Coming up on this week's Off The Beaten Tracks radio show I have music from...

Steeleye Span, Siobhan Miller, Steve Knightley, Sharon Shannon, The Pogues, The McCalmans, Beans on Toast, Lucas Drinkwater, Meg Baird, Plu, Mike Oldfield, Coreen Scott and Fairport Convention

Tune in at 8pm on https://www.internet-radio.com/station/gingerfeatherfm/

This, today, from The Guardian:

Over two days in August 1996, Oasis played to 250,000 people at Knebworth House in Hertfordshire. Riding high on two bestselling albums, the concerts were seen as the crowning moment in their career.

The Guardian covered the weekend but Caroline Sullivan’s review concentrated on the Charlatans, one of the support acts. There was a picture of the Knebworth crowds on page 7, but the main review that day was of folk-rock band Fairport Convention’s Cropredy festival.

https://uploads.guim.co.uk/2026/08/17/Cropredy_review,_the_Gdn,_12_August_1996.jpg

Beardy 2027 is 17th to 20th June in the walled garden at Hopton Court.

They are currently doing their traditional thing of releasing one act per day. Seems good as per usual.

 So far, a lot of solo singers with a guitar for the acoustic tent, some like Sorrel Nation being very, very good. However, the main stage already has "Sam Kelly and the lost boys". The brilliant "Gaz Brookfield and his company of thieves", and "Xodus" (the premier Bob Marley tribute act) also the traditional folk of "Hase Waites", and the folk/pop of the all-girl outfit "The Deep Blue".  

So, 13 acts are yet to be announced on the main stage and nine for the between acts acoustic stage.

It's the tenth anniversary and tickets seem to be going well .

Agreed. I think Myths and Heroes was the first album for a while that didn't include a re-recorded song and it was all the better for it.

Seconded.

A new album would be very interesting, providing the songs were new and not just rehashes of past glories.

Doonigig near Cheltenham last night... brilliant fun!

I've thoroughly enjoyed Fairport's recent studio albums so I'd be delighted to have another one.

In Nigel Schofield's piece on Fairport's 60th anniversary year next year in the Cropredy programme there was a reference to 'maybe a new album' amongst other things that would be happening.  Nothing more definite, I don't think.

If it was just another studio album I'd argue against.  Not sure the world needs another like the last (insert number of your choice)....?  A live album, especially of the shows next year and ready for Cropredy is much more likely, I'd have thought.  But if they went in the studio with Richard and other old chums, that could certainly be of interest...