Album Review | Valve Records | Review by Allan Wilkinson | Stars: 4/5 Produced by Sean Lakeman and recorded in Dartmoor, Devon, Shakespeare Avenue is a showcase for ten original songs from the pen of Australian singer songwriter Carus Thompson.  The songs are delivered in a clear and direct manner, augmented by some fine accompaniment … Continue reading Carus Thompson – Shakespeare Avenue

Album Review | Greywood Records | Review by Allan Wilkinson | Stars: 4/5 James Auger, under the guise of A Choir of Ghosts, describes this debut album release as a ‘diary of experiences and feelings’, which perhaps sums up the eleven tracks nicely.  Working in collaboration with the Canadian producer Terry Benn, the Sweden-based singer … Continue reading A Choir of Ghosts – An Ounce of Gold

Album Review | Cast Iron Recordings | Review by Allan Wilkinson | Stars: Respectfully, No Rating It’s with some sadness that this review comes shortly after the passing of John Stannard, who died on 18 March 2020, yet it also seems fitting that we’ve been given this opportunity to pay tribute in our small way.  … Continue reading John Cee Stannard – Folk Roots Revisited

Album Review | Free Dirt | Review by Allan Wilkinson | Stars: 4/5 Rhode Island-based banjo picker and fiddle player Jake Blount explores the rich tapestry of traditional sounds from the Appalachians from the perspective of the Black experience.  Spider Tales takes a hold immediately, from the trance-like banjo picking and simple rhythmic percussion on … Continue reading Jake Blount – Spider Tales

Album Review | Songprint Recordings | Review by Allan Wilkinson | Stars: 5/5 Scotland has a knack of producing some of the most notable singers in the world today and in particular those in the folk idiom.  Siobhan Miller is one of those singers, whose reputation not only as a fine singer, but also a … Continue reading Siobhan Miller – All Is Not Forgotten

Album Review | MIG Music | Review by Allan Wilkinson | Stars: 4/5 The Airing contains just four instrumental arrangements for lever harp, fiddle and mandolin, two of which were composed by Rebecca, the plaintive “Newark Seaglass” and the title piece that concludes the EP.  With Charlie Stewart on fiddle and Graham Rorie on mandolin, … Continue reading Rebecca Hill – The Airing

Album Review | MIG Music | Review by Allan Wilkinson | Stars: 3/5 Kicking off with an unusually slow burning opener, a fine arrangement of Joni Mitchell’s “Ethiopia”, although possibly the sort of song you would expect to find midway through side one, or in Joni’s case, midway through side two even, Matthews Southern Comfort … Continue reading Matthews Southern Comfort – The New Mine

Album Review | Glitterbeat | Review by Allan Wilkinson | Stars: 4/5 The now familiar pulsating beat of a good strong Sahara blues number always conjures up the summer festival season, where the mosh pit expands to the edges of the marquee, heads bobbing in unison to the immediately identifiable rhythms and predominant guitar licks.  … Continue reading Tamikrest – Tamotaït

Album Review | Self Release | Review by Allan Wilkinson | Stars: 4/5 You don’t have to wait long for a burst of Alden Patterson and Dashwood’s trademark three-part harmonies, just half a minute into the opening song and our spirits are effortlessly lifted.  Waterbound is the third album by the Norwich-based folk trio and … Continue reading Alden Patterson and Dashwood – Waterbound

Album Review | Hudson Records | Review by Allan Wilkinson | Stars: 4/5 Salt House is a class act.  With two fine albums behind them, the band’s debut Lay Your Dark Low (2013) followed by Undersong (2018) and a slight change of line-up, this is all the proof we need.  Salt House now return with … Continue reading Salt House – Huam