Johnny Whalley

While it’s not unusual to make use of a synthesizer in folk-rock nowadays, the degree of imagination shown by Mec Lir in bringing those imaginings to fruition set them apart.

TRADarrr are mining a rich seam of traditional songs in their search for material, but it is the flair and imagination going into the arrangements that set them apart as proven here.

Tin whistle player Kevin Meehan has injected extra variety into a musical mix that was already overflowing with talent and imagination and has made Spanish Point an album to cherish.

John Whalley shares his Top 10 Albums of 2020 – Track Dogs, Gigspanner Big Band, The Ledger, Will Pound, The Haar, Project Smok, The Magpies, Dirk Powell, Shooglenifty & Lauren MacColl.

This first compilation from Raelach Records offers 56 minutes of first-class Irish music. Superbly executed, entertaining and delightful and as a bonus supports artists who have been deprived of opportunities to do what they love.

With their album ‘Cliffs’, Garefowl have produced music that effortlessly evokes the sights and sounds of the remote, rocky, seabird havens that make up the St Kilda archipelago. A truly satisfying album.

I may live hundreds of miles away from the mountain landscapes that Lauren experiences daily, but now, with this wonderfully evocative music, I have a very rapid route back to them.

Acid Croft Vol 9 has a warm glow that comes from a new start. Having heard its first fruits, we can tell you that the Shooglenifty magic is brighter than ever.

Rura will never forget this night. Armed with this album, we can acquire a small stake in those memories, along with some of the very best contemporary Scottish music.

When I Wait For You is so absorbing it could only come from that rare combination of technical brilliance and joy of collaboration that Dirk Powell has in abundance.

Taken from Dirk Powell’s forthcoming album ‘When I Wait For You’, featuring Mike McGoldrick, John McCusker, Sara Watkins, Rhiannon Giddens and many more, watch his new video for Olivia.

For their debut, The Magpies have produced an album that intrigues and delights, packed with variety and first-class musicianship. Not to be missed.

Live Across Scotland is as near as you could get to capturing Skerryvore’s live sound and the atmosphere that goes with it.

Brian Ó hEadhra and Fiona MacKenzie return with Tuath…a tribute to the Gaelic Northlands and their peoples, an amalgam of their culture, their history and their mythologies. …a breath-taking and hugely enjoyable album.

The core sound of Project SMOK is whistle (or pipes), guitar and bodhrán, and it is one that has already earned them an enviable reputation as a live band, Bayview is ideally suited to spreading that reputation further.

Will Pound is to be congratulated on not only capturing the essence of the traditional music of 27 countries but also producing an album that is as entertaining as it is instructive. He also demonstrates that what we hold in common is so much more than what divides us.

With excellent musicianship and song writing throughout, John Doyle delivers just about everything one could have hoped for on The Path of Stones, mixing songs and tunes into a heady cocktail that leaves you with a warm, self-satisfied glow.

With Hypernova, Jiggy returns to pull off the same magic act, this time with an even larger cast of characters bringing yet more diversity and inspiration. An album that is a joy to listen to whether you’re up dancing or sat in your armchair.