Hello everyone, and happy New Year!
After a much-needed break over Christmas, I’m back with a round-up of upcoming gigs and festivals, as well as the latest new music. As you will see, I’ve condensed things in this issue to try and make the newsletter more manageable to put together. Whilst I know having more information is probably useful, it has been a difficult juggling act to keep things going alongside my other freelance work and volunteering, so I hope that by shortening things a bit, it can help me to strike a better balance.
Thanks as always for all your support!
Lucy
This month’s playlist includes a variety of the artists mentioned in this issue, including some brilliant new releases! If you like what you hear, do support the artists if you can, to help them make more amazing music in the future.
If you enjoy this issue and fancy saying thanks, you can make a small donation on Ko-Fi or sign up for a paid subscription here on Substack, to help support my freelance work on the folk scene. Thank you!
Online gigs
Friday 17 January - Karine Polwart (Live to Your Living Room)
Sunday 19 January - Sandra Kerr & The Kerr Fagan Family - Bagpuss and Beyond (Live to Your Living Room)
Thursday 23 January - Gabriel Moreno and the Quivering Poets (Rosslyn Court)
Friday 24 January - Anna Massie (Live to Your Living Room)
Wednesday 5 February - Three Acres and a Cow (Live to Your Living Room)
Also online
Christmas may be over, but Eliza Carthy's Christmas Party with Jon Boden, Emily Portman & Marry Waterson is still available to watch until 19th January on Folkscape Live. Find out more here.
Rachael McShane is starting a new term of online fiddle classes, beginning on 20th January. Ideal if your New Year’s resolution is to do more fiddle practice! Find out more here.
Phoenix Folk are still running lots of online sessions, which you can join in with from wherever you are. Find out more here.
The Folk on Foot* Official Folk Albums Chart of the Year Show is out now, featuring the latest new entries to the December chart as well as a countdown of the top 40 UK folk albums of 2024. You can watch the show here. The next Chart Show will be on Tuesday 4th February.
Speaking of Folk on Foot *, there is a new episode with Bird in the Belly out today, available wherever you get your podcasts.
The In the Roud podcast hosted by Matt Quinn is still going strong, so check out the latest episodes wherever you get your podcasts. You can also now support the podcast on Patreon here.
Jon Boden was on BBC Radio 3 recently, chatting to saxophonist Jess Gillam. There are a few days left to listen on BBC Sounds if you missed it - click here.
Cecil Sharp House, London
The Indoor Festival of Folk is coming up on Saturday 8th February at London’s historic Cecil Sharp House. The festival is hosted by The Magpie Arc, and this year they’ll be joined by a stellar line-up including Frankie Archer, Edgelarks, The Bookshop Band and Sam Carter. Matthew Bannister (BBC Radio and Folk on Foot* broadcaster) will also be interviewing Ashley 'The Guv'nor' Hutchings in his 80th birthday year.
Various venues in Beverley, East Yorkshire
Stage4Beverley is a festival of music, poetry and more, taking place from 9th to 16th February at venues across Beverley. This year, there will be music from Martyn Joseph, Steve Knightley and Michael McGoldrick, John McCusker & John Doyle, among others, as well as poetry from Carol Ann Duffy and Henry Normal & Nigel Planer (the latter of whom is perhaps best known as Neil in The Young Ones!)
The Atkinson, Southport
Love Folk Festival is a celebration of traditional, upcoming and alternative folk music, taking place from 14th-15th February. This year’s line-up include Alex Hart, Blue Rose Code, Greenman Rising, Suthering, Good Habits, Naomi Bedford & Paul Simmonds and Eleanor Dunsdon & Gregor Black. In addition to the main stage, Fatea will once again be hosting the Busk Love Folk acoustic stage.
Tickets are £52, which is great value for money for a 2-day festival.
I first came across O’Hooley & Tidow when they were doing an International Women’s Day event with Lady Maisery quite a few years ago, and it’s great to see them coming back together again! They’ll be doing gigs together in Sheffield, Scarborough, Southampton, London and Bradford. There are also plenty of chances to see each band separately this spring.
Winter Wonderband are fundraising to support the production and release of their debut album, Joy Illimited. If you haven’t come across them before, Winter Wonderband is a wonderful collaboration between Saul Rose, Maclaine Colston, Beth Porter and Jennifer Crook, and the album is sure to be a real treat.
Salt House are fundraising for their new album too. They’ve been joined by new member Anna Hughes (who has replaced the brilliant Lauren MacColl). With Anna being based here in the North East, I’ve followed her career for a while and she’s a wonderful musician, so I’m excited to see what she brings to the mix.
Ian A. Anderson (former editor of fRoots) is fundraising to write a book entitled ALIEN WATER: Six Decades Paddling In Unpopular Music. This is sure to be an interesting read, so click below to help make it possible.
10 Jan - Bridget Hayden and the Appararitions, Cold Blows the Rain
24 Jan - Mary Chapin Carpenter, Julie Fowlis, Karine Polwart, Looking For The Thread
24 Jan - Rhona Macfarlane, As the Chaos Unfolds
24 Jan - Sam Amidon - Salt River
Record of the Month is Boss Morris, the new self-titled album from the coolest morris dance side around (they’ve even performed at the BRIT Awards!). As well as being incredible dancers, Boss Morris are also blessed with some amazing musicians, and the music on this album is performed by Sam Sweeney, Miranda Rutter & Rob Harbron. As you might expect with Sam and Rob involved, this is sure to be up your street if you’re a fan of the likes of Leveret. Expect beautifully played traditional tunes with a beating pulse that’s sure to make you want to get up and dance!
If you find The Folk Forecast useful, you can support us by making a small donation on Ko-Fi. Thank you!
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The Folk Forecast is created for artists, for audiences and for the UK folk scene. All information is correct to the best of our knowledge. If you have queries about the events listed, please contact the artists or promoters. If you have any suggestions for inclusion in future newsletters, please email TheFolkForecast@gmail.com. We may not be able to include absolutely everything, but we’re interested in UK folk events with a broad appeal, and would particularly welcome suggestions from Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The Folk Forecast is compiled by one person, so please bear with me if I can’t get back to you right away.
* Alongside The Folk Forecast, I work with other organisations, recently including Folk on Foot, Fancourt Music (Granny’s Attic and Janice Burns & Jon Doran), Calstock Arts, Stage4Beverley, Brundibár Arts Festival, Saltburn Folk Festival and individual artists including Lady Maisery. Events where I have some involvement with the promoter or artist are marked with a star for transparency. Although I have various affiliations, I strive to be inclusive and tell you about anything I find which I think you’ll enjoy!
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