the UK home for americana music
Americana Music Fest, organised by the Americana Music Association UK, is two glorious nights of artist showcases that take place from about 6PM until almost midnight in a half dozen venues. That’s a lot of acts to catch, with a lot of choices to be made – here’s what David Chalfin selected. Continue reading “Americana Music Fest, 28th – 29th January, Various Venues, Hackney”
There’s no reason to waste any time, so let’s get straight to the point. Robert Vincent’s third album ‘In This Town You’re Owned’ is a corker (for those not familiar with this UK term, that’s a really good thing!) and from the moment the first notes of the opening track ‘This Town’ descend upon your eardrums, to the fade-out on the final track ‘Cuckoo’, the quality of the songwriting, the performance and the production never drops beneath a level that can only be described as outstanding. Continue reading “Robert Vincent “In This Town You’re Owned” (Thirty Tigers, 2020)”
Celtic Connections is well known for its set pieces – curated concerts gathering a wealth of musicians together. Transatlantic Sessions began as a television programme but its live incarnation was premiered at Celtic Connections almost two decades ago while Roddy Hart’s Rambling Roots has grown in stature over the years as it has celebrated various artists, events, albums and places, this year’s celebrant being Bruce Springsteen. By comparison, Caledonia Soul is a mere whippersnapper, the brainchild of Ross Wilson and first performed in 2018. It’s a much more nebulous affair than Roaming Roots, the basic premise being that Wilson’s band, Blue Rose Code, are the equivalent of The MG’s back in Stax touring days. It allows the guest artists to “curate the evening and perform re-worked versions of our own favourite songs along the Celtic theme, but with a soul band,” as he explained in an interview last year. Continue reading “Blue Rose Code Caledonia Soul @Celtic Connections, The Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, 30th January 2020”
Ahead of the release of his new album, ‘In This Town You’re Owned’, Liverpool-based Robert Vincent has released a new video. ‘My Neighbour’s Ghost’ is an upbeat, rhythmic song and the video is charming. Check it out. The song was produced by the brilliant Ethan Johns, who has worked with the likes of Ray Lamontagne and Laura Marling as well as writing his own material. Continue reading “Video: Robert Vincent “My Neighbour’s Ghost””
Robert Vincent is two things for sure – prolific, thanks be, and one of the leading producers that Americana that is definitely UK. ‘Conundrum‘ is the new single from Robert Vincent’s upcoming third album ‘In This Town You’re Owned’ which is due for release on 14th February on Thirty Tigers. Continue reading “Robert Vincent “Conundrum” – Listen”
It must be quite a ride being Robert Vincent – a couple of years ago we’d be listing out his CV, mentioning this and that EP, and generally inviting our beloved readership to cock an ear to what he was laying down. And now – well we can safely assume that Robert Vincent is a name that our readership would know by now. Life is strange (although, we concede, compared to what ?). Continue reading “Robert Vincent “My Neighbour’s Ghost” – Listen”
The hosts for this particular night of what was Country Music Week at Bush Hall were none other than Bob Harris’s Under The Apple Tree, the digital platform for Harris, his son Miles and various family members. No surprise then that Harris elected to showcase two acts he has selected for his AMAUK Emerging Artist award over the past years, namely, Robert Vincent and Curse Of Lono. Endless gratitude should always head Whispering Bob’s way, who even after another recent brush of health issues shows no sign of easing his ever-enthusiastic musical passions. Keep well Bob. Continue reading “Robert Vincent + The Curse Of Lono + Foreign Affairs, Under The Apple Tree Sessions, Bush Hall, London, 26th October 2019”
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”
For Americana UK, this year’s Nashville experience ended where it pretty much started – at Robert’s Western World on Lower Broadway. Hotfoot from arriving in the city around 7pm our assembled scribes headed straight downtown to see Joshua Hedley and the Hedliners. These showcases at Robert’s are something of a Nashville institution for both discerning locals and tourists – performing classic country sets from the 1950s and 1960s, Hedley’s velvet croon and stellar backing band which includes Buck Owens’ drummer and a long standing pedal steel player with Merle Haggard, demonstrate their encyclopaedic knowledge of country music and musical chops over a set spanning three and a half hours. Continue reading “AmericanaFest, Nashville, September 10th-15th, 2019”
We leave you with this for this week which is quite exciting if you’re anywhere near London next week. The beckon call of live music, complimentary Jack Daniel’s and what’s described as “an immersive multisensory experience” will entice Waterloo Station travellers to delay their evening commutes and take a brief holiday in Tennessee at a special exhibit entitled “The Sights & Sounds of Tennessee” which takes place next week from 4th-17th June. The exhibit is part of a month-long campaign featuring the Tennessee destinations of Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville that follows British Airways’ introduction of its five-days-per-week nonstop service from London Heathrow to Nashville, the capital city and centre to the state. The Sounds of Tennessee exhibit at Waterloo and digital boards throughout London are to feature custom Spotify playlists that will serve as a formal invitation to British holidaymakers to visit Tennessee, one of the world’s top travel destinations for music lovers. Continue reading ““Sights & Sounds of Tennessee” to debut at Waterloo Station next week”