With the long, hot summer finally fading, it seems like a lot of European artists are keen to get out on tour.
Oakland Rain are a Norwegian folk and Americana duo, made up of twin sisters, Maren and Charlotte Wallevik. They’re heading to the USA for another tour with the artist who has become a friend and mentor to them; since 2024, the duo have actively been touring in the U.S. with an American icon who played a major role in the 60s and 70s folk revival that began in Greenwich Village, Judy Collins. Collins has since become a very important figure in their life. That bond is a featured part of their award-winning documentary The Road To The Ryman, which has evolved into a feature film documentary about Judy Collins’ life that is currently in the works.
In their documentary The Road To The Ryman, Oakland Rain invited us to look behind the curtain, following their process of making their English-language debut album, Twin Flame Part I: The Evergreen, and touring with folk legend Judy Collins. The documentary gives a glimpse into the journey leading up to their international debut album and their debut at The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.
Oakland Rain begin their fall 2026 U.S. tour opening for Judy Collins on her farewell tour. The duo will join Collins on select dates, beginning September 24th in Tucson, Arizona.
The duo are very interesting and prolific musicians, having released critically acclaimed EPs and a Norwegian album, written for film and for Ibsen theatre plays, performed at prestigious festivals, appeared on national and international television and radio, and had the honour of being chosen to play for the Norwegian Crown Prince and Crown Princess. The duo’s songwriting has also been mentioned on Billboard’s list of recommendations. The duo has both Norwegian and American heritage, and growing up along the southern coast of Norway and partly in California has inspired their outlook on life and their writing. Twin Flames Part II: Heavenly Blue, the follow-up to their first English-language album, is set for release in 2027. You can find out more about this fascinating duo, along with all the dates of their U.S. tour supporting Judy Collins, at their website.
Martha Fields, the Bordeaux-based American country and Americana artist, and her excellent band of French musicians are fresh from playing the popular Watt’n Country Festival in Germany, and are now embarking on a series of dates in France, before heading down to finish October in Spain, with three gigs over the final weekend of the month. Martha and the band are a really superb live act and among the best country pickers in continental Europe. Their relatively recently released live album gives you some idea of what to expect at their live shows, and includes their blistering version of Orange Blossom Special, as seen in this clip from a festival in the Gironde, in France.
Details of the venues and dates can be found on the Martha Fields Band Facebook page.
Rising Antwerp trio BLUAI are heading across the Channel to play some gigs in the UK during October, ahead of the release of new album The Way You Talk Reminds Me Of Home, released on October 30th. The album follows their acclaimed debut, released in 2024, Save It For Later. They also have a new single release, It’s Gotta Be Me, and you can listen to it below.
The Belgian band consist of Catherine Smet, Mo Govaerts and Caitlin Talbut, and they have been steadily building a name for themselves both at home and abroad, following wins in three of Belgium’s leading music contests. The band have become a fixture on national airwaves and festival line-ups, with appearances at Rock Werchter, Pukkelpop, Cactus Festival, Lokerse Feesten and more, including standout performances at Hyde Park (UK), Lowlands (NL), Vida Festival (ES), Frequency Festival (AT), Dot to Dot (UK) and Live at Leeds (UK), while earning ‘band to watch’ features in Rolling Stone UK and The Independent.
They remind me a little of the excellent Be Good Tanyas, which is no bad thing, and their UK dates should be well worth catching. All details available at their website.
UK-based Canadian outfit, April Moon, is back in Germany and the Netherlands for a few dates. Sadly, we received the information a little late, but you can still catch their gigs in Winsen (Sept. 25th), Tonfink (Sept. 26th), Bremen (Oct. 2nd), Bad Essen (Oct. 3rd) and Eindhoven (Oct. 7th), before they head back to the UK for further dates. You can find the details at their website.
They’re promoting their new single, Change Is Calling Me, which came out at the end of August and is a co-write (and performance) with York-based duo Winding Roots, who bring fiddle and third-part harmony to April Moon’s usual guitar- and banjo-based sound.
And so to new music. The ever excellent Embla and the Karidotters have released their third studio album, The Fool, and they’re promoting it as Norway’s first bona fide queer country album.
With track titles like CUNTRY (I kid you not), Wanna Ride, and Rhinestoned Cowgirl, Embla firmly nails her colours to the mast, but this is an artist who has always worn her heart on her sleeve and followed her own passions. She has always spoken her mind, both in person and through her songs, and she’s a fierce advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, is vocal in her support for Palestine, fights for animal rights, and actively advocates for veganism. All that may make you think that this is an album of dryly political songs, but, on the contrary, it’s full of fun and packs a musical punch that makes you want to listen to what’s going on. Embla and the band playfully explore the country genre, drawing on rowdy 90s C&W, indie-tinged alt-country, and honky tonk bar room songs to radiate humour and shamelessness. The whole album sounds like a party where everyone is included, and you can hear the enjoyment the band had, putting this recording together in the studio.
Embla herself might attract comparisons to the much-missed Dolly Parton, having recently launched ‘Embla’s Hoedown’, a unique blend of farmers’ market, amusement park, and country club concept—complete with line dancing classes and concerts—but this new album shows she’s very much an artist with her own focus for the future. Whether it’s ‘Queer Country’ or not, this is a strong album.
As has been said before in this column, we do like a good collaboration, and this is a particularly enjoyable one. Swedish singer-songwriter Annika Fehling & German blues and Americana artist Markus Rill have teamed up to bring us an excellent single in the form of Light & Dark, an atmospheric, slow-burning duet about the push and pull of the opposing forces that shape our lives.
It’s an ideal song for these two artists, whose voices perfectly reflect that light-and-dark concept. Fehling’s voice is almost ethereal, so light at times, yet strong and beautifully pitched. Rill’s voice is in complete contrast, raspy and weathered from the years of fronting a hard-rocking band, yet the two voices come together so well on this recording, produced by Swedish artist Patrick Rydman.
To add to the mystery around this song, we have no other information about it. It’s out now, and you can access it at Rill’s Bandcamp page, but we don’t know, at this point, if it’s part of a broader collaboration or a simple one-off. Interestingly, some of Rill’s upcoming live appearances do include Annika Fehling. You can find information on these at Rill’s website.
Katrin Seebacher is a singer-songwriter and producer from Carinthia, Austria, a region in the eastern Alps that encompasses Austria’s highest mountain, Grossglockner. It’s characterised by alpine lakes and mountains, as well as medieval buildings such as Hochosterwitz Castle. So it’s not a typical background for someone whose music leans heavily into contemporary country with elements of Pop and Soul. But there’s a strong focus on melody and storytelling that draws on European folk traditions. Perhaps unsurprisingly, her songs have received radio airplay in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain, the UK, USA, Canada and Australia, and her latest release, The Winner Takes It All (not to be confused with the ABBA song of the same name), is a powerful track about ambition, determination, hope and the moment when all the hard work leads to the spotlight. Available from the usual streaming services.
Finally, we have Odin Brennhaug, a former finalist on Norway’s version of The Voice, where he advanced by singing covers of The Beatles and Elton John songs! But Almost Wrote A Song For You is a decent slice of laid-back Americana about the end of summer, co-written by Anne Fagermo and producer Bjoern Nilsen.
Considering how different Norway is from the landscape in the southern states, it’s always impressive that Scandinavian writers can still capture that sun blazing down, dusty-highway vibe. It’s a follow-up to his previous single, Can’t Follow You There, which apparently performed well on radio. Given that this new song isn’t a massive departure in sound from the previous recording, he might expect a similar response, but he’ll likely need to change it up a bit before his next release. Brennhaug has a good voice, and these are likeable songs. It’ll be interesting to see how he progresses. Almost Wrote A Song For You is available from the usual streaming outlets.
That brings us to the end of this month’s offerings. Hopefully, there’s something there for everyone, and it’s nice to see some autumn tours getting underway. We’ll be back next month with more from continental Europe, and remember;
If you are an Americana-influenced artist operating out of mainland Europe and have new music or a tour to promote, let me know. Contact information is on the webzine page under ‘Info’. This column is published on the last Thursday of every month throughout the year.
