LOWP are a folk band from the North East of England, formed in late 2009. Their music is drawn from Tyneside, Durham and Northumberland, and has a quality that is unique to that area, a meeting of Scottish and English but suffused with its own vitality and its distinctive accents.
Will Varley announces details of his 5th studio album, ‘Spirit Of Minnie’, to be released February 9, through Xtra Mile Recordings. Produced by Cameron McVey, it features a full backing band for the first time. Listen to lead single All Those Stars.
This has-to-be-definitive reissue of Pearls Before Swine’s of One Nation Underground is something of a benchmark. The sturdily-packaged CD edition is sure built to last; it sports full lyric sheet and new notes giving a historical perspective from both Rapp and Alderson.
France-based, Cameroonian singer & guitarist Blick Bassy announces UK Tour Dates. He is renowned for his live shows, which assimilate electronic elements alongside an unusual band including trombone, cello, banjo and his trademark mini telecaster.
On his first entirely self-composed Irish folk album ‘Sharing a Song’, Eddie Sheehan enlists the help of, amongst others, Dirk Powell and Mike McGoldrick. The songs are personal and unpretentious but also to reflect the fallibility that goes with being human.
Wild & Reckless was born from the stage production that Blitzen Trapper spent the better part of a year producing….a terrific album. “The wind don’t always blow and the sun don’t always shine”, sings Earley on the closing track, but the weather report here is just fine.
Our Song of the Day comes from Brooklyn-based folk singer Ana Egge. We Are One is Ana’s new single which was co-written with Gary Nicholson. In sharing it she said, “Art, beauty and love, that is what we need to renew ourselves with to make a better world.”
The press notes for Spades and Roses talk about the power of songs to help find peace, clarity and hope amidst the emotional wreckage of our everyday lives. Caroline Spence is a testament to that.
The Weather Station (a.k.a. Tamara Lindeman) recently visited Canada’s CBC Radio studio to perform a number of live tracks from her latest self-titled album. Watch her performing Thirty, You and I (On the Other Side of the World) and Kept it all to Myself.
One-third of The Sweet Water Warblers, Mother Lion is the latest offering from Michigan-born May Erlewine, a further nugget in a goldmine of soulful folksy Americana. A tour with her own band is planned for the UK which is sure to widen her fanbase here.
On Langhorne Slim’s latest album ‘Lost At Last Vol 1 he sets out to challenge the idea of social rigidity and encourages us all to reconnect and fall in love with our phones off – getting lost is the cost of being free. Throw away the map and grab yourself a copy.
An eclectic and global punchy kick-ass mix this week shaped very much by a few double helpings from the likes of Jiggy, Trad.Attack!, TootArd, as well as some top tunes from Eliza Carthy, Martyn Bennett and more.
