Features
Jasdeep Singh Degun: "The premise of East and West is no longer relevant"
Songlines spoke to the award-winning sitar player Jasdeep Singh Degun, who recently premiered his first concerto with the Orchestra of Opera North
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Features
Maija Kauhanen: “Playing high strings is like painting with Milky Way star glitter”
The award-winning Finnish multi-instrumentalist and member of electro-folk ensemble Okra Playground talks about the time-wrought properties of her custom-made chordophones
Features
Firelight Trio: “The world is a different place. Everyone’s keen for a restart!”
The Scottish folk outfit discuss bonds of friendship, their debut album and European traditional music in the post-pandemic world
Features
Amit Chaudhuri | My World: “In Indian music every moment is a moment of arrival”
The author and musician talks to Simon Broughton about how he resisted Indian music growing up and the singers who finally kindled his interest
Features
Duo Ruut: “Whatever is going on around you will influence the art you make”
How does an ancient plucked stringed instrument speak to contemporary Estonian identity? Jane Cornwell tracks down Duo Ruut, the Estonian band reimagining the boundaries of their homeland’s musical tradition
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Molly Tuttle interview: “This is for anyone who’s ever felt afraid to be themselves”
Alexandra Petropoulos wigs out with the Californian bluegrass-and-beyond songstress, as she talks about experiences living with alopecia and realising her most daring pop dreams
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Chris Watson interview: “Somewhere in Buckingham Palace is the entire works of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry”
One of the world’s foremost sound recordists talks about capturing the genius loci and his enduring love of reggae
Features
Seun Kuti: “Love for me is a force that can change the world” + Video Premiere
With a new album ready, his first in six years and one featuring an all-star cast – Damien Marley, Sampa The Great, Lenny Kravitz – Seun hopes to make a breakthrough: “Reaching the people without the mainstream is not easy,” he tells Jane Cornwell
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Melike Şahin: “Surviving as a musician in Turkey is hard both in economic and political terms”
With the release of her second album, Turkish pop innovator Melike Şahin continues on her singular path to success. She speaks to Nikolas-Kaan Yilmaz about how she found mainstream acclaim on her own terms
Features
Meeting Souad Massi: “The world is fragile, and I’m afraid for the future of our children”
Robin Denselow talks to the French-Algerian singer-songwriter Souad Massi, whose latest album is a testament to survival amid the depths of global despondency and personal hardship
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Catrin Finch and Aoife Ní Bhriain: “The most important thing is hopefully people will love the music”
Welsh harpist Catrin Finch is embarking on a new partnership, this time exploring her Celtic and classical roots with Irish fiddle player Aoife Ní Bhriain
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“My musical mission is to carry on where the ancients left off” | Michael Levy and his lyre
Michael Levy speaks to Simon Broughton about his ‘lyre of Apollo’ explorations, which follow in the exalted footsteps of the ancient Greek masters
Features
“The jazz word in the folk world is something that people get frightened of” | Knight & Spiers interview
Robin Denselow learns how a chance pairing of melodeon player John Spiers and fiddler Peter Knight evolved into one of folk’s most inspired acts, exploring well-worn tunes in new and improvisatory ways
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Fatoumata Diawara: “We have created something, a fusion, a music that I would say is totally new”
Fatoumata Diawara adds collaboration to the mix on an album of reconciliation and largesse. “It’s time for me to invite you… into my world,” she tells Lucy Hallam
Features
Cerys Hafana: “The sea is going up in flames, the angels are raining down from the heavens”
Cerys Hafana talks to Russ Slater about the uniqueness of her triple harp and its bridging of the historical, the profound and the personal
