Featured

We get the first thoughts from Elan Rhys and David Gibb on Beyond The Marches / Dros y Ffin which will be exploring and celebrating in the shared history of England and Wales. We will have more from them this week as the project progresses.

In a new project titled Beyond The Marches / Dros y Ffin, some of our finest contemporary folk musicians will be exploring and celebrating in the shared history and culture of two nations, England and Wales. Feat: Lucy Ward, David Gibb, Elan Rhys, Patrick Rimes, Georgia Ruth and Archie Churchill-Moss. Over the coming week FRUK will be bringing you a unique insight.

Block booking Dublin’s prestigious Vicar Street for a month of concerts was a bold move, but one that has paid off handsomely for Paul Brady, with a little help from his friends. You can hear it for yourself on The Vicar St. Sessions Vol. 1 which is released this month via Proper Records. Read our review here.

Tom Russell’s epic The Rose Of Roscrae is the crowning achievement of one of America’s most potent songsmiths, a brilliant and dramatic, western folk opera with an all star cast. It could just be the single most important Americana release of all time.

For his second album A Day Like Tomorrow Fabian Holland returns with more magical guitar playing, a much bigger sound and another superb set of songs and the notable addition of percussionist Fred Claridge, a young and up coming star himself, while Jacob Stoney’s keyboards add variety and texture to the bigger sound that producer Mark Hutchinson has helped Fabian realise.

Kris Drever and Boo Hewerdine, both exceptional on their own, bring their collaborative skills to Last Man Standing a duo EP of song craft at its finest. With the tour just underway and the first date tonight, there will be a chance to see just how far that Kris and Boo can push this partnership. With two songwriters as good as this pairing you should make every effort to see …

Having told us about their Equation days and their early musical beginnings in part one of our interview, Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman now bring the story of their Folk Award winning duo up to date. They talk openly about their challenges, their new album, songwriting and more. They are on tour now.

Former Young Folk Award finalists, the Jaywalkers have now been recognised with an Emerging Excellence Award and the unique musical tapestry of Weave lives up to the billing. Their unique sound mixes their love for progressive American bluegrass forms with a Lancashire hotpot of working life and social injustice.

Constant innovators and superb musicians, Lau invited Joan As Police Woman to produce the new album The Bell That Never Rang. It charts bold new frontiers. Is it the best Lau album yet? There’s absolutely no doubt about it!

With a little help from Sam Lakeman and Boo Hewerdine, The Changing Room’s debut Behind The Lace proves a brilliant tribute to the sun, sea and salt air of the Cornish southwest. It is one of those delightful little gems, one you should all seek out.

With each successive work Spiro seem to get better, as the hours playing with and for each other have their effect. Intense, calming, complex, minimal, meditative and playful the Spiro machine whirs into majestic life to Welcome Joy Welcome Sorrow drawing its fuel from the life to be lived.

In the first of our two part exclusive interview we take Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman back to their musical origins. They provide us with an exclusive and fascinating insight into their early days and folk supergroup Equation. Kathryn and Sean are our Artists of the Month for April.