August 2022

For those who just can’t get enough of Anna Mieke’s off-kilter and expansive folk-tinged pop, she has just announced details of her debut album follow-up Theatre which is accompanied by a video for ‘For A Time’ featuring a disco-yeti cavorting across some stunning Irish scenery.

Dana Gavanski has recorded an EP of covers entitled Bouncing Ball, taking on songs by Roberto Cacciapaglia, Tony, Caro and John and The Kinks. The first to be released is her version of David Bowie’s ‘Word on a Wing’.

Kalos is a new trio from the United States, an evolution of the duo McKasson and McDonald who have previously featured on Folk Radio. Watch their video for Fanny Vanille/The Kerry Polska, from their forthcoming album ‘Headland’.

Taken from his forthcoming largely collaborative album Voids, watch Old Fire’s (John Mark Lapham) ‘Don’t You Go’, a John Martyn cover featuring Bill Callahan that paints a noirish mural of Lapham’s hometown state.

Rich in West Coast psych-pop vibes and lush harmonies, while Strange Pilgrim may have its roots in existential angst, a product of unsettled times, ultimately, it seeks to fly on wings of hope.

Luminary guitarist Marisa Anderson pays tribute to Mexican folk tradition with her haunting rendition of “La Llorona”, also our Tune of the Day. Tour dates for the UK, Ireland and Europe kick off this month, with more dates to be announced.

Hurdy-gurdy player Nigel Eaton has just shared a new tune called Great North Wood. He says the new tune is a schottish, “just for a change”.

Jacken Elswyth has put together a playlist that inspired her during the process of creating Six Static Scenes. Featuring Richard Dawson, Dock Boggs, Voice of the People, Laura Cannell and many more.

The Sorrow Songs: Folk Songs of Black British Experience is the upcoming record by Angeline Morrison, releasing on Topic Records label and produced by Eliza Carthy. Listen to her first single – Unknown African Boy.

The Wilderness Yet’s ‘What Holds The World Together’, shows them to be a band steeped in both the English and Irish folk traditions, but with a fresh, confident edge and a clear idea of what they want to achieve. This is surely one of the folk albums of the year.

Suffused with a quiet melancholia, Will Stewart’s ‘Slow Life’ is an easy rolling cocktail of Americana, folk rock and jangling guitar swagger that invites you to stretch out and soak up the sounds.

Our latest Folk Show features Spell Songs, Ensemble Ériu, Varo, Anna & Elizabeth, LAU, Trú, Kim Carnie, Moira Smiley & Piers Facini, Penguin Cafe and Nancy Elizabeth.

Analog Africa’s latest compilation, The Movers – ‘Vol. 1 – 1970-1976’, is a true testament to one of South Africa’s most legendary soul scene bands with a legacy of over a dozen albums and numerous hit singles. It also adds to the label’s ongoing outstanding reputation.

Oh To Be That Free finds Michaela Anne embracing more sophisticated and textured stylings on an album that sees the darkness, but also feels its way to the light within.