Billy Rough

Kerry Fowler’s solo EP, Dance of the Selkie, is a fine introduction to a promising singer songwriter who’s garnering some much deserved praise for her well-crafted and atmospheric ballads.

Fife’s Big Tent Festival, held in the beautiful location of the Falkland estate under the watchful Lomond Hills, celebrated its 5th birthday with another outstanding weekend full of superb music, delicious food, charming company and ecological enlightenment.

Following on from their equally thematic album (Take Yourself A Wife) Megson’s Longshot takes another topic as its key – this time it’s working life that is played out in the polished narratives and well-crafted arrangements.

The eponymous debut album from young folk trio Tyde is an exciting and dynamic breakthrough piece of work. Finalists in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards in 2009 Tyde comprise of Heather Gessey on fiddle and vocals, Seth Tinsley on guitar and Andrew Waite on accordion.

The mighty Saltfishforty, comprising of Orcadians Douglas Montgomery on fiddle/viola and Brian Cromarty on guitar, mandola and vocals have steadily been wowing audiences with their infectious and feisty rhythms since the release of their debut album Goose Music way back in 2003.

It was a slightly subdued East Neuk audience that welcomed Spiers & Boden and Saltfishforty to the stage at the Byre Theatre, St Andrews on Friday, perhaps that was due to the heat of the warm July night. The boys, however, didn’t take long to rouse the audience and by the end of the night the quartet had the normally reserved St Andrew’s audience taping and clapping away they way …

Martha Tilston’s Lucy & The Wolves is her third solo album (although her backing band The Woods feature heavily throughout ) and is her first new album since 2007’s Of Milkmaids and Architects (2008’s Till I Reach the Sea being a compilation EP). The album marks a move away from the more political and social concerns of her earlier work (although these are still prevalent on Lucy & The Wolves …

The Staves, comprising of sisters Jessica, Camilla and Emily, are a melodious folk trio from Watford who are garnishing some well deserved praise for their infectious and seductive harmonies. Their new EP, “Facing West” is an excellent introduction to the girls’ music and a real promise of treats to come.

Following on from his third album, Low Culture, Jim Moray has delivered another outstanding work which flawlessly mixes traditional song with modern sensibilities and musical arrangements. In an entirely characteristically brave move Moray has taken the decision to pre-release In Modern History to a wide audience as a free 8 track CD through Songlines Magazine in April 2010, the full 10 track CD is realised in June.

Isle of Wight songwriter Paul Armfield’s new album, Blood, Fish and Bone is a sensitive, melancholic and downright beautiful album. The talented musician and artist (he designed the linocut cover for the album) has assembled a masterful collaboration of musicians (including Rupert Brown, J.C. Grimshaw and Adam Kirk) to create a timeless and haunting piece of work, as the songwriter himself explains; Much of the material on the album concerns …