“I wanted to make a traditional album, so that’s what I did.” So says Sam Barrett and just as his name indicates, he was serious about it. Naming his record after a book of folk songs gifted to him by his sympathetic wife, this is is serious trad and when it isn’t...
Having been asked by environmentalist film guru Simon Hurwitz to soundtrack a couple of his short films, singer guitarist and all round good guy, Brooks Williams it seems didn’t know when to stop. Opportune as it was what with a pandemic to sit at home and knock out a...
I really liked the last album by Serious Child it was an attractive slice of breezy folk pop which ticked all the right boxes and promised further wonders to follow. I didn’t really expect then that he’d team up with another strumstrel yet here he is with Andy...
What do you do when you find yourself in a rural Finnish cabin surrounded by lakes, trees, bags of fresh air and not a lot else? You could always have a sauna followed by a bracing dip in the lake. No doubt Teyr did, for that was the situation back in 2018 which led...
Why just the other day I was having a chat with a fellow writer who asked what had been happening in Cuban roots music lately. The Buena Vista Social Club was after all a long time ago. Then what drops through the letterbox but this offering from Canada. Yes, from...
Watchhouse is the new name adopted by the act formerly known as Mandolin Orange. There's been something of a spate of acts changing their name because of a concern for unintended political messages in their original name. The Dixie Chicks becoming The Chicks, for...
Kathryn Locke describes herself as a “composer and wayward cellist.” How she evolved to fit this description is a story in itself. She is a self-taught musician who allows her style and techniques to be informed by what she observes of the way other musicians move...
What do you play on a trip up the M6 for a week’s holiday in Galloway? Why obviously the desert blues. Having been a sucker for the snaking and twisting guitar lines of Tinariwen when their work first appeared on these shores, there was no doubt when the latest box of...
There seems to be a whole cart full of releases celebrating the bucolic life around just now. This delightful EP was first mooted back in 2019 when Walker and Merryn shared a beer and philosophy about songs of toil. Simple, straightforward it’s chiefly her voice and...
Well, it's taken a while, but The Oldham Tinkers have come up with a follow up to their last record, 'That Lancashire Band' released in 1979. Of course, there’s been re-release and compilation albums in between but this is the first set of new recordings to appear....
There were whoops of delight around these parts when the rumour started circulating that John Spiers and Jon Boden were reigniting their duo. With live dates in their diary for 2021, it's pleasing to find they have a new record to draw upon too. It's called 'Fallow...
A postcode in case you were wondering, that once of Maartin Allcock who sadly passed a couple of years ago. At the time of recording he was happily grounded in the wider circle of Fairport Convention, his membership having been relinquished in 1996. ‘OX15’ is his...
When you’re chummy with the likes of The Treacherous Orchestra and locked in with Croft No Five you can’t help but be an eclectic thinker. Duncan Lyall is therefore a polyglot musical soaker and I don’t mean that as disparaging in any way, it’s a compliment totally!...
Pigeonholing musicians is a convenience for discussing music but it's a nuisance for the more creative artist who wanders a diverse artistic path. Almost by definition, what the latter creates is more interesting but tends to lead to cult status rather than mass...
If you spy a group of people with determined looks on their faces, carrying a couple of shot guns you don’t need to worry, your local banks and building societies are safe, it’s just Gadarene hunting down the bloke who’s reviewing their new album for Spiral Earth....
Artists have always been creative, and the pandemic has led them down all kinds of paths to creatively generate income. Whether a first or not, ‘Reassembled’ is a recording of Bellowhead’s live streamed performance from Stabal Mansion in December 2020. Its 74 minutes...
Through adversity triumph tastes all the sweeter. Joe’s last studio album ‘Royal Tea’ had a tortuous road to completion and as the man himself said he felt almost ‘cursed’ as physical mishaps and the pandemic delayed all best laid plans. Despite these obstacles his...
Described as 'alt-folk' there comes a point where the 'alt' bit becomes more current or progressive than alternative and 'The Missing Star' fits that definition in that it’s a good indicator of what is happening now in many folk circles. It contains a melange of...
Soo Line Loons, (loons as in diving birds, check your Observers Book of, other identification guides are available,) are a happily diverse crew of rockers who tip their hat to all kinds of roots music. The Soo Line bit of the name is apparently a Minneapolis railway...
Songs are made of words and music and it is rare to find a songwriter who has the balance exactly right. Greg Hancock has though. The musicianship on this album is exquisite, with help from some heavyweight friends in George Arnold, Lucas Drinkwater on various...
