The Scottish musician has become one of the most lauded names on the European folk scene. Tim Cumming follows Polwart’s career from her trad band origins to the award-winning singer-songwriter we know today
The coming year brings swathes of new releases across genres – transgenerational Kenyan folk collabs, Glaswegian troubadour musings, Margate-Guinean post-rock – and more. From anticipated debuts to long-awaited reissues, we pick out some of the albums that we’re most excited about
Charis McGowan visits the Azores for a festival built on collaboration, social inclusion and unexpected musical results
Jane Cornwell finds out about a residency bringing the popular Cuban sounds of timba to London. “February was a masterclass in Cuban genres… The crowd were going crazy”, she hears
Two festivals in Norway’s cold north warm the soul with enviable line-ups and empowering approaches
Bianca Carrera meets Yasmine Hamdan to discuss an album born from Lebanon’s crises and a journey of reconnection
A project built on folk music and separation amid the horrors of war, Daughters of Donbas is a powerful declaration of Ukrainian identity, writes Joe Mulhall
Joe Mulhall speaks to the daughter of Bizimungu Dieudonne, the Rwandan musician whose 1980s album, Inzovu Y’Imirindi, has been rescued from obscurity over 30 years since he and his wife were killed in the 1994 genocide
The comedian and writer tells Julian May about a childhood fascination with the past and the parallels between stand-up and the music he loves
Jo Frost meets a bewitching a cappella trio at the forefront of a new Norwegian trad dance revival
Brìghde Chaimbeul, the Scottish smallpipes star pushing folk into experimental grounds talks to Tim Cumming about her powerful new album and how times have changed for female pipers
Local resident Christopher Conder explores the past and present of the largest street festival in Europe, Notting Hill Carnival
Robin Denselow celebrates the remarkable Ethiopian nun and musician Emahoy Tsege-Mariam Gebru who would have been 100 on December 12
Chris Moss shines a spotlight on Argentina’s chamamé music and the career of one of its leading ambassadors, accordionist Chango Spasiuk
Simon Broughton meets SONICO, a Belgian ensemble dedicated to reviving the repertoire of Eduardo Rovira, an overlooked and innovative Argentine composer
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