AUK Back Pages No.18

We bounce into the middle months of 2010 with a spring in our steps. Partly due to the latest innovation on the monthly CDs (as mentioned previously) of having a short blurb for each of the songs contained on the discs printed in the covers. It transpires that these were written by our editor Mark (presumably in a frenzy as deadline approached) as some of the discs the songs were taken from were yet to be reviewed. In addition there’s a (sometimes) pithy introduction which is cool as your writer can scan some of these and add them to the images. Such as this one from the May edition (and sadly, we were ushered into more than a decade of Tory misrule).

In addition, The Wayback Machine has archived a fair amount from this period allowing us a fairly good glimpse into the world of AUK mid 2010. It’s still a bit glitchy mind you so most of the links to the actual content are dead but we can glean the following.

Of the summer festivals AUK covered the Kilkenny Rhythm & Roots Festival with Maurice Hope enjoying Jason & The Scorchers in particular. We also cover Maverick and the Cambridge Folk Festival along with a visit to the Summer Sundae Weekender in Leicester where our reviewer is blown away by Mumford and Sons, a band who were on the crest of a wave back then.

On the live gig front it seems that Jonathon Aird was busy as a bee as he reviews shows from Giant Sand, C.W. Stoneking, Crosby Stills & Nash, Dr John and the Lower 911 and a rare combination of Fairport Convention and The Incredible String Band alongside his thoughts on John Renbourne & Robin Williamson. Aside from Jon’s endeavours we also have live reviews of Po Girl and Diane Jones.

There are interviews with Cam Penner (“the best Americana comes from Canada”), Blitzen Trapper, Kim Richey, Otis Gibbs, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Mary Gauthier (“a walking, talking, breathing Americana song”), Johnny Dowd, Gretchen Peters, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Mark Olson and  Richard Thompson.

Elsewhere, our editor Mark notes that the AUK website was due to have a facelift although gremlins were battling his efforts to get it done; over the four months covered here it’s still pending. There’s still a live gig guide although it’s pretty limited. AUK activism remains rooted to the organisations previously mentioned and there’s little news archived.

Onto the discs then and, it has to said, this is a pretty fallow period in terms of big hitters. Willie Nelson and Mary Gauthier are the highlights on the May offering while The Sadies, Jim Lauderdale, Teenage Fanclub, Mark Olson, Phosphorescent, The Pernice Brothers, Jim Lauderdale, Frazey Ford, Roky Erickson (with Okkerville River), Johnny Flynn (four years before “Detectorists”) and Richard Thompson pop up on the following months. As ever there are 80 songs to consider over the four discs (along with the usual four “hidden” songs) and, as ever again, much of the joy in the listening is in discovering forgotten gems.

Another reason for that spring in our steps mentioned at the beginning of this article is that the first song on the May compilation is a bit of a belter from what appears to be a long lost band, Johnny Bertram & The Golden Bicycles. ‘Fortification’ is a cool amalgamation of bluegrass and LA canyon country rock with some garage punk styled farfisa organ pushing the song. Also lost in the mists of time is John Meeks who delivers a fine countrified rocker on ‘I Am Alone, I Am Lonely’ (from his album “Old Blood” which got a 9/10 score on AUK back then) while The Slummers finds Green On Red stalwart Dan Stuart teaming up with JD Foster on a grand Paisley Underground like song on ‘Last One Out’. Meanwhile, show biz veteran Susan Cowsill has Jackson Browne on board as she sings ‘Avenue Of The Indians’, a swell song.

As for the “hidden” bonus track on each of the discs, May finds our editor Mark indulging in, for the third time, some love for Chicago although, to be fair to him, ‘What Else Can I Say’  is a 1971 cut which grooves, well before their bland chart days. June’s secret song is ‘See You Home Straight’ by The Vessels, a band I know nothing about but it’s a fine slice of hazy days like wonderings. In a similar vein July’s offering is Beachwood Sparks’ ‘The Reminder’, a glorious song. The Handsome Family round up the hidden tracks on the August disc with their delicious rendition of ‘The Giant Of Illinois’, a welcome reminder of their offbeat take on traditional americana.

You can still be a friend of Americana UK in this digital age, and amazingly, it’s now cheaper to do so than it was in 2010. All details here.

Vintage screenshots grabbed via The Wayback Machine.