Americana UK

  • News
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Live Reviews
    • Book Reviews
  • Features
    • Archive
      • Americana Bedrock
      • Americana Roots
      • AmericanA to Z
      • A Night to Remember
      • Dirty Dozens
      • Home Life
      • I Write the Songs
      • Lost Albums
      • Political Pops
      • Shuffle
      • Small Venue Heroes
      • Studio Life
      • The Other Side of Me
      • The Twang Factor
      • Top 10 Americana Albums Ever
      • Top 10 Americana Albums of the 21st Century
      • Top 10 Greatest Ever Americana Artists
      • Unsung Heroes
      • Van Life
      • Whatever Happened To…
      • What Should I Do…
      • WITATA
    • Anniversary Cheers
    • AUK Mini-Gigs
    • Can’t Live with it, Can’t Live without it
    • Classic Americana Albums
    • Classic Clips
    • Essentials
    • Fiction
    • For The Sake Of The Song
    • More People Really Should Know About
    • Obituaries
    • Top 10 Americana Songs of All Time
    • VERSIONS
  • Interviews
  • Videos
  • Tracks
  • Columns
    • Sounds from the Shed
    • Vox Continental
  • Podcast
  • Info
    • Contact Us!
    • Review submission FAQ
    • Support Americana UK
    • Want to write for Americana UK?
    • Daily Digest Sign-Up
    • Advertise on Americana UK
    • Privacy Policy
Our latest posts
  • [ August 5, 2026 ] Can’t Live With It, Can’t Live Without It: Tom Waits Can't Live with it, Can't Live without it
  • [ August 5, 2026 ] Paul McClure “The Good And The Bad Of It” Album Reviews
  • [ August 5, 2026 ] Artists with Hearts of Gold contribute to two more albums of Neil Young covers News
  • [ August 5, 2026 ] Greg Freeman announces new album and UK dates News
  • [ August 5, 2026 ] All-star line-up for Bob Harris event announced for Royal Albert Hall in December News
HomeAuthorsBrian Hancill

Articles by Brian Hancill

About Brian Hancill
Retired sub-editor who worked at the Mirror for many years, followed by a stint at The Spectator. Music obsessive since I heard the Beatles aged seven in 1963. Turned on to country and Americana around the turn of the millennium by Bob Harris's Radio 2 shows.
Live Reviews

Live Review: The Unthanks, Barbican Hall, London – 31st January 2026

February 6, 2026 Brian Hancill 0
To celebrate their 20 years together as a band, folk superstars the Unthanks played not one but two UK tours. Late last year they visited 19 intimate venues, many of them harking back to their very […]
Live Reviews

Live Review: Frazey Ford + Phantom, La Maroquinerie, Paris – 30th October 2025

November 7, 2025 Brian Hancill 0
If I ever begin to doubt that great live music can lift my mood and make the world seem a better place, I will think back to this marvellous show. It was the perfect illustration. During […]
Live Reviews

Live Review: Graham Nash + Peter Asher, London Palladium – 19th October 2025

October 24, 2025 Brian Hancill 2
There’s something deeply satisfying about a live show where nearly everyone knows the words and sings along. And by the time Graham Nash left the stage we had sung ourselves hoarse. Looking around the Royal Balcony […]
Live Reviews

Live Review: The Cactus Blossoms, La Marbrerie, Montreuil, France – 12th February 2025

February 24, 2025 Brian Hancill 0
What do you think sets The Cactus Blossoms apart from other Americana-flavoured acts? Well, on the surface you might mention their short-haired, clean-shaven style. They wear matching jackets on stage instead of trying to look like […]
Live Reviews

Live Review: Lyle Lovett and his Acoustic Group, Cadogan Hall, London, 25th January 2025

January 29, 2025 Brian Hancill 2
This wasn’t billed as a music-and-storytelling show, but that’s what it was, and it was all the better for it. With a running time of almost two and a half hours and a set list of […]

Posts pagination

1 2 3 »

our latest posts

Can’t Live With It, Can’t Live Without It: Tom Waits

Can't Live with it, Can't Live without it
August 5, 2026 2

Paul McClure “The Good And The Bad Of It”

Album Reviews
August 5, 2026 0

Artists with Hearts of Gold contribute to two more albums of Neil Young covers

News
August 5, 2026 0

Greg Freeman announces new album and UK dates

News
August 5, 2026 0

All-star line-up for Bob Harris event announced for Royal Albert Hall in December

News
August 5, 2026 0
Can't Live with it, Can't Live without it

Can’t Live With It, Can’t Live Without It: Tom Waits

August 5, 2026 2
The musical influence of Tom Waits over the last seven decades has spanned far beyond what one might define as americana. His deep, gravely voice, has been described as having been soaked in a vat of […]
Album Reviews

Paul McClure “The Good And The Bad Of It”

August 5, 2026 0
The Rutland Troubadour returns for album number four. Paul McClure, on his fourth album, decided to go to pastures new and left the rural north and travelled south to East Sussex and the fine Bex-Pop Studios […]
News

Artists with Hearts of Gold contribute to two more albums of Neil Young covers

August 5, 2026 0
Includes tracks from My Morning Jacket, Lucinda Williams and MJ Lenderman among others. Cinema Music Group, Killphonic Records, and City Slang have announced Heart of Gold: The Songs of Neil Young, Vol. 2 – Out of […]

  • Can’t Live With It, Can’t Live Without It: Tom Waits
  • Paul McClure “The Good And The Bad Of It”
  • Artists with Hearts of Gold contribute to two more albums of Neil Young covers
  • Greg Freeman announces new album and UK dates
  • All-star line-up for Bob Harris event announced for Royal Albert Hall in December
  • Live Review: Lachlan Bryan and The Wildes + Riley Catherall, The Town Hall, Kirton in Lindsey – 25th July 2026
  • Clayton Denwood “Looking for a Road”
  • Ferris & Sylvester “The Game” – going back to the beginning
  • Video: Inland Isle “White Collar Breakdown” – a dark fantasy about AI
  • Video Interview: Aaron Lee Tasjan on “Get Over It, Underdog” and Todd Snider
Billy Bragg Bob Dylan Bruce Springsteen Chuck Prophet Courtney Marie Andrews Dean Owens Drive By Truckers Emmylou Harris Jason Isbell Johnny Cash John Prine Lucinda Williams Margo Price Neil Young Peter Bruntnell Robert Vincent Ryan Adams Steve Earle Sturgill Simpson The Band The Byrds The Delines Tom Petty Wilco Willie Nelson
  • Graeme Tait: Lol. Sorry, Alan, I knew as soon as I'd chosen to cover Tom Waits for this feature you'd be a…
  • Alan Peatfield: OK, Graeme - just one observation ... the obvious one. "As a songwriter he is right up there; on the…
  • Graeme Tait: Hi Alan. Glad you approve. It was an excellent gig.

Latest interviews

Interviews

Video Interview: Aaron Lee Tasjan on “Get Over It, Underdog” and Todd Snider

August 4, 2026 0
Nashville East resident Aaron Lee Tasjan has long been a favourite of Americana UK, and with 12 albums to his name, including his latest Get Over It, Underdog, and approaching 40, he is no longer the […]
Interviews

Video Interview: American Aquarium’s BJ Barham finds “New Ways To Lose”

July 29, 2026 0
American Aquarium appear to be on a creative roll with their latest album, New Ways To Lose, getting great reviews even though it is their twentieth album in as many years. Added to this is the […]
Interviews

Interview: David Keenan on inspiration, optimism and telling stories

July 28, 2026 0
“Radiate a smile if we’re only here for a short while / no we don’t want to miss a day / cus there’s so much we must do,” sings David Keenan on Radiate a Smile, four […]

You may have missed…

Live Reviews

American Aquarium + Anthony D’Amato, The Louisiana, Bristol, 30th October 2018

November 8, 2018 0
Last time Anthony D’Amato toured he was supporting Ziggy Marley as a last minute addition. Winning over a crowd cheering “Ziggy, Ziggy” and expecting the dreadlocked man to walk on stage was not easy. Tonight, however, […]
Album Reviews

Silver Synthetic “Rosalie”

April 24, 2025 0
Silver Synthetic’s sophomore effort is a wonderfully disparate jumble of genres. The primary influence of “Rosalie,” the second album by New-Orleans’ Silver Synthetic, may be Josh Rouse’s “1970” and “Nashville” discs from the mid-2000s. It immediately […]
Album Reviews

The Deslondes “Roll It Out”

September 23, 2024 0
This grand New Orleans collective returns to the fray with an infectious dollop of soulful funky and slippery grooves. The Deslondes roll back into town with another excellent dollop of slippery grooves on their 4th album […]

© Americana UK 2026, a website based in the People's Republic of Liverpool