Those of you familiar with many of the Folk programmes made for the BBC, Sky Arts and RTE will no doubt be familiar with the radio and television production company Smooth Operations. For over two decades now they have been recording live sessions and concerts for TV and Radio amassing an extensive archive of some of the top names in folk music. They recently created a new record label called Delphonic Music on which they will be releasing many recordings from their archives.
They have a number of releases already out there for you to explore (full list below) which range from folk classics such as Martin Carthy Live in St Albans 1973 to The Mark Radcliffe Folk Sessions featuring the likes of Eliza Carthy, John Smith, Olivia Chaney, Mike Heron, Jackie Oates & more). Forthcoming releases include The Levellers Live at Cambridge and Eric Bibb Live at Cambridge.
Current Releases Include:
THE MARK RADCLIFFE FOLK SESSIONS:
An extraordinary series of intimate live BBC radio sessions, taken from the brand new BBC Radio 2 Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe featuring performances from Heidi Talbot, Fairport Convention, Eliza Carthy, John Smith, Olivia Chaney, Mike Heron, Jackie Oates and many more.
https://soundcloud.com/delphonicmusic/olivia-chaney-the-dark-eyed
THE FOLK VAULT: MARTIN CARTHY, LIVE:
A series of three live albums from one of the most influential artists of all time.
1. St. Albans, 1973.
2. Sidmouth, 1979.
3. (yet to be released) Whitby, 1984.
COOL AS FOLK:
Highlights from the world famous Cambridge Folk Festival with tracks from Joe Strummer, Richard Thompson, Beth Orton, Bellowhead, Kate Rusby, Cara Dillon, Joan Baez, Billy Bragg and many more.
RUBBER FOLK: A FOLK TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES:
A collection of Beatles cover versions to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Rubber Soul performed by the cream of British Folk music including Martin Simpson, June Tabor, Spiers & Boden, Show of Hands, Ralph McTell and many more.
THE FREEWHEELIN’ BOB DYLAN: A FOLK TRIBUTE
Folk artists pay tribute to Bob Dylan’s seminal second LP ‘The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan’: recorded in May 2011 as part of the BBC Radio 2 season celebrating his 70th birthday.
FOLK FESTIVAL:
A superb selection of rare high quality archive recordings from one of the best folk festivals in the world, the Sidmouth Folk Festival, featuring performances from Nic Jones, Norma Waterson, Eric Bibb, Show of Hands, Ralph McTell, June Tabot, Martin Carthy, Kate rusby, Vin Garbutt and many more.
THE TONY CAPSTICK COLLECTION:
An extraordinary, previously unheard, selection of live tracks taken from Tony’s performances throughout the 1970s.
THE CAMBRIDGE FOLK FESTIVAL 2010/11:
A huge collection of live festival highlights from the likes of Laura Marling, Frank Turner, Raul Malo, Kris Kristofferson, Pentangle, Martin Simpson and many more.
To find out more and explore their archive visit www.delphonicmusic.com. Follow them on twitter and facebook to keep up to date with all the latest releases.