I have been focusing this week on the natural world. I have found myself thinking about how we live with nature and how it shapes our little place on the planet. I started this list with a new track from Christina Alden & Alex Patterson, called “Our House” because it centres the list at home, and I think it encapsulates everything I love about folk music, sharing and playing songs. They have their album launch on 10th April, and have been touring extensively this month.

Lancashire dialect and Victorian Broadside ballad singer Jennifer Reid, is brutally honest, powerful and authentic. Right now, she is busy crowd sourcing funds for her new album, “The Ballad of the Gatekeeper” and I am so excited to hear it. Reid deserves our attention and embodies the gritty, honest truth of folk music. Reid reminds us that the streets, pubs and alleyways is where folk lives and not behind the glass of the studio.

The more I listen to John Paul Mason‘s beautiful song ‘Forest‘ from his long-awaited Debut EP, the more I love it. Mason’s delicate arrangement in this track, suits the childlike adoration of the natural world, yet just as you are lulled in to the forest by his soft and luscious spoken word, and you find yourself relaxing, he requests we ‘Listen to our truth, you need us we need you, stop before you kill us all” and suddenly you realise the darker question at the heart of this powerful challenge to us all.

Jana Mila’s delicate touch on the acoustic guitar in her latest release, “Rosie” is neat and classic in construction, but layered against her sublime voice, I find this song calming and seductive in a way that I find quite infectious. Mila’s latest EP “Chameleon” is a peaceful and elegant treat and is highly recommended.

Sisters Emma and Bella Burney, are a new Indie-folk duo from the Midwest, with soulful harmonies, heartfelt lyrics, and a sound that feels both timeless and fresh. Looking forward to seeing more from this new and authentic Duo.

Charlie Root is up next, and I recommend spending some time with his extensive and veracious back catalogue. You can draw a slight line from the classic troubadours of Guthry, Dylan and Baez, to “The Tallest Man” and onto Charlie Root… I have chosen Ode to a Nightingale but literally could have picked anything from this great artist.

Riley Marsh, is bringing his sound the gate to Southwell festival 6th July and if you are lucky enough to have tickets you are in for a real treat. “River In My Veins” shows just how sophisticated the sound of this new up and coming artist from Derbyshire is… You could be forgiven for thinking this is his 6th studio album instead of the latest in a string of singles and EP’s from the last 2 years.

Next up we have the brilliant and unstoppable, Nashville based troubadour Keelan Donovan, his new release “The Gardener” centres us back in the garden at home, and serves as w great gateway to Keelan’s interesting and stiffing back catalogue.

Teesside’s Fazer Lambert is doing great things on the circuit right now, circling back on his industrial roots in the north of England, and this track “Cherry Blossom” seems topical this week as the cherries burst into blossom all over the country.

Where’s Fluff return to the list this week with a challenging and feisty tome which considers the broken environmental promises, disillusionment, and the urgent need for change. Inspired by the words and spirit of Patricia Hall, a renowned writer and poet from Manitoulin Island, Where’s fluff bring her stories to life through our folk/Americana sound.

Kora Feder’s beautiful and challenging “paragraphs” is a very special track at the heart of this list, and Erin Wharton returns to the list this week with Birds In the Sky. Two beautiful recordings which I have become incredibly fond of.

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This is the Week 13 list published on 24th March 2025 and running until 31st March, 2025.

The List. #13.2025