The Folk and Acoustic Hallowe'en Show 28th October

Coming up on the show tonight...

Show of Hands - Haunt You
Cam Penner - Ghost Car
Cara Dillon - October Winds
James J Turner - Spirit and Soul and a Handful of Mud
Ross Ainslie & Jarlath Henderson - Anyone
Fairport Convention - The Lady Vanishes
Waterson Carthy - The Devil and The Farmer
Melissa Greener - Ghost in the Van
Up in the Air - The Witch of Findrack
June Tabor - Lay This Body Down
Kathryn Tickell - Yeavering
Parliament - The Silent Boatman
Kate Bush - Hammer Horror


Ross Ainslie & Jarlath Henderson's new album Air-Fix is released on 28th October.

The Folk & Acoustic Music Show
Mondays at 9pm / Tuesdays at 2am
Listen online at acoustic-spectrum.co.uk
Listen again at mixcloud.com/cmbertram

The Folk and Acoustic Music Show playlist 21st October

Tonight's playlist. Next week's show will be a Halloween special with songs about ghosts, witches and the devil. 

Stephen Fearing - As The Crow Flies
Breabach - Hi Ho Ro Tha Mi Duilich
Jez Lowe & The Bad Pennies - The Ex-Pitman's Pot-Holing Pub Quiz Team
Sarah McQuaid - So Much Rain
Shessham & Lotus & Son - Sister Maud Mule
Slaid Cleaves - God's Own Yodeler
First Aid Kit - Blue
Stephen Hudson - Cathy's Kid is the Newsreader
Linda Thompson - Never The Bride
The Tillers - Shanty Boat
John Rigby - Mirror Man
Breabach - Monday Night at Riccardo's
Rose's Pawn Shop - One Last Glass of Whiskey

The featured album is Urlar by Breabach which is released today, the 21st October.

Listen to the show at http://www.mixcloud.com/cmbertram/the-folk-and-acoustic-music-show-45/

The Folk & Acoustic Music Show
Mondays at 9pm / Tuesdays at 2am
Listen online at acoustic-spectrum.co.uk
Listen again at mixcloud.com/cmbertram

The Folk and Acoustic Music Show playlist 14th October

Tonight's playlist...

Kris Drever, Eamonn Coyne and Megan Henderson - Shady Grove
Salt House - Open Water
The Deadly Winters - Lady Fayre
Christa Couture - Pirate Jenny and The Storm
Richard & Linda Thompson - The Little Beggar Girl
Chris & Kellie While - Persuasion
Heidi Talbot - Will I Ever Get To Sleep
Steeleye Span - Two Constant Lovers
Ian McNabb - Smirtin'
Patti Smith - Smells Like Teen Spirit
Salt House - She's Like The Swallow
Barrule - Langness

Featured album is 'Lay Your Dark Low' by Salt House to be released on Nov 11.

Gigs n' tours...

Christa Couture announces UK dates in support of her latest album The Living Record. The tour starts on Wednesday 30th October at The Bedford, Balham, London and continues in November with dates at Bristol, Beverley & Leeds. 

Ian McNabb Live & Solo at The Yorkshire House, Lancaster
Saturday 19th October
support from The Long Lost Band

The Folk & Acoustic Music Show
Mondays at 9pm / Tuesdays at 2am
Listen online at acoustic-spectrum.co.uk
Listen again at mixcloud.com/cmbertram

Pale Fragments book review

My friend Paul Walmsley has published an eBook which goes by the title of Pale Fragments. As my own writing has ground to a halt I thought I'd have a go at writing a review of his book. It is available to buy on Amazon with the paperback edition coming out next year. 


A gripping and at times disturbing story

There are times in Pale Fragments when it is difficult to tell whether the main character, Mike Bracken, is in the present, whether he is dreaming or having a near death experience. This is why I found it to be such a page turner - you never know what lurks around the next corner with seemingly minor characters suddenly becoming vital to Mike's very survival. The story itself revolves around demands for a sum of money which arrive without actually telling Mike why he owes the money or to whom.

After an introductory section giving us some background we find Mike recuperating at home, following an assault by a patient at the hospital he works at. Just at the point where he is starting to get back to some sort of normality he is harassed by an officious postman, who seems to be able to deliver mail and then disappear into thin air. The postie is followed by three debt collectors who could have stepped out of a Coen Brothers film and who take far too much enjoyment out of battering the hapless medic. You really do feel both his physical pain and mental anguish as he tries to figure out what on earth is going on.

Taking a job at a filling station to try and raise the cash, he meets further seedy and seductive characters but events take an alarming turn when he finds himself hospitalised after an accident. The final part of the story moves at a rip roaring pace and you are left almost as out of breath as our hero is after a ride in a taxi which appears to be able to move at the speed of a racing car.

The one disadvantage of reading this book on a e-reader is that I found I occasionally wanted to skip back and remind myself what had happened earlier in the story. This is where the humble paperback wins hands down. Fortunately Pale Fragments is coming out in hard copy next year.

The Folk and Acoustic Music Show playlist 7th October

I'm back doing my show again after having been away from Lancaster for most of August and September. I've received a few albums over the last few weeks, mainly by American and Canadian artists including Stephen Fearing's latest release 'Between Hurricanes' which is my featured album.

The Chair - The Road To Hammer Junkie
Stephen Fearing - These Golden Days
The Low Countries - Low Country
April Verch - No Other Would Do
Hugh Cornwell - Golden Brown
Alison Krauss & Robert Plant - Please Read The Letter
Peter Nardini - Bum
VAMM - The Ostrich
Kenny Young & The Eggplants - Alien Love Song
Stephen Fearing - Don't You Wish Your Bread Was Dough
Emily Smith - Somewhere Along The Road
Elephant Revival - Ancient Sea
Phil MacLennan Smillie - Reel for Ruairidh


The Folk & Acoustic Music Show
Mondays at 9pm / Tuesdays at 2am
Listen online at acoustic-spectrum.co.uk
Listen again at mixcloud.com/cmbertram