Hazel Davis meets Mercury Prize nominee and honey-voiced songbird Lisa Hannigan

“Gobsmacked. Surprised. Never imagined it.” This is folk musician Lisa Hannigan on her recent Mercury Prize nomination for Sea Sew, her self-embroidered debut album. I call her a folk musician but she balks at the term. “I wouldn’t really describe myself as that,” she [...]

Jenni Stalmach is charmed

Chatting to Alessi’s Ark is like a little ray of sunshine on a dull day. “I’m not like anyone else,” chuckles Alessi Laurant-Marc as we natter about the release of her debut album Notes From The Treehouse. And after speaking to the teenage songbird I can’t help but agree.

Alessi Laurant-Marc, who’s just [...]

Andrea Wren is underwhelmed

Coming on stage at Manchester’s Night & Day Café after the enigmatic Denis Jones with his folk-electro beats, William Fitzsimmons had a tough act to follow. And unfortunately, he didn’t quite manage to maintain the rustle of excitement that was left in the air.

A wire-wool beard and a peaked cap does [...]

Iconic singer-songwriter Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) wowed the Cropredy crowd last weekend with a selection of new and old songs (but not Father and Son).

His first festival appearance for 37 years, Islam joined Fairport Convention on stage for the closing gig of the festival, which takes place over three days annually in Oxfordshire. [...]

Imagine sitting around a campfire next to Johnny Cash and Steve Earle on a balmy summer’s evening. Add to that a pair of cowboy boots, a bottle of moonshine and some gold ol’ thigh-slapping country blues and you have Texan singer songwriter Sam Baker.

Cotton is the 55 year old’s third album and the follow up [...]