The folking.com music archive for album reviews and news

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).

All recent review and features posts below (where available) can be ordered below through our UK or US Storefront 

Buying through Amazon on folking.com helps us to recover a small part of our running costs, so please order anything you need as every little purchase helps us.

Physical link for the UK Store is: https://folking.com/folking-store/

Physical link to the US Store: https://folking.com/folking-us-storefront/

NATIVE HARROW – Old Kind Of Magic (Loose Music)

Native Harrow’s new album, Old Kind Of Magic has the beautiful depth of a gossamer web, and it has the musical width of Emily Dickinson’s ...
Read More

Cambridge Folk Festival 2023 tickets on sale now

Cambridge Folk Festival made a triumphant return in 2022, following a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, cementing its place as “The jewel within the ...
Read More

Daoiri Farrell announces new album and spring tour dates

At the forefront of the current Irish music scene – armed with a strong belief and passion for authenticity, The Wedding Above In Glencree, is ...
Read More

EMILY PORTMAN & ROB HARBRON – Time Was Away (Rob Records ROBREC CD04)

I can’t help thinking of them as bright young things but then I remember when it was that I first heard The Devil’s Interval. So, ...
Read More

SINGLES BAR 84 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

Having released the title track and ‘Rough Edges’ earlier as singles, JOSHUA BURNSIDE now follows up with the full Late Afternoon In The Meadow (1887) ...
Read More

ROBERT LANE – Homeworking (own label)

Robert Lane’s Homeworking is yet another example of the Spirit of Humanity finding someone willing to sing its songs. My friend, Kilda Defnut, said of ...
Read More

ADEEM THE ARTIST – White Trash Revelry (Four Quarters Records)

Born Adem Bingham, and sometimes known as Adeem Maria, Adeem the Artist is a blue-collar, pansexual, non-binary North Carolina-born twangy-voiced singer-songwriter now based in Eastern ...
Read More

TREVOR BEALES – Fireside Stories (Hebden Bridge circa 1971 – 1974) (Basin Rock)

Back in the 70s, in the then dreary West Yorkshire valley town of Hebden Bridge, Beales was one of the UK’s many aspirant loner folk ...
Read More

FINN COLLINSON – The Threshold (Old School Music OSMCD012)

Finn Collinson’s The Threshold is an album that wears its heart on its sleeve. The title describes where Finn feels his music is currently positioned: ...
Read More

THE ALBION CHRISTMAS BAND – All Are Safely Gathered In (Talking Elephant TECD481)

And so the Christmas releases begin. And what better way to start than with the first seasonal recording in six years from the ACB, lining ...
Read More

Unthank : Smith announce debut album and tour dates

Today, two former Mercury Music Prize nominees Rachel Unthank (The Unthanks) and Paul Smith (Maxïmo Park) announce Nowhere And Everywhere, their debut album as Unthank ...
Read More

TERENCE BLACKER – Meanwhile… (own label TB005)

Terence Blacker – singer, songwriter, author, columnist – releases Meanwhile..., his fifth album, on December 2nd. Let’s digress to a comment by from Bethany Cagnol, ...
Read More

RACHEL TAYLOR-BEALES – Out Of This Frame (Hushland HUSHCH08)

Rachel Taylor-Beales lost her voice, which is pretty devastating for a singer. With her writing and painting to help her she fought back and the ...
Read More

THE TRIALS OF CATO – Gog Magog (own label)

The Trials Of Cato slipped into Britain from Lebanon with a stunningly good EP and followed that up with a much-praised debut album. Then the ...
Read More

Kate Rusby announces Christmas tour

Kate Rusby, hailed as the ‘First Lady of Folk’ and a Mercury Music accolade to her name, has forged an impressive 30-year, headlining career. A ...
Read More

BILLY STRINGS – Me/And/Dad (Rounder)

Just turned 30 and recently named  Entertainer of the Year at the 2022 Bluegrass Awards for the second consecutive year, Strings fulfils a long-standing ambition ...
Read More

DAVID CARROLL AND FRIENDS – Bold Reynold (Talking Elephant TECD483)

When you see “and friends” in a billing you tend to think of a group of worthy but unknown local musicians. On Bold Reynold, however, ...
Read More

Holy Moly & The Crackers announce new album and tour

For a band that have from the outset been pegged as ‘folk-rock’, Newcastle’s Holy Moly & The Crackers sure have come a long way in ...
Read More

DAN HARTLAND & THE BRINK – Haywire (own label)

Since releasing Great Novels two years ago, Hartland has gained both a beard and a new band: bassist Marko Miletic, percussionist, producer and arranger Sean ...
Read More

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Sea Song Sessions (Topic TSCD612)

Sea Song Sessions is a self-explanatory title...except that it isn’t quite so simple. The project grew out of a commission to put together a maritime-themed ...
Read More

ANNIE BALL, BRONWEN DAVIES-JONES, GARETH DAVIES-JONES and KATIE TERTELL – Howay The Lasses Vol 1 (own label)

A thematic companion piece to the new album by Rachel Walker and Aaron Jones, while they celebrate women in Scottish history, Howay The Lasses highlights ...
Read More

Chris Newman and Máire Ní Chathasaigh announce tour dates including Christmas shows

This celebrated partnership of “one of the UK’s most staggering and influential acoustic guitarists” (fROOTS) with “the doyenne of Irish harpers” (Scotland On Sunday) has ...
Read More

Simon Mayor and Hilary James – tour and workshop dates

Virtuoso mandolin, sensational songs, hot swing fiddle and huge lashings of fun from Britain’s leading ‘hot-fingered mandolin virtuoso’ Simon Mayor, and silver-voiced songstress Hilary James ...
Read More

LADY MAISERY – Tender (own label LMCD05)

With all that happens in their individual careers it must be difficult for Hazel Askew, Hannah James and Rowan Rheingans to make time to work ...
Read More

THE MAGPIE ARC – Glamour In The Grey (Collective/Perspective CP4FORCD)

A cross-border quintet comprising Nancy Kerr, Martin Simpson, Findlay Napier, Alex Hunter and Tom Wright evoking folk rock from the late 1960s and early 1970s, ...
Read More

Lara Eidi at the Green Note

Lara Eidi is performing at the award winning Green Note, Camden on Monday 21st November Singer- songwriter and artist Lara Eidi returns to London to ...
Read More

KEEPING IT LIVE: KIEFER SUTHERLAND and FINES LINES at Hull Asylum

Kiefer Sutherland’s tour reached Hull Asylum last Thursday. You may know of Sutherland as a famous actor who has gone into music, so let’s clear ...
Read More

ROBIN JAMES HURT – And We For One Another (own label)

Robin James Hurt’s And We For One Another is an Irish folk (and beyond!) album of traditional songs, a few covers, and self-penned instrumentals that ...
Read More

Terence Blacker announces new album

Terence Blacker’s songs of modern life and love have been compared by critics to the work of Jake Thackray, Loudon Wainwright III and Georges Brassens ...
Read More

PAUL M COX – Sunset Over Stillwater (White Elephant Records WER 029)

It’s fascinating how an artist who has been around for a while heaves to on your horizon even though you’ve been oblivious to their existence ...
Read More

ELIZA CARTHY & THE RESTITUTION – Queen Of The Whirl (Hem Hem Records)

Following in Kate Rusby’s footsteps, Carthy has celebrated her 30 years in the business with Queen Of The Whirl, an album of new recordings, featuring ...
Read More

EWAN MACFARLANE – Milk (Royale Stag Records)

Ewan MacFarlane’s Milk is a brilliant soul-roots rock album which showcases EM’s honeyed asteroid vocals and clever songwriting. This record is a long-playing love letter ...
Read More

Magna Carta announce major career overview

Beautifully packaged career overview compiled in conjunction with Magna Carta founder member singer/songwriter Chris Simpson  One of British folk’s most well-respected acoustic groups anthologised on ...
Read More

ELIZA DELF – Into The Wilderness (Peace In The Head EJDC001)

A Norwich-based folk-noir singer-songwriter inspired by the subversive folk tales of Angela Carter and whose vocal range has drawn comparisons to Kate Bush, Into The ...
Read More

Copperplate Podcast 276

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 ...
Read More

THE CARRIVICK SISTERS – Illustrated Short Stories (own label CARRICKSCD10)

It’s been nine years since Devon twin sisters duo Charlotte and Laura released their last studio album. And, with its mix of American bluegrass and ...
Read More

Video Wall 24

We seem to have accumulated a number of videos in recent months so this seems like a good lime to present the best of them ...
Read More

BROOKS WILLIAMS & DAN WALSH – Fortune By Design (own label BWDW-01)

As they vie for the position of the man who’ll play with anybody (a title previously held by John Kirkpatrick) there has been surprise that ...
Read More

Vieux Farka Touré to play London concert

Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré, who released his critically-acclaimed new album Les Racines via World Circuit earlier this year, will perform at Islington Assembly Hall on ...
Read More

LUKE DANIELS – The Cobhers (Gael GAELCD022)

Luke Daniels is a restless spirit. Each time I see or hear him, he’s doing something almost diametrically opposite to his previous project, and we’re ...
Read More

RAGGED UNION – Round Feet, Chrome Smile (Shining Castle Music)

Ragged Union released their new album Round Feet, Chrome Smile recently. It has nine tracks, mostly written by Geoff Union. The band are from Boulder ...
Read More

JANICE BURNS & JON DORAN – No More The Green Hills (own label JBJD002)

She from Glasgow, he from Gloucestershire and both now based in Newcastle, former finalists for the 2019 Young Folk Award, the duo now make their ...
Read More

Native Harrow – new album and in-store tour

Native Harrow have today released their critically acclaimed new album Old Kind Of Magic on Loose Music. The duo of married couple Stephen Harms and ...
Read More

SINGLES BAR 83 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

TALMORNEY  is 50ish Forest of Dean folk artist Matthew Macer-Wright who, inspired by the likes of The Unthanks, Vaughan Williams, June Tabor, Tori Amos and ...
Read More

The Little Unsaid announce their latest album

Fable is the mesmerising and powerful third album from South London based four-piece The Little Unsaid, introduced via its first single ‘Vibrant Life’, an intense stream ...
Read More

Elise Boeur and Adam Iredale-Gray announce debut album

It feels good to play fiddle tunes with other people, and Elise Boeur and Adam Iredale-Gray know this feeling well. Their forthcoming duo album, Fiddle ...
Read More

Squeeze support the Trussell Trust with EP and tour

As they prepare to embark on their Food For Thought 25 date UK tour, British music legends Squeeze announce the release of a new six ...
Read More

CATFISH KEITH – Still I Long To Roam (FTRCD020)

Still I Long To Roam is Catfish Keith’s new album, his 21st album in a long and acclaimed career. He’s still winning awards – in ...
Read More

BREABACH – Fàs (Breabach Records BRE007CD)

Breabach’s Fàs is a miorbhuileach (aka wonderful!) Scottish folk album that avoids the commercial big shops on Princes Street. Rather, it strolls down the backstreets ...
Read More

SAMUEL JAMES TAYLOR – Wild Tales And Broken Hearts (own label)

Samuel James Taylor released Wild Tales And Broken Hearts on October 21st. You can’t help but look favourably on an album by a man who ...
Read More

WORDS OF A FIDDLER’S DAUGHTER – The Tears Of Jenny Greenteeth (Under The Eaves UTE 006)

Where to start? “This is a tale from a time younger than ours, where love and forgiveness triumphantly overcome fear, sadness and greed”, says Jessie ...
Read More

JAMES KEELAGHAN – Second-Hand (Borealis Records BCD276)

James Keelaghan’s Second-Hand is yet another collection of brilliant songs that, somehow, ventures into a folk music fourth dimension where hope, tragedy, psychological insight, literary ...
Read More

PAULINE VALLANCE – The World’s A Gift (own label PV002)

A singer/songwriter and clarsach (Gaelic harp) player from Ayrshire, The World’s A Gift, her third album, produced by and featuring James Grant, explores the theme ...
Read More

Welsh trio Plu announce new album

Tri is the first collection of new and original music from the Caernarfonshire sibling trio since the ethereal Tir a Golau in 2015. Over two ...
Read More

CORACLE – Murmuration (Tam Records)

As Murmuration is Coracle’s first album, I didn’t know what to expect from it. All I knew was what the accompanying publicity told me, and ...
Read More

STEELEYE SPAN – Live At The Rainbow Theatre 1974 (Chrysalis CRVX1485)

You may have noticed that, earlier this year, Chrysalis released the definitive collection of Steeleye Span’s albums from 1972 to 1983, regarded by many as ...
Read More

CHRIS WHILE AND JULIE MATTHEWS – Women Of The World (FatCat FATCD047)

The longest surviving UK female duo (and also with their own solo careers), as the title suggests their latest album, the songs of Women Of ...
Read More

Jesse Terry and Emma Stevens – live at The Bedford, Balham Tues 25th Oct

Coming up on Tuesday 25th we are pleased to be hosting this outstanding singer songwriter double bill in the iconic settings of The Bedford, Balham, ...
Read More

Journey To The Isles: Marjory Kennedy-Fraser 

A mesmerising glimpse into the landscapes, folktales and songs that inspired one of Scotland's great early collectors of Traditional Arts! Marjory Kennedy-Fraser began collecting Hebridean ...
Read More

DAN WHITEHOUSE – Voices From The Cones (WTK 002)

Dan Whitehouse continues his glass sequence with Voices From The Cones, a song cycle based on stories from the glass-making industry of Stourbridge. The song ...
Read More

THE MAGPIES – Undertow (Gilded Lily GLWCD 18)

Since the release of their debut album two years ago, Polly Bolton has flown the nest to be replaced by clawhammer banjo player Kate Griffin ...
Read More

SUE HARDING – Darkling (own label)

Sue Harding lives in Somerset and has been writing, playing and singing for quite a while now in several guises including Angel Ridge and Harding ...
Read More

STEVE PLEDGER – What Tomorrow Knows album launch (Durham Town Hall, 6th October 2022)

Steve Pledger is the perfect example of modern protest singer, enriching his songs with clarity of thought, sublime guitar skills and the ability to hold ...
Read More

DAPHNE PARKER POWELL – The Starter Wife (Pleasure Loves Company)

One of the year’s most intriguing titles, The Starter Wife, Louisiana-based Powell’s sixth album comes in the wake of a painful divorce and arrives awash ...
Read More

Brophy’s Law – new single, album and tour

They are back on the road in 2023 still buzzing after their Indian Tour and successful summer festival season in Denmark. With a new single ...
Read More

Native Harrow announce their new album and record shop tour

Arriving  on October 28 via Loose Music, Old Kind of Magic is the fifth long-player from Native Harrow - Stephen Harms and Devin Tuel - ...
Read More

Official Folk Albums Chart for September 2022

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

ANGELINE MORRISON – The Sorrow Songs: Folk Songs Of The Black Experience (Topic TSCT611)

Released to mark Black History Month, produced by Eliza Carthy, who also arranged the strings and plays violin, with Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne on anglo concertina and ...
Read More

SAM SWEENEY – Escape That (Hudson Records HUD032CD)

Some artists raise expectations. They inspire confidence that anything with their name on it, is going to be good. For me, Sam Sweeney is such ...
Read More

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Plúirín Na mBan – A Woman’s Love (Cló Iar-Chonnachta CICD091)

Think back thirty years and you may remember A Woman’s Heart, the album and the song that launched Eleanor McEvoy’s career. Plúirín Na mBan - ...
Read More

A Million Darkened Kitchens featuring Frankie Armstrong

A Million Darkened Kitchens - a sound piece for an 1840s era kitchen aims to shed light on the historically neglected space of the domestic kitchen ...
Read More

Angeline Morrison releases video to accompany The Sorrow Songs

Cornwall-based folk singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Angeline Morrison releases an animated video for ‘Unknown African Boy (D. 1830)’. Created by Marry Waterson, the song is ...
Read More

THE WATERSONS ­- Frost And Fire (Topic Records)

Like all stems, branches, and ancient roots search for all the circulus melodies of fallen Eden, the Watersons’ Frost And Fire songs are about the ...
Read More

Beans On Toast presents The Fascinating Adventures Of Little Bee

With a little help from some new friends, including the animated hero ‘Little Bee’, the songwriter and festival legend, Beans On Toast, is very pleased ...
Read More

Brooks Williams and Dan Walsh announce debut duo album

Fortune By Design is the debut album from Brooks Williams and Dan Walsh, admired by both listeners and fellow musicians alike, here they combine their ...
Read More

POLLY PAULUSMA–The Pivot On Which The World Turns (Wild Sound)

Polly Paulusma’s new album, The Pivot On Which The World Turns, is a lovely labyrinth with enough melodic twists and feminine turns to make any ...
Read More

Copperplate Podcast 275 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 ...
Read More

THE PITMAN POETS – Bare Knuckle (own label)

As The Pitman Poets embark on their second farewell tour (probably not worth asking) they release a new album, Bare Knuckle. For the uninitiated, the ...
Read More

Martyn Joseph announces 40th anniversary tour

Martyn Joseph is a completely unique and mind-blowing artist. Take everything you think you know about singer songwriters and rip it up. For one man ...
Read More

THE VILLAGE – The Bells Of St. Wystan’s (own label)

Phil Matthews a.k.a. The Village is a man rooted in the land and legends of his home region – the rural East Midlands. Superficially, The ...
Read More

Luke Daniels and The Cobhers announce debut album

Luke Daniels formed The Cobhers (pronounced Covers) in 2019 to attract new audiences to folk and traditional music. As well as playing superbly evocative original ...
Read More

THOMAS BULL – A Fast Running Train Whistles Down (own label)

Sometimes a record appears out of the blue that has the potential to be very important. Thomas Bull has recorded seven Woody Guthrie songs; not ...
Read More

BARRY NISBET – The Springbank Voyage (Rattle Rig RRIG221)

In 1908, five Shetlanders joined the crew of Clyde-built 4-mast sailing barque, the Springbank, headed via the dread Cape Horn to Mexico. For Barry Nisbet, ...
Read More

Irish Music and Dance In London announce this year’s Return To London Town Festival

IMDL are delighted to announce the full programme of events for this year’s Return to London Town Festival - Friday 28th to Monday 31st October ...
Read More

Blackbeard’s Tea Party unleash their new album

In early 2020, two founder-members of Blackbeard's Tea Party chose to leave the band. At the same time, the coronavirus lockdown restrictions halted all the ...
Read More

Emily Portman and Rob Harbron announce first duo album

Time Was Away is Emily Portman and Rob Harbron’s debut duo album, comprising eight English folk songs and two 20th century poems set to music ...
Read More

SINGLES BAR 82 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

Featuring producer Pete Ord on guitar and bass, Kath Ord and violin and viola, pianist Jen Ord and Archie Moss on melodeon, 2019 Young Folk ...
Read More

SPROATLY SMITH – River Wye Suite (own label)

Sproatly Smith’s River Wye Suite, despite Heraclitus’s contention that “No man ever steps in the same river twice”, certainly drinks from the same sourced waters ...
Read More

DROPKICK MURPHYS – This Machine Still Kills Fascists (Dummy Luck Music)

The title, of course, refers to the slogan Woody Guthrie sported on his guitar and, following the path of Bragg and Wilco, This Machine Still ...
Read More

STEVE PLEDGER – What Tomorrow Knows (Noisy Dog Records NDCD03)

Every so often, an album comes along and hits you like a tsunami!  This has happened to me this week when I have had the ...
Read More

CROCK OF BONES – Celtic Crossbones (own label)

Crock of Bones are a North London band and, with a growing and increasingly acclaimed set of live performances behind them, have recently released Celtic ...
Read More

Gordon Giltrap announces new album

The gifted British guitarist Gordon Giltrap MBE, in collaboration with the keyboard player Paul Ward, is to release a brand new eighteen-track album entitled Scattered ...
Read More

Sarah McQuaid announces tour dates

With travel costs skyrocketing and the twin demons of Covid and the cost of living crisis driving audience numbers down, it’s not an ideal time ...
Read More

JENNIFER CROOK – The Broken Road Back Home (Transatlantic Roots)

Based in Bath, conceived during the pandemic, former Radio 2 Young Tradition finalist and harpist, The Broken Road Back Home is the pure-voiced Crook’s fifth ...
Read More

RANAGRI – Tradition II (own label)

Ranagri are an Anglo-Irish folk band who stretch the boundaries of what folk music is, so it may be surprising that Tradition II is the ...
Read More

Eddi Reader announces new album and tour dates

Light Is In The Horizon is a new album of previously unreleased recordings from one of Scotland’s greatest voices, Eddi Reader. The twelve songs were ...
Read More

GEOFF MULDAUR – His Last Letter: The Amsterdam Project (Moon River Music)

While his ex-wife Maria may be better known, primarily on account of her 1973 hit ‘Midnight At The Oasis’, and more prolific in terms of ...
Read More

KEEPING IT LIVE – Banterfest 2022 – Mike Wistow reports

Banterfest 2022 – or ‘The First Annual Banterfest’ as it may well come to be known – was held in Welbourn, Lincolnshire, from September 16th ...
Read More

Robb Johnson plays Dorking

In the now established tradition of @StMarysSessions, our October show brings you yet another slice of something distinctly different.  Expect the poetic, the passionate, the ...
Read More

UNDERNEATH THE STARS FESTIVAL – 29/30/31 JULY 2022

OVERVIEW BEFORE CAMPY SETS OFF IN THE FOLKMOBILE The Folkmobile is now fully serviced and raring to go!  I am so looking forward to this ...
Read More

JAKE BLOUNT  -The New Faith (Smithsonian Folkways)

A scholar of Black American music, for his new label debut Blount follows 2020’s highly acclaimed Spider Tales with The New Faith, an album of ...
Read More

LIzzy Hardingham announces new album and tour dates

How Did We Get Here? is Lizzy Hardingham's brand new studio album which explores the relationship between music and mental health. This Help Musicians UK ...
Read More

SYKESMARTIN – Unquenching Fire (Dragonfly Roots DRCD009)

SykesMartin sounds like one of those industrial processes that we had to learn about in chemistry lessons and that’s not a bad analogy. Miranda Sykes ...
Read More

SONS OF THE EAST – Palomar Parade (own label)

Australia’s Sons of the East’s Palomar Parade confronts the fact that (Thank you, Carl Sagan!) “There are more stars in the universe than all the ...
Read More

BONFIRE RADICALS – The Space Between (own label BR-02)

Bonfire Radicals describe themselves as Birmingham’s (un)traditional folk band. An interesting claim and their second album, The Space Between, supplies plenty of evidence to back ...
Read More

The Last Inklings announce six-part podcast

This autumn folk duo The Last Inklings will be releasing a new six part fortnightly podcast series, Limited Bandwidth, with accompanying ‘backstage’ style vlog. Through ...
Read More

SIOBHAN MILLER – Bloom (Songprint SPR005CD)

I loved Siobhan’s early work, fell out with her over Mercury but we kept faith with each other and now we have her fifth solo ...
Read More

Fairport Convention’s Cropredy 2022 With Interviews from Chris Leslie, Rosalie Cunningham & Joziah Longo

CROPREDY 2022 - A FOLKING.COM PERSPECTIVE REVIEW... Well, hi all, We all had a fabulous Cropredy this year - with the weather being the best ...
Read More

Phil Tyler and Sarah Hill announce new album

Phil Tyler and Sarah Hill first met in Newcastle where they played in local folk nights and sang in Sacred Harp sessions, leading to Hill ...
Read More

FARA – Energy Islands (FARA003)

The (predominantly) Orcadian band Fara have recently released their third album, Energy Islands. The band came together at the Orkney Folk Festival in 2014 and ...
Read More

KRAMIES – Kramies (Hidden Shoal Records)

Kramies self-titled album drips with an impressionistic paintbrush. And then it slow dances and sings (without an umbrella!) in dramatic and very cinematic rain. It ...
Read More

The Outside Track announce September tour

Winner of 'Best Group' in both the Live Ireland awards and the Tradition In Review awards, The Outside Track are one of the top Celtic ...
Read More

HOLLIE ROGERS – Criminal Heart (own label)

Hollie Rogers releases Criminal Heart on September 9th. I don’t look at the either singles or album charts much nowadays but if I say this ...
Read More

Robert Lane – new album and live dates

Robert Lane is a musician, songwriter and actor based in the UK. He has toured extensively and released three albums. As an actor he works ...
Read More

DAVID BENJAMIN BLOWER – Innocence And Experience (own label)

There’s been a spate of releases over the past couple of years with artists setting to music the works of poets such as Dickinson and ...
Read More

LUKE SITAL-SINGH – Dressing Like A Stranger (Nettwerk Records)

Luke Sital-Singh’s fourth album Dressing Like A Stranger is the soundtrack to my recent food order at my local Festival Foods’ kiosk that sold burgers ...
Read More

CHRIS FOX – In Plain Sight (own label)

Chris Fox’s previous album, the excellent From The Shadows, was released in 2019. Then his career went onto the back burner as the country shut ...
Read More

Jackie Oates Trio launches Gracious Wings

On Sunday 18th September The Jackie Oates Trio return to Water Rats, Kings Cross, London as part of their album launch tour, tickets and full ...
Read More

Bonfire Radicals announce new album and tour

The Space Between is the long awaited second album from Birmingham's fiery (un)traditional folk band Bonfire Radicals. This new release captures the adventurous breadth of ...
Read More

Cropredy Capers 2022 – Campie tells all

A return to Fairport’s Cropredy Convention was eagerly awaited by thousands of people who would be lining the field in Cropredy, Oxfordshire in the hottest ...
Read More

Copperplate Podcast 274 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 ...
Read More

Luke Sital-Singh announces new album

Luke Sital-Singh has released his fourth album, Dressing Like A Stranger, an eleven-song collection penned by the London-born songwriter as he moved halfway across the ...
Read More

PHIL LANGRAN – Falling Light (Longshore Drift LOD002)

Produced by and featuring Chris Pepper (percussion) and Boo Hewerdine (guitar, keys), normally to be found fronting The Phil Langran Band, here the Oxford singer-songwriter ...
Read More

Manchester Folk Festival announces 2022 line-up

Manchester Folk Festival has always striven to present the very best in current folk and acoustic music, resulting in a rich mix of styles and ...
Read More

Breabach announce first album for five years

Acclaimed contemporary Scottish folk band Breabach are back with their first full-length album in four years, set for release on Friday 14th October 2022. The ...
Read More

Miranda Sykes and Hannah Martin announce new collaboration, tour and album

SykesMartin is the exciting new collaboration from two of British folk's finest voices. Miranda Sykes (Show of Hands) and Hannah Martin (Edgelarks, Gigspanner Big Band) ...
Read More

Sue Harding announces her second album

Darkling is the new album release from West Country singer songwriter and guitarist Sue Harding. Twelve self-written tracks recorded by Josh Clark at Get Real ...
Read More

JOHN McCUTCHEON – Leap! (own label)

You could never accuse Wisconsin-born McCutcheon of resting on his laurels. Over the course of a 50-year career he’s released 43 albums and during the ...
Read More

Blas Festival programme announced

The Highlands & Islands will see a flurry of musical and cultural activity from this Friday (2nd September) until 10th September as the Blas Festival hits the ...
Read More

STARRY SKIES – Small Wonders (Foxstar Records)

Starry Skies’ new album, Small Wonders, is a pop-folk (and sometimes) rock record that proves, even after all the years, this band from Glasgow cares ...
Read More

Topic Records to issue remastered Frost And Fire

Frost And Fire: A Calendar of Ritual and Magical Songs first found its way into record collections in 1965, and it has been an essential ...
Read More

KATIE GRACE HARRIS – The Toledo Sessions (Triumph Recordings TR1001)

Named for her father’s blue Triumph Toledo she travelled round in as a child, collecting mum for her nursing shifts, singing the songs of James ...
Read More

BARNEY KENNY – The Seaton Tapes (own label)

Folking.com reviewed Barney Kenny’s EP The Minstrel Boy back in 2020, and very good it is too, with Barney supporting his own very able vocals ...
Read More

NIGEL PARRY – Tales Of Common Folk, Salt & Sweet Kisses (own label)

A CD arriving from New Zealand is not an everyday occurrence but, nevertheless, a welcome one. We first came upon singer-songwriter Nigel Parry via a ...
Read More

Man The Lifeboats – single, album and tour

Taken from their upcoming second album (out 14th October via Wood Head Records), the collective’s new single blazes bright with its incendiary violins, glowing accordions ...
Read More

Tim Edey joins the line-up for Iúr Cinn Fleadh

Award-winning multi-instrumentalist Tim Edey is the latest addition to the already stunning acts lined up for Iúr Cinn Fleadh – Newry’s music festival. A double ...
Read More

JOHN NAPIER – The Man In Me (own label)

A Birmingham-based singer-songwriter and half of the alt-folk Waler, Napier is steeped in a love of Paul McCartney whose influence glows throughout this terrific mini-album ...
Read More

CROSBY TYLER – Don’t Call The Law On Me (own label)

“I’m more of a hook-loving and personality-driven singer than anything else” says Crosby Tyler. His new album Don’t Call the Law On Me is released ...
Read More

Eliza Carthy announces second EP from her forthcoming album

Eliza Carthy, leading light of England's folk scene releases Stumbling On, the second EP of four tracks taken from her forthcoming album, Queen Of The ...
Read More

TAYLOR ALEXANDER – Hymns For A Hollow Earth (own label)

The album artwork inspired by 17th century Vanitas paintings, still life portraits that attempt to portray the ephemeral nature of life by placing representations of ...
Read More

JACKIE OATES – Gracious Wings (Needle Pin Records NP2)

Whatever Jackie Oates turns her hand to the result is always enchanting, captivating – if that doesn’t sound patronising, which is not my intention – ...
Read More

RUSTY SHACKLE – Under A Bloodshot Moon (own label)

Like many during the pandemic, the Welsh folk rock outfit, Rusty Shackle, found music a way of deepening their connections and of the joy and ...
Read More

SINGLES BAR 81 – A round-up of recent singles

As a teenager MARINA FLORANCE had an aunt who indulged her musical interests. One day she bought home bag of singles from the college where ...
Read More

Luke Concannon (Nizlopi) announces September tour

Luke Concannon has early memories of listening to live music, dancing, singing, and putting on plays, at his Irish family’s parties in Warwickshire England. He’s ...
Read More

Martha Tilston to play The Minack Theatre

From the folk songs she has known since childhood to piano ballads and the odd cheeky bit of trip-hop, Martha Tilston has never been afraid ...
Read More

Blas Festival showcases historic collection of Highland music

A collection of Highland music, left behind in the library of Raasay House in the 1800s has been given a fresh lease of life in ...
Read More

Chris Fox announces his second album

In Plain Sight is the eagerly awaited new album release from singer songwriter Chris Fox. With plenty of time on his hands during the lockdown ...
Read More

ROBB JOHNSON & THE IRREGULARS – Stay Cool, Keep Left, Shine Bright (Irregular Records IRR120)

In the beginning were The Irregulars’ first post-Covid sessions. From them emerged The Mystery Gets Your Number & The Poetry Makes The Call, the band’s ...
Read More

SHEILA K CAMERON – With You In My Life (SKC1710CD)

Writing reviews (in words) of albums (music and song) can be a bit like hearing colours -   scarlet - loud and confident, maybe towards being ...
Read More

Dan Whitehouse announces second Glass album

For over 400 years, the glassmaking industry nourished the communities of Stourbridge in the West Midlands, UK, where - thanks to the skills of immigrant ...
Read More

ANDREW COMBS – Sundays (Loose Music)

Andrew Combs’ Sundays, written and recorded under the confines of Covid and in the aftermath of a “mental breakdown”, finds its mono melodic redemption, in ...
Read More

FRITILLARIES – Fritillaries (Pear O’Legs Records)

Bristol based Fritillaries are Hannah Pawson – lead vocals, guitar, banjo and harmonium - and Gabriel Wynne – guitar and mandolin – and this is ...
Read More

Topic announce Sea Song Sessions

Sea Song Sessions is a collection of British maritime folk songs and sea shanties, performed by a collective of some of British folk music’s leading ...
Read More

Chris Cleverley – new single and album to follow

UK Dream-Folk Artist Chris Cleverley's brand new single 'Chlorophyll' presents a stark reminder of the impact of global warming on our fragile natural world. Bedford-based ...
Read More

UNCLE BARD & THE DIRTY BASTARDS – The Story So Far (Angel Air SJPCD650)

I have to confess, I’d never heard of this lot let alone that they’d released enough albums to warrant a compilation. For the similarly uninformed, ...
Read More

Bobby Blue releases new single

Pumping Norteño bass scored Bobby Blue's childhood soundtrack in the small motor town of Bedford, Indiana. An energetic culture-clash forged his home, his factory-worker father, ...
Read More

Iúr Cinn Fleadh bounces back!

Tide of folk music and family fun will flow through Newry this Bank Holiday A fun-filled family festival for all ages – that’s Iúr Cinn ...
Read More

ROBB JOHNSON & THE IRREGULARS – The Mystery Gets Your Number & The Poetry Makes The Call (Irregular Records IRR119V)

It’s a good job we don’t impose a word limit on our reviews or The Mystery Gets Your Number & The Poetry Makes The Call ...
Read More

TARREN – Revel (own label)

The story of Tarren’s debut album, Revel, begins in lockdown, when three established members of the Bristol folk scene began to share compositions online. From ...
Read More

ASHLEY HUTCHINGS – More Songs From The Shows (Talking Elephant TECD477)

The original Songs From The Shows were a pair of Albion Band albums in the early 1990s. It was probably Corunna with Steeleye Span that ...
Read More

Elephant Sessions announce new album

Award-winning indie-folk sensation Elephant Sessions are set to release their highly anticipated fourth studio album on Friday 9th September 2022. Elephant Sessions’ music combines the ...
Read More

Official Folk Albums Chart – July 2022

On Tuesday 2 August the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo revealed the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released ...
Read More

Reg Meuross launches IndieGoGo For Slave Trade Music Project – Stolen From God

For the last four years, uncovering the stories of the Atlantic slave trade across the South West of England has been the mission of Somerset-based ...
Read More

TRACY CURTIS – Live (Irregular Records IRR121)

Tracey Curtis used to be in a punk band called Shelley’s Children, she plays guitar, sings and writes songs and that’s about all I can ...
Read More

TYLER EDWARDS – A Falling Sky (Mighty Kind Records)

“Morning light used to mean something beautiful, now it seems cruel”, reads the opening lyric to ‘Heroes’, the second single from Tyler Edwards’ upcoming release, ...
Read More

Gretchen Peters – UK tour dates and new live album

2022 marks the 25th year since Gretchen Peters first set foot on a UK stage. And in honour of the occasion, the Nashville-via-New-York star will ...
Read More

LUKE JAMES WILLIAMS – Our Blood Is Red (own label)

Based in Cambridgeshire, Williams is a fairly new arrival on the scene, releasing his debut EP back in 2018, gaining fulsome support from Tom Robinson, ...
Read More

ANTOINE & OWENA – Clockwork Lens (own label 003-2022)

Antoine Architeuthis (not his real name) and Owena Archer write original songs that sound traditional and give traditional songs a contemporary sound. Clockwork Lens is ...
Read More

CANYONS & HIGHLANDS – Canyons & Highlands (BDR 2201)

"Astral Folk". What a simultaneously vague, uncertain – and absolutely brilliant description for this album. Canyons & Highlands (the album) is an instantly accessible delight ...
Read More

Beans On Toast announces 2023 tour dates

Following the runaway success of his extended UK tour earlier this year, the cult hero Beans On Toast has already plotted his return with a ...
Read More

Robb Johnson announces two new albums

Robb Johnson tells us about his new records. Recorded as soon as the 2021 Covid restrictions allowed, The Mystery Gets Your Number & The Poetry ...
Read More

KATIE DOHERTY & THE NAVIGATORS – Flow (Nookton Records NOOKCD01)

The result of exploring the concept of creative flow through work on formative versions of the songs with four community groups in the North East, ...
Read More

DIK CADBURY – Winds Of Change (own label)

Dik Cadbury is a veteran musician, singer and actor. He initially came to prominence as a member of Decameron and has worked as a session ...
Read More

MICKEY JUPP – Up Snakes, Down Ladders (Conquest Music)

Back in the 70s, it seemed that Jupp was set to become a household name alongside fellow pub rock stalwarts such as Nick Lowe and ...
Read More

JOE PUG – Nation Of Heat (Loose Music)

Joe Pug “revisits” his rough diamond (and very popular!) Nation Of Heat record and proves, with Bob Dylan, John Prine, and rough and winding Highway ...
Read More

SINGLES BAR 80 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

Hailing from Edmonton and currently living on the indigenous communities of Treaty Six Territory & Unceded Kanien'kehà:ka Territory, Mallory Chipman and Frédrique “Freddi” MacDougall are ...
Read More

MONICA TAYLOR – Trains, Rivers & Trails (Horton Records)

An Oklahoman of Scottish and Cherokee heritage, dubbed The Cimarron Songbird by Jimmy LaFave and Bob Childers, Taylor is a sterling exponent of red dirt ...
Read More

Dandelion reveal first line-up of artists and activity for major free festival in Inverness

Dandelion Festival, a free outdoor music and arts festival celebrating sustainability takes place Friday 2 - Sunday 4 of September Following the success of this ...
Read More

Marianne Faithfull announces major retrospective

UMC announce the release of Songs of Innocence And Experience 1965-1995, the definitive overview of the first 30 years of Marianne Faithfull’s recording career on ...
Read More

MARK MULHOLLAND – Revolutions Go In Circles (Ports of Call Music PCOM2201)

Recorded variously in Bamako, Berlin, New York and France, where he’s now based, over the course of the past few years, Revolutions Go In Circles ...
Read More

Captain Of The Lost Waves completes his trilogy

Captain Of The Lost Waves’ Hidden Gems – Chapter 3 Mysterium Tremendum, the trilogy closer to the critically acclaimed Hidden Gems Chapter 1 and 2, ...
Read More

Brighton And Hove Folk Festival – full line-up

A spectacular line-up includes both legends and fresh talent at Brighton and Hove Folk Festival this year Brighton and Hove Folk Festival has announced its full ...
Read More

DAN WHITEHOUSE – The Glass Age (own label WTK001)

Finding himself stuck in Japan during lockdown, communicating with friends, family and fans back home via digital media sparked in Dan the realisation that we ...
Read More

Cambridge Folk Festival – full details

Cambridge Folk Festival continues its tradition of hosting the biggest international stars in folk and roots music whilst also providing a platform for up and ...
Read More

WINDBORNE – Of Hard Times & Harmony (Wand’ring Feet Records WFR 005)

Of Hard Times & Harmony is a lavishly packaged album, presented in a 78-page book of lyrics, artwork and notes. I’m sometimes suspicious of such ...
Read More

The Magpie Arc headline indoor festival of folk at Cecil Sharp House

The Indoor Festival of Folk is a collaboration between folk/rock band The Magpie Arc and the English Folk Dance and Song Society and features a ...
Read More

YVONNE LYON, GARETH DAVIES-JONES, DAVID LYON – Trace The Line (PM610)

Sometimes collaborations just work: fish and chips, Lillee and Thompson, Dolce and Gabbana, Simon and Garfunkel – the list is long and varied. Add Yvonne ...
Read More

THE GABBARD BROTHERS – The Gabbard Brothers (Colemine/Karma Chief)

Formerly part of Ohio rock outfit Buffalo Killers and sometimes tour members with The Black Keys, siblings Zachary and Andrew, The Gabbard Brothers, have re-emerged  ...
Read More

AMY GODDARD – Rise (own label)

I’ve been listening to Amy Goddard almost since she appeared on the music scene. I admire the narrative skill of her songwriting and her love ...
Read More

Underneath The Stars Festival – 29/30/31 July 2022

Overview Before Campy Sets Off In The Folkmobile The Folkmobile is now fully serviced and raring to go!  I am so looking forward to Underneath ...
Read More

Foy Vance: new album and UK and Irish tour dates

Foy Vance will embark on an extensive European tour later this summer, with the UK dates commencing on August 30 at York Barbican and culminating ...
Read More

MATT NORMAN – Mr Onion’s Serenade (own label MNOR01CD)

Mr Onion’s Serenade is the sort of project that Simon Mayor would have made his own had Matt Norman not thought of it first. Matt ...
Read More

Charm Of Finches return for more UK tour dates

The Australian indie-folk sister duo, Charm Of Finches are back in the UK for 10 more dates in JULY- and just last week released a ...
Read More

BELLA HARDY – Love Songs (Noe NOE13)

For her tenth album Bella Hardy has returned to her beginnings. Love Songs is a mix of traditional songs and her own compositions beginning with ...
Read More

BUSH GOTHIC – Beyond The Pale (Fydle Records Fyd005)

Bush Gothic are a new name to me, but I was instantly attracted to their third album Beyond The Pale by their choice of songs ...
Read More

Levellers announce 2023 acoustic tour

Five years after they set out on their hugely acclaimed 2018 Acoustic Tour, and released its companion album We The Collective, The Levellers will embark ...
Read More

Fèis Rois Ceilidh Trail is back on the road

Two groups of talented young musicians will take to the road once again this summer for three weeks of musical performances the length and breadth ...
Read More

ANNA TAM – Live at The Green Note, Camden Hatching Hares Album Launch 4th July 2022

Anna Tam is a perfect example of “folk” music being a living, breathing tradition.  As Martin Carthy recently said "These songs are always being tweaked ...
Read More

Gate To Southwell Festival – next week!

The 15th Gate To Southwell Festival – one of the East Midlands’ premier music and family events - begins next Thursday July 14th and runs ...
Read More

Amy Goddard announces her new album

Amy Goddard is a well-regarded name on the folk and acoustic scene around Portsmouth, although she grew up in South Wales in the Merthyr Valley ...
Read More

• 1
• 2
• 3
• …
• 25
• ›