Thursday, October 30, 2025
Live: Grand Ole Opry (Royal Albert Hall, London, September 26)
Russell Higham witnesses a US country institution arrive in London for a night of cowboy boots, honky-tonk hoots and heartfelt emotion
Features
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Live: Festival Trad Montréal (Montréal, Canada, August 29–31)
Jo Frost gets swept up in a whirl of foot tapping, step dancing and twisting traditions as she visits a live-wire Québécois summit of folk culture
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Live: Fira Mediterrània (Manresa, Catalonia, October 9–12)
Balearic bread-making, Occitan invention and Balkan processions impress Simon Broughton at a Mediterranean folk fair
Thursday, October 30, 2025
A Conversation with Mariam: “Singing this album is a tribute to Amadou”
Russ Slater Johnson speaks to Mariam about touring and promoting a new album without Amadou, and how she hopes to continue spreading their message of love and solidarity
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Carminho: Phantom Fado
April Clare Welsh spends a Lisbon evening with Carminho, whose latest album explores ambience and haunting instrumentation in search of the essence of fado
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou: A Beginner's Guide
Andrew Taylor-Dawson charts the influential and innovative history of Benin’s premier funky vodoun collective
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Wu Man: Silk String Stories
Widely considered the world’s leading pipa player, Wu Man tells Simon Broughton about new works excavating the history of her beloved instrument
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Martin Simpson and Matthew Byrne: songs across the sea
Devon Léger speaks to Martin Simpson and Matthew Byrne about projects tracing folk songs from Britain to the US and back
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Experiencing Rencontres de Chants Polyphoniques de Calvi
Erin Cobby travels to Corsica to experience Rencontres de Chants Polyphoniques de Calvi, a festival that brings people together through its celebration of the human voice
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Amazigh Renaissance: The Free People
Bianca Carrera meets a new generation of musicians in the Amazigh diaspora who challenge prejudice through their heritage and language
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Field of Research: The Ancient Rhythm Uniting Continents
Dan C Baciu finds evidence demonstrating that music has united the globe for thousands of years
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Essential 10 Gimbri albums, selected by Abdel Benaddi
Gnawa music guru and lute doyen Abdel Benaddi tells Chris Wheatley about his most cherished gimbri-loaded releases
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Peter Straughan's My World interview: “When I was a teenager, I wanted to be a musician, to be in bands”
Simon Broughton speaks to the Oscar-winning screenwriter behind Conclave and Wolf Hall about how music infiltrates his creative process
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Fireside Stories: how a Harlesden record shop helped create a reggae classic
Cleon Roberts remembers the story of a soulful reggae hit that went head-to-head with Madonna in the charts
Friday, October 17, 2025
British & Irish Folk Round-Up (Susy Wall, DUG, Lavinia Blackwall, Àirdan, Rose Io)
Tim Cumming takes a look at an assortment of releases from England, Scotland and Ireland (via California)
