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
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Physical link for the UK Store is: https://folking.com/folking-store/
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HANZ ARAKI & KATHRYN CLAIRE – A Winter Solstice Celebration (The Celtic Conspiracy CELCON001)
Having recently reviewed (and very much enjoyed) the last in a series of CDs of largely traditional music from Hanz Araki and Kathryn Claire, I'm ...
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GRYPHON – Get Out Of My Father’s Car! (own label GRIFCD02)
There have been a couple of changes in the Gryphon line-up since their last outing. First there is a new bass-player in the shape of ...
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Phil Cunningham’s online Christmas Songbook
To bring on the Christmas cheer after what has been a tough year for everyone, the Phil Cunningham Christmas Songbook team have come together to ...
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DeBarra’s goes online
DeBarra’s Clonakilty announce new online series featuring over 20 eclectic acts including: Mary Coughlan, Niamh Regan, John Spillane, Craic Boi Mental, Elaine Malone & more… ...
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CHILLY GONZALES – A Very Chilly Christmas (GENTLE022CD)
A Very Chilly Christmas is just lovely! I want to put on a cocktail dress and sip on something seasonal while I let this gorgeous ...
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Celtic Connections announces its first list of artists
Celtic Connections has announced the first list of artists who will perform as part of their digital-first festival this January. Across 19 days, the festival ...
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KIRIKI CLUB – Kiriki Club (own label Kiriki 001)
Drawing on backgrounds as various as clowning, dance, theatre and live art, the Birmingham-based sextet, Kiriki Club (the name inspired by Les Kiriki, a film ...
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VARIOUS ARTISTS – A Gulf Coast Christmas (Gulf Coast GCRX9028)
I was delighted to review this album, A Gulf Coast Christmas for you. I love a Christmas album. I’m putting that out there right now ...
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Judy Collins set to headline Shrewsbury Folk Festival
Shrewsbury Folk Festival has made its first major line-up announcement for 2021 after managing to secure the majority of its performers from this year's festival that ...
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THE LOST NOTES – Lowlifes & High Times (own label)
Lowlifes & High Times, the much anticipated second album from Birmingham’s acoustic quintet, finds them dispensing with the debut’s playful socio-political numbers such as ‘Bankers ...
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Hewerdine and Napier announce songwriting courses
Songwriting vituosos Boo Hewerdine and Findlay Napier have announced the launch of a series of songwriting workshops aimed at creative people in Scotland whose livelihoods ...
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FOLK ON FOOT podcast wins another award – and announces a special episode with guitarist Richard Thompson!
The Folk on Foot podcast has won the Gold Award for Best Arts and Entertainment podcast at the LOVIE AWARDS – which celebrate the best ...
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KACY & CLAYTON AND MARLON WILLIAMS – Plastic Bouquet (New West Records)
Canadians Kacy & Clayton join forces with New Zealand singer-songwriter Marlon Williams for their wonderful new folk album Plastic Bouquet. They play sublime music that ...
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EDGELARKS – Henry Martin (Dragonfly Roots DRCD008)
It was only a matter of time before Phillip and Hannah called an album Henry Martin. If ever there was a title crying out for ...
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THE BILLS – ‘Til The Blues Have Gone (Wheeling RecordsWRCS 2O2OO1)
Norway-based American bluesmen, Bill Booth and Bill Troiani have played together in various permutations over the years, but ‘Til The Blues Have Gone marks their ...
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Ninebarrow stream live concert from Poole Lighthouse
Back in March, BBC award nominees Ninebarrow, widely recognised as one of the finest duos in UK folk music, were about to set out on ...
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BEANS ON TOAST – The Unforeseeable Future (Botmusic)
The second album released to celebrate Jay’s 40th birthday is a reversion to his familiar DIY style. The Unforeseeable Future provides a commentary on what ...
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BEANS ON TOAST – Knee Deep In Nostalgia (Botmusic)
The first of the two simultaneously released albums to mark his 40th birthday produced by Frank Turner and also featuring keyboardist Tensheds, Matt Hensley from ...
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Yvonne Lyon announces her new album
Yvonne Lyon's new album Growing Wild is a stunning collection of timeless songs, arguably her finest to date. Featuring twelve original tracks, including co-writes with ...
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MERRY HELL – EMERGENCY LULLABIES & INTERVIEW
Our very own singer songwriter Paul Johnson gets some 'Emergency Lullabies' when he talks to the band Merry Hell about the release of their fantastic ...
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Michael Chapman streams live concert
Veteran troubadour Michael Chapman, has announced a special concert, recorded during lockdown in York’s stunning Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, to be broadcast online next Sunday 29th ...
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B.J. COLE WITH DAVE EASTOE – Daydream Smile (Cow Pie COWFOURcd)
Invented in Hawaii by Joseph Kekuku around 1889 (although the first electric lap steel, invented by George Beaucham, preceded it in 1931), the steel guitar ...
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THIS IS THE KIT – Off Off On (Rough Trade Records)
This Is The Kit’ s Off Off On is a dense tapestry of banjo fueled folk music that is enveloped in gossamer jazz tones and ...
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THE NORDIC FIDDLERS BLOC – Bonfrost (own label NFB004CD)
Bonfrost is the third album of music spanning the North Sea from power fiddle trio, The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc. Anders Hall is from Sweden and ...
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STEPHEN CLARK – The Lady Aurora (LAR01)
The Lady Aurora is the first solo album by Stephen Clark. The album is predominantly acoustic guitar instrumentals. Hmmm, how to give, in words, a ...
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LARKIN POE – Kindred Spirits (Tricki-Woo Records)
Their second album of the year sees Rebecca and Megan Lovell turn to their record collection for an album of covers, recorded raw and live ...
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ZOË WREN – RECKLESS RIVER (own label)
“Only Joni knows how blue I’m feeling now”, sings Zoë Wren on ‘Smoky Sunrise’, the opening track of Reckless River, giving a pretty good indication ...
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Video Wall 17
The year rolls on and there doesn't seem to be much sign of optimism - apart from Trump and Cummings getting the boot, of course ...
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HANZ ARAKI & KATHRYN CLAIRE – Songs Of Love & Murder (The Celtic Conspiracy CELCON004)
It's a long time since I reviewed an album consisting entirely of more-or-less traditional songs and tunes, but given the recent barrage of releases from ...
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Show Of Hands announce live album and on-line concert
One of the most anticipated live tours is coming to living rooms this month as folk supergroup Phil Beer, Steve Knightley, Miranda Sykes and Cormac ...
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MICHAEL CHAPMAN – Pleasures Of The Street (Mooncrest CRESTCD106)
Michael Chapman fans are having a field day at the moment as Secret Records continue with their program of album reissues. Pleasures Of The Street ...
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SINGLES BAR 59 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles
JOHN NAPIER follows up his Give Us Some Money EP with the self-released Bandcamp download Things Are Much Worse Than We Had Thought, opening with ...
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THE OUTSIDE TRACK – Christmas Star (own label)
For their sixth studio album The Outside Track turn their attention to Christmas. But Christmas Star isn’t a jolly carol singalong nor a roll-up-the-carpet-and-party-till-dawn sort ...
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NORRIE MACIVER AND THE GLASGOW BARONS – Songs Of Govan Old (Glasgow Barons GLASGOWBARONS01)
Norrie MacIver and the Glasgow Barons, with their brilliant folk album, Songs Of Govan Old, manage to disprove (the great) Thomas Wolfe’s novel title comment, ...
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Katie Melua announces her first global livestream
Live from London’s historic Rivoli Ballroom on Friday 4th December 2020 Multi-platinum musician Katie Melua is delighted to announce a worldwide, ticketed global livestream concert ...
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HARRIET RILEY & ALEX GARDEN – Sonder (own label HRAG01)
I am always amused by a line just before Hector’s funeral in The History Boys when Frances de la Tour says “I hope he doesn’t ...
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TANYA BRITTAIN – Hireth (TCR Music TCRM75903)
Tanya Brittain is best known as half of The Changing Room with Sam Kelly and a supporter of all things Cornish. Hireth is her first ...
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THE QUIGGS – Wings Of Gold (Lowland LOWLAND021)
The third album from the Scottish/Danish husband and wife partnership of Pernille and former McCalmans member Stephen Quigg, Wings Of Gold combines a heady mix ...
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GREGORY PAGE – One Hell Of A Memory (Interrabang Records)
Seasoned songwriter Gregory Page releases One Hell Of A Memory on November 13th. He describes its genesis and creation as, "This album came out of ...
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Karen Matheson announces new album
The opening acoustic cinematic sway of lead single ‘Cassiopeia Coming Through’ heralds the arrival of much anticipated new music from revered Scottish folk songstress Karen ...
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DAN SUMNER – Ebb And Flow (Naranjo Records)
Dan Sumner’s Ebb And Flow, like the best music of (the very great) John Martyn, touches sublime thoughts and then makes them intensely human. There’s ...
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MARIO POLETTI – One Man One Mandolin (own label)
I’ve reviewed two albums by the Teres Aoutes String Band – Italian mountain music with a strong sense of fun and some high-class musicianship, led ...
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Ewan Macintyre announces new album
Since his emigration to Canada in 2014, Ex-lead singer/ songwriter of award winning Edinburgh Bluegrass band The Southern Tenant Folk Union, and Scottish soul man ...
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TOM MASON – Under A Mistletoe Sky (Gas Station Music)
Yes, it’s the first Christmas album review, Under A Mistletoe Sky taking a sleigh ride out of Nashville with ten brand new country yuletide tunes ...
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JIM WHITE – Misfit’s Jubilee (own label)
Misfit’s Jubilee was released on October 30th, White’s eighth solo album. The picture of the album cover gives a feel for the album, a bit ...
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B.J. Cole announces new album
Award winning multi-instrumentalist B.J. Cole, began his career gigging with Irish Country bands on the US Airforce bases around the UK in the ’60’s. He ...
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JUDY FAIRBAIRNS – Edge Of The Wild (Wild Biscuit WBM008)
A published writer and artist, Fairbairns now adds singer-songwriter to the CV with this collection of songs exploring her life on the Isle of Mull ...
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BARBARA DICKSON – Time Is Going Faster (Chariot Records CTVPCD022)
Barbara Dickson’s twenty-fifth solo album sees her reaching back as if to defy the idea that time is going faster. We find her returning to ...
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DARRELL SCOTT – Jaroso (Full Light Records 539588)
A member of Robert Plant’s Band of Joy, Scott recorded this no PA live album with two mics, one for vocals and one for the ...
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MERRY HELL – Emergency Lullabies (Merry Hell Music mhm00120)
Following on from the release of its three eco-based singles, the fossil-fuel themed ‘Leave It In The Ground’, Greta Thunberg tribute ‘Sister Atlas’ and climate ...
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RACHEL NEWTON – To The Awe (Shadowside SHADOW04)
When this album first arrived I took one look at the cover and wondered what strange beast had come my way. I’ve seen Rachel Newton ...
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Norrie MacIver joins The Glasgow Barons in a new celebration of Glasgow’s history
The Glasgow Barons, Govan’s orchestra, have teamed up with singer songwriter Norrie MacIver to release their debut album, Songs Of Govan Old – a collection ...
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Smoke Fairies announce live streaming event
Smoke Fairies have announced details of an exclusive global live streaming event to be broadcast online on the evening of Sunday 8th November. The duo headed to the iconic De La ...
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JEZ LOWE – Crazy Pagan (Tantobie TTRCD 120)
If anyone is equipped to record a solo album at home in these strange times it’s probably Jez Lowe. Crazy Pagan contains new and recent ...
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MARC BLOCK – Faerie Fire Dances (Glasspool Music Glasspool003)
Block says that his new album largely consists of songs inspired by his connections with the Radical Faeries, which, if you’re wondering, is a worldwide ...
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MY DARLING CLEMENTINE – Country Darkness (Fretsore Records)
My Darling Clementine’s Country Darkness collects together three EPs in which band members Michael Weston King and Lou Dalgleish pay a detailed and loving tribute ...
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MEDICINE HEAD – New Bottles, Old Medicine (Cherry Red)
I can’t remember the venue, but I won’t forget the first time I saw John Fiddler and Peter Hope-Evans play live, blowing me away with ...
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WEST OF EDEN – Cabin Songs (West of Music)
Earlier this year, Sweden’s outstanding folk-rock combo, decamped to a summer house to lay down some more intimate-styled one-take recordings, including singer Jenny Schaub in ...
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MARTIN SIMPSON – Home Recordings (Topic TSCD609)
Many artists have produced lockdown albums this year utilising whatever resources they could muster. Martin Simpson, it seems, took a more leisurely approach, at one ...
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THE RHEINGANS SISTERS – Receiver (Bendigedig BEND 15)
Receiver, their first release since Bright Field finds Rowan and Anna Rheingans joining forces with visual artist Pierre-Olivier Boulant, whose solarographs (pin-hole camera images) part ...
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BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN – Letter To You (Columbia Records)
Springsteen seems to be a roll at the moment with no sign of slowing down. His previous album Western Stars which was released last year has ...
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SINGLES BAR 58 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles
UK duo FERRIS & SYLVESTER are Issy Ferris and Archie Sylvester and I Should Be On A Train (LAB Records) is their new lockdown recorded ...
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BEN HEMMING – Broken Road (own label)
Ben Hemming released Broken Road in the summer and it’s just come across my desk. Hemmings is described in various terms – mostly some distance ...
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KATY ROSE BENNETT – Where Does It Hurt? (own label)
Part of Oxford’s illustrious Bennett family of musicians (her brothers being Joe and Robin of variously The Dreaming Spires, Co-Pilgrim and Bennett, Wilson & Poole), ...
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Rachel Newton announces new album
To The Awe is the bold new album from acclaimed Scottish singer, harpist and BBC Radio 2 Folk Award Musician of the Year, Rachel Newton ...
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My Darling Clementine announce Country Darkness album
As the nights draw in this winter, My Darling Clementine will present… Country Darkness, a new album that throws a spotlight on twelve hidden gems ...
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Ashley Hutchings announces festive album
Talking Elephant Records is delighted to announce a very special release with a seasonal flavour. Titled A Midwinter Miscellany the album is a collection of ...
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Copperplate Podcast 253 – 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 ...
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First Official Folk Albums Chart announced
Last night, in an exciting live-streamed ceremony, 26-year-old Liverpudlian Jamie Webster took the coveted Number 1 spot with his debut studio album We Get By ...
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KRIS DREVER – Where The World Is Thin (Reveal Records)
Kris Drever’s Where The World Is Thin is a musical glance at the beautiful horizon of very current Scottish folk music. A necessary metaphor: Although ...
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FELIX HATFIELD – False God (FB:02)
“Songwriting is one of the most mysterious and magical forms of art. It’s like having a blank piece of paper and some crayons. You don’t ...
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MARTIN STEPHENSON – Pink Tank (Barbaraville Records BVPTCD)
Having revisited, reworked and rerecorded Salutation Road (a wonderful piece of work), Martin Stephenson turns his attention to another bunch of old songs – let’s ...
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CARA DILLON – Live at Cooper Hall/2
This is the modern world. In August, Cara Dillon performed live at the Cooper Hall near to where she and Sam Lakeman live in Somerset ...
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BRENT COBB – Keep ‘Em On They Toes (Ol’ Buddy Records)
Cousin of producer Dave Cobb, Keep ‘Em On They Toes is Brent’s fourth album, one on which he says is more about thoughts and feelings ...
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Bellowhead reunite for one-off streamed concert
After twelve amazing years, the UK’s most successful folk band Bellowhead called it a day in 2016 going out in characteristic style with a sell-out ...
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Shrewsbury Folk Festival receives lifeline grant from Government’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund
Shrewsbury Folk Festival has been awarded £93,000 as part of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) to help face the challenges of the ...
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Andy White releases double vinyl edition of Time Is A Buffalo In The Art Of War
Andy White is still in lockdown in Melbourne and preparing to release his latest album Time Is A Buffalo An The Art Of War on ...
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Fairport’s Cropredy Convention to receive lifeline grant
Fairport’s Cropredy Convention music festival has been awarded £200,000 as part of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) to help face the challenges ...
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JENNY STURGEON – The Living Mountain (Hudson Records HUD021CD)
I’ve long been an admirer of Jenny Sturgeon’s work, both as a soloist and lately with Salt House, and I suspect that The Living Mountain ...
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BEULAH – Hollow (own label)
From Manchester and based in the High Peak, encouraged in songwriting by family friend Gary Barlow, Beulah Garside (as was) released her debut album, Mabel ...
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KRISTOF ROBERT – Nice Place (own label KRISRCD001)
Nice Place is Kristof Robert’s debut album, released in September this year. Robert is based in Carrick-on-Suir towards the south of Ireland but grew up ...
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Ondervinden invites you to The Folk Effect
One Week. Five Bands. Six New Songs The Folk Effect is a free, online, high-speed music-writing event programmed over six days. Five folk bands from ...
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JACK HENDERSON – Where’s The Revolution (Fretsore Records FR0014)
Jack Henderson is a veteran Scottish singer-songwriter with a voice that seems capable of anything. At first he put me in mind of Frankie Miller ...
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PETER MULVEY & SISTASTRINGS – Live At The Cafe Carpe (Righteous Babe Records)
A digital download, Live At The Cafe Carpe brings the veteran Milwaukee songwriter and activist together with sibling violin and cello duo Monique and Chauntee ...
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JEFF AND TERESA DAVIDSMEYER – Songs From The Cabin (own label)
Neil Young once sang, ‘Like A Hurricane’. Fair enough! But Jeff and Teresa Davidsmeyer sing from the calm eye of the hurricane. Songs From The ...
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Kris Drever talks about his new album
Where The World Is Thin is an exceptional album from a writer and guitarist who’s songwriting consistently sets high standards in modern folk music. Insightful ...
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Apple Original Films to premiere ‘Bruce Springsteen’s Letter To You’ documentary On Friday 23rd Oct
Bruce Springsteen fans around the world will get a behind-the-scenes look at his creative process in the documentary feature film, 'Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You, from Apple ...
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Skinny Lister celebrate five years of Down On Deptford Broadway
Longstanding folk/punk favourites Skinny Lister will be celebrating the 5th Anniversary of their breakthrough album: Down On Deptford Broadway this Autumn. On 23 October 2020, ...
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Drive-By Truckers announce their second album of 2020
Drive-By Truckers’ 13th studio album, The New OK, arrives mere months after the release of the band’s highly acclaimed The Unraveling. Originally conceived as a quarantine EP collecting ...
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Beans On Toast announces two brand new albums for release in Winter 2020
Revealed during his ‘Back At Home With Beans On Toast’ livestream last night, the albums will be titled: Knee Deep In Nostalgia and The Unforeseeable ...
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THE TEA CUPS – In Which… (Haystack HAYCD014)
In Which... is The Teacups third and as it transpires final album, the Newcastle on Tyne a capella quartet deciding to call it a day ...
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Jack Henderson announces new album
‘Nobody Gets Hurt’ directly follows lead single ‘Hey Batman’, with each offering our first glimpses into Henderson’s upcoming album: Where’s The Revolution (out 2nd October ...
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TOM HOUSTON – Gap In The Fence (IPP333)
Gap In The Fence, the fourth album by Scottish Highlands singer-songwriter Houston, produced by and featuring Neill MacColl, son of Ewan and erstwhile member of ...
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JOSIE BELLO – Have Purpose Live Long (own label)
Josie Bello released Have Purpose Live Long over the summer, a collection of eight songs and her second album, following the well-played Can’t Go Home ...
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RYAN HAMILTON & THE HARLEQUIN GHOSTS – Nowhere To Go But Everywhere (Wicked Cool)
Among the many videos we received this summer was one to accompany ‘Jesus & John Lennon’, the third song from Nowhere To Go But Everywhere ...
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PADRAIG JACK –Making Sand (Good Deeds)
Born and raised on the Aran islands off the west coast of Ireland, son of Irish songwriter Barry Ronan and nephew of poet Mary O’Malley, ...
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DARLINGSIDE – Fish Pond Fish (More Doug Records)
Darlingside’s new Fish Pond Fish is a wondrous tapestry of baroque pop music knitted with the purity of folk needles. Now, just a confession: Too ...
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SCREAMING ORPHANS – Sunshine And Moss (own label)
Sunshine And Moss, the second album by the Co. Donegal Diver sisters opens with ‘Every Woman Gardens’, a steady-paced strumalong written by Padraig Stevens from ...
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KAT RIGGINS – Cry Out (Gulf Coast Records)
Kat Riggins released Cry Out in August but I’ve only just come across it. I don’t know who first said. “You don’t play the blues, ...
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DIANA JONES – Song To A Refugee (Proper PRPCD157)
Born in rural Tennessee, Jones has a natural affinity for the dispossessed, her latest work, Song To A Refugee, inspired by both the distressing scenes ...
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Judy Dyble – David Longdon album out today
“I had a discussion with my good friend, Jackie Morris, a writer of enchanting words and an illustrative artist of exquisite paintings, about where magic ...
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WORDS OF A FIDDLER’S DAUGHTER – Rúnian (own label TCR02)
Should poetry be read or listened to? As a modern person, I tend to the former – I like to pause and reflect on what ...
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MARK MANDEVILLE & RAIANNE RICHARDS – Road May Rise (Nobody’s Favorite Records)
Unforgivably, Road May Rise, the latest studio outing by the Massachusetts’ duo disappeared into a black hole in my reviews pile, but has now been ...
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BELLA WHITE – Just Like Leaving (own label)
Born in Alberta but with Blue Ridge roots, White was reared on a bluegrass diet of Bill Monroe and Doc Watson before heading off to ...
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The Tale Of Two Runrigs – limited box set released next month
Never-before-seen footage and audio recordings of the legendary Scottish group Runrig playing two Rockpalast concerts in Germany are set to be released in a limited ...
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MICHAEL CHAPMAN – Sweet Powder & Wrytree Drift (Mooncrest CRESTCD107)
Some explanation may be helpful here. Michael Chapman was between record companies when these two albums were recorded: Sweet Powder in 2008 and Wrytree Drift ...
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Official Charts Company launches the first official folk albums chart
Launch event hosted by Mark Radcliffe 17 October 2020 Live-streamed from HOME, Manchester In recognition of the popularity of the folk music genre, the Official ...
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KENNETH J NASH – For Sarah (Oh! OHRKJN01020)
Written for his wife, three years in the making, For Sarah is a simple, low key, introspective collection of musical vignettes, recalling the good times ...
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OH SUSANNA – Sleepy Little Sailor (MVKA Records)
Oh Susanna’s 2001 Sleepy Little Sailor gets a deluxe re-issue with four acoustic re-visits and one newly covered tune. But first, for the initiate, Oh ...
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O’HOOLEY & TIDOW – Live At St George’s (No Masters NMCD55)
With immaculate timing Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow recorded this live concert in front of an enthusiastic audience in the former church of St George’s ...
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The Teacups announce their final album
Celebrating their 10th anniversary as a band The Teacups, comprising the talented Alex Cumming, Kate Locksley, Rosie Calvert and Will Finn, release their third and ...
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Video Wall 16
"Are things getting any better?" we ask ourselves and there are signs. It seems that more albums are being released and some gigs are beginning ...
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LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III – I’d Rather Lead A Band (Thirty Tigers)
I admit that it's been quite a few years – decades, perhaps – since I listened to Loudon Wainwright III, but I suspect that even ...
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Ross Ainslie announces new solo album
Vana is the fourth solo album from multi-instrumentalist Ross Ainslie. Out on Friday 30th October 2020, Vana is named after a wellness retreat in India ...
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LUCIA COMNES – Uncaged (own label)
Recorded by Comnes in Liguria, Italy, and Gawain Matthews adding keyboards in San Pablo, California, Uncaged comes at the end of what has clearly been ...
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SAM BROOKES – Black Feathers (Go Slowly Records)
Now, it’s a given that Joseph had “The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat”; but truly, Bristol-based Sam Brookes, with his album Black Feathers, has produced an “amazing ...
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GRANVILLE AUTOMATIC – Tiny Televisions (Star Swimming)
The seven songs on the follow-up to the typewriter-named Nashville duo’s Radio Hymns, continues its concept theme of of songs inspired by Nashville’s lost history, ...
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Kris Drever announces new solo album
Kris Drever has won multiple awards including an incredible 7 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, two shortlist nominations for Scottish Album of The Year (with ...
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SINGLES BAR 57 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles
Nashville’s JARROD DICKENSON pays tribute to five of his Texas heroes on Under A Texas Sky (Continental Records), kicking off with a slightly slower paced ...
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STEVE TYLER – The Enduring And The Ephemeral (own label Rufus 5)
The strap-line may be considered a touch pretentious but so may the music so that’s probably OK. Steve is a multi-instrumentalist and he throws everything ...
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Suzanne Vega to live stream two shows
In celebration of her just-released, career-spanning album, An Evening Of New York Songs And Stories (out now on Amanuensis/Cooking Vinyl), Suzanne Vega will play two ...
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KAVEE – Metempsychosis (Rock CD Records)
Italian multi-instrumentalist Valerio Willy Goattin (he of Galaverna and Slap Guru fame!) adds to the shut-in musical cornucopia with his new alias Kavee and a ...
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BRÓNA McVITTIE – The Man In The Mountain (Company of Corkbots)
In following up her her 2018 solo debut (after trading as Forestbrook), the County Down singer-songwriter has put the focus more on original than traditional ...
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Frazey Ford to perform two virtual concerts
Vancouver-based Soul-Americana artist Frazey Ford released her critically acclaimed album U Kin B The Sun via Arts & Crafts on February 7, 2020. At turns ...
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Kenneth J Nash announces ninth solo album
For Sarah, the new album release from Kenneth J Nash, has been three years in the making. Kenneth initially started with a couple of songs ...
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Barbara Thompson: Live At The BBC
It is with great pleasure that Repertoire Records announce the release of Live At The BBC, a mammoth FOURTEEN CD box set celebrating the music ...
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EMILY BARKER – A Dark Murmuration Of Words (Thirty Tigers)
“Where have the sparrows gone?” ponders the Australian ex-pat on her fourth full-length solo album, A Dark Murmuration Of Words, as the narrator looks out ...
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LOU KYME – What’s The Worst That Can Happen (Blue Smoke BSCD3503)
A while back, the Southampton-born, London-based former frontwoman (Louise if we’re being precise) with the family country and rockabilly band The Okeh Wranglers (no, me ...
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RURA – Live At The Old Fruitmarket (RURACD003)
Rura release Live At The Old Fruitmarket on September 11th. There are a limited number of ways of saying how good this is, so let’s ...
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BEN BEDFORD – Portraits (Cavalier CR255626)
I first encountered the Illinois-based singer-songwriter back in 2012 with his third album, What We Lost, and immediately set about acquiring its two predecessors, 2009’s ...
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Gigspanner Big Band stream their album launch gig
Gigspanner Big Band, the six-strong dream line-up spearheaded by the legendary Peter Knight, will finally be able to perform an official launch gig for their ...
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FAY HIELD – Wrackline (Topic TSC608)
With her new album, Wrackline, Fay Hield takes a giant step in her exploration of folk music. It’s a record about crossing lines – a ...
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JAMES LEE BAKER – 100 Summers (own label)
The great transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau proudly proclaimed, “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” And James Lee Baker, with his 100 Summers album, follows the path to a ...
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Oh Susanna releases deluxe edition of Sleepy Little Sailor
Americana singer-songwriter Oh Susanna releases her critically acclaimed album Sleepy Little Sailor album in a new deluxe edition. The “magnificent country soul” (Nigel Williamson, Uncut) ...
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Reg Meuross releases Raw on vinyl
Drop the needle on a collection of songs described as “intelligent songwriting of the highest calibre” (Folk Radio UK, David Pratt), when Reg Meuross releases Raw on ...
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WILLIE CAMPBELL – Nothing’s Going To Bring Me Down (Invisible King IK0020)
Willie Campbell is a singer and songwriter from the Isle of Lewis and, as well as being a soloist, he fronts The Open Day Rotation, ...
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Ruby Mack: feminist folk quartet announce new album
Imagine a world in which Eve unashamedly consumed the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, biting into knowledge and sharing it with all the ...
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ANNIE DRESSNER – Coffee At The Corner Bar (Proper)
A native New Yorker but, for the past nine years, based in Cambridge, Dressner released her debut album back in 2011, immediately indicating that here ...
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NATIVE HARROW – Closeness (Loose Music)
Pennsylvania duo Native Harrow’s Closeness is a wondrous folk marriage of lonely lyricism with the hand hold of beautifully warm and melodically earnest (and even ...
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Tanya Brittain announces her debut solo album
You’ll probably recognise Tanya Brittain’s face and voice as one half of Cornwall-based folk duo The Changing Room, which she created with vocalist Sam Kelly ...
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DANIEL NESTLERODE – Windrush (Clunk & Rattle Records CRLP021)
Born in Pennsylvania, raised in California and currently based in France after seven years living in Cambridgeshire, Nestlerode was inspired to make the album following ...
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THE STRUNTS – Too Much Of Everything (own label STRUNT01)
The Dictionary Of The Scots Language tells us that “strunt” is a fit of pique or pettishness, or as we might say in the Home ...
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David Larkin sings Percy French to celebrate centenary
David Larkin’s debut album of hand-picked Percy French compositions accompanied by superb traditional musicians, brings Percy’s songs of rural life in Ireland a century ago ...
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Fairport Convention star on charity single – ‘Meet On The Ledge’
Folk-rock pioneers Fairport Convention feature on a new ensemble recording of their classic song ‘Meet On The Ledge’. The song is released today (26 August ...
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ROBB JOHNSON & THE IRREGULARS – Pandemic Songs (Irregular Records IRR114)
I once made the mistake of asking Robb Johnson how many songs he’d written. To protect yourselves from a similar embarrassment I’ll tell you now ...
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RAKOCZY – Frontrunner (Talking Cat Recordings TCCD2002)
Well, this is a bit different. Fruzsina Zsofia Rakoczy is an Anglo-Hungarian singer, concertina, recorder and bagpipe player, born in Budapest and based in Manchester ...
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SINGLES BAR 56 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles
The first of LAU’s Live Series EPs opens with the sound of crashing waves and the cries of seabirds before Aidan O’Rourke’s melancholy fiddle leads ...
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Jenny Sturgeon announces new album – touring next year
For rising Scottish singer-songwriter Jenny Sturgeon, nature and song are intrinsically linked. Environment, ecology and the elements are a touchstone for the Shetland-based musician and ...
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H.C. McENTIRE – Eno Axis (Merge MRG772)
Eno Axis, the second solo album by the former Mount Moriah singer opens with country gospel keyboard backing and the lines “early rise, start the ...
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Darlingside announce their new album
Acclaimed indie-folk quartet Darlingside announce the October 9th release of their anticipated new album Fish Pond Fish (Thirty Tigers). Fish Pond Fish is the follow ...
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Skerryvore to stream live from Clydeside distillery
Hot off the release of their latest album Live Across Scotland, multi-award-winning Scottish band Skerryvore will perform their first live performance in over 6 months ...
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The Waterboys new album is released today
The Waterboys release their 14th studio album Good Luck, Seeker today to widespread acclaim from fans and critics alike. The Daily Telegraph have hailed it ...
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JAMES EDWYN & THE BORROWED BAND – Before We Go (Dead Records Collective)
Lockdown and the on-going impact of Covid-19 continue to reshape the music industry. In this case, I don’t mind too much. James Edwyn & The ...
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JERRY JOSEPH – The Beautiful Madness (Décor DECOR55CD)
The name might not mean much to you, but it does to Patterson Hood and Jason Isbell, the latter recording with his former Drive By ...
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JOSHUA BURNELL – Flowers Where The Horses Sleep (Misted Valley Records)
Joshua Burnell’s Flowers Where The Horses Sleep is a wondrous album of original songs with vivid and very modern folk roots. The first song, ‘Labels’, ...
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SOLAS – Shamrock City (THL001)
Solas’ Shamrock City, originally out in 2013 has just been re-released. Solas are currently paused indefinitely while founder Seamus Egan develops The Seamus Egan Project, ...
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Folk On Foot Festival 3 – what a line up!
The award-winning Folk On Foot podcast is re-uniting some of the top names in UK folk for a third online festival on Bank Holiday Monday 31st August. The ...
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Brophy’s Law announce new single
Brophy’s Law release their Record Shop banger – ‘The Record Collector’ on the 11th September to promote the release of their vinyl True Stories They ...
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John Tams forced to withdraw from Derby Folk Festival At Home
An impending operation has forced celebrated performer and festival patron John Tams to bow out of this year’s Derby Folk Festival At Home, meaning a ...
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Cordovas announce their new album
Cordovas’ new album Destiny Hotel, out 30th October on ATO Records, is a work of wild poetry and wide-eyed abandon, set to a glorious collision of ...
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DARREN BLACK – Playing With The Truth (own label DBCD006)
If one good thing comes out of this crisis it may be that musicians have come up with new ways to pursue their art. This ...
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HE MISTOOK HER FOR A SWAN – He Mistook Her For A Swan (own label, digital only)
He Mistook Her For A Swan is a Canadian acoustic guitars/vocal duo comprising Colleen Hodgson and Steve Koch, seasoned musicians both. The duo’s wordy, murder-ballad ...
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Beans On Toast announces final lockdown single and live events
As the country takes its first steps on the long road back to normality, Beans On Toast returns with what will be the last in ...
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Johnny Campbell announces new song project
Since the release of his most recent album in January 2020, From Hull And Halifax And Hell..., a live album of original and traditional Northern ...
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The Folk Process and the Strange Saga of Lord Franklin by John Kruth
Does folk music imitate life or does life imitate folk music? Rod Serling once delved into this dilemma years ago in Season 5/ Episode #34 ...
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ARLO McKINLEY – Die Midwestern (Oh Boy Records)
Arlo McKinley’s Die Midwestern is a folk-rock-country album whose songs carve a lifetime of tough conversations into granite tombstones found in any cemetery optimistically named ...
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Pressgang Mutiny announce their second album
2020 will see Canadian sea shanty band Pressgang Mutiny release their second album entitled Across The Western Ocean. The album balances the tight harmonies and ...
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Fèis Rois celebrates Cèilidh Trail’s 21st anniversary with bumper collection of Scotland’s best young musicians
Arts organisation to release double CD compilation album and host online concert to mark milestone of pioneering traditional music programme. This year marks the 21st ...
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Richard and Linda Thompson’s first three albums get vinyl re-release
Richard and Linda Thompson’s early recordings together have attained an almost mythical status and their first three acclaimed Island Records classics will now be available ...
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Joshua Burnell announces his new album
Joshua Burnell’s music takes you to places others simply don’t reach. Recent winner of the Rising Star accolade in the 2020 Folking Awards, Burnell is ...
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KATE RUSBY – Hand Me Down (Pure PRCD64)
Already planned but given new homemade intimacy through its lockdown recording (aside from some occasional remote contributions, as intended, it’s just her and Damien O’Kane), ...
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The Rheingans Sisters announce their new album
Receiver is the new album by The Rheingans Sisters, their first since 2018’s Bright Field - a record that dazzled audiences and critics with its ...
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Darren Black announces new album
Playing With The Truth from Darren Black is released on his own label on 4 September 2020. Darren Black is a Welsh singer/songwriter who sprung ...
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SUNJAY – More Than A One Night Stand (digital release)
It wasn’t until I saw him live on stage that I really got Sunjay. I’d enjoyed his records, admired his excellent guitar playing and songwriting ...
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Fay Hield announces her new album
Wrackline is the upcoming album from folk royal & scholar Fay Hield - out 11 September. Looking at traditional stories involving the ‘otherworld’ of fairies, ...
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Joan Baez biography will mark her 80th birthday
JOAN BAEZ: THE LAST LEAF By Elizabeth Thomson Published by Palazzo on 15th October 2020 Since she appeared unannounced at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival, ...
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Ben Bedford releases a retrospective of his first three albums
Ben Bedford’s latest release Portraits features the best songs from his critically acclaimed first three albums; Lincoln’s Man (2007), Land of the Shadows (2009) and ...
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CHRIS LESLIE – Fiddle Back (Paws Records PAWS003)
Chris Leslie really doesn’t need any introduction from me so let’s get straight down to business. Fiddle Back is his contribution to lockdown; thirteen tracks ...
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Sunjay announces digital live album
Having gigged prolifically for the last decade, opening stages for esteemed artists such as Steeleye Span, Martin Simpson and Show of Hands, as well as ...
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JACK BESSANT – Lucky Mountain (CHEDX Records)
On the one hand Jack Bessant plays bass with the band Reef who aren’t exactly heavy metal but certainly don’t hold back. On the other ...
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Keeping It Live – In Lockdown
We’ve had four months or so of lockdown, the build up to it and the slow move out. I’ve just checked my diary; the last ...
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Campfire Club – August dates
The Nest Collective and Friends of The Earth invite you to enjoy a series of beautiful outdoor concerts with Sam Amidon, Millicent Chapanda, Kadialy Kouyate ...
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Shrewsbury Folk Festival announces virtual weekend
Shrewsbury Folk Festival has announced the line-up for its free virtual festival that is taking place next month after the event was postponed due to ...
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Colin Reid – Tilt
Topic took an interest in Reid’s formidable skill as a guitarist over a year ago and Tilt is the first of what I hope will ...
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IAN A ANDERSON – Onwards! Vol.2 (Ghosts From The Basement GFTB 7054)
Subtitled A Crown Of Crows, Onwards! Vol. 2 packs another twenty-one tracks from Ian A’s fifty year career onto a single shiny disc. Many tracks ...
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SINGLES BAR 55 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles
Evocative opening title track from MARC BLOCK's Faerie Fire EP, using the traditional tune of an Appalachian hymn, is a song to order from the ...
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The Pentangle & PENTANGLE – Sweet Child
A joint outing for two CD re-issues by Pentangle. For some reason, I never fully understood the adulation lorded on the group, as I was ...
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Loudon Wainwright III announces new album
Loudon Wainwright III has unveiled his new album, I’d Rather Lead A Band (released on October 9 via Thirty Tigers). A collaboration with Vince Giordano ...
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LAYLA KAYLIF – Lovers Don’t Meet (Canopus)
Born in Dubai, based in London, the British Emirati singer-songwriter nudged the bottom end of the UK top 100 back in 1999 with the single ...
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CONCHIE – Northumbria (Drawuptapdown Ltd)
Northumbria is only 23 minutes long but I could write pages about this album. Big impact on me then – and I need to pull ...
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DAVID IAN ROBERTS – From The Harbour (Cambrian Records)
Welsh singer-songwriter David Ian Roberts’ From The Harbour is a colourful labyrinth of introspective folk music with an eternal depth. It’s a Persian carpeted melodic ...
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Joan Osborne announces her new album
Acclaimed singer-songwriter Joan Osborne is today announcing Trouble And Strife, her first album of original material in six years, and sharing the new single ‘Take ...
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NINA RICCI – Fare Thee Well – A Joan Baez Tribute (own label)
Last year Saska Griffiths-Moore released Baez, Dylan and Me, a collection of Baez songs, either self-penned or written by Dylan, and now, having discovered her ...
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MARTIN STEPHENSON & THE DAINTEES – Salutation Road 30 (Barbaraville Records)
Following the pattern of recent years Martin Stephenson has re-recorded his third album with The Daintees to celebrate its anniversary. Actually, Salutation Road 30 is ...
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MIKE ZITO – Quarantine Blues (Gulf Coast Records)
Quarantine Blues is good. To be more precise, this is hit-you-over-the-head good. Generally, when an album comes in for review, I play it two or ...
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ÉILÍS KENNEDY– So Ends This Day (Copperplate Consultants COPP034)
I'm afraid Éilís Kennedy is a new name to me, but on the strength of her new CD So Ends This Day I will certainly ...
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Scottish folk trio Lau return with a new direct to fan release on July 31st 2020 Live Series 1.0
The new E.P was recorded in January 2020 at London’s Kings Place concert hall by Lau’s sound engineer Tim Matthew. Available on CD or digital ...
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TMSA Young Trad Tour album released
Some of Scotland’s finest young folk musicians have come together to release a one-off studio album in 2020. After a sell-out performance at Celtic Connections ...
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Gillian Welch announces new archive release
Gillian Welch confirms the digital release of Boots No.2: The Lost Songs, Vol.1 via Acony Records, the independent record label she and partner David Rawlings ...
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English Folk Expo presents FOLK TALK LIVE
12.30-5.00PM THURSDAY 23RD JULY A free online conference for the folk, roots and acoustic music sector Now and post-pandemic: exploring innovation in the folk music ...
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