Features
Songlines Summer Festival Guide 2025
The sun has finally arrived and the festival line-ups are coming in thick and fast, so here’s our guide to some of the best festivals showcasing global artists in the UK and around the world this summer
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Features
Folk Round-Up (Astrid Williamson, Eve Goodman, and Thorpe & Morrison)
A selection of essential folk releases from England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales including new albums from Astrid Williamson, Eve Goodman, and Thorpe & Morrison.
News
The Folk on Foot Festival returns for a third edition
The award-winning team behind the Folk on Foot podcast are back with the third edition of their hugely popular Front Room Festival.
News
December 2025 issue of Songlines is out now, featuring Carminho
Carminho, Mariam, Wu Man, Martin Simpson & Matthew Byrne, polyphonic singing in Corsica, Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, Noura Mint Seymali and so much more
Artists
Kathryn Tickell
Smallpipes player Kathryn Tickell is steeped in the rich folk traditions of North East England and the Borders
Features
Martyn Bennett: A Beginner's Guide
Billy Rough surveys influential sides by the late-great multi-instrumentalist, one of Scottish traditional music’s most vital contemporary figures
Features
Meeting Asha Puthli: “I have a four-octave range from my classical training and I just went for it, this spaced-out singing”
Undeterred by expectations, Asha Puthli had a vision of uniting Indian classical music with jazz, heading to New York and getting a job singing with a free-jazz icon. It was the beginning of an adventurous, incendiary and unparalleled career
Features
Seeking recognition for Billy Waters, a pioneer of African-American music, more than 200 years after his death
When African-American musician Billy Waters died in London in 1823, it was in poverty and with his reputation in tatters. Now, 200 years later, researchers and musicians are finally ensuring he gets the respect he deserves
Features
Eliza Carthy: ‘I just don’t get why guitars are revered in the way they are’
Eliza explores the “daft” world of guitars before two passionate music friends begin her conversion…
Features
Seckou Keita: “My mum and aunties were griot singers… there was no escaping it!”
After the pandemic forced Seckou Keita to think about concepts of home, he responded with his most adventurous album to date
Essential 10
Essential 10 Topic Records
One of Britain’s most iconic folk imprints is 85 years old and to celebrate we’ve asked ten artists who have history on the label (Martin Carthy, Angeline Morrison, Seth Lakeman and others) to pick a favourite from Topic’s catalogue
Features
What Can Musicians and Music Lovers Do During a Climate Crisis?
With the earth passing 1.5 degrees celsius of heating in 2024, and recent natural disasters exacerbated by climate change, we asked artists and researchers how to play and enjoy music while respecting and helping the planet
A Beginner's Guide
Martin Carthy | A Beginner's Guide
One of British folk music’s most influential figures is marking his 80th birthday. Julian May delves into his prolific and remarkable recordings
Features
UK Festival Guide 2024
Another year, another full season of festivals to revive the soul and please the senses! Where better to plan your summer of culture than with our annual guide to the best festivals in the UK?
Features
Celebrating Festivals: A Lost Summer of Music
The summer of 2020 will be remembered as a giant void in the festival calendar with coronavirus causing a deluge of postponements and cancellations from Shetland to Sarawak. In a show of support for the festival community, musicians and Songlines contributors share their favourite festival memories over the years. Read more in the current issue (#160) available now.
