News

Fresh from their sell out performances of The Lock In ‘Christmas Carol’, the Breaking Tradition Dance Company return to Ye Olde Fighting Cocks for a comical new version of their critically acclaimed folk and hip hop dance show ‘The Lock In’! We have two pairs of tickets to give away.

Seven projects will create new music rooted in the English folk music tradition following the latest round of funding awards by England’s national development agency for the folk arts. Including Spiro’s Alex Vann, Emily Mae Winters and more.

This Thursday (Aug 17) Teesside trio The Young’uns will finally get to meet face-to-face Teesside grandfather Ghafoor Hussain who inspired their heart-warming song Ghafoor’s Bus. The song features on their forthcoming studio album Strangers, due for release on 29th September

On September 29, 2017, Chicago-based Big Sadie will release their debut album (UK release) on Spindle Tree Records. Watch their live video for “Need Your Love” which captures Big Sadie on a sunny day in mid-May in Chicago’s Humboldt Park.

Our Song of the Day comes from Cardiff-based band NoGood Boyo. Whilst at Lorient Interceltic Festival they recorded this at the reservoir where the acoustics lend atmosphere to the traditional Welsh love song Ym Mhontypridd Mae ‘Nghariad.

Steve Roud’s ‘Folk Song in England’ is a much-needed book, less about the song and more about the cultural life of those who sang them. He tackles the murky waters well as he investigates the wider social history of traditional song in England and he succeeds at furthering our understanding rather than hindering it. An essential and inspiring read.

One Nation Underground, the 1967 release from American psychedelic folk band Pearls Before Swine is to be reissued by Drag City Records using the original mono mix that made such an impact on its initial release.

To celebrate their Golden Anniversary, Ian Anderson presents 50 years of Jethro Tull with eight UK concerts in April 2018 as part of a worldwide touring schedule.

We kick the week off with Midwestern alt-country stalwarts The Roseline and Maze of Glass, taken from their forthcoming album, Blood, due out October 6th.

Watch Eliza Carthy performing Worcester City, accompanied by David Delarre on guitar, recorded during the Barbican Centre Music Library’s Topic Records Exhibition earlier this year.

Watch The Bara Bara Band’s new video for Plimsoll, an original arrangement of a broadside about the politician Plimsoll who, in the 1800s, canvassed for better safety on cargo ships where owners were sending sailors off to their deaths to cash in on insurance.

This autumn sees Sean Taylor, one of our most valuable and unique songwriters, embarking on a 30 date European tour across the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland and Germany.