Listen to Bless Your Heart, our Song of the Day and the first single taken from Worry Dolls’ forthcoming 2017 debut album, co-written with Wild Ponies. It was the first song they wrote in Nashville. They’d been in town for a couple of days and were picking up the southern slang, including “Bless Your Heart” – which they were told can be used to point out to someone that they …

Water of Tyne is the first CD release from Magnetic North East CIC, a community interest company promoting the music, arts, culture and heritage of the North East of England. Brought together by Kathryn Tickell the album includes guest appearances from the likes of The Unthanks, Hannah Rickard, Bob Fox and Mike Tickell. A truly lovely collection.

Ashes is the debut album from Stockholm-based Albert Af Ekenstam citing Bon Iver, Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky as influences shaping his quiet, melancholic music.

‘Gaelic Americana’ artist Kyle Carey is delighted to announce the launch of a Kickstarter campaign for the creation of her third album The Art of Forgetting – due out next fall.

Unhindered by the limits of technical ability, Gigspanner take music rooted in the British Isles and with the flick of a bow, a finely chosen chord or slip of a beat, produce hypnotic arrangements layered in Eastern European, French, Cajun, African and even Aboriginal influences, touching on baroque, classical and gypsy jazz along the way. 



Inspired by the sea-inspired James Joyce poem of the same name, Noise Of The Waters is the second EP from Brighton folk Hickory Signals are multi-instrumentalists Laura Ward and Adam Ronchetti, the pair combine strong vocal melodies with vibrant guitar, shruti, flute, glockenspiel and pulsing percussion; layering sounds carefully and minimally to create magical and atmospheric folk.

The programme for Celtic Connections 2017 has been announced which features concerts from Laura Marling, Karine Polwart, Shirley Collins, a special tribute to Angus R Grant, a star-studded folk orchestra with La Banda Europa led by Jim Sutherland and lots more.

With reinvention can come reinvigoration, and so it seems with the Montreal-based ‘art-folk’ artist, Emily Millard on her new and wondrous album ‘By Heron & By Season’.

Shirley Collins has shared her new music video for Pretty Polly from her new album Lodestar. This version is one she recorded from Mrs Ollie Gilbert in Timbo, Arkansas, in 1959 when she was travelling with Alan Lomax. Two live album launch dates have also been announced.

Watch Anaïs Mitchell performing Why We Build the Wall from her folk opera ‘Hadestown’, currently a Broadway Show. She is joined by Chris Thile and The First-Call Radio Players — Rich Dworsky, Chris Eldridge, Brittany Haas, Sarah Jarosz, Paul Kowert, and Ted Poor.

Before taking a well-deserved break from the road to record her fifth solo album, Sarah McQuaid heads out on an extensive UK tour next month taking her from Cornwall to Scotland.

Our Tune of the Day comes from Dublin fiddler Aidan Connolly whose playing is influenced by the likes of Paddy Cronin, Paddy Canny, and Denis Murphy. Paddy Cronin’s Own, As a Thoiseach, John Blessing’s Reels is taken from his debut album Be Off which is due for release this week on Raelach Records.