A young singer songwriter from Springfield Illinois, Ben Bedford who has two fine albums to his name ( Lincoln’s Man and Land Of The Shadows ) played at my mate Gerry’s folkclub Twickfolk in London earlier this year. He played a decent set of his own songs and then encored with the old traditional number, Shenandoah. While he was packing up, I got to speak to him and mentioned that I knew the song from Roger McGuinn’s Folkden (… Continue

I bought and enjoyed every copy of No Depression but as the years passed and the 'old time' thing took over in the wake of the phenomenal and deserved success of Oh Brother Where Art Thou, it wasn't quite 'the bible' it had been for me in the early years. In case you're suspicious, this is not meant as a criticism as I loved ND right upto the last issue, merely a personal observation.



When you look at this list , you can probably see why:



1. Touched- Ken… Continue

1. Not Far Now– Richard Shindell



I thought it was impossible to surpass his 2000 album Somewhere Near Patterson but he came up trumps with this. Funded by advance donations from fans, it was as if he was trying to repay their trust by making the best album of his career and everything from the digipak package to the music is first class. A Juggler Out In Traffic is as moving as music gets, Gethsemani Goodbye, State Of The Union, One Man’s Arkansas and the Dave Carter cover The… Continue

The noughties were the decade when the music community liberated itself. Suddenly any ‘musician’ with half a voice could record an album at home, create a website and sell it on- line. The downside was that there were suddenly thousands more ‘recording artists’ competing for our attention and some of the finest songwriters of the decade really didn’t get the attention they deserved. One of those is Will Johnson.



Let me tell you a little about Will. He’s a workaholic; this year alone,… Continue