BONES is a collection of unreleased songs, outtakes, demos and live recordings from recent years — fingerpicked, stripped back, and left largely as they were found. It captures songs between albums, collaborations along the way, and performances that refused to disappear. Excavated bones, left intact.
I left Spotify on ethical grounds. A year on, I've put a handful of tracks back. Here's where things actually stand, and why.
What follows covers five things: what I actually had on Spotify before I left, what happened to my streaming income afterwards, how Apple Music and YouTube have performed in the gap, what I’ve genuinely lost, and the questions I still can’t answer. I’ve tried to be as specific as possible throughout.
My recording of 'Blues Run the Game' — the Jackson C. Frank song that became the unofficial anthem of Les Cousins — is out today on Bandcamp and all major streaming platforms.
The Second Cousins stage returns to FolkEast on Saturday 22nd August — and this year it's taking the spirit of Les Cousins somewhere altogether more unpredictable. Featuring The Waeve, Jim Ghedi, Emily Portman, Gwenifer Raymond, Spitzer Space Telescope and Cara Elin.The Life and Songs of Martin Carthy is a concert film celebrating six decades of one of British folk's most beloved figures — now available to stream worldwide for one month only. Featuring Billy Bragg, Graham Coxon, Eliza Carthy, Maddy Prior, John Kirkpatrick, Nick Hart, Angeline Morrison and more, this is a night of extraordinary music you won't want to miss.
I’ve been performing ‘Geordie’ on the Songs of Martin Carthy tour — this version filmed, mixed and edited at Riverhouse Barn in Walton-on-Thames. A medieval ballad in a tithe barn feels about right. The guitar is Martin Carthy’s Fylde Falstaff — one of the earliest made by Roger Bucknall, and the instrument heard across Right of Passage. The first time I played it, Martin listened, smiled, and said quietly, “She likes you.” I’ve reached for it ever since.