Alex Gallacher

Glasgow-based folk four-piece Gnoss have just announced they are touring this August and September and they have also started working on a new album. They will be playing some of the new tracks live for the first time.

Following the success of this summer’s inaugural Dandelion Festival Glasgow, the organisers are delighted to announce the first acts for the Inverness free festival this September including, Spell Songs, Hannah Rarity, Dallahan, The Ross Ainslie & Ali Hutton Trio, Hamish Napier, Sona Jobarteh & more.

This week’s folk show features Cerys Hafana, Inni-K, Junior Brother, The Deadlians, Shovel Dance Collective, Marlais, Alison O’Donnell, L’Oumigmag, Cédric Dind-Lavoie, Cinder Well, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, Serious Sam Barrett, The Baird Sisters, Anna & Elizabeth and many more.

Cellist and composer Barney Morse-Brown has shared a video for his cover of Sting’s ‘The Hounds of Winter’. Morse-Brown’s version highlights his versatility as a multi-instrumentalist and his endearing unorthodox approach to music.

Derek Piotr expands on his album “The Devil Knows How”, on which he interprets traditional ballads and folk tunes, with a reworking of “Yes They All Sing” by guitarist and Alan Lomax Archive curator Nathan Salsburg.

Watch George Sansome and Leeds-based violinist Owen Spafford performing Rosa. This stunning new single and accompanying video were recorded in just one take – one performance, filmed and recorded simultaneously by Will Killen at Evoke Studios in Leeds.

Cerys Hafana is best known for exploring the creative possibilities of the triple harp. As demonstrated on Tragwyddoldeb, she’s an adept shapeshifter, entwining tradition with direct and personal interpretations to create music that’s both progressive, profound and inspiring.

Broadside Hacks and Shovel Dance Collective are among those who will come under the spotlight in a new documentary that tells the story of the young vanguard of UK artists sharing radical interpretations, proto-feminist narratives and queer histories through the lens of British traditional folk song. Watch an excerpt here.

Jake Blount has shared another stunning single and video from his new album ‘The New Faith’. The video for “Once There Was No Sun”, a song he learned from a Bessie Jones recording, features Blount alongside Veeva Banga, a South Sudanese dancer and choreographer.

Tomorrow marks the release of ‘What Holds The World Together’, the new album from The Wilderness Yet, featuring folksinger Rosie Hodgson, traditional fiddler Rowan Piggott, and guitarist-flautist Philippe Barnes. Watch their video for standout track Charlie Fox.

Next month, John Francis Flynn is on tour in the UK supported by Iona Zajac. Following the release of his 2021 debut album ‘I Would Not Live Always’ he went on to win Best Folk Singer and Best Emerging Artist at the RTÉ Folk Awards.

Ahead of Sidmouth, we look at the history of Blowzabella who began life in 1978 as an energetic stilt walking dance band in bizarre costumes – they’ve played everywhere, including Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage and have influenced bands who experiment with the boundaries of folk music.