The Summer is A-Coming and Winter's Gone Away, Topic Records News

The summer is a-coming in, and winter’s gone away-o   Throughout the summer months, there’s plenty of our favourite folk music to enjoy at concerts and festivals across the land. Eliza Carthy and the Wayward Band start their festival programme at the Yorkshire Festival in Leeds on July 2nd, continuing with the following appearances: 31st July - Cambridge Folk Festival 19th August - FolkEast, Glenham 27th August - Tønder Festival (Official), Denmark 28th August - Purbeck Valley Folk Festival 29th August - Shrewsbury Folk Festival Martin Simpson has some festival solo shows and these select duo appearances with Dom Flemons, ‘The American Songster’: 17th July - Larmer Tree Festival SALISBURY 23rd July - The Village Pump Folk Festival WESTBURY 24th July - Folk by the Oak @ Hatfield House HATFIELD 31st July - Sidmouth FolkWeek SIDMOUTH Our friends at Fledg’ling Records will shortly be releasing Ever Popular Favourites - an infectious selection of songs recorded by Mr. Simpson and Mr. Flemons on tour in the autumn of last year. Six of the best!   Each month our special offers are a great way of filling the gaps in your music collection, or to give as splendid gifts for friends. The Topic special offers for July are six classic albums from the Topic catalogue at the very special price of only £6 each:        TSCD 298  JUNE TABOR ~ Airs and Graces TSCD 452   MARTIN CARTHY ~ Right Of Passage TSCD 475  WATERSON:CARTHY TSCD 517 DAVE SWARBRICK ~ Rags, Reels & Airs TSCD 563  The WATERSONS ~ FROST AND FIRE TSCD 567  MARTIN SIMPSON ~ Prodigal Son With accompaniment from Martin Carthy and Diz Disley, Rags, Reels & Airs is by the master fiddle-player Dave Swarbrick, who sadly recently passed away. Topic is proud to have arguably Dave’s finest album in its catalogue - the perfect example of the nature of folk music moving with the times, Dave’s modern techniques and ideas applied to traditional instrumental styles.   Our good friends at Fledg’ling Records have a very exciting release due in August, four previously unissued recordings by the wonderful Anne Briggs. ‘Four Songs’ will be released as a vinyl EP, with rare photos, three BBC recordings from the radio series ‘Folk-Song Cellar’, plus one song privately recorded by one of Anne’s oldest friends. Anne herself has been very excited about the project: “…the results couldn't have been better. Nice the way it came about too, with lost recordings and old friends caring for them for decades.” An Anne Briggs ‘lost classic’ is one of the albums on special offer this month from Fledg’ling; Sing A Song For You, recorded in 1973 with Steve Ashley’s band Ragged Robin, was intended to be the follow-up to Anne’s CBS album ‘The Time Has Come’, but remained unreleased until Fledg’ling issued it on CD in 1996. As with the other three great Fledg’ling titles here, it is now on sale at the special price of only £6 each:     FLED 3008  ANNE BRIGGS ~ Sing A Song For You FLED 3023  SHIRLEY COLLINS ~ Adieu To Old England FLED 3024  HELEN WATSON ~ Doffing FLED 3051  DAVY GRAHAM ~ Hat The TOPIC tote bag - perfect for the festival season (and avid record collectors). A black tote bag with the classic Topic accordion player logo on one side and a 1967 Topic flyer design on the other.   With best wishes from all at Topic