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).

RACHEL BAIMAN – Common Nation Of Sorrow (Signature Sounds SIG-CD-2144)

As the title would suggest, coloured by her bluegrass roots, Baiman’s third album, Common Nation Of Sorrow, is often rooted in a commentary on contemporary ...
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SINGLES BAR 88 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

From Ireland but based in Brittany, CALLUM HOUSTON describes himself as a neo/alternative folk singer-songwriter, Pub Poetry being his second self-released EP, he on acoustic guitar, ...
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Adam Beattie announces live album

Acclaimed Scottish singer-songwriter Adam Beattie, known for his ‘uplifting reveries of love’ (MOJO Magazine) releases his stunning brand new live album, Live At The Old ...
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John Doyle Folk Guitar Retreat May 2023

Legendary folk guitarist John Doyle is hosting a series of workshops, masterclasses, group jams and evening sessions in his first ever UK Residential Retreat with ...
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REG MEUROSS – Stolen From God (Hatsongs Records HAT025)

Stolen From God is an album that a lot of us have been looking forward to for a long while. Reg Meuross has taken up ...
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Kris Drever – new single, Best Of album and tour

One of Scotland’s finest and most acclaimed songwriters Kris Drever shares his new single ‘Catterline’ on March 28th and announces a new album ‘The Best ...
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CRUEL FOLK – Far To Fall (Cruelfolk002)

There is an England old and merry, sunny and glorious where Englande and olde have an ‘e’ on the end of them, where merrie has ...
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Findlay Napier – crowdfunder for new album, Outsider, is now open

Outsider is a multi-media extravaganza of new album from Findlay Napier exploring outsiders in love and outsiders in life. A few months ago I had ...
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MICHAEL JOHNATHON – Garden Of Silence (PoetMan Records PMR70034)

Incredibly prolific, Johnathon has released a previous twenty-one albums, with one a year since 2012, published five books, a play, composed an opera, regularly performs ...
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MULL HISTORICAL SOCIETY – Archaeology: Complete Recordings 2000-2004 (Demon Records)

Mull Historical Society’s four-disc Archaeology: Complete Recordings 2000—2004 proves that while “Daddy takes the T-bird away” every once in a while, there’s still quite a ...
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Sarah-Jane Summers & Juhani Silvola announce their chamber orchestra album

Sarah-Jane Summers & Juhani Silvola have created their own chamber orchestra Sølvstrøk (Silverstroke), consisting of a dream team of Norwegian folk & classical musicians, with ...
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Edinburgh Tradfest announces its 2023 line-up

This week Edinburgh Tradfest launched its 2023 programme of traditional live music, storytelling, dance, workshops, talks, ceilidhs, and special events taking place at various venues across ...
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THE BLUE HIGHWAYS – Out On The Line (own label)

The Blue Highways release Out On The Line on March 31st. One of the lines in ‘Nobody Lives Here Any More’ (below) is “Rules are ...
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Judy Collins joins Cambridge Folk Festival line-up

More incredible artists have been announced for this year’s Cambridge Folk Festival, including folk icon, US singer-songwriter Judy Collins in a very special performance with ...
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ANDREW GABBARD – Cedar City Sweetheart (Colemine Records)

Andrew Gabbard’s Cedar City Sweetheart proves there’s always room for yet another melodic pedal guitar infused Rodeo Sweetheart record that oozes Neil Young, The Buffalo ...
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Underneath The Stars Festival announces more names

A second wave of names have been announced for Yorkshire’s award winning boutique festival, Underneath The Stars Festival, which returns on Friday 4th to Sunday ...
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Ali Farka Touré: new posthumous album

Voyageur, the new album from the legendary African guitarist and singer Ali Farka Touré, is out now via World Circuit Records. It is the first ...
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ANDY HEDGES – Roll On, Cowboys (Andy Hedges)

Let me admit, I’m not exactly steeped in the cowboy songs idiom, though I certainly trawled through some collections by the Lomaxes et al. at ...
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MEGSON – What Are We Trying To Say? (EDJ Records EDJ033)

It’s four years since we last heard from Megson, which is too long but we all know what happened in the interim. What Are We ...
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DAVID HARLEY – So Sound You Sleep (ISBN 979-8377897699)

Apart from saying, “As you’ll see from his website, David Harley is a Shropshire lad, now living in Cornwall, who has played guitar since the ...
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JOY DUNLOP – Caoir (Sradag Music SRM008)

The phrase multi-talented is sometimes over-used, but I’ve no doubt that it applies to Joy Dunlop. An award winning Gaelic singer and step dancer, Joy ...
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KATHRYN ROBERTS & SEAN LAKEMAN – Almost A Sunset (Iscream Music ISCD20)

It has been five years since Kathryn and Sean’s last album of new music. There was a retrospective album of recorded back catalogue a couple ...
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OWEN MOORE – Songs From The Shamrock Bar (PJO Records)

Songs From The Shamrock Bar, subtitled A 10-Year Anthology, and timely available for St Patrick’s Day, this, as it says, gathers together around an hour’s ...
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COLIN MACDUFF – The Past And The Sky (own label)

Colin Macduff’s The Past And The Sky is home-spun like a Tweed River Scottish fisherman’s thatched fishing creel, filled with folk music with the rich ...
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Maverick Festival 30th June, 1st & 2nd July 2023

The Maverick Festival will once again take place in the glorious surroundings of Easton Farm Park, Suffolk set in thirty acres of rural heaven yet ...
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Lachlan Bryan And The Wildes tour UK this month with Alan Fletcher

Lachlan Bryan And The Wildes will make their way back to the UK in March and April with their great mate Alan Fletcher (yes, the ...
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RURA – Dusk Moon (RURACD005)

Rura release Dusk Moon, their fourth studio album, on March 17th. I’ve previously described Rura’s music as “engaging the spirit”, the notes that come with ...
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Dan Webster and Bella Gaffney to co-headline tour

Dan Webster & Bella Gaffney are stalwarts of the UK folk scene and this year they are coming together to do a co-headline tour of ...
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BEN & DOM – His Head Lies Heavy (La La La Records)

That’ll be Ben See and Dominic Stichbury, both London-based choir leaders, singers and songwriters, the latter the founder of Chaps Choir, a 20-strong project that ...
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BRIGID O’NEILL—The Truth & Other Stories (Goldrush Records)

Irish singer-songwriter Brigid O’ Neill, with her new album The Truth & Other Stories, lightly skips tossed stones like thoughtful opinions across the early evening ...
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KAREN JONAS – The Restless (own label)

Over the course of five albums, the Maryland-born singer has established herself as very much a country voice with old school leanings. This time round, ...
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SINGLES BAR 87 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

Based in Edmonton, Alberta, LILY MONAGHAN self-releases Introspection, an EP of bluesy folk that draws on such diverse influences as Taylor Swift, Feist, Florence Welch ...
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Terry Emm announces new album

In December 2021, acclaimed singer-songwriter Terry Emm’s Facebook page flickered into life after a 7-year hiatus to announce some magnificent news. The Hertfordshire based artist’s ...
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BEN WALKER – Banish Air From Air (Folk Room Records FRR2301)

As with his 2019 solo debut, Echo, Walker has enlisted the help of an array of different vocalists to give voice to material that ranges ...
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FRANKIE ARCHER – Live at Aces & Eights, Tufnell Park, London – 19th February 2023

I first came across Frankie Archer at the Love Folk festival in Southport this year, playing a showcase session on the busk stage.  She came ...
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Amy Thatcher and Francesca Knowles announce debut album

Brand new accordion and percussion duo from Newcastle, Amy Thatcher and Francesca Knowles defy the preconceptions of what their instruments can do, breaking with tradition ...
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Levellers: new acoustic album and tour dates

Levellers release their new album Together All The Way on March 10th and head off on a full UK tour at the end of this month in ...
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THE WILDWOODS – Foxfield Saint John (own label)

The Wildwoods are a duo that is really a trio: husband and wife Noah and Chloe Gose from Lincoln, Nebraska are joined by bassist Andrew ...
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The Nest Collective announces the 2023 series of Singing With Nightingales

This spring The Nest Collective are delighted to be hosting over 35 events in the woods of Sussex and Gloucestershire. The Nest Collective are all ...
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Bristol Folk Festival announces headline names

Bristol Folk Festival returns with a stellar line-up of UK and world artists taking to stages across the city at the end of April for ...
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Graham Nash announces new solo album

Two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and founding member of both the Hollies and Crosby, Stills & Nash, Graham Nash returns with his ...
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IAN ROLAND – The Woodwide Web (Ditto)

You’ll be familiar with the world wide web, but research has shown that, beneath every forest and wood, there is a complex underground web of ...
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GILLEBRÌDE MacMILLAN – Sèimh (own label DEALAS003)

Gillebrìde MacMillan is a lecturer at Glasgow University specialising in the Gaelic language. He’s also a singer, a songwriter and a composer known for film ...
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THE QUIGGS – Threads (Lowland Recordings LOWLAND 022)

The Quiggs are a Scottish folk duo: Stephen Quigg is a former member of The McCalmans who reversed the accepted tradition by bringing back his ...
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Westward The Light announce new album

Flow Country is the latest album from celebrated trad group Westward The Light, set for release on Friday 31st March 2023. Named after the region ...
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THE IAN WALKER BAND – We Come To Sing (Vangel Recordings VANCD16)

There’s something engagingly old-school about the Ian Walker Band’s album We Come To Sing, released on the 16th January 2023. Perhaps that’s not surprising, since ...
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Moseley Folk And Arts Festival add The Saw Doctors to this year’s bill

Irish legends The Saw Doctors are the latest big-name addition to Birmingham's Moseley Folk and Arts Festival (Friday 1 to Sunday 3 September 2023). Starting out playing in Galway ...
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Alan Surtees Trust opens 2023 funding for young folk performers aged 16-30

Folk musicians, dancers, singers or performers from all cultures are being invited to apply for grants of up to £2,000 to help develop their careers ...
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GRAHAM MACKENZIE – The Dawning (Blue Door Music)

As the gentle notes of Jim Molyneaux’s piano and Innes Watson’s almost funky acoustic guitar open the album you feel that The Dawning may be ...
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UNTHANK: SMITH – Nowhere And Everywhere (Billingham Records)

On paper the notion of Paul Smith, guitarist frontman with alt-rock outfit Maximo Park and harmonium player and cellist Rachel Unthank making an album together ...
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WILL POUND AND JENN BUTTERWORTH – Volume 1 – (LuluBug Records)

As Winter drags on, while the cost of living crises bites deeper and the news seems to be continually tragic, suggestions for anything that might ...
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Moonrakers announce 2023 tour dates

Greetings. Just emerging from hibernation, still in winter woollies, but lots of news to share with you. It's been a busy time recording the new album at ...
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KIRSTEN ADAMSON – Landing Place (own label)

With Dave Burns having recently released a solo EP now Adamson, the other half of The Marriage, delivers her second solo album, Landing Place, produced ...
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Bob Fox announces spring gigs

Here's a message from Bob Fox about his goings-on this spring. Hello!! After a good few weeks off and a couple of sunshine holidays I'm ...
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Frankie Archer plays Eights & Aces

On Sunday 19th February highly regarded emerging folk artist Frankie Archer is performing at the intimate basement venue in Aces & Eights, Tufnell Park, North ...
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ALAN FLETCHER – The Point (Ubersavvy Music)

Jason Donovan, Kylie Minogue and Natalia Imbruglia are the biggest stars, but astonishingly Australian soap Neighbours also launched the music careers of many other actors, ...
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The Official Folk Album Chart for January 2023

On Tuesday 7 February the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo revealed the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released ...
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Underneath The Stars announces first names for 2023 festival

The first names have been revealed for Yorkshire’s award winning boutique festival, Underneath The Stars festival, which returns on the new dates of Friday 4th ...
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Glasgow gets major new festival with launch of The Reeling

The prayers of Glasgow audiences with an appetite for Scottish music have been answered, with the launch of a major new summertime festival in the ...
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DAN WALSH – O’Neill’s Tunes (Rooksmere RRCD120)

Dan Walsh tells the story himself: how he fell in love with Irish music and wanted to learn the banjo. He acquired a 5-string banjo ...
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MARY ELIZABETH REMINGTON – In Embudo (Loose Music)

Mary Elizabeth Remington’s In Embudo evokes Walt Whitman’s Song Of Myself. This is music of the earth where “every atom belonging to me as good ...
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Beans On Toast is Back Out On The Road soon

Since 2005, Beans On Toast has written simple songs about complicated subjects. Tackling the big issues of the day but doing so with his feet ...
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SAVOURNA STEVENSON & STEVE KETTLEY – Wine Of Life (Cooking Vinyl COOKCD870)

There are any number of instrumental duos around at the moment, particularly in Scotland where musical alliances are swapped as easily as dance partners at ...
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RUTH ANGELL – Hlywing (Talking Elephant TECD484)

Ruth Angell is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter who has performed with people such as Ashley Hutchings and Rufus Wainwright.  Not before time she's released ...
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EMILY MAGUIRE – A Light To Follow (Shaktu Records, SHK)

For her seventh studio album, A Light To Follow, Emily Maguire shimmers brightly in the strong Australian sun. As she advocates, “go and seek out ...
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Cambridge Folk Festival announces first names for 2023

Cambridge Folk Festival is delighted to announce the first names in a broad and diverse programme for 2023. Taking place from July 27-30 in the ...
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SINGLES BAR 86 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

TIMOTHY JOHNSTON is a PhD student with a remarkable group of folk friends including Fay Hield, Patrick Rimes of Calan, Rob Harbron and Shirley Smart ...
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NOLEN SELLWOOD – Otherwise (New Folk Records)

A Minneapolis teenager inspired to get into folk after listening to Nick Drake’s Pink Moon, Sellwood’s debut, Otherwise, opens with ‘This Time’, simply strummed acoustic ...
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The Wildwoods announce their new album

Folk trio, The Wildwoods, are set to release their newest album, Foxfield Saint John, on February 17th, 2023. The nine-track album is a collection of ...
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PAUL COWLEY – Stroll Out West (Lou B Music LBM007 2023)

It’s been a while since I heard a Paul Cowley album, so it was a real pleasure to receive a copy of Stroll Out West, ...
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HARBOTTLE & JONAS – Saving The Good Stuff Vol 1 (Brook View Records BVR003)

In 2019, the Devon duo took to live streaming, performing, under a title inspired by a Richard Thompson song, a series of covers, one a ...
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INGER NORDVIK – Hibernation (own label)

Inger Nordvik is a classically trained musician who, like so many others, isn't tied to just what she was taught. Whilst studying classical singing at ...
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New trio Hack-Poets Guild announce their debut album

On March 10th One Little Independent are proud to release the high-concept debut album from the brand-new collaboration between three of UK folk’s most unique ...
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Highland trio Assynt announce their second album

Where From Here is the dynamic second album from award-winning traditional trio Assynt, due for release on Friday 24 February. This exciting new record not ...
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Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman announce spring release of their new album

It has been five years since the last offering from the popular husband and wife duo Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman and their latest album ...
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THE WOOLVERSTONES – Grey Eyed Dandy (Available to stream through Bandcamp)

Woolverstone is a village on Suffolk’s Shotley Peninsula. It’s a small place, but I was able to find out about it – it’s various listed ...
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JOHN BLEK – Until The Rivers Run Dry (We Are Rats Recordings)

John Blek’s Until The Rivers Run Dry is a lovely folk album with deep melodies and emotive strings that conjure the late 60’s baroque beauty ...
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VIDEO WALL 25

Welcome to 2023. We've collected quite a few videos during the cold months (not that it's any warmer now) so this seems to be a ...
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Shrewsbury Folk Festival announces first tranche of artists

Singer songwriter Billy Bragg has topped the bill in the first wave of artists announced for this year’s Shrewsbury Folk Festival. Oysterband, Breabach, Jiggy, Spiers & Boden, Talisk, Daphne’s Flight, kora master N’Faly ...
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Harbottle & Jonas have been Saving The Good Stuff for a while

 Saving The Good Stuff Vol.1 is the ninth offering from the hardworking Harbottle & Jonas, with each release they continue to build and cement their ...
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Dan Walsh announces his dream album of O’Neill tunes

When looking back to when you were a teenager a smile often comes to the face thinking about what you dreamed of achieving. Maybe a ...
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Humbletown announce their debut album

If you dig banjo and like other indie folk bands like The Lowest Pair you will for sure appreciate Humbletown! They have super catchy songs ...
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From Pub To Pulpit concerts continue pilgrimages to cathedrals through 2023

Thousands of voices will raise roofs of Cathedrals and Churches around the country this year as a cappella group Broomdasher and multi-instrumental trio Coracle continue ...
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Sean Taylor Band announces new live album and tour dates

2023 will see the first ever Sean Taylor Band album release, a live album, featuring multi-instrumentalist Mike Seal on double bass and the Thompson Twins ...
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JOHN McCUSKER – The Best Of (Under One Sky UOSR010)

On January 20th Under One Sky Records release John McCusker – The Best Of to mark his 30 years in the music industry.  Alongside the ...
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ESBE – Blow The Wind Southerly (New Cat Music)

A London-based graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, Esbe follows in the footsteps of Katy Rose Bennett with Blow The Wind Southerly, a wholly ...
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ARCHIE CHURCHILL-MOSS – PH(R)ASE (Slow Worm Records SWR003)

PH(R)ASE might be Archie Churchill-Moss’s first solo album, but there is a good chance you’ll have heard him play before. After all, Archie is regarded ...
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Reg Meuross announces important new album

Award winning singer-songwriter Reg Meuross will release his 15th solo album on April 7th 2023. The groundbreaking project is the culmination of over four years ...
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Skerryvore: new album and tour dates

Skerryvore have reinvented and reignited Scottish roots music with a modern alt-pop flavour that has connected with an ever-expanding multicultural global audience. But as the pandemic broke, ...
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Eric Andersen – triple CD tribute album

Tribute To a Songpoet: Songs Of Eric Andersen was released digitally as a 41-track album via EARecords on January 9; and also as a 42-track, 3CD ...
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The Official Charts Company presents the Folk album chart for December 2022

On Tuesday 10 January the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo revealed the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed UK folk albums ...
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Mull Historical Society announces re-issues of first albums

Mull Historical Society, the alias of Colin MacIntyre will be releasing a trilogy of colourful classic album reissues (Loss, Us and This Is Hope), plus ...
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JUNI HABEL – Carvings (Basin Rock)

A Waldorf – or Steiner - teacher as well as a singer-songwriter, Habel lives in rural Southern Norway, sharing an old school house with her ...
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Ben Walker announces his second solo album

It’s probably unusual to open a record with a passionate modern madrigal to the physics of gases. You wouldn’t expect to find the work of ...
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Copperplate Podcast 278

folking.com brings you the latest podcast from that aficionado of Irish music, the one and only Mr. Alan O’Leary with his regular monthly instalment of ...
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RACHEL WALKER & AARON JONES – Despite The Wind And Rain (ROSCD103)

Despite The Wind And Rain is the debut album, as a duo, for musician Aaron Jones and the Gaelic singer Rachel Walker. The album has ...
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SU-A LEE – Dialogues (Sky Child Records SCR001CD)

There are a number of cellists plying at least part of their trade in folk music. Some have their name on the front covers of ...
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MIKE VASS – Decemberwell Decade (UR007CD)

Musician, composer, producer - where do you start to describe the work of Mike Vass? How about the first line on his webpage, “Mike Vass ...
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MARK GWYNNE JONES – Voices From The Peak (Talking Elephant TECD473)

I wasn’t born in the Peak District but I was bought up there and lived there for the best part of twenty years so the ...
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RITZ & WESSON – Wisdom Of The Heart (Backstage Music)

Before you ask “who are Ritz & Wesson?” I’ll explain. Nigel Wesson was a resident at Bunjies Folk Cellar back in the day which is ...
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Folksongs Sung In Ulster – new edition with CD

A unique and ground-breaking collection of songs which focuses on the singers, their background and the place of the songs in Ulster history and society ...
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Sidmouth Folk Festival announces first names for 2023

The Sidmouth Folk Festival is preparing to burst into action for the 69th time in 2023, bringing an irresistible feast of world-class folk music, song ...
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FIRELIGHT TRIO – Firelight Trio (Proper EDFLT01)

There are so many new instrumental albums coming out these days that, if you want to stand out, you have to be different. There is ...
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KELLY BAYFIELD – Wave Machine (own label)

A glance at the cover of Kelly Bayfield’s new album, which is released next month, might suggest something pastoral and gentle. True, many of the ...
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NOËL DASHWOOD – Noël Dashwood (own label)

Noël Dashwood is, of course, one third of Alden Patterson and Dashwood, a trio that has been making waves in recent years. His first, eponymous, ...
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Archie Churchill-Moss announces debut solo album

Archie Churchill-Moss is one of Britain’s foremost squeezers; a 29-year-old diatonic button accordion player from Somerset who grew up immersed in English and French traditional ...
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ASH GRAY AND THE BURNERS – Live ’55 (LuvRock Records)

Sheffield’s Ash Gray And The Burners’ Live ’55, with its country-psych sound coloured with steel pedal’s “unlimited glissandi and deep vibrati (Thank you, Wikipedia!), will ...
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DAVID HARLEY – Introduction To Nashville Tuning For Guitar (Wheal Alice Music)

This book is great. I make the point at the start for a number of reasons To highlight that it’s a book not a CD ...
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John McCusker celebrates 30 years with a retrospective album

Acclaimed Scottish fiddle player, John McCusker, will celebrate three decades in the music industry by releasing John McCusker – The Best Of album on Friday ...
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SINGLES BAR 85 – A round-up of recent EPs, singles and Christmas cheer

Eve is a new digital EP released with Christmas and New Year in mind by DARIA KULESH. The opening track ‘Cossack Lullaby’ sounds very Christmassy ...
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CHRIS CLEVERLEY – Broadcast The Secret Verse (Opiate Records 003)

I’ve been an enthusiastic follower of Chris Cleverley’s music since his debut album back in 2015. Musically speaking, Chris isn’t a man who stands still ...
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PLU -Tri (Sbrigyn Ymborth SY034)

Plu’s new album was released earlier this year so I must first apologise for not getting around to it until now. Tri is the fourth ...
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NATIVE HARROW – Old Kind Of Magic (Loose Music)

Native Harrow’s new album, Old Kind Of Magic has the beautiful depth of a gossamer web, and it has the musical width of Emily Dickinson’s ...
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Cambridge Folk Festival 2023 tickets on sale now

Cambridge Folk Festival made a triumphant return in 2022, following a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, cementing its place as “The jewel within the ...
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Daoiri Farrell announces new album and spring tour dates

At the forefront of the current Irish music scene – armed with a strong belief and passion for authenticity, The Wedding Above In Glencree, is ...
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EMILY PORTMAN & ROB HARBRON – Time Was Away (Rob Records ROBREC CD04)

I can’t help thinking of them as bright young things but then I remember when it was that I first heard The Devil’s Interval. So, ...
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SINGLES BAR 84 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

Having released the title track and ‘Rough Edges’ earlier as singles, JOSHUA BURNSIDE now follows up with the full Late Afternoon In The Meadow (1887) ...
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ROBERT LANE – Homeworking (own label)

Robert Lane’s Homeworking is yet another example of the Spirit of Humanity finding someone willing to sing its songs. My friend, Kilda Defnut, said of ...
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ADEEM THE ARTIST – White Trash Revelry (Four Quarters Records)

Born Adem Bingham, and sometimes known as Adeem Maria, Adeem the Artist is a blue-collar, pansexual, non-binary North Carolina-born twangy-voiced singer-songwriter now based in Eastern ...
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TREVOR BEALES – Fireside Stories (Hebden Bridge circa 1971 – 1974) (Basin Rock)

Back in the 70s, in the then dreary West Yorkshire valley town of Hebden Bridge, Beales was one of the UK’s many aspirant loner folk ...
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FINN COLLINSON – The Threshold (Old School Music OSMCD012)

Finn Collinson’s The Threshold is an album that wears its heart on its sleeve. The title describes where Finn feels his music is currently positioned: ...
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THE ALBION CHRISTMAS BAND – All Are Safely Gathered In (Talking Elephant TECD481)

And so the Christmas releases begin. And what better way to start than with the first seasonal recording in six years from the ACB, lining ...
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Unthank : Smith announce debut album and tour dates

Today, two former Mercury Music Prize nominees Rachel Unthank (The Unthanks) and Paul Smith (Maxïmo Park) announce Nowhere And Everywhere, their debut album as Unthank ...
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TERENCE BLACKER – Meanwhile… (own label TB005)

Terence Blacker – singer, songwriter, author, columnist – releases Meanwhile..., his fifth album, on December 2nd. Let’s digress to a comment by from Bethany Cagnol, ...
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RACHEL TAYLOR-BEALES – Out Of This Frame (Hushland HUSHCH08)

Rachel Taylor-Beales lost her voice, which is pretty devastating for a singer. With her writing and painting to help her she fought back and the ...
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THE TRIALS OF CATO – Gog Magog (own label)

The Trials Of Cato slipped into Britain from Lebanon with a stunningly good EP and followed that up with a much-praised debut album. Then the ...
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Kate Rusby announces Christmas tour

Kate Rusby, hailed as the ‘First Lady of Folk’ and a Mercury Music accolade to her name, has forged an impressive 30-year, headlining career. A ...
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BILLY STRINGS – Me/And/Dad (Rounder)

Just turned 30 and recently named  Entertainer of the Year at the 2022 Bluegrass Awards for the second consecutive year, Strings fulfils a long-standing ambition ...
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DAVID CARROLL AND FRIENDS – Bold Reynold (Talking Elephant TECD483)

When you see “and friends” in a billing you tend to think of a group of worthy but unknown local musicians. On Bold Reynold, however, ...
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Holy Moly & The Crackers announce new album and tour

For a band that have from the outset been pegged as ‘folk-rock’, Newcastle’s Holy Moly & The Crackers sure have come a long way in ...
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DAN HARTLAND & THE BRINK – Haywire (own label)

Since releasing Great Novels two years ago, Hartland has gained both a beard and a new band: bassist Marko Miletic, percussionist, producer and arranger Sean ...
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VARIOUS ARTISTS – Sea Song Sessions (Topic TSCD612)

Sea Song Sessions is a self-explanatory title...except that it isn’t quite so simple. The project grew out of a commission to put together a maritime-themed ...
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ANNIE BALL, BRONWEN DAVIES-JONES, GARETH DAVIES-JONES and KATIE TERTELL – Howay The Lasses Vol 1 (own label)

A thematic companion piece to the new album by Rachel Walker and Aaron Jones, while they celebrate women in Scottish history, Howay The Lasses highlights ...
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Chris Newman and Máire Ní Chathasaigh announce tour dates including Christmas shows

This celebrated partnership of “one of the UK’s most staggering and influential acoustic guitarists” (fROOTS) with “the doyenne of Irish harpers” (Scotland On Sunday) has ...
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Simon Mayor and Hilary James – tour and workshop dates

Virtuoso mandolin, sensational songs, hot swing fiddle and huge lashings of fun from Britain’s leading ‘hot-fingered mandolin virtuoso’ Simon Mayor, and silver-voiced songstress Hilary James ...
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LADY MAISERY – Tender (own label LMCD05)

With all that happens in their individual careers it must be difficult for Hazel Askew, Hannah James and Rowan Rheingans to make time to work ...
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THE MAGPIE ARC – Glamour In The Grey (Collective/Perspective CP4FORCD)

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

Lara Eidi is performing at the award winning Green Note, Camden on Monday 21st November Singer- songwriter and artist Lara Eidi returns to London to ...
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KEEPING IT LIVE: KIEFER SUTHERLAND and FINES LINES at Hull Asylum

Kiefer Sutherland’s tour reached Hull Asylum last Thursday. You may know of Sutherland as a famous actor who has gone into music, so let’s clear ...
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ROBIN JAMES HURT – And We For One Another (own label)

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

Terence Blacker’s songs of modern life and love have been compared by critics to the work of Jake Thackray, Loudon Wainwright III and Georges Brassens ...
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PAUL M COX – Sunset Over Stillwater (White Elephant Records WER 029)

It’s fascinating how an artist who has been around for a while heaves to on your horizon even though you’ve been oblivious to their existence ...
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ELIZA CARTHY & THE RESTITUTION – Queen Of The Whirl (Hem Hem Records)

Following in Kate Rusby’s footsteps, Carthy has celebrated her 30 years in the business with Queen Of The Whirl, an album of new recordings, featuring ...
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EWAN MACFARLANE – Milk (Royale Stag Records)

Ewan MacFarlane’s Milk is a brilliant soul-roots rock album which showcases EM’s honeyed asteroid vocals and clever songwriting. This record is a long-playing love letter ...
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Magna Carta announce major career overview

Beautifully packaged career overview compiled in conjunction with Magna Carta founder member singer/songwriter Chris Simpson  One of British folk’s most well-respected acoustic groups anthologised on ...
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ELIZA DELF – Into The Wilderness (Peace In The Head EJDC001)

A Norwich-based folk-noir singer-songwriter inspired by the subversive folk tales of Angela Carter and whose vocal range has drawn comparisons to Kate Bush, Into The ...
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THE CARRIVICK SISTERS – Illustrated Short Stories (own label CARRICKSCD10)

It’s been nine years since Devon twin sisters duo Charlotte and Laura released their last studio album. And, with its mix of American bluegrass and ...
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Video Wall 24

We seem to have accumulated a number of videos in recent months so this seems like a good lime to present the best of them ...
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BROOKS WILLIAMS & DAN WALSH – Fortune By Design (own label BWDW-01)

As they vie for the position of the man who’ll play with anybody (a title previously held by John Kirkpatrick) there has been surprise that ...
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Vieux Farka Touré to play London concert

Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré, who released his critically-acclaimed new album Les Racines via World Circuit earlier this year, will perform at Islington Assembly Hall on ...
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LUKE DANIELS – The Cobhers (Gael GAELCD022)

Luke Daniels is a restless spirit. Each time I see or hear him, he’s doing something almost diametrically opposite to his previous project, and we’re ...
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RAGGED UNION – Round Feet, Chrome Smile (Shining Castle Music)

Ragged Union released their new album Round Feet, Chrome Smile recently. It has nine tracks, mostly written by Geoff Union. The band are from Boulder ...
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JANICE BURNS & JON DORAN – No More The Green Hills (own label JBJD002)

She from Glasgow, he from Gloucestershire and both now based in Newcastle, former finalists for the 2019 Young Folk Award, the duo now make their ...
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Native Harrow – new album and in-store tour

Native Harrow have today released their critically acclaimed new album Old Kind Of Magic on Loose Music. The duo of married couple Stephen Harms and ...
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SINGLES BAR 83 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

TALMORNEY  is 50ish Forest of Dean folk artist Matthew Macer-Wright who, inspired by the likes of The Unthanks, Vaughan Williams, June Tabor, Tori Amos and ...
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The Little Unsaid announce their latest album

Fable is the mesmerising and powerful third album from South London based four-piece The Little Unsaid, introduced via its first single ‘Vibrant Life’, an intense stream ...
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Elise Boeur and Adam Iredale-Gray announce debut album

It feels good to play fiddle tunes with other people, and Elise Boeur and Adam Iredale-Gray know this feeling well. Their forthcoming duo album, Fiddle ...
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Squeeze support the Trussell Trust with EP and tour

As they prepare to embark on their Food For Thought 25 date UK tour, British music legends Squeeze announce the release of a new six ...
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CATFISH KEITH – Still I Long To Roam (FTRCD020)

Still I Long To Roam is Catfish Keith’s new album, his 21st album in a long and acclaimed career. He’s still winning awards – in ...
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BREABACH – Fàs (Breabach Records BRE007CD)

Breabach’s Fàs is a miorbhuileach (aka wonderful!) Scottish folk album that avoids the commercial big shops on Princes Street. Rather, it strolls down the backstreets ...
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SAMUEL JAMES TAYLOR – Wild Tales And Broken Hearts (own label)

Samuel James Taylor released Wild Tales And Broken Hearts on October 21st. You can’t help but look favourably on an album by a man who ...
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WORDS OF A FIDDLER’S DAUGHTER – The Tears Of Jenny Greenteeth (Under The Eaves UTE 006)

Where to start? “This is a tale from a time younger than ours, where love and forgiveness triumphantly overcome fear, sadness and greed”, says Jessie ...
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JAMES KEELAGHAN – Second-Hand (Borealis Records BCD276)

James Keelaghan’s Second-Hand is yet another collection of brilliant songs that, somehow, ventures into a folk music fourth dimension where hope, tragedy, psychological insight, literary ...
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PAULINE VALLANCE – The World’s A Gift (own label PV002)

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

Tri is the first collection of new and original music from the Caernarfonshire sibling trio since the ethereal Tir a Golau in 2015. Over two ...
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CORACLE – Murmuration (Tam Records)

As Murmuration is Coracle’s first album, I didn’t know what to expect from it. All I knew was what the accompanying publicity told me, and ...
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STEELEYE SPAN – Live At The Rainbow Theatre 1974 (Chrysalis CRVX1485)

You may have noticed that, earlier this year, Chrysalis released the definitive collection of Steeleye Span’s albums from 1972 to 1983, regarded by many as ...
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CHRIS WHILE AND JULIE MATTHEWS – Women Of The World (FatCat FATCD047)

The longest surviving UK female duo (and also with their own solo careers), as the title suggests their latest album, the songs of Women Of ...
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Jesse Terry and Emma Stevens – live at The Bedford, Balham Tues 25th Oct

Coming up on Tuesday 25th we are pleased to be hosting this outstanding singer songwriter double bill in the iconic settings of The Bedford, Balham, ...
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Journey To The Isles: Marjory Kennedy-Fraser 

A mesmerising glimpse into the landscapes, folktales and songs that inspired one of Scotland's great early collectors of Traditional Arts! Marjory Kennedy-Fraser began collecting Hebridean ...
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DAN WHITEHOUSE – Voices From The Cones (WTK 002)

Dan Whitehouse continues his glass sequence with Voices From The Cones, a song cycle based on stories from the glass-making industry of Stourbridge. The song ...
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THE MAGPIES – Undertow (Gilded Lily GLWCD 18)

Since the release of their debut album two years ago, Polly Bolton has flown the nest to be replaced by clawhammer banjo player Kate Griffin ...
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SUE HARDING – Darkling (own label)

Sue Harding lives in Somerset and has been writing, playing and singing for quite a while now in several guises including Angel Ridge and Harding ...
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STEVE PLEDGER – What Tomorrow Knows album launch (Durham Town Hall, 6th October 2022)

Steve Pledger is the perfect example of modern protest singer, enriching his songs with clarity of thought, sublime guitar skills and the ability to hold ...
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DAPHNE PARKER POWELL – The Starter Wife (Pleasure Loves Company)

One of the year’s most intriguing titles, The Starter Wife, Louisiana-based Powell’s sixth album comes in the wake of a painful divorce and arrives awash ...
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Brophy’s Law – new single, album and tour

They are back on the road in 2023 still buzzing after their Indian Tour and successful summer festival season in Denmark. With a new single ...
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Native Harrow announce their new album and record shop tour

Arriving  on October 28 via Loose Music, Old Kind of Magic is the fifth long-player from Native Harrow - Stephen Harms and Devin Tuel - ...
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Official Folk Albums Chart for September 2022

On Tuesday 4 October the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo revealed the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released ...
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ANGELINE MORRISON – The Sorrow Songs: Folk Songs Of The Black Experience (Topic TSCT611)

Released to mark Black History Month, produced by Eliza Carthy, who also arranged the strings and plays violin, with Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne on anglo concertina and ...
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SAM SWEENEY – Escape That (Hudson Records HUD032CD)

Some artists raise expectations. They inspire confidence that anything with their name on it, is going to be good. For me, Sam Sweeney is such ...
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VARIOUS ARTISTS – Plúirín Na mBan – A Woman’s Love (Cló Iar-Chonnachta CICD091)

Think back thirty years and you may remember A Woman’s Heart, the album and the song that launched Eleanor McEvoy’s career. Plúirín Na mBan - ...
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A Million Darkened Kitchens featuring Frankie Armstrong

A Million Darkened Kitchens - a sound piece for an 1840s era kitchen aims to shed light on the historically neglected space of the domestic kitchen ...
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Angeline Morrison releases video to accompany The Sorrow Songs

Cornwall-based folk singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Angeline Morrison releases an animated video for ‘Unknown African Boy (D. 1830)’. Created by Marry Waterson, the song is ...
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THE WATERSONS ­- Frost And Fire (Topic Records)

Like all stems, branches, and ancient roots search for all the circulus melodies of fallen Eden, the Watersons’ Frost And Fire songs are about the ...
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Beans On Toast presents The Fascinating Adventures Of Little Bee

With a little help from some new friends, including the animated hero ‘Little Bee’, the songwriter and festival legend, Beans On Toast, is very pleased ...
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Brooks Williams and Dan Walsh announce debut duo album

Fortune By Design is the debut album from Brooks Williams and Dan Walsh, admired by both listeners and fellow musicians alike, here they combine their ...
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POLLY PAULUSMA–The Pivot On Which The World Turns (Wild Sound)

Polly Paulusma’s new album, The Pivot On Which The World Turns, is a lovely labyrinth with enough melodic twists and feminine turns to make any ...
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Copperplate Podcast 275 presented by Alan O’Leary

folking.com brings you the latest podcast from that aficionado of Irish music, the one and only Mr. Alan O’Leary with his regular monthly instalment of ...
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THE PITMAN POETS – Bare Knuckle (own label)

As The Pitman Poets embark on their second farewell tour (probably not worth asking) they release a new album, Bare Knuckle. For the uninitiated, the ...
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Martyn Joseph announces 40th anniversary tour

Martyn Joseph is a completely unique and mind-blowing artist. Take everything you think you know about singer songwriters and rip it up. For one man ...
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THE VILLAGE – The Bells Of St. Wystan’s (own label)

Phil Matthews a.k.a. The Village is a man rooted in the land and legends of his home region – the rural East Midlands. Superficially, The ...
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Luke Daniels and The Cobhers announce debut album

Luke Daniels formed The Cobhers (pronounced Covers) in 2019 to attract new audiences to folk and traditional music. As well as playing superbly evocative original ...
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THOMAS BULL – A Fast Running Train Whistles Down (own label)

Sometimes a record appears out of the blue that has the potential to be very important. Thomas Bull has recorded seven Woody Guthrie songs; not ...
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BARRY NISBET – The Springbank Voyage (Rattle Rig RRIG221)

In 1908, five Shetlanders joined the crew of Clyde-built 4-mast sailing barque, the Springbank, headed via the dread Cape Horn to Mexico. For Barry Nisbet, ...
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Irish Music and Dance In London announce this year’s Return To London Town Festival

IMDL are delighted to announce the full programme of events for this year’s Return to London Town Festival - Friday 28th to Monday 31st October ...
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Blackbeard’s Tea Party unleash their new album

In early 2020, two founder-members of Blackbeard's Tea Party chose to leave the band. At the same time, the coronavirus lockdown restrictions halted all the ...
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Emily Portman and Rob Harbron announce first duo album

Time Was Away is Emily Portman and Rob Harbron’s debut duo album, comprising eight English folk songs and two 20th century poems set to music ...
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SINGLES BAR 82 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

Featuring producer Pete Ord on guitar and bass, Kath Ord and violin and viola, pianist Jen Ord and Archie Moss on melodeon, 2019 Young Folk ...
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SPROATLY SMITH – River Wye Suite (own label)

Sproatly Smith’s River Wye Suite, despite Heraclitus’s contention that “No man ever steps in the same river twice”, certainly drinks from the same sourced waters ...
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DROPKICK MURPHYS – This Machine Still Kills Fascists (Dummy Luck Music)

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