There are few better mediums than a book for opening our eyes to new information, for helping us to become a little more knowledgeable about the world around us. I have to put my hand up and say I had never heard of Leftover Salmon before reading this book and I only had sketchy knowledge of the progressive Bluegrass scene, so this book “Leftover Salmon: Thirty Years of Festival!” has been a real revelation; a window into a different and quite fascinating world. Continue reading “Book Review – Tim Newby “Leftover Salmon: 30 Years of Festival!” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019)”
Month: October 2019
Interview: Nils Lofgren
Nils Lofgren, one of the world’s great guitarists, is a musician’s musician. He has shared a stage or a recording studio with the likes of Neil Young, Crazy Horse, Lou Gramm and Ringo Starr and for over 30 years he has been a key member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. Lofgren’s latest solo record is a fascinating project, built around a set of songs co-written with the fabulous Lou Reed. Continue reading “Interview: Nils Lofgren”
King of Birds + The Logans, The Spree Festival, The Bungalow, Paisley, 15th October 2019
Renfrewshire is a small county in Scotland that punches above its weight historically. But, for the “cradle of the Stewart kings” in a modern post-industrial climate, the emphasis these days is on promoting its rich creative sphere via events such as The Spree Festival, in Paisley, now in its eighth year. Tonight, King of Birds have packed the recently revamped Paisley venue, The Bungalow. The band come from the village of Elderslie, just a few miles to the west, and midway through the set, vocalist Charlie Gorman sings of growing up locally in ‘When we were Kings’. Continuing the regal theme, brother and co-writer/guitarist, Stirling, jokes about how the melodic inspiration for the song came from the first three notes of Elvis’s ‘American Trilogy’. Continue reading “King of Birds + The Logans, The Spree Festival, The Bungalow, Paisley, 15th October 2019”
Dan Israel “Social Media Anxiety” (Tinderbox Music, 2019)
His most Pop and Rock release to date, Midwestern artist Dan Israel changes his life and with it his musical style. From the first trumpet blast, it is apparent that this album has diverged from the twelve or so previous and rightly so given that Dan finally quit his day job to write this. His musical career started back in 1993 and this latest album is steeped in the alt-rock of the ’90s. Continue reading “Dan Israel “Social Media Anxiety” (Tinderbox Music, 2019)”
Hootie & the Blowfish + Drivin N Cryin + Patrick Davis, Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith, London, 12th October 2019
Hootie & the Blowfish are back. Following a ten-year break, they reformed in 2018 and have a new album due out soon. On 12th October, their tour of the UK & Ireland hit London. The date, although not sold out, was pretty close, and seeing as Brad Paisley was at the O2 Arena the same night, it was pretty good going. Continue reading “Hootie & the Blowfish + Drivin N Cryin + Patrick Davis, Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith, London, 12th October 2019”
Track Premiere : Ted Z and The Wranglers “Bottles And Barrooms”
Ted Z and The Wranglers are a Southern Californian band who deliver outlaw country-charged rock on their new album ‘Southland‘ from which today’s Track Premiere is taken. Ted is the songwriter, crafting tales of love, regret, getting older and still getting into trouble. The Wranglers are Collin Mclean (bass), Jackson Leverone (lead and slide guitar, vocals) and Jordan Lipp (drums). The band’s sound has poured out across big stages and in biker bars alike.
Continue reading “Track Premiere : Ted Z and The Wranglers “Bottles And Barrooms””
Video: Paul Mosley & The Red Meat Orchestra “Build Your Fire”
A wonderful and fun video (which features Jess Morgan and Jack Harris) to accompany this great and wistfully sad song by Paul Mosley. It’s out as a single and also available on his excellent album ‘You’re Going To Die!‘
Steve Earle covers Guy Clark on ‘Austin City Limits’ – Watch
The epically long-running live music series ‘Austin City Limits’ recently featured a tribute to the songs of the late Guy Clark, who of course died in 2016. The show was hosted by Steve Earle and featured his band the Dukes, with the hour-long episode including other Texan musicians such as Rodney Crowell and Joe Ely. The show starts off with a cover of Clark’s ‘Dublin Blues‘ which you can watch below – it won’t surprise you to hear that it’s absolutely cracking. No news yet as to whether PBS America will show the whole thing in the UK (there’s a great cover of Ricky Scaggs’ ‘Heartbroke’ by Earle with Crowell) but this will whet your appetite for now.
Friendship “Dreamin'” (Orindal Records, 2019)
Friendship is a Philadelphia based band headed by Dan Wriggins and currently comprising Peter Gill, Mike Cormier, Evangeline Krajewski, and Jon Samuels. Their new album ‘Dreamin’’ is a follow up to 2017’s ‘Shock Out of Season’ and if you are not familiar with Friendship then don’t listen to this and expect some full-on, hard-driving Americana. Nope, this is as laid back as it comes and when you realise that Jeff Prystowsky (of Low Anthem fame) helped with the album, then you can start to get some sort of feel for how this will pan out. Continue reading “Friendship “Dreamin’” (Orindal Records, 2019)”
Curse Of Lono + John Murry, The Blue Arrow, Glasgow, 12th October 2019
It’s getting so that Curse Of Lono’s popularity has to push them into larger venues in the very near future. Over a short course they have captured the attention of Bob Harris (who awarded them the AMAUK’s Emerging Act Of The Year award back in January), released three albums and regularly sell out their UK shows. Tonight was no exception with the audience packed like sardines in the tunnel like confines of The Blue Arrow. An added bonus was the presence of the enigmatic John Murry as the support act but there was much more to his presence than just singing some songs before the main act as he and Curse Of Lono seem to have bonded somewhat and each helped out the other’s set. Continue reading “Curse Of Lono + John Murry, The Blue Arrow, Glasgow, 12th October 2019”