News

Fans of John Martyn will be pleased to hear that the ‘Man Upstairs‘ DVD which features a 1978 concert film of John, made for german television, is to be re-released. The DVD has proven popluar to fans across the globe which features John perfoming songs from ‘One World’ alongside older material from albums such as ‘Solid Air’, ‘Bless the Weather’ and ‘Sunday’s Child’. John is on great form and also …

As the 5th Anniversary of Record Store Day fast approaches (Saturday 21st April) a large number of bands have signed up for playing gigs across the country at their local independent record stores. As you’d expect, London based Rough Trade Shops have a series of gigs running at their two stores which include Johnny Flynn, Stealing Sheep, Cate Le Bon & Smoke Fairies whose new album titled ‘Blood Speaks‘ is …

Slow Club have covered ‘Edge Of Town‘ from the Francois & The Atlas Mountains album ‘E Volo Love‘. You can listen to it below. It will feature as part of Record Store Day split 7″: The ‘Gold Mountain’/’Edge Of Town’ out on 21st April on Domino Records. Also don’t miss Francois and The Atlas Mountains this Saturday when they will be joining Rozi Plain on the Simple Folk Radio show …

This Monday (16th April) Julie Murphy releases her new solo album ‘A Quiet House‘, her first since “Lilac tree” ten years ago! Julie has asked Folk Radio UK to feature a live video stream of the album launch party which will take place in Julie’s own front room. The event will be filmed by Jacob Whittaker and and the stream will go live just before 8:30pm so please come and …

This weeks Simple Folk Radio show will feature a live recording of The Fence Collectives Rozi Plain, performing with Francois And The Atlas Mountains for an intimate audience of friends and fans in Brighton, England. The unassuming charm of Rozi’s live show has led to tours across Europe, the UK & USA. Notable tours include supporting Devendra Banhart (who fell for her debut album, and named it one of his …

Tim Eriksen has just revealed a new video for ‘Solitude in the Grove’ which was filmed in the beautiful Hope Valley in the heart of the Peak District, Derbyshire. The song is taken from his new album Banjo, Fiddle and Voice. Tim recently finished a UK tour with the fabulous Cath & Phil Tyler and if you’ve not come across them before then watch this 2008 video interview made by …

Ellen and The Escapades recently spent the day with fellow Leeds band Hope and Social. Each month Hope and Social invite a band to their ‘crypt’ and together they arrange, record and produce a cover, chosen by fans. They were given Robert Palmer’s hit ‘Addicted to Love’ to work their magic to. Ellen and The Escapades release their debut album ‘All The Crooked Scenes’ on Monday 16th April and are …

Seas of Mirth are not your typical sea shanty inspired band. Their members hail from Nottingham, Derby, Leicester and Birmingham and they put on a high powered performance that has been likened to “the Pogues getting Mumford and Sons in a headlock, whilst Flogging Molly steals their lunch money and Grandmaster Flash kicks them in the shins”. The band have been going since 2007 and have played up and down …

During this year’s SXSW Michael Kiwanuka, Ben Howard, The Staves, Ben Lovett & members of Bear’s Den got together to for a Communion Jam and recorded a cover of John Martyn’s classic ‘Over the Hill’. Watch it below: The Staves Tour The Motherlode EP will be released on the 23rd April through Atlantic Records, featuring 3 brand new tracks; The Motherlode, Pay Us No Mind and Wisely And Slow. The …

[rating=5] Quickbeam are a six piece acoustic/atmospheric band based in Glasgow Scotland. They were formed in 2009 by Monika Gromek, she was later joined by Andrew Thomson after discovering a mutual kinship and love for sparse arranagements. The band has since grown to six members. My first introduction to their music was their debut music video for Seven Hundred Birds which was made by BAFTA short film nominated director Mat …

The next instalment from Simple Folk Radio will be broadcast this Saturday (April 7) at 5.00pm on Folk Radio UK which will feature an exclusive session courtesy of Tony Decker, lead singer of the Great Lake Swimmers. Marking the release of their latest album ‘New Wild Everything‘, we have what is quite simply one of the most beautiful session we could possibly ever air, courtesy of Tony Decker, lead singer …

Allysen Callery will be taking a little time away from tours for April to relax and record her new album which is due out late Summer/early Fall! For those lucky enough to be in right place at the right time she still has a couple of shows for April (details below). For those who are not so lucky here is a great video recording of one of her shows from …