Rosie Hood - The Beautiful & The Actual (16/06/17)

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• Artist: Rosie Hood
• Genre: Folk
• Released Date: 16th June, 2017
• Record Label: Rootbeat Records
• Tracks: 12
• Website: http://www.rosiehood.co.uk

'The Beautiful & The Actual' displays Rosie’s artistic progress and creative partnerships that have developed since releasing her eponymous E.P. in 2011. 'From A Furlong of Flight', lamenting an 11th Century monk’s unrealised dreams, effortlessly enhanced by the Barber Sisters’ strings arrangements, to the tragic traditional ballad 'Lord Lovel', sung in classic duo harmony style with Folk Award winner Jefferson Hamer, and 'Undaunted Female', the story of a bold young woman, simply accompanied by Emma Smith’s driving double bass, Rosie’s vocal holds these songs together. John Archbold’s poignant war song 'The Hills of Kandahar' features Ollie King’s sensitive melodeon playing, whilst the stark and haunting version of 'The Cruel Mother' is sung with Folk Singer of the Year nominee Emily Portman. These sparse accompaniments allow each track to breathe and for Rosie’s timeless singing to tell the stories that make up this superb debut album.

Rosie Hood a young folk singer from Minety in Wiltshire, is known for her strong, pure voice and engaging solo performance. A BBC Performing Arts Fellow in 2015 and a 2016 Horizon Award nominee at the Radio 2 Folk Awards, Rosie has become more than purely a traditional singer. Having started learning folk songs at an early age from her family, Rosie has a keen interest in the history of traditional songs, particularly those of her native Wiltshire, where she has spent time researching in the local archives and developing a broad repertoire of local songs. Rosie’s Fellowship year with the English Folk Dance & Song Society proved a pivotal point in her career giving her time and space to develop as an artist. The year saw Rosie develop her song-writing with mentor Emily Portman, hone her instrumental skills and even resulted in a transatlantic collaboration with New York based singer and guitarist Jefferson Hamer.

Lauren Housley - The Beauty of This Life (28/07/17)

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• Artist: Lauren Housley
• Genre: Americana, Blues, Rock
• Release Date: 28th July, 2017
• Record Label: Absolute Marketing
• Tracks: 10

Thea Gilmore - The Counterweight (02/06/17)

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• Artist: Thea Gilmore
• Genre: Folk, Rock, Pop
• Release Date: 2nd June, 2017
• Record Label: Cooking Vinyl
• Tracks: 13
• Website: https://theagilmore.net/

Reg Meuross - Faraway People (28/07/17)

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• Artist: Reg Meuross
• Genre: Folk
• Release Date: 28th July, 2017
• Record Label: Hatsongs
• Tracks: 11
• Website: http://www.regmeuross.com/

Faraway People is the second in a trilogy of completely solo albums from Somerset singer-songwriter and storyteller through song, Reg Meuross. It delivers his poignant and powerful songs with the same intimacy and authenticity of the live performances that have captivated audiences throughout the UK and abroad for nearly 30 years now. The album, which will be released as a CD on 28 July 2017 and on vinyl in the Autumn, could not be more timely. Reg comments courageously on the world we are living in now, from the ravages of austerity to the injustices of racism and the plight of refugees. He also delves into history, echoing warnings that resonate through the decades and are still relevant today. Stories told include people from living memory such as anti Nazi activist Sophie Scholl from WW2, and Michael Brown (victim of the fatal Missouri shooting in 2014) as well as ancient history (Cicero) and even a fictitious meeting between two of the artist's greatest heroes. Amongst the protest there is beauty, love and humour. These songs spring straight from the heart of one of the UK's finest singer-songwriters.

Saskia - Live At The Roundhouse (28/06/17)

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• Artist: Saskia
• Genre: Folk, Americana, Singer-Songwriter
• Release Date: 28th June, 2017
• Record Label: Independent
• Tracks: 10
• Website: http://www.saskiagm.com/

SASKIA is a 24 year old singer-songwriter, known for her pure clear voice and her nu-folk style repertoire: blending the classical simplicity of traditional songs with contemporary moods, melodies and meanings. 'Live At The Roundhouse' sees Saskia share an album of her favourite classics and covers. Artists covered include Sandy Denny, Joan Baez, Sting, The Beatles and Joni Mitchell.

Jamie Francis - The Patient Neighbour (02/06/17)

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• Artist: Jamie Francis
• Genre: Americana, Folk Acoustic
• Release Date: 2nd June, 2017
• Record Label: TCR Music
• Tracks: 10
• Website: https://www.jamiefrancismusic.com

Jamie Francis (of Sam Kelly & the Lost Boys, The Changing Room, and Stark) presents his debut solo album. The album is led by Jamie's banjo, but also features fiddle and whistles from Toby Shaer (John McCusker and Heidi Talbot) and cello from Graham Coe (Jellyman's Daughter and Blue Rose Code). The tracks are a mix of Irish and Americian traditional tunes, as well as some original compositions by Jamie.

Jenn & Laura-Beth - Bound (20/11/16)

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• Artist: Jenn & Laura Beth
• Genre: Folk
• Release Date:
• Record Label: JBLB
• Tracks: 11
• Website: http://www.jennandlb.com/

Jenn Butterworth (guitar and voice) and Laura-Beth Salter (mandolin and voice) have each been a presence on the UK folk scene for a number of years. They were brought together by the close-knit and progressive Glasgow folk music community, spending lots of their time jamming an eclectic mix of folk music from across the globe, particularly the UK, Scandinavia and America. The years of playing together brought a deep affinity between the two artists; their rhythms lock tightly, their voices blend so closely that it's often hard to tell them apart. They have developed a natural telepathy: two musicians bound together. 

“Our brand new debut album, ‘Bound,’ is a representation of the last eight fantastic years of playing together. A snapshot of where we have come from and where we are now. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we have enjoyed playing and recording it.” – Jenn & Laura-Beth

Laura-Beth is a founding member of renowned folk band, The Shee, and has also toured extensively with bands such as Frigg, Shooglenifty and Dougie MacLean’s ‘The MacLean Project. In 2013 she was nominated for the MG Alba Scots Trad Awards Composer of the Year award after the success of her Celtic Connections commission and debut album, Breathe.

Jenn Butterworth is one of the UK’s foremost folk guitarists. She began her career touring worldwide with award winning Anna Massie Band, and has gone on to perform with well regarded acts such as Fiddlers’ Bid, Phil Cunningham and the highly acclaimed Songs of Separation.

Jaime Wyatt - Felony Blues (30/06/17)

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• Artist: Jaime Wyatt
• Genre: Country, Folk, Singer-Songwriter
• Release Date: 30th June, 2017
• Record Label: Forty Below Records
• Tracks: 7
• Website: https://www.jaimewyatt.com/

Jaime Wyatt’s newest release 'Felony Blues', whose title is a nod to records like David Allan Coe’s Penitentiary Blue, is largely an autobiographical collection of convict love stories, prison songs, and honky-tonk laments. After completing the record and looking for a label, Jaime met Forty Below Records head, producer Eric Corne (John Mayall, Walter Trout). Corne fell in love with the songs and agreed to remix the record and release via Forty Below Records. Most songs on 'Felony Blues' are inspired by reckless life choices.

The musicians on the record include top notch Americana and country pickers John Schreffler Jr and Ted Russell Kamp from Shooter Jennings band; Gabe Witcher of the Punch Brothers on fiddle; fellow Angelino country songwriter Sam Outlaw (who features on the duet “Your Loving Saves Me”); and long time friend and drummer Freddy Bokkenheuser, now the touring drummer for Ryan Adams.

Meg Mac - Low Blows (14/07/17)

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• Artist: Meg Mac
• Genre: Indie Pop, Singer-songwriter
• Release Date: 14th July, 2017.
• Record Label: 300 Entertainment
• Tracks: 11
• Website: https://www.megmac.com.au/

Meg Mac is back, burning bright with her keenly anticipated debut album 'Low Blows;' a powerful set of dynamic, deep soul, exhortations that have an all-enveloping atmosphere and presence; 'Low Blows' is distinctly and uniquely Meg Mac. In 2014, Meg Mac was named Triple J's Unearthed artist of the year; the station spearheaded her trajectory worldwide, playing multiple tracks from her highly acclaimed debut EP. "Roll up your sleeves" was played on radio across America and featured in the US TV series 'Girls' and 'Grace and Frankie.' In 2016 she was in Triple J's Top 5 'Unearthed' discoveries of the last decade. Meg has played festivals and sold out shows in Australia, America & UK but the most momentous was with D'Angelo. "The most inspiring was the 'Black Messiah" tour with D'Angelo, I learned what it was to tour America, it was all real and that's the magic." Meg explains. "We played theaters, from LA, across the South and up to New York where I also played with Gary Clark Jr." Gary Clark commented "I heard this voice. I was blown away by how powerful her voice was and how cool she was. It blew my mind. She's amazing" " Meg Mac recorded her debut album 'Low Blows' in America with 'Niles City Sound' who produced and played on the Leon Bridges album.

Lucy Rose - Something's Changed (07/07/17)

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• Artist: Lucy Rose
• Genre: Indie Folk, Indie Rock
• Released Date: 7th July, 2017
• Record Label: Communion Records
• Tracks: 11
• Website: https://www.lucyrosemusic.com/

The LIttle Unsaid - Imagined Hymns & Chaingang Mantras (07/04/17)

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• Artist: The Little Unsaid
• Genre: Folk, Electronica, Singer-Songwriter
• Release Date: 7th April, 2017
• Record Label: Carbon Moon Records
• Tracks: 10
• Website: http://www.thelittleunsaid.com/

Recent winners of the Steve Reid InNOVAtion Award for boundary-pushing new music creators, The Little Unsaid have spent the last year travelling the UK and Europe, leaving audiences emotionally rapt with a live show that's been described as a thumping depth of passion, recalling the intensity and melancholic overtones of Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen. Led by Yorkshire-born songwriter and multi-instrumentalist John Elliott, the band have just completed their forthcoming album, Imagined Hymns & Changing Mantras, recorded with Radiohead engineer and acclaimed film score producer Graeme Stewart. Stewart's touch lends a sweeping, cinematic quality to the album's ten deeply personal songs, written during Elliott's recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder after a year of ongoing personal trauma brought his life and music career to a standstill.

With a rigorous work ethic and a genre-spanning approach to songwriting that embraces elements of electronica, folk, jazz and alt-rock, it's no surprise that Elliott and the band have attracted the attention of the Steve Reid Foundation, formed in honour of the ground-breaking Miles Davis and Fela Kuti drummer. Working with a diverse range of mentors through the foundations award programme, including Gilles Peterson, Floating Points and FourTet, the band are embarking on an album launch tour in the UK this spring, culminating in a return to major festivals throughout the summer. It's here on the live circuit that the band have steadily built their reputation for creating electric, emotionally-charged performances, and this remains where their hunger lies.

"These songs were all born out of a search for meaning in the darkness we all find ourselves in at some point in our lives," Elliott explains, "and for me and the band, getting out there and sharing them with people is a really powerful thing. That magic that occurs when the music and the energy of an audience creates sparks, that's what we're always chasing. There's an immense feeling of unity in those moments, and I think we all need that more than ever right now."

Colter Wall - Colter Wall (12/05/17)

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• Artist: Colter Wall
• Genre: Country
• Release Date: 12th May, 2017
• Record Label: Young Mary's Record Co./Thirty Tigers
• Tracks: 11
• Website: http://www.colterwall.com/

Colter Wall is a 21 years old Saskatchewan born songwriter and performing musician. Wall's sound is comprised of resonate and raw baritone vocals, Folk and Bluegrass style guitar and banjo picking, steady kick-drum stomping, and visually provoking, story telling lyrics. Wall draws influence from legends of the past such as Hank Williams, Robert Johnson, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Townes Van Zandt, and The Band, as well as more modern Americana pioneers including Shovels and Rope, Jack White, Ray Lamontagne, and Shakey Graves. Despite only recently beginning his musical career, Colter Wall has been seen in the company of Saskatchewan's infamous gritty bluegrass trailblazers ,The Dead South, released an EP 'Imaginary Appalachian' in the summer of 2015 from which 'Sleeping On The Blacktop' ended up in the movie Hell or High Water in 2016. From dive bars to fundraiser galas, Colter Wall has a history of leaving audiences in shock at the maturity of his voice as well as his songwriting. Currently settled in Kentucky, Colter will be releasing his debut 11 track album produced by Dave Cobb in May 2017. Featuring all his own compositions except Snake Mountain Blues (Townes Van Zandt).

Emma Ballantine - Somebody's Story EP (31/03/17)

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• Artist: Emma Ballantine
• Genre: Folk, Pop, Singer-Songwriter
• Release Date: 31st March, 2017
• Record Label: Shut Up Jo Records
• Tracks: 4
• Website:

Oh Wonder - Ultralife (14/07/17)

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• Artist: Oh Wonder
• Genre: Pop, Singer-Songwriter
• Release Date: 14th July, 2017
• Record Label: Universal-Island Records Ltd.
• Tracks: 12
• Website: http://ohwondermusic.com/

Sound Of The Sirens - For All Our Sins (26/05/17)

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• Artist: Sound Of The Sirens
• Genre: Acoustic Folk-Rock
• Release Date: 26th May, 2017
• Record Label: Dmf Records
• Tracks: 10
• Website: http://www.soundofthesirens.net/

There's a certain transcendent magic that happens when two contrasting voices coalesce in perfect harmony - think The Everly Brothers, Simon & Garfunkel or George Jones and Tammy Wynette. Imperceptibly, they can raise you from the temporal to the spiritual in the breath of a song, and set you floating among the firmament infused with a sense of wonder - just like Sound of the Sirens. Exeter-based duo Abbe Martin and Hannah Wood dovetail beautifully on their debut album, For All Our Sins, a beguiling acoustic pop collection replete with lyrical sensibility. Already championed by Chris Evans - who declared himself "blown away" when he heard Sound of the Sirens for the first time, and subsequently invited them to perform alongside U2 and Take That on TFI Friday last year - they're certain to broaden a burgeoning fan base on the back of For All Our Sins. It's a fan base built up not just over several sublime EP releases - but also through their live shows, which combine a natural facility for connecting with their audiences and unforgettable performances predicated on energy, warmth, humour and, above all, real conviction. Sound of the Sirens want to both enlighten and entertain, and they want to do it with euphony. For All Our Sins accomplishes all of the above.

Andrew Combs - Canyons Of My Mind (07/04/17)

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• Artist: Andrew Combs
• Genre: Country Soul
• Release Date: 7th April, 2017
• Record Label: Loose Music, under exclusive license from Andrew Combs
• Tracks: 11
• Website: https://www.andrewcombsmusic.com/

Sarah Darling - Dream Country (10/02/17)

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• Artist: Sarah Darling
• Genre: Country-Pop, Singer-Songwriter, Country. Pop
• Release Date: 10th February, 2017
• Record Label: Be Darling Records (Independent)
• Tracks: 10
• Website:  https://www.sarahdarling.com

Already one of my favourite new albums this year is the wonderful and cinematic 'Dream Country'. It was crowdfunded via Kickstarter earlier this year and just shows the superb quality of music available when very talented artists and musicians have full creative control.  Already a very well-known name in her hometown of Nashville, Tennessee singer-songwriter Sarah Darling has years of experience as a songwriter and a performer behind her. Since moving to Nashville when she was 19, Sarah’s long list of achievements are very impressive. She has supported big stadium artists such as Carrie Underwood, Kacey Musgraves, Vince Gill and Tim Mcgraw, accumulated over a million downloads and performed at the legendary Grand Ole Opry over 80 times. With US radio successes under her belt, including hit singles ‘Home to Me,’ and ‘Little Umbrellas’ this Iowa native has solidified her place as one of Country music’s breakout performers and elite vocalists. Sarah first came to the public's attention in 2003 after becoming a top three finalist in the TV show 'The Entertainer' hosted by Wayne Newton. Her debut album 'Every Monday Morning' was released in 2009 followed up by her highly acclaimed second album 'Angels & Devils' in 2011. Her new self released third album 'Dream Country' is a beautiful written and arranged piece of 'musical magic' showcasing Sarah's wonderfully pure vocals. This is definitely an album to have on your Christmas list....it's stunning!

Ned Roberts - Outside My Mind (24/03/17)

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• Artist: Ned Roberts
• Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Folk, Acoustic
• Release Date: 24th March, 2017
• Record Label: Aveline Records
• Tracks: 10
• Website:  https://www.nedroberts.co.uk

After Ned Roberts' excellent self titled and critically acclaimed debut released in 2014, we were looking forward to more music from this very talented London based singer-songwriter. His latest release 'Outside My Mind' doesn't disappoint. It is a collection of self penned songs released by the excellent Aveline Records who stable include artists such as Ani DiFranco, Ruth Theodore, Linah Rocio and The Goat Roper Band. 

The album boasts excellent high quality and pure vocal from Ned combined with perfectly complementary stripped arrangements. Reflective, heartfelt, melancholy and bittersweet...but with a feeling of hope for the future. It exists in spirit in the original Laurel Canyon and Greenwich Village of the late 60's, while remaining true to its modern London roots. 

Good Harvest - In A Life And Place Like This (31/03/17)

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• Artist: Good Harvest
• Genre: Folk, Americana, Singer-Songwriter
• Release Date: 31st March, 2017
• Record Label: Space Station 12 / BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd
• Tracks: 15 or 16 (with extra live bonus track)
• Website: http://goodharvestmusic.com/

Scandinavia has long been a hotbed of great music and musicians and Hanna Enlöf & Ylva Eriksson of Good Harvest are the latest excellent emerging acoustic duo. Based in Falan in Sweden their music has been described as "extraordinary beautiful, emotional and well crafted".  They call themselves musical twins, which shines through the inter-weaved harmonies and excellent interaction on stage. Quite simply they have the 'wow!' factor. Conjuring the vibe of modern groups like The Staves and First Aid Kit and Joseph while echoing classic 'Laurel Canyon' musicians like Joni Mitchell and CSNY. To best describe their music, imagine a mix of how Simon & Garfunkel play together add the harmonies of Nick Drake and finish of with the strong approach and narrative style of Gillian Welch.

Jack Harris - The Wide Afternoon (20/01/17)

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• Artist: Jack Harris
• Genre: Folk, Singer-Songwriter
• Release Date: 20th January, 2017
• Record Label: Rootbeat Records
• Tracks: 11
• Website: http://jackharrismusic.com/

London based singer-songwriter Jack Harris is quite unique in the world of UK Folk. Anais Mitchell once described him as "A priest of song who holds himself to an ancient, rigorous code of beauty most of us have forgotten exists". Jack was a SXSW showcasing artist at 17, as well as the youngest ever winner of the Kerrville Folk Festival's New Folk Award in 2005 (previous winners include Gillian Welch, Devon Sproule and Anais Mitchell). He has been the recipient of the PRS ATOM award for new music creation, as well as an EFDSS creative bursary for songwriting. The follow-up to his critical acclaimed 'The Flame & The Pelican' is a collection of eleven new intriguing songs and tales of mystery rooted in the folk & blues traditions. 'The Wide Afternoon' has subjects including dangerous men, literary women, stolen horses and vanished birds. It's somber and reflective with wonderfully composed rich lyrics and soundscapes, like a musical love child of Tom Waits and James Joyce. All delivered by master wordsmith Jack in his smoky vocals coupled with his own special arrangements and intimate style, woven into exquisite finger-picked acoustic guitar. Jack is the rare musical equivalent of a 'triple threat'.