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Gretchen Peters Announces New Live Album & UK Tour Dates
2022 marks the 25th year since US singer-songwriter Gretchen Peters first set foot on a UK stage and she is celebrating the anniversary in style with the release of a live album recorded during a 2019 UK tour with her band and an all-female Scottish string quartet, The Show: Live from the UK, out on August the 19th on Proper Records. The Show:...
Underneath the Stars Festival Gender Balanced Music Line-Up
Underneath the Stars festival is leading the march for gender balance at festivals, announcing its final music line-up with a 50/50 artist split including an all-female headline bill, Imelda May (Friday), Kate Rusby (Saturday) and Suzanne Vega (Sunday). This year, the...
Fisherman’s Friends Announce New Album to Accompany Film Release Featuring Imelda May
FISHERMAN’S FRIENDS ANNOUNCE BRAND NEW ALBUM TO ACCOMPANY FISHERMAN’S FRIENDS: ONE AND ALL FILM RELEASE – FEATURING IMELDA MAY, WHILST, THE MUSICAL LAUNCHES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC!! Two feature films, one musical, ten albums, one documentary, one book, sell-out...
The Guv’nor Goes Podcasting.
Interviews, biographies, features and writings abound about renowned folk icon Ashley Hutchings, (The Guv’nor) and his work with folk and traditional music is well documented. But on 1 July 2022 people will get to know more about the life and interests of this...
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Banjo Brothers in Arms Return with Second Album of Irish/US Fusion
Four years on from their debut album Coleraine’s Damien O’Kane and California’s Ron Block will revive their spectacular partnership in a second release celebrating the unbelievable scope - in their brilliant hands - of the humble banjo. A perfect, exuberant antidote...
AUSSIE FAVOURITES RETURN TO UK FOR NINTH SPOOKY SUMMER TOUR
Australia’s notorious Spooky Men's Chorale ship back to the UK for first time in three years Many things were missing from the Great British Summer last year - not least there was an unnervingly spooky silence in place of an anticipated antipodean friendly invasion....
Tamsin Elliott Debut Album & Tour
Tamsin Elliott is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and film-maker based in Bristol, UK. With roots in the folk music of the British Isles, her interests and playing styles extend to those of Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East as well as...
REVIEWS
Tell ’Em You Were Gold – Pharis and Jason Romero
The duo, Pharis and Jason Romero, are multiple winners of Canada's Juno and Folk Music Awards. Their last album, 'Bet On Love', was described by American Songwriter as "masterful". A word that captures their work well and could easily be applied to the newly released seventh album as a duo, 'Tell ’Em You Were Gold'. The title is taken from the...
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I Can’t Fade Away : The Rockburgh Years. – Iain Matthews.
Fade away? He never has done yet and it'll be a very sad day if he does. It's a fact that Iain Matthews is prolific, just as much as many of his fellow Fairport luminaries, still despite a stack of recordings as high as Everest ( okay maybe a slight exaggeration...
Sing It For A Lifetime – Heidi Talbot
Irish born Heidi Talbot's career has already taken in a couple of transatlantic twists beginning with five years in America as a member of Cherish The Ladies. Later, spending over ten years married to Scottish folk musician, John McCusker, who was heavily involved in...
Fine Feathers.
Magpie Arc. Up In Arms. Biddulph Town Hall. 10/6/22. Delayed by that nasty Covid 19 malarkey Magpie Arc's presence has so far been cleverly managed online and through a series of EPs available from their website. Yet here they are on only the second date of their...
FEATURES
Time Span.
Technically 50 years old back in late 2019, celebrations had to be put on the back burner until that pesky Covid was largely dealt with. However with typical tenacity, Steeleye Span are once more out on the road, determined to party with their audience. Adjustments made for time lost, changes in membership, rotation of set lists and a fresh,...
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When Spriguns Come In.
Four and a half decades on albums of Spriguns and Mandy Morton have become cult favourites and hot items amongst the rarest record collecting fraternity. Some see on line sparring rise to four figure sums. With such diverting activity the actual story of the band and...
Brighter Days Ahead?
The history of British musicians finding their own voice and reflecting their own back yard in a contemporary manner is a fraught one. Few have done it with any success, Ray Davies, Alan Hull, Richard Thompson, Bob Pegg, Billy Bragg, Squeeze, Runrig, The Tansads/Merry...
All Our Back Pages.
Merry Hell. Lost Songs. The Brindley Theatre. Runcorn. Once they had another life entirely. Merry Hell, Wigan’s Chosen Few, were altogether different, they were a raucous, rough round the edges, cavorting troop of innocence, wonder and indie thinking, producing...
Family Credit.
Occasionally an album comes along which makes more of an impact than was realised at the time of release, somehow it’s more than the sum of its parts. Simply re-releasing it is not enough and it has to be reassessed because with hindsight its true importance is...
FESTIVALS
Underneath the Stars Festival Gender Balanced Music Line-Up
Underneath the Stars festival is leading the march for gender balance at festivals, announcing its final music line-up with a 50/50 artist split including an all-female headline bill, Imelda May (Friday), Kate Rusby (Saturday) and Suzanne Vega (Sunday). This year, the festival worked with The F List, a directory of approximately 5,000 UK...
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CAMBRIDGE FOLK FESTIVAL 2022 EXCITING ON-SITE ACTIVITIES ANNOUNCED
Whilst Cambridge Folk Festival* is celebrated for an eclectic mix of first-rate music across four stages, the exciting extra activities around the site help to create a fully immersive weekend experience and keep Festival-goers returning year after year. The Festival...
Remaining Tickets for Speyfest’s 25th Anniversary as Final Acts Announced
As much-loved Moray folk festival Speyfest gears up for its long-awaited return this summer, organisers have unveiled the schedule for the 25th anniversary festival, with more acts added to the line-up. The three-day event will take place between 22nd - 24th July,...
The Imagined Village Reunite for Rare Appearance at FolkEast
As reunions go they don’t come much sweeter or timely than this. Back in 2012, Suffolk’s inaugural FolkEast festival saw an act described as ‘the most ambitious folk fusion band of the 21st century’ perform a memorable finale headline set. Bold and cross-cultural, The...
Brighton and Hove Folk Festival announce multi-award-winning Headliners
Martin and Eliza Carthy, each an icon of English folk music in their own right, have been announced as the headliner for this year’s Brighton & Hove Folk Festival, which will take place at the beach-front venue Patterns on September 10th. It’s the second year for...
Fairport Convention Spring Dates Announced Ahead of Triumphant Return to Cropredy
Despite the ever-present challenges, Fairport Convention's 55th Anniversary celebrations continue, with a further 30 dates across the UK in April, May and June, ahead of a triumphant return to the fields of Oxfordshire at Cropredy Convention this August... The Spring...
Brighton’s very own Folk Festival returns for Second Year!
After a sell-out debut last summer despite lockdown worries, Brighton and Hove Folk Festival will officially return on September 10th 2022.Bigger and better in new host venue Patterns, this brilliant one-day event is a welcome addition to the Brighton scene, run by...
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