Well that’s a wrap from us for this year dear readers. Thanks so much for all your support for the site which we still manage to scrape along on a shoestring budget, but it happens firstly because of the generosity of all our writers across the UK and beyond who give their time freely to make this happen each day, and secondly because you keep logging on as it were. Continue reading “Happy Christmas to all our readers from Americana UK”
Here at AUK, we are jolly souls, who like to share the seasonal joy – three things we particularly love are endlessly debatable top ten lists, Christmas songs, and Roseanne Reid. Could it be possible to combine all three? Indeed, it could! We are delighted to spread a little peace and goodwill to all with a selection box of festive musical treats specially selected for us by the wonderful Roseanne Reid. Continue reading “Roseanne Reid selects her top ten Americana Christmas tracks”
I can quite vividly remember New Year’s Eve last year, with family members clustered around the TV set for Jools Holland’s Hootenanny and the satisfaction I had in being able to point to a rising star in the Americana genre, a musical form for whom most of those assembled had either little interest or understanding. Not surprisingly, the person in question was Yola, winner of this year’s AUK’s readers poll best UK artist and best solo artist – and 2019 has proven to be more successful for her than she could possibly have imagined. Continue reading “2019 has been Yola’s year”
So here we are again. If the word “poll” is still making you break out in cold sweats, this will hopefully be cathartic before the year is out. We should have actually started counting the number of years we’ve done this – From recollection, in our first readers poll, the winner of best new act was Thomas Edison and Alfonso XIII of Spain was our hero of the year, although it has moved on from the days when Ryan Adams won every other category (and not the one he almost came runner-up in this year). Let’s just say that two artists in particular have done very well this year. Congratulations to Gary Walker who wins some promos which will be winging their way to you soon! So without further ado, here are the results from this year’s AUK readers poll. Continue reading “Here are the results of 2019’s Americana UK readers poll!”
We do love a bit of Tyler Childers here on AUK and earlier in the week he was the musical guest on Late Night With Seth Meyers Monday night, performing the title track from his rather fine latest album ‘Country Squire’ complete with some fiddle and steel guitar. Childers’ song ‘All Your’n’ also from the same album was nominated for the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in the category for Best Country Solo Performance.
Christmas albums should be approached with caution – most of them aren’t very good and, like an unwanted present, need to be discarded as soon as possible. Thankfully, ‘Christmas In The Background’ by US indie-folk/Americana singer-songwriter Saw Black, from Richmond, Virginia – the album is credited to him and The Toys – is one of those festive records that should be welcomed into your home, rather than left out in the cold. Continue reading “Saw Black & The Toys “Christmas In The Background” (WarHen Records, 2019)”
We could make the glib comment that she’s getting them for Christmas – but that’d be so patronising, wouldn’t it? And so against the intent of the song that’d it be doing it a sizable injustice. Mosa is the band, the songwriter and singer is Melissa Frabotta, from New York. This song is an empowering embracement of the end of the affair : “I’ll make this easy for the two of us / I’m so tired of you and you’re so tired of me / I’m going into town and Mama’s going to feel brand new“. Continue reading “Mosa “Mama’s Got Brand New Shoes” – Listen”
“I think that live music is something that the internet can never kill” – Jim James (My Morning Jacket). In an age when we can access our favourite music in so many ways and so many forms, for me the best way remains – live. I’m not talking massive stadium or arena gigs, but small and medium-sized venues with character and intimacy. With only a handful of exceptions, these are the places where most Americana artists will ply their trade in the UK. Luckily for me, there are a number of such venues in Manchester providing the opportunity to see top acts for relatively small amounts of money. Continue reading “The best gigs of 2019: a personal reflection”
A nice bit of news to end the year with this morning from Rolling Stone Country who are reporting that John Prine has been named one of the recipients of the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Awards at next year’s GRAMMYs. The singer-songwriter, whose 1971 debut album was entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015, had three Grammy nominations last year for his album ‘The Tree of Forgiveness.’ Continue reading “John Prine gets Lifetime Achievement Award at 2020 Grammys”
The second time around the duo of Kati Claborn and Luke Ydstie took a much more collaborative approach to the musical arrangements that support their still lovely harmonies and vocal interplay. Whereas their debut album was striking for the sparse arrangements that accompanied their voices, this album brought in friends from the Astoria, OR music community to arrive at a fuller sound. Claborn and Ydstie credit producer Adam Selzer with the final shape that the album took, saying that he had a “huge effect on how the album turned out”. Continue reading “The Hackles “A Dobritch Did As A Dobritch Should” (Jealous Butcher Records, 2019)”
