Destination: Fellside Recordings 1976-2018

The label Fellside has been a significant force in independent folk music recording for 42 years, with more than 600 albums in its catalogue. As its founders and owners Paul and Linda Adams decide to rein in their work – it's not closing, but will no longer be taking on new artists or releasing new albums – this three-CD set comprises a mighty collection of tracks from the many artists associated with Fellside Recordings.

Among the 64 tracks, more than half have never been released before, and extremes of variety are well represented. There's Peter Bellamy's settings of Rudyard Kipling poems, Maddy Prior's solo take on ‘Sheep Crook and Black Dog’, archive tracks from Cyril Tawney and AL Lloyd, Frankie Armstrong, Hedy West and Peggy Seeger, as well as new recordings from contemporary artists such as Jez Lowe, Paul & James Sartin, Nancy Kerr & James Fagan, and Ewan McLennan.

Also captured here are Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick, sometime in the 1990s at a place unknown, delivering a fabulous version of ‘Sovay’, while Spiers & Boden are represented by another live gem in a raucous ‘Banbury Bill/Shepherd's Hey’. The compilation comes with warm and detailed liner notes on the many artists who have passed through or rubbed shoulders with Fellside Recordings. Altogether, the collection is a rich and varied take on British folk from the past 40 years.