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).

CROCK OF BONES – Celtic Crossbones (own label)

Crock of Bones are a North London band and, with a growing and increasingly acclaimed set of live performances behind them, have recently released Celtic ...
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Gordon Giltrap announces new album

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

With travel costs skyrocketing and the twin demons of Covid and the cost of living crisis driving audience numbers down, it’s not an ideal time ...
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JENNIFER CROOK – The Broken Road Back Home (Transatlantic Roots)

Based in Bath, conceived during the pandemic, former Radio 2 Young Tradition finalist and harpist, The Broken Road Back Home is the pure-voiced Crook’s fifth ...
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RANAGRI – Tradition II (own label)

Ranagri are an Anglo-Irish folk band who stretch the boundaries of what folk music is, so it may be surprising that Tradition II is the ...
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Eddi Reader announces new album and tour dates

Light Is In The Horizon is a new album of previously unreleased recordings from one of Scotland’s greatest voices, Eddi Reader. The twelve songs were ...
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GEOFF MULDAUR – His Last Letter: The Amsterdam Project (Moon River Music)

While his ex-wife Maria may be better known, primarily on account of her 1973 hit ‘Midnight At The Oasis’, and more prolific in terms of ...
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KEEPING IT LIVE – Banterfest 2022 – Mike Wistow reports

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

In the now established tradition of @StMarysSessions, our October show brings you yet another slice of something distinctly different.  Expect the poetic, the passionate, the ...
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UNDERNEATH THE STARS FESTIVAL – 29/30/31 JULY 2022

OVERVIEW BEFORE CAMPY SETS OFF IN THE FOLKMOBILE The Folkmobile is now fully serviced and raring to go!  I am so looking forward to this ...
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JAKE BLOUNT  -The New Faith (Smithsonian Folkways)

A scholar of Black American music, for his new label debut Blount follows 2020’s highly acclaimed Spider Tales with The New Faith, an album of ...
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LIzzy Hardingham announces new album and tour dates

How Did We Get Here? is Lizzy Hardingham's brand new studio album which explores the relationship between music and mental health. This Help Musicians UK ...
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SYKESMARTIN – Unquenching Fire (Dragonfly Roots DRCD009)

SykesMartin sounds like one of those industrial processes that we had to learn about in chemistry lessons and that’s not a bad analogy. Miranda Sykes ...
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SONS OF THE EAST – Palomar Parade (own label)

Australia’s Sons of the East’s Palomar Parade confronts the fact that (Thank you, Carl Sagan!) “There are more stars in the universe than all the ...
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BONFIRE RADICALS – The Space Between (own label BR-02)

Bonfire Radicals describe themselves as Birmingham’s (un)traditional folk band. An interesting claim and their second album, The Space Between, supplies plenty of evidence to back ...
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The Last Inklings announce six-part podcast

This autumn folk duo The Last Inklings will be releasing a new six part fortnightly podcast series, Limited Bandwidth, with accompanying ‘backstage’ style vlog. Through ...
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SIOBHAN MILLER – Bloom (Songprint SPR005CD)

I loved Siobhan’s early work, fell out with her over Mercury but we kept faith with each other and now we have her fifth solo ...
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Fairport Convention’s Cropredy 2022 With Interviews from Chris Leslie, Rosalie Cunningham & Joziah Longo

CROPREDY 2022 - A FOLKING.COM PERSPECTIVE REVIEW... Well, hi all, We all had a fabulous Cropredy this year - with the weather being the best ...
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Phil Tyler and Sarah Hill announce new album

Phil Tyler and Sarah Hill first met in Newcastle where they played in local folk nights and sang in Sacred Harp sessions, leading to Hill ...
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FARA – Energy Islands (FARA003)

The (predominantly) Orcadian band Fara have recently released their third album, Energy Islands. The band came together at the Orkney Folk Festival in 2014 and ...
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KRAMIES – Kramies (Hidden Shoal Records)

Kramies self-titled album drips with an impressionistic paintbrush. And then it slow dances and sings (without an umbrella!) in dramatic and very cinematic rain. It ...
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The Outside Track announce September tour

Winner of 'Best Group' in both the Live Ireland awards and the Tradition In Review awards, The Outside Track are one of the top Celtic ...
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HOLLIE ROGERS – Criminal Heart (own label)

Hollie Rogers releases Criminal Heart on September 9th. I don’t look at the either singles or album charts much nowadays but if I say this ...
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Robert Lane – new album and live dates

Robert Lane is a musician, songwriter and actor based in the UK. He has toured extensively and released three albums. As an actor he works ...
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DAVID BENJAMIN BLOWER – Innocence And Experience (own label)

There’s been a spate of releases over the past couple of years with artists setting to music the works of poets such as Dickinson and ...
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LUKE SITAL-SINGH – Dressing Like A Stranger (Nettwerk Records)

Luke Sital-Singh’s fourth album Dressing Like A Stranger is the soundtrack to my recent food order at my local Festival Foods’ kiosk that sold burgers ...
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CHRIS FOX – In Plain Sight (own label)

Chris Fox’s previous album, the excellent From The Shadows, was released in 2019. Then his career went onto the back burner as the country shut ...
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Jackie Oates Trio launches Gracious Wings

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

The Space Between is the long awaited second album from Birmingham's fiery (un)traditional folk band Bonfire Radicals. This new release captures the adventurous breadth of ...
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Cropredy Capers 2022 – Campie tells all

A return to Fairport’s Cropredy Convention was eagerly awaited by thousands of people who would be lining the field in Cropredy, Oxfordshire in the hottest ...
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Copperplate Podcast 274 presented by Alan O’Leary

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

Luke Sital-Singh has released his fourth album, Dressing Like A Stranger, an eleven-song collection penned by the London-born songwriter as he moved halfway across the ...
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PHIL LANGRAN – Falling Light (Longshore Drift LOD002)

Produced by and featuring Chris Pepper (percussion) and Boo Hewerdine (guitar, keys), normally to be found fronting The Phil Langran Band, here the Oxford singer-songwriter ...
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Manchester Folk Festival announces 2022 line-up

Manchester Folk Festival has always striven to present the very best in current folk and acoustic music, resulting in a rich mix of styles and ...
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Breabach announce first album for five years

Acclaimed contemporary Scottish folk band Breabach are back with their first full-length album in four years, set for release on Friday 14th October 2022. The ...
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Miranda Sykes and Hannah Martin announce new collaboration, tour and album

SykesMartin is the exciting new collaboration from two of British folk's finest voices. Miranda Sykes (Show of Hands) and Hannah Martin (Edgelarks, Gigspanner Big Band) ...
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Sue Harding announces her second album

Darkling is the new album release from West Country singer songwriter and guitarist Sue Harding. Twelve self-written tracks recorded by Josh Clark at Get Real ...
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JOHN McCUTCHEON – Leap! (own label)

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

The Highlands & Islands will see a flurry of musical and cultural activity from this Friday (2nd September) until 10th September as the Blas Festival hits the ...
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STARRY SKIES – Small Wonders (Foxstar Records)

Starry Skies’ new album, Small Wonders, is a pop-folk (and sometimes) rock record that proves, even after all the years, this band from Glasgow cares ...
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Topic Records to issue remastered Frost And Fire

Frost And Fire: A Calendar of Ritual and Magical Songs first found its way into record collections in 1965, and it has been an essential ...
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KATIE GRACE HARRIS – The Toledo Sessions (Triumph Recordings TR1001)

Named for her father’s blue Triumph Toledo she travelled round in as a child, collecting mum for her nursing shifts, singing the songs of James ...
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BARNEY KENNY – The Seaton Tapes (own label)

Folking.com reviewed Barney Kenny’s EP The Minstrel Boy back in 2020, and very good it is too, with Barney supporting his own very able vocals ...
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NIGEL PARRY – Tales Of Common Folk, Salt & Sweet Kisses (own label)

A CD arriving from New Zealand is not an everyday occurrence but, nevertheless, a welcome one. We first came upon singer-songwriter Nigel Parry via a ...
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Man The Lifeboats – single, album and tour

Taken from their upcoming second album (out 14th October via Wood Head Records), the collective’s new single blazes bright with its incendiary violins, glowing accordions ...
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Tim Edey joins the line-up for Iúr Cinn Fleadh

Award-winning multi-instrumentalist Tim Edey is the latest addition to the already stunning acts lined up for Iúr Cinn Fleadh – Newry’s music festival. A double ...
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JOHN NAPIER – The Man In Me (own label)

A Birmingham-based singer-songwriter and half of the alt-folk Waler, Napier is steeped in a love of Paul McCartney whose influence glows throughout this terrific mini-album ...
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CROSBY TYLER – Don’t Call The Law On Me (own label)

“I’m more of a hook-loving and personality-driven singer than anything else” says Crosby Tyler. His new album Don’t Call the Law On Me is released ...
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Eliza Carthy announces second EP from her forthcoming album

Eliza Carthy, leading light of England's folk scene releases Stumbling On, the second EP of four tracks taken from her forthcoming album, Queen Of The ...
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TAYLOR ALEXANDER – Hymns For A Hollow Earth (own label)

The album artwork inspired by 17th century Vanitas paintings, still life portraits that attempt to portray the ephemeral nature of life by placing representations of ...
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JACKIE OATES – Gracious Wings (Needle Pin Records NP2)

Whatever Jackie Oates turns her hand to the result is always enchanting, captivating – if that doesn’t sound patronising, which is not my intention – ...
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RUSTY SHACKLE – Under A Bloodshot Moon (own label)

Like many during the pandemic, the Welsh folk rock outfit, Rusty Shackle, found music a way of deepening their connections and of the joy and ...
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SINGLES BAR 81 – A round-up of recent singles

As a teenager MARINA FLORANCE had an aunt who indulged her musical interests. One day she bought home bag of singles from the college where ...
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Luke Concannon (Nizlopi) announces September tour

Luke Concannon has early memories of listening to live music, dancing, singing, and putting on plays, at his Irish family’s parties in Warwickshire England. He’s ...
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Martha Tilston to play The Minack Theatre

From the folk songs she has known since childhood to piano ballads and the odd cheeky bit of trip-hop, Martha Tilston has never been afraid ...
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Blas Festival showcases historic collection of Highland music

A collection of Highland music, left behind in the library of Raasay House in the 1800s has been given a fresh lease of life in ...
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Chris Fox announces his second album

In Plain Sight is the eagerly awaited new album release from singer songwriter Chris Fox. With plenty of time on his hands during the lockdown ...
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ROBB JOHNSON & THE IRREGULARS – Stay Cool, Keep Left, Shine Bright (Irregular Records IRR120)

In the beginning were The Irregulars’ first post-Covid sessions. From them emerged The Mystery Gets Your Number & The Poetry Makes The Call, the band’s ...
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SHEILA K CAMERON – With You In My Life (SKC1710CD)

Writing reviews (in words) of albums (music and song) can be a bit like hearing colours -   scarlet - loud and confident, maybe towards being ...
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Dan Whitehouse announces second Glass album

For over 400 years, the glassmaking industry nourished the communities of Stourbridge in the West Midlands, UK, where - thanks to the skills of immigrant ...
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ANDREW COMBS – Sundays (Loose Music)

Andrew Combs’ Sundays, written and recorded under the confines of Covid and in the aftermath of a “mental breakdown”, finds its mono melodic redemption, in ...
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FRITILLARIES – Fritillaries (Pear O’Legs Records)

Bristol based Fritillaries are Hannah Pawson – lead vocals, guitar, banjo and harmonium - and Gabriel Wynne – guitar and mandolin – and this is ...
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Topic announce Sea Song Sessions

Sea Song Sessions is a collection of British maritime folk songs and sea shanties, performed by a collective of some of British folk music’s leading ...
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Chris Cleverley – new single and album to follow

UK Dream-Folk Artist Chris Cleverley's brand new single 'Chlorophyll' presents a stark reminder of the impact of global warming on our fragile natural world. Bedford-based ...
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UNCLE BARD & THE DIRTY BASTARDS – The Story So Far (Angel Air SJPCD650)

I have to confess, I’d never heard of this lot let alone that they’d released enough albums to warrant a compilation. For the similarly uninformed, ...
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Bobby Blue releases new single

Pumping Norteño bass scored Bobby Blue's childhood soundtrack in the small motor town of Bedford, Indiana. An energetic culture-clash forged his home, his factory-worker father, ...
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Iúr Cinn Fleadh bounces back!

Tide of folk music and family fun will flow through Newry this Bank Holiday A fun-filled family festival for all ages – that’s Iúr Cinn ...
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ROBB JOHNSON & THE IRREGULARS – The Mystery Gets Your Number & The Poetry Makes The Call (Irregular Records IRR119V)

It’s a good job we don’t impose a word limit on our reviews or The Mystery Gets Your Number & The Poetry Makes The Call ...
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TARREN – Revel (own label)

The story of Tarren’s debut album, Revel, begins in lockdown, when three established members of the Bristol folk scene began to share compositions online. From ...
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ASHLEY HUTCHINGS – More Songs From The Shows (Talking Elephant TECD477)

The original Songs From The Shows were a pair of Albion Band albums in the early 1990s. It was probably Corunna with Steeleye Span that ...
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Elephant Sessions announce new album

Award-winning indie-folk sensation Elephant Sessions are set to release their highly anticipated fourth studio album on Friday 9th September 2022. Elephant Sessions’ music combines the ...
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Official Folk Albums Chart – July 2022

On Tuesday 2 August the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo revealed the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released ...
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Reg Meuross launches IndieGoGo For Slave Trade Music Project – Stolen From God

For the last four years, uncovering the stories of the Atlantic slave trade across the South West of England has been the mission of Somerset-based ...
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TRACY CURTIS – Live (Irregular Records IRR121)

Tracey Curtis used to be in a punk band called Shelley’s Children, she plays guitar, sings and writes songs and that’s about all I can ...
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TYLER EDWARDS – A Falling Sky (Mighty Kind Records)

“Morning light used to mean something beautiful, now it seems cruel”, reads the opening lyric to ‘Heroes’, the second single from Tyler Edwards’ upcoming release, ...
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Gretchen Peters – UK tour dates and new live album

2022 marks the 25th year since Gretchen Peters first set foot on a UK stage. And in honour of the occasion, the Nashville-via-New-York star will ...
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LUKE JAMES WILLIAMS – Our Blood Is Red (own label)

Based in Cambridgeshire, Williams is a fairly new arrival on the scene, releasing his debut EP back in 2018, gaining fulsome support from Tom Robinson, ...
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ANTOINE & OWENA – Clockwork Lens (own label 003-2022)

Antoine Architeuthis (not his real name) and Owena Archer write original songs that sound traditional and give traditional songs a contemporary sound. Clockwork Lens is ...
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CANYONS & HIGHLANDS – Canyons & Highlands (BDR 2201)

"Astral Folk". What a simultaneously vague, uncertain – and absolutely brilliant description for this album. Canyons & Highlands (the album) is an instantly accessible delight ...
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Beans On Toast announces 2023 tour dates

Following the runaway success of his extended UK tour earlier this year, the cult hero Beans On Toast has already plotted his return with a ...
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Robb Johnson announces two new albums

Robb Johnson tells us about his new records. Recorded as soon as the 2021 Covid restrictions allowed, The Mystery Gets Your Number & The Poetry ...
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KATIE DOHERTY & THE NAVIGATORS – Flow (Nookton Records NOOKCD01)

The result of exploring the concept of creative flow through work on formative versions of the songs with four community groups in the North East, ...
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DIK CADBURY – Winds Of Change (own label)

Dik Cadbury is a veteran musician, singer and actor. He initially came to prominence as a member of Decameron and has worked as a session ...
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MICKEY JUPP – Up Snakes, Down Ladders (Conquest Music)

Back in the 70s, it seemed that Jupp was set to become a household name alongside fellow pub rock stalwarts such as Nick Lowe and ...
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JOE PUG – Nation Of Heat (Loose Music)

Joe Pug “revisits” his rough diamond (and very popular!) Nation Of Heat record and proves, with Bob Dylan, John Prine, and rough and winding Highway ...
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SINGLES BAR 80 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

Hailing from Edmonton and currently living on the indigenous communities of Treaty Six Territory & Unceded Kanien'kehà:ka Territory, Mallory Chipman and Frédrique “Freddi” MacDougall are ...
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MONICA TAYLOR – Trains, Rivers & Trails (Horton Records)

An Oklahoman of Scottish and Cherokee heritage, dubbed The Cimarron Songbird by Jimmy LaFave and Bob Childers, Taylor is a sterling exponent of red dirt ...
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Dandelion reveal first line-up of artists and activity for major free festival in Inverness

Dandelion Festival, a free outdoor music and arts festival celebrating sustainability takes place Friday 2 - Sunday 4 of September Following the success of this ...
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Marianne Faithfull announces major retrospective

UMC announce the release of Songs of Innocence And Experience 1965-1995, the definitive overview of the first 30 years of Marianne Faithfull’s recording career on ...
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MARK MULHOLLAND – Revolutions Go In Circles (Ports of Call Music PCOM2201)

Recorded variously in Bamako, Berlin, New York and France, where he’s now based, over the course of the past few years, Revolutions Go In Circles ...
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Captain Of The Lost Waves completes his trilogy

Captain Of The Lost Waves’ Hidden Gems – Chapter 3 Mysterium Tremendum, the trilogy closer to the critically acclaimed Hidden Gems Chapter 1 and 2, ...
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Brighton And Hove Folk Festival – full line-up

A spectacular line-up includes both legends and fresh talent at Brighton and Hove Folk Festival this year Brighton and Hove Folk Festival has announced its full ...
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DAN WHITEHOUSE – The Glass Age (own label WTK001)

Finding himself stuck in Japan during lockdown, communicating with friends, family and fans back home via digital media sparked in Dan the realisation that we ...
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Cambridge Folk Festival – full details

Cambridge Folk Festival continues its tradition of hosting the biggest international stars in folk and roots music whilst also providing a platform for up and ...
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WINDBORNE – Of Hard Times & Harmony (Wand’ring Feet Records WFR 005)

Of Hard Times & Harmony is a lavishly packaged album, presented in a 78-page book of lyrics, artwork and notes. I’m sometimes suspicious of such ...
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The Magpie Arc headline indoor festival of folk at Cecil Sharp House

The Indoor Festival of Folk is a collaboration between folk/rock band The Magpie Arc and the English Folk Dance and Song Society and features a ...
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YVONNE LYON, GARETH DAVIES-JONES, DAVID LYON – Trace The Line (PM610)

Sometimes collaborations just work: fish and chips, Lillee and Thompson, Dolce and Gabbana, Simon and Garfunkel – the list is long and varied. Add Yvonne ...
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THE GABBARD BROTHERS – The Gabbard Brothers (Colemine/Karma Chief)

Formerly part of Ohio rock outfit Buffalo Killers and sometimes tour members with The Black Keys, siblings Zachary and Andrew, The Gabbard Brothers, have re-emerged  ...
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AMY GODDARD – Rise (own label)

I’ve been listening to Amy Goddard almost since she appeared on the music scene. I admire the narrative skill of her songwriting and her love ...
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Underneath The Stars Festival – 29/30/31 July 2022

Overview Before Campy Sets Off In The Folkmobile The Folkmobile is now fully serviced and raring to go!  I am so looking forward to Underneath ...
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Foy Vance: new album and UK and Irish tour dates

Foy Vance will embark on an extensive European tour later this summer, with the UK dates commencing on August 30 at York Barbican and culminating ...
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MATT NORMAN – Mr Onion’s Serenade (own label MNOR01CD)

Mr Onion’s Serenade is the sort of project that Simon Mayor would have made his own had Matt Norman not thought of it first. Matt ...
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Charm Of Finches return for more UK tour dates

The Australian indie-folk sister duo, Charm Of Finches are back in the UK for 10 more dates in JULY- and just last week released a ...
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BELLA HARDY – Love Songs (Noe NOE13)

For her tenth album Bella Hardy has returned to her beginnings. Love Songs is a mix of traditional songs and her own compositions beginning with ...
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BUSH GOTHIC – Beyond The Pale (Fydle Records Fyd005)

Bush Gothic are a new name to me, but I was instantly attracted to their third album Beyond The Pale by their choice of songs ...
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Levellers announce 2023 acoustic tour

Five years after they set out on their hugely acclaimed 2018 Acoustic Tour, and released its companion album We The Collective, The Levellers will embark ...
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Fèis Rois Ceilidh Trail is back on the road

Two groups of talented young musicians will take to the road once again this summer for three weeks of musical performances the length and breadth ...
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ANNA TAM – Live at The Green Note, Camden Hatching Hares Album Launch 4th July 2022

Anna Tam is a perfect example of “folk” music being a living, breathing tradition.  As Martin Carthy recently said "These songs are always being tweaked ...
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Gate To Southwell Festival – next week!

The 15th Gate To Southwell Festival – one of the East Midlands’ premier music and family events - begins next Thursday July 14th and runs ...
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Amy Goddard announces her new album

Amy Goddard is a well-regarded name on the folk and acoustic scene around Portsmouth, although she grew up in South Wales in the Merthyr Valley ...
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The Official Folk Chart – June 2022

On Tuesday 5 July 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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IAN SIEGAL – Stone By Stone (GVIS101)

Multi-award-winning blues musician Ian Siegal recently released Stone By Stone, his fourteenth album in a long, distinguished and feted career: British Blues Awards, Mojo Magazine ...
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Le Vent Du Nord announce July tour dates

The award-winning and highly acclaimed Le Vent du Nord is a leading force in Québec’s progressive francophone folk movement.  The group’s vast repertoire draws from ...
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Wickham Festival – a song by Steve Knightley

The tiny Hampshire village of Wickham has been immortalised in song by Steve Knightley. The Show of Hands singer has penned a special anthem in ...
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RUTH KEGGIN & RACHEL HAIR – Lossan (March Hair Records)

Ruth Keggin & Rachel Hair’s Lossan, with Manx Gaelic voice and Celtic harp, is music that justifies Charles Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge changed perception (after the ...
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WORDS OF A FIDDLER’S DAUGHTER – Ironstone Tales (Under The Eaves UTE 005)

Words Of A Fiddler’s Daughter are The Ciderhouse Rebellion – Adam Summerhayes and Murray Grainger – and Jessie Summerhayes, she who provides and speaks the ...
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Jesse Terry announces UK tour

Making up for the last two years, Stonington, Connecticut based artist Jesse Terry is excited to announce his first international dates in support of his ...
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KEITH JAMES – Scatterland (self-published)

We don’t often get books to review. However, there was a certain inevitability that Scatterland should come my way given that the earliest verses were ...
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MICHAEL McDERMOTT – St Paul’s Boulevard (Pauper Sky)

If Bruce Springsteen didn’t exist, you’d have to invent him. In which case, he’d be called Michael McDermott. Hailing from Chicago, he made his critically ...
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LEWIS WOOD – Footwork (Grimdon Records GRIDC006)

I don’t usually open a CD expecting to be educated, but Footwork - the debut solo album from Granny’s Attic violinist Lewis Wood - provided ...
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Janice Long bursary scheme is announced

Moseley Folk and Arts Festival has announced a new bursary scheme in honour of renowned broadcaster, and friend, Janice Long. Hello You! The Janice Long ...
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LUTHRIE LOCKDOWN – Stronger Than Before (LL22001CD)

This is just great. Luthrie Lockdown released Stronger Than Before on June 6th.  The title is from the song ‘Stronger’: “I may be broken in ...
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AMY HOPWOOD – Into The Woods (own label)

It won’t surprise you to learn that there are a lot of trees on this album. Trees, wood, forests and their inhabitants, both real and ...
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DAMIEN O’KANE & RON BLOCK – Banjophonics (Pure Records PRCD56)

Banjophobics look away now lest your delicate sensibilities be offended. Me, I like the sound of the banjo as much as the next man but ...
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TINA JORDAN REES – Beatha (own label TJR005CD)

Beatha is the debut solo album by flautist, pianist and whistle player Tina Jordan Rees who is originally from Lancashire but studied in both Limerick ...
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Fisherman’s Friends – film and soundtrack album release

Fisherman's Friends: One and All will be in UK cinemas on 19 August 2022 with the eagerly awaited soundtrack album released simultaneously. The music is ...
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Bella Hardy announces her new album

With her tenth solo record Love Songs, Bella Hardy has returned to the traditional ballads she’s known all her life. Since 2017’s self-written Hey Sammy, ...
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SINGLES BAR 79 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

Last year, M G BOULTER released Clifftown, a melancholic concept album about a fictional faded seaside town inspired by his hometown of Southend-on-Sea, Now, accompanied ...
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Suzanne Vega announces 2023 UK tour

Renowned for her erudite and entertaining shows, ahead of her early 2023 tour Suzanne Vega will be headlining at Glastonbury (Acoustic Stage), Cambridge Folk Festival ...
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CUA – Oh Sun Shine Down (own label)

Cua’s Oh Sun Shine Down is (to quote the great band Horslips!) “a warm sweet breath” of modern Irish folk music. And it conjures the ...
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TAMSIN ELLIOTT – Frey (Penny Fiddle Records PFR2206CD)

Tamsin Elliott is a talented multi-instrumentalist, composer and film-maker based in Bristol. She is a member of the quintet, Solana, alongside her brother Rowan who ...
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Ray Cooper – UK tour dates

Ray Cooper returns to the UK in July for a short tour in support of his most recent album Land Of Heroes. Ray Cooper is ...
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Party time at Sidmouth Folk Festival

Get a best ever value Bulverton-in-One (BiO) or a Big Gig Ticket to squeeze every drop of fun out of the long, memory-filled summer nights ...
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BROOKS WILLIAMS & AARON CATLOW – Ready For The Times (Red Guitar Blue Music RGBM-2201C)

There are many reasons for recording an album: to make a point about the state of the world; to tell a story; to celebrate the ...
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Dandelion Festival reveal full line-up of artists and activity for major free festival in Kelvingrove Park

Dandelion Festival - a free outdoor music and arts festival celebrating sustainability takes place Friday 17 - Sunday 19 of June VanIves, Rachel Sermanni, Sam ...
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THE BLACK FEATHERS – Angel Dust & Cyanide (own label)

It’s been six years in waiting for a second Black Feathers Angel Dust & Cyanide album. Now, to get all biblical (as this music often ...
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Elephant Sessions announce new album

For The Night is the eagerly anticipated fourth album from award winning indie-folk band, Elephant Sessions. From humble beginnings in the Highlands of Scotland, to ...
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Belfast Tradfest announces its full line-up

Belfast TradFest, 23rd - 29th July 2022, returns with a jam-packed week full of traditional music, song and dance, featuring some of the best traditional ...
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CHRIS DOVER – It’s A Difficult World (own label)

An Americana singer/songwriter based in Bradford, accompanied by Anneka Latta on harmonies, bassist Joel Smith and the perhaps not really named Tsar Nicholas III on ...
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EMMA WILSON – Wish Her Well (own label EWMCD01)

Emma Wilson is a north-east based blues singer who has been making waves over the last couple of years - which takes some doing if ...
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STACY ANTONEL – Always The Outsider (own label)

Always The Outsider, the debut album from the San Diego-born, Nashville-based retro Americana singer-songwriter and classically trained pianist explores metaphysical and supernatural concepts (you know, ...
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ANNA TAM – Hatching Hares (TAM Records TAM003)

You can see from the cover illustration what a multi-instrumentalist Anna Tam is. The instrument second from the right is a viola da gamba and ...
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SASKIA GRIFFITHS-MOORE AND CHANDRA CHAKRABORTY  – Live at Royal Albert Hall, South Kensington

Photograph by Tony Birch Together In Love And Separation Album Launch When two performers, who are well respected in their own fields, come together to ...
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Mavis Staples begins UK tour this week

Mavis Staples and Levon Helm mutual love and admiration is on full display on Carry Me Home, the new album which features a mix of ...
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Spooky Men’s Chorale announce UK tour

Many things were missing from the Great British Summer last year - not least there was an unnervingly spooky silence in place of an anticipated ...
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TÉADA – Coiscéim Coiligh – As The Days Brighten (CEFCD218)

Téada have been together for twenty-one years and have recently released their sixth studio album Coiscéim Coiligh - As The Days Brighten. Amongst its claims ...
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The Official Folk Chart – May 2022

On Tuesday 7 June 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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Loudon Wainwright III announces his Lifetime Achievement

Loudon Wainwright III has announced his new album Lifetime Achievement, to be released on August 19th.  His first album of new original songs since 2014’s ...
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Ficino Ensemble reinterprets Luciano Berio’s Folk Songs

Ergodos is proud to announce the release of Folk Songs, the new album from Irish chamber group Ficino Ensemble, and Irish vocalist Michelle O’Rourke. The ...
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Tamsin Elliott announces her debut solo album

Frey is the debut solo album from Tamsin Elliott, a Bristol-based folk musician, composer and film-maker, and co-leader of fusion project Solana. Recorded by Alex ...
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Trace The Line: Yvonne Lyon, Gareth Davies-Jones and David Lyon collaborate on new album

Trace The Line is a unique and impressive collaboration between singer/songwriters Yvonne Lyon, Gareth Davies-Jones and David Lyon. The trio, all respected artists and multi-instrumentalists ...
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THE SLAMBOVIAN CIRCUS OF DREAMS – A Very Unusual Head (Talking Elephant TECD474)

This is an album we’ve waited a long time for. I first heard of A Very Unusual Head a couple of tours ago – in ...
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KEVIN McSHERRY – A Place To Stay (own label KMCD02)

Born in London but, for the past four decades, based in Clapham in the Yorkshire Dales, McSherry is a singer, songwriter, former teacher, fell runner ...
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HANNAH RARITY – To Have You Near (own label HR085HYN)

Three years after her debut – it’s taken everyone time to get back into the way of things – Hannah Rarity releases her second album, ...
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BEFORE BREAKFAST – I Could Be Asleep If It Weren’t For You (After Dinner)

Well, The Moody Blues went In Search Of The Lost Chord, but Sheffield based Before Breakfast (cunningly on After Dinner Records!) is definitely in search ...
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Mark Harrison announces live dates

A common thing said to me at the end of shows is 'I don't know why I hadn't come across you before but I'm really ...
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The Chapin Sisters announce UK tour dates

The Chapin Sisters, Lily and Abigail Chapin, are set to return to the UK and win over many a new fan this July with their ...
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CAROL FIELDHOUSE – Continuum (own label CAROLFIELDHOUSE03)

The opening notes of Continuum are enough to make you sit up and take notice. This is Carol Fieldhouse’s second album and her long experience ...
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A triple bill concert of traditional Irish music, song and dance presented by Irish Music & Dance in London (IMDL).

Featuring Clare Friel, Conor Connolly, Marty Barry and Cathal Ó Curráin / Members of The Thatch Céilí Band, with guests Camden Set Dancers / The ...
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Lewis Wood (Granny’s Attic) announces debut solo album

On 24 June 2022, Lewis Wood will release his debut solo album Footwork. After a decade of playing as part of bands, most notably Granny’s ...
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HEIDI TALBOT – Sing It For A Lifetime (own label)

Heidi Talbot’s new album Sing It For A Lifetime bleeds folk beauty, which strays beyond her Irish origin, her Edinburgh home and her long ago ...
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Slambovian Circus Of Dreams announce new album and tour dates

Formed in Sleepy Hollow, New York, in 1998, The Slambovian Circus Of Dreams have played major festivals and venues throughout the US, UK and Canada ...
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Mary Gauthier releases her new album

On June 3rd, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter, and now accomplished author, Mary Gauthier will release her new album Dark Enough To See The Stars (Thirty Tigers). Over ...
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LEE ROGERS – Gameblood (Zenith Café/Membran)

Based in Carrickfergus, Gameblood is Rogers’ second album, one that comes sixteen years after his debut, having pursued a  career as an award-winning tattoo artist ...
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BOSUN HIGGS – A Most Particular Vintage (WildGoose WGS439CD)

I’m afraid that I’m long out of touch with the barn dance scene. The pandemic brought it to a shuddering halt but I don’t know ...
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CORNER HOUSE – How Beautiful It’s Been (own label)

A transatlantic quartet comprising Orkney-born fiddler Louise Bichan and Americans Ethan Setiawan on mandolin, cellist and banjo player Casey Murray and frontman guitarist Ethan Hawkins ...
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Before Breakfast announce debut album and tour dates

Before Breakfast, Gina Walters and Lucy Revis, fuse their classical knowledge and rich arrangements with raw expression and layer this with personal storytelling that explores ...
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CHANDRA CHAKRABORTY   SASKIA GRIFFITHS-MOORE -Together In Love And Separation (own label)

If you look at Together In Love And Separation and expect the sort of collaboration in which the two elements hardly interact, I can tell ...
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SINGLES BAR 78 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

CHRIS TAVENER opens his new EP, Easy Ways To Be Happy, talking about existential dread but discovers that the adverts on social media provide ‘All ...
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JAMES EDWYN AND THE BORROWED BAND – Highlights Of The Low Nights (Last Night From Glasgow)

Sometimes you see a little glimmer of a light in the distance. Sometimes, like a glow-worm, it fades if you look too closely or shine ...
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Brooks Williams and Aaron Catlow announce new album

A chance meeting a few years ago while on tour in The Netherlands led to the guitar-fiddle collaboration of Brooks Williams and Aaron Catlow. When ...
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International Folk Music Awards – full ceremony video

Folk Alliance International's International Folk Music Awards ceremony was on Wednesday and included performances by IFMA winner Crys Matthews, subject of a NY Times feature ...
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JULIE JULY BAND – Wonderland (Aurora Folk Records JJB22CD1)

Wonderland is the third CD from the Julie July Band, and the second to feature all-original material. It also features a relatively new, expanded line-up ...
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Steve Earle announces tribute to Jerry Jeff Walker

On Jerry Jeff – set for May 27 release via New West Records – Steve Earle pays tribute to influential cowboy troubadour Jerry Jeff Walker, ...
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A Celebration of the Life of Julie Felix

Tuesday 14th June 2022   Doors Open 7:00pm The Water Rats, 328 Grays Inn Road, Kings Cross, London, WC1X 8BZ A Celebration of the Life of ...
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Stefan Grossman – vintage 4-CD live set to be released in July

Stefan Grossman was a teacher and music academic, who had studied under the great blues musicians back in the states – an American guitarist who ...
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Third Ear Band – early tracks re-released

Third Ear Band was much more than a standard rock band of Guitar / Bass / Drums variety. The Third Ear Band notional leader, percussionist ...
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SEONAID AITKEN ENSEMBLE – Chasing Sakura (own label SMA03)

There is a story behind Chasing Sakura which I will do my best to summarise. Sakura (cherry blossom) is, in Japan, a symbol of spring ...
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Leaf Hound – rare album re-released

Without doubt one of the greatest, most collectable of hard rock rarities, Growers Of Mushroom – the 1971 debut album by Leaf Hound – has ...
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Anna Tam announces her second album

Singer and multi-instrumentalist Anna Tam gives traditional British songs her own loving personal twist. She sings with a clear bright voice and accompanies herself on ...
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BOO HEWERDINE – Understudy (Reveal 186 CDX)

“Age is just a number” is the opening line of ‘Magnets’, a sentiment that Boo Hewerdine seems to contradict with the rest of the song ...
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ROB LEAR – Strange Days (own label)

A singer-songwriter from the Welsh valleys, Strange Days is Lear’s third album, the follow-up to 2016’s Motorcycle Heart and again produced by Simon Tassano, albeit ...
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FELLOW PYNINS – Lady Mondegreen (own label)

Fellow Pynins’ Lady Mondegreen is an endlessly intriguing and very acoustically melodic Rorschach Ink Blot Test that resurrects and interprets the waters of ancient folk ...
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The Imagined Village reunite for FolkEast

As reunions go they don’t come much sweeter or timely than this. Back in 2012, Suffolk’s inaugural FolkEast festival saw an act described as ‘the ...
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Amelia White announces UK tour

If there were an East Nashville music hall of fame, Amelia White would already be in it. The now-famous scene was in its formative days ...
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RORY MATHESON & GRAHAM RORIE – We Have Won The Land (own label RUMSO3CD)

I doubt the English language has any writing that better describes listening to wordless music than that in EM Forster’s fifth chapter of Howard’s End ...
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Knockengorroch Festival returns next week

Scotland’s longest running greenfield festival is back! Knockengorroch Festival returns to the hills of Galloway with its long-awaited 2020 line-up and new additions for 2022 ...
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PAUL WALKER & KAREN PFEIFFER – Auf Wiedersehen, Me Duck (Crazy Moose Records CM04)

Based in Stoke–on-Trent, in some ways Walker and Pfeiffer are an Anglo-German version of Skinner and T’witch, mixing playfulness with serious social comment. Both sharing ...
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THE AMERICANS – Stand True (Loose Music)

Put simply: America is defined by its endless and very musical frontier. And The Americans’ new album, Stand True, plugs into that wide-open and always ...
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Access Folk recruiting for Consulting Groups

An ambitious 5 year long research project has launched to investigate ways to increase and diversify participation in English folk singing. Access Folk asks: What ...
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VARIOUS ARTISTS – The Wonderful World Of Depressing Country Music (Righteous/Cherry Red PSALM23110)

How can you resist. As anyone with a passing interest in folk music knows, there are certain gloomy staples in the tradition, primarily maidens being ...
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KATE RUSBY – 30 Happy Returns (PURE PRCO73)

To mark her 30th anniversary in the music business, as she did with 20, Rusby has revisited songs from her past albums, all but three ...
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Gaelic singer Kim Carnie announces her debut solo album

And So We Gather is the impressive debut solo album from renowned Gaelic songstress Kim Carnie, due for release on Friday 17th June. Bringing together ...
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MICHAEL JOHNATHON – AfterBurn (PoetMan Records PMR70032)

Does the man never sleep? Subtitled Folk at Arena Level, AfterBurn, his nineteenth album is the second this year and ranges from a chugging strum ...
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Katherine Priddy – vinyl release and tour dates

As Katherine Priddy hits the road on her headline UK tour, she has announced the vinyl release of her widely acclaimed debut album The Eternal ...
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THE SHACKLETON TRIO – Mousehold (own label)

Comprising Georgia Shackleton (fiddle, vocals), Aaren Bennett (guitar) and Nic Zuppardi (mandolin and banjo), the East Anglian trio pay tribute to the titular  area of ...
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FRAYA THOMSEN – Release (own label 002)

Fraya Thomsen is a Scottish harper, composer, singer and teacher who draws her musical inspirations from far and wide without ever allowing herself to be ...
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Katie Doherty announces new album

Katie Doherty formed the Navigators to explore the depth and strength that three players could bring to her award winning songs. What was unexpected in ...
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Video Wall 23

The world seems to be emerging from the gloom of winter and music is happening all around so here are a few selections from our ...
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The Shackleton Trio announce new album

The unmistakeable sound of The Shackleton Trio is once again showcased on their latest release, Mousehold. Recorded on the edge of Mousehold Heath in their ...
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