In our latest Folk Show, we have a number of new releases, including two new Featured Albums of the Month from Chris Brain, with a track from his new album Steady Away, which has just been released. The album is also available on vinyl (the Deluxe 12″ gatefold vinyl version has been beautifully designed and opens to reveal all the lyrics – available on Digital and gatefold CD via Bandcamp). In his album review, which you can read here, Glenn Kimpton was very taken by Chris’ rendition of Now Westlin Winds, which opens the show.
Our other newly Featured Album of the Month is Double You (reviewed here) by Catrin Finch and Aoife Ní Bhriain. The album is out on 27th October 2023 (pre-order here), and Woven is also their latest single, for which you can watch the accompanying video here.
We have two tracks from Make the World Anew, the latest album from Melrose Quartet, who are also our Artists of the Month. You can read Thomas Blake’s review of the album here, in which he concludes: “Make The World Anew attempts in a small but determined way to achieve the edict set out in its title, and it succeeds resoundingly. It is also The Melrose Quartet’s most upbeat and accomplished album to date.” We’ve included Hedging Song, adapted from a poem by the Cotswold writer Frank Mansell and a beautiful rendition of Scarecrow, one of Lal and Mike Waterson‘s most enduring songs. If you’ve not seen it, I strongly recommend you watch the accompanying video made by Marry Waterson here.
You can order a physical copy of the album here: https://melrosequartet.sumupstore.com, or a digital copy here: https://melrosequartet.bandcamp.com.
After hearing this, I grabbed my copy of the Lal Waterson tribute album Teach me to be a Summer’s Morning (reviewed here), from which Black Horse, featuring Mike Waterson, is taken. That release is one of most beautifully presented Book/CD tributes I’ve seen, and the reproduced notes and illustrations really do offer a sense of Lal. It was released in 2013 on Fledg’ling Records and contained a moving introduction from Marry, who noted: “She was a most complete artist, a self-taught singer, writer, guitarist, pianist, painter, dress maker, weaver – you name it.” You can order it here.
There is also a double helping from Nothing But Green Willow: The Songs Of Mary Sands And Jane Gentry, the new album from Martin Simpson & Thomm Jutz (reviewed here), on which some top guests join them. You can order the album here: https://simpsonjutz.lnk.to/nothingbutgreenwillow.
There is also new music from:
Grace Smith Trio – They are acclaimed fiddle and viola player Grace Smith, Sam Partridge (Concertina, Electric Guitar) and Bevan Morris (Double Bass). We shared the music video for Saison / Overleaf here. They are on tour now, and we will have a review of the album (titled Overleaf) up shortly. In the meantime, you can order it via Bandcamp: https://gracesmithtrio.bandcamp.com/album/overleaf.
Frankie Archer – winner of Cambridge Folk Festival’s Christian Raphael Prize for 2023, is releasing her new EP, Never So Red, in November. Oxford City is her latest single from the EP, which you can pre-order via Bandcamp: https://frankiearcher.bandcamp.com/album/never-so-red.
Daniel Bachman – Daniel’s newly announced album, When the Roses Come Again, is out November 17th on Three Lobed Recordings; Daniel Bachman exits the steel string world where he started and tiptoes into a new one, where apparitions and nature inhabit compositions in a musical, genealogical garden. Summer’s Fingers Sweetly Linger (Everywhere On Everyside) is his lead single, on which he shared:
“Like much of the record, this track features a cut-and-paste music-making style that I’ve really come to enjoy lately. The banjo melody that is woven over top of the fiddle and drum machine drone was assembled using hundreds of individual pieces of fretless banjo improvisations, where I cut each note, or series of notes out, and then rearranged, augmented, etc., until I found a new piece that I liked.
“The banjo is a cheap aluminium pot “Hondo” banjo that I got off eBay and then pulled all the frets from, giving it that fluid feel that floats right on top of the rhythm track. The song’s title, “Summer’s Fingers Sweetly Linger (Everywhere On Everyside)”, like all the tracks on the record, comes from a traditional tune titled “When the Roses Come Again”, which was played by the Carter Family and many more.
“While this record doesn’t sound much like traditional music from the early part of the 20 century, I used all stringband instruments to assemble it, even if they were heavily processed at times, and I personally think of “When The Roses Come Again” as my attempt at making a stringband record, playing the cycles of the seasons, their birth, death, and rebirth, from sunrise to sunset each day, and through every year here on Earth.”
Pre-Order via Bandcamp (Ltd Edition Black or Red Vinyl, CD and Digital) – https://threelobed.bandcamp.com/album/when-the-roses-come-again
Andy Smith – we recently shared the news of multi-instrumentalist Andy Smith’s debut solo album, An English Village. Andy is one-third of the award-winning modern folk and storytelling trio Harp & a Monkey. On his debut, he combines English folk music with abstract electronica and offers a playful and often tongue-in-cheek look at traditional English village life. The album is out now and available on Bandcamp: https://andysin65.bandcamp.com/album/an-english-village
Allysen Callery & Mother Bear – Witch’s Hand is the new folk horror EP from Allysen Callery and German doom metal band Mother Bear – a delightfully dark offering presented by Gruselthon, sub-label of Cosirecords. It can be purchased on Bandcamp: https://allysencallery.bandcamp.com/album/witchs-hand.
Buck Curran & Adele H – Alongside Adele H‘s latest album Impermanence, a Featured Album of the Month (reviewed here), she and her partner Buck Curran have released a cover of 13th Mountain, a song from Bruce Cockburn’s 1970 debut album. We’ll have more on this soon, but you can order it via Bandcamp here: https://obsoleterecordings.bandcamp.com/album/13th-mountain.
The Lasses: The Dutch folk duo (Margot Merah & Sophie Janna) are back with a new album titled Near Far, out on 27th October, on which they turn their focus to Scotland. Pre-Order it here: https://thelasses.bandcamp.com/album/near-far
Eliza Carthy Trio: Eliza, alongside David Delarre and Saul Rose, recently released ‘Conversations We’ve Had Before’, which David Pratt called “one of the best traditional folk releases of the year so far…”. You can read his review here and buy the album via Bandcamp: https://elizacarthy.bandcamp.com/album/conversations-weve-had-before.
Jason Singh & The Banwasi Collective – taken from Travellers, just released on Hudson Records – An ode to earthly and spiritual love, migration and the ever-changing landscape and climate of the desert state of Rajasthan Northeast India.
Whatever he touches – whether that be composing for Sir David Attenborough’s Green Planet, creating immersive sound installations at Kew Gardens or vocally recreating birdsong and natural environments – sound artist and composer Jason Singh brings sensitivity, nuance and soul. With diverse collaborations that include George Ezra, Rokia Traore, Sarathy Korwar, Talvin Singh and Shabaka Hutchings, his work is an ongoing exploration of the natural world and music technology. Travellers, with The Banwasi Collective, is Singh’s latest undertaking, an exciting project from an artist who we’ve come to expect anything but the ordinary.
‘Travellers’ is a collection of 8 tracks recorded and produced by Singh featuring a collective of master musicians and vocalists, most of them from the Manganiyar community of hereditary musicians based in Rajasthan, northeast India. The album embraces multiple genres, faiths and languages and pays homage to the natural environment of Rajasthan. ‘Travellers’ deeply inhales the landscape, stories, flora and fauna of this rich desert state, and exhales soul-searing songs of travel, love and longing.
Order it here: https://hudsonrecords.co.uk/product/jason-singh-the-banwasi-collective—travellers
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Music Played
Chris Brain – Now Westlin Winds
Grace Smith Trio – Saison / Overleaf
Frankie Archer – Oxford City
Daniel Bachman – Summer’s fingers sweetly linger
Andy Smith – Time for tea
Catrin Finch and Aoife Ní Bhriain – Woven
Martin Simpson & Thomm Jutz – Geordie [Feat. Justin Moses, Sierra Hull]
Melrose Quartet – Scarecrow
Lal Waterson – Black Horse
Allysen Callery & Mother Bear – Witch’s Hand
Buck Curran & Adele H – 13th Mountain
The Lasses – Star of the Bar
The Rosie Hood Band – Lyddie Shears
Eliza Carthy Trio – The Blind Beggar Of Bethnal Green
Martin Simpson & Thomm Jutz – The Wagoner’s Lad
Melrose Quartet – Hedging Song
Jason Singh & The Banwasi Collective – Gypsy