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).
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HARRI ENDERSBY – Mazes (Ivy Crown Records)
Mazes is the second enchanting album from Durham singer songwriter Harri Endersby. It follows on from her excellent 2017 debut album Homes / Lives, which ...
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JAMES McARTHUR AND THE HEAD GARDENERS – Intergalactic Sailor (Moorland Records)
James McArthur and The Head Gardeners’ new album Intergalactic Sailor is a wonderful folk record that is quiet, dreamy, and very melodic. This album has ...
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GREENMATTHEWS – Roots & Branches (Blast Records BFTP013)
GreenMatthews, who have appeared in these pages before, are Chris Green who plays keyboards and a variety of stringed instruments, and Sophie Matthews who plays ...
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JAKE AARON – Fag Ash And Beer (own label)
You should never judge a book by its cover, we're told, and the same is true of album covers. I took this album for review ...
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AMY HOPWOOD – All At Sea (own label)
Amy Hopwood hails from the seaside town of Weymouth, in Dorset, so it makes sense that her inspiration would either come from the land or ...
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BELLA HARDY – Postcards & Pocketbooks (Noe NOE12CD)
I still tend to think of Bella Hardy as one of the bright young things of folk music but she has already done more than ...
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BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards – the winners
Leonard Cohen inducted into Radio 2 Folk Awards Hall of Fame Dervish and Wizz Jones win Lifetime Achievement Awards The winners of the BBC Radio ...
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LEONARD BARRY DECLAN FOLAN SHANE McGOWAN – Hurry The Jug (own label)
As soon as I started to play Hurry The Jug I was struck by an indefinable warmth in the music that immediately made me feel ...
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DOGHOUSE ROSES – We Are Made Of Light (Doghouse Roses)
Glasgow’s Doghouse Roses’ album We Are Made Of Light oozes Americana, but it still lingers with the taste of a great Old Chub Scottish ale ...
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JOHN RICHARDS – Bring Back The Spring (Working Joe Music WJMCD2019)
John Richards is credited on his new CD Bring Back The Spring as "John Richards, Songwriter". And it is indeed quite possible that you have ...
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Christy Moore announces new live album
Christy Moore’s new album, Magic Nights, will be released worldwide on 22nd November 2019. Featuring 26 songs across two discs, Magic Nights is a further ...
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BIRD IN THE BELLY – Neighbours And Sisters (GF*M Records GFM011)
“Delightfully dark” is how I’d describe Neighbours And Sisters, the second album by Brighton collective, Bird In The Belly. I haven’t yet heard their debut, ...
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Larkin Poe – folking award winners announce European tour
Nashville-based sister duo Larkin Poe have today announced a European Tour throughout May 2020. Following their sold-out show at London’s Islington Assembly Hall late last ...
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RANT announce their third album
RANT is the meeting of four of Scotland’s finest fiddle players: two from the Shetland Islands and two from the Highlands. Their third album, The ...
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FELICITY BUIRSKI – Committed To The Fire (Tree of Life FJB2019CD3)
Committed To The Fire was actually released earlier this year, but somehow slipped under the radar; however, albums of such quality should not be allowed ...
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NATALIE MACMASTER – Sketches (Linus)
Natalie MacMaster’s Sketches bows new life into the great fiddle tradition. And please, forget for a moment that she’s immensely popular (with a Christmas album ...
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Smith & Brewer announce their first studio album
Smith & Brewer release their debut studio album on November 1st. Recorded over the course of a week in early 2018, using a makeshift studio ...
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NIALL KELLY – Promenade (Glovebox Records, GL103)
Promenade is Niall Kelly’s third album release, and a Kickstarter project, as is ever more commonplace these days. A dozen or so years spent deeply ...
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AWKWARD FAMILY PORTRAITS – Everything We’ve Done Up Until Now Except What We’ve Done Since (Holy Smokes Records)
Awkward Family Portraits (that’s the band name) recently released Everything We’ve Done Up Until Now Except What We’ve Done Since (that’s the album name). The ...
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JIM MORAY – The Outlander (Managed Decline MD001)
For The Outlander, his seventh solo album, Moray dispenses with any original material to focus on a set of ten traditional numbers, some familiar, some ...
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CARL HESSION, FRANCIS CUNNINGHAM AND EIMEAR COUGHLAN – Úrnua (own label URN001)
Carl Hession is held to be one of the finest accompanists, arrangers and composers in Irish music; a veteran of Moving Cloud and a number ...
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DREW HOLCOMB & THE NEIGHBORS – Dragons (Thirty Tigers 41767CD)
Dragons, the tenth album by the Memphis-born, Nashville-based Holcomb finds him in jubilant form, even if many of the songs touch on mortality, with his ...
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KIRSTY McGEE & THE HOBOPOP COLLECTIVE – The Deafening Sound Of Stars (HoboPop HPCD0012)
Kirsty McGee is something of a veteran now but she has operated under many people’s radar including, sad to say, mine over the last few ...
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Bella Hardy announces retrospective collection
BBC Folk Singer of the Year Bella Hardy found her first home in folk music through a childhood love for ballad books. A self-taught ‘fiddle ...
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THE WHISKEY TREATY ROAD SHOW – Band Together (own label)
Band Together is an album that came to me out of the blue. First impressions – with a name like The Whiskey Treaty Road Show ...
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FINN PAUL – Wind & Stone (Independent Release IWCD001)
Scottish singer-songwriter Finn Paul says, accurately enough, that his music "… is about fantastical nonsense; pirates, dreamworlds and mystical islands. But more than that it's ...
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CHRIS CLEVERLEY – We Sat Back And Watched It Unfold (Opiate Records OPI001)
I loved Chris Cleverley’s first album, Apparitions, which appeared in 2015. That was four years ago so he hasn’t rushed into recording his follow-up. In ...
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PIERRE SCHRYER & ADAM DOBRES – Mandorla (SDP-56169)
In early September Pierre Schryer and Adam Dobres released Mandorla, an album which features tunes from across the world. Schryer is one of Canada’s leading ...
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TIM GRIMM – Heart Land Again (Cavalier CR255624)
Twenty years on from the release of his debut album, the Indiana-based Americana singer-songwriter revisits Heart Land with a re-recorded version alongside two new numbers and, ...
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Burning Salt Live In London
Burning Salt have a knack when it comes to finding interesting venues. The last time I saw them was at Shrewsbury Unitarian Church, an impressive ...
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Jon Boden announces new album
Chicago-born and Sheffield-based folk outlier Jon Boden has recently announced his fourth solo album, Rose In June, which is due for release November 1st on ...
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MEGSON – Little Bird (EDJ EDJ024)
As well as their adult material, Stu and Debbie Hanna also regularly play shows for young audiences, introducing them to child friendly traditional folk songs ...
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SINGLES BAR 45- A round-up of recent EPs and singles
SARAH YEO is British but she is more deeply steeped in the sounds of America than some Americans. Safe is a five track EP of ...
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MEAN MARY – Cold (Woodrock)
That’ll be Alabama-born. Florida-raised and Nashville-based singer-songwriter Mary James, an early musical prodigy from a musical family (guitarist brother Frank and co-writer author mother Jean) ...
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ALAN PROSSER & AL CLARKE – Living In Clover (Rafting Dog Records RD055)
Alan Prosser and Al Clarke have a Canterbury connection: Alan with Oysterband (who took their name from a connection with Whitstable in case you’re confused) ...
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WOOKALILY – Everything Is Normal Except The Little Things Inside My Head (Roxy Records RRCD001)
Almost five years on from their debut album, the female Belfast folk noir five-piece return with a follow-up marked by the confidence and experience gained ...
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3HATTRIO – Live At Zion (Okehdokee Records)
3hattrio release Live At Zion in November. What do you get if three musicians find themselves living in the desert but have arrived there with ...
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John Tams rejoins Home Service
If you thought Home Service had gone a bit quiet of late here’s some good news - the band is back with some great gigs ...
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LUKE DANIELS – Old Friends & Exhausted Enemies (Wren Wren019)
Let me own up and say I blow somewhat hot and cold regarding Daniels’ music. I wasn’t a fan of Revolve & Rotate, for which ...
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JACKDAW – No Cactus (DUGUY/CUTTHROAT 3747-02)
Jackdaw release No Cactus on October 3rd. In very broad terms, you’d classify the album as Americana. From this point onwards I want to write ...
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HANNAH JAMES AND THE JIGDOLL ENSEMBLE – The Woman And Her Words (BMC JDR002)
What with Hannah Elizabeth and Hannah Martin, Hannah seems to be a favourite name among the contemporary English folk circle at present, this particular Hannah ...
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SAYER & JOYCE – Makes You Stronger (Gulf Coast Records)
Sayer & Joyce released Makes You Stronger on September 20th. Makes You Stronger is one of those blues albums that just makes you want to ...
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REG MEUROSS – Raw (Hatsongs HAT021)
The third of the solo back to basics recordings Raw trilogy reunites him with Geoff Hocking, the man who recorded and engineered everything he did ...
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Smoke Fairies announce new album
Smoke Fairies have announced the release their first album for four years. Darkness Brings The Wonders Home will be released on January 31st coupled with ...
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JOHNNY COPPIN – 30 Songs (Red Sky RSKCD122)
Covering four decades 30 Songs, a new compilation from the Stroud-based singer-songwriter amply serves, were it needed, to underscore his status as one of the ...
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OONAGH DERBY – Breathe (own label KTM002)
In real life Oonagh Derby is a PR representing a number of distinguished Irish artists. Behind that façade, however, there is a diva waiting to ...
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JACK RUTTER – Gold Of Scar & Shale (own label RUTTCD025)
There can be no doubt that Jack Rutter is one of the finest young interpreters of traditional song in the country. For his second album, ...
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PAULA RYAN – Turas Cumadóir (Maverico MAVO/SA/1003)
Born and bred in Tipperary, Ryan is the working definition of a solo artist, writing, arranging and performing everything (and that includes bouzouki, marimba, bodhran, ...
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Leonard Barry, Declan Folan and Shane McGowan announce new album
The origins of the trio can be traced back to Tubercurry and Bunnanaden, the heartland of the famed South Sligo tradition where both Declan Folan ...
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Band Of Burns announces first studio album
Recorded by the twelve members of the band in Watercolour Studios last year, The Thread is a true representation of the band's international influences, and ...
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THE MINING CO. – Frontier (own label)
The third album from London-based Irishman Michael Gallagher in as many years, he’s declared this as his romantic album, both in terms of songs and ...
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BRUCE COCKBURN – Crowing Ignites (True North Records TND 737)
Bruce Cockburn, legendary Canadian artist, released Crowing Ignites on September 20th. This is Cockburn’s 34th album and is made up of eleven new compositions – ...
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STYLUSBOY – Routes (Tortoise Recordings)
Although Coventry singer-songwriter Steve Jones released the Out Upon The Ocean EP in May, it’s been six years since his last studio album, Hospitality For ...
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Hannah James announces her new album
Described as 'a true original' by the Guardian, spellbindingly innovative musician and dancer Hannah James and her most recent project The JigDoll Ensemble, announce the ...
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DARRIN BRADBURY – Talking Dogs & Atom Bombs (Anti-)
Darrin Bradbury’s Talking Dogs & Atomic Bombs spins in the echo of John Prine’s “speed of the sound of loneliness”. That said, this music doesn’t ...
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PP ARNOLD – The New Adventures Of (Absolute/Ear Music, 0214038EMU)
PP Arnold never quite became the global soul superstar she deserved to be, despite that rich, wounded voice giving the defninitive rendition of Cat Stevens’ ...
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Darrin Bradbury announces new album
Known for blending dark humor with obvious-once-you-hear-them observations on everyday life, Darrin Bradbury’s songs are both funny and thought-provoking. Today, Bradbury is proud to share ...
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DOM PRAG – Young Man On A Ferry (own label)
Young Man On A Ferry is another album that arrived out of the blue. Dom Prag is based in the Southampton area and, although this ...
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LISA BASTONI – How We Want To Live (own label)
How We Want To Live, the Massachusetts singer-songwriter’s fifth album is a collection of songs informed by an absent father and her recent divorce The ...
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Tommy Sands announces new album
A new album release from Tommy Sands is always a special event but Fair Play To You All on Spring Records is perhaps one of ...
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STEVE LOGAN – Shaking Hands With The Devil (Moondragon Records SLOG 026)
Steve Logan, Song-Poet, Cambridge-based, from Wales has a new album Shaking Hands With The Devil. The DJ Johnnie Walker used to have a slot called ...
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BEMIS – The After Hours (Mayfield Records)
This time I have the advantage of knowing who Bemis are before I start. Actually the Portsmouth band have gone through a change of line-up ...
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Dave Pegg Cropredy 2019 Interview
Paul Johnson and Darren Beech catch up with Dave Pegg at Cropredy 2019. In the interview we talk about the wind, the weather and health ...
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CATGOD – Feel It Go Round (own label)
An Oxford-based five-piece centred around siblings Robin Christensen-Marriott and Catherine Marriott, they trade in slightly woozy, hushed pastoral psychedelia that clearly has an affinity for ...
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STEVE PLEDGER – Alone In The Dark (Noisy Dog Records NDCD02)
As Steve says “live is what happens in a space…in a moment” but he produces a damn good approximation on his mini-album Alone In The ...
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HOTH BROTHERS – Workin’ And Dreamin’ (own label)
Having already released his own solo album earlier this year, Bard Edrington V now returns in company with fellow songsmith Boris McCutcheon on a project ...
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MERRY HELL – A Documentary: A Year in the Life (own label)
Exactly what it says, A Year In The Life follows the much acclaimed and awards-festooned Wigan outfit across the course of a year from February ...
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SHOW OF HANDS – Battlefield Dance Floor (Proper Records PRPCD156)
Battlefield Dance Floor is the 18th studio album from Show Of Hands, a band that is one of the most recognized Folk acts of the ...
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Topette!! announce their second album
Following a season of smouldering live shows across the UK and Europe, acclaimed Anglo-French acoustic dance band Topette!! have been back in the studio to ...
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CHRIS WHILE AND JULIE MATTHEWS – Revolution Calls (Fat Cat FATCD041)
I’ve listened to a good deal of Chris While and Julie Matthews over the years but I don’t think I’ve heard them produce anything as ...
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ROAD NOT TAKEN – Fragment (own label)
A new Bristol-based folk four-piece comprising pure-voiced singer Anita Dobson, Claire Hamlen on fiddle, guitarist Ant Miles and Joe Hamlen providing bass, banjo and harmonium ...
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ASHLEY SOFIA – Shades Of Blue (own label)
Raised in the Adirondack Mountains and now based in Nashville, Shades Of Blue is Sofia’s second album, a baker’s dozen of self-penned folk rock tracks ...
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I SEE HAWKS IN L.A. & THE GOOD INTENTIONS – Hawks With Good Intentions (Western Seeds Record Company WSR-CD014)
A team-up album that brings together the Los Angeles quartet and Liverpool folk duo Peter Davies and Gabrielle Monk, who, after several years of shared ...
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SINGLES BAR 44 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles
As a taster for his somewhat delayed album, From Coalfield To Battlefield, GARY MILLER releases his DLI EP. The DLI is The Durham Light Infantry ...
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ALLISON LUPTON – Words Of Love (own label ALCD005)
An Ontario singer-songwriter and flautist in the Celtic folk tradition, Lupton twins her own material with traditional numbers from both Canada and the UK, this ...
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JEREMY IVEY – The Dream And The Dreamer (Anti-)
Jeremy Ivey’s The Dream and the Dreamer is a collection of tunes that touch the tough folk rock semi-tone that spirals between the “stars and ...
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SIMON SCARDANELLI – The Rock, The Sea, The Rising Tide (Resonator RES0015)
In the distant past, Scardanelli used to be Simon Tedd, one half of 80s acoustic duo Big Bam Boo, these days he’s a solo artist ...
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BEN HEMMING – The Devil Beside Me (own label)
Released in May 2019, Ben Hemming’s third album, The Devil Beside Me is, it’s fair to say, a pitch dark slice of blues. Written from ...
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ELLIS PAUL – The Storyteller’s Suitcase (Rosella)
Originally from Maine and resident in Virginia for the past fourteen years, with nineteen albums to his name Ellis Paul (born Paul Plissey) was a ...
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SARA GREY & KIERON MEANS – Better Days A Comin (WildGoose Records WGS431CD)
There is something special about real traditional folk music. It doesn’t matter where it comes from or what language it is, it stands out as ...
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SASKIA GRIFFITHS-MOORE – Baez, Dylan & Me (own label)
For her second album this year, Griffths-Moore opted to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Woodstock by recording an album of songs she’d have liked to ...
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RALPH McTELL – Hill Of Beans (Leola Music TPGCD50)
The new Ralph McTell CD Hill Of Beans, due for release on the 20th September 2019, is apparently his first collection of original material since ...
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KATHRYN WILLIAMS – Anthology (One Little Indian TPLP392CDBOX)
Well, this is a mammoth affair. Released as a limited edition box set Anthology exhaustively trawls pretty much the Mercury-nominated softly-voiced Williams’ entire musical career and ...
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JASON HAWK HARRIS – Love & the Dark (Bloodshot)
Born in Houston and based in LA, baby-faced singer/songwriter and classically-trained composer Jason Hawk Harris is a new name but, judging by his debut album, ...
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RACHAEL SAGE – Pseudomyopia (MPress Records MP9009-2)
Last year, Sage a legally blind New York singer-songwriter without corrective lenses, released Myopia, her 14th album, packed with ringing guitars, piano and, for the ...
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GWILYM BOWEN RHYS – Arenig (Erwydd Records ER003)
Arenig is the third solo album from multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Gwilym Bowen Rhys, 2019 Welsh Folk Awards Best Solo Artist winner and BBC Radio 2 Folk ...
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GRANNY’S ATTIC – Wheels Of The World (Grimdon Records GRICD001)
A great deal has happened since Granny’s Attic released their second album, Off The Land, three years ago. A lot more people have heard of ...
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BROPHY’S LAW – True Stories (own label)
Brophy’s Law’s album, True Stories, is a jaunty folk-rock ride that has certain festival appeal, and, quite frankly, could quite possibly cause a convention of ...
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ROWAN RHEINGANS – The Lines We Draw Together (Red Dress Records CD01)
The Lines We Draw Together, from banjoist, fiddle player, singer and innovative songwriter Rowan Rheingans is a bit of a juxtaposition with the music being ...
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BOO HEWERDINE – Before (Reveal Records REVEAL083CDX)
Boo Hewerdine never seems to do anything the obvious way and there can hardly be anything less obvious than Before. The basic idea is that ...
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Ric Sanders Cropredy 2019 Interview
Paul Johnson is still suffering from delusions of grandeur and is again banging on about our ‘world renounced’ interviews as if he actually believes it ...
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Stylusboy announces his second handmade album
Stylusboy, Coventry singer-songwriter Steve Jones, creates indie folk music steeped in warm-hearted melodies and heartfelt lyrics. Influenced by cult contemporary songwriters like Damien Rice and ...
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Finn Collinson launches his debut album in Tufnell Park
On Friday 6th September Finn Collinson and band are launching his debut album Call To Mind at Aces & Eights, Tufnell Park. Call To Mind ...
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3hattrio – new album
3hattrio arrive here at the start of the week to kick off their latest UK/European tour. Their fifth album Live At Zion, recorded in a ...
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Boo Hewerdine announces his new album
Before was recorded in the first weeks of 2019, with supreme Danish multi-instrumentalist Gustaf Ljunggren, Boo’s only collaborator on the set. Whilst this is an ...
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WOOD, WIRE AND WORDS – The Boy With The Smile (own label)
Wood, Wire And Words are a trio from Portsmouth: lead singer and guitarist David Rozzell, who writes most of the band’s songs; Clare Rozzell, vocalist ...
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Show Of Hands announce new album
With its arresting cover of a felled marionette, Battlefield Dance Floor is the 18th studio album from one of the most prized acts on the ...
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GALLERY 47 – Chaos Ensued (Bad Production Records)
Gallery 47 used to be a six-piece band from Loughborough but it/he is now just Jack Peachey working solo under the name with Chaos Ensued ...
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Chris Leslie Cropredy 2019 Interview
Well, as we always say, it would not be Cropredy without our annual Chris Leslie interview. Darren Beech and Paul Johnson tracked Mr. Leslie down ...
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JESSE DAYTON – Mixtape Volume 1 (blu-elan Records BER1175)
Jesse Dayton wanted “to do cool versions of the songs that I thought the original writers would dig”. His new album Mixtape Volume 1 is ...
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PHIL LANGRAN – Skywriting (Longshore Drift LODR001)
Praised by Kathryn Williams and produced by Boo Hewerdine, who also contributes guitar, harmonium and dulcitone to Skywriting, veteran Nottingham singer-songwriter Langram comes from the ...
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MARTIN SIMPSON – Rooted (Topic TXCD598)
Did you know that Ernest Shackleton considered a banjo essential to mental health on his expedition to the South Pole? Neither did I but it’s ...
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Andy Clark releases his debut album this month
Andy Clark's debut album I Love Joyce Morris will be released on August 30th. His sound is similar to Animal Collective’s hit ‘My Girls’, or Tom Rosenthal’s ...
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Chris Ricketts to release a new album after seven year gap
After seven years away from the folk scene, Chris Ricketts announces a much anticipated new album of self-penned sea songs and re-visited traditional shanties for ...
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THE LOST WORDS – Spell Songs (Folk By The Oak QRCD004)
Having held the unofficial job title "wordsmith" in various contexts for several decades, I was not going to miss the opportunity of hearing and reviewing ...
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Rowan Rheingans announces her first solo album
Rowan Rheingans is a fiddle player, banjoist, singer and songwriter widely regarded as one of the foremost innovators in folk music today. Best known for her work with ...
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WE BANJO 3 – Roots To Rise Live (own label WB3CD006)
We’ve been through this before but… We Banjo 3 are two pairs of brothers, the Howleys and the Seahills who play a sort of Irish-Americana ...
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AIDAN O’ROURKE & KIT DOWNES – 365 Volume 2 (Reveal Records Reveal018CDX)
Having been privileged to see Aidan O’Rourke and Kit Downes performing their 365 Volume 1 in 2018, the release of 365 Volume 2 was extremely ...
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THE ASHEN – Slowdive (Kosi Records KOSI001)
The name of Andi Lee, recording here under the name The Ashen, may be familiar to you from his time with the metal band My ...
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Video Wall 10
Well, the thunder is rumbling, the rain is beating down and festivals anywhere near the sea are packing up early - a typical British summer ...
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HAYLEY ROSS – The Weight Of Hope (Barracuda Recordings – CUDA006)
After 2 previous EPs, Barracuda EP (2016) and Fierce Love EP (2015), this debut album from Hayley Ross has been four years in the making ...
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Keeping It Live – Dan Jones @ Varaignes Chateau
There are gigs – and then there are gigs to remember when others have been forgotten - maybe it’s the music, the interaction with the ...
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365: Stories And Music opens in Edinburgh
The Edinburgh International Book Festival today launched the latest chapter in the 365: Stories And Music collaboration between James Robertson and Aidan O’Rourke. Commissioned by ...
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Maz O’Connor announces new album
Critically acclaimed English singer and songwriter Maz O’Connor releases Chosen Daughter, her first new studio album since 2016, on October 25 via Restless Head/Hudson Records ...
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ALISTAIR BROWN – When Fishes Fly (Prospect Records PC005)
When, in the post-Brexit dystopia, you can no longer afford a trip to your local folk club When Fishes Fly is one of the records ...
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YOKO PWNO – Artefacts (SRCDX006)
Yoko Pwno (not a typo) released Artefacts earlier this year. The album is an enjoyable crossover between folk and modern electronic styles (also not a ...
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SHEILA K CAMERON – River To Sea (Glalell SKC1709CD)
Sheila K Cameron has systematically reissued some of her early recordings over the last few years. She is a Scottish songwriter and singer who has ...
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CHARLIE GREY AND JOSEPH PEACH – Air Iomall (Braw Sailin’ Records CD007BSR)
Last August Charlie Grey and Joseph Peach set sail on the tall ship Wylde Swan to visit five uninhabited islands off the west coast of ...
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DICK GAUGHAN – The “Harvard” Tapes: Definitive Concert from 1982 (Greentrax CDTRAX406)
When I first began ‘discovering’ the folk genre, my main go-to artefacts were a small collection of CDs and tapes that belonged to my brother ...
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VELVET & STONE – Velvet & Stone (own label LVID03)
Following three EPs, Devon duo singer and songwriter Lara Snowdon and violinist Kathryn Tremlett finally release their eponymous debut album, Velvet & Stone one which ...
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Paula Ryan, Irish singer and composer, announces new album
In her superb new album Turas Cumadóir, Paula Ryan, compelling singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist originally from Tipperary in Ireland, entices us to join her enthralling ...
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FINN COLLINSON – Call To Mind (Old School Music OSMCD01)
We’ve all played a recorder sometime in the dim and distant past, whether we wanted to or not, but we never played like Finn Collinson ...
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Velvet & Stone announce their debut album
Velvet & Stone’s highly anticipated debut album is released on August 2nd 2019. The self-titled album is a collection of the band’s songs which they’ve ...
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NORTH SEA GAS – Hearth & Homeland (Scotdisc CDTV888)
Do you remember when a band would go into a studio with a bunch of songs and make an album relying on nothing more than ...
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HENRY PARKER – Silent Spring (own label BFD-CD001HMP)
Guitarist-singer-songwriter Henry Parker comes from Keighley which is something of a hotbed for musicians as far as we can gather. After a spell playing in ...
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BALDRICK’S PLAN – Counting The Tides (Grandplan Records GPR1902)
Though Baldrick's Plan is a well-known name around my part of Cornwall, until recently my acquaintance with them was restricted to hearing isolated tracks on ...
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Amy Speace releases new album and plays UK dates in September
Amy Speace - the former Shakespearean-trained actor who is known for her literate, detailed songwriting and versatile, expressive vocals - has announced the September 6th ...
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ROB HARBRON – Meanders (own label ROBRECD003)
I sometimes wonder if the playing of the concertina should, like practicing the bagpipes, be a regulated solo activity. Bob Copper famously taught himself to ...
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Elephant Sessions release digital single for World Elephant Day
Elephant Sessions and Word Elephant Day release a single to raise funds for the charity on August 9th 2019. The band from the Highlands of ...
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SINGLES BAR 43 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles
Formed in response to an RSC songwriting competition, Coventry-based THE MECHANICALS BAND are fronted by Wes Finch and feature Nizlopi double bassist John Parker, drummer ...
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THE CLUTHA – Live From Harvard (own label CLUTHA2019CD)
The Clutha were a big deal in Scottish traditional music in the 1970s although not as well known down here in the south as such ...
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THEA GILMORE – Small World Turning (Shameless Records, SHAME19001)
If you’ve ever wondered what the sound of a Small World Turning is, Thea Gilmore’s first album in two years has the answer. It’s furious, ...
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PJ Wright Interview from the New Forest Folk Festival 2019
Paul Johnson and Darren Beech catch up with PJ Wright in the artists garden at the New Forest Folk Festival. PJ was performing later that ...
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THE SCHMOOZENBERGS – Awaken (Schmusic Records SCHCD01)
The Schmoozenbergs are essentially a Gypsy Jazz band who have recently released their second album Awaken - and it’s a gently lovely listen. The video ...
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John Jones Interview
Paul Johnson and Darren Beech catch up with John Jones after Oysterband closed the Saturday night of New Forest Folk Festival 2019. We talk about ...
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Glackin and Flynn announce debut album
Irish traditional musicians Doireann Glackin (fiddle) and Sarah Flynn (concertina) are neighbours and musical partners who have grown up immersed in the incredibly vibrant traditional ...
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CARLY DOW – Comet (own label CDOW-002)
Having made a name for herself in her native Canada, the banjo-playing environmental scientist turned singer-songwriter’s second album, Comet, the follow-up to her impressive Ingrained ...
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MIKE VASS – The Four Pillars (Unroofed Records UR005CD)
The four pillars of traditional Scottish music are, as you know, the air, the march, the strathspey and the reel. With this in mind, Mike ...
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ALICE HOWE – Visions (own label AH002)
It’s just three years since the Boston-based Howe decided to make music a full-time career, the catalyst being meeting Bonnie Raitt’s legendary bassist, Freebo, at ...
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JONES – Carver’s Law (MEME CDMM20)
The title a reference to a maxim held by the writer Raymond Carver to give everything he had each day trusting that the well would ...
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BELINDA KEMPSTER & FRAN FOOTE – On Clay Hill (From Here Records SITW013CD)
Any recording that comes out of the Stick In The Wheel stable is worth listening to and if you’re familiar with their From Here collections ...
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3 Daft Monkeys Interview and Tour Dates
Its been a while since we chatted to those 3 Daft Monkeys, so thought it was high time we caught up with them at the ...
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Peter Knight Interview
Paul Johnson and Darren Beech caught up with Peter Knight after Gigspanner Big Band closed the Friday night of New Forest Folk Festival 2019. We ...
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MARK SOMERS – Restless Poetry (own label)
To your list of famous Belgians add the name of Mark Somers because if you don’t know about him now you will soon. Mark is ...
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Gatehouse announce their second album
“It is said that music lifts the spirit and this is so true on Gatehouse’s new album Heather Down The Moor. Garnering their repertoire from ...
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Artificial intelligence may be used to reveal secrets behind traditional folk music dating back thousands of years
The secrets behind traditional folk music from across the globe and dating back thousands of years are likely to be revealed by using artificial intelligence, ...
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ELEPHANT SESSIONS – What Makes You (Elephant Sessions)
Since the release of their last album, 2017’s All We Have Is Now, the five young Highlanders who are Elephant Sessions have toured around the ...
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Belinda Kempster and Fran Foote – new album feature
From Here Records release On Clay Hill, Stick In The Wheel harmony singer Fran Foote’s debut album with her mother, Belinda Kempster. Belinda began singing traditional ...
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Jones announces his new solo album, Carver’s Law
As one half of Miracle Mile, Trevor ‘Jones’ released nine albums of beautiful, literate pop music, the last of which, In Cassidy’s Care, was issued ...
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ALAN CATTON – Tales From The North Sea Strand (own label)
Tales From The North Sea Strand is Alan Catton’s second album of 2019. You may remember that Alan lives in Hull and plays guitar with ...
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KAREN MARSHALSAY – The Road to Kennacraig (Cramasie Records CRCD001)
Karen Marshalsay's CD of harp music The Road To Kennacraig – due for release on 15th July 2019 – shows her to be a fine ...
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HONEY AND THE BEAR – Made In The Aker (own label)
Based on a ridiculously small sample, I’m beginning to detect a trend for small groups of players making big music overlaid with powerful vocals. If ...
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ANNIE SUMI – In The Unknown (own label)
Sometimes the music you didn’t know you needed to hear will find you anyway, as a rare and serendipitous encounter with Canadian singer/songwriter Annie Sumi ...
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Keep It Live – Dodo Street Band at Worksop College
A few months ago I reviewed the Dodo Street Band CD, Natural Selection, and thought it was pretty good (read Mike's review here). They didn’t ...
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CURSE OF LONO – 4am And Counting (Submarine Cat SUBCD022)
Originally released as a limited edition red vinyl album for Record Store Day, this 11-track set, recorded live at Toe Rag Studios is now available ...
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Luke Daniels announces new album and single
Following on from his critically acclaimed debut album What’s Here What’s Gone in 2014, Revolve & Rotate in 2016 (**** The Guardian) for which he ...
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Jack Rutter announces second album
Gold Of Scar & Shale, the second solo album from traditional folk singer and multi-instrumentalist Jack Rutter will be available on CD and DL from October 4th ...
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Alasdair Roberts announces new album The Fiery Margin
Whether we understand the reference in the line, it sums up Alasdair Roberts' new album The Fiery Margin and his approach as a singer and songwriter, ...
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EMILY MAE WINTERS – High Romance (own label EMW 03)
With her second album, High Romance, Emily Mae Winters has taken a big step towards the mainstream. Both ‘Wildfire’ and ‘Gin Tingles & Whiskey Shivers’ ...
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VIDEO WALL 9
It’s been a few months since we posted a selection of videos so let’s see what’s lurking in the inbox. First is Liverpool band VILE ...
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DERMOT BYRNE ÉAMONN COYNE JOHN DOYLE – Liag (own label ARCOF1902CD)
Liag is an album of music from South-West Donegal that has been gestating for about thirty years. It concentrates on the more obscure corners of ...
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DAN KORN & JOE SHARP – Polaris (own label – DK002CD)
Dan and Joe have worked together since 2010 on Dan’s first EP Dustbowl, a second EP Into The Warm and debut LP Of The Sea ...
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BEN WALKER – Echo (Folk Room FRR1902)
Ben Walker is known as a guitarist, composer, arranger and producer but he is neither a lyricist nor a singer. For his debut solo album ...
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THE SMALL GLORIES – New Album
The Small Glories make their US debut with ASSINIBOINE & THE RED, an album that celebrates the Canadian Prairies. The first single, "Oh My Love," ...
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Flook release limited edition vinyl Ancora
Ancora is released today in a Limited Edition of 500 Orange Vinyl. Flook say that "We had a tough time choosing the winner of our ...
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Karen Marshalsay announces debut album of Scottish harp
One of Scotland’s leading harpers, Karen Marshalsay releases a new album of traditional harp music and original compositions, The Road to Kennacraig, on Monday 15th ...
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MALINKY – Handsel (Greentrax CDTRAX402)
Here’s the second Scottish band celebrating their 20th anniversary this year. While some might go for a big statement Malinky, who concentrate on song more ...
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KETE BOWERS – Paper Ships (Current Records)
I first encountered the now Essex-based Liverpudlian singer-songwriter with the release of his single, ‘Northern Town’ and ‘A Town With No Cheer’, two spare tales ...
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Chris Cleverley announces new album release
Alt-folk songwriter and fingerstyle guitarist, Chris Cleverley announces the release of 2nd studio solo album, entitled ‘We Sat Back And Watched It Unfold’. Produced by ...
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TWAS NOW – Flesh And Bone (own label)
Hailing from Kitchener, Ontario, and taking their name from enigmatic graffiti adorning a prominent railroad bridge, Mike and Diana Erb have their feet firmly planted ...
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EAMON FRIEL – Atlantic Light (Thran Records THR 1013)
Atlantic Light is Eamon Friel’s eighth and final album. The Londonderry broadcaster, performer and songwriter died unexpectedly at a remarkably youthful sixty-nine over the weekend ...
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DYLAN LEBLANC – Renegade (ATO Records)
Dylan LeBlanc’s fourth album, Renegade, was released on June 7th - and it’s rather good. LeBlanc’s publicity gives details of a pretty impressive back story ...
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EVAN CARSON – Ocipinski (Evan Carson Music – ECMCD001)
Ocipinski is percussionist Evan Carson's first solo album inspired by Jerzy Ocipinski and the Polish Resistance Movements of the Second World War. Why this subject ...
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STEELEYE SPAN – EST’D 1969 (Park Records PRKCD154)
There are bands who seem to have always been there and have established a reputation that even allows them to break out into the mainstream ...
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SINGLES BAR 42 – The meaning of life, the universe and everything
A round-up of recent EPs and singles Echoes is the first solo work from Sheffield’s NICOLA BEAZLEY. Nicola plays five-string fiddle which she blends with ...
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COE, PETERS & SMYTH – The Road To Peterloo (Backshift Music BASHCD 65)
In spite of the establishment’s attempts to cover up the story of the massacre for nigh on two hundred years, it’s now common knowledge to ...
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Elliott Morris announces his second album
The Way Is Clear is the new album from singer/songwriter and guitarist Elliott Morris. It showcases Elliott’s expert percussive acoustic guitar playing, swooping and soulful ...
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LAURA VICTORIA – Today’s Another Day (own label LVLGA02)
The Northumberland- born, cello-playing, blues-influenced folk singer-songwriter Laura Victoria follows up her acclaimed 2015 debut Head Above Water with Today's Another Day, an album exploring ...
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SUNJAY – Devil Came Calling (own label SLCD201901)
Sunjay has now released five albums and really should be a star but the blues is “genre” music and that’s unlikely to happen yet awhile ...
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GAVIN LIVINGSTONE – Fire In The Snow (own label GAVCD01)
Formerly a member of Scottish outfit The Skerries and 70s folktronica duo Tonight At Noon, Fire In The Snow is the Glaswegian-based singer-songwriter’s first completely ...
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DARIA KULESH & MARINA OSMAN – Firebirds (own label)
Firebirds was recorded by Daria and Marina for sale at gigs – although you can also buy it from their website. The fifteen tracks were ...
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OLD MAN LUEDECKE – Easy Money (True North Records TND731)
The Canadian folk artist Old Man Luedecke released his sixth album Easy Money on June 7th. Luedecke is a previous winner of the Canadian Academy ...
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Bruce Springsteen – Western Stars (Columbia)
Released today, Western Stars is Bruce Springsteen’s 19th studio album. A beautiful sweeping soundscape, which for me musically, conjures up the image of a rancher ...
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SKIPINNISH – Steer By The Stars (Skipinnish Records SKIPCD28)
Skipinnish have had a spectacular couple of years since the release of The Seventh Wave and now, as they celebrate their twentieth anniversary, they find ...
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Sunjay announces new album
This month sees Sunjay release a brand new album, Devil Came Calling, his first to include original material in four years. The new record showcases ...
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JON WILKS – live in Birmingham
Kitchen Garden Café, Birmingham. June 9, 2019 Now based near Winchester, but making a welcome return to his hometown of Birmingham, opening with his reading ...
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Blackbeard’s Tea Party hit ten
Festival favourites, Blackbeard’s Tea Party, infamous for their frenetic fiddle tunes and thumping backline, celebrate their tenth birthday as a band in 2019 with a ...
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JOHN TAMS – The Reckoning (Topic TTSCD006)
The Reckoning, John Tams’ third solo album, is the latest deluxe re-issue marking Topic Records’ 80th anniversary. Originally released in 2005, it was the last ...
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BELINDA O’HOOLEY – Inversions (No Masters NMCD53)
If you’ve followed Belinda O’Hooley’s career you’ll be aware of what a fine musician she is and you will have noticed how her talents have ...
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MASSY FERGUSON – Great Divides (North & Left NL001)
A meat and gravy roots rock bar band powered by driving guitars, fronted by bassist Ethan Anderson and guitarist Adam Monda with Dave Goedde on ...
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Tanya Tucker back with new album
Country legend and original female outlaw Tanya Tucker returns after 17 years. Tucker’s new album, While I’m Livin’, is set for release on August 23rd ...
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NAOMI BEDFORD & PAUL SIMMONDS – Album Launch Interview
“The Men were up from Kent, and out of Essex too - Though naught but the Thames divides us and unites us onwards - Through ...
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JULIE JULY BAND – Lady Of The First Light (Aurora Folk Records JJB19CD1)
The Julie July Band is best known currently for Julie's sensitive reinterpretations of the Sandy Denny songbook, and their previous CD Who Knows Where The ...
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Martin Simpson announces new album
Singer, songwriter and guitar virtuoso Martin Simpson releases brand new studio album Rooted on August 30 on Topic Records. Produced by Andy Bell and recorded ...
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The Schmoozenbergs announce their new album
Conjuring up the mood of 1930s Paris, fused with flavours of Eastern Europe and the energy of a campfire jam session, The Schmoozenbergs’ uplifting music ...
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THE LARK AND THE LOON – 2 (own label)
I really enjoyed The Lark And The Loon’s previous album, Homestead Hands, and I’m glad to say that their follow-up, 2, doesn’t disappoint. The Lark ...
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THE BYRDS – On A Wing: Volume 2 (Sound Stage – SS6CDBOX49)
In December last year, the Sound Stage label issued a massive Byrds boxed-set titled The Byrds On A Wing: Volume 1 and the good news ...
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Kete Bowers announces new album
It's rare to find a great talent appearing out of the blue with an exceptional album recorded with stellar musicians but Kete Bowers is such ...
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MARSHES – When The Lights Are Bright (Endearingly Ramshackle ER0001CD)
The artist formerly known as Beth Porter and the Availables, the name inspired by her new home in Dumfries and Galloway, When The Lights Are ...
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THE BAND – Live in Charleston 1994 (Live on Vinyl – LOVL2027)
Although The Band called it a day in the late 1970s (as famously documented in Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz) they did re-emerge in the ...
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