Mike Davies

Cloudheads is O’Hooley & Tidow’s most personal and most contemplative work to date; glowing with the consummate musicianship they’ve crafted over the past 10 years, that international profile seems set to grow bigger still.

Drawing once more on his life on the rural farm he built in Indiana, including family, tradition and community issues, Tim Grimm charts a more internal and personal landscape on his new album The Little In-Between, that again marks him as one of America’s finest songwriters.

A standard bearer for Southern Gothic Americana noir, you don’t come to Ben de La Cour albums looking for an uplift to get you through the day, but his new album, Sweet Anhedonia, despite the comfortably numb evocation of the title, holds dark pleasures indeed.

Mike Tod’s self-titled debut is an excellent addition to the increasing interest in old time American music, both preserving its heritage and infusing it with contemporary musical relevance; I suspect and trust this is just the first committing Mike Tod’s ethnomusicological ventures to disc.

After 52 years of making albums, Chip Taylor doesn’t appear to be slowing down. The Cradle Of All Living Things is a generous double album, one that offers comfort and ideally listened to in those quiet twilight moments.

TumbleWeedyWorld is a terrific album on which Lynn Miles continues to consolidate her reputation as one of Canada’s most formidable songwriters.

John Ward’s ‘Congress’ album is a solidly crafted collection of songs and poetic narratives based around the real events of Buffalo Bill’s visit to the UK in 1903 and 1904.

In Stolen From God, Reg Meuross has unquestionably written his masterpiece in a song cycle that turns an unflinching eye on the toxic legacy of the transatlantic slave trade, especially in his home in the South West of England.

Tell Me World is the debut album from Tapestri, a duo featuring Lowri Evans and Sarah Zyborska and surely a contender for the Welsh answer to First Aid Kit.

Milton Hide’s album was designed to capture the serenity of walking the ancient path through the intertwined trees; The Holloway definitely has its fingers dipped in the sparkle jar.

Produced by Jack Schneider, who also plays lead guitar, When The Trouble’s All Done is a highly promising debut album that very much marks Ellie Turner out as one to watch.

Featuring a wealth of special guests, including Brenn Hill, Dom Flemons, Corb Lund, Pipp Gillette, Tom Russell, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Brigid Reedy, Waddie Mitchell, and Andy Wilkinson, Andy Hedges’ ‘Roll On’ Cowboys’ is a vital contribution to preserving the musical history and heritage of arguably the most iconic and defining quintessence of America.