Mark Johnson

Ayla Brook and The Sound Men “Desolation Sounds” (Fallen Tree Records, 2020)

May 19, 2020 Mark Johnson 0

It was Captain George Vancouver himself who, whilst mapping the (now) British Columbia coastline, named the deepwater of Desolation Sound, claiming that “there is not a single prospect that is pleasing to the eye”. Of course […]

AmericanA to Z – Hoyt Axton

April 30, 2020 Mark Johnson 5

OK, you’re left with X, Y & Z they said. Not wanting to give short shrift to any Zandt or Young icon, Hoyt Axton contains an x and a y, but is he Americana? Well he […]

Luther Black and the Cold Hard Facts “Luther Black and the Cold Hard Facts” (D.A. Records, 2020)

April 15, 2020 Mark Johnson 0

“There’s an old adage that your first album is your best album because you had your whole life to write it. Well that gives me a big advantage releasing my first album at my age”. So says […]

Anna Lynch “Apples In The Fall” EP (SJ21 Music, 2020)

April 2, 2020 Mark Johnson 0

It’s been seven years since Anna Lynch released her debut album (little heard but first-rate) and returns with this poignant EP steeped in American rurality. A wanderer around her country, her roots in the apple growing […]

Marcus King “El Dorado” (Fantasy Records, 2020)

March 5, 2020 Mark Johnson 2

Marcus King is a genius. Bonafide. A child prodigy on blues guitar, he experienced tragedy, suffering and struggle as a teen that came through so clearly in his first three albums, that Clapton sought him out. […]

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

September 21, 2026 2

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 […]

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

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