Matt McGinn

The Black Doorway betrays Coll’s true talent – The man’s a poet. His life is presently filled with muses and champions. The former inspires, the latter releases.

Is this a perfect performance? No… it’s better. From the unsettled start to the wall-shaking end, it’s a proper live experience that will have many chomping at the bit to return to.

Mainly inspired by songs first heard at the Sailortown Folk Club in Belfast. Matt McGinn declares the EP a firm favourite and the most impressive Joshua Burnside performance yet.

Cup O’Joe have all bases covered…Be it banjo to bass, vocals to violin, every phrase and fill is a complete work in itself. If Americana and Bluegrass is a descendant of Irish and Ulster Scots music, then Cup O’ Joe have brought it home and taught it a lesson.

Tommy Sands has made his Sargent Pepper, his Pet Sounds, an album that smashes down the boundaries of traditional Irish Folk music and embraces every culture that exists in Ireland today, and them some! A stunning album.

Old Salt’s energy and virtuosity hit you like a ton of bricks. If you’d told me I was listening to contemporaries of the Del McCoury band, rather than a bunch of talented youths from the town of Ghent, I would have believed it.

I could say that Terms of Surrender is infectious, intelligent and bewitching, but more than that, its just SO SO GOOD!!…the backbeat, the rhythm guitars, the hooks, but most of all the infectious and laid back tone and phrasing of lead man, M.C. Taylor

This collaboration shows that, thankfully, Martin Hayes has no plans in resting on his laurels. Brooklyn Rider add colour and shape to the aura of Hayes’ fiddle. It was always there, but now we can finally experience it in technicolour.

The impeccable pairing of Turrisi and Giddens is something few would have foreseen… This is music at its most honest and primal, you can almost feel the walls of the studio shaking. Rhiannon Giddens is the absolute real deal and so is this album.

This is a true portrait of a young performer enjoying the art of captivating an audience and mastering his songs without losing any of himself along the way. Joshua Burnside may not be typical Irish Folk, but he is everything it should stand for, and no doubt will bring it to new places for years to come.

The Wild Willing is born from a desire to collaborate, to open new doors, connect with people from all ends of the earth…something infinitely precious. This is Glen Hansards best complete work by a country mile and one of the finest albums to ever come out of Ireland.

It’s so refreshing to hear so many songs and melodies that we have almost forgotten how much we love, but to hear Diane sing them backed by Manus Lunny and his incredible squad, they breath new life into old traditions, guaranteeing their survival for at least another generation.

It’s so rare to hear a duo that are this good across the board, and especially on a debut collaboration. The songwriting, performing and production of Songs by the King Heat Ensemble is quite astounding.

I’m not sure if there’s another living Irish songwriter that has the kahunas to write and release these songs. Thank goodness they found a home, as to me it really places Mick Flannery into a select group of Irish songwriters that you could probably count on one hand.

Allt finds Julie Fowlis, Éamon Doorley, Zoë Conway and John Mc Intyre at the top of their game. That they gel so well musically and allow each other the space to explore new ground says an awful lot for the selfless ethos in both traditional music, and the musicians themselves.

“Katherine Priddy has one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard. Her tone, phrasing, pitch and sentiment..it’s flawless…and her songs are class too.  The melodies, the lyrics, the concepts… all so incredibly engaging.”

Barry and Laura have together made a scrapbook of their life in traditional music and it is truly lovely. There are no airs or graces, no production gymnastics, just a unique snapshot of how these siblings will forever be joined through a living tradition that they themselves have now passed on.

This collection of songs is an incredible testimony to a man who was at his strongest when he should have been at his weakest. Rest in Peace Jimmy LaFave.