David Weir

To listen to The Eternal Rocks Beneath is to sink into a reverie. Katherine Priddy puts a contemporary spin on the mythological and with a balletic vocal ability and bent for tender, lush arrangements, this much-anticipated debut is like stumbling upon a diamond mine.

While David John Morris’s lyrics have always flowed from a deeply spiritual place, they have never sounded quite like those on ‘Monastic Love Songs’…they stir with transformative promise with the constitution of his inner country, as Cohen would say, vividly evoking his natural surroundings.

Last year Dylan sang, “I contain multitudes” quoting Whitman, a sentiment this sophomore tour de force boldly epitomizes. Equal parts glamorous and grotesque, Matt Sweeney & Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s Superwolves is a sprawling, bewildering frenzy of ideas and emotions, leaving the listener with plenty to unpick.

Course In Fable, self-released on Ryley Walker’s Husky Pants imprint is a bold, batshit masterstroke the likes of which we’ve never seen…the latter-day folkjokeopus we never knew we needed.

Never before have the many strands of Sam Lee’s work come together as they do on Old Wow. Featuring a remarkable cast of players, Old Wow is his most direct, urgent and moving record to date.

As Christmas this year was approaching, we visited James Yorkston at The Lexington for the last date of his short December run. He was on grand form as ever and put on a great show which was opened by Uillean pipers Paddi Benson & Grace Lemon.

Following the release of Fatal Flower Garden, we catch up with Sam Amidon to chat about Harry Smith, Sacred Harp singing, Thomas Bartlett, Arthur Russell …and basketball award ceremonies.

David Weir heads to Liverpool’s iconic 81 Renshaw venue for an evening of country soul from Treetop Flyers and a solo performance by Andy Cabic (aka Vetiver), one that is mellow, measured and quietly affecting.

The drifting quality and gentle countrified pace of ‘Up On High’ doesn’t solely just apply to the music; for Cabic it’s a deliberate way of life, a freewheeling philosophy that’s never sounded quite this convincing.

Sam Amidon steps into the mystic’s “memory theatre” as he draws from the Anthology of American Folk Music. Expansive and eccentric in equal measure, it just goes to show there’s plenty more digging worth doing.

With a repertoire ranging from raunchy to raw, wistful to utterly tragic; the show is a triumph from start to finish. Understandably, the applause continues long after Ye Vagabonds have taken their leave.

In season 4 of Folk on Foot, Matthew Bannister walks with Nancy Kerr, John Jones of Oysterband, Kris Drever, Peggy Seeger, Bella Hardy and Rachel Newton. We hear more from the man behind the microphone.