Gavin McNamara
@tallfolk46.bsky.social
Teaches English. Writes about (folk) music for Bristol 24/7, Fatea and Tradfolk.
A new home but the same wonderful vibes - WOMAD was brilliant this year. So many highlights - Say She She, LYR, Freshlyground, corto.alto etc Here's my review for @bristol247.bsky.social #livemusic Review: WOMAD, Neston Park - 'Gloriously eclectic, globetrotting music' share.google/9qkuJ13bqReJ...
Review: WOMAD, Neston Park - 'Gloriously eclectic, globetrotting music'
It was the first edition on a new site after 40 years of the global music and dance festival
share.google
Vote O'Hooley! A brilliant solo show from Belinda O'Hooley at @downendfolkroots.bsky.social - full of love, compassion and amazing songs. My review for @bristol247.bsky.social is just here - share.google/vhiyI83Dh4Uy... #bristol #live #folkmusic
Review: Belinda O'Hooley, Downend Folk & Roots - 'Clarity, honesty and heart-stopping freedom'
Could O'Hooley be the anti-Farage asks our reviewer
share.google
The hottest evening of the year AND a brilliant gig! How can you ask for anything more?? @jondoranmusic.bsky.social @heatherferrier.bsky.social @bristol247.bsky.social Review: Jon Doran & the Northern Assembly, the Folk House - 'Joyous, delicate, glorious' share.google/Ojtz6OklldKb...
Review: Jon Doran & the Northern Assembly, the Folk House - 'Joyous, delicate, glorious'
Shade-loving folkies chose to spend the sunniest weekend of the year in a dark-wood room
share.google
Our review of an incredible evening of live music, courtesy of The Charlotte Carrivick Band and Erika Olson, is now up on the website. Thanks, as always, to @tallfolk46.bsky.social (words) and Barry Savell (photos). Read the review here: downendfolkandroots.com/index.php/58...
Bristol Folk Festival was brilliant last weekend. So inclusive, so friendly, so full of fantastic music - @theunthanks.bsky.social @samsweeney.bsky.social @heartwoodchorus.bsky.social and so many more. open.substack.com/pub/tallfolk... #folkmusic #bristol #bristolfolk
Bristol Folk Festival - various venues
There are balloons in the sky above the cathedral on the first night of this year's Bristol Folk Festival.
open.substack.com
Our review of last night’s incredible concert, featuring The Black feathers with support from Hannah Wood, is now up on the website. Thanks to @tallfolk46.bsky.social for the review, and to Barry Savell for the photos. #livemusic #folkmusic #americanamusic #countrymusic #downend #bristol
Daisy Rickman was brilliant at Strange Brew, Bristol last night. My review for @bristol247.bsky.social is just here... www.bristol247.com/culture/musi...
Review: Daisy Rickman, Strange Brew - 'Daisy is a wizard, a mystic and a true star'
Daisy Rickman is a painter, filmmaker, photographer and musician from Mousehole, Cornwall
bristol247.com
If @thefolkarchive.bsky.social is to be believed (and we definitely should believe them - The Lost Folk is a brilliant book), then these little local festivals should be cherished. Ham Farm Festival in Bristol was great. @bristol247.bsky.social share.google/zyN93VILTqk7...
Review: Ham Farm Festival - 'A hidden gem'
A folk festival hidden in a garden tucked in a suburban corner of Emerson's Green... Who knew?!
share.google
Folk music is always changing, always shifting. Right now, it's Broadside Hacks and Shovel Dance Collective that are staging the revolution. open.substack.com/pub/tallfolk...
Les Caravanes - The Folk House, Bristol
Les Caravanes - Folk House, Bristol
open.substack.com
The brilliant travelling Folk Club, Les Caravanes, stopped off at The Folk House in Bristol last night. My @bristol247.bsky.social review is just here... share.google/HWo9BhoUBogF...
Review: Les Caravanes, Bristol Folk House - 'A folk revolution'
A roving folk club drops in to Park Street
share.google
Another fantastic night @downendfolkroots.bsky.social on Friday. Lizzy Hardingham and Dan Sealey were great. My @bristol247.bsky.social review is just here... Review: Lizzy Hardingham, Downend Folk & Roots - 'Opens her lungs and pins the audience to the wall' share.google/PfJhu4tORP60...
Review: Lizzy Hardingham, Downend Folk & Roots - 'Opens her lungs and pins the audience to the wall'
This show, as always, is a celebration of the power of real music in real places enjoyed by real people
share.google
Our review of last night’s concert, featuring Lizzy Hardingham and her band, with support from Dan Sealey, is now up on the website. Thanks to @tallfolk46.bsky.social (words) and Barry Savell (photos) for capturing the evening for us. downendfolkandroots.com/index.php/54....
Ann Liu Cannon at @roughtraderecords.bsky.social in Bristol was great last night. My review for @bristol247.bsky.social is just here: www.bristol247.com/culture/musi...
Review: Ann Liu Cannon, Rough Trade - 'Fury bubbles beneath beauty'
Radiant on a hot day, Cannon belongs in a sweet, wholesome folk club setting
bristol247.com
On a ridiculously hot evening @downendfolkroots.bsky.social, @caradillonsings.bsky.social was wonderfully cool. My @bristol247.bsky.social review is just here... www.bristol247.com/culture/musi...
Review: Cara Dillon, Downend Folk & Roots - 'Languid grace, tenderness and enormous fun''
Acclaimed Irish singer Cara Dillon chose an oven-hot night to visit Bristol
bristol247.com
@samkellymusic.bsky.social was so good at Thekla in Bristol last week. Euphoric Folk music for everyone. My review for @bristol247.bsky.social is just here... www.bristol247.com/culture/musi...
Review: Sam Kelly, Thekla - 'Huge-hearted euphoria'
The boat plays host to a BBC Radio 2 Folk award-winner
bristol247.com
Look at Lucy's brilliant review from the Cube on Friday. Top, top writing.
Lucy Langley-Palmer@lglpalmer.bsky.social · last yr.Eric Chenaux and RÓIS at Cube Microplex on Friday was incredible. Reminded me just how good live music can be. Here’s my write up for @bristol247.bsky.social www.bristol247.com/culture/musi...
@ellyhopkins.bsky.social was so good at The Ill Repute in Bristol last night. Dusty, fuzzy Americana of the highest degree. @bristol247.bsky.social www.bristol247.com/culture/musi...
Review: Elly Hopkins, the Ill Repute - 'Brushed drums and a bruised heart'
The Old Market pub with lived-in charm was the perfect place for Hopkins' debut single launch
bristol247.com
“The truly remarkable thing about Holly Clarke is her voice, and it is when she sings unaccompanied that she becomes incredibly special." - @tallfolk46.bsky.social Here’s another video of @hollyclarkemusic.bsky.social from Friday’s concert.
Holly Clarke - Strawberry Town (live at Downend Folk & Roots)
YouTube video by Downend Folk & Roots
youtu.be
Amelia Coburn was brilliant at The Louisiana in Bristol last week. Superb literate folk-goth. @bristol247.bsky.social www.bristol247.com/culture/musi...
Review: Amelia Coburn, the Louisiana - 'Shapeshifts and enchants'
It's a Bristol debut for this literate folk-goth singer songwriter from Middlesborough
bristol247.com
Thanks as always to @tallfolk46.bsky.social (words) and Barry Savell (photos) for capturing the evening. #livemusic #folkmusic #downend #bristol READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE: downendfolkandroots.com/index.php/53...
Downend Folk & Roots - REVIEW: "EVERY OLD STORY SPRINGS BACK TO LIFE"
Downend Folk & Roots
downendfolkandroots.com
The first of my live reviews on Substack. Bristol Folk Festival was brilliant this year. Highlights - @katherinepriddy.bsky.social @heartwoodchorus.bsky.social Talisk, The Goblin Band, Filkin's Ensemble and The Askew Sisters. substack.com/@tallfolk/no...
Bristol Folk Festival 2025
Bristol Folk Festival - St George’s and The Folk House, Bristol
substack.com
I've just posted my first review on Substack. It's the brilliant new @rachaelmcshane.bsky.social album, which I reviewed a while ago but was never published. Read it here.. open.substack.com/pub/tallfolk...
Rachael McShane & The Cartographers - Uncharted
Seven years on from When All is Still, Rachael McShane emerges from the back of the Bellowhead bus with an album that's, at turns, deliciously warming, oddly disquieting and as danceable as you like.
open.substack.com
Bristol Folk Festival is always the highlight of the Folk-y year. It was brilliant this weekend. Highlights? @heartwoodchorus.bsky.social Talisk, The Goblin Band, @katherinepriddy.bsky.social, Martin Simpson, The Askew Sisters and more @bristol247.bsky.social www.bristol247.com/festivals/re...
Review: Bristol Folk Festival - 'Music to stir the blood'
The Park Street folk party's smorgasboard of musical delights did not disappoint
bristol247.com
May is full of Folk-y, Roots-y wonderfulness in Bristol. Highlights include @skinnylister.bsky.social, Opa Rosa, Amelia Coburn, Flook and Rheingans Sisters @bristol247.bsky.social www.bristol247.com/culture/musi...
Bristol's month in Folk and Roots - May 2025
May is the best month of the year for Folk & Roots in Bristol
bristol247.com
@hannahscottuk.bsky.social and @corujajones.bsky.social on Friday at @downendfolkroots.bsky.social - yet another great Downend gig. @bristol247.bsky.social www.bristol247.com/culture/musi...
Review: Hannah Scott, Downend Folk & Roots - 'It is everything that makes life worth contemplating'
Music and entertainment runs in the family for Hannah
bristol247.com
There's a wonderful Folk Choir "thing" going on just now - Bristol's own Heartwood Chorus are right in the centre of it. Here's my review of a glorious celebration for the release of their brilliant debut EP. @bristol247.bsky.social www.bristol247.com/culture/musi...
Review: Heartwood Chorus, the Mount Without - 'The finest of celebrations'
A celebratory evening of song and dance headed up by Bristol's premier folk choir
bristol247.com
These "Live at Lunchtime" gigs @downendfolkroots.bsky.social are brilliant. Detta Kenzie was perfect on Saturday - warm, welcoming and superb. @bristol247.bsky.social www.bristol247.com/culture/musi...
Review: Detta Kenzie, Downend Folk Club - 'Tugs on the divide between the real world and the magical'
A Devonian singer with a crystalline voice and a talent for appealing to all-comers
bristol247.com
Our review of Saturday’s Detta Kenzie concert is now up on the website. Thanks to @tallfolk46.bsky.social (words) and Barry Savell (photos). downendfolkandroots.com/index.php/52...
Bristol is packed full of amazing Folk & Roots gigs in March. @downendfolkroots.bsky.social @bristolbeacon.bsky.social @stgeorgesbris.bsky.social and so many more places www.bristol247.com/culture/musi...
Bristol's month in Folk & Roots - March 2025
A mix of folky style music for the merry month of March
bristol247.com
