Indie-folk discoveries and live music in Belgium
Folk Notes is for listeners in Flanders, Brussels, and Wallonia. The notes cover albums, artists worth following, and the rooms where this music is played live.
Start here
Three ways in: the records, the artists, and the rooms.
Album Reviews
Listening notes on Tamino and The Bony King of Nowhere, written so the next record is easier to find.
Discover Artists
Find artists through support slots, album credits, venue bills, and public radio.
Live Venues in Belgium
Rooms in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, and Leuven, plus Dranouter and VONKfestival.
Latest notes
- What to Notice on a First Listen
Four things to notice before a record earns a second play or a train ticket. - Folk Festivals and Club Shows in Belgium
When to use a club night, a folk festival weekend, or a folk bal in Belgium. - How to Start Finding Indie-Folk Artists
One calendar, one full record, and two names worth keeping.
On rotation this month
Two Belgian records are in the notes: Tamino’s Every Dawn’s a Mountain (2025), a guitar-and-oud set about loss, and The Bony King of Nowhere’s Everybody Knows (2024), a songwriter record that refuses to repeat the last one.
Folk festivals and bals
November is club season. Festival weekends such as Dranouter and VONKfestival return in the warmer months, and a folk bal is a different night from a billed concert.
About Folk Notes
Madi Galene publishes Folk Notes as an English listening desk, with Belgium as its home ground. The work stays with the record, the credit, and the room. It does not sell tickets.
Got a record or gig tip?
Artists, labels, and readers can send a record, a correction, or a gig tip to [email protected]. Folk Notes reads every message.
FAQ
What counts as indie-folk here?
Song-first music, where the voice and a small arrangement do the work. That includes a guitar-and-oud record such as Tamino’s, and a songwriter record such as The Bony King of Nowhere’s, even when it is not pastoral folk.
Where can I hear it live in Belgium?
The venues guide names rooms in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, and Leuven, plus festival weekends such as Dranouter and VONKfestival. Dates and tickets stay on each venue’s own site.
How do you pick albums to review?
A note waits until a record has had real listening time. The first two are Tamino’s Every Dawn’s a Mountain (2025) and The Bony King of Nowhere’s Everybody Knows (2024). There is no star rating.
Can artists submit music?
Yes. Send a record or a gig tip through the contact page.