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Michael Stevenson, aka Dai Bando, Johnny Foreigner, Monsieur Pas De Merde, is a blogger of French and British culture. His blogs "Pas De Merde" and "The Hobbledehoy" have been called "marvelous" by some, and "meh" by others.

Doc Martin is like receiving a warm hug from an old friend 

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It’s been a while since I watched reliable ratings-grabber Doc Martin (ITV) but this gentle fish-out-of-water drama is so reassuringly formulaic, it’s easy to dip back in. It was like receiving a warm hug from an old friend [ . . . ]

Read more at: Doc Martin is like receiving a warm hug from an old friend – series eight episode two review 

Imagine if Bill Monroe met The Clash

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The Coal PortersTHE Coal Porters are the world’s first alt-bluegrass band and they are headlining at String Jam Club in Selkirk this Saturday.With Kentuckian Sid Griffin and his witty banter at the helm, the five-piece outfit use banjos, mandolins and fiddles to whip up a feel-good storm.They have made several visits to the String Jam Club over its 20 year history, to entertain Borders music-lovers.

Formed originally in the 1990s by ex-Long Ryder Sid in Los Angeles, the band eventually left its electric instrumentation behind and moved to the UK, slowly mutating into the inimitable acoustic act they are today [ . . . ]

More: Imagine if Bill Monroe met The Clash | Border Telegraph

Review: The Young’uns “Strangers”

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The north-east of England boasts an enviably rich seam of fine folk musicians, past and present. Artists as diverse as the late Vin Garbutt, Alex Glasgow and The Unthanks have all found universal acclaim with songs that are steeped in particular local detail. Perhaps the one thing that links them is their ability to be both intensely personal and unabashedly political, often in the same stroke, a quality that reflects the area’s rich working-class industrial heritage, its bleak natural beauty and the hardships and joys that those things bring.

Teessiders The Young’uns are the latest in a long line of hugely talented singers and musicians to bring the singular, distinctive sound of the region to a wider audience. The trio – singer-songwriter Sean Cooney and singers Michael Hughes and David Eagle – have been around for a while now. Strangers is their fourth album, and they have been a popular feature on the folk circuit for a decade, but in the last two or three years their appeal has deservedly blossomed, thanks to rave reviews [ . . . ]

Read Full Review: The Young’uns: Strangers (Featured Album Review) | Folk Radio UK