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Brand new releases and a forthcoming concert with the excellent Kate Campbell:

The Full English is a collection of some of the finest musicians in the UK who joined acclaimed singer and folksong scholar Fay Hield, under a commission from the English Folk Dance And Song Society, to create a superb album drawn from the mother of all collections of English folk dance and music that is The Full English free digital archive (www.efdss.org/efdss-the-full-english) housed at Cecil Sharp House in London and containing manuscripts from 10 of the most important song collectors such as Cecil Sharp, Percy Grainger, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Lucy Broadwood. The Full English band comprises Fay Hield, Seth Lakeman, Martin Simpson, Nancy Kerr, Ben Nicholls, Rob Harbron and Sam Sweeney and their collection of old and new songs and tunes is sublime;

Eamonn Coyne & Kris Drever - individually well established Irish banjoist Coyne (Treacherous Orchestra, Salsa Celtica) and Orkney Islands vocalist/guitarist Drever (Lau) release their second duo album comprising a muscular collection of traditional and contemporary songs and tunes played with passion and aplomb aided and abetted by some choice guest musicians including vocals from Eliza Carthy, fiddles from Simon Bradley and Megan Henderson, accordion from Irish ace accordionist Alan Kelly, Colum McIntyre on drums and Nico Bruce on double bass - a worthy successor to their extremely well received debut cd Honk Toot Suite;

Linda Thompson - the 6 year interval since her last release may have inspired the title of this excellent 11 track album featuring 5 original and co-write compositions and 2 from son Teddy Thompson, making the album even more family driven by the inclusion of daughters Kami and Muna on vocals, and one track with ex-husband and collaborator Richard Thompson, their first recording together since 2002, and Richard's son Jack on bass on one track. Co-writers include Ron Sexsmith, John Doyle and son Teddy Thompson; a track from Anna McGarrigle, a Charles Causley poem set to music and a couple of traditional songs - Paddy's Lamentation and Blue Bleezin' Blind Drunk round out this very satisfying album which was well worth the wait;

John McCutcheon - another album where I was simply spoiled for choice! This is simply a superb album of finely crafted songs covering a swath of Life events that comprise the human condition from the opening life-affirming manifesto in support of then-14 year old Malala Yousafzai, whose attempted murder by allegedly religious adherents in Pakistan for simply going to school, sickened the civilized world, to his instrumental tribute to Vedran Smailovic, the Cellist of Sarajevo, the aging process and its effects on the individual and couples, post Civil War comity in Georgia, immigration, a hillbilly shanty featuring the excellent Finest Kind from Canada, strip mining the glory of Southern cooking. The wealth of subjects covered is met by the wealth of craftsmanship that went into their creation and finely executed by a stellar ensemble including such luminaries as Tim O'Brien, John Jennings and Stuart Duncan - a feast of an album!;

Capercaillie - celebrating their 30th year as a band, Capercaillie have championed the Scots Gaelic music of the Hebrides and successfully married the pure stuff to modern instrumentation and in the process earned a devoted following around the globe on the strength of the music and their impressive live performances. Spearheaded by the breathtakingly beautiful vocals of Karen Matheson, and superb musicianship from the boys in the band, and augmented by select guest musicians including Julie Fowlis, Aidan O'Rourke, and Kris Drever, the 11 tracks on this album comprising jigs, reels, strathspeys, waulking songs and laments, and the beautiful title track sung in English, combine to provide the listener with another opportunity to hear the beauty of old Scotland spun anew by these masters of the art;

Kate Campbell makes a very welcomed debut visit to Little Rock Folk Club on Sat Nov 23rd 2013. Literate, acutely perceptive of life here in the South, and blessed with the gift for presenting her songs in compelling word-pictures, Kate Campbell draws the listener into her stories of both here and now and there and then that readily move the listener back and forth in time as she weaves tales of hope and despair, rights and wrongs, and childhood recollections of days gone by ...

    
The Full English - Arthur O' Bradley - The Full English - Topic Records (www.efdss.org/efdss-the-full-english )
Eamonn Coyne & Kris Drever - Farewell To Stromness - Story Map - www.compassrecords.com
Linda Thompson - Love's For Babies And Fools - Won't Be Long Now - Pettifer sounds (www.lindathompsonmusic.com)

*Kate Campbell - When Panthers Roamed In Arkansas - Moonpie Dreams - www.compassrecords.com (www.katecampbell.com)
John McCutcheon - Forgotten - 22 Days - appalsongs (www.folkmusic.com/ )
Capercaillie - Fainne An Dochais(Ring of Hope) - At The Heart Of It All - www.compassrecords.com (www.capercaillie.co.uk)

The Full English - Awake Awake - The Full English - Topic Records (www.efdss.org/efdss-the-full-english )
Eamonn Coyne & Kris Drever - Marches & Reels - Story Map - www.compassrecords.com
Linda Thompson - Never Put To Sea Boys - Won't Be Long Now - Pettifer sounds (www.lindathompsonmusic.com)

*Kate Campbell - 10000 Lures - two nights in texas - Large River Music (www.katecampbell.com)
John McCutcheon - Tonight - 22 Days - appalsongs (www.folkmusic.com/ )
Capercaillie - At The Heart Of It All - At The Heart Of It All - www.compassrecords.com (www.capercaillie.co.uk)
*Kate Campbell - New South - two nights in texas - Large River Music (www.katecampbell.com)

 

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