Glenn Kimpton

Featuring a number of special guests including Sierra Hull and Kate Rusby, Damien O’Kane and Ron Block reunite once more on Banjophonics, a rich and rewarding album filled with energy, emotion and a huge heart.

Katie Spencer’s ‘The Edge of the Land’ doesn’t feel the need to over-embellish its sound; it has the spontaneity that live performance captures combined with arrangements that are unfussy but quietly adventurous. Let this one live with you for a while to discover its powers.

Echo, the third album from Welsh-Senegalese harp and kora duo Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita, is another significant leap forward; a masterpiece and a beautiful album from two artists who are operating at the height of their powers.

Controlled Burning is a mind-bender of an album featuring duets from guitarist Eli Winter and keyboard and synthesizer artist Jordan Reyes – unashamedly bonkers in places and calm and sedate in others.

Australian picker Darren Cross’s third album of solo guitar music comes from a place of travel and solitude; harnessing life’s recent restrictions and finding art in simplicity during the strangest time most of us can remember.

Liam Grant’s debut album is a homage of sorts to the music he loves including Son House, Charlie Patton and Jack Rose. However, it’s his original work, such as Aroostook, that is telling me that Liam is a musician to keep an eye on.

Brad Barr’s ‘The Winter Mission’ is a complex recording with densely structured pieces entwined with almost eerie sparseness. It is a carefully considered and intelligent album featuring riches that need to be given plenty of listens and plenty of time. It will certainly reward you.

Produced by James Elkington and featuring a number of special guests including Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Casey Toll and Libby Rodenbough, Good and Green Again is a spacious and spell-binding offering from the inimitable Jake Xerxes Fussell.

For Lonesome Weary Blues, an album of covers and traditional tunes, Daniel Bachman’s acoustic is again the star of the show. The music sounds joyous and the picking is confident and precise. It’s a beautifully balanced album, unpretentious and life-affirming, from this ever-creative musician.

Tompkins Square’s release of Bola Sete’s live shows at the Penthouse jazz club in Seattle is an indulgent and immensely satisfying collector’s piece, packed with music and literature, including interviews with Carlos Santana and Anne Sete, plus essays by John Fahey among others.

Glenn Kimpton shares his Top 10 Albums of 2021 including Mason Lindahl, Jon Wilks, Mind Maintenance, Sally Anne Morgan, Daniel Bachman, C Joynes, Cath & Phil Tyler, Sarah-Jane Summers & Juhani Silvola and more.

Ross Hammond’s “It’s Been Here All Along” is a pleasure to listen to and a fine example of the richness that can be found in the simplicity and purity of solo guitar music.