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).

BOB FREY – Ghost (own label)

Midwest singer-songwriter Bob Frey’s new Ghost album is a sincerely whittled selection of whiskey-soaked and quite wonderful songs that bleed with Gothic folk campfire prayers ...
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JILL JACKSON – Yours Aye (JJR002CD)

Jill Jackson releases Yours Aye on May 6th. Jackson has a twenty year career in the music industry – UK singles charts, performing on Top ...
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NATALIE D-NAPOLEON – You Wanted To Be The Shore But Instead You Were The Sea (own label)

To give her her full name, Natalie Damjanovich-Napoleon is a self-described torch and twang singer-songwriter and poet from Fremantle in Western Australia and was one ...
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KINNARIS QUINTET– This Too (own label KO002CD)

This Too is Kinnaris Quintet’s second album, and it feels like a bright, comforting smile in tough times. That’s not surprising, as the title comes ...
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PAUL BOLGER – Hard Truth (Pillar Stone Productions PPCD002)

Hailing from Waterford in south-east Ireland, Hard Truth is animator, graphic novelist, songwriter and musician Bolger’s second album under his own name (he debuted as ...
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WOLF & CLOVER – Twelvemonth & A Day (own label)

Wolf & Clover are a six-piece band based in Columbus, Georgia. In fact they are all associated with Columbus University and its music schools – ...
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The Shipbuilders announce their debut album

The Shipbuilders exist as a melting pot where the surreal meets the sublime. Since releasing their first EP, Something In The Water in 2016, the ...
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Foolhardy Folk Festival returns in August

Taking place at the beautiful Nottingham Arboretum park in the heart of the city, the cult folk hero and festival veteran will curate a day ...
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Lush Fresh Handmade Sound release all-star triple vinyl album

On May 27 Lush Fresh Handmade Sound and Mark Constantine are proud to unveil Life’s What You Make It, following from the acclaimed compilation albums Self ...
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HÒ-RÒ – New Moon (own label)

Hò-rò New Moon is a really nice sip of Moray’s finest Windswept Wolf Scottish ale, and it also colours (perhaps because of the melodic alcohol ...
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WILLIAM WILLIAM RODGERS – William William Rodgers Sings The Yellow Pages (own label)

His stage name lifted from a line in John Cale’s ‘Paris 1919’ and at times reminiscent of Robert Wyatt, the  refreshingly eccentric singer-songwriter from Birmingham ...
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PAUL BRADY – Maybe So (Proper Records PRPCD162)

I may as well confess that the nearest thing I’ve heard previously to a complete Paul Brady album was probably actually by The Johnstons. Well, ...
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NICK HART – Sings Ten English Folk Songs (Roebuck Records RRCD003)

Following a logical mathematical progression from eight and nine, recorded during the first 2020 lockdown, Hart used the enforced isolation to explore different approaches to ...
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UK Festival exclusive – the Saw Doctors to headline Wickham Festival

The Saw Doctors will celebrate 30 years of touring the UK on August 5th when they play an exclusive summer show at Wickham Music Festival ...
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KESTON COBBLERS CLUB – Alchemy (own label)

Two years on from Siren, the Bromley indie-folk band four-piece formed by siblings Matthew and Julia Lowe and close friend Tom Sweet return, alongside Harry ...
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SARAH MARKEY – Leaving Lurgangreen (own label SMM001)

If I don’t give a CD its first spin in the car chances are that I’ll do so while doing some routine jobs and so ...
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Grace Petrie – UK and Irish tour dates

More than a decade after first emerging, Grace Petrie stands out as one the most important songwriters working in the UK today. After the release ...
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The Canny Band announce their debut album

The Canny Band are Sam Mabbett, Michael Biggins (BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2021) and Callum Convoy. A rare fusion of piano, diatonic ...
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EDWINA HAYES – Ruby Rose (own label TWIRL03CD)

Released last Christmas, this is something of a belated review but, given the ten years between albums (though she was part of The Miles Roses ...
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PETE GOW – Leo (CLUBHOUSE Clubhousecruk0061CD)

While his debut solo album, Here There's No Sirens, didn’t stray too far from the  alt-country path of  Case Hardin, Leo sees a real musical ...
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THE HAAR- Where Old Ghosts Meet (Under The Eaves UTE006)

The old ghosts that are meeting here are the songs. All traditional songs are old by definition but fashions change and most of these enjoyed ...
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BEAU – Al Killem’s Final Show (Cherry Red AKFS1)

It’s been said before but it bears repeating that Trevor Midgley is a sociopolitical satirist cut from the same cloth and of the same mettle ...
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The Homebird Sessions releases ‘A Boy And His Guitar’

This project follows the success of the Show’s first collaborative release in December 2021, ‘The Light’, by Elaine Lennon, Yvonne Lyon and Adriana Spina for ...
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JOE BROUGHTON’S CONSERVATOIRE FOLK ENSEMBLE – Not Leaving Quietly (own label SAECD19)

If you haven’t heard Joe Broughton’s Conservatoire Folk Ensemble live you’ve missed one of the great spectacles that folk music has to offer. The fifty ...
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SINGLES BAR 77 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

NINA HARRIES is a singer, composer and double bass player from Northampton. Five years ago she released her debut solo album but most of her ...
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ABIGAIL LAPELL – Stolen Time (Outside Music)

Toronto singer-songwriter Abigail Lapell’s Stolen Time is an (often) intimate collection of lovely tunes that touch countless melodic tributaries that course from deep water folk ...
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Irish Music & Dance in London: A Tribute to Joe Burke

With Anne Conroy-Burke, Eileen O’Brien, Mary Conroy, Deirdre McSherry, John Bowe, Mick O´Connor, Andy Martyn and Seánín McDonagh (accordion) & James Carty (fiddle) with accompaniment ...
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CHRIS BRAIN – Bound To Rise (Big Sun Records, BSR-001)

Bound To Rise is the quietly impressive debut album from Yorkshireman Chris Brain. His songs have a gentleness and ethereality, enhanced by his softly husky, ...
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Bella Gaffney/Painted Sky spring tour

Magpies members Bella Gaffney and Holly Brandon are playing a short tour together in late April, Bella solo and Holly in her side project Painted ...
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EMÉT – Carlin’s Farm (AntiFragile Music)

Born just outside of Derry and now based in Calgary, accompanied by bassist Rónán McQuillan and drummer Matt Sloan, recorded in Belfast, Carlin’s Farm is ...
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BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST – That’s All Folkies! (WildGoose WGS437CD)

Paul Hutchinson and Paul Sartin have been entertaining us with sublime musicianship and comedy for more than two decades while at the same time pursuing ...
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Copperplate Podcast 270 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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Boo Hewerdine announces new album and tour dates

Understudy, released on May 27th by Reveal Records, finds acclaimed songwriter Boo Hewerdine in reflective mood with a fatalistic yet joyful narrative running throughout the ...
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THE EXMOUTH SHANTY MEN – Tall Ships And Tavern Tales (WildGoose WGS438CD)

Tall Ships And Tavern Tales is essentially a studio recording of The Exmouth Shanty Men’s stage show, spread across two CDs. It was actually recorded ...
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Conservatoire Folk Ensemble – anniversary tour and album

Joe Broughton’s Conservatoire Folk Ensemble - 25th Anniversary Tour and album, Not Leaving Quietly It’s no exaggeration to call the Conservatoire Folk Ensemble the UK’s ...
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GRAEME ARMSTRONG – You Are Free (own label)

Graeme Armstrong’s first solo album, You Are Free, is a gorgeous collection of original and traditional songs from the Scottish Borders. Perhaps, it isn’t for ...
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CERI JUSTICE – Walk In Shadow (own label)

Having released her punchy, rocky debut back in 2019, the Irish-blood Solihull singer-songwriter returns keeping the power still pretty much turned up with her vocals ...
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St Ives September Festival – first concerts announced

Lindisfarne, the legendary folk rock pioneers with unforgettable songs like 'Meet Me On The Corner', 'Fog On The Tyne', 'Lady Eleanor' and 'Run For Home' ...
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YOKO PWNO – Part Machine (Skye Records SRCDX010)

Yoko Pwno released Part Machine on April 1st. This is the band’s second album following 2019’s Artefacts and they’ve added a couple more members on ...
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Chris Cleverley – tour dates and news of new album

Award-winning Altfolk songwriter and fingerstyle guitarist Chris Cleverley unveils glimpses of his first new material in nearly three years, throughout eight performances on his tour ...
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THE WARDENS – Sold Out At The Ironwood (own label)

Does what it says on the tin. The Wardens are wardens, a trio of Canadian National Park Wardens who started playing in 2009.  Sold Out ...
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Fellow Pynins announce new album

Fellow Pynins is an award winning contemporary folk duo with a keen and bucolic sense of vocal harmony and song craft anchored in the balladry ...
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Kinnaris Quintet announce their second album

This Too is the stunning second album from award-winning Scottish trad group Kinnaris Quintet, due for release on Wednesday 4 May. The highly-anticipated record builds ...
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Gigspanner Big Band and Raynor Winn

One of folk ‘s most inventive line-ups is to join forces with best-selling author Raynor Winn this summer for a tour which mines traditional songs ...
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Gate To Southwell Festival announces first names

While last September’s event was a great success – named “the best live event of 2021” by the prestigious RnR music magazine - everyone felt ...
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THE BROTHERS GILLESPIE – The Merciful Road (own label)

Listening to The Brothers Gillespie’s third album, The Merciful Road, I found myself reflecting on why I love folk music. Of course, there are lots ...
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COLIN FOSTER talks to Folking.com

“Colin Foster – who he?” I can hear you asking and it’s a reasonable question. Colin is Merry Hell’s new bass-player, as you might guess ...
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TEMPEST – Going Home (Celtodelic)

Tempest’s new album, Going Home, is alive with Celtic and Scandinavian folk nuances, which are all framed with really nice electric eclectic gusto. It’s just ...
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BAILEY BIGGER – Coyote Red  (Madjack)

Touted as the next big thing from Memphis (though she’s now back living in smalltown Marion, Arkansas), Bigger’s debut album, Coyote Red,  is a hugely ...
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Topette!! – new album and tour dates

Topette!! occupy a unique position in the current folk and traditional music landscape. A collaboration between five highly-regarded individuals from two countries, they’re the kind ...
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PARIS TO KYIV – Prairie Nights And Peacock Feathers (Olesia Productions)

Paris To Kyiv’s still pertinent Prairie Nights And Peacock Feathers was released in 2000, and in their own words, fuses Ukrainian music with “Medieval Slavic ...
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Sarah McQuaid announces Ireland and UK tour dates

With her new live-in-lockdown album The St Buryan Sessions drawing critical raves and appearing on best-of-2021 lists on three continents, Sarah McQuaid is once again ...
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Katherine Priddy announces spring tour dates

Since emerging with her debut EP Wolf in 2018, UK artist Katherine Priddy has quickly become one of the most exciting names on the British ...
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HANNAH SANDERS & BEN SAVAGE – Ink Of The Rosy Morning (Topic TSCD610)

I was captivated from the moment I first heard the single and opening track of this album. The powerful harmonies of ‘Winter’s Night’ set the ...
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Beans On Toast to play Bank Holiday show in Clapham

Beans on Toast will be playing a unique seated show at The Clapham Grand on Thursday 2nd June 2022. English folk hero Beans on Toast ...
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Keston Cobblers Club – new album and tour dates

On April 22nd UK-folk favourite Keston Cobblers Club return with their brand-new album, Alchemy – the follow up to their critically acclaimed 2019 album, Siren ...
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SINGLES BAR 76 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

Currently on the English Folk Expo artist scheme, BEN & DOM are an a cappella vocal duo (the former the high notes, the latter the ...
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THE WEATHER STATION – How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars (Fat Possum Records)

The Weather Station’s album How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars simmers with the very personal 70’s folk music purity that (long ...
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Eddi Reader – new album and Scottish tour

‘Light Is In The Horizon Yet’ is the moving first single from Scottish songstress Eddi Reader’s new album of unreleased songs entitled Light Is In ...
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ANNA HOWIE – The Friday Night Club (INHOUSECD1)

The Friday Night Club is Anna Howie’s debut album, to be released on March 25th. Its title is born from lockdown – Howie livestreamed every ...
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Hò-rò announce new album

New Moon is the exciting new album from traditional powerhouse Hò-rò. The contemporary trad album, which features delicate ballads and upbeat foot-stomping tunes, will be ...
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Beau announces his new album

Al Killem’s Final Show is Beau’s second (and, he says, hopefully final) album to be written under draconian COVID-19 restrictions; this set dating from England’s ...
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Manchester Folk Festival announces first artists for October 2022

Manchester Folk Festival announces the first wave of artists for 13th to 15th October 2022. Now in its 6th year, the festival returns once again ...
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Moseley Folk And Arts Festival announces full cast

Running from Friday 2 to Sunday 4 September 2022 at Moseley Park and Pool, the annual event will see appearances from Jethro Tull, Dr. John Cooper Clarke, The ...
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Levon Helm and Mavis Staples – posthumous album announced

Captured at Woodstock, New York’s Levon Helm Studios in the summer of 2011, ANTI- Records is excited to announce Carry Me Home, a new album ...
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LANDON LLOYD MILLER – Light Shines Through (own label)

Texas singer-songwriter Landon Lloyd Miller’s Light Shines Through is a warm and joyous folk rock record that simply spins with wonderful sonic bliss that, from ...
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TOM DELANY – The Lark’s Call (own label)

The Lark’s Call, is the debut solo album from uillean piper Tom Delany, and it’s one for the purist. No fusion or electronic wizardry here ...
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Mary Gauthier announces 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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TRACK DOGS – Where To Now? (Monde Green MGRD122)

Based in Madrid and now entering their 16th year together, the quartet follow up 2019’s Fire On The Rails with a dozen songs and a ...
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The Trials Of Cato tour continues

Formed in Beirut, The Trials of Cato returned to the UK in 2016 and set to performing tirelessly up and down the country, leading to ...
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EMMA GALE – Emma Gale (By Example Records BEX1)

A self-described accidental indie folk artist, the Dorset born singer-songwriter’s debut album (her background includes acoustic covers duo/trio Galeforce) started out as an eclectic cocktail ...
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IONA LANE – Hallival (own label ILR001CD)

Iona Lane was brought up in the high country. Living in the Yorkshire Dales, holidaying in Scotland, she thanks her parents for dragging her up ...
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Knockengorroch Festival 2022 Theme – Divas and Icons

Knockengorroch Festival has revealed its 2022 theme - Diva and Icons - through a photo series with rap artist and singer Nova AKA Nova Scotia ...
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Heidi Talbot announces new single and album

Singer-songwriter Heidi Talbot releases new single ‘Empty Promise Land’ as she announces the May 20th release of her new album Sing It For A Lifetime ...
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IAN NOE – River Fools & Mountain Saints (Thirty Tiger Records)

Ian Noe’s River Fools & Mountain Saints is a blessing to lovers of dirt road Americana music – performed with a voice that’s a melodic ...
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Irish Music and Dance In London presents a weekend of events

Friday 1st April 7.30pm Sliabh Aughty in Concert at The Irish Cultural Centre, with support from The Trad Gathering Presented by The Irish Cultural Centre and ...
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Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh & Irish Chamber Orchestra announce new album of sean nós songs

Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh & Irish Chamber Orchestra have breathed new life into the noble, classical songs of our ancestors with this new album, Róisín Reimagined, ...
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PAXTON & MORRIS – Is It Safe Out There? (own label PCMCD001)

Is It Safe Out There? Well, is it safe out there? That’s a question we have all been asking for the past two years and ...
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Kate Rusby celebrates thirty years as a professional musician

Kate Rusby celebrates an amazing thirty years as a professional musician in 2022 with the release of a brand new album 30 : Happy Returns ...
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EMILY BARKER & LUKAS DRINKWATER – Room 882 (Cooking Vinyl Australia)

Arriving in Australia to visit her family for the first time in two years, Emily and husband Lukas had to spend 14 days in their ...
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M ROSS PERKINS – E Pluribus M Ross (Karma Chief KCR-12012)

Singer, multi-instrumentalist and self-styled psychedelic songwriter, M Ross Perkins, recently finalized work on his second LP, E Pluribus M Ross. Set for a March 18th ...
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ISLAND GIRLS – Beach Daze (May Monday Adventures MMA6327005)

The Island Girls are Margaret Robertson, piano and fiddle, and accordionist Karen Tweed and the islands in question are Orkney where Beach Daze was recorded ...
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Bella Gaffney- new single and tour

Celtic Connections' Danny Kyle Award winner Bella Gaffney hails from Bradford. She writes folk inspired songs which she performs along with her own original arrangements ...
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BLACK*SCARR – Last Year’s Joke (own label)

Completed last year but delayed by Covid, Johnny Black and Emma Scarr return, joined by Steve Bottcher, with Last Year’s Joke, another album of wry ...
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Cambridge Folk Festival announces more names

More names have been announced for this year’s Cambridge Folk Festival, back in 2022 after a two-year break and shaping up to be an unmissable ...
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SINGLES BAR 75 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

Originally from California and now Nashville-based, ERINN PEET LUKES has enlisted Rachel Baiman to produce her new self-released EPL, a seven-track EP of folksy Americana ...
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THE LOW DRIFT – The Low Drift (Cwm Saebren Records)

A new folk-based collaboration between Matt Hill aka Quiet Loner with Emma Thorpe and Huw Costin, both of whom worked with the late Mark Lanegan, ...
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Merry Hell announce spring/summer gigs

In order to do our best to bring hope and maybe a little joy to a troubled world, we will be heading out to share ...
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Official Folk Chart – February 2022

On Tuesday 1 March the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo reveal the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released ...
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ROVING CROWS – Awaken (own label)

Having released a fairly subdued EP during and titled Lockdown, the Celtic rock quartet storm back with guns blazing for their fourth album, everything bar ...
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The Ciderhouse Rebellion announce new album

In-the-moment improvisers, The Ciderhouse Rebellion are releasing their fourth album Genius Loci 2: The Valley Of Iron on Friday 1st April this year. Master accordionist Murray Grainger and ...
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PETER KNIGHT & JOHN SPIERS – Both In A Tune (KSCD002)

Peter Knight and John Spiers’ second collaboration is the album Both In A Tune - a title borrowed from Shakespeare’s As You Like It (‘Well ...
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THE HAWTTHORNS – Tarot Cards And Shooting Stars (Mule Kick)

Tarot Cards And Shooting Stars, the second HawtThorns album by Nashville husband and wife duo KP (Kirsten Proffit) on lead vocals and acoustic and electric ...
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ANDY IRVINE  PAUL BRADY – Andy Irvine  Paul Brady (Mulligan LUN CD 3108)

I should say that Andy Irvine  Paul Brady has been on my (very long) bucket list for many years. I saw Andy Irvine only once ...
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Kate Rusby to headline FolkEast

Party time! When FolkEast returns to Suffolk this summer it will be celebrating a decade’s unbroken run – a journey that not even a pandemic ...
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AGENT STARLING – Constellation Of Birds (DHM)

A duo comprising Quentin Budworth on hurdy gurdy and bassist Louise Duffy-Howard (aka Lou Loudhailer) respectively based in Bridlington and Hull, with her son Dexter ...
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INNI-K – Iníon (Green Willow Records GW203CD)

Irish singer Inni-K’s Iníon echoes the thoughtful memory of W.B. Yeats’ words, “And I will have peace there, for peace comes dropping slow”. I suppose ...
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IAN DAVID GREEN – Songs From The Wheel (own label)

With Songs From The Wheel, the follow up to his 2021 debut album Songs Of The Sea, in company with multi-instrumentalist Marty Hailey, Su-a Lee ...
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MERRY HELL ACOUSTIC/FLEETWOOD CAVE – live at The Half Moon, Putney.

It’s not often that I begin a live review by waxing lyrical about the support band but Fleetwood Cave impressed me greatly and made a ...
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DOM PRAG – Needle & Thread (own label)

A rising star on the folk circuit, produced by Phil Beer Needle & Thread, the second album by the Southampton-born singer-songwriter, features three original numbers ...
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BIRD IN THE BELLY – After The City (GF*M Records GFM0013)

Responding to the pandemic and taking inspiration from Richard Jefferies, the Victorian author of the dystopian After London, Elizabethan playwright Thomas Nashe and poems about ...
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CARSON McHONE – Still Life (Loose Music)

Carson McHone’s Still Life is a complex tight wired folk-rock tapestry that evokes the organic purity of the 70’s musical quest that always pursued the ...
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JOHNNY COPPIN – River Of Dreams (Red Sky Records RSKCD124)

His first album of new material since 2017’s Christmas-themed All On A Winter’s Night, River Of Dreams finds him in company with regular collaborators Paul ...
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THE LONGEST JOHNS – Smoke + Oakum (Decca 3876697)

Signed to a major label deal on the back of last year’s surprise viral TikTok and Top 40 success of traditional New Zealand folk song ...
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Charm Of Finches – UK tour dates

Enchanting Australian folk pairing Charm Of Finches have announced their first-ever UK shows for April and May 2022. Sister duo Charm Of Finches live in ...
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Bird In The Belly announce new album and live dates

A post-apocalyptic planet has perhaps rarely felt less far-fetched than it does right now. The idea of cities and people being overthrown by disaster and ...
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HARRIET RILEY AND ALEX GARDEN – Sonder II (own label HRAG02)

If you delight in placing musicians into pigeonholes you’ll probably need a whole new category for Harriet Riley and Alex Garden. Harriet plays vibraphone and ...
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Andy Irvine and Paul Brady – classic album reissued

Compass Records Group is excited to announce the release of a special edition version of the Mulligan Records classic Andy Irvine / Paul Brady. In ...
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OYSTERBAND – Read The Sky (Running Man Records RMCD8)

It’s been a long time since Oysterband recorded new music but they are back with a vengeance and Read The Sky. If you want to ...
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ELLES BAILEY – Shining in The Half Light (Outlaw Music)

Elles Bailey releases Shining in the Half Light on February 25th. It really ought to be Bailey’s "breakthrough album" – you know: the one where ...
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Video Wall 22

Things seem to be picking up again - let's hope it lasts - so there's a wide selection of videos for us to choose from ...
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ALAW – Denwyd I’r Goleuni (Taith Records TRCD00025)

Alaw’s first album, Melody – also the translation of the band’s name – was released nine years ago and their second, Dead Man’s Dance, some ...
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The Magpies announce new single and tour dates

It seems no time since The Magpies burst onto the UK folk scene, but they have already made a huge impact with their fresh brand ...
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Roving Crows announce new album

Awaken is the energetic new album from award-winning Celtic folk-rock fusion band Roving Crows. The four-piece, who have been carving out their niche in the ...
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GABRIEL MORENO – The Year Of The Rat (own label)

Gabriel Moreno is a Gibraltarian poet, songwriter and performer now living in London. The Year Of The Rat is his third album and we can ...
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The Official Charts Company reveals the Top 20 folk albums for January

On Tuesday 8 February, the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo reveal the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released ...
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Stephen Doster announces new album

March 4 2022 is the release date of Stephen Doster’s over the red sea on faw records. The record will be his third solo release ...
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STEVIE MAC – Be Under No Illusions (own label)

Arriving in my inbox as an on the off-chance submission, Be Under No Illusions is the first full length album by Belfast singer-songwriter Steve McCullough ...
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SUTHERING – If We Turn Away (own label)

Devon-based via Bristol Suthering’s If We Turn Away is an intricate tapestry of English folk music that, for want of a better phrase, simply toys ...
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Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage announce new album

Ink Of The Rosy Morning, the upcoming album from Cambridge folk duo Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage, was very nearly a different beast entirely. Before ...
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Emma Gale announces her eponymous debut album

Dorset singer-songwriter Emma Gale is set to release her beautifully crafted self-titled debut album. The Americana record, set for release on Friday 18th March, is ...
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DLÙ – Moch (ARC Music EUCD2956)

DLÙ will be a new name to many, but since this debut album, Moch, suggests we’ll be hearing more from them, perhaps we should start ...
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Peter Knight and John Spiers announce their second album

In the summer of 2016, the organisers of the UK’s most easterly festival FolkEast had the inspired idea of pairing legendary musician Peter Knight and ...
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KENNETH I MacKENZIE – Glendrian (Caberfeidh Music CMD002)

Kenneth I MacKenzie is not a well-known name in these parts. He’s Scottish, as you might have guessed, a multi-instrumentalist and composer who specialises in ...
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HARLEY KIMBRO LEWIS – Harley Kimbro Lewis (own label)

Martin Harley, Daniel Kimbro, and Sam Lewis have, in the authentic acoustic words of Canadian Colin Linden, written an album that’s “got the cure”, and ...
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Copperplate Podcast 268 presented by Alan O’Leary

folking.com brings you the latest podcast from that aficionado of Irish music, yes you guessed it, the one and only Mr. Alan O’Leary with his ...
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Johnny Coppin announces new solo album

River Of Dreams is the eagerly anticipated new studio album from Johnny Coppin, a collection of twelve new songs, all penned by Johnny apart from ...
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Fairport Convention – Winter Tour details

Having entertained music lovers for over half a century, 2022 sees Fairport Convention celebrate the 55th anniversary of the band's original formation back in 1967. During ...
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Norma Waterson, one of folk’s greatest voices and greatest people.

Everyone from the Folking.com team would like to send their sincerest love, light and deepest sympathy to Eliza, Martin and family following the terrible news ...
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Cowboy Junkies announce new covers album

Long admired for the carefully chosen cover versions of songs that have been part of their repertoire from the very beginning, Cowboy Junkies will release Songs ...
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RACHEL NEWTON AND LAUREN MacCOLL – Heal & Harrow (SHADOW 05)

Heal & Harrow is an investigation of the persecution of “witches” in Scotland or perhaps a commemoration of their lives. The music is written by ...
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MARK T – Blues @ Zero (Circle Of Sound COS335CD)

Mark T brings his signature mixture of blues, folk and rembetika to his new album, Blues @ Zero, an album of which he’s rightly proud ...
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BEINN LEE – Deò (Beinn Lee BL21)

Beinn Lee’s Deò is an album filled with Scottish folk music, suspended in their Hogmanay night celebration, with the always New Year’s visitor friendly offering ...
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Dom Prag announces his second album

Dom Prag has been steeped in the traditions of the classical guitar since childhood. His dad taught him to play but he stopped having lessons ...
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STEVE NOONAN – Dreamland (own label Z1EHA26A)

Twin Cities singer/ songwriter Steve Noonan is set to release his second, full-length album, Dreamland, on January 29th. An industry veteran, Noonan has been honing ...
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THE TWANGTOWN PARAMOURS – Double Down On A Bad Thing (Inside Edge IER004)

The Twangtown Paramours (what a great name!) release their third album, Double Down On A Bad Thing, on February 4th. The core of the band ...
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SINGLES BAR 74 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

Cardiff-based label Tŷ Cerdd Records release Hyperion, the debut 3-track EP from CARA LUDLOW, a twenty-something Welsh singer-songwriter and Assistant Producer for Cardiff Productions, developing ...
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Belinda O’Hooley tours Inversions this spring

Belinda O’Hooley began playing the piano at the age of seven. She is an exceptionally gifted pianist, singer, songwriter and composer and has become renowned ...
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Martha Tilston announces spring tour

Following the autumn 2021 launch of The Tape, her debut feature film which she wrote, directed and starred in, singer-songwriter Martha Tilston has announced her ...
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Kenneth I Mackenzie announces new album

Multi-instrumentalist and composer Kenneth I MacKenzie has announced the release of a new Scottish traditional music album inspired by the history and landscape of the ...
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THE BLUES AGAINST YOUTH – As The Tide Gets High And Low (Escape From Today EFT087)

The Blues Against Youth is a new name to me and As The Tide Gets High And Low came as a very pleasant diversion. It’s ...
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JAMESTOWN REVIVAL – Young Man (own label)

Produced by Texas singer/songwriter Robert Ellis (who also plays on the album), Young Man is the first album by the Texas quintet led by founder ...
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The Twangtown Paramours announce new album

The Twangtown Paramours is an award-winning American band, the core of which is husband and wife, Mike T. Lewis and MaryBeth Zamer from Nashville. Mike ...
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AOIFE O’ DONOVAN – Age Of Apathy (Yep Roc Records)

Aoife O’ Donovan’s new album, Age Of Apathy, is a wonderful and very modern American folk record that allows earthy acoustic instruments to float with ...
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BURBRIDGE AND BOOTH – Icons (ICONSICD)

It’s an odd thing how a piece of music can take you to a particular place or mood or part of life. And there’s something ...
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TRIP – A Drop for Neptune (Trip Music Records CD001)

The contemporary Scottish folk scene definitely isn’t short of talent, and this debut album from Glasgow based band Trip, further demonstrates the scene’s robust health ...
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MEGAN HENDERSON – Pilgrim Souls (own label MHM01CD)

Megan Henderson is a fiddler, pianist, singer and composer and a member of one of Scotland’s finest bands – Breabach. Surprisingly, Pilgrim Souls is her ...
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NITEWORKS – A’ Ghrian (Comann Music CM006)

It must be admitted that folk-electronica is (like most electronica) a genre that has passed me by up to now, so although A' Ghrian (released ...
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MICHAEL VEITCH – Wachtraum (own label)

Michael Veitch’s Wachtraum (Days Of Dreams) is a lovely folk record with a few pop puzzle pieces played to perfection. And it’s a concept album ...
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First acts announced for Knockengorroch 2022

Scotland’s leading world ceilidh is back, as Knockengorroch is set to return music to the hills and people to the land once more, 19 - ...
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Le Vent Du Nord celebrate their 20th anniversary with new album

The multi award-winning band, Le Vent du Nord (the Wind of the North) have toured the world, playing over 2,000 concerts and are about to ...
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Official folk charts for December 2021

Today, the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo reveal the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released in the DECEMBER ...
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Ray Laidlaw and Billy Mitchell present The Lindisfarne Story – Chapter 5: 50 Years Of Fog

The Lindisfarne Story is a celebration of the life, times and music of the North East of England's most beloved band, Lindisfarne.  Founder member and ...
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MICHAEL JOHNATHON – Cosmic Banjo (Poet Man Records PMR70031)

His third album in two years, Cosmic Banjo, as the title suggests, sees the Kentucky-based singer-songwriter focusing on his long neck banjo playing skills, adapting ...
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BEN SURES – The Story That Lived Here (own label)

Ben Sures’ album The Story That Lived Here is filled with “unfinished conversations” and is coloured with characters who “dream of dolphins and having a ...
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Mark Harrison announces spring dates

Happy New Year to everyone, and all fingers remain crossed! We have a lot of great dates coming up this year at all manner of ...
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Gabriel Moreno announces new album

Gabriel Moreno is a Gibraltarian poet and singer songwriter who has been performing for the past twenty years in Gibraltar, Chile, Peru, Italy, Spain, Germany, ...
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Wolf & Clover announce second album and launch concert

Wolf & Clover is excited to announce the completion of their long-awaited second album, twelvemonth and a day, to be released Tuesday, February 1st  2022 ...
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POLICE DOG HOGAN – Overground (Major Tom Records MTCD008)

Police Dog Hogan, for those of you yet to encounter them, combine British folk/pop/rock songwriting with overtones of Americana courtesy of Eddie Bishop’s fiddle and ...
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MATT McGINN – Time Well Spent (own label)

Begun in mid-2021 as the follow-up to Lessons Of War but then placed on the back burner as other priorities took precedence, McGinn’s encounter with ...
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STEVIE SIMPSON – Sunshine State Of Mind (own label)

Stevie Simpson, colloquially known as One Bloke One Mandolin, probably made the best decision of his life when he decamped to Spain before things here ...
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Copperplate Podcast 267 presented by Alan O’Leary

folking.com brings you the latest podcast from that aficionado of Irish music, yes you guessed it, the one and only Mr. Alan O’Leary with his ...
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VINNY PECULIAR – Artists Only (Shadrack & Duxbury SADC015)

Alan Wilkes’ fourteenth album since making his solo debut back in 2001, Artists Only is a concept album as such from Bromsgrove’s answer to Ray ...
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SEAN TAYLOR – The Beat Goes On (own label STCD116)

Sean Taylor’s new release The Beat Goes On is rich in its soundscape. Taylor plays guitars and piano; producer Mark Hallman plays, mostly, bass, drums ...
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TOM OAKES – Water Street (Window Weather Records WWR00002)

It is often said that we hear what we want to hear. This could begin to explain my initial reaction to Tom Oakes latest offering, ...
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KEITH JAMES – Can You Imagine? (Hurdy Gurdy HGA 1919)

To misquote somewhat: Keith James’ catalogue is rather like a box of chocolates. He is famed for his interpretation of the songs of other artists, ...
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CHRISTY MOORE – Flying Into Mystery (Sony 19439645982)

A new studio album from Christy Moore is a rare treat these days. His previous, Lily, was five years ago and in the intervening time ...
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LINDA MOYLAN – The Merchant (Talking Elephant TECD470)

Linda Moylan comes originally from Waterford and is now based in London. The Merchant, her second album, was produced by Phil Beer and mixed by ...
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SARA COLMAN – Ink On A Pin (Stoney Lane Records)

Sara Colman’s Ink On A Pin is a gorgeous tribute to the music of Joni Mitchell. And this album is a departure (and perhaps, even ...
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DAMIEN McGEEHAN – Kin (MCG002)

Released in October, Damien McGeehan’s new album, Kin, could be described as Irish music, heavily influenced by his native Donegal – which would be both ...
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Flook announce spring tour dates

Sat 22 January        GLASGOW - CELTIC CONNECTIONS (special guests of Elephant Sessions at their 10th Anniversary) Wed 2 February       CARDIFF Acapela Thurs 3 ...
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Glasgow band TRIP announce their debut album

A Drop For Neptune, the debut album from Glasgow based six piece band TRIP is a culmination of four years of musical kinship that started ...
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GWEN MÀIRI – Douze Noëls (own label TELYNEG001)

Gwen Màiri grew up speaking Welsh in Scotland and now lives in Glasgow where she is, naturally, learning Gaelic. She is a trained harper on ...
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THE McDADES – The Empress (own label)

The McDades are a trio… except there are five of them. Jeremiah, Shannon and Solon are the McDade siblings (although Shannon is now Shannon Johnson) ...
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STEPHEN JACQUES – Soul Hydraulics (own label) 

Virginia’s own Stephen Jacques has delivered the latest in an extensive discography, his 2021 LP Soul Hydraulics. Known for his work under the moniker Box ...
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Megan Henderson announces debut solo album

Pilgrim Souls is the elegant debut solo album from Glasgow-based musician Megan Henderson, set to be released on Friday 21st January. The beautiful record proves ...
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SINGLES BAR 73 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

A film composer turned folkie, ROLY WITHEROW follows up last year’s Ballads And Yarns album with a more back to basics five-track EP entitled Down ...
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FLY YETI FLY – Make A Ring (own label)

Fly Yeti Fly’s Make A Ring is a beautiful folk album that, to quote Emily Dickinson, is filled with “only Gossamer, my Gown - My ...
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Johnny Cash box set due in January

Johnny Cash's newly-unearthed 1968 At The Carousel Ballroom live album - captured by Grateful Dead sound wizard Owsley "Bear" Stanley - gets limited-edition box set ...
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Janis Ian announces her latest and final album

For Janis Ian, The Light At The End Of The Line bookends a kaleidoscopic catalogue that began with her 1967 self-titled debut at age fifteen ...
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CAITRÍONA O’LEARY – Strange Wonders – The Wexford Carols Vol.II (Heresy Records Heresy 026)

If you like your Christmas music in the classic, not to say classical, style then Strange Wonders may be to your taste. Caitríona O’Leary is ...
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Cambridge Folk Festival announces first names for 2022

“The jewel within the UK folk festival circuit” (Songlines Magazine) returns after a two-year hiatus and Cambridge Folk Festival is delighted to announce the first ...
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Will Varley announces May 2022 tour

Following his recent run of intimate headline shows acclaimed alt-folk singer-songwriter Will Varley has announced a major UK headline tour for May 2022. In October, ...
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Peggy Seeger announces her 2022 tour

Peggy Seeger, the undisputed queen of folk & political song, has announced 29 UK dates on her 2022 First Farewell tour. Covering the UK from ...
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DANNY BRADLEY – Small Talk Songs (DBRDLYCD001)

Danny Bradley released his debut album Small Talk Songs on November 22nd. You may not have heard of him but his website gives an impressive ...
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BRUCE COCKBURN – Greatest Hits (1970-2020) (True North TND786)

With a man like Bruce Cockburn the title Greatest Hits has a certain tongue-in-cheek vibe. Not for him the glamour of the pop charts but ...
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MARK JOSEPH – Vegas Motel (own label)

Singer/songwriter Mark Joseph is a man who likes to keep busy. Between full-time gigs playing with Big Wu, Momentary Lapse Of Floyd, and other projects, ...
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Police Dog Hogan announce their fifth studio album

UK Americana artists Police Dog Hogan release their fifth studio album, Overground, on Friday 14th January 2022. Engineered and produced (with the band) by George ...
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CATFISH KEITH – Land Of The Sky (Fish Tail Records FTRCD019)

Catfish continues his prolific recording career. Land Of The Sky is his twentieth album overall and his third in the last three years. After last ...
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THE LITTLE UNSAID – December Songs (Reveal Records Reveal 181CDX)

A few months ago The Little Unsaid’s John Elliott was exhorting us to Lick The Future’s Lips and, following a tour of that album, he ...
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THE TREETOP FLYERS – Old Habits (Loose Music)

The Treetop Flyers’ new album, Old Habits, hums a very British tune, while “going down to old, old Woodstock”. And yes, that’s a Van Morrison ...
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THE NORFOLK BROADS – Yonder Green Grove (own label)

The Norfolk Broads – I love that name – are Eleanor Dale, Daisy Johnson, Anna Cornish and Helen Cherry from East Anglia; I’m not going ...
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JOE TILSTON Tightrope (Our Records OUR001)

The bass player from punk/ska band Random Hand makes a solo album and it’s reviewed on folking.com? Oh yes, definitely. Joe Tilston (that bass player) ...
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BROOMDASHER – The Country Diary In Song Live (Clean Sweep Records CS0121)

For readers of a younger persuasion: Edith Holden’s Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady was the coffee table book de jour in the 1970s, spawning ...
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VIDEO WALL 21

We begin this post with a premiere from SERIOUS SAM BARRETT - 'Every Night Has An Ending'. Sam tells us: "This song is inspired by ...
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IAN A. ANDERSON – Please Re-Adjust Your Time (Cherry Tree CDTREEBOX025)

During the Hot Vultures reunion tour Ian A. Anderson opined that there wouldn’t be any more reissues from his back catalogue. Then everything went wrong ...
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Beth Nielsen Chapman to tour UK in 2022

If you are going to a Beth Nielsen Chapman concert get ready to laugh and cry and, well, just fasten your seat belt. One thing ...
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Gretchen Peters announces 2022 tour

Planning a series of special appearances in the new year, Peters will be packing in a mixture of fixtures that range from unmissable full-band live ...
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Kathryn Williams and Carol Ann Duffy collaborate on Christmas album

Kathryn Williams, the Mercury-nominated, folk inspired singer-songwriter, has added to her impressive list of previous collaborators this Christmas by teaming up with celebrated poet Carol Ann ...
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MALCOLM MacWATT – Settler (Need To Know Music NTKBB2021MM)

Playing all instruments except bass (Phil Dearing) and with Kris Drever on guitar for one track, Malcolm MacWatt’s Settler continues his melding of Scottish and ...
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