Tim Martin

Paperback Riders: Cormac McCarthy, A Great American Novelist?

July 3, 2023 Tim Martin 1

John William DeForest coined the term “the great American novel” in an 1868 essay. He defined it as “the picture of the ordinary emotions and manners of American existence.” He felt that Uncle Tom’s Cabin’, which […]

AUK’s Top 10 Greatest Ever Americana Artists: Tim Martin

June 29, 2023 Tim Martin 0

So, the brief is to pick 10, and only 10, artists that are in my view the greatest ever… Big ask. Having whittled my list down to about 40, and with an hour to go before […]

Book Review: Pete Anderson “How To Produce A Record: A Player’s Philosophy For Making A Great Recording”

June 23, 2023 Tim Martin 0

One of the first questions Anderson attempts to answer in this fascinating book is: “What is a Producer?”. He makes an interesting comparison with the role of the director of a film. As the role these […]

Album/Book Review: Aaron Smith & The Coal Biters “The Legend of Sam Davis And Other Stories of Newton County Arkansas”

June 19, 2023 Tim Martin 1

A remarkable historical and artistic achievement. The book and album combine to give insights into a vital set of stories while keeping sight of the need to entertain as well as inform. The Legend of Sam […]

Classic Clips: Richard Thompson & Nanci Griffith “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” – Sessions at West 54th 1997

June 16, 2023 Tim Martin 0

Richard Thompson’s music has been high on my playlist recently, after re-reading Joe Boyd’s memoir of the 60s for our Paperback Riders strand. Originally recorded for his album ‘Rumor and Sigh’. In the early 90s, ‘1952 […]

Track Premiere: Gary Marks “Where We Started”

September 22, 2026 0

On his new song, Gary Marks turns his songwriter vision on recent events in his homeland, starting from an unprecedented riot in Washington to the, perhaps, surprising eventual fallout from that event. As Marks explains: “I […]

Video: Prinz Grizzley “A Mountain to Be Tamed (The Struggling)” – There’s a devil in me waiting

September 22, 2026 0

Here’s the absorbing new single from Prinz Grizzley, also known as singer-songwriter Chris Comper. A Mountain to Be Tamed (The Struggling) has sparse beginnings, but the musical tension builds dramatically as Comper delivers an incredibly intense […]

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

September 21, 2026 7

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 […]

Articles by Tim Martin