‘AT THE STATION’ TO BE RELEASED IN MAY 2026
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TOUR DATES:
19th April – STANSTEAD ABBOTTS Parish Hall
30th April – NORTHWICH House Concert
1st May – PONTARDAWE Valley Folk Club
8th May – STOKE-ON-TRENT Potteries Folk Club
15th May – NEWTON-IN-CARTMEL Village Hall
17th May – SHREWSBURY The Hive
21st May – LONDON Lvls
22nd May – KINGSWINFORD Woodman Folk Club
29th May – BEESTON Second Time Around Folk Club
30th May – NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE Cumberland Arms
4th June – CREWE Ebenezers
5th September – CIRENCESTER Didmarton Bluegrass Festival
6th September – SOUTHPORT Bijou Cinema
7th September – CUPAR Gateside Memorial Hall
10th September – NORWICH Deadwax
11th September – STAFFORD Gatehouse Theatre
12th September – MANLEY Village Hall
13th September – ST IVES, CAMBRIGESHIRE Old Riverport Jazz and Blues Festival
17th September – DEAL St Andrew’s Church Hall
21st September – CHICHESTER Folk Club
29th September – DARTFORD Folk Club

BBC Folk Awards nominee Dan Walsh is releasing his first full studio album of original material since 2019 – and it’s been described as among the best of his career so far.

The internationally-lauded banjo player, guitarist, songwriter and vocalist releases At The Station via Rooksmere Records on 15th May. It promises striking melodies, a good-time country influence, and a brand-new, full band sound – all built around his virtuosic musicianship.

“I have always loved artists like Alison Krauss & Union Station and Nickel Creek,” says Walsh. “And on this album I’ve given a nod to those inspirations, put them alongside some pretty funky instrumental work, and written what I think may be some of my best songs yet.” 

With songs that are at times topical, tackling everything from the fate of the high street to the importance of funding the arts, and at others emotive – including heartfelt tributes to friends lost and an instrumental inspired by Walsh’s young daughter, Heidi –  At The Station will be a red-letter moment for fans of Walsh, for folk and roots music aficionados, and for all lovers of the highest quality songwriting.

“A Dan Walsh Record With That Americana Sound”

Walsh’s first studio album proper since 2019’s Trio, At The Station presents twelve tracks that range from bluegrass-style hoedowns such as closing barnstormer “Move Away”, to more expansive contemporary folk in instrumentals such as the pyrotechnic displays of “Acoustic Circus”.

Range is the record’s watchword, which is enhanced throughout by Nic Zuppardi’s mandolin, fiddle from Niles Krieger of IBMA favourites The Often Herd, and the Jaywalkers’ Lucy Williams on upright bass.

“It’s a bluegrass set-up essentially,” says Walsh. “I’ve done full band work before, but here it’s a bit different. What we are doing is a Dan Walsh record with that Americana sound. The focus of the exercise is on really good songs and really good tunes – and I hope there’s some virtuosic picking, too!”

Indeed, from incendiary opener “Still A Town”, which focuses on the struggles of small towns in the age of Amazon and austerity, to the moving “So Much Light”, dedicated to Walsh’s late friend Lucy Coggle, the songs on At The Station feel like instant classics. 

Room is also found for inventive instrumentals such as “Clatterbug” and “January Waltz”, alongside smartly chosen covers, including of Oasis super-hit “Some Might Say” and Irish band Picturehouse’s “Somebody Somewhere” – the latter of which has been endorsed by the songwriters themselves. 

“I’ve been so struck by the quality of the writing and musicianship on this record,” says the record’s producer, Mark Hutchison, whose other credits include Walsh’s fellow BBC Folk Award alumnus, Blair Dunlop. “I think At The Station may well be Dan’s most exciting album to date.”

“Listeners Will Connect”

Walsh has been praised as “superb” (Fatea), “exciting and original” (The Living Tradition) and “absolutely terrific” (Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2). Audiences have long been wowed by his performance, which is equal parts blisteringly kinetic and accessibly conversational. On At The Station, this remarkable musicianship is married more than ever with truly accessible – and sincerely affecting – songwriting.

Walsh also continues his career-long exploration of the full breadth of the folk idiom, which has included English jigs and Irish reels to inventive jazz and frenetic funk, and even the Indian raga. 

The Paul Simon-loving Walsh here also places the singer-songwriter in him in the spotlight, and the album promises hit records from singles such as the anthemic singalong “What We Should Be Fighting For” and the jazzy wit of “What Went Before”.

“Irish and bluegrass have always stood out as hefty influences on my music,” says Walsh, whose previous album, O’Neills, was an as-live rendition of some of his favourites from the Emerald Isle. 

“This time, I’ve run with a nod in the American direction. But At The Station is not solely a country album. In fact, it’s a record most of all born out of people I’ve met and places I’ve seen whilst touring – a little like a previous record of mine, Incidents and Accidents (2015, “a masterclass” – Songlines).

“Ultimately, I always want to write about things I understand and that make sense to me – and I think that means listeners will connect with these songs, too.”