Reviews

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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…

All our reviewers give their spare time to bring you this resource and we always looking for new people to get involved who share a similar passion for the genre to help lighten the load. If that sounds like you, then please email us here for more information about joining the folking review team.


SIOBHAN MILLER – Strata (Songprint Records SPR003CD)

Scotland is currently blessed with a crop of superb young female singers and Siobhan Miller is right up there in the top section of that list. Although still a young lady, she has been prominent on the folk scene for many years, appearing at clubs, concerts, festivals and regularly on ...

THE GRAHAMS – The Grahams and Friends (Live in Studio) (Three Sirens Music Group)

Alyssa and Doug Graham have spent nearly their entire lives exploring music together. Friends since she was seven and he was nine, they became a couple in their teens, then husband and wife. Along the way, they also became The Grahams, a dynamic Americana duo. Their 2013 debut, Riverman's Daughter, ...

MÀNRAN – An Dà Là – The Two Days (Mànran Records MAN04)

It is now so easy to create your own CD that most artistes of any calibre have at least one to boast of. Regretfully, this does not always produce a product of a suitable quality worthy of review. As such, I was delighted to receive An Dà Là the latest ...

SINGLES BAR 17

A round-up of recent EPs and singles Having released their latest album, Good Times Will Come Again last year, MEGSON now lift the lead track, ‘Generation Rent’ (EDJ), as a single. A punchy protest against how today’s young generation find it impossible to get on to the property ladder, it ...

RAYNA GELLERT – Workin’s Too Hard (Storysound 161-019)

Fiddle player with Uncle Earl, Gellert follows up her 2013 solo debut with the seven track Workin’s Too Hard, which, at under 25 minutes, may be a little on the sort side but does further underscore her development as a songwriter in the American folk tradition as well as providing ...

JUDE JOHNSTONE – A Woman’s Work (BoJack BJR2221960-2)

Although A Woman’s Work is her seventh album, there’s a very good chance you’ve never heard of the piano-playing New England singer-songwriter. It is, however, very likely you’ll have heard one of her songs. She’s and had her songs covered by such superstar names as Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, Trisha ...

RED TAIL RING – Fall Away Blues (Earthwork Music EW8504)

So you’ve seen the title, Fall Away Blues, and noted that Red Tail Ring are a guitar/fiddle/banjo duo so you know what their album sounds like, right? I thought that, too, but we were both wrong. Michael Beauchamp and Laurel Premo are from Michigan but their love of old-time music ...

FLEETWOOD CAVE – People Like Us (Rhythm Records FCPLU2016))

Marion Fleetwood and Gregg Cave met with the formation of TRADarrr and things went from there. Unlike their parent band, Fleetwood Cave’s debut album, People Like Us, consists of original material plus one cover version. Supporting Marion and Gregg are Tali Trow and Paul Johnston on double bass and drums ...

JOHN CEE STANNARD & BLUES HORIZON – To The River (Cast Iron CIRCD 028)

It might be blues but it’s happy music. Sometimes my wife’s initial reactions to an album are perfectly insightful and To The River, the latest waxing by John Cee Stannard & Blues Horizon, certainly has more in common with the string bands of the 1930s than the urban howl of ...

JOHN RENBOURN & WIZZ JONES – Joint Control (Riverboat Records TUGCD1095)

This CD review is something of a special case, in that it actually comes from my own collection, and wasn't bought specifically to review (and has been available since September 2016). However, it includes the last recorded work of John Renbourn, in a rare recorded collaboration with the almost equally ...

SON OF THE VELVET RAT – Dorado (Fluff and Gravy FnG037/Mint 400)

Dorado is released on February 17th, the sixth album of husband and wife duo Georg Altzeibler and his wife Heiki Binder who left Austria to make their home in Joshua Tree, California in 2013. They had an impressive career with five albums to their credit and the description "best Austrian ...

SOPHIE RAMSAY – The Seas Between Us (own label SRAM003)

The collection of Scots and Gaelic songs that form The Seas Between Us are largely taken from Burns (either by attribution or orgin), together with Hector Macneil’s ‘My Love’s In Germanie’ and a handful of traditional airs. From the opener, ’Ae Fond Kiss’, we are on well-trodden and familiar ground ...

DIPPER MALKIN – Tricks Of The Trade (own label DM001)

If you wish for an exemplar of the adage that less is more look no further than Tricks Of The Trade, the debut album from the duo of John Dipper and Dave Malkin. John is a maker and restorer of concertinas which may surprise those who know him only as ...

SINGLES BAR 16

A round-up of recent EPs and singles We’re a bit late with this one but we can’t let the year turn without a mention of ANGE HARDY’s Christmas single. There are two tracks, both original compositions and both sung acapella. ‘The Quantock Carol’ should immediately go into every seasonal repertoire ...

JAMES McARTHUR AND THE HEAD GARDENERS – Burnt Moth (Moorland MLAND003)

James McArthur’s third album, Burnt Moth, is every bit as enigmatic as its predecessor, Strange Readings From The Weather Station. The line-up remains the same with Head Gardeners Jim Willis and John O’Sullivan and guests Samantha Wates, Joel McGill and Colin Somervell. It’s very smooth with lots of strings and ...

PIPPA REID-FOSTER – Driftwood Harp (own label PRF2016CD)

There’s a meditative quality to the sound of the harp, something at once hypnotic and calming. It can be a pleasure to put on the Driftwood Harp CD and simply allow the sounds to wash dreamily away, as a soothing backdrop. But, delightful as that idea is, it would be ...

RAB NOAKES – The Treatment Tapes EP (Neon Records NEONCD018)

I haven't heard much of singer/songwriter Rab Noakes since the early 1970s, when he was associated with Lindisfarne, Gerry Rafferty and others, as well as working as a highly-rated soloist. So I jumped at the chance of reviewing The Treatment Tapes EP – due for release on January 20th 2017 ...

GEOFF LAKEMAN – After All These Years (own label GLAK-01)

Geoff Lakeman isn't quite as famous as his sons but he is a much regarded singer and songwriter, particularly in the West Country. At 69 Geoff has finally succumbed to the temptation to record an album, After All These Years, produced by son Sean. Geoff usually performs solo with concertina ...

CHRIS WOOD – So Much To Defend (RUF RUFCD014)

Chris Wood’s fifth solo album comes across as a model of restraint on first hearing but first hearings can be deceptive. So Much To Defend is an album made up in part of little lives – people who are not even just about managing. There are bigger stories, too, but ...

DARIA KULESH – Long Lost Home (own label)

I sometimes feel that I’ve lived with this album for almost as long as Daria has. I heard all the songs as they were released in their various ways; I talked to Daria about the background to the project and some of the stories and even got a sneak preview ...

ALISTAIR ANDERSON & NORTHLANDS – Alistair Anderson & Northlands (White Meadow WMR0031)

Not that he’s been away or anything but Alistair seems to be enjoying something of a renaissance, reinvigorating himself by looking to the next generation. First there was his stunning duo with Dan Walsh and now his new band, Alistair Anderson & Northlands, making their debut with this fine album ...

RAPSQUILLION – Earthly Joys (Own Label)

Rapsquillion is a harmony group known to "stalk the Welsh Marches with their eclectic mix of songs" though these days they seem to be stalking well beyond the border country. However, their CD Earthly Joys certainly lives up to the eclectic label, covering a wider range of material than I'd ...

NICK BURBRIDGE & TIM COTTERELL – Resolved (On The Fiddle OTFCD032)

Nick Burbridge is one of music’s renaissance men: poet, singer, songwriter, novelist and playwright; generally held to be one of the finest songwriters that the world, for the most part, hasn’t heard of yet. Multi-instrumentalist Tim Cotterell also works alongside Nick in McDermott’s Two Hours and plays all the melody ...

COOPE BOYES & SIMPSON – Coda (No Masters NMCD48)

Subtitled A Concluding Event, Coda marks the beginning of the end for Coope Boyes & Simpson. They’ll be playing some gigs next year to say farewell and individually and collectively they are involved in numerous projects so I doubt we’ve seen the last of them. It’s hard to credit but ...

THE FLYING TOADS – Warts ‘N All (Own Label)

Warts 'N All is the second CD by the Flying Toads to come my way. I reviewed the older CD In Stitches a couple of years ago, and it was reviewed by the late Pete Fyfe for this site (and we both liked it a lot). And I can clear ...

DOGHOUSE ROSES – Lost Is Not Losing (Yellowroom Music YLLWRM-010)

Lost Is Not Losing came to me for review – I think you might like this, was the suggestion. For the past week it has been on continual play in my car. Doghouse Roses are from Glasgow, a duo comprising Iona Macdonald and Paul Tasker who have written the songs ...

STEVE DAGLEISH – Yours For Eternity (own label DAG CD 05)

Steve Dagleish is originally from Hull and, via Saltburn-on-Sea, now resident in London. Yours For Eternity is his second album. Like many others, Steve tried his luck with an acoustic guitar in the 70s but abandoned that idea for a steady job and family life. Thirty years later he picked ...

ROBYN STAPLETON – Songs Of Robert Burns (Laverock Records LAVE002CD)

I was delighted to receive a copy to review of Songs Of Robert Burns, the latest album by Robyn Stapleton. Quite simply, this is a fabulous recording by the young Scottish female singer. She has carefully selected a top-notch group of musicians to support her. Most of the songs she has ...

JOHNNY COPPIN – All On A Winter’s Night (Red Sky Records RSKCD121)

Christmas is nearly upon us, and acclaimed Gloucestershire singer/ songwriter and Radio Gloucester presenter, Johnny Coppin is currently on his annual tour taking the All On A Winter's Night Christmas concert to various place in the country. Johnny has been doing a run of Christmas concerts in December for a ...

JIMMY ALDRIDGE & SID GOLDSMITH – Night Hours (Fellside FECD278)

Night Hours is the second album from Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith and I must confess that I have been shockingly remiss in catching up with them. This is a remarkably powerful record, solid in the sense of being unmoving in the face of opposition which, sadly, is something that ...

EDDIE AND LUC – Tirade (Brig Records EDLUC2CD)

Tirade comes out the speakers at you like a cavalry charge as Eddie Seaman winds up his Highland bagpipes and Iain Copeland hits the drums. The tune is ‘Angry Piper’s Tirade’ by Hazen Metro and it is described as pushing the boundaries – I really don’t think bagpipes were ever ...

ANDREW JOHN & LISSA – Aren’t We Lucky (Last Resort Records LRCD011)

Aren't We Lucky is the second set by Andrew John & Lissa to come my way this year. Whereas At Home was very much an (almost literally) home-brewed production with just a little help from a couple of musical friends on a few tracks, Aren't We Lucky was recorded in ...

ROSIE HODGSON – Rise Aurora (own label)

I'll get straight to the point.  Rosie Hodgson's Rise Aurora is an absolute gem of an album and I will probably not be the first reviewer to say you will want to listen to it over and over again.  It's full of beautiful music with seven of the twelve tracks ...

SINGLES BAR 15 – Merry Christmas Everybody

A round-up of festive EPs and singles It’s been a busy few months for THE CHANGING ROOM, aka Cornish duo Sam Kelly and Tanya Brittain. Having released both their Names On A Wall EP for Armistice Day and the Picking Up The Pieces album, featuring mandolin and accordion, they now ...

DAVID YOUNGS – In Between Silence (own label ASANACD003)

In Between Silence is the second album from Cambridge-based acoustic guitarist and composer David Youngs. Its eleven tracks are all original compositions opening with the nine-minute ‘Where Memories Go’ which begins with ringing, almost clashing chords and develops through the most delicate fingerpicking following a complex logic of its own ...

ANNA & ELIZABETH – Anna & Elizabeth (Free Dirt DIRT-CD-0072)

Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth Laprelle sing the songs of the southern mountains in the old-time style with banjos, guitar, fiddle and distinctive harmonies. Elizabeth hails from Virginia and released her first solo album aged just sixteen. Anna is from Vermont and is a classically trained violinist but was seduced by ...

RIBBON ROAD – Our Streets Are Numbered! (Shipyard RRD009)

As Leverhulme Artists in Residence in the Geography Department of Durham University Brenda and Geoff Heslop were involved in Disposal – in the Numbered Streets, a project looking at social housing issues in the ex-colliery houses of Hordern, Co. Durham. The houses on these fourteen ‘numbered streets’, so called as ...

THE WESTERN FLYERS – Wild Blue Yonder (Versa-Tone Records)

Sometimes we review really serious albums and sometimes they are just for fun. I wonder if you can guess which sort Wild Blue Yonder is. The Western Flyers are a trio comprising Joey McKenzie on arch-top guitar, fiddler Katie Glassman and Gavin Kelso on double bass. All three sing but ...

RASTKO – Love, Hate And Twists Of Fate (Vacilando ’68)

The mood in Medway was forlorn in 2013 when local favourites the Singing Loins disbanded. Other projects were pursued and yearnings sated but that nagging unfinished business feeling remained to the point that most of the Loins are now back together as Rastko with their first album, Love, Hate And ...

CHARLIE HARRIGAN – Wasted And Wounded (Medicine Hat Records MHR000721)

After a long career littered with names like Alex Campbell, Alexis Korner, Lonnie Donegan and Derroll Adams, Charlie Harrigan took a break and went sailing for almost twenty years. A brush with mortality  a couple of years ago brought him back to music to record Wasted And Wounded, his first ...

MARTIN GREEN – Flit live

Cambridge Junction, 22 October 2016 Following its premiere at Edinburgh Festival in August 2016, Martin Green's latest musical concept Flit, heads out on tour, starting in Cambridge. There's a bit of a delay getting into the venue, which the staff member working the queue tells us is due to some ...

Robb Johnson live at Lodsworth

19th November 2016 The last time I heard Robb Johnson live was the London Gentle Men show, an acoustic, thoughtful story of the Great War and its consequences inspired by the experiences of his grandfathers. This was very different – Robb the rocker, the man who could front a Clash ...

SINGLES BAR 14

A round-up of recent EPs and singles HICKORY SIGNALS are Brighton duo Laura Ward on vocals, flute and shruti box and Adam Ronchetti in guitars and percussion, their self-released second EP, Noise Of The Waters also featuring contributions on strings, banjo and lap. Produced by Stick In The Wheel’s Ian ...

ANNE JANELLE – I Didn’t Want To Break It (own label AJCD003)

Having trained as a classical cellist, earning Masters in cello performance from the University of Ottawa, Janelle began dipping her toes in the popular music world playing live with the likes of Kanye West and Bruce Cockburn before getting into folk with her 2009 collaboration with fellow Canadian – and ...

LUKE JACKSON – Tall Tales And Rumours (First Take Records FTCD002)

I never fail to be impressed by Luke Jackson. He is still only in his early twenties, has a voice that many more experienced singers would kill for and writes songs of such wisdom and perception. Tall Tales And Rumours is his fourth studio album and he’s only just started ...

WINTER MOUNTAIN – I Swear I Flew (Astral Fox WMISIF001CD)

Originally twin peaks, the departure of Martin Smyth has seen a change in the topography, meaning I Swear I Flew, the follow up to the eponymous debut is now a solo project for Cornwall's Joe Francis. Not that he’s entirely alone, with a clutch of musicians providing drums, pedal steel, banjo, ...

BILLY BRAGG & JOE HENRY – live at G Live, Guildford

Shine A Light, the album of railroad songs recorded by Billy Bragg & Joe Henry on their epic train journey from Chicago to Los Angeles has a rough-hewn feel recorded, as it was, in train stations and hotels en route with the sounds of the passers-by left in place. That ...

WILL VARLEY – Kingsdown Sundown (Extra Mile Recordings XMR124CD)

If the time was ever ripe for a few protest songs it is now and Will Varley duly obliges on Kingsdown Sundown, his fourth full-length album. It isn’t all protest, however, and it certainly isn’t packed with political rantings. The songs are deep and thoughtful but when Will decides to ...

EMILY SMITH – Songs For Christmas (White Fall Records WFRCD015)

The clocks have gone back, the days are shortening, so it must be time to settle down and look towards the festive season. And what better to line up on the CD player than Scottish singer/songwriter Emily Smith's unambiguously titled Songs For Christmas album? It's a smart, quietly eclectic mix ...

RED MOON ROAD – Sorrows And Glories (Folkwit f0135)

Sorrows And Glories falls somewhere outside Folkwit’s usual sphere of influence but not by as much as I thought on first hearing. Red Moon Road are a Canadian trio from Winnipeg and, despite some fairly mainstream songs (but not too many), their third album has the quirkiness that often distinguishes ...

HAT FITZ & CARA – After The Rain (own label)

The Australian blues scene is not one I'm particularly well-acquainted with, though I do remember a gig I attended in Fremantle over a decade ago as featuring one of the best electric blues bands I've ever heard. However, Hat Fitz and Cara are new to my ears, though their album ...

Steve Pledger – Somewhere Between album launch

The Great Hall, Dunster Castle - Friday 4th November 2016 There are album launches and there are extra special ones. The Steve Pledger Somewhere Between album launch was extraordinary! The exquisite setting for the launch was an outstanding National Trust property in North Somerset, not far from Minehead. The grand ...

ALDEN, PATTERSON AND DASHWOOD – Call Me Home (own label)

Working out of Norwich, the trio (Christine, Alex and Noel, respectively) are already rightly being showered with praise for their debut album, Call Me Home, with its stripped down Americana etched on mandolin, violin, dobro and guitar. It’s clear from the assurance on display that they’ve not come to this without ...

MERRY HELL – Bloodlines (Merry Hell Music MHMCD 0116)

I was always a fan of The Tansads back in the 90s and the reunion of three Kettle brothers, singer Andrew, guitarist John and mandolin player Bob, along with John’s wife Virginia, in 2010 under their present name has done nothing to change my mind. Bloodlines is their fourth full-length ...

FATE THE JUGGLER – MAIDSTONE 22/10/2016

The ‘Colour of Change’ EP by Fate the Juggler is a great five track snapshot of the band and made me inquisitive to know whether their diverse sound and broad song range transferred to live performance; it was with some relief and great pleasure to find out that it does ...

BAP KENNEDY – Reckless Heart (Last Chance Records LCR 048)

Sadly, singer-songwriter Bap Kennedy died of cancer on the 1st of November 2016, just before his final vinyl and CD album, Reckless Heart, was due for release on the18th November. I knew very little about him before this CD crossed my path, but that probably says more about my limited ...

STEVE PLEDGER – Somewhere Between (Noisy Dog NDCD01)

Following his breakthrough with 2015’s release of second album, Striking Matches In The Wind, the soft-voiced Somerset-based singer-songwriter returns with a full-on political collection of songs about “transience and change; doubt and assurance” that again features Lukas Drinkwater on double and electric bass while bolstering the sound with the addition ...

ANDY WHITE – Imaginary Lovers (ALT ALTCD16)

Following the recent box set issue of the self-explanatory Studio Albums 1986-2016, the all-new Imaginary Lovers now gets a standalone release for fans who didn’t fancy forking out to buy albums they already had to get it. A sequential follow-up to his divorce album, How Things Are, this is the ...

MARTHA FIELDS – Southern White Lies (own label)

One of the joys of reviewing is picking an artist you've not heard before and realising you've been missing out.  Southern White Lies, the second album from Martha Fields certainly falls into this category.  It's a glorious procession of Americana, Country and Blues  but delivered with lyrics that steer well ...

THE BLACKHEART ORCHESTRA – Diving For Roses (Right Track Records)

It is almost impossible to categorise The Blackheart Orchestra. They could be the loudest duo in the world producing a rich sound that is sometimes reminiscent of Moulettes. Diving For Roses is their first album under this name following three recorded as Blackheart. Chrissy Mostyn and Rick Pilkington mix conventional ...