*Top 10 Album in the Traditional Folk Apple Music Album Charts*

CAUSEWAY RECORDINGS is a compilation of 10 original and 3 traditional raw acoustic folk songs by Edinburgh based independent singer-songwriter, Sam Shackleton. Described by Mike Davies as “one of the year’s strongest folk debuts” in FATEA magazine and awarded "Top of the World" in Songlines magazine, it is his long awaited debut album and was entirely self-recorded in his flat in Causewayside, Edinburgh.

Sam Shackleton, also known by his Gaelic moniker, Sorley the Bard, is a young up and coming Scottish singer-songwriter and folk artist. His music is greatly inspired by the rich inter-connected musical oral traditions of Scotland, Ireland, and the United States. Strongly influenced by the 1960’s folk revival, he sings and plays clawhammer banjo, guitar and harmonica. His unique sound is a mix of country, old time, traditional, folk, and blues with a Scottish spirit.

He was born in Stirling and raised all over Scotland, from the Borders to the Highlands and his music is deeply inspired by the oral tradition, musical culture, and landscapes of Scotland. He views all of his music as part of the carrying stream of folk tradition. Sam also holds a research masters degree with distinction in Scottish Ethnology from the renowned academic folk music institution, the School of Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh, specialising in folklore and ethnomusicology. He spends his days writing, performing, and busking across the world, sharing his unique and authentic musical style through his own writing and interpretation of the folk traditions, songs, and ballads that came before him.

REVIEWS:

💚💛"Something Dave Van Ronk might have written had he come from Scotland...Lyrically superb...A dark Appalachian gothic vision...Sung with a strong brogue and infused with a raw earthiness, this has to be one of the year's strongest folk debuts and hopefully just the start of a long career..." - MIKE DAVIES💚💛

💚💛“There is an artist that is up and coming - he is the next ‘thing’ - and he is incredible...” - MATT HECKLER💚💛

💚💛"Endowed with an endearingly streetwise Scottish brogue; sharply honed clawhammer banjo, guitar and harmonica chops; and a flair for equally celebrating the beautiful and quirky nature of both Americana and Scots-Irish-Anglo folk music, singer-songwriter Sam Shackleton is a refreshing new voice on the international acoustic scene..." - SONGLINES MAGAZINE 💚💛

💚💛"Sam Shackleton is a Scottish folk artist based in Edinburgh, and his original trans-Atlantic folk songs on the banjo, harmonica, and guitar are a sheer delight as he demonstrates so ably on ‘Scottish Cowboy’..." - ALEX GALLACHER, FOLK RADIO UK 💚💛

💚💛"Shackleton is not only an excellent storyteller who recalls lived experiences but also seems to have musically inhaled the best of the Folkways or Vanguard sixties recordings. His acoustic guitar and harmonica playing are good and his banjo technique impeccable. Together with his sense of rhythm, both for the music and the lyrics, it gives all of the tracks, particularly ‘Pale Blue Swallows’, that almost timeless feeling that Shackleton was striving for..." - AMERICANA UK 💚💛

💚💛"The three traditional songs (Cuckoo Bird, Gambling Davey and House Carpenter) are handled really well, and are definite disc highlights. Very old time in style, and accompanied by a great clawhammer banjo, the three have been subtly altered to fit this Scottish setting, “as is natural with the ever-changing carrying stream of folk tradition,” says Sam. I like that he has made them his own...Sam sounds like he is having a good time here, and it’s infectious. A feel-good album, and an artist that could easily find his place in a folk club setting if that is the direction he should choose to take..." - LIVING TRADITION MAGAZINE 💚💛

💚💛"He sings! He plays banjo, guitar AND harmonica! He hangs on the crossroads where the musical oral traditions of Scotland, Ireland and the USA intersect..." - RYAN VAN WINKLE💚💛

💚💛"You can always tell a busker from a studio musician, I like to think. Buskers are louder, more emotive, a throwback to a time of traveling Bards, before amplification. You have only moments to impress a passerby for tips, and it forces you to hone your craft. Sorley lives up to his moniker, "the Bard", and puts on a show..." - ANTHONY SIMPKINS💚💛

💚💛 "Lots of musicians are thoroughly schooled in the old ways. Very few have Shackleton’s gift for extending traditional music into the 21st century with the same spirit and imagination possessed by its progenitors" - SONGLINES MAGAZINE 💚💛