Jonathan Aird

Shirley Collins, The Barbican, London, 18th February 2017

February 22, 2017 Jonathan Aird 0

Shirley Collins holds a unique place in the pantheon of English folk music – her 1959 song collecting journey in the USA, assisting Alan Lomax, is legendary enough but she also shook up the folk scene […]

Loudon Wainwright III – ‘Survivng Twin’

February 21, 2017 Jonathan Aird 0

It’s fair to say that growing up Loudon Wainwright III had some mixed feelings about his father, a columnist for LIFE magazine which he has summed up himself in a typically forthright and candid manner: “When […]

Elouise “Deep Water” (Independent, 2016)

February 20, 2017 Jonathan Aird 0

Well, here’s a thing we’ve been waiting for: another subdivision of the Americana genre, with Elouise Walker and her band declaring their sound to be Blackgrass. It’s distinctive from the already familiar Southern Gothic by (for […]

Mary Chapin Carpenter, Cambridge Corn Exchange, Cambridge, 5th February 2017

February 16, 2017 Jonathan Aird 0

This gig was the last of Mary Chapin Carpenter’s UK tour, and was also a first weekend highlight for the inaugural City Roots festival running across many venues in Cambridge as a week-long winter spin-off from […]

Wolf People “Ruins” (Jagjaguwar, 2016)

February 13, 2017 Jonathan Aird 0

Wolf People hold a special place in the spectrum of what we called for a while “psychfolk”. Their albums, and Ruins is no different in this, have a strong folk edge – Jack Sharp’s vocals have […]