Nancy Kerr

The Shake the Chains cast along with special guest Martin Simpson gave a performance to lift the most sullen heart in these trying times and to point the way to a better future. With a finale which saw everyone singing We Shall Overcome, the evening was a potent reminder that together we could be harmonious and unvanquishable.

The 40th-anniversary all-star revival of Peter Bellamy’s ‘The Transports’ starts this month taking it dates at Celtic Connections, Cecil Sharp House and more. Watch this excellent short documentary about the ballad folk opera.

As Shake the Chains kicks off on tour next month featuring new and classic protest songs from Nancy Kerr, Findlay Napier, Hannah Martin, Greg Russell & Tim Yates with special guests we talk to Greg Russell about the project and have our first listen.

Seamless, powerful, thought-provoking…As promised in the publicity surrounding the series, this was indeed a truly unique event: not just a concert, not just a book reading, but a journey of discovery, and one which lingers in the mind long after the tube ride home.

Next month, folk singer Nancy Kerr will curate a series of events at London’s Kings Place exploring dialogues that spring from our environment and our relationships with, and within it, through literature, music, and song.

Read our in-depth interview with Nancy Kerr as she discusses her new album ‘Instar’, the reaction to it, politics in music, balancing her musical life with being a mother, and she also offers her own words of wisdom on surviving in the music industry.

Jon Boden compiles The Ultimate Guide To English Folk, a lavish two-disc primer designed to appeal to experienced folkies and newbies alike. It is not the first such collection, but it is probably the most wide-ranging, lovingly compiled and inventively sequenced. One of the most important messages to take from this compilation is that while folk music in England is something of an extended family, it is by no means …

Touring in February 2017 – Shake the Chains – featuring new and classic protest songs from Nancy Kerr, Findlay Napier, Hannah Martin, Greg Russell & Tim Yates with special guests Peggy Seeger, Steve Knightley, Martin Simpson and Boff Whalley.

Peter Bellamy’s 1977 masterpiece Ballad-Opera ‘The Transports’ to be re-told featuring The Young’uns, Faustus, Nancy Kerr and members of Bellowhead together on stage. Plus we have a CD giveaway of the original release.

Instar finds Nancy Kerr at the height of her creative powers. It’s vital, visceral and urgent – balm for our woes, hope for our future: an essential companion for these turbulent times.

Download Towersey Festivals Free Album: features singles, exclusives and album cuts from some of the best artists scheduled to appear at the festival this year, including the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award Best Group 2016 & 2015 The Young’uns, Steve Tilston & Jez Lowe, Dublin’s Lynched and more.

Featuring Nancy Kerr, Martyn Joseph, Sam Carter, Maz O’Connor, Patsy Reid and Nick Cooke, Sweet Liberties are to record an album this Spring which will be performed at Folk by the Oak on 24 July 2016. Watch a video premiere of Maz O’Connor performing Broad Waters.