Welcome to the folking.com review section.
The folking review team is a small, dedicated group of people with a passion and a commitment for the folk, acoustic and Americana music scene. They review the latest releases, each in their own inimitable style…
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MAIREARAD GREEN & RACHEL NEWTON – Anna Bhán (Shadowside Records SHADOW06)
There is a story behind this record; a story told in music, song and spoken word. Mairearad and Rachel are cousins although this is their first recorded collaboration as a duo. So there is an element of family history here but that is only the start of it. Anna Bhán ...
THE LEGENDARY TEN SECONDS – Folk Mellotronica (own label)
A variation on his folktronica approach to traditional folk, as the title suggests this time Ian Churchward has opted to feature the mellotron on the chosen songs, all bar three traditional numbers, alongside the usual guitar, drums and occasional bass. A brace from the canon get things underway with Jay ...
COHEN BRAITHWAITE-KILCOYNE – Play Up The Music! (Grimbon GRICD008)
I’ve spoken before about Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne’s rise from folk wunderkind to the youngest elder statesman on the circuit and will no doubt do so again. He has solo albums and his work with Granny’s Attic and he’s becoming a go-to player for project albums. Now he has one of his ...
ANGELINE MORRISON – Ophelia (own label AMCD2401)
Originally available via Bandcamp and now getting a pink CD and blue vinyl release, serving as a prelude to next year’s alchemy-themed official follow-up to ‘Sorrow Songs’, Ophelia comprises recordings from various points in time, some old, some new, reflected in the flow between styles and moods. Overall, however, they ...
BEAU JENNINGS & THE TIGERS – American Stories Major Chords (Black Mesa Records)
Oklahoma-based act, Beau Jennings & The Tigers return this month with an LP of all-new material, American Stories Major Chords. Coming in at eleven tracks, the latest record from the five-piece outfit serves as a showcase for the songs of band leader and rhythm guitarist, Beau Jennings. Bolstered by the tastefully ...
SINGLES BAR 106 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles
Birmingham’s funky alt-folk band BONFIRE RADICALS have a new EP called Flywheel for no readily explicable reason. If you haven’t heard them before you really should. They play mostly western instruments but sound exotic and Katie Stevens’ clarinet and kaval are the key alongside Michelle Holloway’s recorder and flute while ...
JON BODEN & THE REMNANT KINGS – Parlour Ballads (Hudson HUD052CD)
I don’t know about you but for me the phrase “parlour ballads” conjures up a vision of a wobbly soprano and a rather iffy upright piano. Jon Boden may agree but he sets out to subvert that idea although there is an upright piano right there on the cover. Jon ...
THE SUTHERING – Leave A Light On (Bessie Records)
The Suthering’s new album, Leave A Light On, is a burning bush collection of beautiful folk songs plaited with guitar, piano, fiddle, and sublime harmony voices. Indeed, Julu Irvine and Heg Brignall “will bring you the fire”. The first song, ‘Maggie’, is fused with melodic defiance. The lyric, “May the ...
THE RHEINGANS SISTERS – Start Close In (own label RSC005)
Like many artists in the folk world Anna and Rowan Rheingans divide their time across several projects which goes some way to explaining why Start Close In is their first duo album in four years. This hasn’t been made any easier by Anna spending a good deal of time in ...
ALASTAIR SAVAGE & ALICE ALLEN – Where The Good Ship Lands (Woodlands Records SAV007CD)
Cellist Alice Allen is on somewhat of a roll these days, her muse becoming ridiculously productive, both as a solo artist and in the many collaborations she is stacking up. Any lover of Scottish traditionally based music will be familiar with her playing, even if unfamiliar with her name, as ...
CHRIS WHILE AND JULIE MATTHEWS – Days Like These (Fat Cat FATCD050)
Days Like These is released to mark the duo’s 30 year partnership, the UK’s longest serving female duo. Not bad going for what was originally conceived as a one-off project as The Women of Albion. Joined by While’s daughter Kellie on harmonies, bassist Miranda Sykes, banjo maestro Dan Walsh, Tom ...
THORPE AND MORRISON – Grass & Granite (own label)
Guitarist Harry Thorpe and fiddler Sean Morrison are based in Birmingham, but the title of their third album together – Grass & Granite – refers to their childhood homes in Suffolk and Ayrshire, respectively. They describe making this album as being a gorgeous experience, and that comes through in the ...
JESS TUTHILL – Beautiful Disaster (own label)
Another late bloomer in terms of recording, after some 20 years writing music, singing and, more recently, playing ukulele, Reading’s Tuthill (an insight analyst in her day job) has finally got round to her debut album, Beautiful Disaster, produced by Ed Harcourt, who also plays piano and everything other than ...
LUKE DE SCISCIO – Theo (Folk Boy Records)
Despite the exoticness of his name, Luke De Sciscio is from Bath. And despite his tender years – he’s just 32 - he’s something of a veteran in the business with sixteen albums to his credit already plus any number of EPs and singles but this is the first time ...
TARREN – Outside Time (own label)
From Bristol they came and set about conquering the folk world. Sid Goldsmith, Alex Garden and Danny Pedler have already built their reputations with other line-ups but their second album, Outside Time, cements those reputations with their unique blend of traditional and original music. They start with ‘Claudia’s’ written by ...
BARD EDRINGTON V & THE BLACKBIRDS – Tired & Branded (own label)
Bard Edrington V lives in a part of the USA where, musically, “something appears to be happening”. It was apparent on his previous album, Two Days In Terlingua, https://folking.com/bard-edrington-v-two-days-in-terlingua-own-label/ and he’s built on it with Tired & Branded, due for release on September 15th. There are twelve tracks – Edrington’s ...
MICHAEL McDERMOTT – Lighthouse On The Shore AND East Jesus (PSR016CD)
Michael McDermott releases two albums on September 13th. It’s worth making the, possibly esoteric, point that even though they come in a single CD sleeve this is two albums – one electric biased, one acoustic biased – rather than a double album. McDermott is a Chicago based singer-songwriter with a ...
DEN MILLER – Bless The Rains (own label)
Den Miller is a singer/songwriter/ multi-instrumentalist from West Yorkshire. We’ve mentioned him before but Bless The Rains is the first of his albums we’ve got our hands on. Den plays nine instruments and is supported on just one track by Kurt Tabbada Wood who also did all the techie stuff ...
GRYPHON LIVE – A Sonic Tonic (Talking Elephant TECD497)
It may come as a surprise to learn that Gryphon have never before released a live album but with A Sonic Tonic they more than make up for that – a double CD covering a complete performance from their 2023 tour in set list order. They open with a sparkling ...
FELIX HATFIELD – House Of The Artist (FB04)
Felix Hatfield released House Of The Artist at the end of July and with all the summer frolics, I’m only just reviewing it. Which has its benefits – I’ve played it rather more, I’ve listened to it both loosely in the background and as closely as though poring over a ...
LEE DeWYZE- Gone For Days (own label)
Chicago-born DeWyze described his sixth album, Gone For Days as being about growth, questioning, and self-exploration, on which he’s variously joined by Union Station alumni Barry Bales and Tim Stafford, and cellist Dave Eggar. He cites Cat Stevens and Simon & Garfunkel among his influences, and fingerpicked, strings adorned opening ...
ORAN – Rebellious Rebirth (own label)
As Rebellious Rebirth is a debut album with an inspiring back story, by an artist – Oran - who is likely to be unfamiliar to many readers, a bit of background information seems a good way to start. Just a year ago the Scottish pianist, harpist, singer, and songwriter was ...
HOME SERVICE – A Live Transmission (Talking Elephant TECD500)
It’s an understatement to say that Home Service have had a turbulent career but they are still with us, albeit in a very different form from the line-up fronted by Bill Caddick and John Tams back in 1980 with only Graeme Taylor and Michael Gregory still present. A Live Transmission ...
GOOD GUY HANK – Silver Lining (own label)
Two Scots and an Australian met in a pub in Dunkeld and, united by their love of Hank Williams, formed a band - hence their name. The trio are Theo Barnard, Pepita Emmerichs and Donny McElligott and each has a strong musical pedigree albeit somewhere on the wild side. The ...
GHOSTWRITER – Tremulant (Subexotic SUBEX00162 vinyl/SUBEX00163 digital)
Founded by musician and novelist Mark Brend in 2009, Ghostwriter is a fluid project that brings together a revolving cast of contributors, recording remotely. Tremulant, created over several years, involves Brend, with historian Suzy Mangion, psych folk Anglican bishop Andrew Rumsey and Americana singer Michael Weston King of My Darling ...
THE SHACKLETON TRIO – The Shackleton Trio (own label)
With their tenth-year celebratory self-titled release, East Anglia’s Shackleton Trio takes Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson at his word and, in their own way, sings, “Let’s bungle in the jungle”. Main writer Georgia Shackleton conjures tales of Bob the Wonderdog, a theme for a different unwashed canine, a great big tortoise, ...
THE DONALD ANDERSON BAND – No Time For Turning Back (Making Waves MWCD002)
No Time For Turning Back, their second album, fronted by songwriter Anderson and featuring Alan McKay on guitars, drummer Ian Barrie and bassist Rick Nickerson, alongside contributions from fiddler Kirsten Hendry, mandolin player Steve Davidson, Nick Hann on sax and Chris Thomson on keys, the Knopfleresque vocals, phrasing, guitar work, ...
THE GLEEMAN – Something to Say (own label)
Here at folking we’ve been following the career of The Gleeman for a couple of years; a career peppered with excellent singles, fine songwriting and intriguing ideas. For the record, The Gleeman is Cornishman Dean Morris and he’s spent the time paying his dues before issuing his debut album, Something ...
THE LOST NOTES – Good Luck Shoes (own label)
The Lost Notes’ Good Luck Shoes is softly brilliant Americana folk music – all the way from Moseley, Birmingham. Odd, for those of us with Midwestern American Anglophile souls who dream of someday visiting a romantic-sounding very British idyll like, perhaps, the North Norfolk village of Great Snoring, by the ...
SINGLES BAR 105 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles
Despite co-writing Nitty Gritty Dirt Band hit ‘Buy For Me The Rain’ and releasing critically acclaimed albums Revenge Will Come, Diana And James and The Tango Bar, GREG COPELAND has always been somewhat in the shadow of schoolfriend Jackson Browne who produced his debut. Of course, gaps of 26 and 12 years between albums, respectively, didn’t ...
LINDA MOYLAN – The Fool (Talking Elephant TECD499)
Of London-Irish heritage, Moylan spans a folksy bridge from pub singalong Irish country on the one hand to more considered and complex material on the other. It’s the former that gets The Fool underway musically with the accordion, bodhran and fiddle bouncing ‘Irish Love Song’, though lyrically, while opening with “you were ...
SUSY WALL – The Spaces In Between (own label)
The Spaces In Between is yet another example of a début album from an artist that I've not come across before being an absolute gem. Susy grew up in near the Brecon Beacons in Wales and listened to all sorts of music which have influenced her ever since. Of the ...
HANK WEDEL – What Happens In Cork (own label)
With his melodic pop-infused folk album, What Happens In Cork, Hank Wedel tosses his songs into the (metaphorically-measured) sizzling singer-songwriter tuned cauldron, to add a melodic recipe. That’s not an easy feat. But while (the great!) Richard Thompson is correct in his ancient advice to “Share with your nearest till ...
PETE LAMBERT – I Told You A Story (Broken Chair Records)
It’s been a funny old summer, as quiet as I can remember on the folk, as in folk, release front, a varied stew of US releases filling the vacuum, slewing content here ever more toward country and Americana. And that, nominally, is actually where we remain, with I Told You ...
THE CHARTISTS – Cause For Complaint (Steam Pie Records SPCD 1021S)
Chartism was a 19th century working class movement which agitated for political reform based on the People’s Charter of 1838. It was particularly strong in industrial areas including the valleys of south Wales but was eventually suppressed by the government. Later, five of the six demands of the charter were ...
CHRIS BANNISTER – The Calling Course (Libra Records, Libra CD0724)
A Lancashire-born singer-songwriter and sometime John Denver tribute act, Chris Bannister’s latest, The Calling Course, draws inspiration from his own family history with several generations of his family working in the coal mines of both Lancashire, and Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, with many of the fictional characters in the songs ...
JORDIE LANE – Tropical Depression
Maybe it’s because he’s a ‘Stralian? Tropical Depression is released on August 23rd. It’s the most fascinating album to cross my (metaphorical) turntable this year. Jordie Lane is from Melbourne – but is acclaimed for his Americana music; his website shows him looking daft with diving mask and snorkel – ...
PAUL JOHNSON’S CROPREDY FESTIVAL 2024 LITTLE POD CAST REVIEW
Hi all Well we all know its been a bit of a hard and dramatic year in our world this year with many sad passing's, huge news stories, such as UK general election USA elections with all their mad twists and turns.. and sadly a fair few festivals in these ...
ANDREW J. NEWALL – My Lucky Charm (own label AJN2024CD)
This is a true story. Andrew J. Newall is quite explicit about that. My Lucky Charm is the soundtrack of a musical drama based on the life of Andrew’s mother Catherine, a complex story which actually begins in Donegal in 1881. Fortunately the album includes a booklet which expands on ...
MARK HARRISON BAND – Fools & Clowns (Highway Records HR0008)
Mark Harrison: bluesman, bandleader, songwriter, singer and guitarist. He’s supported by regular sidesmen, multi-instrumentalist Charles Benfield and drummer Ben Welburn, with extra guitar and keyboards from Guy Bennett. So if you’ve never heard Mark before what can you expect from Fools & Clowns? A big power trio, perhaps? Some cool ...
ANDREW COMBS – Dream Pictures (Loose Music)
Andrew Combs's album Dream Pictures is a soulful folk record with a candle’s dance and melodies that sip from a drowsy glass of wine. This is slow-burning stuff – with deeply grooved thoughtful tunes that embrace a gorgeous introspective late-night wisdom. As Nashville-based Andrew says, “This record is about contentment” ...
TANGLEJACK – The Ragged Edge (own label)
John-Paul Davies and Duncan Leigh – the two friends who make up Swansea based duo TangleJack – have been perfecting their own sound, based on two-part harmonies and interweaving guitar lines, for ten years. Now, with their new album The Ragged Edge, they believe they’ve reached the pinnacle of their ...
KAREN JONAS: The Rise & Fall Of American Kitsch (Goldrush Records)
I am uncertain where Ms Jonas’s tongue sits for this one, but I’ll hazard and hope it is firmly in cheek, the whole of this release screaming bargain basement excess, in the best possible sense of that, a knowing glimpse into tack and tinsel. Of course, to deliver a set ...
STEVIE JONES AND THE WILDFIRES – Getting There
Getting There is the fourth album from Stevie Jones and the Wildfires. It’s due to be launched on August 16th at The Musician in Leicester. Sometimes albums slap you round the face when you first play them, others creep up on you and you suddenly hear something rather splendid that ...
LUCY PARKER – A Beautiful Place To Die (B Side Recording)
A new name from Wolverhampton (though currently at university in Surrey), taking inspiration from Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, and Lewis Capaldi, Parker’s debut album, A Beautiful Place To Die, part recorded at Abbey Road and variously featuring Gabriel Mumbray on guitars, drummer Archie Gouldsborough and bassists Rick Hampton and Elliott ...
WILLS & THE WILLING – Another Long Week (Smash & Grab Music SMASHGCDE2)
I’m not quite sure, listening to this, his fifth album, how The Times came to describe Ian Wills as a 21st century Ian Dury. Certainly they share a lyrical craftsmanship but musically Wills is very much of an Americana and country persuasion (he’s partly based in Arizona), something accentuated by ...
VARIOUS ARTISTS – Mo Ogg – The Bard Of Coleby (Folk Round ‘Ere SCM1043)
Maurice Charles (Mo) Ogg was a joiner, musician, song-writer and song collector in and around north Lincolnshire. He died tragically young at the age of 34 but by which time his fame had spread and Alistair Anderson wrote ‘Air For Maurice Ogg’ in his memory. Fellow Lincolnshire man Martin Simpson ...
R.R.WILLIAMS – Unremarkable Lives (Black Mesa Records BMR085)
The packaging is rather minimal but that’s about all there is about Unremarkable Lives to complain about. Unless, of course, you’re determined to force R.R.Williams into a pigeonhole. Williams is singer/songwriter from Tulsa, Oklahoma with a leaning towards the music of the working man – a sort of mid-western Bruce ...
TANITA TIKARAM – The WEA/East West Albums 1988-1996 (Cherry Red OCRCD5box174)
Born in Germany to Indo-Fijian parents and raised in Hampshire, in 1988 Tikaram burst on to the music scene with her Top 3 debut album Ancient Heart. Produced by Rod Argent and Peter Van Hooke it went on to sell over 5 million records, yielding two Top 10 singles in ...
THE LONG RUNNERS – On The Run (WildGoose Records WGS447CD)
At the turn of the 20th century, in the fashionable salons of New York and Boston, fashionable things were happening. Meanwhile the working folks of the southern states were getting their rocks off to a different kind of music – an amalgam of everything that had gone before and would ...
SINGLES BAR 104 – A round-up of recent EPs and singles
One third of Harp & A Monkey, SIMON JONES takes inspiration from the world of British TV and film horror, such as Hammer House of Horror, Tales of The Unexpected, Children Of The Stones and, of course, The Wicker Man (and its soundtrack by Paul Giovanni and Magnet), for Lust, ...
JOSHUA ARNOLD AND THERINE – A Wonderfull Discoverie Of Witches (own label)
Composer and multi-instrumentalist Arnold and vocalist Therine are an experimental folk duo from the north of England, their album, borrowing its title from clerk of the court Thomas Potts’ account of proceedings, telling the story of the events leading up to and during 1612's Pendle witch trials in the county ...
MORNINGBIRD – Echoes In The Meadow (own label)
MorningBird’s Echoes In The Meadow drinks from the unassuming northern Minnesota Lake Itasca trickle, which, once given momentum, pulses into the Mississippi River Americana mythical artery. Years ago, while on a necessary pilgrimage to these Big Muddy headwaters, I found myself smack dab in the middle of nowhere. There was ...
THE CELTIC HARPER – Carnivorine And Other Songs (own label)
I really like Carnivorine. It’s not in the least what I expected and that in itself is no bad thing. The Celtic Harper is actually Andrew Smith, based in Calderdale, and this is his debut album. Supporting musicians include Becky Taylor, Alana Middleton, Sami Javid and the enigmatic Gus – ...
KEEPING IT LIVE – Folklincs Humber Fest 2024
To start with the conclusion: Humber Fest is a rather splendid new festival, located in Barton on Humber and is the kind of thing that would be great to see repeated in many more places across the country. Let’s do the basics next: The festival is held predominantly in the ...
SILAS J. DIRGE – Swan Songs (own label)
For a journey into the darker elements of Americana music, Amsterdam might seem a surprising place to start. And yet it’s the Dutch capital from which this determinedly authentic voice of Gothic Americana hails. Silas J. Dirge is the pseudonym of singer and songwriter Jan Kooiker, and Swan Songs is ...
CHARLIE O’BRIEN – The Trackless Wild – Irish Song Of The Pampa (Trouble or Fortune Records)
Argentina is not, perhaps, a country you might readily associate with Irish balladry. So, its title referring to the South American low grasslands, Killarney ex-pat Charlie O’Brien has put together an album to revise that thinking. Extracting lyrics from a 19th century Argentine newspaper, El Monitor de la Campaña, printed ...
KEEPING IT LIVE – ELY FOLK FESTIVAL 2024
“Do you want a pass to Stevie Nicks, VIP area?” “Sounds good.” “July 12th.” “I can’t I’m already booked - Ely Folk Festival.” Ah well … I gather it was a good do. However, I feel in no way short changed. Here’s why. Ely Folk Festival has been running since ...
KINGS HEATHENS – Old Tall Stories (own label)
Respectively from Milton Keynes and Texas, busker David Fisher and barber Evan Ritchie are now based in the Birmingham suburb from which they take their duo name, bonding over a shared love of Celtic and transatlantic folk, shanties and ballads. And that’s what fuels their debut album, Old Tall Stories, ...
MARK NEAL – Cool Waters (Eh Records EHCD08)
Mark Neal is a singer/songwriter/musician/producer and all-round clever chap from the banks of the Clyde near Loch Lomond. He works in a duo with Eilidh Steel and with folk-rock band, Teannaich but his new solo album, Cool Waters, is exactly that with Mark writing, playing and singing every note, producing, ...
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