The folking.com music archive for album reviews and news

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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).


JOSHUA BURNELL – Glass Knight (own label MNR23A)

Born in France and raised in Scotland, Burnell is an unpredictable quantity when it comes to his idiosyncratic approach to folk. So it’s hard to ...

Moseley Folk and Arts Festival announce line-up details

With Birmingham’s Moseley Folk and Arts Festival 2023 just a few weeks away, the line-up for the woods area of the festival has now been ...

The Official Charts Company announce the Folk Albums chart for July 2023

On Tuesday 1 August the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo revealed the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released ...

DOT ALLISON – Consciousology (Secret Cathedral)

Dot Allison’s Consciousology is a wispy voiced Scottish singer-songwriter album filled with obtuse and quite beautiful melodies and music that’s doused in madcap electronics and ...

BETH BOMBARA – It All Goes Up (Black Mesa BMR 74)

“There’s a lot of it about.” This was the reply I got some years ago when I asked a friend their views on Americana.  The ...

Andy Smith announces debut solo album

Multi-instrumentalist Andy Smith, best known for his work with award winning modern folk trio Harp & A Monkey, is releasing a debut solo album An ...

SINGLES BAR 92 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

From Northern Ireland but based in Oxford, Iranian-Irish DANIEL MA'ANI has an Immigrant Mentality, or at least that’s the title track of his new ‘sense ...

Annie Keating – new album and tour dates

Annie Keating- released her new album Hard Frost in early June ahead of her UK tour in the Autumn. The album has already been described ...

ELIZA CARTHY TRIO – Conversations We’ve Had Before (Hem Hem)

Available only as a Bandcamp download, dedicated to Paul Sartin and featuring long-time collaborator Saul Rose on accordion and reuniting with David Delarre on acoustic ...

Rab Noakes and Brooks Williams sing Don Everly

The plan to record Should We Tell Him was hatched long before Rab Noakes and Brooks Williams actually got into the studio. Five years, to ...

JONO WRIGHT – Special Measures (own label digital release)

Jono Wright has another life which I don’t propose to talk about although the title of his debut album may give you a clue. Special ...

Alex Seel announces new solo album

Alex Seel is excited to announce of his forthcoming album All Sails To The Sun (Release 29th September). The album is a dynamic mix ranging ...

BELLA GAFFNEY – Reflections (own label BGCD01)

Bella Gaffney has risen almost imperceptibly but purposefully through the ranks of British folk music. Playing guitar, banjo and double bass she appears solo, as ...

NORMAN PATERSON – Torn (own label NP2023CD)

Making his recording debut at 65, Stornoway-born Paterson reflects on life well-lived and characters met along the way with the traditional folk-informed collection of self-penned ...

Tamsin Elliott and Tarek Elazhar announce debut album

So Far We Have Come is the debut duo album from Tamsin Elliott (UK) and Tarek Elazhary (Egypt), two artists who have recognised in each ...

SEAN TAYLOR – Short Stories (STCD118)

Sean Taylor has been making music for 20 years now, and with his latest release, Short Stories, shows that he's at the top of his ...

ANNIE BARTHOLOMEW – Sisters Of White Chapel (Klondike Gold Rush Songs)

The concept was intriguing enough but then I heard the single, ‘White Chapel Woman’, and I was hooked. Annie Bartholomew is from Juneau, Alaska, plays ...

Bruce Cockburn announces UK dates

Revered Canadian singer-songwriter and activist Bruce Cockburn has announced UK live shows for 2023, with dates in Oxford and London. Heading to Oxford’s O2 Academy on 24 August and London’s O2 Shepherd’s ...

Day-splits confirmed as Cambridge looks forward to a sizzling folk festival weekend

Tickets selling fast. Book now at: https://www.cambridgelive.org.uk/folk-festival/tickets THURSDAY 27 JULY  STAGE 2 Ibibio Sound Machine - Symbio – Flyte – Gnoss  STAGE 3 Jesca Hoop ...

JIM CAUSLEY – Songs Of Dartmoor (Hrōc Music HROC08)

Songs Of Dartmoor is Jim Causley’s fourth album of Devon songs, all packaged in matching sleeves designed by Karen Cater. Having previously ranged across Devon, ...

Blas Festival returns in September

Gaelic culture and music to be celebrated in September across the Highlands & Islands at Blas Festival The Highland 9-day festival returns in September Some ...

SARAH DEERE-JONES – A Little Piece Of Eden (own label FPCD016)

Born in Dorset and now based in Cornwall, Deere-Jones is a pure-voiced, classically trained harpist, a lecturer on the medieval harp in England, Royal Academy ...

JON PALMER ACOUSTIC BAND – Vacca Wall (Splid Records SPLID CD31)

Jon Palmer must lead the most electrifying acoustic band in the country – we must stage a battle of the bands between them and M***y ...

Jacob Furr – Fort Worth songwriter announces new album

Jacob Furr is a folk songwriter from Fort Worth, Texas, and is an intersection of Wilco-esque folk-rock and a seeker’s honest heart. He is one ...

Paul Johnson talks to Joshua Burnell for our pre-Cropredy interviews

Paul Johnson talks to Joshua Burnell for our pre Cropredy interviews. Here our very own Paul Johnson chats to Joshua Burnell about how pleased and ...

Old Crow Medicine Show announce new album and UK dates

Old Crow Medicine Show will release their new album Jubilee on 25th August via ATO Records. Arriving as the two-time GRAMMY award-winning band gears up ...

LUCIO BARBARINO –The Blue Evenings (own label)

Singer-songwriter Lucio Barbarino’s album, The Blue Evenings, touches every conceivable folk music port of call (from his native Cape Cod, Massachusetts) yet manages to avoid ...

MELTWATER GHOSTS – Stargazing (digital stream)

Stargazing is the debut release from cosmic folk, americana and country group Meltwater Ghosts.  With songs written in shepherds’ huts and on black mountain sides, ...

Sean Taylor announces new album

Over the past two decades, London troubadour Sean Taylor has established himself as a world class songwriter and performer. He was nominated for the 2023 ...

ERIN K – Sink To Swim (own label UPIGO01 CD)

I didn’t know anything about Erin K but a description of her third album, Sink To Swim, intrigued me. And I was right to be ...

Andy White to play one-off London gig

After a successful January UK and Irish tour to launch his latest album This Garden Is Only Temporary, itinerant Belfast songwriter Andy White plays a one-off ...

Max ZT & Dan Whitehouse announce debut duo album

New York's celebrated Max ZT (House of Waters), and Tokyo/Black Country’s lauded Dan Whitehouse combine their inventive energy to present their debut album Ten Steps. ZT, the hammered dulcimer player (compared to Hendrix) and ...

IAN BRUCE – Together Forever (Ruglen Record Company LUMSCD0117)

Anyone with even a passing interest in the Scottish folk scene will be aware of Bruce who, since he first dedicated his life to making ...

ÁED – Leaf (own label)

The route to an album review often begins with an email, usually extolling the virtues of a record that’s the greatest thing since sourdough. The ...

Pre-Cropredy Interviews

Listen to the great interview by our very own Paul Johnson with Wilson & Wakeman. We can't wait to see them this year with their ...

GWENAN GIBBARD – Hen Ganeuon Newydd (Sain SCD2850)

Hen Ganeuon Newydd, subtitled The Folk-Songs Of Llŷn And Eifionydd for the non-Welsh speakers, is a collection of songs from the late 19th and early ...

SETH LAKEMAN – The Somerset Sessions (Honour Oak Records HNR10)

Originally released as a limited edition for Record Store day and now given a wider distribution on CD and vinyl, The Somerset Sessions was recorded ...

The Official Folk Album Chart

On Tuesday 4 July the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo revealed the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released ...

Charlie Dore announces new tour dates

Venerated singer-songwriter Charlie Dore has announced her biggest UK tour for over four years, with a storm of dates to wrap up her three Short ...

Rachel Sermanni announces her new album

Hailing from the Scottish highlands, Rachel Sermanni is an enchanting singer-songwriter, whose performance and lyrics draw from a deep well of mysticism, dreams, nature and ...

Mavis Staples plays two nights at the Union Chapel

Mavis Staples returns to the UK next week for two shows at London's Union Chapel on Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th July. Mavis, who released Carry Me Home ...

CARRIE MARTIN – Evergreen (Psychotron Records)

Hull singer-songwriter Carrie Martin’s Evergreen rekindles the folk-rock-progressive vibe of the late 70’s, just before punk rock with its spit, safety pins, pogo dancing, and ...

Shrewsbury Folk Festival announces final list of guests

The only UK festival gig of 2023 for Scottish songstress Eddi Reader and a debut visit from the Red Hot Chilli Pipers top the list of the final acts ...

Video Wall 26

It's hot and sticky and there really is no incentive to do very much in the way of thinking. We have quite a collection of ...

Matthew Bannister announces his Big Walk for charity

The host of the multi-award-winning Folk on Foot podcast, Matthew Bannister, is to set off on a 180-mile sponsored walk this summer to raise money ...

WESTWARD THE LIGHT – Flow Country (Braw Sailin’ Records CD011BSR)

Westward The Light released their debut album in 2020 to great acclaim. Their second album Flow Country, named after the landscape between Caithness and Sutherland ...

BLUEBYRD – Song And Dance (own label)

Although Bluebyrd don’t want Song And Dance to be seen as a lockdown album, they’re clear that it’s influenced by the thoughts and feelings they ...

The National Youth Pipe Band Of Scotland invites applications

Applications can be made to: nypbs.co.uk/applications ...

JUDE EDWIN-SCOTT – Rambling Rose (Bellyhead 9 Records BH9CD09)

First learning guitar when he was six, now based in Cheshire, alongside his career as an acrylics greeting cards artist) Edwin-Scott has developed a very ...

RIDERS OF THE CANYON – Riders Of The Canyon (Great Canyon Records GCR-013 CD)

Joana Serrat released her fifth album on June 23rd. Serrat is a Catalonian singer-songwriter and she has combined with Northern-Irish singer-songwriter Matthew McDaid and two ...

JOSHUA RADIN – Though The World Will Tell Me So (Vol 1 & 2) (Nettwork Music Group)

Joshua Radin’s new album, Though The World Will Tell Me So (Vol 1 & 2), elicits the hyperbolic comment: “One Billion People Love Folk Music!” ...

Bella Gaffney announces new album and autumn tour

Bella Gaffney is set to captivate listeners with her new album, Reflections. This remarkable collection of songs has been meticulously crafted to reflect the profound ...

PATAKAS – When You’re Ready (WildGoose WGS441CD)

With stunningly unfortunate timing When You’re Ready arrived the day after we put this month’s Singles Bar to bed. A day earlier and it would ...

Wickham Festival announces a host of stars

The Proclaimers, Midge Ure and the Saw Doctors will head up a star-studded line-up at The Wickham Festival. Tickets are already selling fast for the ...

SINGLES BAR 91 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

COHEN BRAITHWAITE-KILCOYNE has moved on from being folk’s latest wunderkind to being a seasoned professional as this EP, Come Make My Bed, testifies. His voice ...

DÁIMH – Sula (Goat Island Music GIMCD006)

Dáimh’s new album, Sula, travels from Moidart to Mabou and back home again to the island of Bernera off the coast of Lewis (“during a ...

MALCOLM HOLCOMBE – Bits & Pieces (Proper/Need To Know)

Diagnosed with cancer in 2022, alongside regular collaborator Jared Tyler Holcombe resolved to knock his 18th and potentially swan song album into shape as quickly ...

BRENNEN LEIGH – Ain’t Through Honky Tonkin’ Yet (Signature Sounds)

Making her Grand Old Opry debut on June 24th, with her follow up to last year’s Western Swing styled Obsessed With The West, Leigh ably ...

DAVID EDWARD BOOTH – All My Days (The Recording Booth)

David Edward Booth’s All My Days cuts melodic tendons. And, like really nice folk music, it sings with melodies that are etched with Half Moon ...

Irish Music And Dance In London present their annual fundraiser

On Friday 30th June at 7pm IMDL present their annual fundraiser - a quadruple bill concert of traditional Irish music, song and dance featuring performances ...

Erin K announces new album

With a growing audience of over 3 million streams on Spotify, following the fruitful collaboration on 2019s I Need Sound, the American-born London-resident musician Erin ...

KASSI VALAZZA – Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing (Loose Music)

Kassi Valazza’s Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing is a lovely Americana folk album that blossoms, like a southwestern cactus flower, from the roots of all the ...

Gate To Southwell Festival – Global Summer Sounds

This summer’s 16th Gate To Southwell Festival (June 29-July 2) looks certain to be the East Midlands’ most international, entertaining and musically diverse event yet ...

HANNAH ALDRIDGE – Dream Of America (Icons Creating Evil Art / ICEALP446)

American singer / songwriter Hannah Aldridge has grown up surrounded by music. Her father, Walt Aldridge, has written numerous songs including Number 1 country hits ...

Iain Matthews announces summer tour dates

There’s a purity about Iain Matthews’ voice. And it’s mirrored by the integrity of his career. The singer-songwriter has never been seduced by fame. His ...

MERRY HELL – Let The Music Speak For Itself (Merry Hell MHMCD00123)

Recently released Merry Hell’s Let The Music Speak For Itself is a retrospective look at the band’s back catalogue in a double CD and digital ...

AGS CONNOLLY – Siempre (Finstock Music FINST002 CD)

Siempre is Spanish for always and, combined with the cover decoration, it sort of sums up Ags Connolly’s musical philosophy. Ags is a British country ...

Joe Broughton’s Conservatoire Folk Ensemble celebrate 25 years

The behemoth that is Joe Broughton's Conservatoire Folk Ensemble return with their sixth album, Twenty-Five, and a string of live appearances. The album documents the ...

RACHEL HAIR & RON JAPPY – Élan (March Hair Records MHRCD 007)

Celtic harpist Rachel Hair and guitarist Ron Jappy met during a European tour and decided that they clicked, musically.  The result of that meeting was ...

The Official Charts Company announce the folk album chart for May

On Tuesday 6 June the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo reveal the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released ...

SHOW OF HANDS – High Germany – 900 Miles To Bremen (MIG MIG02732)

I imagine that the Longdogs already own everything that Show Of Hands have ever done but this may just have eluded even them. High Germany ...

WHAPWEASEL – 7 (Whap Records WW0014)

Renowned Award-Winning English ska-folk fusion ceilidh band Whapweasel have recently released their latest album entitled 7 which is a beautiful collection of dance tunes each ...

DALLAHAN – Speak Of The Devil (own label DHLN004CD)

About Dallahan’s new album, Speak Of The Devil: Well, let’s just say (to sort of quote Chuck Berry!), “Roll over Manran and tell Malinky the ...

KAREN SWAN – Scatterlings (Super Tiny Records)

From Solihull, Birmingham, and currently based in Bristol, Swan lists herself as actor, poet, clown, vegan, writer and singer, and it’s the latter incarnation on ...

Mull Historical Society is back with a brand new album

Released by the Xtra MIle Recordings label on 21 July,  In My Mind There's A Room, the first new material from Colin MacIntyre (aka Mull ...

JO MILLER – A’ The Way To Galloway (own label JOM1CD)

I’m always impressed by the number of Scottish singers and musicians who quietly preface their name with Dr. and these are not honorary degrees but ...

SINGLES BAR 90 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

One half of the wonderfully named Canadian duo The Goddamsels, MALLORY CHIPMAN steps out solo for As Though I Had Wings (Tunnel Mountain), an EP ...

Shrewsbury Folk Festival adds even more names

Shrewsbury Folk Festival has announced the latest wave of artists for this year’s festival including Joachim Cooder, the first lady of Celtic music Moya Brennan and the first ...

Cambridge Folk Festival unveils The Den line-up

Cambridge Folk Festival has a long-standing reputation for providing a platform for up-and-coming new artists and nurturing promising young talent. This commitment continues in 2023 ...

THE HACKLES – What A Beautiful Thing I Have Made (Jealous Butcher Records JB 223)

Trajectory - the Collins dictionary defines this as “The trajectory of a moving object is the path that it follows as it moves.”  It’s often ...

TÍR NA NÓG – Love Lost (MIG Music MIG02942 CD)

Older readers will remember Sonny Condell and Leo O’Kelly, otherwise Tír na nÓg. For the young folk, Tír na nÓg formed in Dublin in 1969 ...

Hazel Askew and John Dipper join Historically Informed Summer School (HISS)

HISS (Historically Informed Summer School) explores the Common Ground between early, traditional and folk music. We are delighted for Hazel Askew to join us for ...

CAMUS – Out On The Spree (Old Windmill Records – OWR001)

Out On The Spree is the first full album Camus have released in several years, and only the fourth since the band was formed in ...

FolkEast stages ‘The Sartin Singaround’

FolkEast will pay tribute to one of folk’s favourite performers this August in Saturday night’s ‘The Sartin Singaround’. Paul Sartin, oboe and fiddle player with ...

MAGGIE HOLLAND – The Dust Of Rage (Irregular Records IRR126)

When I first moved to this area I set out to find the local folk scene, which was not as easy then as it is ...

ADY SHAW – Light & Dark (Piper Moon Records)

Ady Shaw may not be a familiar name to many. He made his musical debut more than half a century ago and has been making ...

BRUCE COCKBURN – O Sun O Moon (True North Records)

Bruce Cockburn once sang, “The trouble with normal is it always gets worse”.  But that’s simply not true for his new album, O Sun O ...

BROOMDASHER – Ingrave Epiphany (Clean Sweep CS0122)

Following on from their Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady project and released to coincide with their From Pub To Pulpit tour with Coracle and ...

The Langan Band announce a new album and tour dates

The revered Scottish folk trio's first record in a decade, Plight o’ Sheep, is now releasing May 12, one week later than previously announced. The ...

DROPKICK MURPHYS – Okemah Rising (Dummy Luck DLM003LP)

Following on from This Machine Still Kills Fascists, Okemah Rising, the second collection of songs recorded in Tulsa featuring unpublished lyrics by Woody Guthrie they’ve ...

TERRY EMM – Wish You Were Here (Azez Records/Shellshock)

Terry Emm’s Wish You Were Here is a return, after a seven-year hiatus, with an introspective, melodically addictive, and really nice folk album. Now, perhaps, ...

Rachel Hair and Ron Jappy announce new album

Two of Scotland’s most in-demand traditional musicians Rachel Hair and Ron Jappy have joined forces once again for their second duo album Élan, set for ...

Bruce Cockburn announces new studio album

“Time takes its toll, but in my soul I’m on a roll”, Bruce Cockburn sings on his latest studio album, O Sun O Moon. Smart ...

HANNAH ROSE PLATT – Deathbed Confessions (Xtra Mile Recording)

Hannah Rose Platt’s music extolls the peculiar enjoyment of buttered popcorn and a hammer horror film marathon. Her new album, Deathbed Confessions, which comes all ...

ELLI DE MON – Pagan Blues (Area Pirata Records AP096)

Musician and songwriter Elli de Mon presented Pagan Blues in late April, two years after capturing the attention of audiences throughout Europe and beyond with ...

Foy Vance announces celebratory tour

Foy Vance has today announced a very special tour of UK & Ireland this December to celebrate 10 years of his award-winning 2013 album Joy ...

GREG ISTOCK – Mr Greg Mr Jones (Blue Gate Records)

Greg Istock releases Mr Greg Mr Jones on May 3rd. Istock has a pedigree to match the best: band leader, singer, songwriter (all the tracks ...

UNA MONAGHAN – Aonaracht (own label UMM002CD)

Aonaracht is an album that will divide opinion. The strapline on the sleeve – ‘a collection for traditional musicians and computer’ – is probably enough ...

New funding for Scottish creatives

A total of £111,000 has been made available to support artists and organisations to deliver creative work. Creative Scotland has confirmed its continuation of funding ...

Michelle Willis talks to folking.com

Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Michelle Willis has established herself as one of the most effective utility players on the modern scene, having toured and recorded ...

KRIS DREVER – The Best Of Kris Drever (Reveal Records)

The Best of Kris Drever is a collection of the Scottish singer-songwriter’s “Love of our land’s sacred rights”, as indeed, these songs sing with the ...

JON WILKS – Before I Knew What Had Begun I Had Already Lost (own label)       

His fourth solo album sees Jon Wilks step away from the Birmingham-derived songs that were the mainstays of his last two releases and embrace those ...

CAESAR SPENCER – Get Out Into Yourself (New Radio Records)

Caesar Spencer’s Get Out Into Yourself is an album whose press release says, “with a loose narrative that follows a protagonist journeying through different cultural ...

OPEN ROAD – Skylark (Delfina Records DR428-OR01)

A duo comprising San Francisco native Lucia Comnes, now based in Italy, and West Coast songwriter John Palmer, Skylark is their debut release and brings ...

SIMON MAYOR – Carolan (Acoustics CDACS 082)

Simon Mayor’s Carolan album was due for release on March 10 2023, but somehow or other the link found its way into my spam folder, ...

SINGLES BAR 89 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

The daughter of Peter Lewis, founding member of 60s psych-folk icons Moby Grape (and who features on Stratocaster), and granddaughter of Oscar-winning actress Loretta Young, ...

NOW VOYAGERS – The Best Of All Possible Worlds (own label)

Music can work on so many different levels and The Best Of All Possible Worlds, a concept album by Bath based musician Now Voyagers (Kim ...

Fanny Lumsden announces new album and UK tour dates

Award-winning Australian artist, Fanny Lumsden, has today announced the release of her much anticipated fourth studio album, Hey Dawn, out August 4th. The album follows ...

LEVERET – Forms (LEVCD06)

Leveret – namely folk virtuoso fiddle player extraordinaire Sam Sweeney, concertina maestro Rob Harbron and magic melodeon player Andy Cutting are celebrating 10 years together ...

DEL BARBER – Almanac (Acronym)

Eight albums in, the latest from the Canadian singer-songwriter takes its title from the idea of a guide to where you should be heading and ...

Gate To Southwell Festival goes global

This summer’s 16th Gate To Southwell Festival (June 29-July 2) looks certain to be the Midlands’ most international, entertaining and musically diverse event yet, with Sunday’s ...

ÍMAR – Awakening (BMANN005)

As often happens in folk music familiar faces will turn up in different combinations and that's the case with Glasgow based Ímar. Ryan Murphy (Mànran), ...

MATTHEWS SOUTHERN COMFORT – The Woodstock Album: 15 Songs of Peace, Love and Understanding  (Must Have Records MHCD 114)

It’s 23 years since Iain Matthews topped the charts with his cover of Joni Mitchell’s ‘Woodstock’ and he returns to the iconic festival now with ...

GNOSS – Stretching Skyward (BFLY05CD)

Gnoss are a Scottish quartet, nominated three time for the Scot Trad Awards, who have their own distinct view of what traditional folk music is ...

JOE HENRY – All The Eye Can See (Earmusic)

Joe Henry, with his new album All The Eye Can See, continues to write brand new sonic and quite secular scripture verse. And, with this ...

Simon Mayor announces album of the music of Turlough O’Carolan

Simon Mayor can tell the story better than anyone. I remember well the first time I heard the music of the Irish harper and composer ...

Calan win award – but that’s not the real story

An acclaimed Cwmbran guitarist who was last year told by doctors he would never play again after shattering his arm in a mountain bike accident ...

THE MADELEINE STEWART TRIO – The Madeleine Stewart Trio (own label MSTCD01)

There are some very talented alumni from the traditional music course at The Royal Scottish Conservatoire currently active in the thriving Glasgow folk scene. It’s ...

Ímar announce new album and tour dates

Almost exactly five years ago Celtic supergroup Ímar had the night of their lives. At the 2018 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in Belfast the ...

Cambridge Folk Festival revamps Club Tent

CAMBRIDGE FOLK FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES BRAND NEW LOOK STAGE 3, THE FORMER CLUB TENT, PROVIDING A SHOWCASE PLATFORM FOR RISING ARTISTS FROM THE UK & IRELAND ...

LUCY FARRELL – We Are Only Sound (Hudson)

Born in Kent and now based in Canada, Farrell is probably better known for her contributions to the work of others, both live and in ...

EWAN MACINTYRE – Twenty First Century Fool (Broken Car Recordz BCR-005)

Twenty First Century Fool is the fourth solo album by Ewan Macintyre since his departure from Southern Tenant Folk Union, recorded in Montreal with a ...

DAVID HOWLEY – For Venus (own label)

Born in Ireland and the founder member of We Banjo 3, Howley is a prodigious exponent of Irish folk and has performed alongside such diverse ...

Pedair announce their debut album

Five years on from their first gig Pedair and Sain are proud to be able to share their first album, Mae ’na Olau – an ...

ALICE HOWE – Circumstance (KnowHowe KH0003)

Born in Massachusetts, Howe already has two impressive releases to her name but Circumstance, with its cocktail of southern rock, country, folk, classic soul and ...

BEAU – Kingdom Of The Blind (Cherry Red BEAUKOTB1)

I’ve said it before and will inevitably say it again, Beau is a refreshing throwback to the 60s when political and social satire was afforded ...

GEORGE SANSOME & MATT QUINN – Sheffield Park (Grimdon Records GRICD007)

It seems that English folkies are taking a leaf out of their Scottish counterparts’ book by swapping musical partners like a barn dance’s introductory mixer ...

TRAPPER SCHOEPP – Siren Songs (Grand Phony)

Trapper Schoepp releases Siren Songs on April 21st. Schoepp said of it, “What’s most important to me is to be a link in the chain ...

YOUNG MARTYRS – Time Is Not On Our Side (own label)

Flying the Bristol flag for UK Americana, comprising frontman Tom Corneill, lead guitarist Simon Whitehead with Lee Cole and Rich Beeby providing the rhythm section, ...

Le Vent Du Nord announce May tour dates

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

JAMES KERRY – Source (own label JK2022CD)

In the ordinary way of things I’m not a great fan of the melodeon. It’s fine for dancing where it can maintain a steady rhythm ...

ANGUS McOG – Cirrus (Gare Du Nord Records)

With his new album, Cirrus, Angus McOg (aka Italian folk singer Antonio Tavoni) paints with a brush stroke melodic beauty that could, perhaps, soundtrack the ...

Lindisfarne release live at the BBC set

One of the UK’s most successful folk-rock bands of the 70s live at the BBC, with more than eight hours of recordings, over half of ...

GERAINT WATKINS – Aide-memoire (Last Music Co LMCD233)

A name that will be very familiar to anyone who peruses album credits, Watkins has played piano, accordion and guitar for a wealth of famous ...

PHIL HOOLEY – Provenance (own label)

Frontman with Yorkshire alt-country outfit The Woolgatherers, Provenance is Hooley’s second solo outing, the material varying between recent and dusted off older numbers, joined here ...

DAN WHITEHOUSE – Reflections On The Glass Age (own label WTK005)

Following his ground-breaking album, Dan Whitehouse is now going on the road with Reflections On The Glass Age, a stripped down acoustic version of The ...

CARTER SAMPSON – Gold (Horton)

Joined by frequent collaborator, Kyle Reid who contributes pedal steel, guitar and synths among other instruments, Oklahoma-songbird Sampson again taps into her heartland country roots ...

O’HOOLEY & TIDOW – Cloudheads (No Masters NMCD57)

The past few years have been eventful ones for Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow with the ballyhoo surrounding Gentleman Jack and then the arrival of ...

UNCLE BARD & THE DIRTY BASTARDS – These Are The Days (Live) (SFMCD565)

You heard the new album by Uncle Bard &  The Dirty Bastards? Who!!!? Uncle Bard & The Dirty Bastards – it’s a belter. Punk Music, ...

The Unthanks’ all-dayers in September

Whether it’s The Sage Gateshead on the Saturday 9th September or The Barbican London on Sunday 10th, there are just two chances to experience a ...

The Official Charts Company reveal the top-selling folk albums for March 2023

On Tuesday 4 April the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo reveal the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released ...

Merry Hell announce double-CD retrospective and more tour dates

After twelve years, six albums and hundreds of gigs, Merry Hell have taken a little time to look back on all that has passed. The ...

Jon Wilks announces new album and tour dates

With his fourth solo album, Before I Knew What Had Begun I Had Already Lost, Jon Wilks takes a step away from the Birmingham songs ...

George Sansome and Matt Quinn announce debut duo album

In an exciting new duo collaboration between two leading lights of their generation of traditional singers, George Sansome and Matt Quinn have come together to ...

Norfolk & Norwich Festival – highlights

In May Norfolk & Norwich Festival will take place across the county with a world-class programme spanning music, theatre, literature, visual arts, circus, dance and free ...

NATALIE MACMASTER & DONNELL LEAHY – Canvas (Linus Entertainment 270787)

Two of the world's top Celtic fiddle players and known as Canada’s reigning stars of Celtic music– husband and wife team Donnell Leahy and Natalie ...

FolkEast announces its 2023 line-up

After celebrating its milestone 10th anniversary in style last year, FolkEast will kick off its next decade with a brilliantly cosmopolitan line-up this August. England’s ...

Wimborne Minster Folk Festival 2023

Wimborne Minster Folk Festival is back for 2023. This ever popular festival fills the streets of Wimborne with colour, music and dance from the 9th to the ...

HACK-POETS GUILD – Blackletter Garland (Oli Records TPLP1690CD)

Once in while a record comes along and leaves you speechless which is how I was when I first played Blackletter Garland. Let’s start with ...

Shrewsbury Folk Festival announces more names

Shrewsbury Folk Festival has released its latest wave of artists for 2023 with a DJ set from The Dhol Foundation and debut visits from Scottish indie folk ...

Andy White & Tim Finn announce new album

Available today on Floating World Records, AT is the new album from celebrated songwriters Andy White and Tim Finn, a continuation of their ALT project ...

ROBBIE CUMMING – Choons Vol 1 & 2 (KWSBCM19CD)

Robbie Cumming. You might not instantly recognise the name, particularly in the context of music. However, even for someone watching as little TV as I ...

Moseley Folk And Arts Festival announce more names

Moseley Folk And Arts Festival (Friday 1 to Sunday 3 September 2023) has added even more artists to this year's line-up.  With ticket sales already ...

SARAH–JANE SUMMERS & JUHANI SILVOLA – Sølvstrøk (Heilo HCD7384)

Sølvstrøk (Silverstroke) is an ambitious album. Sarah-Jane Summers and Juhani Silvola are already a widely acclaimed duo, but Sarah-Jane has long dreamed of ‘super sizing’ ...

THE YOUNG’UNS – Tiny Notes (Hudson Records HUD036CD)

It has been mentioned that The Young’Uns are outgrowing their name. After all, it’s twenty years since they discovered folk music in the back room ...

Cowboy Junkies announce new album

Cowboy Junkies will release Such Ferocious Beauty on June 2 2023 via Cooking Vinyl.  This is the band’s first release of new material in five ...

THE CURSE OF K K HAMMOND – Death Roll Blues (KKHCD001)

I like it when an album title tells you exactly what you're going to get. With a title like Death Roll Blues you know that ...

Gretchen Peters announces farewell UK tour

Legendary singer, songwriter and performer Gretchen Peters has announced what will be her final ever tour of the UK. Over 25 years since she first ...

MELISSA RUTH – Bones (no label details)

Replete with Americana tinged instrumentation and lyrics coloured by vast historical context, singer, songwriter, and music educator Melissa Ruth’s latest effort, Bones, take listeners on an ...

O’Hooley & Tidow announce new album and tour dates

Much loved Yorkshire folk duo Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow have been propelled into newfound fame for penning the theme tune to Sally Wainwright’s hit ...

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

As the title would suggest, coloured by her bluegrass roots, Baiman’s third album, Common Nation Of Sorrow, is often rooted in a commentary on contemporary ...

SINGLES BAR 88 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

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

Adam Beattie announces live album

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

John Doyle Folk Guitar Retreat May 2023

Legendary folk guitarist John Doyle is hosting a series of workshops, masterclasses, group jams and evening sessions in his first ever UK Residential Retreat with ...

REG MEUROSS – Stolen From God (Hatsongs Records HAT025)

Stolen From God is an album that a lot of us have been looking forward to for a long while. Reg Meuross has taken up ...

Kris Drever – new single, Best Of album and tour

One of Scotland’s finest and most acclaimed songwriters Kris Drever shares his new single ‘Catterline’ on March 28th and announces a new album ‘The Best ...

CRUEL FOLK – Far To Fall (Cruelfolk002)

There is an England old and merry, sunny and glorious where Englande and olde have an ‘e’ on the end of them, where merrie has ...

Findlay Napier – crowdfunder for new album, Outsider, is now open

Outsider is a multi-media extravaganza of new album from Findlay Napier exploring outsiders in love and outsiders in life. A few months ago I had ...

MICHAEL JOHNATHON – Garden Of Silence (PoetMan Records PMR70034)

Incredibly prolific, Johnathon has released a previous twenty-one albums, with one a year since 2012, published five books, a play, composed an opera, regularly performs ...

MULL HISTORICAL SOCIETY – Archaeology: Complete Recordings 2000-2004 (Demon Records)

Mull Historical Society’s four-disc Archaeology: Complete Recordings 2000—2004 proves that while “Daddy takes the T-bird away” every once in a while, there’s still quite a ...

Sarah-Jane Summers & Juhani Silvola announce their chamber orchestra album

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

Edinburgh Tradfest announces its 2023 line-up

This week Edinburgh Tradfest launched its 2023 programme of traditional live music, storytelling, dance, workshops, talks, ceilidhs, and special events taking place at various venues across ...

THE BLUE HIGHWAYS – Out On The Line (own label)

The Blue Highways release Out On The Line on March 31st. One of the lines in ‘Nobody Lives Here Any More’ (below) is “Rules are ...

Judy Collins joins Cambridge Folk Festival line-up

More incredible artists have been announced for this year’s Cambridge Folk Festival, including folk icon, US singer-songwriter Judy Collins in a very special performance with ...

ANDREW GABBARD – Cedar City Sweetheart (Colemine Records)

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

Underneath The Stars Festival announces more names

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

Ali Farka Touré: new posthumous album

Voyageur, the new album from the legendary African guitarist and singer Ali Farka Touré, is out now via World Circuit Records. It is the first ...

ANDY HEDGES – Roll On, Cowboys (Andy Hedges)

Let me admit, I’m not exactly steeped in the cowboy songs idiom, though I certainly trawled through some collections by the Lomaxes et al. at ...

MEGSON – What Are We Trying To Say? (EDJ Records EDJ033)

It’s four years since we last heard from Megson, which is too long but we all know what happened in the interim. What Are We ...

DAVID HARLEY – So Sound You Sleep (ISBN 979-8377897699)

Apart from saying, “As you’ll see from his website, David Harley is a Shropshire lad, now living in Cornwall, who has played guitar since the ...

JOY DUNLOP – Caoir (Sradag Music SRM008)

The phrase multi-talented is sometimes over-used, but I’ve no doubt that it applies to Joy Dunlop. An award winning Gaelic singer and step dancer, Joy ...

KATHRYN ROBERTS & SEAN LAKEMAN – Almost A Sunset (Iscream Music ISCD20)

It has been five years since Kathryn and Sean’s last album of new music. There was a retrospective album of recorded back catalogue a couple ...

OWEN MOORE – Songs From The Shamrock Bar (PJO Records)

Songs From The Shamrock Bar, subtitled A 10-Year Anthology, and timely available for St Patrick’s Day, this, as it says, gathers together around an hour’s ...

COLIN MACDUFF – The Past And The Sky (own label)

Colin Macduff’s The Past And The Sky is home-spun like a Tweed River Scottish fisherman’s thatched fishing creel, filled with folk music with the rich ...

Maverick Festival 30th June, 1st & 2nd July 2023

The Maverick Festival will once again take place in the glorious surroundings of Easton Farm Park, Suffolk set in thirty acres of rural heaven yet ...

Lachlan Bryan And The Wildes tour UK this month with Alan Fletcher

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

RURA – Dusk Moon (RURACD005)

Rura release Dusk Moon, their fourth studio album, on March 17th. I’ve previously described Rura’s music as “engaging the spirit”, the notes that come with ...

Dan Webster and Bella Gaffney to co-headline tour

Dan Webster & Bella Gaffney are stalwarts of the UK folk scene and this year they are coming together to do a co-headline tour of ...

BEN & DOM – His Head Lies Heavy (La La La Records)

That’ll be Ben See and Dominic Stichbury, both London-based choir leaders, singers and songwriters, the latter the founder of Chaps Choir, a 20-strong project that ...

BRIGID O’NEILL—The Truth & Other Stories (Goldrush Records)

Irish singer-songwriter Brigid O’ Neill, with her new album The Truth & Other Stories, lightly skips tossed stones like thoughtful opinions across the early evening ...

KAREN JONAS – The Restless (own label)

Over the course of five albums, the Maryland-born singer has established herself as very much a country voice with old school leanings. This time round, ...

SINGLES BAR 87 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles

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

Terry Emm announces new album

In December 2021, acclaimed singer-songwriter Terry Emm’s Facebook page flickered into life after a 7-year hiatus to announce some magnificent news. The Hertfordshire based artist’s ...

BEN WALKER – Banish Air From Air (Folk Room Records FRR2301)

As with his 2019 solo debut, Echo, Walker has enlisted the help of an array of different vocalists to give voice to material that ranges ...

FRANKIE ARCHER – Live at Aces & Eights, Tufnell Park, London – 19th February 2023

I first came across Frankie Archer at the Love Folk festival in Southport this year, playing a showcase session on the busk stage.  She came ...

Amy Thatcher and Francesca Knowles announce debut album

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

Levellers: new acoustic album and tour dates

Levellers release their new album Together All The Way on March 10th and head off on a full UK tour at the end of this month in ...

THE WILDWOODS – Foxfield Saint John (own label)

The Wildwoods are a duo that is really a trio: husband and wife Noah and Chloe Gose from Lincoln, Nebraska are joined by bassist Andrew ...

The Nest Collective announces the 2023 series of Singing With Nightingales

This spring The Nest Collective are delighted to be hosting over 35 events in the woods of Sussex and Gloucestershire. The Nest Collective are all ...

Bristol Folk Festival announces headline names

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