June 2025 – Americana UK

For The Sake Of The Song: Judy Collins “Someday Soon”

June 30, 2025 Chas Lacey 1

This much-loved and frequently covered song was written by Ian Tyson, one-half of Canadian folk duo Ian and Sylvia. Their early albums spawned several songs that have become classics, probably the best-known being ‘Four Strong Winds’, […]

Jackson Emmer “Battle Hymn of the Early Riser”

June 30, 2025 Jonathan Smith 0

Rich, warm storytelling from a masterful craftsman. A new name to Americana UK, Jackson Emmer’s “Battle Hymn of the Early Riser” is nonetheless his fifth solo album. Having played on the Bluebird Cafe stage and secured […]

Interview: Swarme of Beese finds more poetry in darkness than in light

June 30, 2025 Dean Nardi 0

The term mutant folk seems to fit. In the band’s early days, before The Victor Mourning emerged from the pupa into an adult Swarme of Beese, their songs elicited unusual receptions. Co-songwriter Lynne Adele recalls performing […]

Live Review: Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys + Honey and the Bear, Junction 2, Cambridge – 9th June 2025

June 30, 2025 Jonathan Aird 0

Sam Kelly’s take on folk music relies on a combination of reworked and mostly sped-up traditional songs and his own, often more introspective, self-writes. With the full Lost Boys band he frequently leans into a joyful […]

New Grant-Lee Phillips album due early autumn, announces UK/EU tour dates

June 30, 2025 Richard Parkinson 0

Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and painter Grant-Lee Phillips has announced the release of “In the Hour of Dust”, his 12th solo album, on 5th September 2025 via Yep Roc Records. The self-produced album finds Phillips in introspective […]