Interviews

Jackie Oates took the time to talk to Folk Radio UK about the creative process behind the recording of The Joy of Living. Her answers provide a rare insight into a method that is both unorthodox and entirely natural.

Flag-bearing American acoustic instrumentalist Glenn Jones’s The Giant who ate Himself is another perfectly realised and recorded set of solo gems. We caught up with him to discuss the album, the heavyweight twelve-string guitar and that one audience member.

For the first time ever, two legendary Folk Festivals on two continents are teaming up to spread the word about a few talented artists. We caught up with Darlingside and Kaia Kater at Newport Folk Festival ahead of their Cambridge appearance.

We catch up with Koichi Yamanoha, aka Grimm Grimm to talk about his new album Cliffhanger. An album that despite its gentle whimsy is a deeply endearing and emotional space to float in, an enduring space to pass the world by in.

This month sees the Dead Rat Orchestra and Poland’s Sutari, two of the world’s most prominent avant-folk ensembles, join forces for a headline tour of the UK. We caught up with them both to talk about their own backgrounds and the tour.

Amid breathtaking Welsh landscape, we met up with twelve-string guitarist Toby Hay, our Artist of the Month for July, to discuss the mechanics behind his new set of acoustic instrumentals, The Longest Day.

Following her recent 10th Anniversary Tour of Japan, Rachael Dadd shares her musical journey of a country she has grown to love – includes a very special playlist of Japanese artists that she loves and inspire her.

With their new Anchor album already out and having the critics dishing out stars liberally, we met with the peerless mother and daughter duo to discuss the recording of the project, musical censorship and making a follow-up.

June 16, is Bloomsday, an annual celebration dedicated to Leopold Bloom, the “every man” hero in James Joyce’s 1922 experimental novel Ulysses. To provide a soundtrack for the weekend’s activities, we asked Derek Pyle to highlight some Joyce-inspired music for our readers.

We catch up with Portland’s queen of minimalist Americana Laura Veirs and talk about life, songwriting, touring and The Lookout. “Here I am, it’s my tenth record, I’m 44, I have children. I mean, what am I doing? What should I be doing with my life?”

Joshua Burnell tells us in his own words about his love for the song Dowie Dens of Yarrow and how the album Stargazer led to a folk quest that eventually led to him meeting his idol – the legendary Shelagh McDonald.

We talk to Experimental musician Laura Cannell about her Modern Ritual project…”I now feel that I have found my place and it isn’t a fixed place, but I can bring all of my traditions, study, experience and rituals into the music, playing these pieces of wood, strings and horsehairs that haven’t changed their technology in over a thousand years.”