Mike Davies

The Wide Afternoon is the third album from London-based singer and songwriter Jack Harris. Whilst previously compared to the likes of Jackson C Frank, Bob Dylan, Richard Thompson and Martyn Joseph, this is very much his own voice. A sublime album by a sublime artist.

For her sixth studio album, Tift Merritt lays her cards on the tables from the outset with themes from childbirth to divorce. Joined by Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam for three numbers, ‘Stitch of the World’ proves to be a strong album.

Following the release of his sold out third album Dragon Tails, Phil Riley returns with Neil Mercer for Lost Legions, an album steeped in the sound of that much loved late 60s/early 70s folk sound.

Furnace, the sophomore solo album from newgrass outfit Trampled By Turtles frontman Dave Simonett, offers a collection of deeply personal and open-nerved songs couched in memorable, infectious melodies, delivered with an aching tenor and echoes of 60s country-rock.

For their latest album, husband and wife Americana duo The Grahams bring along some friends including Alvin Youngblood Hart, The Milk Carton Kids, John Fullbright, The Norman Sisters and both Cody and Luther Dickinson and many more. UK Tour February – March 2017.

On the title track of her new album Courtney Marie Andrews sings “some people take a little more time to grow”; after standing in the shadows of success playing with the likes of Damien Jurado, the time has come for her to be bathed in her own spotlight.

Stanley Brinks’ latest offering sees him teaming up with a stripped down two-piece version of the Norwegian folk collective The Kaniks – a double album that is immaculately played, unpolished and, for the most, jubilant in spirit and mood, it’s a gem of its kind.

Red Tail Ring’s latest offering is a welcome addition to the continuing revival of American traditional music that has both a faithful adherence to the past and a sensibility of contemporary issues…pushing the tradition to new heights.

By slipping out at the end of the year, Winter In London may not get the attention it deserves, but this is well worth seeking out, heralding a further step up the ladder for a highly distinctive talent.

It’s taken a fair few years for Fields to go from playing on the family front porch and around the local bars to making the transition to a recording studio and a wider audience, but Martha Fields is making up for lost time with a vengeance, she has the potential to become a very significant name in Americana roots music.

Amanda Rheaume’s Holding Patterns is a terrific album, at the heart of which is the powerful ‘Red Dress’ on which she is joined by Juno Humanitarian Award winner Chantal Kreviazuk to tackle what she and others see as Canada’s cultural genocide. She tours the UK in January.

There’s many an artist out there mining America’s rich musical history and shaping it into their own experiences and observations; Jeff Crosby may well be one of the best.