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Our latest posts
  • [ July 14, 2026 ] Video: Alex Southey “Green Sunday” – a constant giving-in Videos
  • [ July 13, 2026 ] For The Sake Of The Song: Roger McGuinn “Car Phone” Features
  • [ July 13, 2026 ] Ed Snodderly “ES Pearl Presents Baggage Flies Free” Album Reviews
  • [ July 13, 2026 ] Interview: Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry celebrates The Sadies’ Dallas Good and Watchtowers Interviews
  • [ July 13, 2026 ] Mary Gauthier announces new album “Reckoning” News
HomeColumnsPolitical Pops

Political Pops

AUK’s Paul Villers has a weekly look at the news with an accompanying Americana song

Features

Pick of the Political Pops: Pete Seeger “Freiheit”

July 24, 2020 Paul Villers 0
This week we have been pondering the Spanish Civil War which broke out in July 1936. It was and, for political historians, remains a fascinating conflict the complexities of which present a head-scratching challenge to the […]
Features

Pick of the Political Pops: Graham Parker “Under The Mask Of Happiness”

July 17, 2020 Paul Villers 0
This week we found ourselves at something of a loss as to what to vent our spleens on what with everything going swimmingly and everybody being happy. We did think about marking the 35th anniversary of […]
Features

Pick of the Political Pops: Sturgill Simpson “The Promise”

July 10, 2020 Paul Villers 0
We had a quick straw poll amongst the residents of Americana-UK Towers and pretty much to a man and woman we decided that this was the crappiest zombie apocalypse that we have ever lived through. We […]
Features

Pick of the Political Pops: Smog “The Morning Paper”

July 3, 2020 Paul Villers 0
This week we were somewhat concerned that local rag – The People’s Republic of Liverpudlia’s Armageddon Times and Advertiser – ran a piece which was clearly in contravention of The People’s Republic’s Declaration on Inhuman Rights. […]
Political Pops

Pick of the Political Pops: Nicolai Dunger “Lost In Freedom”

June 26, 2020 Paul Villers 0
Here in the People’s Republic of Liverpudlia we very much value our autonomous status even though through tradition and, er, the law we closely follow our sister republics on our island(s) home. It has been no […]

Posts pagination

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our latest posts

Video: Alex Southey “Green Sunday” – a constant giving-in

Videos
July 14, 2026 0

For The Sake Of The Song: Roger McGuinn “Car Phone”

Features
July 13, 2026 3

Ed Snodderly “ES Pearl Presents Baggage Flies Free”

Album Reviews
July 13, 2026 1

Interview: Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry celebrates The Sadies’ Dallas Good and Watchtowers

Interviews
July 13, 2026 0
Mary Gauthier

Mary Gauthier announces new album “Reckoning”

News
July 13, 2026 0
Videos

Video: Alex Southey “Green Sunday” – a constant giving-in

July 14, 2026 0
Vancouver-born, Toronto-based singer-songwriter Alex Southey has released an absorbing new single. Green Sunday opens with gently insistent guitar before lush layers are introduced and, halfway through, percussion is ushered in, giving the song a greater urgency. […]
Features

For The Sake Of The Song: Roger McGuinn “Car Phone”

July 13, 2026 3
Roger McGuinn has been a musical staple for as long as I can claim to have been making my own choices about what I listen to, through the Byrds and various attempts to put together three-letter […]
Album Reviews

Ed Snodderly “ES Pearl Presents Baggage Flies Free”

July 13, 2026 1
No fuss, just an album of beautifully crafted songs straight from the heart. Five decades into a career that has seen Ed Snodderly as a songwriter, performer, actor, and owner of the legendary Down Home club […]

  • Video: Alex Southey “Green Sunday” – a constant giving-in
  • For The Sake Of The Song: Roger McGuinn “Car Phone”
  • Ed Snodderly “ES Pearl Presents Baggage Flies Free”
  • Interview: Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry celebrates The Sadies’ Dallas Good and Watchtowers
  • Mary Gauthier announces new album “Reckoning”
  • Sounds from beyond the Shed 244 “There by the grace…”
  • Kaatwalk “Open Your Eyes” – can you really not see what’s before you?
  • Video: American Aquarium “Twin Flames” (Live From Echo Mountain)
  • Something for the weekend: Keyside “Cocodamol”
  • Book review: Willy Vlautin “The Left and the Lucky”
Billy Bragg Bob Dylan Bruce Springsteen Chuck Prophet Courtney Marie Andrews Dean Owens Drive By Truckers Emmylou Harris Jason Isbell Johnny Cash John Prine Lucinda Williams Margo Price Neil Young Peter Bruntnell Robert Vincent Ryan Adams Steve Earle Sturgill Simpson The Band The Byrds The Delines Tom Petty Wilco Willie Nelson
  • Steve Robinson: Thanks for sharing the clip. It's a little sobering how young we all looked!
  • Jonathan Aird: Hi Steve - thanks for the comment, really glad you enjoyed it. And thanks for the information about the Tonight…
  • Steve Robinson: Hey Jonathan, What a fun read. Had the pleasure of singing that song with Roger many times as part of…

Latest interviews

Interviews

Interview: Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry celebrates The Sadies’ Dallas Good and Watchtowers

July 13, 2026 0
Canada has continued to punch above its weight musically since the days of Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and the Canuck members of The Band first rose to international prominence in the ’60s, and The Sadies, with […]
Interviews

Interview: Hank Alrich and his sonic explorations

July 7, 2026 1
Like the old sailors of yore, Hank Alrich sure knows how to spin a yarn, though I doubt his are made up or heavily stretched. They keep your attention. I would contentedly sit in an armchair […]
Interviews

Interview: Dietmar Leibecke on the ethos of Germany’s Static Roots Music Festival

July 6, 2026 3
Americana UK’s Rick Bayles’ monthly column, Vox Continental, shines a light on what is happening on the americana front in Europe. In his most recent column, Rick gave the nod to the Static Roots Festival, which […]

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Live Reviews

Live Review: Lake Street Dive, Roundhouse, London – 31st January 2025

February 14, 2025 1
How to describe Lake Street Dive? The five piece band have somehow synthesised many corners of US pop and soul music into their own distinctive blend with an irresistible party vibe. London’s Roundhouse was sold out […]
News

Folk heroes Alvin and Gilmore unite for new album – June

March 1, 2018 0
Friends for over three decades, it took Dave Alvin, the founder of seminal punk roots band Alvin and the Chipmunks The Blasters, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, of the pioneering country-folk trio The Flatlanders, until last year to collaborate […]
Features

For the Sake Of The Song: Bob Dylan “It’s alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)”

June 2, 2025 1
The original premise of this feature was to allow AUK writers to celebrate a favourite song and explain why they so favoured it. Fair enough, but in these blighted times it can seem shallow or even […]

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