Every generation of the Collins family has been carved from the hills of the South Downs, and it is those hills that act as a silent partner and accompaniment for Archangel Hill, the third album that folk queen Shirley Collins…
“Sometimes these are the best dreams I’ve ever had/Like a sparkle of crystals in the palm of my hand”. From the opening lines of Arborist’s third album, we are welcomed into a world observed from a different angle. Arborist, aka Mark McCambridge,…
Lucy Farrell has been a name on the English folk circuit for a number of years, duetting with Jonny Kearney for a while and gaining acclaim in supporting slots or the likes of The Unthanks and Bellowhead. After winning the…
“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there” So begins L.P. Hartley’s 1953 novel The Go-Between, but it could easily apply to this wondrous reclamation of a past that had almost been considered lost forever. The story…
It’s been over a decade since Signe Marie Rustad first introduced her talents to the world, though it wasn’t until her third album, When Words Flow Freely, that the wider public became fully aware of the sheer scope of that…
During the wild and scary days of January 2021, with everyone trapped and isolated from one another, Australian-born London-based songwriter MF Tomlinson suddenly realised how lonely he was and “how much I needed to make some music”. From the ashes…
Meg Baird first entered my life whilst still a member of psychedelic folk rockers Espers, when she released her solo album Dear Companion back in 2007. She also records with her sister Laura as the wildly originally monikered The Baird…
This follow up to The Wide, Wide River didn’t start life meaning to be a sequel to anything. James Yorkston – the now veteran of 10 or so albums, plus collaborations and books – found himself in early 2021 sitting…
“I am not from a family of tradition bearers, but my forebears hail from all over the British Isles and music is in my bones. I think song is a great medium to tell a story and it’s an amazing…
“Music is mathematics. You can actually learn about the science of how arpeggios affect your nervous system. Music is so undervalued. It can be life-changing.” – Eliza Carthy To be honest, if you’re reading this review on For Folk’s Sake,…