Way back when I first started running AUK back in the early 2000s, promos of CDs started to trickle through the letterbox – some were great, others were let’s say over-confident, but occasionally something would hit the doormat that just blew me away. London based Jason McNiff’s ‘Nobody’s Son’ was one such record, and one of my lasting memories of the first listen to the track ‘I Remember You’ was shortly afterwards visiting my auntie in New Brighton where I insisted she, my mum and various other members of the family crammed into my tiny car to listen to it. They were bowled over too of course, and its Dylan-esque structure still sounds as fresh today as when it was first released. Fittingly for the song, I’ve never forgotten it.
Tag: Jason McNiff
Jason McNiff + Toni Montserrat, The Harrison, London, 27th July 2018
To the very compact basement bar of The Harrison in Kings Cross for the official launch gig of Jason McNiff’s latest album ‘Joy and Independence’. He’s now on the splendidly-rostered At The Helm records and so we have a Bradford man living in London with his label management in Brighton so who needs Nashville? Hailed as “a superior singer/songwriter” by the erudite and well-respected USA magazine No Depression and 4-starred by the UK’s Mojo, McNiff states with some pride that this, his sixth album, is the first time he’s had the confidence to work with just an acoustic guitar and his voice. He says he framed the songs as “a homage to a golden era of the coffee house Troubadour”, albeit on this sultry Friday night we had replaced coffee with craft ale. Continue reading “Jason McNiff + Toni Montserrat, The Harrison, London, 27th July 2018”
Mid-Sussex americana beer festival returns for second year
After its inaugural year in August 2017, the Mid-Sussex americana and ale festival returns next month to the Hassocks hotel. Last year the festival featured the likes of Danny and the Champs, Robert Vincent, Dean Owens and Stevie Ray Latham. This year has an equally good array of talent, including AUK favourites Bennett Wilson Poole and Ags Connolly. Appearing alongside them are Danni Nicholls, Jason McNiff, Hannah Rose Platt, Mike Ross, Trent Miller and others. Continue reading “Mid-Sussex americana beer festival returns for second year”
Jason McNiff “Rain Dries Your Eyes” (Tombola Records, 2017)
Delve into the Americana UK archives and you’ll find a lot of love for Jason McNiff. Over the course of 15 years and six albums, McNiff has constantly found favour with assorted reviewers (a task in itself) and his 2003 album Nobody’s Son was our album of that year. A running thread throughout the mentions and reviews is bewilderment as to why McNiff is not more celebrated with comments such as “the UK’s most underrated Americana artist” bandied about. So much for Americana UK being taste makers but we can take comfort in the fact that others such as Mojo, No Depression, The Independent and Time Out all concur and despite that McNiff remains something of a secret. It’s somewhat shameful that when the charts (such as they are) are populated by chaps emoting in a singer songwriter fashion and who are best known for the colour of their hair or their hat sense that someone like McNiff is relegated to cult status. Continue reading “Jason McNiff “Rain Dries Your Eyes” (Tombola Records, 2017)”