David Gibb updates us on Day Four of Beyond The Marches / Dros y Ffin which starts off with the word ‘Rum’ and ends on ‘Rum’. Next thing you know they’ll be turning up for breakfast late in their pyjamas…Archie.

What started as a duo performance with long-term musical partner James Ross has grown to larger stages including Celtic Connections. Star guests include Rhiannon Giddens, Anna Massie, Heidi Talbot, Cathal McConnell and many more. That’s a big parlour!

We have a video premiere today from Lotte Mullan for her new single ‘Dear Elvis’ which is released on 18th May. A very British blend of Alt Country which skips along on the surface but is, at it’s heart, one of the darkest songs on Mullan’s new record ‘Love’s Bonfire’.

Luke Jackson’s latest album ‘This Family Tree’ is short but perfectly formed, sharply and sympathetically observed and emotionally involving. Further evidence that Jackson is shaping up to become one of the enduring major figures in the world of contemporary folk.

With a new line up including Dan Walsh, Paloma, Joe and Tom have pushed the UFQ to new heights and The Escape offers exactly that with myriad musical highlights and global grooves to get lost in for months. This is the band at their brilliant best so make sure you catch them live on their current tour.

I’ve been looking forward to this new album from Eliza Carthy & Tim Eriksen for what seems like ages, so it’s with great pleasure Folk Radio UK can offer you this premiere of the title track from their new album ‘Bottle’ due for release on 18th May via Navigator Records.

The Spyglass & The Herringbone gathers up all of Jackie Oates promise to date, dusts it down and adds polish to present a sparkling jewel of a folk record. It’s a rare and most refined thing of gift of great beauty and as good a record as you could rightly hope for, that’s all yours for the small price of admission.

We continue our guest blog series Beyond The Marches / Dros y Ffin. Elan heads to the National Library of Wales, receives a talk from Welsh harpist Robin Huw Bowen including an insightful introduction to the triple harp before looking at some of the difficult to access archives. A perfect example of why a digital archive is needed.

We have a lovely hazy folk song premiere today from Welsh born folk singer/songwriter James McArthur. ‘The Day It Rained Forever’ features on the long awaited new album ‘Strange Readings From The Weather Station’

Our Song of the Day is ‘Beatnik Walking’ a track from Richard Thompson’s forthcoming new album Still, an album of new music produced by Jeff Tweedy. His UK tour kicks off in August at Purbeck Valley Folk Festival.

Sweet Liberties is a new folk music project commissioned by EFDSS and Folk by The Oak featuring four songwriters: Nancy Kerr, Martyn Joseph, Sam Carter, and Maz O’Connor alongside musicians Patsy Reid and Nick Cooke – a musical journey exploring the pursuit of democracy and the events that have made a difference to our liberties.

Da Fishing Hands, the latest release from Inge Thomson, saw its debut performance on Fair Isle in May 2014, this short film documents that performance and provides background to a project which ultimately aims to protect the marine environment around the Island and for it to be sustainably managed as it has been historically by Fair Isle folk.