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Our latest posts
  • [ May 7, 2026 ] Live Review: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Guthrie Green, Tulsa, Oklahoma – 29th April 2026 Live Reviews
  • [ May 7, 2026 ] Adam Donen “Bible Stories” Album Reviews
  • [ May 7, 2026 ] Folk Roundup – Anna McLuckie, Arthur Coates & Kerran Cotterell, Emily Portman, Gareth Davies-Jones, Lady Maisery and Jimmy Alkdridge & Sid Goldsmith, Old Spot, Songs of the Folk Album Reviews
  • [ May 7, 2026 ] Deer Tick “ACI” – a place for porridge News
  • [ May 7, 2026 ] Video Premiere: Michael McDermott “The Best We Get” – only focus on what is in your control Videos
HomeAuthorsStephen Rostkoski

Articles by Stephen Rostkoski

About Stephen Rostkoski
My parents bought me a phonograph when I was two years-old and I've been spinning discs ever since. Studied Recording Engineering in college, but ended up in library/archival technology. Self-published zines and contributed to Crawdaddy! and other publications for over 30 years.
Website
Classic Clips

Classic Clips: Bill Fay “The Never Ending Happening” – Later… With Jools Holland, 2012

June 13, 2025 Stephen Rostkoski 0
When I first heard about English singer-songwriter Bill Fay, it was thought he was dead. A 1999 Mojo article speculated that Fay’s total disappearance after his two early 1970s albums was due to his descent into drug addiction, […]
Album Reviews

Elena Loper “Weathervane Whale”

June 6, 2025 Stephen Rostkoski 0
Dream-folk debut displays the beguiling talents of this Pacific Northwest singer-songwriter. The eleven songs on “Weathervane Whale” were written and recorded during the lockdown years of the pandemic. Pacific Northwest artist Elena Loper used the enforced […]
Joe Ely
Essentials

Essentials: The Top 10 Joe Ely Songs

May 22, 2025 Stephen Rostkoski 7
I owe quite a bit to Joe Ely. His 1980 album “Live Shots”, a blistering document of his London shows opening for The Clash that year, was my introduction to the Texas music scene. There were […]
Album Reviews

I’m With Her “Wild and Clear and Blue”

May 16, 2025 Stephen Rostkoski 0
Folk supergroup trio expands upon their sound while keeping their specialness. Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan, and Sara Watkins make up the folk music supergroup I’m With Her. Their latest album, “Wild and Clear and Blue,” exemplifies […]
Album Reviews

Mountain Climer “Before You Turn Out the Lights”

May 2, 2025 Stephen Rostkoski 0
Slice of life storytelling and deft genre hopping keep Mountain Climer’s latest fresh and intriguing. Mountain Climer is the alias of Indiana native singer-songwriter Jeremy Climer. “Before You Turn Out the Lights” moves beyond Climer’s pop […]

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Recent Forum Posts

  • RE: What are you listening to at the moment?

    XTC - A Coat of Many Cupboards (excerpts...it's a 4 CD ...

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  • RE: My First Record Player

    I had a Rotel amp and turntable too until the buttons s...

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our latest posts

Live Review: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Guthrie Green, Tulsa, Oklahoma – 29th April 2026

Live Reviews
May 7, 2026 0

Adam Donen “Bible Stories”

Album Reviews
May 7, 2026 0

Folk Roundup – Anna McLuckie, Arthur Coates & Kerran Cotterell, Emily Portman, Gareth Davies-Jones, Lady Maisery and Jimmy Alkdridge & Sid Goldsmith, Old Spot, Songs of the Folk

Album Reviews
May 7, 2026 0

Deer Tick “ACI” – a place for porridge

News
May 7, 2026 1

Video Premiere: Michael McDermott “The Best We Get” – only focus on what is in your control

Videos
May 7, 2026 0
Live Reviews

Live Review: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Guthrie Green, Tulsa, Oklahoma – 29th April 2026

May 7, 2026 0
There is something quietly compelling about seeing Gillian Welch and David Rawlings in a setting like Guthrie Green. Beneath a full moon hanging low in a cloudless and distinctly chilly Oklahoma sky, this free, open-air show, […]
Album Reviews

Adam Donen “Bible Stories”

May 7, 2026 0
Tom Waits inspires industrial Gothic gospel blues. Now this is a strange one. Adam Donen is a multi-faceted artist; apparently, he “invents art forms, writes, directs and composes” Hmmmm. To be fair, to back this up, […]
Album Reviews

Folk Roundup – Anna McLuckie, Arthur Coates & Kerran Cotterell, Emily Portman, Gareth Davies-Jones, Lady Maisery and Jimmy Alkdridge & Sid Goldsmith, Old Spot, Songs of the Folk

May 7, 2026 0
With springtime now upon us, it is time to delve into some of the recent folk and roots music embracing these warmer, albeit not always drier, times. A plethora of new releases landed in the inbox […]

  • Live Review: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Guthrie Green, Tulsa, Oklahoma – 29th April 2026
  • Adam Donen “Bible Stories”
  • Folk Roundup – Anna McLuckie, Arthur Coates & Kerran Cotterell, Emily Portman, Gareth Davies-Jones, Lady Maisery and Jimmy Alkdridge & Sid Goldsmith, Old Spot, Songs of the Folk
  • Deer Tick “ACI” – a place for porridge
  • Video Premiere: Michael McDermott “The Best We Get” – only focus on what is in your control
  • Florence Dore “Hold the Spark”
  • Hannah Cohen to tour Europe UK in August and releases new single
  • Live Review: Truman Sinclair + May Payne, The George Tavern, Stepney, London – 28th April 2026
  • India Ramey “Villain Era”
  • Shakey Graves “Fondness, Etc.”
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  • keith hargreaves: They’re on the podcast in a couple of weeks!
  • Jeremy Courtnadge: Thank you. Long overdue. Also well worth reading (well, I think so) is "That's The Bag I'm In - The…
  • David Buchanan: They have a reunion tour starting this month in Europe! Some tickets still available for selected France and Germany dates.…

Latest interviews

Interviews

Interview: The Milk Carton Kids’ Joey Ryan discusses “Lost Cause Lover Fool”

May 5, 2026 0
Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale created their own take on sparse, acoustic indie folk when they formed the Milk Carton Kids in 2011 and found their own loyal audience. A lot can happen in fifteen years, […]
Interviews

Video Interview: Jim Lauderdale on releasing two new albums and supporting Emmylou Harris

April 28, 2026 0
Jim Lauderdale must be doing something right because he keeps doing it. He has recently released two albums, Country Super Hits Volume 2 and The Birds Know with The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, which maintain his phenomenal […]
Interviews

Interview: David Wilcox on the way he tells the stories

April 27, 2026 0
David Wilcox makes records that are masterful in the way they prompt people to feel things deeply and heal themselves. To put it another way, his songs act as chicken soup for the soul. His music […]

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Features

Interview: Mark Whitfield, Founder and Editor of Americana UK

February 21, 2020 3
Almost two decades ago, Mark Whitfield set up the Americana UK website and blog as a university project. And just never stopped. Essentially a bedroom operation, the site has evolved and survived changes in technology, social […]
News

Graham Nash announces UK summer dates

April 5, 2019 1
Legendary singer-songwriter Graham Nash hits the road in July for a new batch of UK tour dates as he continues to support the release of ‘Over the Years’, a 2-disc collection of Nash’s best-known songs from […]
Album Reviews

Old Pup “Incognito Lounge”

May 19, 2022 0
A haunting collection of poetic psych folk from Milwaukee. Poetry has always been a rich source for songwriters, but this writer’s knowledge of American poets is most probably lacking. Milwaukee based pedal steel guitarist Will Hansen […]

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