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The guitar maestro explores the roots of English folk music back to mediaeval times on this classic 1979 album. Besides his unmistakable instrumental contributions, 'The Black Balloon' also features the flute work of Tony Roberts. John Renbourn composed this album as a modern version of the eight standard musical forms of mediaeval Britain. Consisting solely of Renbourn's guitars, accompanied by traditional percussion instruments and a flute, it gives a completely new identity to the concept album. Listen late at night, with candles and red wine, and float away on "The Pelican" and "The Black Balloon." A fiery dance, the "Tarboulton" allows guitar and flute to show off. A collection of ayres, danceries, a pastoral fantasia, and an abstract fantasia. A classic.

* Musiciens invités - Rick Haworth: pedal steel, mandoline, bouzouki, bajo sexto, harmonica; Yves Lambert: accordéon; Mario Légaré: basse; Paul Picard: percussions.
* Réalisation: Rick Haworth, Michel Bélanger et Beau Dommage
* Arrangements: Beau Dommage et Rick Haworth; arrangements vocaux: Pierre Bertrand.
* Prise de son: Claude Champagne et Simon Pressey, assistés de Rachel Bélanger, Isabelle Cliche, Paul Dobrowolskys, Benoit Gauvin, Pierre Girard, Don Hachey, Philippe Hébert, Claude Rivest et Stéphane Morency.
* Mixage: Claude Champagne, au studio Référence (Saint-Calixte)
* Enregistrement: studio Morin-Heights; enregistrements additionnels: studio Michel Pépin (Montréal), studio Karisma (Montréal), studio Référence (Saint-Calixte).

Deanta's Ready for the Storm is an excellent recording. Their music is a gift of the music heritage only found in Ireland. Of its 13 songs, 5 are instrumental and the rest has lirics. The sounds made by their instruments and the voice of Mary Dillon just bring an excellent blend that shows the core of the spirit of celtic music. If you enjoy celtic music you will most certain like this one. (Customer Review on amazon.com)

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... And more than simply being a collection of good songs (with one or two pedestrian ones), it allowed Fairport to achieve its greatest internal balance, and indeed one of the finest balances of any major folk-rock group.

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Reeltime Travelers create a unique blend of old-time Americana music rooted in the pre-record era string bands of Southern Appalachia. The band draws from that deep tradition to create new songs and sounds. Their shows are high-energy mixes of traditional, fiddle-driven dance tunes, mountain harmonies, original banjo and fiddle tunes, and new songs with ties to the Old-Time tradition. From the Grand Ole Opry to Jamband festivals, the Reeltime Travelers demonstrate reverence for Tradition and produce their own "Reeltime" Americana music.

While not actually a “new band,” Austin based Nelo (rhymes with jello) are releasing their debut CD on Houston’s Justice Records as well as Pedernales Records, owned by Willie Nelson and the discs producer (and Willie’s nephew) Freddy Fletcher.

Madredeus have an intuitive style that is both very folky and yet highly adventurous. The simplicity of the Portuguese ensemble's studio recordings belies the complexity of the arrangements, which are full of subtle twists and turns on classic folk styles and surprising harmonic beauty. This two-CD set was recorded live in April 1998 and gives the band the best possible platform for what it does. Much of the program is centered around the superb voice of Teresa Salgueiro and songs written by the ensemble's other members. With two acoustic guitars, an upright bass, and a synthesizer, they performed a set of songs that received no remixing or rerecording, a rarity these days for so-called live albums. The interplay between the musicians and singer is never better felt than in this live setting. The CD is lush in tone yet sublimely bare in presentation.

EXISTIR is the second album recorded by Madredeus, and it is truly a jewel... Released in 1990, it brings many remarkable songs, and the first worldwide success of the group, O PASTOR. This piece, hard to describe or classify in any musical rythm or school, is still one of the most famous songs of the group. Teresa Salgueiro's voice were already marvelous, and the fine harmonies and arrangments, joining instruments like the cello and the classic guitar, the accordion and the keyboards, made Madredeus the outstanding success they are up to now... After all, who can survive emotionless after listening to songs like O POMAR DAS LARANJEIRAS?