News
The legendary bluegrass band Hot Rize are heading to this year’s Purbeck Valley Folk Festival to join headliners which include Chris Difford, Justin Currie, Richard Thompson, Stornoway, Kathryn Tickell, Megson, Martha Tilston & the Scientists, Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin and The Moulettes. Watch their latest video for A Cowboy’s Life, performed live above New York City’s East River.
The Lake District Folk Weekend is a new family-friendly folk festival centred around Hawkshead Brewery’s ‘Beer Hall’. Kicks off with headling concert from Folk legend Tom McConville and support including Dan Webster. Concerts, sessions and rambles! Bring your walking boots, voices, instruments and your drinking heads!
Our Tune of the Day is from Will Pound and Eddy Jay as they perform a staggering version of Floating Candle. I’ve seen Will performing this tune with his full band but with just harmonica and accordion it becomes something all the more innovative and ear-catching as both musicians shine to their fullest!
James Varda, one of the most distinctive singer songwriters of his generation, has died. I interviewed James back in January and we spoke about his career and ‘Chance and Time’, widely hailed as his best ever album on which he ‘turned his songwriting talent to chronicling the experience of confronting illness and death, and in doing so, created a unique language and music of love and pain, family, landscape and …
With Cambridge Folk Festival getting closer the full line up for the festival has now been announced along with the Club Tent Showcases and Den Stage line-up which features many FRUK favourites. There are also some newly confirmed main-stage acts including the Jaywalkers and this year’s BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award winners Talisk.
Our Song of the Day is the beautiful ‘Stay On My Shore’ by Joan Shelley. It’s taken from her forthcoming album Over And Even on which she is accompanied by guitarist Nathan Salsburg along with some help from some of her Kentucky friends in the form of Glen Dentinger, Rachel Grimes, Will Oldham and Dan Dorff.
Our Song of the Day is Caesar. Watch Chris Wood performing live with Hamish Stuart at Atkins Guitars. Chris recalls it being inspired by the Cash-for-questions affair, or one of the parliamentary scandals…there’s been so many. Plus we have his latest tour dates including Folk East with Andy Cutting.
Our Song of the Day is from Keston Cobblers Club with Longer Than Gone from their forthcoming new album Wildfire due for release on 15 June. They are putting in a number of appearances at folk festivals this year including Priddy, Underneath the Stars, Sidmouth, Cambridge, Purbeck and Towersey so try and catch them if you can.
Ahead of the release of their new album The Sovereign Self on 29th June Trembling Bells reveal their new video for ‘Sweet Death Polka’ and announce a Two Day London Residency featuring Alasdair Roberts, eclectic folk trio the Family Elan, Incredible String Band founder Mike Heron and legendary folk artist Martin Carthy and more.