Reviews

Walls and Ceilings is the first recorded music from the new line-up of Fred’s House; the band have been joined by Prue Ward (ex The Willows) on violin and vocals. Fred’s House have carved out a joyful niche for themselves playing upbeat folk-rock, making them really popular on the live circuit and mainstays of the… Read more »

Irishman John Doyle’s talents as both guitarist and songwriter have been recognised by many people. He has worked with Karen Casey, Tim O’Brien, Kate Rusby, Alison Brown and Linda Thompson. He is a member of folk supergroup Usher’s Island with Andy Irvine, Paddy Glackin, Mike McGoldrick and Donal Lunny. He has also been working with… Read more »

Slowly building a reputation in Europe and the US for the best part of a decade this Californian quintet is little known in the UK. That should be all about to change with the release of this stunning album. Tagged as Southern Rock, like their forefathers Lynyrd Skynyrd, this band have a lot more to… Read more »

Quite why some musicians attract a large audience and others continually produce music of great worth without its justified reward is a mystery. One, sadly, not always corrected by critical acclaim in public like this. Some years ago, Denison Witmer was recommended to me by Gretchen Peters and she was not wrong with this musical… Read more »

Over one million album sales. A duet with Joe Cocker on the mega selling ‘Bodyguard’ soundtrack. A world tour with the David Bowie alumni lead by Mike Garson. Yet outside of her native Canada Sass seems to have been unfairly overlooked. With raspy chops that hint at Janis Joplin and Maggie Bell her later albums… Read more »

One look at the dishevelled individuals in the mugshots on the front brings to mind Horslips ‘Aliens,’ LP cover, but unlike the Irish Celtic rock wizards there’s something spooked and hard bitten about the JLJB. It’s like they’ve been on a three day bender around the Irish bars of Chicago, they’ll regret it all in… Read more »

Ebb & Flow – Moonrakers. Oxfordshire based ensemble with a fifth set of niftily played trad, three girls and one bloke. The highlights here are the nimble playing of the harp which weaves well with guitar and bouzouki and then some really strong female vocals. The jigs and instrumentals are light on their feet which… Read more »

The distinctive voice behind the Jazz Rock pioneers Blood Sweat & Tears, Clayton-Thomas made a meteoric rise to the top in the late 1960’s via some of the most memorable hits of the era. ‘You Made Me So Very Happy’, ‘And When I Die’ and his self-penned ‘Spinning Wheel’ all hit the Top 10 and… Read more »

A well-known name in his native Inverness area in Scotland – Elis MacFadyen on his second album writes a collection of songs that etch themselves on the memory with ease.  He has produced an earthy sounding singer songwriter album with strong traditional roots. Song wise it’s a collection based in contemplations on life with some… Read more »

This is a duo album by two members of the Scottish band Rura, the duo of David Foley and Jack Smedley which initially formed in 2008 has become the cornerstone of one of the biggest names in Scottish contemporary folk music. In between touring and recording with Rura long standing colleagues and friends David Foley… Read more »