KLOF

The lineup for this year’s Purbeck Valley Folk Festival just keeps getting better but they have pulled out all stops this year with their latest announcement that Richard Thompson will headline their Friday night solo. A rare opportunity and a great start to this brilliant family friendly festival.

Sufjan Stevens has revealed the new audio video for Should Have Known Better from his forthcoming new album ‘Carrie & Lowell’. The album is out on March 30th via Asthmatic Kitty Records and sees Steven’s returning to his contemporary folk roots.

Our Song of the Day is a video premiere of Lovely Molly. A beautiful live recording session on which Sam Lee is joined by the Roundhouse Choir who certainly live up to their reputation here as one of the most exciting and energetic young choirs in London. It features on his new album ‘Fade in Time’.

Our Song of the Day is a premiere from Daphne Lee Martin. She performs a great cover ‘Reciprocity’, a much overlooked song by Loudon Wainwright III. Along with guest vocals from Eric Michael Lichter they certainly breathe new life into it. This is one of a series of stand alone covers, she is set to release this spring.

Watch this 1977 documentary about Irish Traditional singer Sarah Makem of Keady, County Armagh. It’s a magical piece of film-making that has some wonderful moments. The conversation between Sarah and husband and fiddle player Peter Makem is a personal highlight, the two of them seemed to be playing with the film-maker.

Our Song of the Day comes from the award-winning British singer, songwriter and guitarist Blair Dunlop. ‘Fifty Shades of Blue’ is the third single from his acclaimed 2014 album ‘House Of Jacks’ which was one of our featured Album of the Month last year. Blair embark on a co-headline tour with British songwriter Emma Stevens in April.

We have a great song premiere today from Brighton-based Californian singer-songwriter Ed Prosek. Ed covers the folk classic ‘Moonshiner’ which has been covered covered by the likes of Bob Dylan and The Punch Brothers. It features on his latest digital only single Michigan. Listen here.

It was a couple of years ago now that we ran an introduction and interview with Brooklyn-based band Wild Leaves. Fast forward 2015 to enjoy their new video for ‘Mystic Ocean’ on which they take you through an animated stop-motion psychedelic, trip through the cosmos.

The three surviving members of Fotheringay – Jerry Donahue, Gerry Conway and Pat Donaldson are to reunite for 6 UK Tour Dates in June this year with a new exciting line up. Plus: Universal Music catalogue announce the release of a new Four CD Boxset – Nothing More: The Collected Fotheringay, scheduled for release on March 30th 2105.

The Gloaming have been announced as 2014 Meteor Choice Prize Winner for Irish Album of the Year. The 10th annual Meteor Choice Music Prize celebrates and acknowledges the best in Irish recorded music. They have also been nominated for three awards in the forthcoming BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards

Our Song of the Day is from the fabulous Chris Wood by way of a video of him performing ‘Jerusalem’ at The Green Backyard, a vibrant community growing project in the heart of Peterborough which has been placed under threat by developers. It is one of the last green spaces in the city centre which needs saving. Chris is on tour now.

Lau’s travelling festival is back again from Fri 29 – Sun 31 May 2015 as they curate one of their broadest musical events to date at Bristol’s Colston Hall. Expect exhilarating collaborations and a freewheeling mood as artists like Omar Souleyman, Tinariwen, Sun Kil Moon and Plaid create an intoxicating atmosphere at this inimitable festival.