Andrew Curry

British dual nationals risk imminent refusal of travel to UK, Home Office affirms Government ignores pleas for a grace period before new rules come into force on Wednesday

The @ukhomeoffice.bsky.social is feral and not fit for purpose.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

First Past the Post means millions of our votes make no difference to parliament. Add your name now to demand a fairer voting system It only takes 30 seconds

The Electoral Reform Society’s petition for a fairer voting system in the planned elections bill seems to have some momentum. #MakeSeatsMatchVotes
You can sign it here.
action.electoral-reform.org.uk/page/3782/pe...

Just a pathetic non-apology. If your intention is to talk about "controlled, well-managed immigration" you don't spout racist bullshit about "colonisation."

If Starmer is serious about a "reset" for Labour then one of the first things which needs to happen is that he boots Mahmood, and others, out of the cabinet and scraps his government's cruel and inhumane policies and rhetoric against migrants, and other marginalised groups. #r4today

Transatlantic Sessions keeps on rolling - Salut! Folk Andrew Curry writes: Transatlantic Sessions is the road show that keeps on rolling. It’s a bit more than a decade since the last television series was

The annual #TransatlanticSessions roadshow is always a fabulous series of concerts. This year’s guest singers: Kathy Mattea, Karine Polwart, Darrell Scott, and Muireanne nic Amhlaoibh. My review of the Royal Festival Hall show is up on the Salut #Folk site.
salutfolk.com/2026/02/11/t...

@theguardian.com I have a subscription, but your user interface won’t let me enter this anywhere. Terrible, terrible design.

God forbid that Britain should be more like the Netherlands.

The BBC coverage is absolutely terrible.

It leads on "sharply contested narratives"

It has a dramatic skew to the US government

It has posted the video but has failed to report on what it shows: it shows the US govt account is untrue

The “contested narratives” phrase is doing so much work here given that the contest is between one narrative that is a post-hoc justificatory construct and the other is largely supported by visual evidence.

Mahmood’s appointment as Home Secretary looks worse every time she opens her mouth. More evidence that Starmer and the apparatchiks who surround him have no political judgment.

Me and Bobby McGee: Song of the day - Salut! Folk Andrew Curry writes: In January 1971, Columbia Records released Janis Joplin’s version of Me and Bobby McGee, written by Kris Kristofferson. It quickly went

Not a #folk song of course, and not really a #country song, despite some dreary country covers. But Me and Bobby McGee is a classic song — with more than a hint of it in Richard Thompson’s Beeswing. Janis’s version is the best. New post at Salut Folk.

salutfolk.com/2026/01/24/m...

They are telling us in unequivocal terms that if you show solidarity with immigrants who are in the literal crosshairs of Trump/MAGA, you're risking a death sentence.

newrepublic.com/article/2055...

Yes, that’s exactly it. The whole reason they’re there is they want revenge for the George Floyd protests

Peggy Seeger, Joshua Burnside and Edith WeUtonga: faces of British and Irish folk and roots - Salut! Folk Peggy Seeger’s final record, along with Joshua Burnside’s Teeth of Time and Edith WeUtonga’s Varipasi: the third in our three-part look at the Folk Albums of the Year.

Happy new year from Salut!! Folk. Our last look at the Folk Album of the Year nominees
@nextwavef.bsky.social
@folkonfoot.com
@matthewbannister.bsky.social
@soundrootsuk.bsky.social

salutfolk.com/2025/12/31/p...

Goth folk, folk noir and a portrait of a village. Folk Album of the Year, Part 2 - Salut! Folk Part 2 of our review of the nine albums short-listed for Folk Album of the Year includes Poor Creature’s Goth folk, Spafford Campbell’s folk-noir, and Grace Stewart-Skinner’s portrait of her home vill...

Andrew Curry’s epic coverage of the Folk Albums of the Year nominees continues with
@poorcreaturemusic.bsky.social @spaffordcampbell.bsky.social
#gracestewart-skinner

@matthewbannister.bsky.social
@folkonfoot.com
@soundrootsuk.bsky.social
@nextwavef.bsky.social

salutfolk.com/2025/12/29/g...

Listening to the 2025 Folk Albums of the year contenders (Part 1) - Salut! Folk The 2025 Folk Albums of the Years Awards are a new venture to showcase the best new folk music from Britain and Ireland. We’re going to showcase the nine records on the shortlist, starting with Cynefi...

Salut! Folk features @cynefinmusic.bsky.social
Gigspanner Big Band & Barry Kerr in the first of three looks at the Folk Albums of the Year nominees
@nextwavef.bsky.social
@johnspiers.bsky.social
@folkonfoot.com
@soundrootsuk.bsky.social

salutfolk.com/2025/12/27/2...
@cynefinmusic.bsky.social

Listening to the 2025 Folk Albums of the year contenders (Part 1) - Salut! Folk The 2025 Folk Albums of the Years Awards are a new venture to showcase the best new folk music from Britain and Ireland. We’re going to showcase the nine records on the shortlist, starting with Cynefi...

@matthewbannister.bsky.social you may like to know that Salut! Folk has published the first of three pieces showcasing the Folk Album of the Year nominees

@nextwavef.bsky.social
@soundrootsuk.bsky.social
@folkonfoot.com

salutfolk.com/2025/12/27/2...

From the North: The Quiet Songs of Natalie Wildgoose - Salut! Folk Steve Peck writes: A fleeting tip put me on the trail of North Yorkshire and London-based folk eccentric Natalie Wildgoose. Little did I know I would stumble

My Salut #Folk colleague Steve Peck writes at the blog on Natalie Wildgoose-“a mysterious and evocative artist who has since turned my musical world upside down. She’s not quite like anything I’ve heard before.”

salutfolk.com/2025/12/19/n...

Four people have been arrested after custard and apple crumble were flung at a display case containing part of the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London.

Be right back, just off to lick the crown jewels clean

www.bbc.com/news/article...

@theguardian.com If I have a subscription—and you know I have a subscription—I should be able to use my subscription number to sign in, rather than you trawling for email addresses. Shockingly poor UI. Please fix it.

Not quite the ultimate accolade but the wonder that is @katherinepriddy.bsky.social has the Song of the Day at Salut! Folk.
@nextwavef.bsky.social

Sign now to demand an end to big money in politics It takes 30 seconds

It’s crazy that there’s no limit on how much an individual can donate to a political party in a single year. I just signed ‪@electoralreform.bsky.social‬'s call to put a cap on how much they can donate in the #ElectionsBill
action.electoral-reform.org.uk/page/179420/...

But “most” means that you might end up having to prove in court or legal exchanges that Trump was more corrupt than a whole lot of other corrupt Presidents. It would make for an amusing court case, but it really isn’t what the BBC needs to be doing right now.

Album of the month: Bones by Maggie Holland - Salut! Folk :

At the small and imperfectly formed Salut! Folk site, Maggie Holland’s classic and classy compilation Bones is Album of the Month. Please share

@maggieholland.bsky.social
@nextwavef.bsky.social

salutfolk.com/2025/11/25/a...

@gregsargent.bsky.social I used to work as a broadcast journalist in the UK, including for the BBC, where I was trained. As soon as you say the word “most”, as in Rutger Bregman’s script, there is a libel risk. If he had said “one of the most”, or “an openly corrupt President”, it’s defendable.

In which I discover that @microsoft.com has locked together in Word ‘suggest’ mode and Copilot. Result. Have downloaded a competitor. @microsoft.com may be desperate to get a return from its AI investment (fat chance) but I don’t need to help. #Enshittification

Dear GOD if you want to save money in the asylum system

1. LET ASYLUM SEEKERS WORK

2. FAST TRACK STATUS FOR EVERYONE FROM CLEARLY UNDAFE COUNTRIES like Sudan, Syria, etc

3. Run an asylum accommodation system that is NOT FOR PROFIT #r4today

@salutsunderland.bsky.social

“Like a pair of large and powerful planets revolving in entirely separate solar systems, Bob #Dylan and Sam Shepard had slowly been gravitating towards each other.” They met on the Rolling Thunder Revue, and it all fell apart. New post at Salut #Folk.
salutfolk.com/2025/11/07/b...

Tribute to a great figure of Scottish folk music . RIP Archie Fisher @nextwavef.bsky.social

salutfolk.com/2025/11/05/a...