Joy Thomas longs to get out of the stalls

First things first: Cara Dillon has a Proper Lovely voice. Nothing new in that comment, but her voice really is extra-special. It sounds so effortless, so clear and makes you lean into it in order to stuff as much as possible into your ears. This tour has [...]

Stephen Taylor

I’ve only been to Doncaster once and I had a Very Bad Day. As the snow melts and the green shoots peek out, I could be tempted back by the sheer loveliness of the local line-up at this year’s Doncaster Folk Festival. Part of the city’s Hothouse festival which encompasses comedy, theatre and [...]

Hugh Wilson

You’ll know Holmfirth as the location for Last of the Summer Wine, the endless BBC sitcom that featured lovable pensioner rogues Compo, Clegg, Dopey, Happy and Not At All Funny and always used to be on at your gran’s when you popped round on Sunday.

But Holmfirth has so much more to offer than guided [...]

Joy Thomas brings disrepute on the good name of folkingcool but has a nice time in the process

Dear Reader,

Bwa, ha, ha! Silly old trusting folkingcool, allowing me to review the BBC Folk Awards last Monday 1st February. It was too exciting NOT to be a bit naughty…

First things first. Yes I did touch Jackie [...]

Annemarie Kropf is bowled over

As someone with no children, I can only imagine that the first few weeks after giving birth would be full of sleepless nights, lots of head scratching, and many attempts to bathe myself. For Kate Rusby, three months after giving birth to daughter Daisy meant a December UK tour to promote [...]