Beginnings - Hannah's Yard (12/05/17)

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• Artist: Hannah's Yard
• Genre: Pop, Jazz, Folk, Country
• Release Date: 12th May, 2017
• Record Label: Superphonix Limited
• Tracks: 14
• Website: https://www.hannahsyard.com

We head to Buckinghamshire for our next excellent young LCM featured artist. At the beating heart of the musical collective known as 'Hannah’s Yard' lies the beautifully understated voice of 21 year old singer Hannah Layton Turner. Think Nora Jones with touches of Katie Melua. The band's music is on the acoustic pop side with a heady fusion of Jazz, Folk and Country. Their debut album ‘Beginnings’ was released on 12 May 2017 and features 14 songs recorded in Hannah’s home town of Olney (not far from Milton Keynes)…the small English town where ‘Amazing Grace’ was written in the 1770s. This wonderful collection of meaningful songs about life and love includes a recording of Hannah at just 15 years of age, when she first met fellow musicians Barnaby Pinny and James Reader.

An upload of the collective’s song and our LCM #TrackOfTheDay 'Why Would I Know' to the BBC Introducing website in September 2015, resulted in a first national radio play on Mark Forrest’s BBC Introducing show the following November. Local station BBC Three Counties Radio immediately awarded the song ‘Introducing Track of the Week’ resulting in cross-station airplay and invitations to perform live on the station.  

An official launch of the song was expedited and by February 2016, following a live performance on his BBC Radio Oxford show, Alex Lester played ‘Why Would I Know’ on his Radio Two programme. Hannah’s Yard went on to appear on Robert Elms’ BBC Radio London show at the end of February marking a remarkable six months of progress for Hannah and her musicians.

Excitingly the band supported Gordon Haskell on his UK tour earlier this year.

Strangers - The Young'uns (29/09/17)

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• Artist: The Young'uns
• Genre: Folk
• Release Date: 29th September, 2017.
• Record Label: Hereteu Records
• Tracks: 10
• Website:

Twice BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Best Group winners (2015 & 2016), The Young'Uns' 4th studio album Strangers' is a collection of folk songs for our times - a homage to the outsider, a eulogy for the wayfarer and a hymn for the migrant.  

The Young'Uns interweave inspirational stories from the past with tales from today's world to create a timely, thought provoking and ultimately uplifting piece in which Syrian refugees, Gay Rights campaigners, aid workers and have-a-go heroes rub shoulders with First World War soldiers, Caribbean immigrants and Victorian mavericks. Their boldest most resonant work to date.

The Young'uns have proved themselves a unique proposition – writing and performing a cappella or subtly accompanied songs that tell it how it is alongside traditional songs from their native North-East and further afield – songs of conscience, songs of warmth and wit, songs to provoke, songs to inspire.

Renowned for their pitch perfect harmonies and rapid fire humour, their live show undeniably has the human touch. Always engaging, frequently heart-warming, they have built an enviable audience rapport. They are an act that truly takes the cliché out of the "make you laugh, make you cry" tag.

Just two years after giving up their day jobs, Stockton Folk Club's star pupils have had a milestone year with the release of their third studio album Another Man's Ground, an appearance at America's Folk Alliance, collectively celebrating their 30th birthdays and racking up accolades including Best Group in the FATEA Awards and Best Live Act in the Spiral Awards.

A decade of performance around the country, national radio sessions, more than 40 festival appearances (Cambridge to Glastonbury) and increasingly acclaimed album releases has delivered a gregarious, sharply honed, pull no punches act that clinched the Best Group trophy at the 2015 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in Cardiff – a hugely popular result that saw them beating off opposition including the mighty Bellowhead.

Beguiling audiences around the world, they seamlessly switch from beautiful ballads to brilliant banter, from profoundly poignant songs to infectiously irreverent humour. This, combined with their passion for storytelling and commitment to maintaining the tradition of social commentary, has led to five star reviews, live sessions on BBC Radio 2, 3 and documentaries on Radio 4 as well as countless sell out shows and main stage festival appearances throughout the UK and abroad.

Findlay Napier - Glasgow (13/10/17)

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• Artist: Findlay Napier
• Genre: Folk, Singer-Songwriter
• Release Date: 13th October, 2017
• Record Label: Cheerygroove Records
• Tracks: 11
• Website: http://www.findlaynapier.com/

In 1997 I moved from the banks of the River Spey to the fourteenth floor of the Red Road Flats in Springburn. I was born in Glasgow and had visited the city periodically over the years, the Garden Festival in ‘89 and City of Culture in ‘90 being particular highlights. I remember the buildings being black. I remember being jostled by the people on Buchanan Street. I remember the sound and the shoogle of the Clockwork Orange. I remember the people and their patter. I remember it like the first time I watched Blade Runner. I remember it like the first time I saw Billy Connolly. 

Mostly I witnessed Glasgow from afar. On the telly it was a place full of humour: Francie & Josie, Naked Video and Rab C. Nesbitt. Taggart, bookended with Maggie Bell’s ‘No Mean City, was Glasgow’s darker side. 

I heard the music, I even sang some of the songs; street songs, folk songs, mimicking Frankie Miller’s Tennent’s selling growl or howling along to City to City on long car journeys north. Yet I was so out of touch with the city’s music I didn’t know that Del Amitri bloke with the leather trousers off the telly was from Glasgow. Rab Noakes’ Standing Up introduced me to The Blue Nile and Michael Marra. I came round to The Bard of Dundee very quickly but I confess it was years before I understood the wonder of those four immaculate albums by The Blue Nile. 

By ‘97 Glasgow was undergoing a kind of spring cleaning for the forthcoming City of Architecture. It was the gleaming champagne and red sandstone promised land. I was seventeen and about to enroll on the first ever BA in Scottish Music at the RSAMD. ‘Jock Hawk’s Adventures in Glasgow’ would be a good soundtrack for the next few years of my life in Glasgow, that or ‘Erin Go Bragh,’ a clueless country bumpkin falling in every pitfall the big smoke had to offer. 

After graduation it never occurred to me to leave Glasgow. It became my home. I’ve been here for almost exactly twenty-one years to the release date of this album. I’ve lived all over the place, mostly in Dennistoun and Haghill, a year on North Street (above The Bon Accord), a year in Bridgeton, some time in Cathcart and I am now settled in Pollokshields. First I was staying here, then I was living here, now this is my home. 

This album is for Glasgow and for the fantastic people I’ve met; unique formidable characters like Big Jim McKenna who told me before walking on stage one night that, “No-one wants to hear you singing your own fuckin* songs. Your sad fuckin songs about your boring fuckin life. They want to hear something they know. Maybe something about their home. Mix them up a bit.” He liked my songs though. He told me when I came off stage. He said I should learn that Hamish Imlach song. I fuckin did. 

*In Glasgow swearing is considered a form of audible punctuation"

Wildwood Kin - Turning Tides (18/08/17)

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• Artist: Wildwood Kin
• Genre: Indie Folk
• Release Date: 18th August, 2017
• Record Label: Silverstone / Sony
• Tracks: 11
• Website: https://wildwoodkin.com

A family trio – two sisters and their cousin – Wildwood Kin borrow heavily from early folk influences, not least in their hypnotic three-part harmonies. But their extraordinary debut album, delves deeply in to other genres, featuring both electric and acoustic instruments and it boasts inventive electronics and spectral atmospherics.

Guitarist Emillie Key, her bouzouki/keyboard-playing sister Beth and their drumming cousin Meghann Loney all sing, swapping leads on songs they write themselves, and joining forces on harmonies that have remained their trademark.

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.

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/

The Barr Brothers - Queen Of The Breakers (13/10/17)

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• Artist: The Barr Brothers
• Genre: Sci-Folk, Rock, Roots, Blues, Folk
• Release Date: 13th October, 2017
• Record Label: Republic of Music
• Tracks: 11
• Website: http://www.thebarrbrothers.com/

“Queens of the Breakers” is The Barr Brothers’ finest work yet, a collection of 11 hypnotically fluid songs that speak to the raw, elemental power of reflection, forgiveness, loss, and growing up. The record finds the band, featuring brothers Brad (guitar) and Andrew Barr (drums), and Sarah Pagé (harp), further on their thrilling path of exploring the outer limits of folk, blues, rock and Americana made north of the American border.

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.

Kronos Quartet - Folk Songs (08/06/17)

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• Artist: Kronos Quartet
• Genre: Folk
• Release Date: 8th June, 2017
• Record Label: Nonesuch
• Tracks: 9
• Website:

The cream of the US record label Nonesuch comes together to create a wonderful album of folk songs. Guests include Natalie Merchant, Rhiannon Giddens, Olivia Chaney and Sam Amidon. 

Top Floor Taivers - A Delicate Game (28/02/17)

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• Artist: Top Floor Taivers
• Genre: Folk, Trad Folk, Scottish Music, Acoustic
• Release Date: 28th February, 2017
• Record Label: TFT Records
• Tracks: 10
• Website: http://www.topfloortaivers.com/

Top Floor Taivers are a young and fresh Glasgow based band performing traditional and contemporary Scottish songs and tunes. Coming from Scotland, England and Ireland, Top Floor Taivers combine stunning vocals with piano, fiddle and clarsach to create unique arrangements of traditional folk songs and tunes as well as their own compositions.

Nominated in the Up and Coming Artist category at the 2016 MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards, Top Floor Taivers released their highly anticipated debut album A Delicate Game in January 2017. With unique arrangements of traditional Scottish songs like The False Bride, to contemporary Scottish songs like Princess Rosanna by Findlay Napier, and Everybody Knows by Leonard Cohen, this exciting new album has something in it for everyone.

Since forming in 2013 the band have performed across Scotland and Ireland, with highlights including BBC Music Day, Stonehaven Folk Festival, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party, and Celtic Connections amongst others. In 2017 they will be touring their new album and will be performing a tour of Germany in 2018.

The Queen Of Hearts - Offa Rex (14/07/17)

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• Artists: Offa Rex (Olivia Chaney & The Decemberists)
• Genre: Folk
• Release Date: 14th July, 2017
• Record Label: Nonesuch
• Tracks: 11
• Website: http://www.nonesuch.com/artists/offa-rex

Offa Rex is the exciting new project by excellent singer-songwriter Olivia Chaney and Portland's very own The Decemberists.

The thirteen tracks on their new  debut album 'The Queen of Hearts' draw largely on traditional English-Irish-Scottish music to create a transatlantic collaboration that combines elements of psychedelia, prog folk and folk rock to create a new rich and sublime mix.

Offa Rex will tour this summer, including performances at the Newport Folk Festival, Town Hall in New York, and at The Aladdin in Portland. They will also be performing at Travelers’ Rest, The Decemberists’ two-day curated festival in Missoula, MT on August 12 and 13. Additionally, Olivia Chaney will support The Decemberists during their August tour, during which she will join the band on stage to perform songs from 'The Queen of Hearts'. Olivia will also do a few solo shows around these dates.

3 Daft Monkeys - Year Of The Clown (28/04/17)

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• Artist: 3 Daft Monkeys
• Genre: Acoustic, Alt Folk
• Release Date: 28th April, 2017
• Record Label: 3DM Records
• Tracks: 12
• Website: https://www.3daftmonkeys.co.uk/

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."

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:

Leveret - Inventions (15/09/17)

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• Artist: Leveret
• Genre: Traditional Folk, Folk
• Release Date: 15th September, 2017
• Record Label: RootBeat Records
• Tracks: TBA
• Website: https://www.leveretband.com

Leveret features three of England's finest folk musicians in an exciting new collaboration. Andy Cutting, Sam Sweeney and Rob Harbron are each regarded as masters of their instrument and are involved in numerous collaborations with a huge range of artists. Together their performances combine consummate musicianship, compelling delivery and captivating spontaneity.

Leveret's music is firmly rooted in the English tradition but sounds fresh and new, with original settings of ancient tunes sitting alongside new compositions by some of today's finest tunesmiths in the folk field. Their music is not arranged at all in the conventional sense: instead it is played entirely in the moment, combining consummate musicianship, compelling delivery and captivating spontaneity in a sound which feels both timeless and contemporary. The material may come from archive sources and manuscripts, but there is nothing academic or historical about the sound: it's warm, listenable, engaging and refreshing.

Fiddler Sam Sweeney is the current BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 'Musician of the Year', thanks to his work in Bellowhead, Eliza Carthy's Wayward Band, The Full English and his own Made In The Great War project. Melodeon genius Andy Cutting is a two-time winner of that award, and as well as his new trio with Martin Simpson and Nancy Kerr currently performs with Blowzabella, Topette, June Tabor, and Roger Daltry. Concertina wizard Rob Harbron is known for his work with The Full English (Best Group and Best Album BBC Folk Awards 2014), Emma Reid, Fay Hield, Jon Boden and others.

The English folk tradition has not always valued its instrumental repertoire as highly as some of our neighbours, and yet the tunes exist in their thousands in manuscripts and archives. For every tune in current circulation, there are dozens more that are waiting to be rediscovered, and Leveret's music has helped inspire a growing interest in instrumental music. A Leveret gig is a current and contemporary performance of English repertoire by three top-notch instrumentalists with deep roots in the tradition.

Paradisia - Sound Of Freedom (26/05/17)

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• Artist: Paradisia
• Genre: Folk, Pop
• Release Date: 26th May, 2017
• Record Label: Paradisia
• Tracks: 12
• Website: http://paradisiaofficial.com/

ophie-Rose and Kristy played their first show together in a support slot at Brixton Academy in 2010 whilst playing in punk band 'Rum Shebeen'. A chance spotting of a harp belonging to Anna at her house party united the three, as well as a mutual love of Joni Mitchell, and since then the past five years have been spent working together on a number of musical projects. Having toured extensively with these previous projects, supporting the likes of Paolo Nutini, Carole King and Bruce Springsteen in Hyde Park, Paradisia spent time in Berlin to record their debut record in 2015 and chose their cover of Springsteen’s 'Dancing in the Dark' as their debut single. The track rose to #8 in the HypeMachine chart and has over 50,000 plays on SoundCloud to date. Of the track, the band says ‘it’s a beautifully written song and slowing it down was our way of bringing attention to the lyrics, so we wanted to show the beauty and sadness of them with our own interpretation’. 

The band's name itself is a word they use to describe an idealistic and beautiful aesthetic, a space away from reality to a place that occupies a perfect limbo between this world and a dreamlike utopia, the diversion to a higher sphere that music tends to offer most often: escapism. With relatable lyrics that draw inspiration from personal experiences, Paradisia is a world into which most can escape. 

Paradisia released their 12-track debut album 'Sound Of Freedom' on the 26th May, 2017.