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 [...]

Hazel Davis meets a quiet revolutionary

Pete Molinari is a man with a passion. Quite apart from his obvious passion for talking, rendering hapless interviewers little opportunity for interruption, he has a passion for real music, for authenticity and honesty.

Luckily, those who speak to him seldom want to intercept, so engaging and [...]

Hugh Wilson meets his teenage hero

Jason Ringenberg is probably the most profound man in music. “Never go to the UK,” he opines, “without your wellies.”

And with that pithy sentence the alt. country pioneer and man of a million Stetsons pretty much nails it. His advice to any musician who might usually reside in the [...]

Hazel Davis gets her Americana kicks in Beverley

When the recent expenses scandal hit the headlines, sales of ink at Billy Bragg’s local stationer must have hit an all-time high. Luckily we’re in folk festival season and that means a slew of willing audiences ready and willing to hear his thoughts on the subject. And, if [...]