Artist of the Month

Five years ago Damien O’Kane released his debut solo ‘Summer Hill’. ‘Areas of High Traffic’ is both an extraordinary and brilliant follow-up from an immensely talented musician and singer.

We catch up with Scottish folk singer Karen Matheson, our Artist of the Month, to talk about the background and inspiration behind her new album ‘Urram’. We also discuss Gaelic culture and a possible performance at Celtic Connections.

We are very honoured to have Karen Matheson as our Artist of the Month for October. Her latest album ‘Urram’ is bold, imaginative and a thrill to listen to. It’s the next step in a fascinating journey, one that unites the voices of the Hebrides with traditional and classical musicians from Scotland, Senegal, and India.

As Canada’s Great Lake Swimmers prepare for their imminent, major European tour Tony Dekker, the band’s singer and songwriter, takes us through a little history and the unusual recording techniques they used in the making of A Forest Of Arms, their superb sixth album.

With the release of his second solo album scheduled for the start of September, Oysterband’s John Jones explains how ‘Never Stop Moving’ capped three years of intense creativity and how the Reluctant Ramblers have given him an outlet for a different facet of his musical personality.

Known the world over as the lead voice of Oysterband, John Jones has combined his love of music and walking and, with the help of The Reluctant Ramblers, crafted his second solo album, the brilliant Never Stop Moving.

Richard Thompson is in London for a couple of days of press interviews and Folk Radio UK caught up with him to talk about his new album ‘Still’, working with Jeff Tweedy and how to stay open all hours when it comes to song writing.

Richard Thompson is on something of a roll, with Jeff Tweedy as producer and with his trusted rhythm section in tow, ‘Still’ is proof that he’s making some of the best music of his life. Richard is Folk Radio UK’s Artist of the Month for July.

It may have taken almost 25 years and a sharp thinking festival booker to light the fuse, but Eliza Carthy and Tim Erikson have finally brewed up a Bottle of rare vintage. Here they tell Folk Radio all about it.

Having released one of the best albums of the year so far, we caught up with Jackie Oates to talk about her musical journey from her early days of singing at Topsham Folk Club to pursuing her solo career. We also talk about the making of The Spyglass & The Herringbone.

Eliza Carthy and Tim Eriksen finally found the means to combine their extraordinary talents and a couple of UK tours created the opportunity to open the Bottle in celebration. This is a great record, as accomplished and surprising as you might expect from two of the folk world’s most complete musical artists.

The Spyglass & The Herringbone gathers up all of Jackie Oates promise to date, dusts it down and adds polish to present a sparkling jewel of a folk record. It’s a rare and most refined thing of gift of great beauty and as good a record as you could rightly hope for, that’s all yours for the small price of admission.