After the first flush of acclaim, Guy Clark somewhat faded from the mainstream country spotlight, but, as this Dualtone anthology ably demonstrates, his talent never dimmed.

Pangs is a collection of songs that are tighter and more incisive than practically anything else in Alasdair Roberts’ massive back catalogue. Yet another cracking instalment from one of the finest recording artists currently working in the folk idiom.

Chain up the Swings is a fitting tribute to the late the Bard of Dundee by his daughter Alice Marra. She more than ably demonstrates the strength of the material by placing it in a different mainstream musical setting. Michael Marra would have loved it. So should you.

Idle Threat is an all too brief, quietly triumphant comeback for Benjamin Zyakin who has evidently been through the mill. Just getting these songs out there for all to hear will have done Zyakin a world of good, and maybe, in turn, it will inspire others struggling in similar situations.

Copenhagen fulfils the promise of Benjamin Folke Thomas’s live shows and his two earlier albums. It also represents a bold step forward as a song writer and an important progression as a studio artist. It is, without a doubt, his best album yet.

Watch ‘Lancashire, God’s Country’ the new video from George Nigel Hoyle’s latest project ‘Cunning Folk.’ Taken from his forthcoming album ‘Ritual Land, Uncommon Ground’ the song and animation is about The Pendle Witch Trials of 1612. It’s also our Song of the Day.

Alasdair Roberts and Siobhan Miller were recent guests on Roddy Hart’s ‘The Quay Sessions’. Watch Alasdair performing ‘Farewell to Glasgow City’ and Siobhan ‘The Ramblin’ Rover.

We take a look at this year’s line-up for Underneath the Stars Festival which is run by Kate Rusby and her family-run record company Pure Records. With the likes of Lucy Rose, Marry Waterson & David A Jaycock, Show of Hands, Roddy Woomble and more, it’s shaping up beautifully.

Having recently secured three nominations in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, Dublin singer and bouzouki player Daoirí Farrell announces a UK Tour on which he will be joining the Damien O’Kane Trio on the first leg.

Last year saw Tim Eriksen reunited for the first time with Omar Sosa since Across the Divide (released 2010). The combination of Eriksen’s Southern Appalachia and New England folk music with Sosa’s jazz, Latin and African influences made a unique concert performance.

Neil McSweeney’s latest offering ‘A Coat Worth Wearing’ is reminiscent of the romantic poets Wordsworth or Shelley, but like Blake, he has a darker side, a rebellious streak and a decisive need to push for positive change. It is a rare songwriter that can combine these elements over the course of an album or even a career. McSweeney often manages to do it in the space of a single song.

The Shake the Chains cast along with special guest Martin Simpson gave a performance to lift the most sullen heart in these trying times and to point the way to a better future. With a finale which saw everyone singing We Shall Overcome, the evening was a potent reminder that together we could be harmonious and unvanquishable.