In a special guest post, Hannah Martin (Edgelarks, Gigspanner Big Band) talks about her own journey into folk music and how we can better attract younger people into the folk scene.
Natural Invention is a piece of music that feels thrillingly, frighteningly, beautifully of our time. With the Gigspanner Big Band, Peter Knight has assembled a group of musicians intent on making some of the most important and exhilarating art ever to sit under the banner of folk music.
Unearth Repeat is a significant leap forward for Sam Sweeney in terms of his solo work. It is a highly creative work that brings something new to the mix, while also celebrating the simple joys of instrumental folk music. Mesmerising and irresistible stuff.
We chat to master fiddler and our Artist of the Month Sam Sweeney. He talks about the crafting of his second album Unearth Repeat, his loud violin and why withholding information can be beneficial.
Danny Neill sits down with our Artist of the Month Franc Cinelli and digs beneath the surface of his latest offering “Night Songs”. Along the way, they touch on a shared love of vinyl and more.
You must give Cinelli great kudos for his boundless approach to these recordings, he’s allowed the music to guide him down many satisfying and unpredictable avenues. ‘Night Songs’ is an album with a clear thematic purpose that emphatically realises its ambition.
We catch up with Jon Boden, our Artist of the Month, to talk about his new album ‘Rose in June’, a stand-alone work that ranks among the most accomplished, passionate and polished of his releases to date.
Rose in June is an endlessly varied and accomplished album that sees the Remnant Kings at the top of their game and shows just why Jon Boden is one of the most lauded folk musicians this century.
Luke Daniels, our Artist of the Month who recently released “Old Friends & Exhausted Enemies”, offered to write a piece of his choosing. He, rather bravely, chose the Nature and Origin of Folk Music.
We chat to Luke Daniels, our current Artist of the Month, about his new album “Old Friends & Exhausted Enemies”. Daniels is one of folk music’s true originals. Whatever he plans to do next is unlikely to be quite like anything else.
Luke Daniels’ “Old Friends & Exhausted Enemies” is full of mystery and emotion. It is the work of a discerning reader, a remarkable songwriter, and a musician with the touch of an alchemist.
We talk to Martin Simpson about his new album “Rooted”. He may now be on his 21st solo album and in his fifth decade as a professional musician, but his creative output, vision and musicianship has never been finer. Plus we have a special “Rooted” giveaway.
Rooted is an album of rich material put to wonderful music that all combines to result in a release that is an essential career highlight from the most inimitable of musicians. Watch Martin’s new video for “Trouble Brought Me Here”.
Dick Gaughan’s greatest talent has to be his ability to share his music with skill, passion and humour. That fact is abundantly clear on The Harvard Tapes, a unique and unmissable opportunity to relish a vintage Gaughan performance.
The Outlander may seem like the slightest and the straightest of Jim Moray albums, but in truth, it is the most condensed and representative document of the artist that we have, and that alone – besides all the great songs, of course – makes it a treasure.
A coffee with the ever-engaging Jim Moray resulted in a chat about his new album The Outlander, a project germinated from a vintage guitar that has resulted in a distilling of ideas.
The former Civil Wars member, Joy Williams, talks to us about the journey from her last album “Venus” to her latest offering “Front Porch”, life-simplifying and coming home.
Front Porch is a wonderfully conceived and unselfconscious piece of work that is heartfelt and honest. Joy Williams has really hit her stride with this one, the album brims with warmth, an unassuming beauty.
