Nothing But Green Willow

This album draws on songs collected by Cecil Sharp and Maud Karpeles for their English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians collection, which preserved British ballads carried across the Atlantic by the labouring classes who kept them alive where they settled. The focus is on tunes noted down from singers Mary Sands and Jane Gentry, and combines the talents of Nashville singer and guitarist Thomm Jutz and our own Martin Simpson, recording in Nashville, London and Frome, and inveigling an eclectic range of artists – from the UK, Emily Portman, Seth Lakeman, Cara Dillon, Angeline Morrison, Fay Hield; and from stateside, Tim O’Brien, bluegrass player Sierra Hull, singers Odessa Settles and Tammy Rogers.

These are well-known songs, their histories deep and strange, and here freshly imbued with vigour. Highlights include the cruel murder ballad ‘Edwin in the Lowlands Low (feat Tim O’Brien)’; Cara Dillon’s limpid vocal on ‘Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies’; and Simpson’s lean vocal and guitar on ‘The Wagoner’s Lad’. Both Simpson and Jutz support Angeline Morrison on a sombrely beautiful ‘The Suffolk Miracle’ with its mortal tale of class and thwarted love. Richly recorded and wonderfully played throughout, this is destined to be another classic and essential release from Topic.