Afternoon all, and here’s Hannah James with a bawdy but ultra modern folk joke to kick us off with. Those of a delicate, sensitive nature look away now.

And while we’re about it, here’s some Scottish semi-pipe-nudity courtesy of Dust to Digital.

Last week we had #FolkiesInVans. This week it’s #FolkiesStuckInAirports…

Parish news

There’s a new supergroup in town, and they’re calling themselves The Magpie Arc. There’s no music to be heard publicly yet, but you might recognise a few of the members. Martin Simpson‘s in there, as is Nancy Kerr and Adam Holmes. We’ll be keeping our big ears to the ground.

One of our very favourite artists of the moment, Rowan Rheingans, has announced tickets for her first ever solo tour. Snap them up while you can.

Huge congrats to Folk On Foot for winning silver at the British Podcast Awards last night. A great podcast, and a wonderful way of getting those folk stories in front of the podcasting generation.

Who’s releasin’

Some lovely sounds coming out of the Edgelarks camp this week. Their new album Feather arrived in the world on Friday.

Pre-orders for Ben Walker‘s Echo are now open. By all accounts, his album preview show in London last week was a resounding success.

Philosophers, Poets and Kings, the latest release from Kate Rusby, also appeared on Friday. Here’s a tweet and a vid for you.

7 days on the road

Looks like there’s quite a thing going on in Bedford this Saturday. It’s the Invisible Folk Club Festival!

Andy Cutting continues his springtime trek this week in Liverpool (Wed), Worcester (Thu), Swansea (Fri) and Fishguard (Sat).

You’ll catch a brief glimpse of Chris Wood this week in Bury St Edmonds (Wed).

Mr Sam Carter will be bringing his fast fingers to Stafford (Mon) and Southbourne (Sat) this week. Catch him and his fingers if you can!

Health permitting, Eliza Carthy & Esteemed Father will be back on the road this week (Esteemed Father has, by all accounts, been doing a fine job in Wayward Daughter’s absence). Catch them in Kirkybmoorside (Fri), Newton Stewart (Sat) and Stockton on Tees (Sun).

Nick Hart continues making waves this week, this time in Hereford (Thu).

Look out for Kitty Macfarlane this week in Liverpool (Tue), Kingskerwell (Sat) and Warwick (Sun).

Melrose Quartet are on the road this week in York (Mon), Chesterfield (Fri), Chippenham Folk Festival (Sat) and Fishguard Folk Festival (Sun), possibly (but not necessarily) with more clothes on than this…

Molsky’s Mountain Drifters are back on the road this week. Catch them in Sutherland (Fri) and Arisaig (Sat).

Jim Moray and his wonderful trio arrive in Derby on Friday and then play the Fishguard Folk Fest on Saturday.

You will find Rachel Newton and harp in the following spots this week: Chesham (Mon), Banchory (Thu), Bishop’s Castle (Sat) and Alfriston (Sun).

The aforementioned Kate Rusby is currently working her way around the country. If you’ve not already seen her, you can catch her this week in Bradford (Thursday), Peterborough (Friday) and Bury St Edmonds (Sunday).

Greg Russell & Ciaran Algar are playing at the Ireby Festival on Friday and Saturday.

We wanted to tell you about The Tweed Project, which also features Greg and Ciaran. We went to their agent’s website and followed the link, but we found the picture below. We’re not sure what this is, but it’s not what we expected. Important question: which one’s Greg and which one’s Ciaran?

There’s a definite sense that Jack Rutter (solo edition) is creeping out of hibernation again. He’ll be at the Chippenham Folk Festival on Sunday and Monday, and then he’s off on a barnstorming run. More news next week!

Sam Sweeney will be playing at Nailsworth Festival on Tuesday evening. Get along, do.

Catch up with Ye Vagabonds this week in Bury (Thu), Glasgow (Fri) and Maidstone (Sun).

Remember, if you like what we’re doing and you want to support our ongoing dedication to all of this fine music, please consider taking out an fRoots subscription, or perhaps even making a donation. You can also click whenever it says “pre-order here” and we’ll get a little kickback from Amazon. It really does make a difference. We thank you.