Last night marked a wonderful moment for all of us here at Folkroom Records, as label co-founder Ben Walker picked up the Isambard Folk Award at Colston Hall in Bristol. Ben won the award with his musical partner and our very good friend Josienne Clarke, who has played our gigs many times, features on our free album Anthology One and is currently recording her latest EP with Walker. As winners, they’ll now be appearing on the bill at the Bristol Folk Festival this May.

We’re all ecstatic that Ben and Josienne won, but we aren’t remotely surprised – anyone who has seen them play The Folkroom will know just how powerful the pair are when playing together. Josienne’s vocals can silence the most crowded of rooms and devastate the coldest of souls. Ben (though he would never tell you himself) is the frequent cause of gasps mid-gig – usually from other musicians unable to work out how he works the magic that he does from each guitar. This isn’t even an exaggeration – it was only a week ago that we last heard one of these gasps with our own ears!

It’s fair to say that the only two people surprised by Josienne and Ben’s win is the duo themselves. But, as we have said, we could not be happier for them back here at Folkroom Records – not least because we now have an award-winning musician on our team!

If you want to hear more of Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker, you can download both of their albums from Josienne’s Bandcamp.