Sidmouth FolkWeek (3rd – 10th August) is looking to be a promising week with a great line-up, location and musical adventures for all the family, this is the last chance to get your hands on best value Early Bird tickets for your seaside festival holiday if you book before the midnight Saturday 31st March deadline. The festival are keeping their 2011 prices and there are no booking fees. Some Highlights: …

Back in October 2009 we introduced readers to the music of The Destroyers. They are now making a very big noise and finally getting some well deserved recognition. The fifteen member band offer a stylish infusion of cutting edge Balkan Brass with a hint of the anarchic and cabaret showmanship. They build a powerhouse sound that imbibes an audience, all of which is is topped off by frontman songwriter/beat-poet Paul …

I am literally just back from the Isambard Folk Award finals. This is the first time I have ever had to judge such an award and it was no easy task. All five finalists were incredibly strong candidates that reinvigorated my belief that the folk scene is as strong as it has ever been. The winner of the evening was Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker who put on an incredible …

As you may have picked up in previous articles Folk Radio UK is co-sponsoring this years Isambard Folk Award along with our good friend Songs from the Shed. The finals take place this evening when the judges, ourselves and Songs from the Shed included, will have the difficult task of choosing between the five finalists: Evening Chorus (from Cardiff) and London-based Common Tongues and Mishaped Pearls plus duos Solarference (Devon/Bristol) …

The next instalment from Simple Folk Radio will be broadcast this Saturday (March 31) at 5.00pm on Folk Radio UK. The show will feature Simple Folk Radio’s monthly resident host Daniel Green (Laish / Sons Of Noel And Adrian) who will be joined in the studio by Emma Gatrill, to share some of her favourite records and talk about her soon to be released first album. The show will also …

[rating=4] Thirteen Lost & Found is the second album by ex El Hombre Trajeado guitarist RM Hubbert (also known as ‘Hubby’). It’s produced by Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos and features collaborations with a baker’s dozen of friends and assorted Scottish musical royalty, including Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffat and The Delgados’ Emma Pollock; Kapranos himself guests on a couple of tracks. It certainly gives the impression that Hubby and his Chemikal …

I‘ve chosen two songs today for ‘Song of the Day’ simply because they’re from a split 7″ double A side and I couldn’t decide between them and it didn’t seem right just choosing one seeing as this is their first joint release. The first is Rob St. John with Your Phantom Limb and the second is Ian Humberstone with House on the Hill.  Ian Humberstone and Rob St. John …

A meeting of hearts and minds: from London The Magpie’s Nest, Cut A Shine and the Midnight Specials: This year the Fire in the Mountain Festival will be held 1st – 5th June 2012, Cwmnewidion Isaf, nr Aberystwyth, Mid Wales and will welcome a host of bands from Bristol, Liverpool and London. Each day is loosely themed around headliners. Saturday is Celtic Day featuring the young Scottish pipers Ross Ainslee …

Back in January (article here) we mentioned that The Magic Lantern had been busy writing and rehearsing for a new album. You can now lisen to a demo recording of their new song ‘Hercules’ below: Vocals – Jamie Doe Piano, percussion, cello – Fred Thomas Clarinet – Dave Shulman Their seasonal residency at The Green Note is also nearly at an end. Their final show is on 25th April when …

‘IS’ opens with an epic eighteen-minute six string slide piece entitled ‘When The Plains are Singing’. You can imagine flying over a wide open landscape with cold blue mountains, sweeping down over wild fields of long grass dancing around in the wind, until finally coming back to the imposing natural towers of the mountains. Steffen Basho-Junghans’s work has the uncanny ability to take the listener into almost lucid visual realms …

First Aid Kit recently performed a great Tiny Desk Concert for NPR which you can watch below. All the tracks they performed were from their latest release The Lion’s Roar. Set List: “New Year’s Eve” “The Lion’s Roar” “Emmylou” Audio Session (mp3) The girls are overjoyed to announce that they are going on tour with JACK WHITE in Europe this June & July. Dates below. You can check out their …

Swedish folk artist The Tallest Man On Earth has completed work on a new album. ‘There’s No Leaving Now‘ will be out on June 11th (June 12 in the USA) on Dead Oceans. The early Bob Dylan influence on his music is unmistakable but it is his stage presence and energy that made him such a sensation when he opened for Bon Iver in 2008. Since then his fan base …