Guardian Music — (Shadowside)Rachel Newton specialises in creating atmospheric new settings for songs that are for the most part sad, spooky or unsettling. Her last solo album, Changeling, was a concept work based around folk tales, but this set is held together by m... more info

Reuters — LONDON (Reuters) - British songwriter Emily Portman draws on folklore, fairy tales and mythology to craft haunting, ethereal songs that weave the otherworldly with the everyday. more info

Guardian Music — Another great folk festival joins the rich range already thriving in the north west. Helen Nugent prelimsIn a world where teen heartthrobs, rap artists and reality show winners dominate the charts, it is heartening to learn that more than 300 folk fe... more info

Guardian Music — (Cadiz Music)Portman's ability to weave new songs from old yarns, unveiled on her 2010 debut The Glamoury, is maintained with verve on this follow-up. Again the Northumberland-based singer mixes antique folk with myth and touches of magical realism, ... more info

Guardian Music — Cherry Hinton Hall, Cambridge"I don't know if sex is allowed at Cambridge. Is it?" Thousands of fans in foldable chairs and floral headbands cheer their reply."Oh good," Richard Thompson says, before launching into Johnny's Far Away, his 2007 ode to ... more info

Guardian Music — (Navigator/Drag City)Scotsman Alasdair Roberts is a cult hero thanks to his highly individual, bleak or quirky songs – with influences that range from ancient Celtic ballads to Robin Williamson – and to his equally original treatment of tradition... more info

Guardian Music — How Sandra Kerr's folk roots for the fondly remembered 1970s children's TV show has influenced today's performers. By Jude Rogers"We will fix it! We will stitch it!" Eight words, sung in the unmistakable falsetto of the rodent operators of the Marvel... more info