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Our latest posts
  • [ June 8, 2026 ] For The Sake Of The Song: Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard “California Zephyr” Features
  • [ June 8, 2026 ] Jesper Lindell “Royal” Album Reviews
  • [ June 8, 2026 ] Seasick Steve proclaims The Last Season Of America with his new album News
  • [ June 8, 2026 ] Preview: Jessie Malin Returns to the UK for a limited run of shows Previews
  • [ June 8, 2026 ] The Two Tracks “Seasons Unknown” Album Reviews
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: VanWyck + Alex Lipinski + The Miller Sessions, Paper Vintage Dress, London – 19th December 2024

January 16, 2025 Brian Hancill 1
Two years and two albums after her last UK show, Dutch singer-songwriter VanWyck drove over to London via a car ferry and gave an intense and powerful performance at an oddly named venue called Paper Vintage […]
Live Reviews

Live Review: Linda Thompson presents Proxy Music, Cadogan Hall, London – 19th July 2024

August 1, 2024 Brian Hancill 0
Linda Thompson is one of the best singers ever to stand in front of a microphone. Across six albums with her then husband Richard and then on four solo releases, she brought songs to life with […]
Live Reviews

Live Review: Asleep at the Wheel + Jack Browning, Cadogan Hall, London – 4th June 2024

June 13, 2024 Brian Hancill 2
If you play an Asleep at the Wheel song on Spotify via your smart TV the picture that fills the screen shows bandleader Ray Benson at the centre of a collage of nearly 50 musicians. These […]
Live Reviews

Live review: Bonnie Raitt + Gareth Dunlop, London Palladium – 3rd June 2023

June 13, 2023 Brian Hancill 0
Taking my seat at this beautiful old venue, I gazed across the stalls to a familiar sea of grey hair, white hair or no hair left at all. That’s par for the course with “legacy artists” […]
Live Reviews

Live Review: Nickel Creek + Lau Noah, Union Chapel, London, 27th January 2023

February 3, 2023 Brian Hancill 0
The first sign of the wild enthusiasm that greeted Nickel Creek’s first UK show in 20 years was the queue outside the Union Chapel as the temperature plunged towards 2 degrees Celsius on a dark January […]

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our latest posts

Jay Farrar and Ben Gibbard

For The Sake Of The Song: Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard “California Zephyr”

Features
June 8, 2026 0
Artwork for Jesper Lindell album "Royal"

Jesper Lindell “Royal”

Album Reviews
June 8, 2026 0

Seasick Steve proclaims The Last Season Of America with his new album

News
June 8, 2026 0

Preview: Jessie Malin Returns to the UK for a limited run of shows

Previews
June 8, 2026 0

The Two Tracks “Seasons Unknown”

Album Reviews
June 8, 2026 0
Jay Farrar and Ben Gibbard
Features

For The Sake Of The Song: Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard “California Zephyr”

June 8, 2026 0
The idea of a journey, setting off on the road, the excitement, the anticipation of discovery, leaving the stress and worries and memories behind is a construct we all can identify with. The romance of the […]
Artwork for Jesper Lindell album "Royal"
Album Reviews

Jesper Lindell “Royal”

June 8, 2026 0
Vibrant set of vintage soul grooves from Sweden via Memphis. In the wake of his most recent release, Jesper Lindell and his band, The Brunnsvik Sounds, return with another impressive collection of soul-infused covers. While the […]
News

Seasick Steve proclaims The Last Season Of America with his new album

June 8, 2026 0
“It’s the last season of America, And we’ll never watch again, The show that we loved ” Veteran Bluesman Seasick Steve returns with The Last Season of America, his new album due September 19th on LP, […]

  • For The Sake Of The Song: Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard “California Zephyr”
  • Jesper Lindell “Royal”
  • Seasick Steve proclaims The Last Season Of America with his new album
  • Preview: Jessie Malin Returns to the UK for a limited run of shows
  • The Two Tracks “Seasons Unknown”
  • Sounds from beyond the Shed 236 “Disgust”
  • Preview: UK trio pay live tribute to legend Michael Hurley
  • The Pintos “Studio Rain” – trapped within the walls
  • Video Premiere: Matt Pless “Comin’ Through the Rye”
  • Something for the weekend: Here’s to Bob Harris
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  • keith hargreveas: Let's hope so, Graham. Thanks for the support.
  • Graham Cole: Thank you for this sfbts Keith. I could not agree more, and I am hoping this will be one nail…
  • Neale Graham: Mark is right - this is an exquisite song. Everything about it is perfect and the new version might even…

Latest interviews

Interviews

Interview: Greg Loftus – As both musician and carpenter, he would like to knock on wood

June 5, 2026 1
Greg Loftus comes from the town of Bourne, not far from the bridge that connects Massachusetts to Cape Cod. It is there that he practices woodworking, operates a club in nearby Falmouth and makes rock music […]
Interviews

Interview: Ben Vaughn on being true to yourself and the joys of recording an album in your car

May 29, 2026 0
To say Ben Vaughn has had an eclectic musical career would be a gross understatement. He grew up in the Philadelphia area, and his journey into music began when a kind uncle gave him a Duane […]
Interviews

Interview: Beau Jennings – In Tribute to Will Rogers and the Verdigris

May 27, 2026 0
If History was your favourite class in school, raise your digital hand. Only two? Come on, the subject is not that dull. Now pay attention. Today, we are going to learn about a river called the […]

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Columns

Sounds from beyond the Shed Week 40

December 17, 2021 5
Happy Christmas I think… So here it comes like a speeding bullet – the end of term. Feels more like the end of days when watching current news bulletins. Couple of questions: Why when reporters ask […]
Other stuff

Our new AUK supporters playlist is out today – win tickets to see Chuck Prophet on tour

January 6, 2023 0
Our new playlist of the best new Americana we’ve heard over the last month is out later today exclusively for AUK supporters including new tracks by Billy Strings, Elizabeth Moen, Neal Casal, Tyler Childers and the […]
artwork for Dropkick Murphys album "This Machine Still Kills Fascists"
Album Reviews

Dropkick Murphys “This Machine Still Kills Fascists”

September 29, 2022 0
Amplifier’s turned off as Massachusetts rockers breathe fire into Guthrie’s lyrics, strikingly relevant for such times as these. For well over twenty years Dropkick Murphys have unapologetically delivered their brand of American Celtic Punk Rock supplying […]

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