SIDETRACKS AND DETOURS Sunday 5th July 2026: Coal Mines & cobbled streets & Lava Tunnels featuring The Radio Ballads Of The Miners´Strike BBC Radio John Tams, Barry Coope, Sally Ward, Rube Leonard, Julie Matthews, Jez Lowe, Ray Hearne, + Lendanear to Rochdale, Town Of Culture (?) + Lendanear to sounds from the centre of a volcano

Chris Maume, in his review of the programme for The Independent reminded us that On the Home Service in the Fifties and Sixties, Ewan MacColl (left) and Charles Parker put together a series of "Radio Ballads" in which different…

SIDETRACKS & DETOURS 28th June 2026: Revival: In Search Of Where Truth Lies + We LENDANEAR To Applause for The Good That People Do

sidetracks & detours IN SEARCH OF WHERE TRUTH LIES by Norman Warwick Some Americana singer-songwriters are occasionally unreliable narrators and some seem to always be unreliable narrators. Americana is not,…

SIDETRACKS & DETOURS 21st June 2026: Town Of Culture Excedes All Expectations and awards its ´creatives´ + news, interviws, previews and reviews of Jason Isbel and the 400 Unit + review of ACATIFE IN LAS BRENAS

Rochdale, Town Of Culture EXCEDED ALL EXPECTATIONS by Steve Cooke Our coverr picture today is also included at the top of this article shows Rochdale Town Hall packed the town´s elite creatives. We decided to do…

SIDETRACKS & DETOURS 14th June 2026. Classical Music In Portsmouth profile ALEXANDRA PEEL, violinist and Jazz in Reading preview THE BLACKHAWKE QUINTET

MUSIC IN PORTSMOUTH ALEXANDRA PEEL, VIOLINIST previews a concert with the Havant Symphony Orchestra, and updates her profile shared by Norman Warwick Alexandra Peel recently (right) played Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy with…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

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…