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Best Folk Music Blog & Promotion

Paul M Cox soothes through sepia tones in his acoustic single, Silver and Gold

Posted on 30 October 2022

Silver and Gold is the first single from the UK singer-songwriter Paul M Cox’s hotly-anticipated 2022 album, Sunset Over Stillwater. It acoustically pulls together Bowie-Esque production, Waits-y lyricism and the vocal gravitas of Cohen. To melodiously entrancing effect.

The sepia-tinged acoustic serenade which bleeds nuances of blues and jazz in the instrumentals is a masterfully produced work that needed little more than Paul M Cox’s stellar songwriting capacities to draw you into the detailed narrative tapestry that is rich with poetic imagery.

The official lyric video premiered on October 7th. Check it out on YouTube and find out more on Paul M Cox’s official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

My Duty: Kev Scott and The Cherished Times are the lifeguards needed to wash those tears away on Find Your Love

Posted on 29 October 2022

Knowing that the romance is there after the harrowing seas calm down mightily, Kev Scott and The Cherished Times are ready to hold hands again with that cherished human on Find Your Love.

Kev Scott and The Cherished Times are a Blackpool, Lancashire-based Gospel-fused Americana alt-folk rock act who makes those dreamy tracks you can’t ever forget.

”Tales of lockdown crisis and a world war 2 rescue are two of the themes that accompany love, loss and life set to the blend of Gospel tinged Americana/Alternative folk rock that has become the signature sound of the band.” ~ Kev Scott and The Cherished Times

Delighting us with something rather special to truly feel profoundly, Kev Scott and The Cherished Times send our hearts into a whole new level of comfort on this important new single.

Find Your Love from Blackpool, Lancashire-based Gospel-fused band Kev Scott and The Cherished Times is a soaring soundtrack which shows us that genuine care does indeed exist. Sung with care and poise, filled with superb vocals and fused together so splendidly, this is a soundtrack to play loud when you need to feel that all-important hope again.

Listen up to this new song here and see more on his IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Frontier Station’s latest folk-rock single is ‘Mediocre’ in title alone

Posted on 28 October 2022
Frontier Station

Frontier Station wove a masterfully enticing tapestry with the close-knit boy-girl harmonies in their latest single, Mediocre, taken from their upcoming debut album, The Birds, The Stars & The Chimney Sweeps, which is due for release on January 20th.

The London-based folk-rock six-piece married Americana rock swagger with the roots of Irish folk and modernised the soundscape with The National-Esque production on the cascading guitars – to awe-inspiring effect.

With Frontier Station, there is the promise that every song tells a tale; with Mediocre, they put a swoonsome romantic epic into melodic motion as they set a scene in a mining town in Thatcher’s England. That name may make everyone with a semblance of empathy cringe, but her cursed capitalist legacy doesn’t stand a chance against the soul impassionedly poured into Mediocre.

Mediocre will officially release on October 28th. Check it out on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Like a Steven King Cameo: Mark Buerschaper recalls the story of that Pumpkin Man

Posted on 24 October 2022
"Pumpkin Man" by Mark Buerschaper

After drinking some tasty beers and sparking up his imagination to get the mood alive again, Mark Buerschaper rips those solos up and shows us that honest music with heart is still the best on Pumpkin Man.

Mark Buerschaper is a Downers Grove, Illinois-born Nashville, Tennessee-based indie singer-songwriter who makes that old school vibe you just want to dance with.

”Chronicles the tale of the Pumpkin Man that devolved from being a human being to becoming one of his own home-grown creations.” ~ Mark Buerschaper

Showing us deep inside the vegetation that swamped the mind and changed everything forever, Mark Buerschaper shows us why we should all take a break from life and listen up to someone with a fascinating story to tell the world. There is no fake flash on offer, only a sense of much-needed realness and an intricate style which shall inspire many.

Pumpkin Man from Nashville, Tennessee-based indie singer-songwriter Mark Buerschaper is a timeless track that has been forged from many years of experience in this rather odd world. Sung with a gritty tone to awaken your ears, we find a skilled creative single to marvel at from an underground master who continues to make that authentic music for the ages.

Listen up this top single on Bandcamp and see more vibes on his Facebook.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Charlie O’Brien walks us through dreamy jazz pop nostalgia on ‘Ingrim Street’

Posted on 20 October 2022

Taken from his forthcoming fifth album, Fire and Foam, Charlie O’Brien’s mellow pop folk serenade, Ingrim Street, is a jazzy amble through sepia-tinged memories that allow you to revisit your own sentimental destinations of nostalgia.

His fifth album is Charlie O’Brien’s first departure from his trad Irish roots. The melodious ease of the dreamy soundscape has no obvious connotations of experimentalism through its delicious entrenchment in unbridled soul, noted through the lofty 50s pop vocals and the brass section, which came as a courtesy from the Mexico-hailing artists Luis Zautla and Alejandro Cristobal.

In a time of such rampant disillusion, records such as these are worth their weight in gold. We can’t wait to see where this album takes O’Brien and his achingly beautiful talent.

Ingrim Street will be available to stream from October 20th, along with the rest of his album, Fire and Foam. Catch it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Marlais looks ‘Out of the Window’ in his quiescently beguiling folk tale

Posted on 17 October 2022
Stream Of Forms by Marlais

Stuttgart, Germany-residing folk artist Marlais takes inspiration from the deep roots of English and Irish folk for his quiescently beguiling aural tales that transcend the commercialisation of Folk to outpour intimately uninhibited emotion.

His latest hymnal single, Out of the Window, is an arresting invitation to lose yourself in the narrative, which unfolds to the minimalist folk instruments and harmonically ethereal electronic motifs. It’s gospel for the impious, a triumph in connectivity through the ambient relay of sincere emotion that carries as much through the vulnerable vocal timbre as it does through the celestially sombre instrumentation.

Out of the Window, taken from his forthcoming LP, Stream of Forms, is now available to stream and purchase via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Emmett McGrath brought light to the darkened world with his acoustic single, Little Guy

Posted on 16 October 2022

What does it mean to be human in perpetually unprecedented times? You will get a pretty good idea by hitting play on the latest single, Little Guy, by the San Francisco, Bay Area singer-songwriter Emmett McGrath.

The single, inspired by his grandson, captures the necessity and fundamental nature of love as a light in a darkened world. To be honest, I was already tearing up with the single synopsis, when I heard the gentle Cat Stevens-Esque melodicism of the acoustic guitar and his reassuringly gentle vocal timbre, I was emotionally floored.

Emmett McGrath is more than worth his weight in gold in times like these. The pandemic may be behind us, but with the threat of societal precariousness in every news segment, he’s a breath of fresh optimistic air in an atmosphere stifled with anxiety.

Little Guy is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Bluebyrd weaved a timeless folk pop serenade with their latest single, Crystals

Posted on 12 October 2022

The Folk-pop visionary duo Bluebryd entwined modernism with an air of 70s and 80s folk in their latest single, Crystals, mused by a fragile soul traversing a chaotic world with spirituality as a guiding force.

With reminiscences of Ralph McTell and Richard Thompson and melodic echoes of Cash’s Ring of Fire, the lyrically delicate protest to unsettling times will undoubtedly resonate with anyone that has felt at a loss in the current climate of ennui and disillusion. It’s a touching serenade from the folk-pop duo, who are fresh from supporting The Christians and Ian McNabb; they have also been in regular rotation on UK and international radio, with over 200 plays across 2021 and 2022.

Crystals was officially released on October 3rd; check it out on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Same Mistake: Mike Blue and The Ghosts of Santa Monica drop visuals for Paper House

Posted on 10 October 2022

After causing our hearts to flutter on the excellent video from April 2022 called Battles We Have Won, Mike Blue and The Ghosts of Santa Monica return with a special effort to play for hours on the 2nd release of the year called Paper House.

Mike Blue and The Ghosts of Santa Monica is a Liverpool, UK-based indie folk singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who is once again joined by The Ghosts of Santa Monica.

”He is currently embarking on his next full-length studio album with the help of his backing and touring band ‘The Ghosts of Santa Monica” which should be completed in early 2023.” ~ Mike Blue

We find another quality single that shall only enrich your soul, while reminding you that the best musicians are the ones who don’t seek fame, only respect from the true fans. Mike Blue is that understated underground legend you have probably walked past before, as he prefers to let his world class music do the talking.

Paper House from Liverpool, UK-based indie folk singer-songwriter Mike Blue and The Ghosts of Santa Monica is the type of song that will make you think about those mistakes that can cause everything to burn down, even if you wanted the opposite.

Performed with outstanding verve and purpose that will fill the room with magnificent energy, to make everything better again.

Listen up to this top effort on YouTube and see more vibes on IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

The Softest Sound explore cyclical torment in their slowcore anti-folk single over again

Posted on 10 October 2022

The Dayton, Ohio duo, The Softest Sound, unveiled their debut album, an idea can’t just go away, on August 26th and simultaneously introduced the airwaves to a brand-new manifestation of slowcore anti-folk experimentalism.

The standout single, over again, delivers vocals which find a timbre between AJJ and Jack Johnson, while the instrumental arrangement mashes up the melodiously soft guitars in the desert-y atmospherics with discordant electronic effect as an all too efficacious exposition on the turbulent ennui of cyclical torment and having an intangible relationship with identity.

It’s a spacey resonant-soaked release for anyone that has ever felt at odds with their own mind. Given that we’re in 2022, that demographic should make up the majority.

over again is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast