Featuring music from Sam Carter, Salt House, Sam Sweeney, Julie Abbé, Georgia Ruth, SIAN, Dick Gaughan, The Boys of the Lough & lots more.
Music Played
00:00 The Bonny Men – An tSean Bhean Bhocht
02:45 Sam Carter – The Forge
06:07 Sweeney’s Men – Johnson
09:35 Ye Vagabonds – The Hare’s Lament
14:29 Paddy Keenan And Tommy O’Sullivan – Reels: Collier’s / The Woman Of The House
17:57 Riley Baugus – Train On The Island
20:59 Clarence Ashley – Dark Holler Blues
25:38 Spence Moore and Roy Birns – Jimmy Sutton
28:13 The Boys of the Lough – General Guinness
30:55 The Ian Campbell Folk Group – The Unquiet Grave
32:36 Dick Gaughan – Banks of Green Willow
38:44 Julie Abbé – A Poet to His Beloved
41:09 Dana Anastasia – Cassiopeia
45:39 Sam Sweeney – Highway To Warrington
50:22 Salt House – All Shall Be Still
55:12 Georgia Ruth – Madryn
57:52 Sian – Bha Mo Leannan Ann
01:01:48 Fidil – The Fantastic Reel / Mhúineál A’ Bhardáil / The Merry Sisters
01:05:29 Martin Carthy with Dave Swarbrick – Domeama
This week’s Folk Show features, alongside some new and forthcoming releases, a dip into the past. We go back to the 1960s and 70s courtesy of Sweeny’s Men, Clarence Ashley, Spence Moore and Roy Birns, The Boys of the Lough, The Ian Campbell Folk Group and Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick, several recordings are from old vinyl releases. Plus some favourites from Ye Vagabonds, Dick Gaughan and the incredible Paddy Keenan & Tommy O’Sullivan.
Turning to new and forthcoming releases, we open with Traditional Irish Music band The Bonny Men and a track from their third album The Broken Pledge which you can order via Bandcamp. From his new album Home Waters (out on May 1st) Sam Carter graces us with ‘The Forge’, the video for which we premiered here. You can pre-order the album from Sam’s official Bandcamp page https://samcarter.bandcamp.
After featuring in last week’s show, Riley Baugus is back with his Clawhammer Banjo from his new album Little Black Train’s a Comin’ which is out now and available via Bandcamp.
We recently premiered the video for A Poet to His Beloved, taken from Numberless Dreams, the new album by Bristol-based folk singer Julie Abbé. Numberless Dreams is currently a Featured album of the Month, and you can read Thomas Blake’s review here. Physical copies of the album have already sold out, but you can download it via Bandcamp here.
Also recently discovered on Bandcamp is Dana Anastasia, a multidisciplinary musician and artist based in the Snoqualmie region of the Pacific Northwest, exploring the experience of being alive through the living folk tradition. Her new album ‘Cry If You Need To’, was “written over the course of five years, as an incidental meditation on grief, heartbreak, and the roles we all play in the world we inhabit and the worlds we hope to build.”
Highway to Warrington is the latest single from Sam Sweeney, taken from his forthcoming new album ‘Unearth Repeat’ – pre-order it here. The new album celebrates a new direction leaving string sections, brass, concertina and harmonium behind; the new band brings together Sam’s unique fiddle playing, the acoustic and electric guitars of Jack Rutter (Seth Lakeman, Moore Moss Rutter) and Louis Campbell (National Youth Folk Ensemble), the double bass of Ben Nicholls (Seth Lakeman, Nadine Shah) and the keyboards of Dave Mackay (Art Garfunkel). Unearth Repeat also sees Sam team up again with award-winning record producer Andy Bell. Keep an eye on Folk Radio this Sunday for an interview feature with Sam.
Following the release of Fire Light, All Shall Be Still is another new single from Salt House taken from their forthcoming new album Huam which is out on March 20th 2020 via Hudson Records. ‘Huam’, (scots for the call of an owl) is their third collection of songs and the second pairing with producer Andy Bell. We’ll have more on this very soon but you can pre-order it here.
Sticking to new singles, we have Madryn, taken from Georgia Ruth‘s highly anticipated third album Mai, out on March 20th via Bubblewrap Collective; you can pre-order it here. It is “an exquisite exploration of the natural world, life cycles, of finding hope in the renewal of the seasons, a search for wildness and love.”
SIAN may well be a new name to some of you although the players won’t be – it’s the self-titled debut album from three of Scotland’s finest Gaelic singers – Eilidh Cormack, Ceitlin Lilidh and Ellen MacDonald. Originally formed by Fèisean nan Gàidheal for Blas festival, Sian burst onto the traditional music scene with their unique Gaelic vocal harmonies. With accolades between the three vocalists including MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards Gaelic Singer of the Year, Gold Medal winners at The Royal National Mòd and on-screen plaudits for appearances on 2018’s film The Outlaw King and BBC Alba’s series Bannan – the band are renowned as one to watch. SIAN is released on Friday, March 6th and will be available in CD and Digital formats.
And finally Fidil; taken from Decade, the fourth studio album from the Donegal fiddle trio comprising Aidan O’Donnell, Ciarán Ó Maonaigh and Damien McGeehan. We recently reviewed the album here, with David Kidman declaring it an exceptional album stacked high with spellbinding playing. It represents another artistic triumph for the honourable Raelach imprint which is beautifully packaged as well. Grab yourself a copy via Bandcamp here.