The Secret Sisters – Laura and Lydia Rogers – return early next year with a new album ‘Saturn Return‘ (to be released February 28th 2020 on New West Records) and a double visit to the UK – the first will be in January for one-off appearances at Celtic Connections and at the Americana Music Association UK’s AmericanaFest in swinging Hackney. The longer tour will be in June. Continue reading “The Secret Sisters have a new album and UK dates”
Nashville-based country blues and soul singer, Sam Lewis, begins a lengthy tour of the UK in February next year. Renowned for his rich soulful vocals, well-crafted songs, roots country sound and blue-eyed soul, Sam Lewis has collaborated with such musical luminaries as John Prine and Kacey Musgraves, while Chris Stapleton described him as “a modern Townes Van Zandt”. Sam Lewis’ debut album ‘Waiting On You’ received widespread critical acclaim, and featured support from legendary country guitarist, Kenny Vaughan, along with Darrell Scott, the McCrary Sisters, Gabe Dixon and Willie Nelson’s harmonica player, Mickey Raphael. Although the record was very well received, Lewis’ booking agency got bought out at the time of its release, leaving him with limited opportunities to tour to promote it. Continue reading “Nashville’s Sam Lewis heads to the UK next February”
Andrew Combs has looked to explore new territory since venturing out of his hometown of Nashville, not just in a literal sense, but also with the release of his latest album ‘Ideal Man’ whose recording technique is more experimental than previous releases. Continue reading “Andrew Combs ventures out of Nashville for UK tour dates this December”
Like the HBO of music, pretty much everything the Loose label release is a guarantee of quality (with slightly less full-frontal nudity), and 2007’s ‘The Casket Letters’ by Sheffield based acoustic/indie band Monkey Swallows the Universe was no exception. The band had a cool name for a start, and as their Wiki entry says, their sound could be “described as “folk-tinged” and “twee” though not “pansy” or “saccharine””. (Good use of quotes whoever wrote that piece, and the word pansy). The album was a delight from start to finish, but it was ‘Ballad of the Breakneck Bride’, a moral tale about the perils of speeding, which has stuck with me since. My mum at once point drove my dad to despair she played it so much, which was only marginally safer (for her at least).
Massachusetts-born, Nashville-based singer/songwriter Sean McConnell, who has appeared in the UK no less than three times during 2019 – opening shows with country singer Ashley Monroe, a performance at The Long Road festival and a recent run of dates with Ashley McBryde – has announced his first headline tour outside the USA in February 2020. Continue reading “Sean McConnell announces UK dates for 2020”
Lilly Hiatt comes from americana royalty being the daughter of John, so it’s fair to say she should receive a state welcome when she arrives in the UK Wednesday next week for three dates (all in the South sorry Northerners, which we include ourselves in) the first of which takes place at Nell’s Jazz and Blues in Hammersmith. Continue reading “Lilly Hiatt heads to UK for dates”
Black Deer Festival have announced their first names for next year’s festival and the line-up is already something of a mic drop moment, including as it does The Waterboys, Canadian folk and bluegrass ensemble The Dead South, Grammy-nominated folk duo The Milk Carton Kids, Arizona’s Courtney Marie Andrews, New York natives The Felice Brothers and the headline act of none other than Wilco, an exclusive for the South of England. Here’s the line-up poster so far: Continue reading “Black Deer 2020 announces Wilco as headliner”
The Milk Carton Kids are almost too good for the world as it is right now, certainly for the UK, but as a sign of their magnanimity they are returning to our crazy shores in January to promote their new (mini) mainly acoustic album ‘The Only Ones’ which comes out December 6th on all formats (digital, CD & Vinyl) via the band’s own Milk Carton Records imprint in partnership with Thirty Tigers. Continue reading “Milk Carton Kids announce new album, UK dates”
What a beautiful sound Bonny Light Horseman make – at times vintage American Folk, and at times striding fearlessly into Incredible String Band territory. It comes from a deep love of British folk that infuses their upcoming eponymous album. But who are Bonny Light Horseman, and what is it that makes their music sound so ethereally beautiful and in-tune with the rhythms of the soul? Well, two good questions. Continue reading “Bonny Light Horseman “Deep In Love” – Listen”
It’s been quite a ride for Robert Vincent from winning the Bob Harris Emerging Talent Award at the Americana Music Association UK awards in 2016. That award led on to appearances at Americana Fests – both the “proper one” in Hackney and the American one, in Nashville (well you can’t have everything) – and on the one off Old Grey Whistle Test Revival. And he got signed to Thirty Tigers and released an album ‘I’ll Make The Most Of My Sins’’ which did pretty well. Continue reading “Robert Vincent “This Town” – Listen”
