It’s the third in the new Feature, seeking out the best americana album by a UK artist, and Fred Arnold throws his hat in the ring this week
What a challenge is this? – as a music fan who largely listened to American music, finding a number of albums to include in this collection was not just difficult, it is generational, as I have only recently started seriously appreciating americana produced by UK artists. Which will tend to make my list of rather recent vintage, and generally will have a US accent (UK artists who have recorded in Nashville or elsewhere, make up a number of these selections). Nevertheless, the ageing memory bank has tried hard to make this list as wide-ranging as possible date-wise, and I have at least managed to dig deep to find a couple of albums that predate this century. So here goes – and apologies as always to the albums and artists that have failed to make the cut, many of which will of course appear on someone else’s list! Or at least generate howls of vexation that they were not included, perhaps not even considered for this list. So here goes
Number 10: Elton John Tumbleweed Connection (1970)
Bernie Taupin always had a fascination for the American West (through movies and country music) but it was a bold move on the part of Elton John to record an album of songs about the mythic west so early in his career. That being said, Taupin’s songs are really inspirational and Elton’s singing and general persona was not yet at the superstar stage; backed by some really excellent musicians, this proved to be a UK artist’s forerunner of the americana genre. This is my favourite of his albums and the only one I feel enthusiastic enough about to play all the way through.
The album is brilliantly produced by Gus Dudgeon, arranged by orchestral maestro Paul Buckmaster and played by a great group of musicians– Caleb Quaye on electric guitar, Dee Murray or Dave Glover on bass, and Roger Pope or Nigel Olsson on drums. The wonderful Lesley Duncan sang many of the harmonies, together with Madeleine Bell and Dusty Springfield on a couple of tracks. And there are some superb guests – Gordon Huntley adds awesome steel guitar on Country Comfort, and Johnny van Derek plays atmospheric violin on the same track.
There is no mistaking Elton’s voice for as American as some UK artists are able to do, so you can’t call this an album of Elton making a country album, it is more of an album that reflects Taupin’s mythological songwriting and in that regard he delivers some great performances, including specifically and probably the album’s centrepiece, My Father’s Gun, based in the American Civil War – “I’ll take my horse and I’ll ride the northern plains / to wear the colour of the grey and join the fight again” Other highlights include the story of Amoreena, the gospel-inspired Burn Down The Mission and the semi-spoken Talking Old Soldiers. Elton at his least extravagant and flamboyant.
Number 9: Danny and The Champions of the World You Are Not a Stranger Here (2024)
Daniel George Wilson is the Danny referred to in the group’s name, and he is a musician, music producer, record shop co-owner, label owner, and solo artist. Active since the 1990s, Danny and the Champions of World (DATCOTW) had produced a series of predominantly alt-country albums that have echoes of either Springsteen or the more country rock of America’s south and west. Until, after a 7-year hiatus, came 2024’s You Are Not a Stranger Here, a roots-rock masterpiece that stretches out with the addition of ambient sounds in support. I cannot do better than refer you to AUK’s Guy Lincoln’s review of this album (here) when it came out.
As I have noted, my immersion in UK americana acts has come quite late in life and so my first introduction to DATCOTW was this rather exquisite, somewhat slow-burning, beautifully constructed album. And, although I have dipped an ear into a number of earlier tracks, long beloved by my colleagues, this album is interesting enough and good enough to merit inclusion in this top ten. My immediate impression is the similarities between this album the breaking of the historical mould on Dawes’ epic Misadventures of Doomscroller, experimenting with tone and structure to produce something enticingly different from the past. The 7-year time gap between DATCOTW’s two albums gave Wilson pause for thought as he demonstrated a more honest and personal lyricism. The concept, described by Wilson, of creating an album played out through the arc of a day, and including not only the ambient sounds of a radio weather report in the early morning, via dogs barking and cars passing, coupled with a wider genre feel, introducing jazzy instrumentation in the form of saxes, and laid-back synths, is quite outstanding. Sooner or Later and Kicking Tyres are this writer’s favourite tracks.
Number 8: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Raising Sand (2007)
I’m with Jonathan Hincks here, in including this album,; it is so rooted in UK americana and folk music, (notwithstanding the eclectic song choices on it), courtesy of English musical icon Plant, that it merits a place in the Top Ten. Basically this album was the brainchild of the brilliant T-Bone Burnett, who had the vision to see how two artists from totally different musical backgrounds might work together as a unit; Krauss, she of the pristine voice and a decades-long career in defining and then redefining bluegrass music, and Plant, he of the historic rock n roll growl, who had drifted in his solo career into exploring roots music in all its various forms.
The early attempts at melding their voices were, to put it mildly, challenging, ‘painful’ as Plant has said in interview. But the resulting album, where each of their voices has been effectively guided to sound somewhat different from their own earlier music, is a sublime success; Burnett’s choice of largely unfamiliar songs, in a somewhat strange melee of genres, was a major factor and the sparse production by Burnett was immaculate (Jay Bellerose on drums, Denis Crouch on bass, Burnett and Marc Ribot on electric and acoustic guitar, with occasional additions by fiddler Krauss, Greg Leisz on pedal steel for example created a low key, hypnotic sound). There are a number of highlights (why wouldn’t there be on songs from the pens of Gene Clark (a couple of his more esoteric songs), Townes van Zandt (Nothin’), Tom Waits (Trampled Rose), Mel Tillis, Allen Toussaint (a New Orleans R&B classic Fortune Teller), The Everly Brothers (the catchy Gone Gone Gone), Doc Watson (the very beautiful Your Long Journey)and Rowland Salley (Killing the Blues). However, the standout track is a brooding recording of an early Plant song, written with Jimmy Page, Please Read The Letter, which completely upends the original in interpretation.
The album won 5 Grammys and is a bona fide classic of the genre.
Number 7: Danni Nichols The Melted Morning (2019)
Danni Nicholls hails from Bedford but has made her home in Nashville for some years. She produced a couple of EPs in the late 2000s /early 2010s which she fervently promoted with gigs around the UK, before taking off to Nashville to record her first full-length album A Little Redemption (2013), where she engaged the likes of Al Perkins and Will Kimbrough to play on it. Mockingbird Lane was released in 2015, both of them receiving considerable critical acclaim. Her reputation was enhanced by various award nominations and appearances including a spot at AmericanaFest.
In 2019 she released this stunning album, The Melted Morning, a considerable step up in terms of songwriting, production values and overall emotional outpouring, that led to some remarkable critical reviews, including a short but very positive one from AUK (here). Her voice is a thing of beauty, warm, emotive, but with the range from a whisper when required or a belt out as necessary (a sort of more mellow Elles Bailey). The album was recorded with a virtually all-female ensemble which led to some sympathetic arrangements that allowed Nicholls’ voice to take and retain centre stage throughout the album. The ubiquitous themes of “rejection, losing yourself, human connection, hope and finding new perspectives in difficult circumstances” (according to Nicholls)
Nicholls was not averse to co-writing the songs on the album and picked some really strong collaborators, such as Ben Glover (a frequent co-writer with Gretchen Peteres, Kim Richey, Mary Gauthier and Amy Speace), Jaimee Harris (Mary Gauthier) Robby Hecht (Caroline Spence), and Kyshona Armstrong (listen to her background vocals on the gospel blues Hear Your Voice).
Producer Jordan Brooke Hamlin is also a multi-instrumentalist and her talents range from electric and acoustic guitar, bass, trumpet and occasional drums, and she also arranges the wonderful string accompaniment. The Jaimee Harris co-write Power to Leave is a real highlight, with Nicholls beginning to move from self-doubt of Frozen and the rejection of Unwanted, towards a greater self–determination to move forward. “How many hours have I spent in fear of this / Seeing her touch your hand, give you a tender kiss / Wilt like a flower, or find the power to leave!”. It’s powerful and beautifully made – a real find.
Number 6: Yola Walk Through Fire (2019)
Yolanda Quartey (Yola) was born in Bristol in 1983. Her mother raised her after her father left home in 1995, but she didn’t encourage her to become a musician. A failed university tenure in London and a crisis of housing and financial resources caused her to return to Bristol, where she formed a band called Phantom Limb in 2005. She performed as guest vocalist for bands like Chase and Status and Massive Attack as well as a songwriting contributor. Her mother died in 2013 at which point Yola decided to go solo full time and in 2016 got a slot on the Americana Music Festival in Nashville, a hugely successful performance where she caught the eye of Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach. After a debut EP in 2016, she and Auerbach worked on her solo album that would be released through his Easy Eye Sound label.
And here we are – one of the most successful debut albums by any americana artist yet alone a female, Walk Through Fire is a culmination of more than 15 years in the music business and delivers a scintillating mix of country -soul, mixed with some folk, blues and solid country fare. Named after a fire that injured Yola and destroyed her home, it is an album of female empowerment, survival and emotional turmoil and healing. Brilliant standout tracks include the lead-off single Faraway Look, then Ride Out in the Country and Lonely the Night. Two important things emerge from listening, regularly, to this album. Auerbach was able to bring in some superstar names to add to the production – apart from himself as various guitars, there are Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Molly Tuttle on acoustic guitar, Russ Pahl on electric and steel guitar, Bobby Wood on piano, Charlie McCoy on harmonica – you get the picture; great players but not brought in to overpower Yola. The second important thing is Auerbach knows exactly the right amount of production to allow Yola’s magnificent voice to become the album’s main instrument – powerfully deep yet can range up to a falsetto if required. It’s a stunning debut album from an already experienced artist. The album was 4 -times Grammy nominated, and Yola has subsequently become a de facto member of Amanda Shires/Brandi Carlile vehicle, The Highwomen.
Number 5: Elles Bailey Beneath the Neon Glow (2024)
Elles Bailey has trodden the same formative musical hunting ground as Yola, hailing from Bristol and fronting an indie rock band in the 2010’s before developing a blues-americana style with a deep throaty voice , the result of viral pneumonia when she was a child. She released a series of albums , starting with 2017’s Wildfire, then started collecting awards and nominations at blues and jazz/blues ceremonies for her two blues albums, Road I Call Home (2019) and Ain’t Nothing But in 2021.
But in 2024 she released the more americana-focused album Beneath the Neon Glow, a quite magnificent album with a varied input, musically and temperamentally. Her powerful bluesy voice was still very much in evidence but the songs, more melodic than previously, resulted in an album where the instrumental support was less to the fore than on her blues offerings. Our AUK colleague Viv Fish wrote an excellent review (here) to which I can add no words to supplement her opinion. The song Let It Burn is one of the ballad highlights of the last few years and the album overall is a remarkable production given that she uses her road band for the sessions – they include the ubiquitous Joe Wilkins on guitars and Jonny Henderson on keys. Rising americana star Demi Marriner is on backing vocals. It’s a remarkable album, and taken forward into her latest release, Can’t Take My Story Away.
Number 4: John Smith The Fray (2021)
John Smith is a very fine singer, songwriter and guitar player (from Liverpool , via Essex and Devon) and his albums have tended not to over-emphasise one attribute or the other. He was described as the future of English folk music early on in his recorded career and you can see what John Renbourn was getting at. He picked up a guitar-style largely based on John Martyn’s (an artist who he had supported in concert), a smooth, expressive and mellow voice (also deemed to be not unlike John Martyn’s but without its quirkiness) and a songwriting ability to match each, though this particular skill took a long time to materialise and he once admitted that he found it very difficult. Meeting with producer, now friend, Joe Henry and spending time on Prince Edward Island with brilliant Canadian songwriter Dennis Ellsworth helped him on his way. His sixth album The Fray, took a slightly different turn from previous albums: his previous folk stylings were embellished with electric guitar and a more americana sound, courtesy of producer Sam Lakeman and his songwriting was more personal and emotionally exposed due to a series of events which preceded the album – the miscarriage of his wife, the cancer diagnosis of his mother and the musical environment surrounding COVID (which led to the basic album being recorded at Peter Gabriel’s studio (some remotely), and the guest appearances all remotely in the US – these include Sarah Jarosz, Lisa Hannigan (a long time collaborater) and Jessica Stavely -Taylor (of the The Staves) on vocals, Bill Frisell on electric guitar and The Milk Carton Kids on vocals and acoustic guitar. British jazz pianist Jason Rebello was another of the session players.
Remarkably, the album does not sound like a ‘patched up’ album. In fact it seems like a career-defining moment as Smith lays bare his emotions on tracks reflecting on love, loss, the ageing process and so on, while at the same time remaining somewhat positive about everything. Standout tracks include the sublime Deserving with Courtney Hartman and Sarah Jarosz on ethereal background vocals, the Bill Frisell electric guitar-driven The Best of Me,the slightly more upbeat opener Friends, and the second track that features Sarah Jarosz, Star-Crossed Lovers. A beautiful album
Number 3: Terry Reid Seed of Memory (1976)
Wow, you might be saying, this is not an americana album (or wasn’t when it was first released) – but it contains enough americana credentials to be included – produced by Graham Nash, who provides harmonies, and played by session men of the calibre of David Lindley (acoustic and slide guitar and violin), Al Perkins and/or Ben Keith on pedal steel, Tim Weiberg on flute , Jesse Ehrlich on cello and a horn section of Fred Wesley, Blue Mitchell and Clifford Solomon. But the star is undoubtedly Reid, with a voice so wonderful and so powerful that he was affectionately called ‘superlungs’, a voice so good that he was invited to join Led Zeppelin in the late 60’s but turned them down as he was committed to play support for the Rolling Stones.
Because of various issues he had with his record company (and others), and because he wanted to plough his own furrow, the praise heaped upon Reid by critics and also his musical peers, (Aretha Franklin, for example, was one) never translated into commercial success. A particular problem was a delay in the release of Seed Of Memory from 1973 to 1976, at which time the musical culture in Southern California where the album was made had changed and he certainly couldn’t use the session men that contributed so much to the sound to promote it, as they had moved on. And so it was that it took probably thirty years for the album to be seen as a masterpiece, expanding upon Reid’s earlier albums and probably more lyrically interesting than songs on, say, River.
It’s an album of two sides, a Californian laid-back almost folksy vibe on side one in which songs like Faith to Arise, Seed of Memory and Brave Awakening, slow, hypnotic, melodic tracks that tackle hope and home, personal resilience and social observation, before the album’s highlight To Be Treated Rite, a very slow ballad of contemplation with some great rhythmic acoustic guitar from Joel Bernstein and some nice harmonica from Reid himself. Side Two ups the beat, retraces steps a bit to River and adds funky horns from top-notch jazz and blues musicians. Ooh Baby (Make Me Feel So Young) is driven by a reggae beat, has a glorious opening chorus and some very understated horns. The Way you Walk starts with some psychedelic guitars and then continues with some rumbling bass throughout. The Frame and the glorious ballad Fooling You benefit from some wonderful electric piano (uncredited on the album) and end with Plas Johnson’s mournful sax into the outro. The opener Faith to Arise is a great introduction to the album, as acoustic guitar, violin and lap steel warm up before that powerful, soulful, voice strikes the first startling note, and it carries on from there. Probably the most played album in my entire collection. Brilliant.
Number 2: Michael Weston King Nothing Can Hurt Me Anymore (2026)
Who would have thought that a 2026 release would be in the Top 10 UK americana albums of all time, yet alone at no 2? But this album is the most devastatingly emotional album released in many a year. And not only is it emotional lyrically but it is at the same time a beautifully produced album, with some exceptionally fine arrangements, hauntingly serving King’s powerful voice, with some wonderfully evocative (sometimes angry) electric guitar playing. And for why? This is an album written and recorded in response to the death of King’s granddaughter during the Southport killings in 2024.
King and his wife Lou Dalgleish perform as My Darling Clementine, an excellent country soul duo, who were about to embark on the creation of their 7th album, having moved to a new idyllic lifestyle in the country, when both decided to separately dig deep into their emotions and release an album that explores events surrounding the Southport killings and pays tribute to their granddaughter Bebe. King’s album was released in April this year and was immediately met with heaps of critical praise, including in AUK by Tim Martin here.
And what is remarkable about the album, with lyrics and tunes that can easily bring a tear to the eye, is that the devastating loss and grief expressed by King, and the singing rebuke to authorities’ response at the time, is balanced by lighter elements about everyday life (the couple’s new life), expressed by King in a recent interview “we have experienced the worst thing imaginable, so all the ordinary things that used to cause anxiety, irritation or fear have been put into a different perspective”. It is impossible not to get emotionally involved in this album, from the rawness of the grief on the title track, and Die of Shame to the more calming and positive feelings about moving from urban to rural life A Field of Our Own and looking to the future Grow Old With Me. The closing track, Sally Sparkles, is a real gut-wrencher – this was the nickname given to their granddaughter. Outstanding.
Number 1: Dean Owens The Ridge Trilogy (2024)
This was probably the biggest and most pleasant surprise for me, who came very late to the talents of Dean Owens. Owens is a long-standing favourite within AUK, and he released The Ridge Trilogy as a triple album created from three successive EPs, named Ghost Walking. Ridgeline and Sacri Cuori. It was a series of demos and radio edits of other songs that presaged the release of Spirit Ridge a little while later. 7 of the 13 tracks were on the full-length album. I reviewed this album in 2024 (here) and my colleague Tim Martin reviewed the full album here . I should really consider the two releases as two parts of a whole, but since The Ridge Trilogy was my introduction to Dean Owens (apologies to my more enlightened colleagues) and as it made such an impact on me, I choose this release for this article and poll. The demos themselves (including The Buzzard and the Crow, Sinner of Sinners and A Divine Tragedy became more rounded later but the songs are so powerful that it becomes a matter of choice as to how you prefer them in their respective versions. These and Spirit of Us and My Beloved Hills (just a most beautiful song, that appeared on The Ridge Trilogy as a radio edit, as did Tame the Lion) were the tracks that appeared on Spirit Ridge. Three of the tracks on the EP collection were atmospheric instrumentals that played into the overall sound of the whole album’s recordings, which were made at the Italian studios of famed producer Don Antonio at Crinale (Italian for ridge); Come with Us, and the lovely Light this World were on the full album too. On the Ridge and True of You were each lovely songs with some dark lyrical content and as on both this EP collection and the ‘finished article’, Spirit Ridge, there is some wonderful instrumental interplay between keys, strings and horns. Sublime cinematic americana.
A wonderful discovery on my part and a lovely way to finish this top ten.
I now await the brickbats but remember, as the old adage goes, one man’s meat is another man’s poison
