Author: Ian Parker

Ian is For Folk's Sake's reviews editor. Find him on Twitter @iparky.

#615 Townes Van Zandt – Black Widow Blues

Townes Van Zandt is revered for his fine catalogue of American folk greats, but that’s not all he excelled at. The 2003 In The Beginning collection brought to light a number of tracks which had largely been forgotten bar the…

#614 Darren Hayman – Bradbourne

If you’re ever waiting for Darren Hayman’s next project, you at least know you won’t have to wait long. Having released both Chants For Socialists and Florence last year, the tireless songwriter has a new record out next week about…

#613 Steve Mason – Alive

One of our favourite albums of the year so far has been Steve Mason’s Meet The Humans, but it was released before Song of the Day had been revived so missed out on a spotlight here. Let’s fix that retrospectively…

#612 The Handsome Family – Weightless Again

The Handsome Family will be in London next week for a sold-out show at the 100 Club as they finish up work on a new record. It’s too soon to hear any of the new material, but let’s instead take…

#611 Maria Kelly – Black & Blue

Irish singer Maria Kelly has announced a new single and a string of live dates in London and Ireland in early June. ‘Black & Blue’ is a bright and breezy number musically but the lyrics tell a story of vulnerability…

#610 The Silver Lake Chorus – From The Snow Tipped Hills

From out of Los Angeles come the Silver Lake Chorus – a group of 20 singers who originally got together back in 2010 covering “everthing from Radiohead to Rihanna”. When Australian singer-songwriter Ben Lee heard them perform he had an…

#609 Steve Gunn – Ancient Jules

We here at FFS were big fans of Steve Gunn’s last couple of releases, 2014’s Way Out Weather and last year’s Seasonal Hire, and the early signs – just hit play on ‘Ancient Jules’ above – suggest the upcoming Eyes…

#608 William Tyler – Sunken Garden

Nashville-based guitarist William Tyler will return next month with Modern Country, and it finds him making a significant shift in gears from 2013’s Impossible Truth. While that first collection veered between towering epics and more pastoral folk tunes, Modern Country…

#607 Margaret Glaspy – Emotion and Math

Raw and ready, Margaret Glaspy’s ‘Emotions and Math’ is an unexpected earworm. Its slacker vibe loosely masks an seriously well-honed sound which Glaspy has been developing for several years since relocating to the east coast of the US from her…

#606 Okkervil River – Okkervil River RIP

Don’t panic. ‘Okkervil River RIP’ is not a signal that Will Sheff’s flat-out brilliant project is over. ‘Okkervil River RIP’ is instead the first track taken from forthcoming album Away, due September 9, and a sign they are very much…