Laura Smith Archives | Folk Roots Radio

Folk Roots Radio Episode 560: Our Favourite Albums of 2020

Dec 27 2020

We’re getting close to the end of 2020, which means it’s time to announce our favourite albums of the year. After the challenging year we’ve all had, it’s tempting to just want to put 2020 behind us and move on to 2021 to what will, hopefully, be a much better year for everyone. And yet, despite everything, 2020 has actually been a great year for recorded music – especially for those us who tend to focus on music that artists release independently, or via small and boutique record labels. Many artists have actually been making excellent use of the lockdown time forced on them by the coronavirus pandemic to record some wonderful ‘Covid Tune’ singles, EPs and in some case, even full albums. We’ve had great fun sharing them with you this year. We’ve also been doing our best to keep up with regularly scheduled releases. It gives us great pleasure each year, once we have put holiday radio episodes to bed, to consider our favourite albums of the year. One of the best things about doing a radio show is getting loads of great music to listen to each week. One of the hardest things to do is to take all that fabulous music and narrow it down to your ten favourite recordings of the year. You can check out The Top 10 on Episode 560 of Folk Roots Radio. We’ll be playing more of our favourite albums on upcoming episodes of Folk Roots Radio. If you don’t see an album you really loved, that’s likely because it didn’t make it up on our radar because we didn’t receive a copy. Please consider sharing your favourite albums in the comments – we might even spin them on a future episode of the show. Listen to The Top 10 on this episode, and check out the full playlist and the rest of our long list below. Enjoy!

Folk Roots Radio Episode 499: feat. Durham County Poets, More New Releases & Laura Smith Tribute

Mar 14 2020

Kevin Harvey, front man and lead vocalist of the Durham County Poets joins us on Episode 499 of Folk Roots Radio to chat about their latest album, a full on blues recording, “Hand Me Down Blues” which has earned nominations for both the 2020 JUNO Blues Album of the Year & the 2019 Maple Blues Awards New Artist/Group of the Year. It’s a wonderful tribute to some of their influences, and Kevin Harvey is always a great interview. We also check out more of the new music we’ve received, and this time around we hear from Little Misty, The Lonesome Ace Stringband, Frank & Allie Lee and Frank Birtwistle. We wrap up the episode with a special three song tribute to Nova Scotia based folk singer Laura Smith who sadly left us this week. Laura Smith had an absolutely fabulous singing voice, and though, because of some health challenges she did not leave a large body of recorded music, the excellent albums she created deserve to be shared and savoured. Her spirit will live on. Safe Home, Sweet Light! Check out the full playlist below.

Folk Roots Radio Episode 430: In Conversation with Paul Mills Part 2

Feb 13 2019

Musician, music arranger and producer/engineer Paul Mills joins us on Episode 430 of Folk Roots Radio for the second half of our in-depth conversation about his career in music. (Find Part 1 of this conversation on Episode 429 of Folk Roots Radio). After 45 years in the music business, and working on more than 200 albums, Paul has decided that it’s time to close down his production studio. Stay with us for more great conversation about the art of production, alongside music from more of the great artists who joined him in the recording studio including, on this episode, Ron Hynes, Irish Mythen, Shelley Posen, Laura Smith, Chris Hadfield & the Barenaked Ladies, The Lucky Sisters and Paul Mills himself. Check out the full playlist below.