Ten years and still kickin’ was the recent tagline to Maverick Festival, which has had a decade at the top of the tree when it comes to putting on Alt-country, Americana and Roots festivals in the UK. Based at Easton Farm Park, near Woodbridge in Suffolk it provides three days of multi stage twang based action. Its Director is Paul Spencer, a drummer and the man that makes it all happen. Continue reading “Interview: Paul Spencer (Maverick Festival)”
Month: July 2017
Interview: Brooks Williams
Brooks Williams is an elegant man. He has the air of being learned, of art from every pore – he’s charming and is the processor of a killer smile. He’s also the owner of some serious guitar porn, and one hell of a player. An American now residing in East Anglia, his last album, ‘My Turn Now’ melds James Taylor with Paul Simon and a resonator guitar. It’s a fine record. The man is old school cool. Like a classic V8, it’s all under the hood, where it matters. AUK caught him after he was the highlight of Maverick festival. Continue reading “Interview: Brooks Williams”
Luke Tuchscherer “Always Be True” (Clubhouse Records, 2017)
This is the second solo album release from Bedford based singer songwriter Luke Tuchscherer (pronounced Tuck-Shearer) and it is a real cracker. Tuchscherer who previously had a stint as singer and drummer with The Whybirds has written an album which sounds every inch a classic of its genre. This is a real Americana masterpiece with great tunes, mournful lyrics and terrific playing throughout. Recorded in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk with it seems an all British cast, this shows that home grown Americana can mix it with the very best that our American cousins have to offer. Continue reading “Luke Tuchscherer “Always Be True” (Clubhouse Records, 2017)”
John Murry + Lucas & King, St Mary’s Church, Guildford, 22nd July 2017
Upon arriving at the cobbled graveyard front entrance of St Mary’s church (with the support act having already begun) I could see looking at me in the shadows, by the corner of his tour van, the top-hatted and dark coated, pale thin features of John Murry. Sadistically I felt like requesting that he walk to the church’s rear side where a crowd of backpacked American students were investigating, selfie-ing & photo bombing. The gothic haunted vision of Murry would no doubt have provided them with the exact image they possibly sought. Their biggest surprise however would’ve been finding out this Dickensian non-ghost was actually from their very own shores. Continue reading “John Murry + Lucas & King, St Mary’s Church, Guildford, 22nd July 2017”
Jason Isbell: most Nashville country is “real bad music”
Jason Isbell has given an interesting interview to Rolling Stone Country over the weekend – there’s a few gem quotes in it. They report: “A few years ago, Jason Isbell was an ex-member of Drive-By Truckers, playing clubs and drinking way too much whiskey. Now, the Alabama native is headlining venues like Baltimore’s 19,000-seat Merriweather Post Pavilion while turning out sharp country-rock story-songs. (John Mayer has called him “the best lyric writer of my generation.”) Isbell’s new album, The Nashville Sound, gets heavier and more political than 2015’s Something More Than Free, which won Grammys, including Best Americana Album. Continue reading “Jason Isbell: most Nashville country is “real bad music””
Dirty Dozen: Rachel Baiman
In many ways “Shame” the new album from 27-year-old Nashville Americana songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rachel Baiman, is an exploration of growing up female in America. “I wasn’t necessarily trying to write songs that would be easy to listen to,” Baiman says of the project. A departure from her stripped-down work with progressive folk duo 10 String Symphony, “Shame” is lush and varied in instrumentation and musical texture. Continue reading “Dirty Dozen: Rachel Baiman”
The Barr Brothers “You Would Have to Lose Your Mind” – Listen
The forthcoming new album by the Barr Brothers has been described as their best yet – “a collection of 11 hypnotically fluid songs that speak to the raw, elemental power of reflection, forgiveness, loss, and growing up.” The record finds the band, featuring brothers Brad (guitar) and Andrew Barr (drums), and Sarah Page (Harp), further on their path of exploring the outer limits of folk, blues, rock and Americana made north of the American border. And how many bands feature a dedicated harpist? Radcliffe and Maconie premiered their new song earlier last week which you can listen to below.
Dirty Dozen: The Anatomy of Frank
The Virginia based folk-rock trio The Anatomy of Frank explore nostalgia, relationships and mortality with the release of their latest album South America, out on 1st September 2017 via Polar Islands. Having formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2010 as a five-piece, in 2015 the band found themselves in a state of disarray with the departure of two members. As a result, Kyle (guitar, vocals), Jimmy Bullis (keyboards) and Max Bollinger (drums) decided to re-orchestrate their sound and breathe new life into the band’s identity. Continue reading “Dirty Dozen: The Anatomy of Frank”
Interview: Rodney Crowell
Houston-born singer-songwriter and longtime Nashville resident Rodney Crowell continues to lift his game as a songwriter, and his latest album ‘Close Ties’ (New West) qualifies as the most honest set of work he has ever done. Crowell has seen his songs recorded by countless people, ranging from his old boss, Emmylou Harris to Johnny Cash by way of blues legend Etta James, Bob Seger, George Strait, Steve Young, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Van Morrison, Keith Urban and Tim McGraw, and of course a man he co-wrote a few jewels with, Guy Clark. With Clark’s death in 2016 still very much in the mind of the singer-songwriter community, Crowell was keen to share his admiration with Maurice Hope. Continue reading “Interview: Rodney Crowell”
Los Straitjackets “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love and Los Straitjackets” (Yep Roc, 2017)
In which Los Straitjackets provide thirteen instrumental versions of Nick Lowe songs. They add their usual twang, and it ends up like a Shadows record without Cliff Richard. Mildly diverting at first and in the end a futile exercise, there isn’t really one song that sounds better as an instrumental, and no version really does anything astounding so you forget the vocal melody and they also slide into cheesy territory as Lately I’ve Let Things Slide shows where the melancholy is replaced with musical a kiss me quick hat. Continue reading “Los Straitjackets “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love and Los Straitjackets” (Yep Roc, 2017)”