Folk Legend Martin Simpson To Headline Tredegar House Folk Festival 2012 this weekend!

Award winning folk musician Martin Simpson will headline this year’s Tredegar House Folk Festival in May. The legendary artist will be in good company with fellow BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winners for best duo, Tim Edey & Brendan Power, also set to perform at Newport’s leading Folk event.

Now in its 23^rd year, Tredegar House Folk Festival takes place over the weekend of 18-20^th May. It offers a weekend of international dance, music and song, showcasing the best of today’s folk scene with local welsh talent plus artists and folk dance groups from around the globe, all in the beautiful historic setting of Tredegar House.

CD Review: Neil Young and Crazy Horse – “Americana”

I’ll just admit that when I read the track listing for “Americana,” the first CD by Neil Young and Crazy Horse in 9 years, I sighed.

Yes, I wanted to hear new music from Young but gees, do we really need another cover of American folk classics such as “Oh Susanna,” and “This Land is Your Land?” A few bars into the first track on the album, I would have answered with a heartfelt affirmative that only deepened as I heard more of these beautifully re-crafted songs.

Leave it to Neil Young to create such — let’s say elegant — rock versions of the folk classics many of us learned during elementary school sing a-longs — “This Land is Your Land,” “Tom Dula” and “Clementine.”

Dear Roving Crows – Where have you been all my life?

OK, I see you only formed in 2009. Is that even possible? How in the heck do you weave such distinct sounds from jazz, western swing, and blues through your classic Celtic folk foundation when your band is practically in its musical infancy?

Clearly, you’re all incredible musicians. Paul O’Neil’s sparkling guitar playing, Gregory Wilson-Copp’s Dixieland Jazz-spirited trumpet, and Tim Tolhurst’s vibrant percussion are all first-rate. I have to admit, though, that it’s Caitlin Barrett’s fiddle that stole my heart and kept me around for the whole album. Her playing is so masterful, whether it’s leading or highlighting a tune that it tends to steal the spotlight in several songs.

But I digress.

LEATHERAT: UPRISING CD LAUNCH The Mill, Banbury 6 May 2012

The tickets were for 7.30 pm but the festivities began at noon with music in the bar. If there had been jugglers and fire eaters I wouldn’t have been surprised.

First up on the official stage were local indie-rockers Highway Alaska whose bass player, Bailey, was unaccountably dressed as a penguin. Geography is clearly not his strong point. I’ve heard louder bands although rarely in such a confined space but the sound man quickly got on top of them. They could be a name to watch.

Sea Shanty Festival 2012 – A review by Jim Saville

The Easter weekend saw the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port hosting not one but two festivals. The regular Easter Boat Gathering and the 2^nd annual Maritime Festival organised by Shanty UK

In two years the shanty festival has grown from the brain child of a few keen volunteers into a vibrant international affair that will soon be rivalling the former Lancaster Maritime Festival for the reputation of largest (and best) such gathering in the world.

Beverley Festival is the place to be this Summer!

Mike Harding, a new Patron for the Beverley Festival, obviously believes Beverley is the festival to be at this Summer.  Presenter of BBC Radio 2’s folk show on Wednesday nights, he has been a good friend and follower of the festival for many years. The festival is delighted to have him on board demonstrating his trust in the weekend as a great event.

Beverley has always been a special festival for me. It’s not too big and they always have some great acts. Held in the beautiful market town of Beverley, in the heart of the East Yorkshire Wolds, winning acclaim as one of the best small festivals in the country and one of the most family friendly.  With this year’s attractions – Steeleye Span, Peatbog Faeries, Chumbawamba, Martin Carthy, up and coming young band ahab, plus special guest – 60′s Rock & Roller Joe Brown, it looks likely to maintain its deserved reputation. Mike Harding

Changing Horses – The Nashville Sessions – Released on Frairgate Records – June 11th

Changing Horses are British Indie-Folk duo Richard Birtill (vocals and guitar) and Francesca Cullen (vocals, violin, mandolin and melodeon). Stylistically taking influence from the psychedelic likes of The Incredible String Band, and the experimental art-punk of The Fall, theirs is a patchwork of off-kilter folk that has drawn in the plaudits from numerous sources. After holing up in a Nashville studio with session musician / producer Chris Donohue (Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris) the track ‘Cut All Strings’ featured on an HBO documentary and went on to pick up multiple plays on both the Steve Lamacq and Bob Harris BBC radio shows. Last year’s festival season also saw the band grace stages at Kendal Calling, Solfest, Brampton, Crawley Folk Festival and SO festival.

PIG EARTH – 14’x12’ (Own Label)

I don’t know what the neighbours must have thought but from the photo on the insert of Pig Earth’s five track EP I’m sure they couldn’t have been too happy with all of the band recording in the living room! Still I suppose (at least to the band) it must have been a bit of a wheeze and judging from the tracks featured here they all had a good time. From an organic point of view this must have all been pretty positive as the recording displays their music for what it is…an energised, good-time cross of country-folk without any frills. For those old enough to remember them this band brings back fond memories of the Big Geraniums and Lick the Tins who had the same attitudes when it came to the time-honoured tradition of “…if it sounds right – then it is”.

ALISTAIR OGILVY – Leaves Sae Green (Greentrax Recordings CDTRAX365)

The evocative piano introduction to “Wars O’Germanie” by rising singer Alistair Ogilvy puts me in mind of a young Sean Keane. No bad thing if you’re just starting out on a road that will hopefully prove fruitful in your endeavours as a performer. Producer and engineer Mattie Foulds brings out the best from Ogilvy and in utilising Aly MacRae (piano/fiddle/pocket trumpet [?]), Steven Polwart (guitars) and Inge Thomson (additional vocals) provides enough broad strokes of the brush to colour the performance in well balanced shades. Taking a hoary old chestnut like “The Bonny Ship The Diamond”

Scattering The Roots with Dan Ogus

Dan Ogus has been co-hosting Scattering The Roots with Shep Woolley since early 2011. Recently, when Shep retired, Dan decided to fly solo, and in folking.com’s opinion, has started the assent to take the show to new heights.

I want to present the kind of weekly programme that I’d enjoy listening to myself, showcasing music I’m enthusiastic and passionate about – folk, roots, blues, Americana, retro, unplugged, singer/songwriter with a nod and wink to other styles, along with occasional studio guests and interviews.  With that in mind, on Scattering The Roots you’re just as likely to hear John Hiatt, Pink Floyd, Suzanne Vega, Nick Cave, Big Star and Robert Plant, for example, as well as other folkier music. Dan Ogus