About fRoots
Founded in 1979 as a quarterly fanzine initially titled The Southern Rag, we grew an international subscription base within our first year and went monthly and onto the news stands as Folk Roots in 1984. So we have been at the sharp end of the folk/roots/world music scene for 31 years, dealing with an incredible diversity of music from the latest fusions to the very ethnic. Our pages have featured artists from Ali Farka Toure to Robert Plant, from Ry Cooder to Devon Sproule, from Eliza Carthy to Youssou N'Dour, from the Mekons to the Copper Family, from Bellowhead to Transglobal Underground, from young Britfolk names like The Unthanks, Emily Portman, Jim Moray, Jackie Oates and Tim van Eyken to veterans like Cuba's Eliades Ochoa, Senegal's Orchestra Baobab and Algeria's late Cheikha Rimitti, from Europe's 21st Century of ethno-adventurers like Ojos De Brujo, Kristi Stassinopoulou and Kries, American ones like the Carolina Chocolate Drops and Rupa And The April Fishes to roots artists from the Indian and Pacific Oceans and beyond. fRoots is the first place you'll read about new names who later go on to establish strong reputations, and is often the first to highlight previously under-exposed local musics. Indeed, our readers constantly praise us for changing their musical lives!
Every issue is packed with features, news, reviews and information on the UK and international scene, and two a year come with very sought-after covermount compilation CDs.
In Britain, we're news stand distributed; we're also sold by major music chains and independent specialist shops, live music venues and by subscription worldwide. Our circulation is high for British specialist magazines - around 12,000 worldwide (giving a readership of around 40,000), with a full national spread and approaching 40% going overseas - but our influence is even greater. We're read by everybody of importance in the roots music business and beyond.
fRoots is also keenly activist, campaigning on numerous issues over the years and involved in live music promotion and music production. We were among the small group of mover/shakers who dreamed up the whole World Music concept in 1987, instigated the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music, were involved in the groundbreaking Europe In Union concert series and 2005's massive Ceilidh Aid, regularly sponsor and promote large and small events in the UK and get hands-on involved in tour sponsorship, record releases, artist development, and much more.