Music and Folk

Where to find traditional music nights in Edinburgh

The venues full of traditional live Scottish music every night of the week

16 Feb 2011

Every night of the week, the walls of the Royal Oak bar reverberate to the sound of live music, most of it with a Scottish, folk and traditional flavour. Long a focal point for folk music in the city, this cosy little bar also attracts other acoustic…

25 things you might not know about Tom Waits

17 Jul 2008

The chance to see Tom Waits, one of the planet’s true music raconteurs, is worth £100 of anyone’s money. But did you know he once worked for the coastguard? If not, Jonny Ensall suggests you read on…

Celtic Connections add to line-up

13 Nov 2008

Celtic Connections have announced two more impressive additions to their line-up. Martha Wainwright and Teddy Thompson will perform a double-bill at the Old Fruitmarket on 27 January. A host of special guests have also been added to the bill for the…

Monsters of Folk - Monsters Of Folk

3 Sep 2009

With a band made up of such indie big guns as Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes), Jim James of My Morning Jacket and singer-songwriter M Ward, you’d imagine there would be an almighty scrap over who took frontman duties. Not with Monsters Of…

David Gray

10 years after White Ladder made him, the singer/songwriter is back at the ABC

3 Sep 2009

Not as ubiquitous as during the days of White Ladder (his 1999 album that went stratospheric), it’s easy to forget that David Gray had a canny knack for constructing simple yet effective songs. His new album Draw the Line is out later this month.

Jose Gonzalez

20 Sep 2007

FOLK In Our Nature (Peacefrog) For most people, Swedish-Argentine troubadour Gonzalez will always be known for his song ‘Heartbeats’ soundtracking that Sony Bravia ad with the bouncy balls in San Francisco, and that’s his main problem. What makes…

Mary Epworth - Dream Life

A lavish and eclectic debut album from the folk-rock singer

22 May 2012

Where shall we begin? With the banjo twang, Black Sabbath fuzz and Goldfrapping blues-stomp of ‘Black Doe’? With the brass-toting folk-rock euphoria of ‘Long Gone’? With the swirling psych-pop of ‘Come Back to the Bough’? Or perhaps we should start…

Sorren Maclean

19 Mar 2009

FOLK POP 19-year-old Isle of Mull singer songwriter Sorren Maclean is a well-connected young chap who has worked with or supported such respected names as Michael Marra, James Yorkston and the late Martyn Bennett. It helps that his father Gordon is a…

The Phantom Band

19 Feb 2009

The Phantom Band are a riddle wrapped in a mystery wrapped inside an enigma. OK, they’re not really, they’re just six guys living in Glasgow making music, but as their ephemeral name suggests there is something shadowy and unfathomable about both the…

Port O’Brien

16 Oct 2008

Growing up in California's Bay Area, Van Pierszalowski and Cambria Goodwin couldn't help but be influenced by the sea. There's a definite maritime air to their debut album All We Could Do Was Sing, a lush and uplifting indie folk medley, tying together…

The Bastard Children of Australian Folk: CWQ

Oddball eclecticism from down under

14 Aug 2008

Melting together genres from Celtic to klezmer, the pioneering Australian folk band CWQ present the result of mixing musical traditions from across the world in The Bastard Children of Australian Folk. Exploring and moulding the entire gamut of…

Eye o’ the Dug - St Andrews, Sat 14 & Sun 15 Apr 2012

Fantastic bill featuring Django Django, Malcolm Middleton and more

27 Apr 2012

They may have quadrupled the size of their show, and conscripted beefcakes to man the doors, but the spirit of Fence chiefly prevailed at the inaugural Eye O’ The Dug – a musical hoopla which (kind of) filled a Homegame-shaped hole in the calendar (and…

Two Wings - Love's Spring

A warm-hearted fusion of vintage Americana and English folk-rock

23 Apr 2012

(Tin Angel Records) The strident classicism of Two Wings may come as a surprise to those familiar with the avant-folk of Hanna Tuulikki’s other group Nalle. That project’s eerie soundworld is replaced by a warm-hearted fusion of vintage Americana and…

Counterflows Festival introduces some premier experimental and folk acts

27 Mar 2012

Held across Glasgow, London and Berlin, Counterflows is a glorious stramash of experimental songwriting, clamorous avant-rock, and absurdist improv. In bringing Japan’s great Kazuki Tomokawa to Europe, the organisers have pulled off a real coup. A…

Decembrists singer Colin Meloy writes children's book Wildwood

The novel is the product of collaboration with his wife Carson Ellis

9 Mar 2012

Wildwood is the debut illustrated children's novel from husband-and-wife creative double act Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis. Meloy is probably best known as the lead singer of US indie-folk group The Decembrists (for whom Ellis supplies album artwork).

Bon Iver - Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 22 Oct 2011

Justin Vernon's large ensemble fails to capture the albums' spare beauty

16 Nov 2011

To a long since sold-out crowd of ardent devotees, Justin Vernon takes the stage – after the audience impatiently chats through support act Kathleen Edwards’ countrified indie folk. (Vernon helped out with production and instrumental duties on Edwards…

Exposure - Ben Howard

Folksy Devonshire singer-songwriter who surfs

3 Aug 2011

Songsmith and West Country surfer dude Ben Howard, 23, has been building up a word of mouth fanbase over the last two years. His folksy guitar sound initially attracted Mumford & Sons singer Ben Lovett’s label Communion, a fitting home for his debut EP…

Giant Sand songwriter Howe Gelb lines up for Celtic Connections date

3 Jan 2011

Mapping alternative routes between seemingly disparate worlds of music is a longstanding aim of Celtic Connections. It’s a vision shared by Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb, who for some 25 years has been a pathfinder and visionary, resulting in one of the most…

Alasdair Roberts and Friends - Too Long in this Condition

Scottish guitarist re-animated murderous and bawdy Scottish ballads

5 Aug 2010

(Navigator) The List can think of no other artist who has dished out props to their manicurist within the immortal confines of their sleeve-notes. But that’s what Glasgow-based folk bard Alasdair Roberts does on his excellent sixth album, Too Long in…

Way To Blue: The Songs of Nick Drake

1 Feb 2010

Nick Drake’s popularity has only increased in the years following his death in 1976, and this concert, curated by Drake’s producer Joe Boyd for Celtic Connections, was one of the most anticipated of the festival programme. The main appeal was…

Interview: Julie Fowlis

The Scots singer on a hectic couple of years

15 Oct 2009

Julie Fowlis is right to describe the past couple of years as being a ‘bit of a whirlwind’. In recent months the crystalline-voiced musician has earned worldwide acclaim for her second album Cuilidh (pronounced ‘cool-ee’), was named BBC Radio 2 Folk…

Music In The Digital Age

Technology's impact on the artform

2 Oct 2009

To paraphrase the Creme Egg adverts, when it comes to music, how do you hear yours? Streaming over the internet? Nicking stuff from torrents on the web? A bag full of goodies from Fopp? Crates of obscure vinyl from your local specialist…

Mumford and Sons

Furious energy from indie folk upstarts

10 Aug 2009

The tiny cavern that is Cabaret Voltaire may not be the biggest of venues Edinburgh has to offer, but it’s still some fear for these still relative unknowns from London to sell-out two intense, sweaty nights in a row, especially considering the…

Musicians' guide: Open mic nights

27 Nov 2008

Mondays Glasgow Nice 'n' Sleazy 421 Sauchiehall St, 333 0900. 8pm. The Monday Acoustic Jam, 8pm–midnight. Free to all performers. Bring your instrument and join in the fun. Open Mic NIght - Pivo Pivo 15 Waterloo Street, 564 8100. 6pm.

In the swing of it - Jazz, Blues and Folk venues

15 Sep 2008

Boasting some of the finest new names and most exciting stalwarts of the jazz, blues and folks scene, Edinburgh and Glasgow have long set an impressive stall with some of the most diverse festivals and year round line-ups.

Five reasons to go and see: Tam White & The Dexters

21 Aug 2008

They’re an Edinburgh Institution - the mere mention of the name brings a warm glow to the hearts of Edinburgh music fans of a certain vintage. The band’s legendary residencies at the Preservation Hall and Platform 1 (both now gone as music venues) back…

Devendra Banhart becomes virtual clothes horse

27 Feb 2008

Genius American alt-folk troubadour Devendra Banhart has never been backward in coming forward when it comes to parading his musical musings but now he’s showing even more than before by turning himself into a web fashionista with his own personal…

Cate Le Bon - Cyrk

Brilliantly textured slice of Welsh psychedelic folk genius

18 Apr 2012

For her latest outing Cate Le Bon takes her pick of the current crop of Wales’ finest musicians, with H. Hawkline providing hypnotically undulating synth goodness, while Y Niwl’s wünderkind Sion Glynn weaves beautifully meandering melodies, at times…

Loch Lomond, Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Sat 10 Mar 2012

Bewitching chamber folk from Portland

3 Apr 2012

For those of you wondering how the vaguely surreal, harmonic and orchestral notes of Portland’s Loch Lomond might translate to a live setting, the first minutes of their Sneaky Pete’s show would give you a fairly accurate answer: with a bold and…

Hanna Tuulikki talks about Two Wings

The group is a collaboration between the singer and co-songwriter Ben Renolds

28 Mar 2012

Hanna Tuulikki is musing on deficiencies in the human form. ‘I’d much rather have a syrinx [bird’s vocal organ] and wings than a larynx and arms,’ reflects the singer-songwriter, visual artist and multi-instrumentalist. ‘Birds are masters of the two…

Tunng - This is Tunng: Live from the BBC

Warped magic of eccentric east London glitch folk collective

7 Dec 2011

(Full Time Hobby) With a line-up alteration or two, eccentric east London collective Tunng have gone from glitchy cut and pasters to singalong folksters. Their This is Tunng compilation features bouncy numbers (‘Jenny Again’, ‘Bullets’) from 2010’s…

The Very Best of Muzsikás featuring Márta Sebestyén - Fly Bird, Fly

Fantastic retrospective of the Hungarian folk group's career

16 Nov 2011

(Nascente) Early on, Hungarian musicians Muzsikás, with singer Márta Sebestyén, were at the forefront of the European folk scene. Forty years after they pushed forward traditions championed by ethnomusicologists Bartok and Kodaly, they sound as fiery…

Blochestra, Bar Bloc, Glasgow, Mon 24 Oct

15 Nov 2011

Bar Bloc has became well known in the Central Belt of late for many music related experiences; they put on free gigs every night, it's a base for the Detour lads (Ally McCrae and David Weaver) and it's home to Bloc Jam, one of Glasgow's best open mic…

Celtic Connections 2012 line-up announced

Glasgow traditional music festival features 2100 artists and 300 events over 18 days in 20 venues

26 Oct 2011

This year's festival will include 2100 artists, 300 events, 20 venues all over 18 days. Being that winter is in the offing, you now wake up in the morning for work and its dark, you then head home from work and its dark. One thing that will surely…

Julaba Kunda - Traders

Scotland’s Griselda Sanderson and Gambia’s Juldeh Camara conjure magical range of timbres and tones

21 Oct 2011

(Waulk Music) ‘Traders’ aptly describes the exchange of tunes and oral tradition between Scotland’s Griselda Sanderson and Gambia’s Juldeh Camara (often seen touring as a duo with Justin Adams and supporting Robert Plant). 2010’s snowy winter saw a…

Archive Trails - Artists making new work from old photos and songs from Scotland's past

Scottish folk ballads reworked via song, video and puppetry

21 Sep 2011

After months of delving through old photos and songs, three performers aim to bring to life Scotland’s long-lost folk ballads through experimental vocals, video and glove puppets. Rachel Devine reports

Retreat IV - Pilrig St Paul’s Church, Edinburgh, Sat 27 & Sun 28 Aug 2011

Glorious fourth appearance from the indie DIY pop fest

1 Sep 2011

All Sunday afternoons should be like the one at this year’s Retreat DIY pop festival: tea in our hands, bacon rolls in our bellies, and eagleowl gently blowing our minds. That was before a toddler joined them onstage and stole our hearts; before the…

Ravi Shankar - Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Mon 22 Aug

A mesmerising show of classical Indian music as part of 2011 EIF

24 Aug 2011

Ravi Shankar crossed over into popular culture with his associations with various 60s musicians, working with and/or influencing the likes of The Beatles, The Kinks and The Byrds. Going on to play at iconic festivals such as Woodstock and The Monterey…

Bert Jansch set for 2011 Edinburgh Festival date

Returning folk hero, pal of Neil Young and Devendra Banhart

16 Aug 2011

One of the great acoustic guitarists, Bert Jansch comes to Edinburgh fresh from an American tour with Neil Young and a London show with folk-jazz supergroup The Pentangle. Jansch has been doing an annual Festival show since the mid-90s, touching base…

Lach's Antihoot music showcase returns to 2011 Edinburgh Festival

Antifolk set and nightly showcase from Edinburgh-based New Yorker

27 Jul 2011

Having brought his Antihoot night to the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time last year, New York’s antifolk originator Lach (it’s pronounced ‘latch’, which Scots might find counter-intuitive) has found himself a new home. The man whose seminal open mic…

Lone Pigeon - Time Capsule 001-010: A Selection

A collection of the Fife musician's finest tracks from the last decade

21 Mar 2011

(Domino) You don’t see him for years and then he pops up with this. Get ready to (re)introduce yourself to Gordon Anderson, aka Fife’s maverick songwriting talent Lone Pigeon, a man who counts The Beta Band, the Aliens and the Fence Collective among…

Trembling Bells - The Constant Pageant

Encompasses Renaissance filigree, coliery brass bands and wailing free jazz

1 Mar 2011

(Honest Jon’s) l Like an Iain Sinclair of the North, Trembling Bells songwriter Alex Neilson seeks to evoke the psychic landscapes of his native Yorkshire. And so we find him in Goathland, nursing a broken heart, or in Otley, reeling from a demonic…

Trembling Bells' haunting folk-rock lined up for Celtic Connections date - interview

Glasgow date for band ahead of third album The Constant Pageant

14 Jan 2011

Last year was a golden year for visionary folk-rockers Trembling Bells, beginning with the release of their second album Abandoned Love in the spring and culminating in songwriter Alex Neilson’s nomination for the Arts Foundation Fellowship in Folk…

11 for 2011: The new music from Scotland to watch in 2011

Emeli Sandé, Emma’s Imagination, RM Hubbert and Clouds among those destined for a good year ahead

3 Jan 2011

Emeli Sandé The Aberdeen soul-popper was studying medicine at Glasgow Uni whilst also penning hits for Cheryl Cole, Chipmunk and Tinie Tempah. Her recent solo tour proved she’s no slouch when it comes to performing either – and her gutsy…

Family weekend: Rebels with a Cause – The Jacobites and the Global Imagination

Traditional music, egg decorating and quiz among highlights of weekend of free children's events

17 Nov 2010

Rebels with a Cause – The Jacobites and the Global Imagination Wednesday 27 October to Saturday 8 January (closed Sundays except Sunday 28 November and 24 - 28, 31 December and 1 - 3 January) Monday and Friday 10:00 - 16.00 (last entry 15:30)…

2010 Le Weekend bows out with Faust, Murcof and Tarwater

Pioneering Stirling experimental music festival also hosts Ben Frost, Bill Wells and John Butcher

6 Oct 2010

Since its inception in 1997, Le Weekend has brought a remarkable range of beautiful and challenging music to Scotland. ‘The idea of an experimental music festival, and also the idea of a festival in Stirling, was quite unique,’ says Alastair Campbell…

Benni Hemm Hemm's newest album Retaliate

22 Jul 2010

(Kimi) Edinburgh via Iceland’s Benedikt H Hermannsson – that’s Benni Hemm Hemm to his many music-loving friends – has long enkindled our local stages with his gentle, warm acoustic pop. Retaliate, his first all-English language outing, is a rich…

Music festivals 2010: Festivals timeline

28 May 2010

From Rock Ness to Roskilde, Glastonbury to Glasgow Jazz Festival, we list the best of the many great fests happening throughout the summer. Which one(s) will you choose?

Born To Be Wide - Wide Days

1 Apr 2010

It's business time! Scottish music scene-nurturing organisation Born To Be Wide has another fantastic event planned, with a line up of acts equally as impressive as the industry figures sharing their music industry knowhow. Seminars and showcases have…

Kris Drever - Mark The Hard Earth

25 Feb 2010

Orkney-born Edinburgh resident, Kris Drever (son of Wolfstone’s Ivan), has been an integral part of Scotland’s folk scene for some time, although he’s only just turned 31. Taking time off from his LAU collaborative (he also worked on an album with John…