The AMAUKs are only 2 weeks away and there are still a handful of tickets left if you haven’t got yours yet. It’s the fifth annual shindig which forms part of AmericanFest which returns to Hackney for 3 days at the end of this month. The theme of the event is “Collaborate and Cross Pollinate” reflecting on how Americana artists work together across different genres and art forms. The event culminates on 30th January in the prestigious UK Americana Awards 2020 which after 4 sold-out years moves to a bigger venue for 2020 – the gorgeous art deco Troxy in Limehouse, East London. Continue reading “UK Americana Awards 2020 adds Shingai to its line-up”
‘Undress’ is the Felice Brothers’ 14th album, the first album of new material for three years and something of a treat. Another of those ‘recorded live’ records (though not quite, this one has minimal overdubs), it does capture a band channelling a vital energy and clearly enjoying themselves. 
The Felice Brothers have announced that their new album ‘Undress‘ will be released on May 3 via Yep Roc Records. It takes a new direction for the band, according to Ian Felice, which sees them looking more outward than inward: “It isn’t hard to find worthwhile things to write about these days, there are a lot of storms blooming on the horizon and a lot of chaos that permeates our lives. The hard part is finding simple and direct ways to address them.” 
Between two things there is often a dilution of each, a middle of the road but there is also the possibility of great fertility. I mention this as when listening to this record my first impression (and so far it’s an unshakeable one) is that on this record Ian Felice finds a beautiful sweet spot somewhere between Bob Dylan and Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel). There’s a wonderful off-the-cuff quality to the recordings (it was recorded quickly over 4 days produced by brother Simone and featuring other brothers fraternal and otherwise) as though the way the songs sound on here isn’t necessarily how they will sound again. There are strange lyrical flourishes – “Well the aliens landed on Election Day and they stole your mother’s lingerie” from 21