Mike Davies

Beth Malcolm’s Folkmosis is a spellbinding album that speaks not only to the music and heritage that lives within her heart but also to how the music of our homelands can root us in identity and place, however far away from home we may be.

Zachary Lucky’s ‘The Wind’ is in the classic mould of an Americana troubadour album – it’s up there with the best, alongside Guy Clark, Tom Rush, and Townes Van Zandt.

With so many artists trying to recreate the spirit and songs of old-time country, who would have thought that Shetland-born Malachy Tallack’s ‘The Beautiful Atlantic Waltz’ would be one of the year’s best and most authentic sounding?

If her debut announced her as a distinctive new Americana voice, Deep Feeler, with its conflicted raw emotions, simple but effective melodies and imagery, reinforces Liv Greene as being one of the brightest stars in the genre’s constellation.

With ‘How Much Is Enough Volume One’, Iain Matthews delivers another immersive and engaging album from someone who has proven himself a consummate craftsman time and time again, far more than just the ripple in the stream he modestly calls himself.

Tim Stafford and Thomm Jutz’s ‘Wall Dogs’ is an unfussy, downhome album with its roots deep in the musicians’ personal and musical heritages, played with unshowy skills and warmed by the fire of human connections, longings and lives lived.

Snowgoose’s third album, Descendant, is said to offer  “a reflection on the beauty and pain of impermanence”, but their intoxicating music is a far from transitory experience. Outstanding.

Described by Hal Willner as a timeless album, Mary Lee Kortes’ stunning concept album, Will Anybody Know That I Was Here: The Songs of Beulah Rowley, is grounded in themes and emotions that are both universal and deeply personal.

Amy Speace’s ‘The American Dream’ is as universal as it is personal, it reminds us that while life may not get easier, we can become more resilient against its blows…she’s still one of the greatest artists in Americana today. Outstanding.

A welcome return to a solo platform and a springboard to new musical paths, The Winter Yards reaffirms Steve Knightley’s amply deserved reputation and status as one of the foremost names on the English folk scene.

The Ridge Trilogy EPs are tantalising, appetite-whetting snapshots of a work in progress and an atmospheric collection in its own right, Dean Owens is mining gold…

Taking in traditional English, Scottish and Irish tunes as well as self-penned material, Thorpe  & Morrison’s “Grass & Granite” is a glowing testament to their musicianship and virtuosity drawing on themes that explore both longings for home and moving on to new experiences.