowned Award-Winning English ska-folk fusion ceilidh band Whapweasel have recently released their latest album entitled 7 which is a beautiful collection of dance tunes each ...

DALLAHAN – Speak Of The Devil (own label DHLN004CD)

About Dallahan’s new album, Speak Of The Devil: Well, let’s just say (to sort of quote Chuck Berry!), “Roll over Manran and tell Malinky the ...

KAREN SWAN – Scatterlings (Super Tiny Records)

From Solihull, Birmingham, and currently based in Bristol, Swan lists herself as actor, poet, clown, vegan, writer and singer, and it’s the latter incarnation on ...

Mull Historical Society is back with a brand new album

Released by the Xtra MIle Recordings label on 21 July,  In My Mind There's A Room, the first new material from Colin MacIntyre (aka Mull ...

JO MILLER – A’ The Way To Galloway (own label JOM1CD)

I’m always impressed by the number of Scottish singers and musicians who quietly preface their name with Dr. and these are not honorary degrees but ...

SINGLES BAR 90 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

One half of the wonderfully named Canadian duo The Goddamsels, MALLORY CHIPMAN steps out solo for As Though I Had Wings (Tunnel Mountain), an EP ...

Shrewsbury Folk Festival adds even more names

Shrewsbury Folk Festival has announced the latest wave of artists for this year’s festival including Joachim Cooder, the first lady of Celtic music Moya Brennan and the first ...

Cambridge Folk Festival unveils The Den line-up

Cambridge Folk Festival has a long-standing reputation for providing a platform for up-and-coming new artists and nurturing promising young talent. This commitment continues in 2023 ...

THE HACKLES – What A Beautiful Thing I Have Made (Jealous Butcher Records JB 223)

Trajectory - the Collins dictionary defines this as “The trajectory of a moving object is the path that it follows as it moves.”  It’s often ...

TÍR NA NÓG – Love Lost (MIG Music MIG02942 CD)

Older readers will remember Sonny Condell and Leo O’Kelly, otherwise Tír na nÓg. For the young folk, Tír na nÓg formed in Dublin in 1969 ...

Hazel Askew and John Dipper join Historically Informed Summer School (HISS)

HISS (Historically Informed Summer School) explores the Common Ground between early, traditional and folk music. We are delighted for Hazel Askew to join us for ...

CAMUS – Out On The Spree (Old Windmill Records – OWR001)

Out On The Spree is the first full album Camus have released in several years, and only the fourth since the band was formed in ...

FolkEast stages ‘The Sartin Singaround’

FolkEast will pay tribute to one of folk’s favourite performers this August in Saturday night’s ‘The Sartin Singaround’. Paul Sartin, oboe and fiddle player with ...

MAGGIE HOLLAND – The Dust Of Rage (Irregular Records IRR126)

When I first moved to this area I set out to find the local folk scene, which was not as easy then as it is ...

ADY SHAW – Light & Dark (Piper Moon Records)

Ady Shaw may not be a familiar name to many. He made his musical debut more than half a century ago and has been making ...

BRUCE COCKBURN – O Sun O Moon (True North Records)

Bruce Cockburn once sang, “The trouble with normal is it always gets worse”.  But that’s simply not true for his new album, O Sun O ...

BROOMDASHER – Ingrave Epiphany (Clean Sweep CS0122)

Following on from their Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady project and released to coincide with their From Pub To Pulpit tour with Coracle and ...

The Langan Band announce a new album and tour dates

The revered Scottish folk trio's first record in a decade, Plight o’ Sheep, is now releasing May 12, one week later than previously announced. The ...

DROPKICK MURPHYS – Okemah Rising (Dummy Luck DLM003LP)

Following on from This Machine Still Kills Fascists, Okemah Rising, the second collection of songs recorded in Tulsa featuring unpublished lyrics by Woody Guthrie they’ve ...

TERRY EMM – Wish You Were Here (Azez Records/Shellshock)

Terry Emm’s Wish You Were Here is a return, after a seven-year hiatus, with an introspective, melodically addictive, and really nice folk album. Now, perhaps, ...

Rachel Hair and Ron Jappy announce new album

Two of Scotland’s most in-demand traditional musicians Rachel Hair and Ron Jappy have joined forces once again for their second duo album Élan, set for ...

Bruce Cockburn announces new studio album

“Time takes its toll, but in my soul I’m on a roll”, Bruce Cockburn sings on his latest studio album, O Sun O Moon. Smart ...

HANNAH ROSE PLATT – Deathbed Confessions (Xtra Mile Recording)

Hannah Rose Platt’s music extolls the peculiar enjoyment of buttered popcorn and a hammer horror film marathon. Her new album, Deathbed Confessions, which comes all ...

ELLI DE MON – Pagan Blues (Area Pirata Records AP096)

Musician and songwriter Elli de Mon presented Pagan Blues in late April, two years after capturing the attention of audiences throughout Europe and beyond with ...

Foy Vance announces celebratory tour

Foy Vance has today announced a very special tour of UK & Ireland this December to celebrate 10 years of his award-winning 2013 album Joy ...

GREG ISTOCK – Mr Greg Mr Jones (Blue Gate Records)

Greg Istock releases Mr Greg Mr Jones on May 3rd. Istock has a pedigree to match the best: band leader, singer, songwriter (all the tracks ...

UNA MONAGHAN – Aonaracht (own label UMM002CD)

Aonaracht is an album that will divide opinion. The strapline on the sleeve – ‘a collection for traditional musicians and computer’ – is probably enough ...

New funding for Scottish creatives

A total of £111,000 has been made available to support artists and organisations to deliver creative work. Creative Scotland has confirmed its continuation of funding ...

Michelle Willis talks to folking.com

Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Michelle Willis has established herself as one of the most effective utility players on the modern scene, having toured and recorded ...

KRIS DREVER – The Best Of Kris Drever (Reveal Records)

The Best of Kris Drever is a collection of the Scottish singer-songwriter’s “Love of our land’s sacred rights”, as indeed, these songs sing with the ...

JON WILKS – Before I Knew What Had Begun I Had Already Lost (own label)       

His fourth solo album sees Jon Wilks step away from the Birmingham-derived songs that were the mainstays of his last two releases and embrace those ...

CAESAR SPENCER – Get Out Into Yourself (New Radio Records)

Caesar Spencer’s Get Out Into Yourself is an album whose press release says, “with a loose narrative that follows a protagonist journeying through different cultural ...

OPEN ROAD – Skylark (Delfina Records DR428-OR01)

A duo comprising San Francisco native Lucia Comnes, now based in Italy, and West Coast songwriter John Palmer, Skylark is their debut release and brings ...

SIMON MAYOR – Carolan (Acoustics CDACS 082)

Simon Mayor’s Carolan album was due for release on March 10 2023, but somehow or other the link found its way into my spam folder, ...

SINGLES BAR 89 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

The daughter of Peter Lewis, founding member of 60s psych-folk icons Moby Grape (and who features on Stratocaster), and granddaughter of Oscar-winning actress Loretta Young, ...

NOW VOYAGERS – The Best Of All Possible Worlds (own label)

Music can work on so many different levels and The Best Of All Possible Worlds, a concept album by Bath based musician Now Voyagers (Kim ...

Fanny Lumsden announces new album and UK tour dates

Award-winning Australian artist, Fanny Lumsden, has today announced the release of her much anticipated fourth studio album, Hey Dawn, out August 4th. The album follows ...

LEVERET – Forms (LEVCD06)

Leveret – namely folk virtuoso fiddle player extraordinaire Sam Sweeney, concertina maestro Rob Harbron and magic melodeon player Andy Cutting are celebrating 10 years together ...

DEL BARBER – Almanac (Acronym)

Eight albums in, the latest from the Canadian singer-songwriter takes its title from the idea of a guide to where you should be heading and ...

Gate To Southwell Festival goes global

This summer’s 16th Gate To Southwell Festival (June 29-July 2) looks certain to be the Midlands’ most international, entertaining and musically diverse event yet, with Sunday’s ...

ÍMAR – Awakening (BMANN005)

As often happens in folk music familiar faces will turn up in different combinations and that's the case with Glasgow based Ímar. Ryan Murphy (Mànran), ...

MATTHEWS SOUTHERN COMFORT – The Woodstock Album: 15 Songs of Peace, Love and Understanding  (Must Have Records MHCD 114)

It’s 23 years since Iain Matthews topped the charts with his cover of Joni Mitchell’s ‘Woodstock’ and he returns to the iconic festival now with ...

GNOSS – Stretching Skyward (BFLY05CD)

Gnoss are a Scottish quartet, nominated three time for the Scot Trad Awards, who have their own distinct view of what traditional folk music is ...

JOE HENRY – All The Eye Can See (Earmusic)

Joe Henry, with his new album All The Eye Can See, continues to write brand new sonic and quite secular scripture verse. And, with this ...

Simon Mayor announces album of the music of Turlough O’Carolan

Simon Mayor can tell the story better than anyone. I remember well the first time I heard the music of the Irish harper and composer ...

Calan win award – but that’s not the real story

An acclaimed Cwmbran guitarist who was last year told by doctors he would never play again after shattering his arm in a mountain bike accident ...

THE MADELEINE STEWART TRIO – The Madeleine Stewart Trio (own label MSTCD01)

There are some very talented alumni from the traditional music course at The Royal Scottish Conservatoire currently active in the thriving Glasgow folk scene. It’s ...

Ímar announce new album and tour dates

Almost exactly five years ago Celtic supergroup Ímar had the night of their lives. At the 2018 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in Belfast the ...

Cambridge Folk Festival revamps Club Tent

CAMBRIDGE FOLK FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES BRAND NEW LOOK STAGE 3, THE FORMER CLUB TENT, PROVIDING A SHOWCASE PLATFORM FOR RISING ARTISTS FROM THE UK & IRELAND ...

LUCY FARRELL – We Are Only Sound (Hudson)

Born in Kent and now based in Canada, Farrell is probably better known for her contributions to the work of others, both live and in ...

EWAN MACINTYRE – Twenty First Century Fool (Broken Car Recordz BCR-005)

Twenty First Century Fool is the fourth solo album by Ewan Macintyre since his departure from Southern Tenant Folk Union, recorded in Montreal with a ...

DAVID HOWLEY – For Venus (own label)

Born in Ireland and the founder member of We Banjo 3, Howley is a prodigious exponent of Irish folk and has performed alongside such diverse ...

Pedair announce their debut album

Five years on from their first gig Pedair and Sain are proud to be able to share their first album, Mae ’na Olau – an ...

ALICE HOWE – Circumstance (KnowHowe KH0003)

Born in Massachusetts, Howe already has two impressive releases to her name but Circumstance, with its cocktail of southern rock, country, folk, classic soul and ...

BEAU – Kingdom Of The Blind (Cherry Red BEAUKOTB1)

I’ve said it before and will inevitably say it again, Beau is a refreshing throwback to the 60s when political and social satire was afforded ...

GEORGE SANSOME & MATT QUINN – Sheffield Park (Grimdon Records GRICD007)

It seems that English folkies are taking a leaf out of their Scottish counterparts’ book by swapping musical partners like a barn dance’s introductory mixer ...