ONE of the most exciting developments for folk music fans over the last few years has been the number of young talented performers dominating the festival circuit and delighting audiences with a combination of traditional and new songs, often with a radical political slant.

2019 seems to have been particularly good in this regard, with some outstanding albums released, among them Wheels of The World by Granny’s Attic (Grimdon Records), the third album from the talented young trio.

It consists mainly of traditional songs like Gilderoy and The Highwayman but with their own distinct arrangements while What I Saw in my Dream as I Slept in My Chair explores 19th-century political issues but with an added new verse about present-day political injustice.

Danny Pedlar and Greg Russell’s Field and Dyke (PRS/MCPS) is a great album arising from an oral history project on the culture of the fenland district of South Holland in Lincolnshire.

Incorporating spoken dialogue from some of the project participants, the album mixes a traditional folk sound alongside the rhythms of machines from local factories.

In the tradition of Ewan MacColl’s Radio Ballads, tracks like Down and Deeper and Water Makes This Land give a real sense of a community experiencing change.

The Trials of Cato’s Hide and Hair (Water Records) is the debut album from another young trio hailing originally from north Wales and Yorkshire but who got together as a folk band while working in Beirut.

The album consists of fine versions of Welsh and English traditional songs like My Love’s in Germany but also includes their own compositions like Gloria, a tribute to the courage of a trans woman friend and contemporary protest song These Are the Things.

There’s also a rousing version of Tom Paine’s Bones, which seems to be becoming a favourite among new politically minded folk artists.

From more established performers, Naomi Bedford and Paul Simmonds’s Singing It All Back Home (Dusty Willow) pays tribute to the music of the Appalachian mountains and its roots in traditional English and Scottish folk song.

With new interpretations of standards like the classic ballad Matty Groves, this is a must for anyone interested in the influence of British folk song on US roots music.