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).
EVELYN LAURIE AND NEIL THOMSON – Silver Threads (own label STPEN10001)
Before I heard this CD I knew two things about Paisley. Firstly, of course, was the famous pattern and secondly was that it was Gerry ...
GERRY COLVIN – The Last Christmas Needle (Crocodile Music CA0058)
Despite consistent sell-out shows and the fact that he’s one of the finest showmen and songwriters of the past 50 odd years, Colvin's not the ...
THE UNTHANKS – In Winter (Rabble Rouser Music RRM029 / RRM029LP)
Things get well underway for the seasonal releases as The Unthanks deliver a double album of new and traditional festive sounds, many of the tracks ...
FINE LINES – Bourbon Hymns (Parade Recordings)
Bourbon Hymns could only be an Americana album. From the title to the cover photography - a desert scene, complete with cactus trees a telegraph ...
AMY SPEACE – The American Dream (Goldrush Records)
Amy Speace has recently finished a UK tour, has released a new album, The American Dream, and has sent a copy of the album to ...
MICHAEL CHAPMAN – Party Pieces (Live in Bremen 1975) (Made In Germany Music)
Michael Chapman’s posthumous Party Pieces (Live In Bremen 1975) is a very good recording that is, thankfully, “Still Making Rain”, as it features his acoustic ...
STATE OF THE UNION – Paper Tigers (Reveal 201DDX)
Two musicians, Boo Hewerdine and Brooks Williams, who will work with anybody and everybody occasionally get to work with each other. As a result, Paper ...
HANDS OF THE HERON – Quiet Light (Cuculi CUO19CD)
Comprising Bec Garthwaite, Beth Roberts and Claire Vine, based in Bristol Quiet Light is their third album and the first as an official psychfolk trio, the songs ...
JERRON PAXTON – Things Done Changed (Smithsonian Folkways)
Things Done Changed is a modern-day gem – one which would still be a treasure if you slipped ninety or a hundred years through the ...
THE TANNAHILL WEAVERS – Solstice (Hedera Records HRCD124)
The Tannahill Weavers occupy an odd place in the Scottish pantheon, almost a bridging post between the woolly jumper cosiness of the Corries and the ...
Paul Johnson talks to David Boardman about ‘FineLines’ Bourbon Hymns
Hi Paul Johnson here... and welcome to another one of our folking.com podcasts. Here I talk to the ever engaging and charming fellow David Boardman ...
RIP Iconic’s Stevie Horton
It is with great sadness to all in the folking.com community to hear of the sudden unexpected death of Stevie Horton.This was a terrible shock ...
LUKE JACKSON – Bloom (First Take Records FTCD006)
It has been a while since we’ve heard from Luke Jackson. There was a digital EP (now available on CD) called Of The Time back ...
EVE GOODMAN – Summer Sun, Winter Trees (own label EveGAlbum2024)
A native of North Wales, Goodman writes and performs in both Welsh and English and was recently a guest artist on Bryn Terfel’s Sea Songs ...
Seth Lakeman announces new album and tour
Acclaimed folk musician Seth Lakeman is set to release his self-produced new album The Granite Way on 14th February 2025, with an accompanying headline UK tour to ...
BETH MALCOLM – Folkmosis (own label BAM104)
Fifty years ago we might have called Folkmosis a concept album. What it actually is is an autobiography in three acts told in music and ...
ANDREW GABBARD – Ramble & Rave On! (Karma Chief KCR12029)
Andrew Gabbard and his brother Zachary have passed this way before; now Andrew returns with his third solo album, Ramble & Rave On!. Despite its ...
KATIE KNIPP – Me (own label)
I have a thing about genre defying music and Me, the eighth release by California based Katie Knipp certainly ticks that box. Country? Yes. Blues ...
THREE IDLE WOMEN – All Hands Together (Woodshed WSCD003)
Nothing to do with indolence, published in 1947, ‘Idle Women’ was a book by Susan Woolfitt about the waterways equivalent of the women's land army ...
The Official Folk Album chart – October 2024
On Tuesday 5 November the Official Charts Company, in partnership with English Folk Expo, revealed the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released in the October reporting period in ...
SUNJAY – I’m Just Like You (Mighty Tight Records MTRCD292401)
For Sunjay Brayne this album marks a pivotal point in his career as he finally reaches the end of an ill-advised publishing deal. Unless you ...
MARTIN FLETT – When The Introverts Come Out (own label MF2024CD)
When The Introverts Come Out marks the point where the Outer Hebrides meet Monument Valley. Martin Flett was born and still lives on the former ...
SINGLES BAR 107 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles
Following on from the single of the same name as part of the Radio 2 21st Century Folk Project a song telling of the rescue of Marc and Vicky ...
LAURA MARLING – Patterns In Repeat (Chrysalis/Partisan Records)
Laura Marling’s Patterns In Repeat is an intimate album that conjures the magic touch of 70s iconic artists like Peter Hammill, Kate Bush, Roy Harper, ...
Foy Vance on tour next week
Emmy Award-winning songwriter Foy Vance will embark on the very special ‘You & I UK Tour’ next week. Named after a track from Vance’s breakthrough ...
Emma & Ellika announce debut album
Emma & Ellika, two master musicians in a musical interplay cooking with drive and richness of colour. Tight, attentive and wilful, always with the groove ...
State Of The Union announce new album and tour
Paper Tigers is the fourth album from State Of The Union (Boo Hewerdine and Brooks Williams). It was written in fits and starts whenever they ...
MIKE REINSTEIN – The Birds Don’t Sing Around Here (Irregular Records)
Mike Reinstein has graced these pages previously but it has been six years since I last wrote about him. He has enjoyed a varied career, ...
FURLINED – Kill Devil Hills (Concave Music CCV03)
A name new to me, it seems Furlined have been around for some time, Kill Devil Hills being album number three. However, the name seems ...
REITIR – Fe Alt Som Eingong Va (Eighth Nerve Audio 8nerve012)
We get some unusual albums here at Folking Towers and this surely counts as one of those. Reitir are as much a project as a ...
Three Idle Women release debut album
The Three Idle Women were forged by a shared love of the Oxford Canal and a fondness for close harmony singing, folk music and stories ...
Erlend Viken Trio announce new album
With hardanger fiddle, electric guitar, and double bass, the Erlend Viken Trio presents folk music with a distinctive soundscape; rooted in Norwegian tradition, and drawing ...
EWEN HENDERSON – Léirsinn – Perception (Sgadan Records)
An initial inspection of Ewen Henderson’s new album left me puzzled. The front cover looks old-fashioned, something from the 1960s perhaps, not suggesting anything ground-breaking ...
Songs Of Protest – one night only
The Staves, Bess Atwell, Grace Petrie Hosted by Pauline Black Sunday 27 Oct 2024, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry Coventry and 2-Tone legend Pauline Black (The ...
AERIALISTS – I Lost My Heart On Friday (Fiddlehead Records 015)
We know these Canadians, an earlier outing getting the Golembeski seal of approval some time back, for last album, ‘Dear Sienna‘, in 2020. Based around ...
Sunjay announces his new album
I’m Just Like You – the new album from UK based international singer/songwriter & guitarist Sunjay is lined up for release on Monday 11th November ...
GOZER GOODSPEED – Ruben
A charity single released on Bandcamp November 1st., Ruben’ is a charity single with a difference. ‘Ruben’ was written, arranged, performed, mixed and mastered by ...
TIM EDEY – Little Bird (Gnatbite Records GBR024)
Subtitled 22 Compositions from 1995 – 2024, that, inescapably, is exactly what Little Bird is. And if you are still unaware of who Tim Edey ...
The 35th Scottish International Storytelling Festival – next week
The 35th Scottish International Storytelling Festival’s packed programme of over 130 events, taking place in Edinburgh and across Scotland, kicks off next Friday 18 October thanks to support ...
3 DAFT MONKEYS – Information Camouflage (own label 3DM17)
3 Daft Monkeys are a band that would have John Peel salivating if he were still with us. They are from Cornwall and it may ...
STEVE KNIGHTLEY – The Winter Yards (Hands On Music HMCD054)
Astonishingly, it has been seventeen years since Steve Knightley’s previous solo album. Mind you, the popularity of Show Of Hands and his low-key solo tours ...
STICK IN THE WHEEL: A Thousand Pokes (From Here Records SITWO24CD)
Pokes? The dictionary suggests jabs or thrusts, such as in the eye, sharp stick optional, but, other than figuratively, I'm not sure that is quite ...
CATCH THE RAIN – Alder Grove (own label)
A quartet from Stourbridge comprising Julia Disney on keyboards, Odilia Mabrouk on violin, percussionist Lisa Westwood and Jon Hazelwood on bass and guitar with all ...
GEMMA HAYES – Blind Faith (Gemma Hayes Music)
Irish singer-songwriter Gemma Hayes’ (first album in ten years!) Blind Faith bends melodic gravity. Yet paradoxically, it lands with a cover-art cloud of parachuted comfort amid the ...
ALISON McMORLAND – Some Ballads Of Anna Gordon Mrs. Brown Of Falkland (own label AGB01)
My, oh, my. Some Ballads Of Anna Gordon Mrs. Brown Of Falkland is an album that transcends the pieces of plastic that carry it and ...
MAIREARAD GREEN & RACHEL NEWTON – Anna Bhán (Shadowside Records SHADOW06)
There is a story behind this record; a story told in music, song and spoken word. Mairearad and Rachel are cousins although this is their ...
THE LEGENDARY TEN SECONDS – Folk Mellotronica (own label)
A variation on his folktronica approach to traditional folk, as the title suggests this time Ian Churchward has opted to feature the mellotron on the ...
Beans On Toast – new album and tour dates
This 1st December will herald the release of a brand new Beans On Toast album: Wild Goose Chasers. An illuminating insight into what lies ahead, ...
3 Daft Monkeys – new album and tour dates
Information Camouflage, the latest release from 3 Daft Monkeys, is a rich, life-affirming tapestry that masterfully blends world folk inspirations with wild punk-infused energy and ...
COHEN BRAITHWAITE-KILCOYNE – Play Up The Music! (Grimbon GRICD008)
I’ve spoken before about Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne’s rise from folk wunderkind to the youngest elder statesman on the circuit and will no doubt do so again ...
ANGELINE MORRISON – Ophelia (own label AMCD2401)
Originally available via Bandcamp and now getting a pink CD and blue vinyl release, serving as a prelude to next year’s alchemy-themed official follow-up to ...
Le Vent Du Nord visit UK for short tour
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 ...
BEAU JENNINGS & THE TIGERS – American Stories Major Chords (Black Mesa Records)
Oklahoma-based act, Beau Jennings & The Tigers return this month with an LP of all-new material, American Stories Major Chords. Coming in at eleven tracks, the ...
Official Folk Albums chart – September 2024
On Tuesday 1 October the Official Charts Company, in partnership with English Folk Expo, revealed the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released in the September reporting period in ...
SINGLES BAR 106 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles
Birmingham’s funky alt-folk band BONFIRE RADICALS have a new EP called Flywheel for no readily explicable reason. If you haven’t heard them before you really ...
Paul Johnson talks to Gerry Colvin about his new download album among many other things…
Hi again and welcome to another of my mini podcasts.Being a songwriter, singer and musician myself with my band 'Shanakee' it's always a pleasure for ...
Bella Gaffney announces autumn tour
Bella Gaffney plays an Autumn 2024 Tour beginning from this week and then from late October until the end of November in between appearances with ...
Quiet Lights announces festival programme
Cork City | 21 – 24 November 2024 As the hush of autumn falls, Islander announce the 5th iteration of their winter festival, Quiet Lights, ...
JON BODEN & THE REMNANT KINGS – Parlour Ballads (Hudson HUD052CD)
I don’t know about you but for me the phrase “parlour ballads” conjures up a vision of a wobbly soprano and a rather iffy upright ...
THE SUTHERING – Leave A Light On (Bessie Records)
The Suthering’s new album, Leave A Light On, is a burning bush collection of beautiful folk songs plaited with guitar, piano, fiddle, and sublime harmony ...
Ralph McTell Announces Time Drift Of The Road – Ireland Tour 2025
Legendary British singer-songwriter Ralph McTell will embark on his most extensive tour of Ireland to date in 2025. Spanning 20 shows over four weeks, the ...
THE RHEINGANS SISTERS – Start Close In (own label RSC005)
Like many artists in the folk world Anna and Rowan Rheingans divide their time across several projects which goes some way to explaining why Start ...
ALASTAIR SAVAGE & ALICE ALLEN – Where The Good Ship Lands (Woodlands Records SAV007CD)
Cellist Alice Allen is on somewhat of a roll these days, her muse becoming ridiculously productive, both as a solo artist and in the many ...
CHRIS WHILE AND JULIE MATTHEWS – Days Like These (Fat Cat FATCD050)
Days Like These is released to mark the duo’s 30 year partnership, the UK’s longest serving female duo. Not bad going for what was originally ...
THORPE AND MORRISON – Grass & Granite (own label)
Guitarist Harry Thorpe and fiddler Sean Morrison are based in Birmingham, but the title of their third album together – Grass & Granite – refers ...
Paul Johnson talks to ‘Bluenose B’ about his brilliant new concept album
Paul Johnson talks to Bluenose B about his new concept album'Minstrel of the waste land' in this 'mini pod' Here I talk to Bluenose B, ...
JESS TUTHILL – Beautiful Disaster (own label)
Another late bloomer in terms of recording, after some 20 years writing music, singing and, more recently, playing ukulele, Reading’s Tuthill (an insight analyst in ...
LUKE DE SCISCIO – Theo (Folk Boy Records)
Despite the exoticness of his name, Luke De Sciscio is from Bath. And despite his tender years – he’s just 32 - he’s something of ...
Aerialists announce new album
Aerialists, the Juno-nominated, boundary-pushing neo-trad, folk, and Celtic ensemble, is thrilled to announce the release of their highly anticipated new album, I Lost My Heart ...
Christy Moore announces new album
There are few artists who can legitimately claim ‘living legend’ status – without question, Christy Moore is one of those few. 56 years on from the release ...
Deepdale Festival – just a week to go
In a week’s time the Deepdale Camping & Rooms team will welcome an incredible array of musical talent for Deepdale Festival 2024, their music festival ...
Katie Spencer ‘The edge of the land’ album review
New audio album review... After meeting up with hugely talented young singer song writer Katie Spencer at The New Forest Folk Festival, and talking to ...
Paul Johnson audio reviews a new very limited edition – solo album by Oyster Bands Alan Prosser
Hi all... well as you know I was at the New Forest Folk Festival covering the event for us here at Folking.com - when I ...
Mairearad Green and Rachel Newton announce new album and tour
Mairearad Green and Rachel Newton are both well established and celebrated Scottish musicians. They are also cousins, their mothers hailing from Achnahaird, Coigach in the ...
TARREN – Outside Time (own label)
From Bristol they came and set about conquering the folk world. Sid Goldsmith, Alex Garden and Danny Pedler have already built their reputations with other ...
BARD EDRINGTON V & THE BLACKBIRDS – Tired & Branded (own label)
Bard Edrington V lives in a part of the USA where, musically, “something appears to be happening”. It was apparent on his previous album, Two ...
MICHAEL McDERMOTT – Lighthouse On The Shore AND East Jesus (PSR016CD)
Michael McDermott releases two albums on September 13th. It’s worth making the, possibly esoteric, point that even though they come in a single CD sleeve ...
DEN MILLER – Bless The Rains (own label)
Den Miller is a singer/songwriter/ multi-instrumentalist from West Yorkshire. We’ve mentioned him before but Bless The Rains is the first of his albums we’ve got ...
GRYPHON LIVE – A Sonic Tonic (Talking Elephant TECD497)
It may come as a surprise to learn that Gryphon have never before released a live album but with A Sonic Tonic they more than ...
Alan O’Leary presents Copperplate podcast 297
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 ...
Bob Fox and Billy Mitchell announce October tour dates
OCTOBER 3rd SOUTH SHIELDS - Customs House - website 4th DURHAM - Gala Theatre - website 5th WHITLEY BAY- Playhouse Theatre - website 6th KIRKBY ...
FELIX HATFIELD – House Of The Artist (FB04)
Felix Hatfield released House Of The Artist at the end of July and with all the summer frolics, I’m only just reviewing it. Which has ...
Hayden Thorpe announces his new album
Today, Hayden Thorpe announces a special new record entitled Ness, due for release on September 27th via Domino. Using a process of redaction, Thorpe brings songs to life from the pages ...
LEE DeWYZE- Gone For Days (own label)
Chicago-born DeWyze described his sixth album, Gone For Days as being about growth, questioning, and self-exploration, on which he’s variously joined by Union Station alumni ...
ORAN – Rebellious Rebirth (own label)
As Rebellious Rebirth is a debut album with an inspiring back story, by an artist – Oran - who is likely to be unfamiliar to ...
Chris Cleverley – Christmas record and tour dates
Dream-Folk songwriter Chris Cleverley returns as you’ve never heard him before, with a collection of ambient acoustic Christmas songs and winter tour dates. Three Counties ...
HOME SERVICE – A Live Transmission (Talking Elephant TECD500)
It’s an understatement to say that Home Service have had a turbulent career but they are still with us, albeit in a very different form ...
GOOD GUY HANK – Silver Lining (own label)
Two Scots and an Australian met in a pub in Dunkeld and, united by their love of Hank Williams, formed a band - hence their ...
GHOSTWRITER – Tremulant (Subexotic SUBEX00162 vinyl/SUBEX00163 digital)
Founded by musician and novelist Mark Brend in 2009, Ghostwriter is a fluid project that brings together a revolving cast of contributors, recording remotely. Tremulant, ...
The Official Folk Album Chart – August 2024
On Tuesday 3 September the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo revealed the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released in the August reporting period in the UK ...
Lewis Barfoot announces new EP and tour dates
Contemporary folk artist and singer-songwriter Lewis Barfoot returns to the UK for an 11 date solo tour opening at the illustrious Green Note in London ...
THE SHACKLETON TRIO – The Shackleton Trio (own label)
With their tenth-year celebratory self-titled release, East Anglia’s Shackleton Trio takes Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson at his word and, in their own way, sings, “Let’s ...
THE DONALD ANDERSON BAND – No Time For Turning Back (Making Waves MWCD002)
No Time For Turning Back, their second album, fronted by songwriter Anderson and featuring Alan McKay on guitars, drummer Ian Barrie and bassist Rick Nickerson, ...
THE GLEEMAN – Something to Say (own label)
Here at folking we’ve been following the career of The Gleeman for a couple of years; a career peppered with excellent singles, fine songwriting and ...
THE LOST NOTES – Good Luck Shoes (own label)
The Lost Notes’ Good Luck Shoes is softly brilliant Americana folk music – all the way from Moseley, Birmingham. Odd, for those of us with ...
SINGLES BAR 105 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles
Despite co-writing Nitty Gritty Dirt Band hit ‘Buy For Me The Rain’ and releasing critically acclaimed albums Revenge Will Come, Diana And James and The Tango Bar, GREG COPELAND has always ...
LINDA MOYLAN – The Fool (Talking Elephant TECD499)
Of London-Irish heritage, Moylan spans a folksy bridge from pub singalong Irish country on the one hand to more considered and complex material on the ...
SUSY WALL – The Spaces In Between (own label)
The Spaces In Between is yet another example of a début album from an artist that I've not come across before being an absolute gem ...
Native Harrow announce new album
Philly-based Native Harrow have remained largely independent - musically, professionally, and aesthetically, since their beginning, meticulously crafting and perfecting a sound that is melded together from pieces ...
HANK WEDEL – What Happens In Cork (own label)
With his melodic pop-infused folk album, What Happens In Cork, Hank Wedel tosses his songs into the (metaphorically-measured) sizzling singer-songwriter tuned cauldron, to add a ...
The Rheingans Sisters announce new album and tour dates
The Rheingans Sisters release their highly anticipated new album Start Close In on September 27th. Sonically arresting, drenched in drones, and pulsing with age-old patterns ...
Sharon Shannon plans Shane MacGowan tribute
The Sharon Shannon Big Band are set to deliver a captivating tribute to the late Shane MacGowan this Winter. This homage holds profound significance, as ...
PETE LAMBERT – I Told You A Story (Broken Chair Records)
It’s been a funny old summer, as quiet as I can remember on the folk, as in folk, release front, a varied stew of US ...
THE CHARTISTS – Cause For Complaint (Steam Pie Records SPCD 1021S)
Chartism was a 19th century working class movement which agitated for political reform based on the People’s Charter of 1838. It was particularly strong in ...
CHRIS BANNISTER – The Calling Course (Libra Records, Libra CD0724)
A Lancashire-born singer-songwriter and sometime John Denver tribute act, Chris Bannister’s latest, The Calling Course, draws inspiration from his own family history with several generations ...
Nuala Kennedy and Eamon O’Leary – Guardian’s folk album of the month
Following the hand of fate which guided them from a remote village in the Austrian Alps to a tiny island in Greece, long time musical ...
Jamie Sutherland announces new solo album
Fresh from promoting the latest Broken Records album released at the end of last year, frontman Jamie Sutherland is once again venturing out on his ...
JORDIE LANE – Tropical Depression
Maybe it’s because he’s a ‘Stralian? Tropical Depression is released on August 23rd. It’s the most fascinating album to cross my (metaphorical) turntable this year ...
Bungay announces its inaugural folk festival
Bungay Folk Festival Friday 6th-Sunday 8th September. 3 days of fine folk music, dance, workshops, food and drink. Small town with a big and creative heart ...
Jon Boden announces new album of Parlour Ballads
Parlour Ballads is the new album from Jon Boden, a piano led record full of sentimental ballads that tie together parlour music and folk song ...
PAUL JOHNSON’S CROPREDY FESTIVAL 2024 LITTLE POD CAST REVIEW
Hi all Well we all know its been a bit of a hard and dramatic year in our world this year with many sad passing's, ...
ANDREW J. NEWALL – My Lucky Charm (own label AJN2024CD)
This is a true story. Andrew J. Newall is quite explicit about that. My Lucky Charm is the soundtrack of a musical drama based on ...
MARK HARRISON BAND – Fools & Clowns (Highway Records HR0008)
Mark Harrison: bluesman, bandleader, songwriter, singer and guitarist. He’s supported by regular sidesmen, multi-instrumentalist Charles Benfield and drummer Ben Welburn, with extra guitar and keyboards ...
ANDREW COMBS – Dream Pictures (Loose Music)
Andrew Combs's album Dream Pictures is a soulful folk record with a candle’s dance and melodies that sip from a drowsy glass of wine. This ...
The Govan Footbridge Festival
The opening of the new Govan-Partick Bridge is to be marked with a musical extravaganza in the form of a free one-off festival on Saturday 7th ...
TANGLEJACK – The Ragged Edge (own label)
John-Paul Davies and Duncan Leigh – the two friends who make up Swansea based duo TangleJack – have been perfecting their own sound, based on ...
Stick In The Wheel announce new album and winter tour
Stick In The Wheel’s fourth studio album, A Thousand Pokes is a satirical celebration of mistakes. A joyous lambasting of everyone and everything that’s wrong in ...
KAREN JONAS: The Rise & Fall Of American Kitsch (Goldrush Records)
I am uncertain where Ms Jonas’s tongue sits for this one, but I’ll hazard and hope it is firmly in cheek, the whole of this ...
STEVIE JONES AND THE WILDFIRES – Getting There
Getting There is the fourth album from Stevie Jones and the Wildfires. It’s due to be launched on August 16th at The Musician in Leicester. ...
Honey and The Bear celebrate their 10th anniversary
It’s hard to believe that fast-rising East Anglian duo Honey And The Bear (aka Lucy and Jon Hart) are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year ...
THE KEITH JAMES SONGBOOK – A long awaited Concert tour
A unique voice within the fabric of music in the UK WORD PAINTINGS THE KEITH JAMES SONGBOOK A long awaited Concert tour Mature, insightful and ...
LUCY PARKER – A Beautiful Place To Die (B Side Recording)
A new name from Wolverhampton (though currently at university in Surrey), taking inspiration from Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, and Lewis Capaldi, Parker’s debut album, A ...
WILLS & THE WILLING – Another Long Week (Smash & Grab Music SMASHGCDE2)
I’m not quite sure, listening to this, his fifth album, how The Times came to describe Ian Wills as a 21st century Ian Dury. Certainly ...
VARIOUS ARTISTS – Mo Ogg – The Bard Of Coleby (Folk Round ‘Ere SCM1043)
Maurice Charles (Mo) Ogg was a joiner, musician, song-writer and song collector in and around north Lincolnshire. He died tragically young at the age of ...
R.R.WILLIAMS – Unremarkable Lives (Black Mesa Records BMR085)
The packaging is rather minimal but that’s about all there is about Unremarkable Lives to complain about. Unless, of course, you’re determined to force R.R.Williams ...
Official Folk Albums chart – July 2024
On Tuesday 6 August the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo revealed the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released ...
TANITA TIKARAM – The WEA/East West Albums 1988-1996 (Cherry Red OCRCD5box174)
Born in Germany to Indo-Fijian parents and raised in Hampshire, in 1988 Tikaram burst on to the music scene with her Top 3 debut album ...
FolkEast presents three firsts for 2024
Suffolk’s FolkEast festival has always been one for innovation and this month, for its 12th year – and its last at Glemham Hall - it ...
THE LONG RUNNERS – On The Run (WildGoose Records WGS447CD)
At the turn of the 20th century, in the fashionable salons of New York and Boston, fashionable things were happening. Meanwhile the working folks of ...
SINGLES BAR 104 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles
One third of Harp & A Monkey, SIMON JONES takes inspiration from the world of British TV and film horror, such as Hammer House of ...
JOSHUA ARNOLD AND THERINE – A Wonderfull Discoverie Of Witches (own label)
Composer and multi-instrumentalist Arnold and vocalist Therine are an experimental folk duo from the north of England, their album, borrowing its title from clerk of ...
Le Vent Du Nord announce UK tour
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 ...
MORNINGBIRD – Echoes In The Meadow (own label)
MorningBird’s Echoes In The Meadow drinks from the unassuming northern Minnesota Lake Itasca trickle, which, once given momentum, pulses into the Mississippi River Americana mythical ...
THE CELTIC HARPER – Carnivorine And Other Songs (own label)
I really like Carnivorine. It’s not in the least what I expected and that in itself is no bad thing. The Celtic Harper is actually ...
KEEPING IT LIVE – Folklincs Humber Fest 2024
To start with the conclusion: Humber Fest is a rather splendid new festival, located in Barton on Humber and is the kind of thing that ...
Nick Harper announces new album and tour dates
Recorded in Abbey Road Studio 2 on Earth Day 2024, Earth Day Blue is the 14th studio album release from Nick Harper, the wildly talented ...
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings announce new studio album
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings announce Woodland, their 10th studio album, out August 23rd via Acony records and share new song ‘Empty Trainload Of Sky’ ...
The New Forest Folk Festival 2024 a pod cast review by Paul Johnson
Our very own Paul Johnson reviews, via a mini podcast, this years fabulous New Forest Folk Festival that was held from 4th - 7th July ...
SILAS J. DIRGE – Swan Songs (own label)
For a journey into the darker elements of Americana music, Amsterdam might seem a surprising place to start. And yet it’s the Dutch capital from ...
CHARLIE O’BRIEN – The Trackless Wild – Irish Song Of The Pampa (Trouble or Fortune Records)
Argentina is not, perhaps, a country you might readily associate with Irish balladry. So, its title referring to the South American low grasslands, Killarney ex-pat ...
Sarah McQuaid announces another marathon tour
Building a fanbase one gig at a time She’s been mentioned in a quiz question on BBC Radio 4’s Counterpoint, featured on the O2 Music ...
KEEPING IT LIVE – ELY FOLK FESTIVAL 2024
“Do you want a pass to Stevie Nicks, VIP area?” “Sounds good.” “July 12th.” “I can’t I’m already booked - Ely Folk Festival.” Ah well ...
Ely Folk Festival – another successful year
Amazingly warm and dry weather and the best in contemporary roots music greeted fans as they flocked to the Stuntney Estate last weekend for the ...
KINGS HEATHENS – Old Tall Stories (own label)
Respectively from Milton Keynes and Texas, busker David Fisher and barber Evan Ritchie are now based in the Birmingham suburb from which they take their ...
The Celtic Harper announces his debut album.
The Celtic Harper (Andrew Smith) is an outlier harpist and lyrical tenor based in Calderdale, U.K. After twenty years working as a psychotherapist, he eventually ...
MARK NEAL – Cool Waters (Eh Records EHCD08)
Mark Neal is a singer/songwriter/musician/producer and all-round clever chap from the banks of the Clyde near Loch Lomond. He works in a duo with Eilidh ...
DAVID CARROLL AND FRIENDS – Bold Reynold Too (Talking Elephant TECD493)
Talking Elephant haven’t had to spend much on artwork for Bold Reynold Too. The first volume was a great success and I have no doubt ...
THE NEW LEAVES – A Sketch Of Home (Corn Crake Records)
The New Leaves are a quartet from County Down. Decky McKay and Cian O’Hare sing and play guitar, Patrice McKevitt sings and plays bass with ...
Official Folk Albums Chart – June 2024
On Tuesday 2 July the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo revealed the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released ...
GANDALF MURPHY AND THE SLAMBOVIAN CIRCUS OF DREAMS – A Good Thief Tips His Hat (Talking Elephant TECD498)
Paul Johnson reviews the 25th Anniversary reissue of the first album by the wonderful Gandalf Murphy And The Slambovian Circus Of Dreams: A Good Thief ...
Manchester Folk Festival launches its 2025 line-up
Manchester Folk Festival makes its eagerly awaited return to the city’s Northern Quarter and Ancoats' best-loved venues on Thursday 20th - Saturday 22nd March 2025 ...
Hoolie In The Hydro Returns to Celebrate 100 Years of Scottish Music
Scotland’s biggest night of traditional music, Hoolie In The Hydro, will return to Glasgow’s iconic OVO Hydro on Saturday 7th December 2024 to commemorate 100 ...
SINGLES BAR 103 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles
Now just a solo project for Bristol’s Hannah Pawson, FRITILLARIES follow up their(her) 2022 eponymous debut album with the self-released EP Thank God I Have ...
NICK PYNN – Visions/Revisions And Impressions (Brand Oscar Records)
The “Octopus of Sound” is a pretty fine handle to have as your by-line, the description(?!) bestowed upon him by comedian (and music lover), Stewart ...
CHEERY ODIN – Gan Yer Dinger (own label)
I love reviewing because I can take a punt on an album. I've never sent one back and there are occasions when I find a ...
The New Leaves announce their debut album
Following the tremendous feedback from lead singles ‘Donaghaguy Reservoir’ and ‘Country Lane Lament’, Corn Crake Records and Cobra Promotions are proud to announce The New ...
SAM REIDER & THE HUMAN HANDS – The Golem And Other Tales (own label)
So what is the link between Django Reinhardt, Planxty, Duke Ellington, Astor Piazzolla, Bernard Herrman and Raymond Scott? Well, apart from having to look the ...
Sam Carter – new solo album and tour dates
Sam Carter announced his fifth solo album, Silver Horizon, for release on Captain Records on Friday, 16th of August. Featuring eleven hook-driven indie folk songs ...
The East Neuk Festival marks its 20th anniversary
The East Neuk Festival begins next week (26-30 June) with a celebratory programme of music to mark 20 years since it was first founded, thanks ...
Organisers of Underneath The Stars festival have issued the following statement:
Dearest Stargazers, it is with heavy hearts that we announce this year’s festival will be our last for now and that we have decided to ...
Wickham Festival on the move
Wickham Festival is moving home – but only a few hundred yards. The popular long-running event is switching to a different site for this year’s ...
SIMON CARE AND GARETH TURNER – Two’s Up Two (Talking Elephant TECD478)
Way, way back in 1997 two bright-eyed and bushy-tailed young melodeon players got together to record an album, Two’s Up. Distinguished careers intervened and it ...
Joan As Police Woman announces her tenth studio album and new single
Multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Joan As Police Woman today releases her new single ‘Long For Ruin’, the first taste of her forthcoming new album Lemons, Limes ...
Tarren announce their second album
Outside Time comes two years after new folk trio Tarren’s critically acclaimed debut Revel, an album that established their unique sound and quickly gained them ...
CHURCH STREET SHUFFLE – The Five Day Weekend (own label CCS001)
Church Street Shuffle are the fiddle and guitar duo of Neil Ewart and Ali MacQuarrie. Their name is derived from the street in Inverness which ...
BLUE ROSE CODE – Bright Circumstance (Ronachan Songs)
Blue Rode Code (the band led by Scottish songwriter Ross Wilson) released the new album Bright Circumstance on June 7th. If Wilson/the band are new ...
BROOKS WILLIAMS & AARON CATLOW – Greens & Blues (Red Guitar Blue Music RGBM 2401)
I’m pretty sure that it’s impossible to keep Brooks Williams out of a studio much less separate him from his guitar. An inveterate collaborator, for ...
MICHAEL WAUGH – Beauty & Truth (Compass Bros Music)
Australian Michael Waugh’s Beauty & Truth is a strong-voiced melodic folk album (produced by Shane Nicholson!) graced with a dramatic live buzz of electric guitar, ...
THE CIDERHOUSE REBELLION – And Even The Sheep Shall Dance (Under The Eaves Records UTE 010)
To say that Adam Summerhayes and Murray Grainger are busy bees would be a vast understatement of their reality, spreading themselves across any number of ...
JESSIE SUMMERHAYES & THE CIDERHOUSE REBELLION – Tales of Colonsay (UTE011)
Poet Jesssie Summerhayes has one again teamed up with the great improvisers The Ciderhouse Rebellion (Adam Summerhayes fiddle and Murray Grainger accordion) to bring out ...
MOLLY DONNERY AND THE CIDERHOUSE REBELLION – A Little Bit Slanted (Under the Eaves – UTE 009)
You might have noticed that the masters of folk improvisation, The Ciderhouse Rebellion, are embarked on a series of collaborations with leading singers on the ...
JON BUDWORTH – In Sight Of Home (FF002CD)
Jon Budworth has just released In Sight Of Home. ‘Just’ because it’s out right now and ‘only just’ because the idea for the album came ...
The Official Folk Album chart – May 2024
On Tuesday 4 June the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo revealed the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released ...
FLO PERLIN – Clay (own label)
The third album by the London-based singer-songwriter and sometime Nest Collective member, Clay serves as a metaphor for the human capacity to adapt and adjust ...
NAOMI BEDFORD & PAUL SIMMONDS – Strange News Has Come To Town
Paul Johnson presents another podcast review this time with a bonus interview with the artists. And here is the promised interview: Artists' website: https://naomibedford.com/ ...
No Thee No Ess announce their eighth studio album
Cardiff band No Thee No Ess return with the announcement of their 8th studio album Distant Country which is scheduled for release on Friday 7th ...
M.G. BOULTER – Days Of Shaking (Hudson)
Having offered a musical wander around the sights and characters of his Southend on Sea home town with both Clifftown and A Shadow Falls Over ...
ROBB JOHNSON – Pennypot Lane (Irregular Records IRR129)
You might think that this doesn’t look like a typical Robb Johnson CD cover – but the design is all his. Pennypot Lane is a ...
SINGLES BAR 102 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles
BRIAR & BRAMBLE is a new duo comprising Mike Turnbull, who has graced these pages several times before, and Kate Hewson. Their debut EP, Rum ...
HUNGRYTOWN – Circus For Sale (Big Stir Records)
Hungrytown’s new album, Circus For Sale, perhaps, requires some audio equivalent to a pair of those 3-D glasses to reveal the deep dimensions within their ...
MICHELL, PFEIFFER & KULESH – Flowers (own label)
The first full-length album by the multi-national triumvirate of Odette Michell (English), Karen Pfeiffer (German) and Dara Kulesh (Russian), several of these tracks have been ...
THE SANDY DENNY PROJECT – SDP Volume 2 (SKU 364215376135191)
A tad behind the curve for this one, all apologies sought, given the significance and content of both the recording and, more importantly, the individual ...
Maverick Festival presents its line-up
The UK’s first and finest Americana festival is pleased to announce its full line-up for 2024. Maverick Festival will take place from Friday 5th July ...
EMILY BARKER – Fragile As Humans (Everyone Sang)
Recorded at 16th century Wool Hall in Beckington, Somerset, during a brief sojourn in the UK before she and husband Luke Drinkwater moved back to ...
TOM KITCHING – Where There’s Brass
There are few musicians who can also write entertaining prose, let alone sustain it for the length of a book. Tom Kitching is one such ...
HARBOTTLE & JONAS – Wild Goose (Brook View Records BVR004)
Their seventh studio album (alongside two EPs, a live set and a collaboration with Reg Meuross), over the course of eight songs David and Freya ...
MIRACLE MILE – East Of Ely (MeMe Records CD/LP MM21)
A decade on since the last album, but sounding like they’ve been playing together forever, Trevor Jones and Marcus Cliffe have revived their shared connection ...
Looking ahead to The New Forest Folk Festival
WHY NOT SPEND A FEW DAYS IN THE BEAUTIFUL NEW FOREST WITH SOME BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE...OH...AND A FOLK FESTIVAL INCLUDED!COME AND JOIN folking.com AND ALL THE ...
THE NEW RADIO BALLADS – In The Footsteps Of Ewan MacColl
A concert of songs and spoken word In 2006, a new set of Radio Ballads were commissioned by BBC Radio 2 involving a whole team ...
RAINTOWN – Acoustic Heart (BMB002CD)
Don’t be too late. Raintown released Acoustic Heart on April 26th. I came across it a week or two later and have spent a week ...
DLÙ announce their second album
Celebrated Glasgow-based Gaelic indie-trad band DLÙ are set to release their highly anticipated, dance-inspired album Close To on Friday 28th June. Weaving a blend of ...
JASON McNIFF – Everything’s A Song (TR2031)
Jason McNiff, Yorkshire born but now based on the south coast, is an artist who certainly does his bit to support live music and other ...
Hungrytown announce their new album
Big Stir Records is proud to bring you the long-awaited fourth album from Vermont-based indie-folk chamber-pop duo Hungrytown – their debut for the label –to ...
MOJNA – Väntenätter (Heilo HCD7410)
Scandinavian trio Thomas Eriksson, Helga Myhr and Anna Malmström have worked together for three years but Väntenätter (Nights Of Waiting) is their first album under ...
PAINTED SKY – From The Blue (Gilded Lily Records)
Painted Sky’s From The Blue is a lovely album of British folk music from the siblings George and Holly Brandon, which juxtaposes soft acoustic strummed ...
GEORGE BOOMSMA – The Promise Of Spring
This recently released album from George Boomsma – The Promise Of Spring - is an absolutely delightful album which seems to be living permanently in ...
JENNY COLQUITT – Staring At The Moon (own label)
Staring At The Moon, her second full-length album, co-produced and performed with David Gorst, sees Colquitt building on her considerable strengths as both writer and ...
Chicken Stock Festival – all you ever wanted to know but…
THE NEW FESTIVAL KID ON THE BLOCK AND WHAT A LITTLE GEM OF A FESTIVAL IT IS.... THE CHICKEN STOCK FESTIVAL The Festival takes place ...
Scandinavian trio MOJNA announce new album
With elements of improvisation and voicing based on counterpoint techniques, MOJNA has developed an original and unique sound. This Swedish/Norwegian trio, formerly known as Eriksson/Myhr/Malmström, ...
Painted Sky announce debut album From The Blue
'To the shore, only when, the tides will bring us home again' After making waves with their first EP, Dawn, Painted Sky's debut album From ...
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