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).

REG MEUROSS – 12 Silk Handkerchiefs (Hatsongs HAT013)

This is not your typical Reg Meuross album. Not that it doesn’t have his consummate songwriting with its finely crafted melodies and emotive resonance and ...
Read More

SIMON TODD – Half Empty/Half Full (Ginger Tom Music GTM002)

Simon Todd’s new release Half Empty/Half Full is his second CD, following from Contracts For The Sale of Land in 2009. It’s nearly ten years, ...
Read More

BRIAN McALPINE – Mutual Imagination Society Vol 1 (own label CD001)

When did classical and traditional music become so intertwined? I suppose we must go back to the 15th century to find where it started but ...
Read More

Copperplate Podcast 230 – Presented by Alan O’Leary

folking.com brings you the latest podcast from that aficionado of Irish music, yes you guessed it, the one and only Mr. Alan O'Leary with his ...
Read More

DANKO & BUTTERFIELD – Live At The Golden Bear (Floating World FLOATM6375)

This is the earliest of three new archive albums featuring Rick Danko. When The Band was in down-time Rick would regularly tour small clubs, sometimes ...
Read More

Fairport’s Cropredy Convention – tickets on sale now

Fairport's Cropredy Convention three-day open-air music festival will celebrate its fortieth anniversary in 2019. The organisers have announced many of the acts booked for next ...
Read More

THE OUTSIDE TRACK – Rise Up (Lorimer Records LORRCD07)

When Rise Up hit my doormat I realised that it was a long time since I’d heard anything from The Outside Track. In fact it ...
Read More

WILLARD GRANT CONSPIRACY – Untethered (Loose)

Robert Fisher, the band’s founder, singer and guiding force, passed away as a result of cancer in February 2017, but not before he’d laid down ...
Read More

SINGLES BAR 36 A round-up of recent EPs and singles

Following her debut album, Away From My Window, Aberdeenshire singer IONA FYFE looks across the Atlantic for her EP, Dark Turn Of Mind. Aside from ...
Read More

CÚIG – The Theory Of Chaos (Copperplate COPP032)

Irish traditional music with added chutzpah is probably the best description of Cúig’s second album, The Theory Of Chaos. Actually there are only two  traditional ...
Read More

Katie Doherty announces new album

It is said that a change is as good as a rest, and for Katie Doherty it is both a rest, and a change, that ...
Read More

Shrewsbury Folk Festival – tickets are now on sale

Tickets have gone on sale for the 2019 Shrewsbury Folk Festival as organisers have shared the first names to be added to the bill. Weekend ...
Read More

Jenny Sturgeon Trio to play King’s Cross

Join the acclaimed Scottish folk singer songwriter for an intimate concert at The Harrison, Kings Cross, London on Sunday 9th December Nominated for the ‘Composer ...
Read More

O’Hooley & Tidow bring WinterFolk to Bethnal Green

O’Hooley & Tidow in concert at St John on Bethnal Green Church, East London – Saturday 15th December Join ‘one of British Folk’s mightiest combinations’ ...
Read More

Lore And The Living Archive exhibition coming to Cecil Sharp House

An exhibition of original artworks and artefacts from the Doc Rowe Archive and Collection will be displayed from 30th January to 14th April at Cecil ...
Read More

SASCHA OSBORN – Looking Out And After (THS002)

Looking Out And After is the debut album from Sascha Osborn and it’s rather lovely. Take a look at the cover photo – soft focus ...
Read More

MARTIN STEPHENSON & THE DAINTEES – live Under The Bridge, London

Martin Stephenson & The Daintees arrived in Chelsea in the middle of a long tour. The reason is, of course, the revamped Gladsome, Humour & ...
Read More

Winter Union Bring December Tour Tidings of Comfort & Joy

Well they say Christmas is a special time of year for a Winter Union, when magical things happen, and this year's Great British Folk Festival ...
Read More

CUNNING FOLK – Constant Companion (Dharma)

Unlike last year’s Ritual Land, Uncommon Ground, the latest from George Nigel Hoyle is predominantly comprised of traditional material from the British repertoire, the constant ...
Read More

BEANS ON TOAST – A Bird In The Hand (Beans On Toast Music BOT10CD)

Every year on the same date, December 1st, Beans On Toast (or Jay as his mum calls him) releases a new album and has done ...
Read More

THE WILLOWS – Through The Wild (Elk Elk014)

A sort of folk supergroup that sees singer Jade Rhiannon Ward and multi-instrumentalist husband Cliff joined by Ben Savage on Dobro, percussionist Evan Carson from ...
Read More

GIFFORD LIND, ALEX BLACK AND GUY BURGESS – Weave Trust With Truth (Mactoots Recordings MTS053)

It can be embarrassing. You accept a commission to record some music for an historical exhibition only to find that traditional sources throw up just ...
Read More

MIKE SPONZA – Made In The Sixties (EPOPS Music EPPS 1804)

Mike Sponza is a bluesman with a sense of adventure, some impressive collaborators and a great feel for his work. Made in the Sixties was ...
Read More

Hollie Haines’ second album is out now

The journey started back in the spring when London based alt-folk musician Hollie Haines kick started an eight-month release campaign leading up to her new ...
Read More

Beans On Toast celebrates a decade of recordings

Beans On Toast is back with a landmark 10th album (in 10 years): A Bird In The Hand, set for release, as ever, on 1st ...
Read More

TREVOR MOSS & HANNAH LOU – Fair Lady London (Maiden Voyage)

Fair Lady London sees a reunion of sorts with Trevor and Hannah-Lou's former Danny And The Champions Of The World bandmate Danny George Wilson in ...
Read More

DELTA LADIES – Hillbilly Trance (own label)

Hillbilly Trance was originally released as a limited edition earlier this year but, due to difficult circumstances, it was essentially unfinished. Now the “missing” tracks ...
Read More

SHERBURN – BARTLEY – SANDERS – be.guile (own label SBS001)

If like me, you tend to dig out the old Last Night’s Fun CD’s and wonder what would have happened if Nick Scott had been ...
Read More

Warwick Folk Festival announces Will Pound as new Patron

Warwick Folk Festival, which celebrates its 40th year in 2019, has announced one of the biggest names in folk music as its new Patron – ...
Read More

John Mayall announces new album

On February 22nd 2019 Forty Below Records will release Nobody Told Me, the new studio album from The Godfather of British Blues, John Mayall, at the tender age of ...
Read More

FolkEast announces 2019 line-up

It’s ‘lucky seven’ time for East Anglia’s unique, fast-rising FolkEast – England’s most easterly folk music festival. Not only is it the seventh year the ...
Read More

HICKORY SIGNALS – Turn To Fray (GF*M GFM10)

In a week in which we lost two great stalwarts of the folk scene it’s comforting to hear a young duo making such fine music ...
Read More

SINGLES BAR 35 A round-up of recent EPs and singles

Released to commemorate the 100th anniversary on the end of WWI, ‘Letters From Walter’ is a poignantly movie number from Cambridge folk crew RED VELVET ...
Read More

BREABACH – Frenzy Of The Meeting (Breabach Records, BRE005CD)

Having toured the world, won awards and created an immensely successful album, Astar, zinging with creative fusion, what would Breabach do next? Judging by their ...
Read More

GARETH OWEN – I’m Out Of This Place (own label)

Six months or so after the release of his Rolling By CD, Gareth Owen's new album I'm Out Of This Place is released on November ...
Read More

MARTIN STEPHENSON – Gladsome, Humour And Blue 30 (Barbaraville Records)

I might have begun by remarking on how long it must be since I listened to the original Gladsome, Humour & Blue but having played ...
Read More

SIOBHAN MILLER – Mercury (Songprint Recordings SPR002CD)

To be brutally honest, if this were Siobhan Miller’s first album and I was listening cold I probably wouldn’t have got past the first three ...
Read More

DARIA KULESH and JONNY DYER live at Cecil Sharp House

This wasn’t a launch event, more a pre-launch preview event for Daria’s forthcoming album, Earthly Delights, and a unique opportunity for fans to pre-order the ...
Read More

BETH WOOD – The Long Road (own label)

Hailing from Lubbock, The Long Road is Wood’s 11th album, and her maturity, experience and assured confidence are in evidence throughout this collection of short stories ...
Read More

CIARAN O’KANE – Round & Round (own label)

Ciaran O’Kane describes his debut album, Round & Round, as “a collection of the songs I like to sing” which is the best reason for ...
Read More

Townes Van Zandt – new live double CD

Townes Van Zandt was a remarkable singer/songwriter, much admired by contemporaries such as Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris and scores of others ...
Read More

KÍLA – Pota Óir (Kíla Records, KRDVD003)

Kíla, a band with a mutable line-up around the core of the Ó Snodaigh family has been around since the late 80s, with a prodigious ...
Read More

Strawbs celebrate 50 years

Monday 26th November: London, Under The Bridge Doors 7pm £26.40 (inc fee) http://underthebridge.co.uk/events/electric-strawbs/ Although forming in the mid 60s, coming out of the exciting British ...
Read More

MARK HARRISON – The Panoramic View (own label)

I really like Mark Harrison’s previous album, Turpentine, so I was delighted when he sent me The Panoramic View. Mark plays 12-string and National guitars ...
Read More

News of George Butterworth documentary film

After more than three years of careful work and the kind participation of a host of contributors, the first ever George Butterworth documentary film is ...
Read More

MERRY HELL – Anthems To The Wind (Merry Hell Music MHMCD218)

Here’s a conundrum. When you see them playing the folk circuit, Merry Hell comprise Virginia Kettle and her borther-in-law Andrew on vocals, his brothers John ...
Read More

Martyn Joseph announces January release of new album

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Martyn Joseph returns with new album Here Come The Young released January 25th 2019 via Pipe Records. Produced by Gerry Diver (Tom Robinson, ...
Read More

MARTIN STEPHENSON talks to folking about life, music and everything

Martin Stephenson had his rather more than fifteen minutes of fame in the late eighties and early nineties. His first albums were critically applauded and ...
Read More

Larkin Poe announce their new album

Venom & Faith is the new album from Larkin Poe, to be released November 9, 2018. The Nashville-based sister duo follow the release with a ...
Read More

NICK ELLIS – Speaker’s Corner (Mellowtone)

His fourth album in three years, the Liverpool singer-songwriter’s music has been described as streetscape narrative-noir, which I guess is a fancy way of saying ...
Read More

SETH LAKEMAN – The Well Worn Path (Cooking Vinyl COOKCD709)

Seth Lakeman’s new album has appeared with surprisingly little fanfare. The Well Worn Path was recorded at the beginning of the year during a break ...
Read More

JON WILKS – Midlife (own label)

When someone gathers together traditional folk songs from a particular region, it generally tends to be the case that these are from Up North, Down ...
Read More

Katie Melua releases her Ultimate Collection on vinyl

As Katie Melua embarks on her European tour, BMG announce the release of Ultimate Collection on vinyl. Compiled by Katie, this vinyl edition features 23 ...
Read More

ROBB JOHNSON – Ordinary Giants (Irregular IRR223)

At first glance Ordinary Giants seems like a sequel to Robb Johnson’s wonderful Gentle Men but it isn’t. It’s more of a companion piece; there ...
Read More

Midlife is out today – songs from Birmingham and the Midlands

Midlife, an album of traditional, industrial and music hall songs collected in Birmingham and the Midlands, was released this morning. Researched, arranged and recorded by, ...
Read More

Siobhan Miller announces new album

Born in Penicuik, Scotland, Siobhan Miller grew up in the folk scene singing at festivals she attended with her parents. Her soulful and stirring renewal ...
Read More

Simon Todd announces new album

Half Empty/Half Full is the eagerly awaited new album from Simon Todd, produced by Boo Hewerdine, ably assisted by Chris Pepper. The album is a ...
Read More

MERRY HELL ACOUSTIC and THE RABBLE CHORUS live at Snape Maltings

Merry Hell don’t often get to play at places where the bouncers, sorry ushers, wear DJs but they’d never played Snape Maltings before. This is ...
Read More

CASHAVELLY MORRISON – Hunger (own label)

Born Melissa Diane Meredith Bickey in West Virginia, her stage name a combination of the maiden names of paternal grandmother and mother, respectively, and working ...
Read More

THE TRIALS OF CATO – Hide And Hair (own label)

The eponymous debut EP by The Trials Of Cato came out of nowhere and smacked everyone between the eyes. Live, they are full of energy ...
Read More

ALAN PROSSER – 5/4AP (Rafting Dog Records RD054)

Well then… if you listened to our interview with Alan Prosser backstage at Cropredy you will already know that Alan alluded to the fact that ...
Read More

DAVID OLNEY – This Side Or The Other (Black Hen Music BHCD0089)

Based in Nashville since 1973, Olney has clocked up a fair few musical miles with 21 previous studio albums, released at a rate of one ...
Read More

BERT JANSCH – Just A Simple Soul (BMG BMGCAT227CD)

Bernard Butler spent more than a decade working with Bert Jansch and it fell to him to curate a definitive best of collection. It can’t ...
Read More

STEWART HENDERSON, YVONNE LYON and CAROL HENDERSON – Vesper Sky (own label SL045)

Well now, this is something different. Scottish singer-songwriter Yvonne Lyon has joined forces with Liverpool poet Stewart Henderson (who, as a songwriter, has provided the ...
Read More

The Young’uns and The Ballad Of Johnny Longstaff

Three time BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winners The Young’uns present a new and unique piece of modern folk theatre. The Ballad Of Johnny Longstaff ...
Read More

ASHLEY HUTCHINGS – Paradise And Thorns (Talking Elephant TECD410)

Divided into two discs, Gloucester Docks Revisited and Other Tales Of Love, Paradise And Thorns finds “the single most important figure in English folk rock” ...
Read More

GERRY O’CONNOR – Last Night’s Joy (Lugnasa LUGCD966)

Gerry O’Connor is a fiddle player from Dundalk, not to be confused with Gerry O’Connor, the banjo player, who also appears on Last Night’s Joy, ...
Read More

GYPSYFINGERS – Stranger Things (own label)

Although they perform live as a quartet and the album features various musical collaborators, Gypsyfingers are essentially classically trained and dance music loving songwriter Victoria ...
Read More

THE FRANK BURKITT BAND – Raconteur (Frank Burkitt Music FWB004)

Having left Edinburgh, Scotland, for Wellington, New Zealand in 2014, The Frank Burkitt Band took shape over the coming months, honing a unique, rootsy sound ...
Read More

VIVE LA ROSE – For She Who Hangs The Moon (Gestation Records, GEST01)

London-based Scot David Luximon-Herbert has been making music in various guises over many years, finally emerging as Vive La Rose in 2014 with the EP, ...
Read More

THE MAGIC LANTERN – To The Islands (Hectic Eclectic Records)

Reading the PR notes there were several references to jazz, and as I’m not a jazz aficionado I didn’t think I would enjoy this CD, ...
Read More

HECTOR CHRISTIE & CHRIS EDWARDS – Ghaists In The Air (own label)

Violet Jacob was a poet and novelist born of what would have been called a noble family back then. She died in 1946 aged eighty-three, ...
Read More

KARINE POLWART – Laws Of Motion (Hudson Records HUD014)

Karine Polwart's latest CD – Laws Of Motion, released on 19th October 2018 – is her seventh release. It is co-produced by Karine with Inge ...
Read More

DAN FRECHETTE & LAUREL THOMSEN – Driving By Candlelight (own label)

A duo variously based in California’s Santa Cruz mountains (her) and Winnipeg (him), Driving By Candlelight is their fourth collection of self-penned Americana, she on violin ...
Read More

ROOT & BRANCH – A Breath Against The Calm (own label RABR02)

Root & Branch are an Anglo-American quintet whose repertoire spans Britain, Ireland and the Appalachians. A Breath Against The Calm is their first full-length album ...
Read More

Cara Dillon announces winter tour dates

Cara Dillon, possessed of one of the most celebrated folk voices to have come out of Ireland, will be touring her Christmas show Upon A ...
Read More

VISION THING – When We Were Astronauts And Other Stories (own label)

The follow-up to last year’s Trysting Tree EP (the tracks of which all appear here), the sleeve echoing the title of David Niven’s autobiography, The ...
Read More

Shred Kelly – new album

Shred Kelly will be releasing their most ambitious project yet in their fourth album, Archipelago, on October 19th 2018 via DevilDuck Records, followed immediately by a tour ...
Read More

BELLE PLAINE – Malice, Mercy, Grief And Wrath (own label)

Sharing her name with the Minnesota city that translates as ‘beautiful prairie’. raised in a remote Saskatchewan town of just 45 people, it’s understandable that ...
Read More

STEVIE DUNNE – Live At The Crosskeys Inn (own label SDB003)

Ireland is full of fine musicians who, unlike prophets, are honoured in their own country but not so much elsewhere. Stevie Dunne is one such ...
Read More

MICHELLE LEWIS – All That’s Left (own label)

Based in L.A., Lewis explores the softer edges of folk-pop Americana, her songs suffused with sadness and melancholy, dealing with loss and longing, delivered in ...
Read More

Marianne Faithfull announces new solo album

Negative Capability is the 21st album by Marianne Faithfull and the most emotionally powerful of her 54-year recording career. Facing down arthritis and bolstered by ...
Read More

TOM PETTY AND BOB DYLAN – New York 1986 (Rox Vox RV2CD2128)

In the mid-80s and in the midst of his own musical wasteland, Bob Dylan went down a number of different angles in a bid to ...
Read More

KITTY MACFARLANE – Namer Of Clouds (Navigator Records, NAVIGATOR104)

Given the praise heaped on Kitty Macfarlane’s 2016 EP, Tide & Time, expectations are understandably high for her first full-length album release, Namer Of Clouds ...
Read More

GREGORY ALAN ISAKOV – Evening Machines (Dualtone Records)

Evening Machines was released on October 5th, Isakov’s fifth album. Isakov is a full time farmer in Colorado, who tends to his music career in ...
Read More

PETE SEEGER BIG BILL BROONZY – Cahn Auditorium, Northwestern University (Echoes ECHO2CD2077)

Another recording from the vaults is Pete Seeger and Big Bill Broonzy from the Cahn Auditorium at Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois, 1956 – a ...
Read More

LONGSTAY – Calling Me Home (Goldrush Records, GOLDCD017)

Calling Me Home is the debut album from Longstay, a precocious Perth quintet, still with an average age of only 17 - and with four ...
Read More

ANNE MARIE ALMEDAL – Lightshadow (VMP 18/012 CD)

Anne Marie Almedal is a Norwegian singer and composer whose album, Lightshadow, is now on release. Almedal, was the lead singer of the band Velvet ...
Read More

BOB DYLAN AND THE BAND – 1974 Tour Live (Rox Vox RV3CD2137)

1974 Tour Live is a pretty self-explanatory title, but if you’re still curious for anything else other than the obvious, it is a three disc ...
Read More

The Great British Folk Festival 2018

Hi-de-Hi! Hi-De-Ho! to all the team at The Great British Folk Festival 2018 at the Butlin's Skegness resort. Yep, its that time of the year ...
Read More

Andy White tours reissued Rave On

“Andy White, Belfast born and Belfast bred, first picked up a guitar when he was thirteen. It was blocking up the hallway. He started strumming ...
Read More

Ray Cooper announces winter tour

Former Oysterband man Ray Cooper is touring the UK solo in November as well as in February 2019 A singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist he currently ...
Read More

LUKA BLOOM – Sometimes I Fly… (MIG MIG 02102 CD)

This album was recorded by Radio Bremen in 2001. Luka Bloom is big in Germany; he’s big in Ireland naturally but for some unfathomable reason ...
Read More

Catty Pearson releases debut EP

London singer-songwriter Catty Pearson, with her musical roots planted in folk, country and blues and her head set on unravelling some of the confusion she feels in ...
Read More

THE SALTS – Brave (Braccan Records BRCD9001)

The Salts perform shanties but not quite in the way you might expect. They are five seasoned musicians with a remarkable list of credits to ...
Read More

MALCOLM HOLCOMBE – Come Hell Or High Water (Gypsy Eyes Music)

If you feel that ‘Southern folk golem’ Holcombe’s croaky roll-up rasp suggests he’s been shovelling coal dust of his cereals and makes Tom Waits sound ...
Read More

Derbyshire stars at Derby Folk Festival

Derbyshire is famous for many things to those in the know, but for the casual mainstream music fan the county that gave the world Rolls-Royce ...
Read More

Yvonne Lyon announces new album with Stewart and Carol Henderson

Vesper Sky is a stunning and unique collection of songs and poems, written and performed by Stewart Henderson, Yvonne Lyon and Carol Henderson. Singer/songwriter Yvonne ...
Read More

Dan Frechette & Laurel Thomsen announce new album

As with their previous three albums, Canadian-American Roots-Folk duo Dan Frechette & Laurel Thomsen ponder contemporary subject matter with vintage sensibility in their fourth release, Driving ...
Read More

J.P. HARRIS – Sometimes Dogs Bark At Nothing (Free Dirt DIRT-CD-0090)

You might be wondering if J.P. Harris looks anything like the cover picture. Well, I can’t speak for all the tattoos but, yes, that’s pretty ...
Read More

SINGLES BAR 34 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

Tablelands is the third of the trilogy of EPs by INDIA ELECTRIC CO. that began in the city with EC1M and ends somewhere hot, red ...
Read More

ETHAN HANNA – Welcome To The Batlands (Tin Man Heart)

Ethan Hanna is from Lisburn, Northern Ireland. He’s been around for while, paying his dues as a soloist and in bands, but Welcome To The ...
Read More

RIBBON ROAD – Paper Dolls (Shipyard RRD011)

The follow-up to Our Streets Are Numbered, one of my favourite albums of 2016, the Heslop family, songwriter Brenda, husband Geoff and daughter Jill, here ...
Read More

Breabach announce new album and tour dates

Frenzy of the Meeting is the latest release from multi award-winning Scottish folk band Breabach. Continuing to build on the ideas and experimentation from their ...
Read More

TOWN MOUNTAIN – New Freedom Blues (own label)

Based in Asheville, North Carolina, New Freedom Blues is the quintet’s sixth studio album which, while their feet are still firmly planted in the bluegrass pastures, ...
Read More

THE BETTERDAYS – Backlash (NTB Records CD 1004)

I realise that this isn’t our usual fare but it’s such a gem that we couldn’t resist. The cover shows The Betterdays from Plymouth in ...
Read More

ANTOINE & OWENA – Hands, Hearts & Hangings (own label)

We receive a lot of unsolicited albums, often debuts from new artists. Some we may gloss over; others we play more than once. So it ...
Read More

Ewan Macintyre Band announce new album

In promotion of Ewan’s forthcoming album Road Junkie, Ewan and the band will be doing a series of tours throughout November in Scotland, England, Wales, ...
Read More

Stevie Dunne releases live album

Stevie Dunne is regarded as one of Ireland’s finest banjo players. Hailing from the small fishing port of Clogherhead in County Louth, Stevie now resides ...
Read More

CHRIS CLEVERLEY TRIO – Red Lion Folk Club, Kings Heath, Birmingham

Already well-established as a charismatic performer on the folk circuit and a critically acclaimed singer-songwriter as well as hugely accomplished guitarist, this hometown gig, the ...
Read More

GILMORE & ROBERTS – A Problem Of Our Kind (GR! GRR08)

Gilmore & Roberts are Katriona Gilmore (vocals, fiddle, viola, B3 organ and mandolin) and Jamie Roberts (vocals, guitar, percussion). Their album A Problem Of Our ...
Read More

The Urban Folk Quartet announce autumn tour dates

The Urban Folk Quartet, one of the most exciting and vibrant bands on the UK acoustic/ roots scene, are heading back out on the road ...
Read More

DOLPHIN BOY – The Highland Swing (Skye Records SCRCX005)

There is story behind this album although I’m not sure I fully understand it. Once upon a time DJ Andy Dolphin, aka Dolphin Boy, was ...
Read More

YOUNG WATERS – Young Waters (own label YW1)

Now trading under a rather more attractive moniker (borrowed from a Scottish Child Ballad) than their previous appellation as Snufkin, guitarist Theo Passingham and percussionist ...
Read More

EDDI READER – Cavalier (Reveal 077CDX)

Forty years into her career, Reader’s 11th solo studio album, Cavalier, continues the recent trend of mixing original and traditional material with, naturally, something from ...
Read More

SLOW MOVING CLOUDS – Starfall (own label SMC003)

Dublin based trio Slow Moving Clouds blend Irish and Nordic traditions with modern techniques and influences to make music that might be described as “ambient” ...
Read More

ANNIE DRESSNER – Broken Into Pieces

Like Kurt Russell in 'Escape from New York', Annie Dressner has legged it as well and made it over here to fair Albion even without ...
Read More

JIMMY LaFAVE – Peace Town (Music Road Records MRR CD030)

A leading light of the Red Dirt country movement, LaFave succumbed to cancer last year, but not before laying down a 100 or so recordings ...
Read More

TUMBLING SOULS –Between the Dream And The Truth (Wee Studio Records WSTTS01)

The debut album from the country and bluegrass-influenced Hebridean eight-piece fronted by Willie Campbell, Between The Truth And The Dream has a firm emphasis on ...
Read More

JOHN SMITH – Hummingbird (Commoner COMM01CD)

John Smith is a name I’ve been circling around for some time without actually hearing him so I was delighted when his new album, Hummingbird, ...
Read More

SOLASTA – A Cure For The Curious (own label SLSTA18)

A Cure For The Curious is the debut album by the newest trio aiming to take folk music in new directions. Solasta are Elizabeth Flett; ...
Read More

THE LARK AND THE LOON – Homestead Hands (own label)

She’s the lark and he’s the loon and The Lark And The Loon are multi-instrumental husband and wife duo Jeff Rolfzen and Rocky Steen-Rolfzen. Homestead ...
Read More

PHIL DOLEMAN – Skin & Bones

In recent years the ukulele has become increasingly prominent in my life as a music teacher and workshop organiser, so it was with a degree ...
Read More

MAWKIN – Down Among The Dead Men (Good Form Records MKN005)

I was thinking that it was rather too long since I’d heard anything from Mawkin when David Delarre got in touch to ask if I’d ...
Read More

Katie Spencer – in praise of live music

Saturday night I find myself in a church in a small village. This settlement is so tiny that to describe it as a small hamlet ...
Read More

IAIN THOMSON AND MARC DUFF – No Borders (own label IAT 003)

Iain Thomson is a singer-songwriter brought up in Dumfries who works regularly as a duo with Marc Duff who plays bouzouki, pipes, piano and whistles ...
Read More

NATHAN BELL – Loves Bones And Stars, Love’s Bones And Stars (Angry Stick Recording Company)

In case you’re wondering, the title of the album is correct. Loves Bones And Stars, Love’s Bones And Stars is due for release on September ...
Read More

Introducing Wolf & Clover

We are contacted by musicians from all over the world and recently Matthew McCabe of the band Wolf & Clover got in touch to send ...
Read More

Neil Brophy Band announce new single and album

Neil Brophy Band, based in Copenhagen but coming from England, Scotland & Denmark, are a Celtic folk rock band championed by Steve Lamacq, whom will ...
Read More

Exploring Folklore at Halsway Manor

Venue website: www.halswaymanor.org.uk ...
Read More

RACHEL NEWTON – West (Shadowside SHADOW03)

I had better confess that I’m a bit of a fan of Rachel Newton. The last time I heard her perform live she demonstrated how ...
Read More

Take Flight with Afro Celt Sound System

Brand new album, Flight – with major UK tour - November 2018 With album sales now topping one and a half million and two Grammy ...
Read More

RICHARD DURRANT – Stringhenge (Own Label, TheBurningDeck003CD)

JS Bach’s elaborate baroque isn’t necessarily folk’s obvious partner, but for guitarist Richard Durrant they are simply links in a lengthy musical chain. In his ...
Read More

A DIFFERENT THREAD – On A Whim (own label)

Originally a duo comprising Staffordshire’s Robert Jackson and North Yorkshire classical cellist Isaac Collier, last year they were joined by North Carolina songwriter and fiddle ...
Read More

NORTHERN FLYWAY – Northern Flyway (Hudson Records, HUD013)

This eponymous album from Northern Flyway is a beautiful addition to a rapidly growing body of music prominently featuring birdsong. Northern Flyway is Jenny Sturgeon ...
Read More

SINGLES BAR 33 A round-up of recent EPs and singles

BURNING SALT – Hannah Hull (vocals, guitar), Bobby Williams (electric guitar) and John Parker (double bass) – base their music on Hannah's distinctive voice and ...
Read More

DUSTER BENNETT – The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions (Floating World FLOATM6367)

Younger readers may need a heads up about Duster Bennett but a title like The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions should pique anyone’s interest. Duster was ...
Read More

TIA McGRAFF – Stubborn In My Blood (Bandana)

Her first full-length release since 2015 (though there was an EP last year), Stubborn In My Blood  is McGraff’s seventh album and again provides ample ...
Read More

Annie Dressner announces second album

Annie Dressner was born and raised in New York City where she cut her teeth on the busy acoustic music scene, appearing regularly at such ...
Read More

Larkin Poe announce new album

Larkin Poe have announced details of their new album Venom & Faith, to be released November 9. The Nashville-based sister duo have also announced a ...
Read More

Eddi Reader announces new album

Eddi Reader announces her brand new studio album Cavalier released worldwide on September 28 by Reveal Records. Featuring sixteen songs, including recently performed live favourites ...
Read More

DAVID MILTON – Songs From The Bell Man (Story Records Strec1801)

Produced by and featuring Ange Hardy, this is the debut album by an affable chap from her home town of Watchet in Somerset who, in ...
Read More

John Smith – new album

John Smith talks about Hummingbird Ever since my teenage epiphany at the altar of folk music, hearing Nick Drake, Bert Jansch and John Renbourn for the ...
Read More

CHRIS THOMAS – Bound To The Ocean (own label)

Formerly part of a Pink Floyd tribute show, the soft-voiced Devon-based singer-songwriter has being flying solo since 2013, Bound To The Ocean being his debut album ...
Read More

GRYPHON – ReInvention (own label GRIFCD01)

It has been a long time. Gryphon broke up in 1977 after recording Treason, which a lot of people seem to like but which I ...
Read More

JIMMY ALDRIDGE & SID GOLDSMITH – Many A Thousand (MATRAI8001)

Rising stars of the UK acoustic scene, Aldridge and Goldsmith are what I guess those outside the fraternity would call finger in the ear folk ...
Read More

Iain Thomson announces new album with Marc Duff

Iain Thomson along with long-time friend and musician Marc Duff will release a new album entitled No Borders. No Borders includes eleven new self-penned songs ...
Read More

Guitar virtuoso Richard Durrant – new album

In his latest offering composer and guitar virtuoso Richard Durrant is once again living on the folk/classical cusp with the first of these two LPs ...
Read More

RICHARD THOMPSON – 13 Rivers (Proper Records PRPCD150)

Following three excursions into his back catalogue in a solo acoustic format, Richard Thompson is back doing the other thing he does best. Electric guitar ...
Read More

Folking.com Cropredy Interviews 2018

Paul Johnson introduces this years interviews... Dave Pegg - Cropredy 2018 The Folking.com 2018 Dave Pegg Interview from Cropredy Chris Leslie - Cropredy 2018 The ...
Read More

MIDNIGHT SKYRACER talk to Folking.com backstage at Cropredy 2018

Paul Johnson and Darren Beech catch up with Midnight Skyracer backstage at this years Fairport's Cropredy Convention. The interview took place on the Friday afternoon after their fantastic ...
Read More

NIAMH VARIAN-BARRY – Wings (own label NVB001)

Sometimes you just want to snuggle down and be wrapped in the voice you’re listening to. Niamh Varian-Barry has one of those voices. Have a ...
Read More

GRACE PETRIE – Queer As Folk (own label)

The only time I saw Grace Petrie on stage, I was bowled over. I bought an EP and was impressed by that. Always her own ...
Read More

Slow Moving Clouds announce their second album

Dublin-based band Slow Moving Clouds combine roots in the Irish and Nordic folk traditions with post-punk drones, baroque strings, and soaring falsetto vocals – creating ...
Read More

The Shackleton Trio take their new album on tour

Following a busy summer of UK and European Festivals, The Shackleton Trio will be taking their new release on the road. The Shackleton Trio features ...
Read More

STONE JUNCTION – Could We Start This All Again? (Eris Records SJCD001)

Stone Junction are a trio based in Sussex: Michael Prochak, Dan Lapins and Will Thomson. Between them they play guitar, banjo, accordion, mandolin and whistle ...
Read More

SKINNER & T’WITCH – Everybody’s Grotty (own label)

In the course of reviewing Skinner & T’Witch’s debut album, Rise, I mused on nominative determinism and wondered whether if Sandra Twitchett had not acquired ...
Read More

Merry Hell – live dates 2018

Artists' website: www.merryhell.co.uk Here are Merry Hell's live dates for the rest of the year (so far). The chaps are getting around. November: 30th: Skegness, ...
Read More

SMITH AND BREWER – Live 16/12/2017 (Own Label)

Riding high on their success in front of their biggest audience to date at Cropredy, as well as playing a host of other festivals, Americana ...
Read More

Jenny Sturgeon and Inge Thompson announce release of their new project

Humans have always looked to the birds.  In mythology, they are carriers of souls, messengers to the gods, our familiars.  In ecology, they are our ...
Read More

Commonalities and heritage explored in brand-new music residency

Musicians and poets from across the UK and Ireland create work inspired by ancient diversity Ten of the UK and Ireland’s finest traditional poets and ...
Read More

Ethan Hanna announces debut album

Welcome To The Batlands, the debut album from Northern Irish artist Ethan Hanna, will be released on Tin Man Heart records from 5 October 2018 ...
Read More

HANNAH RARITY – ‘Neath The Gloaming Star (Own Label, HR085NEA)

Winner of 2018’s BBC Radio Scotland’s Young Traditional Musician award, Hannah Rarity, has just successfully crowdsourced her debut album, and it’s exquisitely lovely. ‘Neath The ...
Read More

BOB COLLUM AND THE WELFARE MOTHERS – Pay Pack And Carry (own label)

Bob Collum hails from Tulsa, Oklahoma but now lives in Essex – actually, we’re beginning to detect a pattern there. His band is Macs Leyton, ...
Read More

Sarah McQuaid announces tour dates

UK-based singer/songwriter Sarah McQuaid is heading out on the road again with a battery of new instruments and a new album that’s been hailed as ...
Read More

Burning Salt’s “love letter” to Holloway Women’s Prison

Burning Salt – Hannah Hull (vocals, guitar, piano), Bobby Williams (electric guitar) and John Parker (double bass) – base their music on Hannah's distinctive voice ...
Read More

Will Varley talks to folking.com ahead of Autumn tour

Will Varley is touring the UK again this autumn, with the majority of the shows taking place in seated theatres and venues. Paul Johnson and ...
Read More

Chris Cleverley unveils his new project

September 2018 sees the launch of a new live outfit from Contemporary Folk songwriter and fingerstyle guitar extraordinaire Chris Cleverley. With an all-star line-up, Chris ...
Read More

DAN WEBSTER – Devil Sky (Paper Plane PPR1801)

Dan Webster is a British singer-songwriter who has been described as the fusion of folk and country. On his fourth album, Devil Sky, much of ...
Read More

FAIRYTALE – Autumn’s Crown (Magic Mile Music, MMM41112)

German folk-rockers Fairytale cunningly release their second album, Autumn’s Crown, as the first signs of seasonal change appear. Having already secured the support of some ...
Read More

DREW MORRISON AND THE DARKWOOD – Electric-Notes Wild (Storm Cloud SCCD002)

Electric-Notes Wild, to be released on September 7th, is the debut album from Drew Morrison And The Darkwood. It follows a well-received EP, Tales of ...
Read More

Eriska launch debut album

Eriska is a six-piece Glasgow-based folk band established in 2016. The band's line up includes members from the traditional music, jazz, and classical courses at ...
Read More

Daphne’s Flight talk to Folking.com

Reunited after a 21 year gap in 2017, Daphne’s Flight brings together the talents of five highly acclaimed singer-songwriters: Julie Matthews, Chris While, Melanie Harrold, ...
Read More

Stone Junction release their debut album

Stone Junction have released their debut album Could We Start This All Again?, replete with the accomplished and varied transatlantic sounds of guitars, mandolin, accordion, ...
Read More

JENNIFER BELL AND WILSON WALKER – …And So To Bedlam (own label JBWW01)

It isn’t often that a lutenist will send us a CD but Jennifer Bell did just that. Jennifer is a singer-songwriter and, in addition to ...
Read More

Grace Petrie announces new album

Make way for protest singer, LGBTQ + activist, folk singer, socialist and social commentator Grace Petrie. Smart, witty, a talented lyricist and an electrifying live ...
Read More

Dan Webster releases new album this month

Dan Webster is described as ‘one of the U.K’s best kept musical secrets and one not to miss!’ and an ‘An insightful lyricist with a ...
Read More

The Folking.com 2018 Merry Hell Interview from Cropredy Fringe

Paul Johnson and Darren Beech create Merry Hell as they attempt to break the world record for ‘how many folk-rock musicians you can fit round a table ...
Read More

Ben Somers announces debut solo album

Acclaimed folk and jazz musician Ben Somers releases his brand new album, Poor Stuart on 7 September - a polished and accomplished collection of twelve pieces, ten ...
Read More

THE TANNAHILL WEAVERS – Òrach (Compass Records 7417172)

Few bands get to celebrate fifty years together – and some of those have taken a breather mid-career – so The Tannahill Weavers have joined ...
Read More

The Folking.com 2018 Dave Pegg Interview from Cropredy

Paul Johnson and Darren Beech track down Dave Pegg at this year at Fairport Convention’s Cropredy Festival. The interview gets off to a great start ...
Read More

THE GLOAMING – Live At The NCH (Real World CD/Vinyl)

It almost goes without saying that Martin Hayes (fiddle) and Dennis Cahill (guitar) have shaped Irish traditional music for the last quarter century and are ...
Read More

WILL KEATING – Cornwall My Home (Kernow Ow Thre) (Own Label)

As it happens, I'd heard quite a lot of Will Keating's CD Cornwall My Home (Kernow Ow Thre) before a copy came my way, having ...
Read More

ASSYNT – Road To The North (Garthland Records, GAR001CD)

The trio of musicians who make up Assynt may still only be in their 20s but between them have already amassed a barrowload of nominations ...
Read More

HILARY SCOTT – Don’t Call Me Angel (Belltown)

Released in the 20th anniversary of her older brother’s death, which saw her take her stage name in his honour, Don’t Call Me Angel  is ...
Read More

The Folking.com 2018 Chris Leslie Interview from Cropredy

It would not be Cropredy without an interview with the ‘Jewel In The Crown’ of the Fairport five, so here are Paul Johnson and Darren ...
Read More

THE HOT SEATS – Stupid Mountain Too Big

Not only is Stupid Mountain Too Big a great title, but it is also the first album in three years from the Virginia-based Hot Seats ...
Read More

Introducing Young Waters

Young Waters’ twisted neo-folk is a tapestry of emotionally powerful vocals, stirring harmonies, lyrical strings and finely mastered acoustic guitar. Their exhilarating rhythms and intricate ...
Read More

DUNCAN McCRONE – Land Of Gold (Greentrax CDTRAX398)

A well-established veteran of the Scottish folk scene, Duncan McCrone returns with Land Of Gold, his fourth solo album, and his first on the esteemed ...
Read More

MARTIN BARRE – Roads Less Travelled (Garage Records GAR0002)

I don't think I've heard Jethro Tull for decades, but one of the highlights of the band's music was, for me and many others, Martin ...
Read More

Swedish Celtic punks Sir Reg announce new album

Sir Reg is an energetic six piece from Sweden fronted by Irishman Brendan Sheehy on vocals, who left his home-town of Dublin to come to ...
Read More

Gryphon announce new album – forty-one years on

Would you believe it? Gryphon are releasing an all-new studio album of especially written, previously unheard material – and this comes all of 41 years ...
Read More

Karine Polwart announces new album

Multi-award winning songwriter and musician, theatre maker and published writer Karine Polwart - six-time winner at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, including 2018 Folk ...
Read More

NITEWORKS – Air Faìr An Là (Comann Music, CM002)

If the combined words “folk” and “electronica” bring on an attack of the vapours, a lie down with the reviving sal volatile of Niteworks’ second ...
Read More

Levellers on limited edition coloured vinyl

To celebrate their 30th anniversary, the Levellers have announced the release of a series of limited edition coloured vinyl albums, including the never before released ...
Read More

The West End Centre unveils its autumn programme

The autumn programme at the West End Centre kicks-off in September with Leveret, a unique collaboration between three of England's finest folk musicians, Andy Cutting, ...
Read More

RACHAEL McSHANE & THE CARTOGRAPHERS – When All Is Still (Topic TSCD596)

It’s been nine years since Rachael McShane realised her solo debut, the time since then keeping her busy as cellist, fiddler, viola player and singer ...
Read More

Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham announce major Scottish tour

Together Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham have established themselves as the epitome of excellence in the world of traditional music. With their musical magic and ...
Read More

MAIREARAD & ANNA – Farran (Shouty Records SHOUTYCD04)

Farran is the Scots word for the starboard side of a boat and is also Mairearad Green and Anna Massie’s fourth album as a duo ...
Read More

John Smith unveils debut single from new album

John Smith had just announced the release of his new album Hummingbird.  It features appearances from Cara Dillon, John McCusker and Ben Nicholls, and will be ...
Read More