Well, this year does surprise me. I would have had the none-more-Aftrerword Hejira as a shoo-in for top slot. Surprises are good.

Call for the Electoral Reform Society!

Plenty of folk reinterpretations of popular song, as the tradition decides what will become the next generation of folk. My favourite is Hounds of Love on three concertinas.

and then, of course, there is Audlem Bagpipe and Hurdy Gurdy Day, but I may have mentioned that before!

‘Members of the Karine Polwart band and the Armenian British Council sing together in an ancient monastery carved into a hillside.’ it says in the sleevenotes to Inge Thomson’s Shipwrecks and Static.

I have to say, as I age, I welcome that most folk festivals take place under cover. I plan returning to Cropredy next year and it’s exposure to the elements is the issue of which I am most wary.

Certainly plenty come as audience. Please re-introduce yourself; it’s been a while since the Blowzabella gig in Holmfirth. You will recall that I am distinctive of kilt and stature.

Yes, that whole creative flowering around La Belle Epoque / Art Nouveau / Arts and Crafts era would have been very appealing.

On a previous thread, I posted that time travel would be the superpower I’d choose to have. For me, it would be the recent past that would fascinate most, and I would still need the framework of that which was […]

That resonates. I spent some quality time with my 95 year old father yesterday, going through some old photos from his childhood, bequeathed to him by his late brother. We extrapolated from the photos, the life […]

It would be fair to say that I am hardcore when it comes to festivals. If you put them all end to end, they would take up well over a month of my year. I’ve just come back from my annual sojourn in Sidmouth, […]

OMG, I mean, MD. All those bourree dance moves I was taught, and I thought they were telling me to swap to the right.

Tonder seems to be rated very highly by the artists’ themselves. I am forever hearing it namechecked from the stage.

How about this for the epitome of Sidmouth Folk Festival?
“Can I have a little less seagull in my monitor?” quote James Fagan.

Their debut would have clinched 2015 as well, but for such strong competition. That Andy Cutting was going to be there one way or another. Together with the Blowzabella albums, he gets on to four of my choices, […]

How very Afterword to sneak three items into a list thread where you’re only allowed to post one.
Happy Anniversary!

ludicrous to suggest you can album of the year from when you were pre-school, so starting here …
1967 Magical Mystery Tour (ducks for cover straightaway)
1968 Family : Music in a Doll’s House
1696 Fairport : L […]

There’s an afternoon pub session I go to most months, where I am almost certainly the only one who still pays National Insurance. The afternoon suits the bedtimes of my retired mates, who would be flagging […]

Oh now you’re just goading me to post this.

My sister in law was born and raised near the equator, and has returned to live in her native Kenya. She can’t cope with hot London summers.