In late December 2016, Joshua Burnell embarked upon an ambitious project to release his own arrangement of a traditional song or tune digitally each week, reflecting the seasons as the following year progressed.

Now, fourteen favourites from the fifty-two tracks he created will be released on a brand-new album Songs From The Seasons, out on May 4 via Misted Valley Records.

The tracks on Songs From The Seasons are dedicated to different members of the British folk scene who have inspired Joshua to create his own versions of the songs and to keep them alive and relevant. ‘Two Magicians’ for example, is a re-write of a traditional Scottish song, juxtaposing the misogyny portrayed in the traditional lyrics with a female-empowered version for the 21st century.

Over twenty musicians have featured on the Seasons project, including Angela Gordon (Mostly Autumn) and Tim Yates (Blackbeard’s Tea Party, Nancy Kerr). Those on the album, alongside Joshua, are: singer Frances Sladen, Nathan Greaves, Ben Burnell, Sarah Loughran, Tim Yates, Matthew Mefford, Rachel Wilson, Polly Bolton, Jack Woods, Mark Waters, Angela Gordon, Antonio Curiale, Cristina Crespo, Rachel Brown.

The cover art is made up of the four spectacular paintings that Annie Haslam (of 70s symphonic rock band, Renaissance) painted especially for the Seasons Project.

Amongst recent accolades, the Seasons Project earned Joshua the Highly Commended Best Performing Artist award at the York Culture Awards 2017 and he and his band won the The Great British Folk Festival audience poll for favourite act by an overwhelming majority when they performed this year. They will be returning to play on the main stage on December 1st 2018.

Joshua Burnell’s debut album Into the Green was widely praised on its release in 2016. Acoustic magazine called it “A welcome blast of originality in our serious world, it’s a hugely impressive work and a lot of fun”. Classic Rock commented: “The Incredible String Band would be proud.” And R2 magazine in its Best of the Year, concluded “One way or another, this exciting young artist is certainly going to make himself heard.”