Johnny Whalley

Running chronologically, the songs and tunes on Decade perfectly illustrate the evolution of LAU’s music over the past ten years which has given rise to a totally unique sound. A great reminder of how unique and inventive they are.

I first heard this Skipinnish line-up last year at Oban Live and was bowled over both by the music and the almost ecstatic reaction it produced in the audience. The Seventh Wave comes about as close as any studio album could to replicating this feeling.

With Further Tales, TRADarrr have generously delivered on the promise shown by their debut album. These new tales are the product of a band bursting with ideas. It truly is an album that gives more and more each time you listen.

Rising stars of the South West folk scene, Kadia, return with their latest EP ‘The Outlandish Collection’. Recorded in the studio, it allowed them to exercise a greater freedom and flexibility which comes across in a richer fuller sound.

Kris Drever puts on a top performance at Fareham’s Ashcroft Arts Centre. Singing audience favourites from his first solo album through to the title track of his latest which has led to one of his two BBC Folk Award Nominations this year.

Fairport Convention celebrate their 50th Anniversary with 50:50@50. The mix of studio and live recordings along with the special guests, including Robert Plant and Jacqui McShee ensures there’s something for everyone.

We catch up with Kris Drever for a backstage chat at Ashcroft Arts Centre. He talks about his songwriting, solo and collaborative work, the geographical challenges of living in Shetland, his future plans and more.

Robin Morton’s admiration for the Battlefield Band in all its many incarnations has driven the assembly of this collection; snapshots of 40 years of musical development that so effectively chart the band’s evolution. The Producer’s Choice is a superbly fitting celebration of it.

The years covered by these recordings were a golden period for Old Crow Medicine Show. For anyone who wants to know what fuelled the, now widespread, musical chimaera, “modern old time”, this is essential listening.

Another Day comes from a musician who has been writing and performing songs of the highest quality for the best part of 50 years featuring some of finest work to date.

Featuring a host of special guests, including Lizabett Russo, Dermot Byrne, Capercaillie’s Charlie McKerron and more, How Do You Know? illustrates just how wide-ranging Tim Edey’s talents really are.

All the sponsors of this project can be well pleased with the body of music they have enabled, music capable both of entertaining us and of reminding us of rights, privileges and liberties that we may often have taken for granted. Given the political upheavals of the last few months, the timing could hardly have been bettered.