8/10 UNCUT “A Chastening meditation on Britain in 2021”

★★★★☆MOJO – “Melodically sublime… although Ghedi’s music is infused with tradition, it’s very much experiencing the present”

Jim Ghedi hails from the South Yorkshire hills and although clearly well versed in the history of folk music, he stands out as a potential torch bearer for a new generation of respectful yet experimental performers.

Whilst Jim Ghedi’s previous idiosyncratic take on folk has often been instrumental, exploring the natural world and his relationship to it through his music, as seen on 2018’s A Hymn For Ancient Land. His new album In The Furrows Of Common Place is a deeper plunge inside himself to offer up more of his voice to accompany his profoundly unique and moving compositions. Departing away from previous work, here he draws from social-political observations, contemporary songwriting, historical and traditional material and a rich varied number of other inspirations and sources, such as the poetry of John Clare, the writing of Robert Macfarlane and the works of South Yorkshire author Barry Hines.

Support comes from Cinder Well

Cinder Well is at the vanguard of a different kind of transatlantic folk revival, one forged amidst the uncertainty of a global pandemic. However, Irish-based songwriter Amelia Baker’s music isn’t nihilistic; instead, it strips traditional forms to their bones, creating a meditative, trance-like space for sonic healing.

Her most recent album No Summer released on Free Dirt Records 24 July 2020 hit high acclaim and was praised by The Guardian as one of the best folk albums of the year. No Summer boldly rubs shoulders with careful reworkings of traditional Appalachian sources. Baker’s songs parse these transatlantic traditions, and throughout, her remarkable voice cuts to the bone like some ghostly ballad singer bound to sing these words from here to eternity.