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Margo Price has announced the surprise release of a new live album, ‘Perfectly Imperfect at The Ryman’. Out today exclusively on Bandcamp, all proceeds benefit the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, and while Margo has been working on putting the energy of those gigs back out into the world ever since they happened, she couldn’t wait any longer. Continue reading “Margo Price releases new live album featuring Emmylou and Sturgill”
Following on from the release of his new album ‘Reunions’ last week which we described as having “sharp songwriting and excellent production which make this a great addition to his stellar catalogue”, Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit have announced they will play an exclusive Instagram TV Transmission to fans on the @roughtrade & @roughtradenyc Instagram TV feeds tonight (Wednesday 20th May) at 18.00 UK time. And if you are otherwise engaged, here’s a superb stream of Isbell with wife Amanda Shires last week at the as yet unopened Brooklyn Bowl Nashville.
And then there were none. End of the Road 2020 has been cancelled but the same line-up will return next year for End of the Road 2021 – original tickets remain valid. End of the Road’s September placing in the year made it one of the last hold-outs to still be planning for a 2020 festival but it appears the organisers did not want to risk the uncertainty which remains around live music in any setting for the rest of the year. Their statement is below. Continue reading “End of the Road 2020 postponed until 2021”
Rosanne Cash has become the 61st person to win the Edward MacDowell Medal, although the ceremony itself won’t take place till next year because of the ongoing pandemic. The award is named after the composer Edward MacDowell, and honours artists who have made “significant contributions to American culture.” Previous winners include John Updike, Leonard Bernstein, Joan Didion, Philip Roth, David Lynch and Georgia O’Keeffe. Continue reading “Rosanne Cash wins 2020 Edward MacDowell Medal”
What started as an innocent social media game in which Facebook friends and fans listed artists they would like to cover Wesley Stace AKA John Wesley Harding’s vast catalogue of songs, became a reality with the creation of Community Coronation Covers Project, an ongoing community-curated playlist by a myriad of artists including Josh Ritter, Roseanne Cash, the Minus 5 and The Jayhawks’ Gary Louris. Continue reading “Josh Ritter and Gary Louris appear on Wesley Stace covers project”
The Jayhawks have shared ‘This Forgotten Town’, the opening song on the band’s new album ‘XOXO’ which comes out on July 10th via Sham/Thirty Tigers. Written jointly by Marc Perlman and Gary Louris, the new song finds Louris trading off lead vocals with Tim O’Reagan as Karen Grotberg joins in on harmonies, setting the stage for the band’s most collaborative album to date. Listen to it below. Continue reading “The Jayhawks return with new album, new song – Listen”
Jason Isbell’s new album ‘Reunions’ is out on Friday – our review should be landing with you tomorrow – and in celebration of its release, he’s announced a live performance of it from the Brooklyn Bowl in Nashville. The acoustic livestream concert, will air free via fans.com at 8 p.m ET in the US (so basically the middle of the night here but hey, it’s a Friday). Viewers will be encouraged to make a donation in support of both Isbell’s crew and the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund. Continue reading “Jason Isbell to play livestream gig for album release day”
Joining the long list of cancelled or postponed festivals due to the current Covid-19 outbreak is another casualty, the Long Road Festival which has been cancelled for this year but will take place in 2021 on 10th-12th September – tickets for 2020 remain valid for next year. The organisers’ statement reads: “As the response to COVID-19 has progressed in recent weeks, our team at The Long Road have been working hard to assess what the impact on this year’s festival may be. Continue reading “The Long Road 2020 postponed to next year”
Jakob Dylan has got a new film out soon, more details of which below. Ahead of its release he told the Observer in an interview over the weekend that although technology is allowing people to connect in new ways through the current global crisis, that this shouldn’t be the new normal. He elaborated: “It is not required to play with people any more. It has already altered the way people make and record music before the lockdown. They send files to each other, and they are not even in the room when they make a record together. There are a lot of good things about technology, it has made some things much easier, but I think if you want to play music with someone in your neighbourhood, you should go around and play together.” Continue reading “Jakob Dylan: “Don’t use technology – Play music together””
We’re fans here at AUK of Portland, OR-based “competent” Blitzen Trapper (that’s what it says on their Twitter feed) and they’ve announced they will be making their Yep Roc Records debut with the release of new album ‘Holy Smokes Future Jokes’ on September 11. You can hear the first track from it, ‘Magical Thinking’ below. Led by existential questions about life and death, the new album finds frontman Eric Earley ruminating on the intermediate period between a person’s separate lives on earth, “and what it means to escape the cycle of birth and rebirth.” Continue reading “Blitzen Trapper return with new album “Holy Smokes Future Jokes””