Another visit to the salt marshes of Essex today with a second session track from Rev Simpkins, also taken from his album Saltings. Reverend (Matt) Simpkin’s parish is known for its ancient springs that mingle on the ‘Gathering Grounds’. These…
On the ‘His Song Is Sung’, the opening track of Lambchop’s new album The Bible, the listener is eased in with plaintive piano and orchestration before Kurt Wagner’s voice cracks through warmly – ‘In the spring the view was better/And…
United for last year’s Folkestone Festival, a wide range of folk’s modern luminaries come together on a collection of maritime songs old and new. Granted, it wouldn’t have killed them to come up with a band name – though in…
Being named after the senator that help bring down Richard Nixon in the year he was born, Samuel Ervin Beam has had a tough legacy, choosing to ignore it entirely by recording as Iron & Wine. Beam has released LORI, a collection…
There are points in life where things don’t seem to match up, for example the photo, Susie Merry on the cover of Body in Time and the lyrics to the album, where this seemingly sweet thing takes a harsh look at life…
It’s been a half-decade since Mason dropped their debut album, Midnight Road. They electrified Arizona crowds with their smoky blues and they’re ready to do it again with a psychedelic lick of paint with My Kind of Trouble. Their second…
The Brother Brothers have grown into a notable force on the roots circuit, regaled for reflective songwriting and gorgeous harmonies that have drawn comparison to the best of ’em. As the Milk Carton Kids would jest about the dubious identifiability…
One of Nashville’s most promising new implants, Chloe Kimes, released her self-titled LP this summer and it reliably swings between worlds. Originally from Ludington, Michigan, the singer-songwriter is as well-rounded as her pitstop portfolio; she sells her narrative lyricism with…
3 Pairs of Boots pay tribute to Old West cowboy Nat Love on their latest. ‘Just Call Him Love’ recalls the tale of this swashbuckling rodeo champ, noted for adventures that have permanently left his imprint as an American hero.…
While Loudon Wainwright III has won a few awards, Lifetime Achievement downplays that aspect of his life. Justifiably so. It’s never been about the awards. Or the press for that matter, even though Time Magazine named him the “new Dylan” back in…
Nothing ever goes as planned, be it records or relationships, and for Lauren Balthrop her latest long player, Things Will Be Different, is no exception. This isn’t a record about nostalgia as some have suggested, rather it is about pain and…
Best known for his work as a YouTube “internetainer”, Los Angeles artist Rhett McLaughlin is breaking from his trademark comedy to hone-in on another passion—country music—as James and the Shame. His debut single, ‘Believe Me’, takes a jab at political…
It’s no secret that it’s been a hard two years for the music industry. Cambridge Folk Festival organiser Rebecca Stewart acknowledges that tough context in the opening lines of the programme for this year’s Festival, the first since 2019. It’s…
Photo courtesy of artist Ansa GaRangDengZhen—or Zen—is a multi-award winning pioneer of contemporary Tibetan folk music. His accomplishments have brought him around the world—most recently to Canada, where he will be performing at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre on 13 August.…
Josh Rouse has always been pretty prolific but it seems that lockdown proved a particularly fertile period for the Nebraskan songwriter. Following one of the most delightful Christmas albums of recent years (The Holiday Sounds Of Josh Rouse), it led to last year’s electronic…
Today’s session comes from David Ford & Annie Dressner playing the lead track from their recent EP 48 hours. The duo only started playing together in 2022, starting with just sitting it for a few songs during each other’s sets…
Cambridge Folk Festival returns this year from 28 – 31 July 2022, after approximately 1,088 long days of life without it. Yes, we were counting. With a line-up true to diversity-championing form, the Festival looks set to maintain its longstanding…