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Our latest posts
  • [ September 21, 2026 ] Stamping on the passion: Why AI written PR is a bad thing for music Features
  • [ September 21, 2026 ] Carla Gover and Friends “Williams Branch is Hard to Find” Album Reviews
  • [ September 21, 2026 ] For the Sake of the Song: Grateful Dead “High Time” Features
  • [ September 21, 2026 ] Genre changing Buena Vista Social Club album 30th Anniversary Edition out now Previews
  • [ September 21, 2026 ] Paper Verses “Windstill” Album Reviews
HomeAuthorsGordon Sharpe

Articles by Gordon Sharpe

About Gordon Sharpe
Retired music fan longing to get back to the Lakes and hoping to visit Scotland before much longer - somehow South Cheshire just doesn't cut it. Still seeking the grail in terms of a convincing description of what Americana really is but really enjoying the search. And still wondering when Kenny Rogers will get his just deserts
Classic Americana Albums

Classic Americana Albums: Randy Newman “Sail Away”

March 30, 2022 Gordon Sharpe 2
A unique voice and – for once – it’s no exaggeration. In a number of previous articles, I have let it be known that I have great admiration for Randy Newman and I suggested that the […]
Book Reviews

Paperback Riders: Peter Biskind “Easy Riders, Raging Bulls”

March 25, 2022 Gordon Sharpe 0
Paperback Riders at the pictures. If, as I do, you love the American cinema of the 70s then you may not want to read this book, you may not even want to read this article. That […]
Other stuff

Will Oldham and John Sayles – “Matewan”

March 16, 2022 Gordon Sharpe 0
A powerful tale of working life in the 1920’s Virginia coal mines. Americana goes to the movies, as Gordon Sharpe takes another of his occasional looks at films making good use of an Americana-based soundtrack… Film […]
Book Reviews

Book Review – Philip Watson “Bill Frisell: Beautiful Dreamer”

March 15, 2022 Gordon Sharpe 0
An encapsulation of the diverse music, if not quite the life, of a major American musician. In an article in August 2020, about notable acoustic guitar players, I threw in a wild card with Bill Frisell. […]
AUK's Chain Gang

AUK’s Chain Gang: Malvina Reynolds “Little Boxes”

March 14, 2022 Gordon Sharpe 0
The link to last week’s feature is that of property and housing and, whereas we were contemplating an apparently desirable ocean-front property, this week we are looking at the other end of the market – little […]

Posts pagination

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our latest posts

Stamping on the passion: Why AI written PR is a bad thing for music

Features
September 21, 2026 1

Carla Gover and Friends “Williams Branch is Hard to Find”

Album Reviews
September 21, 2026 0
Ad for American Beauty album 5th December 1970

For the Sake of the Song: Grateful Dead “High Time”

Features
September 21, 2026 0

Genre changing Buena Vista Social Club album 30th Anniversary Edition out now

Previews
September 21, 2026 0
Album art for Paper Verses Windstill

Paper Verses “Windstill”

Album Reviews
September 21, 2026 0
Features

Stamping on the passion: Why AI written PR is a bad thing for music

September 21, 2026 1
If a music writer opens ten press releases this month, they’ll spot something odd. They all sound like the same person wrote them. Not because the artists share a publicist, or because there’s a house style […]
Album Reviews

Carla Gover and Friends “Williams Branch is Hard to Find”

September 21, 2026 0
A cycle of Appalachian folk songs from writer and activist Si Kahn, subtitled Songs for Strong Kentucky Women The subtitle for this album is “Si Kahn’s Songs for Strong Kentucky Women”. Si Kahn is one of […]
Ad for American Beauty album 5th December 1970
Features

For the Sake of the Song: Grateful Dead “High Time”

September 21, 2026 0
“You told me goodbye, how was I to know/You didn’t mean goodbye, you meant please don’t let me go?” Well. It’s the age of nostalgia, so it feels just about right to reminisce about an old […]

  • Stamping on the passion: Why AI written PR is a bad thing for music
  • Carla Gover and Friends “Williams Branch is Hard to Find”
  • For the Sake of the Song: Grateful Dead “High Time”
  • Genre changing Buena Vista Social Club album 30th Anniversary Edition out now
  • Paper Verses “Windstill”
  • Sounds from beyond the Shed 245 “Stop….thief…”
  • Brown Wimpenny “Shady Grove” – chugs like a fast train
  • Video: Ethan Setiawan & Fine Ground “Ships at Sea” – wonderfully-warm and woozy
  • Something for the weekend: Teenage Fanclub “Be With You Tonight”
  • Benjamin Tod “Country is Dead”
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
  • keith hargreaves: Great article Tim
  • Patrick Hurley: A most unexpected list to kick things off with. It seems only reasonable to repeat here a definition I’ve come…
  • keith: Oh yes the whole album is great actually. If you want a deep dive, the best album for me is…

Latest interviews

Behind the Songs

Behind the Songs: Maya de Vitry – “All My Faith”

September 15, 2026 0
Behind the Songs: Maya de Vitry – “All My Faith”If you arrive at All My Faith looking for something that sounds like Gillian Welch, you might find your thirst briefly satiated by No Time to Rush, the final […]
Interviews

Interview: Adam Chaffins on what is great about flea markets, dive bars and trailer trash

August 28, 2026 1
As one of the most resourceful songwriters in americana, Adam Chaffins welcomes you to the latest from his wacky, witty world in Trailer Trash: Doublewide (Spirit Nashville Recordings, 2026), a collection of narratives about schemers, dive […]
Interviews

Video Interview: Richard Olson of the Hanging Stars and Tim Prottey-Johns of the First Time Flyers on the Long Road Festival

August 26, 2026 0
Why musicians love the Long Road Festival. In preparation for Americana UK’s David Jarman‘s preview of the Long Road Festival, he interviewed Richard Olson of the Hanging Stars and Tim Prottey-Jones of the First Time Flyers. […]

You may have missed…

Tracks

Becky Kapell “I Don’t Know” – Listen

October 26, 2020 0
There are lots of things we don’t know about Becky Kapell, but one thing we’re sure of is that the first single from her upcoming new album is ‘I Don’t Know‘.  We’re not sure when the […]
Columns

Cajun Corner – Feufollet

May 28, 2021 2
From Child Prodigies to a Band on Fire! Feufollet are a young Cajun band, hailing from Lafayette, Louisiana. They represent the newer generation of Cajun musicians keeping this great music alive. They take Cajun, Honky Tonk, […]
Album Reviews

Chris Blevins “Better Than Alone” (Horton Records, 2017)

December 21, 2017 0
Chris Blevins’ music is like a breath of fresh air; his narrative and full-bodied sound and way he removes the veneer to get to the source sets him apart from the field. Americana music has many […]

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