Let’s be honest, now is the time for the US to start healing itself after possibly the most divisive period, and certainly the most divisive presidential election, in recent history. So now is also the time for a band that stats their message “is about the power of perseverance and radical love as a means of hope during polarizing times.” This stated intention is fully realised on the track ‘Common Ground’ which focuses on the beauty of the world and of life regardless of our divisions: “When the dividing lines are written down, Let’s try to find a piece of common ground, A solid piece of common ground.” Okay, it may not be profound; but it is what is needed at this historical moment. And, more importantly, the track is a great Steve Earle style slab of country-rock. Continue reading “Oklahoma Uprising “High Sign” (OK Records, 2020)”
Author: Peter Tomkins
Over the last fifty years I have probably tried to learn most instruments from the guitar to the trumpet, taking in the accordion and mandolin along the way. And failed. But as a music lover I started writing for magazines and websites about music around ten years ago. It's a break from my day to day life as a teacher and leader.
Brennen Leigh “Prairie Love Letter” (Independent, 2020)
There’s a whole lot of the United States that is a bit of a blur for most people. We know about the East Coast from Chicago down to New Orleans; and maybe into Texas heading West. We know about the West Coast around LA and San Francisco, and maybe as far into the interior as Las Vegas. But there’s that whole sweep of Trump-voting small town America that most people fly over. Brennen Leigh is from here, the border of Minnesota and North Dakota, up near Canada, in the Mid-West. Now based in Nashville, and previously in Austin, this is a nostalgic album filled with memories of her Mid-West farming childhood. Continue reading “Brennen Leigh “Prairie Love Letter” (Independent, 2020)”