Not this side of the pond as it were, we’ve got Steps to co-ordinate our charity gigs and I know who I’d rather have (I suspect you might do too). Leaving you this weekend dear reader with news that Steve Earle has announced the lineup for his John Henry’s Friends benefit show which he hosts annually, taking place this year on December 3rd in New York. Continue reading “Steve Earle announces lineup for December benefit show”
RS Country are running a nice little (not so little actually) interview today with Americana royalty (in a Republican way) (that’s Republican in the UK sense) (why did I start this?) Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires who talk to them about their new albums, how they both met and speaking out in the era of Trump. Continue reading “RS Country interview Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires”
Ahead of her forthcoming UK tour, Amy Rigby will be releasing her first solo album in a dozen years ‘The Old Guys’ in the UK on 30th November, and she’s shared a brand new single from it, ‘Tom Petty Karaoke’, inspired by J Mascis singing “Don’t Do Me Like That” at karaoke. Amy explains more about the track: “Tom Petty is a guardian angel for me, like he was and is for many musicians. I’ve written about him on my blog a lot because anytime I’m on the road it’s like Tom is there on my shoulder, saying “that’s cool” or “you can do better”. This was true when he was alive and even more now that he’s gone.” Rigby hits the UK for dates next month – catch them below.
El Coyote describe themselves as an “alt-country-folk, Nashville influenced Canadiana band sound” who’ve been individually playing for years but have come together for their self-titled debut record, of which they’re sharing the ace track ‘Tip Jar’ with us here at AUK this morning. They told us: “The opening bars of dobro and hi-hat set the mood for the song, which soon settles into a driving groove joined by upright bass and acoustic guitar, reminiscent of 1970s JJ Cale. Moore’s lilting vibrato sings a commiseration with anyone who tires of the daily grind and feels stuck in a holding pattern, joined in an uplifting chorus with Tompkins and Desveaux.” Oh and half their site is in French which we always like. Bien joué El Coyote!
https://soundcloud.com/user-959496940/06-tip-jar
Legendary US songwriter Steve Forbert will release his brand new album ‘The Magic Tree’ on October 26th, and will play a special show at Nell’s Jazz and Blues in London this Sunday (October 21st). ‘The Magic Tree’ is a concept album based on the Enid Blyton books of almost the same name. Actually it’s not, but there’s an idea for someone. The record is built on previously recorded acoustic demos, augmented with new backing tracks, and will be released alongside a memoir chronicling Steve’s career spanning over 40 years and 18 studio albums, making him, to all intents and purposes, a true folk legend.
The absolutely exquisite in every sense of the word Darlingside are returning to the UK at the end of this month to play headline shows – just 3 of them but they’re well spaced out, taking place as they are in Edinburgh, Manchester and London’s Shepherds Bush Empire. Their third album ‘Extralife’ was released in February via More Doug Records/Thirty Tigers, which found the band looking to the future, mourning the loss of our world with an almost post-apocalyptic view. Continue reading “Darlingside head back to UK for more dates”
British singer-songwriter Roo Panes has just released the single version of ‘Ophelia’ from his latest album ‘Quiet Man’ which was released June 18th via CRC Records, disappointingly not a concept album about Iain Duncan Smith but instead sounding like Jeff Buckley on an MDMA comedown. Roo’s third album which we described as “uniformly beautiful and moving”, his music has been streamed over 180 million times on Spotify – pity those who have never had a track played once.
We’re leaving you this week dear readers with the studio version of a track we’ve already covered on the site recently when Willie Nelson headlined a rally for Democratic Texas Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke last month in Austin. He played a new political anthem ‘Vote ‘Em Out’ which urged Americans to exercise their hard fought right to vote on Election Day. As RS Country noted: “The “On the Road Again” singer was criticized by some conservative fans who objected to his performing at the O’Rourke rally. Unfazed, Nelson appeared on the talk show The View and defended his support for the Democrat. “Everybody has an opinion,” he said. “Everybody has a right to an opinion. I think I have one too.”” Have a good weekend everyone.
Illinois folk trio The Deep Hollow are releasing their latest LP ‘Weary Traveler’ next month and they’ve shared the track ‘Real Life’ from it this morning, a dark and brooding folk tune led by acoustic guitars and intricately-layered vocal harmonies. The band’s Micah Walk told AUK: “This song is simply about unabashedly living life knowing who you are and pursuing what you know you are meant to do. I’m a big fan of Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell and Shovels & Rope. I think all of those artists influenced this song in some way, especially in terms of harmonies and production style. I know our producer was trying to channel some Rolling Stones, too, which I didn’t mind at all! Personal life experience definitely inspired this song, though, as well. It isn’t always literal for me, but in this case, it is.”
‘Laws Of Motion’ is the new album from six-time BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards winner Karine Polwart’s latest project to ally music & storytelling with socio-politics. It’s the follow-up to her SAY nominated ‘Wind Resistance’ project, which alongside the much-praised album, also included a self-produced multi-award winning theatre production and a Faber & Faber published script, later selected by the Guardian as a 2017 Book Of The Year. Subject matter as disparate as Trump, WW2 & holocaust survivors are drawn together by the laws of the album’s title alongside the experiences of migrants and allegorical folk & children’s stories. Speaking about the broad focus of the album. Polwart says; “I didn’t set out to write songs on a unified theme – they’ve just landed that way. Perhaps that’s no surprise, given the times we’re in.”
