Featured

You just know, that when you listen to Robert Doyle play and sing, you’re hearing exactly what you would in a live setting. There’s no need for adornments – the guitar, vocal, melodies, words all speak for themselves. Robert has an approach to music that’s all his own, and this is what shines through on ‘Lig Amach’.

As Toronto-based Sultans of String prepare for their first extensive tour of Ireland and the UK this month, we catch up with founding band member, Chris McKhool who tells us about the ethos behind the uplifting music presented on Subcontinental Drift and his own musical background.

Eyeland is like nothing else you are likely to hear, unless you have direct access to the future, but beneath the impressive and immersive layers of meaning and narrative, beneath the squall, the surprise and the silence, exists a spirited set of songs that are clearly the work of one of the best and most confident bands in America.

Subcontinental Drift is an enthralling, adventurous celebration of the power music has to transcend geographical and cultural boundaries, and Sultans of String wield that power with grace, eloquence and spirit.

‘This House Will Stand: The Best of Oysterband 1998-2015’ is a comprehensive and essential overview of one of the folk scene’s finest bands and is recommended to established fans and newcomers alike.

With ‘From the Skein’ Jenny Sturgeon has pushed her music far beyond the realms of singer/songwriter, to a wider sphere where words, music and creativity combine in an inspired and thoroughly engaging work.

Adam Holmes & the Embers are about to embark on a short Scottish tour before a summer of festival shows. So this seemed the perfect time to ask him a few questions about the new album ‘Brighter Still’.

An album that provides all the Jayhawks elements that keep the fans hoping for another album, yet still managing to strike forth into new territory. It isn’t simply good to see them back – it’s better than ever to see them back.

Try to give the music a name if you will; acoustic-roots, folk-pop – labels don’t really matter and would certainly be difficult to apply. Serenity Sessions is, above everything else, great fun to listen to.

In Under The Cover Of Lightness Fraser Anderson takes us from warm summer love to cold, bleak loneliness. With Allen Ginsberg on one shoulder and John Martyn on the other, he shares hope and despondency in equal measure. And he makes us long to savour every drop.

‘The Things That We Are Made Of’ presents the listener with new songs that remind us of exactly why Carpenter is such a universally admired singer/song writer; just why again and again, we fall in love with her music.

Adam has gained confidence in his own ability and taken his music forward on Brighter Still. Not in a new direction, but off on a gentle tangent that explores what else can be achieved when the quality of the song writing leaves ample space for adventure.