Tracks
Just Because…
Where to start? What’s the most bizarre part of yesterday’s speech? The suggestion that what we need after 13 years of the current party is a wind of change – and change of that kind can […]
Mavis Staples
Columns
Sounds from beyond the Shed – Week 112
How the other half lives… I have mentioned in this column before that my beloved (and possibly misguided) wife has had a major birthday this month. So major, in fact, that your correspondent has been saving […]
Album Reviews
Old Crow Medicine Show “Jubilee”
Stalwarts of the string band revival deliver their eighth studio album that celebrates their 25th year anniversary. Seen very much as a companion piece to last year’s critically acclaimed release ‘Paint This Town’ the Old Crow […]
Columns
Sounds from beyond the Shed – Week 110
Live music is the tonic we all need. Following my thoughts on post-pandemic life and the Edinburgh Festival last week, I attended what was possibly the most life-affirming gig I have been to in a long, […]
Live Reviews
Live Review: Mavis Staples + Jon Muq, Union Chapel, London – July 3rd, 2023
The Union Chapel is a perfect venue for a Mavis Staples show. There was a fervour about her performance to which her audience (congregation?) responded accordingly. The palpable feeling that welcomed this great artist was love. […]