Simon Holland

Simon heads off to London’s Sebright Arms to catch New Zealand based Indie-folkers Streets of Laredo plus we have an excellent and exclusive bedroom demo from the band for ‘Need A Little Help’ taken from their current album Volume I & II which was a Featured Album of the Month on Folk Radio UK.

Breda Mayock has the voice and her self titled album the songs of enchantment, beautifully played and arranged this is music that creates its own serene, inviting world. It cuts through time itself and rearranges the world around you in blissful harmony, it’s absolutely entrancing from start to finish. Pick up a copy and treasure it.

We have a lovely video premiere for you today with ‘Say It’s True’ taken from the forthcoming 7-Song-EP from Siobhan Wilson, formerly known as Ella The Bird. She is currently supporting Idlewild on tour and is also lined up to support Lau on their forthcoming tour. Lau’s Aidan O’Rourke is one of several notable guests on the forthcoming record.

Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield Sing Elliott Smith is simply that. Two fans pay a beautifully crafted tribute to the late songsmith for the sheer love of his music. One on which the songs are naturally littered with things that you can take to reference Elliott’s troubled and too short life.

Hailing from south Yorkshire, growing up in Sheffield and Barnsley, Richard Kitson has quietly emerged as one of the best guitar pickers of his generation, one who marries blues and folk styles into a fresh new sound. His latest album also proves that he has the songs and a storyteller’s gift. All of us need our time to escape and 40 minutes on ‘Hermit Hill’ is as good a place …

Here’s a nice exclusive and Song of the Day, with a video for Scott Matthews’ 86 Floors From Heaven created by his good friend Adam Bulley. The intimate solo performance captures the comparatively rare sight of Matthews at the piano and was shot in the shed that is the creative epicentre of Scott’s music making.

We have a great video premiere from Simi Stone who describes her soulful sound as Mountain Motown. Good Friend is taken from her forthcoming self-titled debut album on Reveal Records. You may well recognise the name as Simi was part of The Duke and The King, the quartet, for whom she sang and also played violin, in a line-up which also featured Simone Felice.

Allison Moorer’s ‘Down To Believing’ is a brave walk through a turbulent thunderstorm of emotions in search of the hope that flickers like a lightning rod ahead. Allison delivers a record that confirms her place amongst the very best of America’s singer songwriters.

Combining dizzying instrumental flair with a maturing songwriter’s voice Incidents & Accidents strips Dan Walsh’s sound back to its core and is wholly satisfying as a result, a perfect blend of great playing, so finely realised it is at times simply breathtaking, with a gift for telling a story that gets straight to the narrative heartbeat, making for an exceptional record all round.

Formerly known as Joyce The Librarian, Martin Callingham recently released the excellent ‘Tonight, We All Swim Free’, one of our featured Albums of the Month. Here he gives FRUK an exclusive insight into the album’s creation, those involved in its making and shares his thoughts on mysterious art of songwriting.

Asleep At The Wheel call on old friends and new with a younger generation drawn to re-flame the torch for western swing and their ongoing tribute to The King, Bob Wills. Featuring: Pokey LaFarge, The Avett Brothers, Old Crow Medicine Show, Willie Nelson and The Quebe Sisters and many more.

Recording in Nashville with Band Of Horses Lotte Mullan tells finely etched tales of heartbreak and hope on Love’s Bonfire, one of our Featured Albums of the Month, an album ablaze with superb songcraft throughout. Read our in-depth review and interview.

Rightly celebrated as one of the best banjo players in the UK as well as being a superb singer, songwriter and guitarist, Dan Walsh releases his new album Incidents & Accidents this month supported by an extensive UK tour. Watch his new video for Time To Stay.

A new name on the folk circuit, David Roberts makes his debut with the obliquely beautiful and poetic St Clears, an album inspired by a stay in the Carmarthenshire town of the same name. The album is full of references to nature, but cast in impressionistic lines that conjure a dreamy haze to wander through. A dappled musical dream that you won’t want to wake up from.

Drawn to Cornwall for the sun, surf, romance and unique culture our Artists of the Month, The Grenaways, tell FRUK about the magic they have found and channelled into the excellent Be Still Young Heart.

Canadian Michael Feuerstack is a one man music industry and The Forgettable Truth is the latest poetic bulletin in an extraordinary career and a record to harmonise head and heart.

Out of the circuit for almost a decade, Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman have hit a rich vein of form since their return and Tomorrow Will Follow Today finds the duo at their best.

Linking two outstanding talents in Jim Moray and Sam Carter, with Sam Nadel, Tom Moore, Nick Cooke and Jon Thorne, False Lights took Folk East 2014 by storm. Salvor is the reason why.