It may have taken Michael Walsh a long time to make his first album, but Quare Hawk is a warm, unassuming collection of tunes, songs and spoken word, striking coherence across a multiplicity of influences and styles.
Closer to the feel and sound of a Staple Singers record than any other solo album Mavis Staples has made, We Get By is one of her very best solo albums to date – it’s a winner.
Watch Quare Hawk, wooden flute player Michael Walsh’s new band, which features a number of familiar names including Bryony Griffith and Hannah Miller (Moulettes). A debut album is due out soon, produced by Mike McGoldrick.
Songs of Our Native Daughters is a cultural landmark both for these extraordinary musicians and hopefully for others inspired by them, as well as those of us fortunate enough to hear their work.
We recently reviewed top Anglo-Irish band Flook’s outstanding new album Ancora, their first since 2005. The band’s dual flute players Sarah Allen and Brian Finnegan recently took some time out to talk about making the album and the background to some of the tunes.
Ancora picks up where Flook left off with Haven 14 years ago, delighting us, again, with their unique, exciting sound and their ever-inventive arrangements. Expectations more than fully met – simply a brilliant album.
Featuring Norwegians Frode Halti and Vegar Vårdal alongside Irish flute player Nuala Kennedy the Snowflake Trio’s debut album Sun Dogs contains a wealth of diverse, nourishing music and is an all-round thing of beauty.
Ian Carr and Niklas Roswell’s new album will grab your attention and keep it. With lots to explore and savour, Time Flies is, like this duo, a real treasure.
This year’s impressive guest line-up for the Transatlantic Sessions included Tim O’Brien, Gretchen Peters, Molly Tuttle, Cara Dillon and Paul McKenna. The tour kicked off at Celtic Connections with a hugely entertaining evening.
Accompanied by The Celtic Blues Orchestra Rhiannon Giddens delivered an exceptional performance at Celtic Connections, receiving no less than three standing ovations. An unforgettable evening.
We catch master Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser premièring his latest collaborative odyssey at Celtic Connections featuring, cellist Natalie Haas, fiddler sister Brittany, Québécois guitarist, accordionist and singer Yann Falquet, and phenomenal US stepdancer Nic Gareiss.
One of our favourite singers Ríoghnach Connolly has joined forces with Aizle to record The Wexford Carol as a Christmas single. It’s their take on one of the oldest Christmas carols, as part of a new collaboration.
Matt Molloy, the paragon of Irish traditional flute playing, makes his first solo album in 22 years. Back To The Island is everything lovers of Molloy’s playing could wish for and more.
Karan Casey talks to Folk Radio UK and provides an in-depth look into the making of Hieroglyphs That Tell the Tale – From her choice of guest singers to her drive to write songs that cover social justice issues.
Hieroglyphs That Tell the Tale is so wonderful that words really can’t do it justice. As nature writer Robert McFarlane once said “Language is always late for its subject. Sometimes …I just say ‘wow’”. Listen and be wowed. Her best album yet.
Experiencing Declan O’Rourke’s ‘Chronicles of the Great Irish Famine’ live is frankly quite unlike any other show I have ever seen. It is both completely engrossing and literally unforgettable.
A new CD with guitar and box player Tim Edey’s name on it is a safe bet to provide a joyous lift and ‘Once’, with guitarist and fiddle player J.P. Cormier, is absolutely no exception. Stunning, with absorbing, uplifting playing throughout, this will draw you in and demand repeat playing.
We talk to Declan O’Rourke about his album Chronicles of the Great Irish Famine which he spent 15 years researching and developing. It will be performed live with a full band in aid of Action Against Hunger in Manchester next month.
