Entries by Norman Warwick

SIDETRACKS & DETOURS 7th June 2026, A Town With A Feel-Good Factor invites you to tell your story oin the radio + UK folk music charts

Rochdale Feel Good Festival headliners Preview: Steve Cooke Rochdale Feel Good Festival Summer 2026 has legendary singer-songwriter Gabrielle (below) topping the bill on Saturday, August 8.  The two-time BRIT award winner and pop-soul star will be performing on the main stage at Rochdale Town Hall Square this summer, along with indie rock chart toppers Ash, Starsailor […]

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SIETRACKS & DETOURS 31st May 2026: Choosin´ Texas, Country, Americana or The Boys Of Dungeon Lane + coming a cropper on the way to a concert

DANDELION. new album release by ELLA LANGLEY Choosin Texas, Country or Americana review by Norman Warwick The TikTok publicity surge most certainly helped the song labelled by Paste as ´belonging to the sturdy, confident earworm, country music´s post-pandemic imperial phrase,´ to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in Valentine Day week in February, […]

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SIDETRACKS & DETOURS: May 24th 2026, songwriter Malcolm Holcombe by Peter Pearson + poets and Rochdale rhyme + Rochdale Music Society Concert Review + DUO BRAVO

DUO BRAVO Convento de Santo Domingo, Teguise 22/5/2026 NOTAS AL VIENTO (NOTES ON THE WIND) review by Norman Warwick I can remember what it felt like the first time I stood on stage in such a cavernous hall. My partner, Colin Lever, and I called our duo, Lendanear, because we wrote our own songs and […]

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SIDETRACKS & DETOURS: 17th May 2026, introducing Sophie Rose Music; + r.i.p. Chip Taylor + serendipity with Duo Bravo + classical piano by Natalia Nikolaeva

INTRODUCING SOPHIE ROSE MUSIC AN ARTIST´S NEWSLETTE sharted by Norman Warwick Sophie Rose (left) is a writer, a producer, a singer, a friend, a daughter, an avid reader, an amateur chef, and more, but what Sophie is to her core is an artist. She takes her life experiences and transforms them into music and lyrics […]

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SIDETRACKS & DETOURS 10th May 2026: What Do You Do When You´re Lonesome ? The Life and Legacy of Justin Townes Earle

What Do You Do When You´re Lonesome? The Life And Legacy Of Justin Townes Earle The authorised biography by Jonathan Bernstein The author and Rolling Stone journalist speaks with Grant Sharples, of Paste Magazine´s Audio Books Column about the art of fact-checking and handling sensitive stories with care, when authoring a biography. Grant Sharples:My column, Audio Books, is a […]

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SIDETRACKS & DETOURS 3rd May 2026: an appreciation of David Cousins and his Strawbs associates, and how music moves within us and around us + Folk Awards

AN APPRECIATION David Cousins Celebration Concert Bangor University February 2026 by Pete Hartley “I am as the world forever spinning Rekindled by the early rising sun I’m as the road that’s ever winding A never-ending journey just begun” David Cousins: “Ways and Means” a review by (C) Peter Hartley There is always an unanswerable question […]

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Sidetrack & Detours: 26th April 2026: Finds Gorillaz In The Missed Opportunity ? The Incredible String Band + the current official UK Folk Album Chart news

GORILLAZ  are lightly pasted by Sam Rosenburg in Paste magazine suggesting Gorillaz struggle to reach their emotional peak on their newly released album, The Mountain Sam Rosenburg´s opening salvo was perhaps fired in sadness rather than anger. The Paste publication, both on line and in print,  is one of the most thoughtful and diligent music news […]

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SIDETRACKS & DETOURS 12th April 2026: Music In Portsmouth, Karen Kingsley, pianist and The Free Radicals, a capella + classical music at The Camel House, pianist Eladda Pavlou

As the owner / editor of Sidetracks & Detours I am incredibly grateful to its team of wonderful volunteer contributors such as Peter Pearson, our Americana correspondent and Michael Higgins the occasional folk historian writer. I am always pleased by the integrity of their comments and the different styles of their writing. The three of […]

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SIDETRACKS AND DETOURS: 29th March 2026: Jonathan Ellis, a pianoman & Neil Sedaka, showman and songwriter of Solitaire and Labi Sifre, songwriter of (Something Inside) So Strong.

IT´S ONLY ROCK ´N ROLL, BUT I LIKE IT. r.i.p NEIL SEDAKA by Norman Warwick Even as the familiar title of the Rolling Stones hit came to mind, I almost dismissed it because it seemed to have nothing to do with central subject of the article I had in mind. After all surely Neil Sedaka […]

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