Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys have today released a new video documenting the making of their upcoming album Pretty Peggy. It’s a fascinating behind the scenes look at the work that goes into making an album and also shows the fun the boys obviously had whilst recording.

Trawling old songs and tunes for this innovative melting pot album, Kelly has found some gems to refashion kicking off with the rousing whaling shanty Greenland Whale which is matched at the other end of the 12-track album by a driving, full-blooded take on the trad English song The Keeper.

Pretty Peggy is released on the 6th October and available to pre-order now from Propermusic.com (where you can get a signed copy), Amazon, iTunes and all good record shops.

Blue Rose Code, aka acclaimed singer-songwriter Ross Wilson, releases The Water Of Leith, his first album for Navigator Records on October 27.

A nomad both geographically and musically, Ross writes from the heart eschewing any specific genre and the twelve new songs on The Water Of Leith, addressing themes of love, loss, travel, home, accepting the past and embracing the future, are painted with colours of folk, jazz, soul and pop; an eclecticism that has become a hallmark of Blue Rose Code and has seen him compared to John Martyn, Van Morrison and Tom Waits.

Underlining the sense of movement and place in Ross’s work and The Water Of Leith is rooted in his return to his Scottish homeland. There, he reconnected with the stellar musicians who were to become an integral part of the new album’s sound: multi award-winning singer Julie Fowlis, celebrated Gaelic singer Kathleen MacInnes, BBC Folk Award Winner, Ross Ainslie, 2017’s Scottish Jazz Awards’ instrumentalist of the year Konrad Wiszniewski, leading violinist Seonaid Aitken and three of Scotland’s finest jazz musicians; John Lowrie, Colin Steele and James Lindsay, to name just some of the contributors. Grammy-winning American singer-songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman features on the opening track. Ross co-produced the album with Angus Lyon.

The Water of Leith  is out on the 27th October and available to pre-order now.
signed copies of the album are available exclusively from the Blue Rose Code store


 

If you like your ‘folk’ edgy, turning traditional songs on their head, swerving into rock territory or nudging the mainstream, Sam Kelly’s your man. Just three years after releasing his first EP, Norfolk-born, Cornwall-based Kelly scooped the coveted 2016 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards “Horizon” title, which recognises the best emerging talent.

His debut CD The Lost Boys was released in 2015 to wide acclaim (his version of Wayfaring Stranger even being heard on Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks!)

For this compelling Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys follow-up album Pretty Peggy, released October 6, 2017, he is joined in the seven strong line-up by his regular touring and festival band – banjo genius Jamie Francis; Ciaran Algar on fiddle/tenor guitar; Evan Carson on percussion, Graham Coe (cello), Toby Shaer (woodwind) and Archie Churchill-Moss on melodeon.

The entire band share production duties with Ross-Rothero Bourge and Gareth Young.
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Heidi Talbot appeared on The Quays Sessions last week to perform songs from her latest album, Here We Go 1, 2, 3. Talbot performed alongside her husband and musical partner John McCusker as well as members of her band and friends.

You can listen to the show in full on the BBC iPlayer here, watch Heidi’s full performance here and get a taste of what to expect below.

Here We Go 1, 2, 3 is available now from Propermusic, Amazon, iTunes, Spotify and all good record stores.

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We were delighted to see the Songs of Separation collective take home the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Best Album last night, winning against some stiff competition including Jarlath Henderson (Hearts Broken, Heads Turned), Jim Moray (Upcetera), Martin Green (Flit) and Shirley Collins (Lodestar). The group were also nominated in the Best Traditional Track category which was won Daoiri Farrell for his version of Van Diemen’s Land which he also performed on the night.

The Songs of Separation project, which reflects through song, the issue of ‘separation’ in its many forms, features ten of England and Scotland’s most celebrated female contemporary folk artists, Eliza Carthy, Karine Polwart, Rowan Rheingans, Mary Macmaster, Hannah Read, Kate Young, Jenn Butterworth, Hazel Askew, Hannah James and Jenny Hill (who conceived the project).

Recorded in the fairy-tale setting of the Isle of Eigg (in the Scottish Inner Hebrides) and set in the context of a post-referendum world, ‘Songs of Separation’ is not simply a beautiful collection of traditional and self-penned songs, but also aims to prompt new thinking about the issue of separation as it occurs in all our lives. The process of developing the music was documented and shared with audiences each day, through a range of videos.

The Songs of Separation album is available now on Propermusic, Amazon, iTunes, Spotify and from all good record stores.