Video Review of the Year 2023

Is it really that time of year already?  Oh, yes it is.  It’s time to prepare for some festive, frolicking fun and to look forward to whatever madness 2024 will bring.  First, though, we need to pause and reflect on the year that has gone by.  2023 was another turbulent year, in which our mortgages rose at the same rate as our stress levels.  Economic woes have continued to blight the lives of everyday folks, while the Covid inquiry has confirmed what we all thought about those at the top.  Chaos reigns.  Our rolling, 24-hour news services have delivered images and stories of the heartbreaking conflicts  around the world, particularly the horrors in Israel and Gaza of recent months.  Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine shows no signs of peaceful resolution.  It would be very easy to despair at the lack of humanity displayed by humans as 2023 draws to a close.  In the entertainment sphere, we have lost iconic figures like David Crosby, Shane MacGowan and Tina Turner, and the tragic death of Matthew Perry has prompted many conversations about addiction and mental health – Chandler and his friends were an image of what young adulthood could be like for a generation…and this might just make us grow up.

However, amidst the heartache and woe, music has continued to connect people and bring joy.  For all the issues with streaming services and questions about the resilience of the live music industry post-Covid, 2023 has been another fabulous year for Americana and other genres.  Some absolutely wonderful music has been released this year for us to lose ourselves in.  Amongst the pages of Americana UK, there have been reviews of dynamic shows and powerful albums, masterfully-created songs and videos, and the insights of many of our favourite performers.  My personal highlights have included the Black Deer Festival, Ramblin’ Roots Festival, and outstanding shows from Frank Turner, Tommy Prine, Bruce Springsteen, Annie Dressner, Jarrod Dickenson, Jerry Joseph, Hannah Rose Platt, Jess Guise and Beans on Toast.  Mrs Frolish might argue that I’ve been to too many gigs again…

I thoroughly enjoyed hosting an online listening party in advance of the release of the new album from Our Man in the Field (which is, by the way, a magnificent piece of work that deserves your attention).  Two of my favourite artists are Nils Lofgren and Frank Turner and I had the joy of interviewing them both again this year.  At Black Deer, I recorded backstage video performances from Annie Dressner, Jarrod Dickenson, My Girl The River and Elles Bailey.  Elles performed alongside the brilliant Matt Owens and it was a real privilege to watch and record – check it out here.

Two of the UK’s finest songwriters returned recently with memorable singles.  Robert Vincent’s ‘Insider’ was accompanied by a dramatic video featuring well-known actor David Morrissey.  It’s just brilliant.  ‘Sometimes’ by Dean Owens is possibly his most beautiful song yet.  Check them both out below.

Following those two favourites, we have a list of videos from 2023, with one selected from each month.  The only other self-imposed rule is that they were posted on AUK in the month in question.  Choosing just one from each month is a challenge because it does mean that many great songs and videos are not included.  Some months were particularly busy with great music, but if I included all my favourites, you’d be here for another year.  After all, every video posted throughout the year was chosen amidst very stiff competition – I receive a surprising number of video submissions every day.  So, apologies for the exclusions – they were all excellent – but the list below is a pretty damn good playlist for 2023.  Enjoy.

January – Doug Paisley ‘Sometimes It’s So Easy’ (original post here)

We posted great songs from Cat Clyde, Kate Ellis and Kirsten Adamson but January’s pick is Canada’s Doug Paisley with ‘Sometimes It’s So Easy’.  Doug Paisley is a skilled guitarist but who knew he could play while riding his bike.  There’s a beautiful warmth and richness to Paisley’s voice and he has a feel for great melodies.  Halfway through this song, Paisley’s languid guitar solo is sublime.  Paisley says of the song and video: “This is the first time I’ve made a music video for one of my songs. I risked my body and my 1950 Gibson guitar for the stunt and in hindsight I guess it lines up with some of the recklessness in the song itself. The song is for the leaving kind and the left behind, at the moment when one can seem so cold and cruel and the other so wounded. In the end, to right themselves the price they pay in their own time is about equal.”  I love that shuffling rhythm.

February – Beans on Toast ‘Back Out on the Road’ (original post here)

Far From Saints and Martin Joseph released excellent singles this month and Trapper Schoepp’s ‘Cliffs of Dover’ is an upbeat delight that I’ve returned to all year.  February’s highlight was premiering ‘Back Out on the Road’ from the prolific Beans on Toast.  I don’t tend to post lyric videos in our video section but made an exception for this as a premiere by one of my favourite artists.  I also felt this song was important to acknowledge as a song about music.  During the pandemic, the live music scene obviously faced unprecedented challenges and the recovery has been difficult.  This song is a celebration of everything about live music: the people, the venues, the lifestyle.  As such, it is a song we should all play loud and sing along.  Beans says: “‘Back out on the Road’ is a love letter to live music, independent venues and the wonderful people who frequent them. It’s a celebration of England and the joys of travelling this beautiful land.  I’ve been touring non-stop for well over a decade and have thousands of gigs under my belt, but it never gets old. Hopefully, this song will act as a thank you to all the people who come out to see me play, meaning I can continue on my journey. I think it’s important for them to know how much I love doing this.”  It’s a message I want everyone to hear.

March – Karen Jonas ‘Forever’ (Original post here)

Special mentions go to Nickel Creek, John Carter Cash, Phil Hooley and The Nude Party.  Cat Clyde delivered another superb song in ‘Everywhere I Go’.  However, the pick this month is a song I listened to on repeat: ‘Forever’ by Karen Jonas.  I love Jonas’s conversational, intimate lyrics and her delivery is sweetly melodic at the same time as clear and powerful.  Jonas told AUK about the song:  “I don’t write a lot of love songs. But I was doing some thinking about what love should feel like, and I decided on ‘warm’ and ‘safe.’ I wrote ‘Forever’ to describe what that sounds like.  We made the video at one of my favorite venues nearby, The Heist in Bowling Green, Va. Tim Bray (guitar), Seth Morrissey (bass), Jay Starling (dobro) and I had a fun evening drinking manhattans and playing through the song. I knew our friend and longtime videographer Ryan Poe would bring just the right atmosphere to this glowy video. The Heist manager (and best bartender around) Alicia Vossberg helped decorate the set and poured our drinks for the video. It was all a little magical, like ‘Forever.’”  This is an open-hearted, unselfconscious love song – hard to write sincerely and good examples are rare.  This one of the finest such songs I’ve heard in a long time.

April – Dan Tyminski ‘Hey Brother’ (Original post here)

I played Robbie Cavanagh’s ‘Helpless’ a lot in April (and he was superb live) and there were also good tunes from Lukas Nelson and Angus McOg.  However, it was a real joy to premiere the new version of ‘Hey Brother’ from the brilliant Dan Tyminski.  What an extraordinarily talented musician he is.  Famous for ‘Oh Brother, Where Art Thou’, his work with Alison Krauss and Union Station and for a bucket-load of GRAMMIES, the four-time  International Bluegrass Music Association Male Vocalist of the Year produced one of the year’s best albums in ‘God Fearing Heathen’.  One of the record’s highlights was the tremendous new version of ‘Hey Brother’.  The original was a huge hit with Swedish DJ Avicii and has been streamed in excess of a billion times.  Just wow.  This intimate performance showcases the incredible musical gifts of Tyminski’s bandmates – the interludes and solos are simply breathtaking.

May – Tommy Prine ‘Mirror and a Kitchen Sink’ (Original post here)

There were loads of great songs in May, including memorable releases from Hannah Rose Platt, Cowboy Junkies, JP Ruggieri and Luke Sital-Singh.  However, Tommy Prine has been one of my artists of the year, with his debut ‘This Far South’, produced by Ruston Kelly and Gena Johnson, being my most listened to album of 2023 according to iTunes.  ‘Mirror and a Kitchen Sink’ is driven by a great rhythm and a punk sensibility that sets it apart from Prine’s more reflective songs on the album.  Prine’s words feel like a stream-of-consciousness, his internal dialogue forming the rapid lines of the song.  He explains: “I tend to create fake scenarios and people to argue with.  So this song is an example of some of the scenarios or witty remarks that I would make in an argument…that will likely never happen.  It was the first song I wrote after my dad had passed and part of me thinks he had a hand in it somehow.”  His dad may well have had a hand in the good humour and melody of Tommy’s music but he is very much his own man and a superb songwriter in his own right.  Enjoy.

June – Gregory Alan Isakov ‘The Fall’ (Original post here)

Gregory Alan Isakov produces stunningly beautiful music and this is one of my favourite songs of the year.  The arrangement and instrumentation are so lush and full in this subtly beautiful song.  Almost speaking at times, Isakov’s delivery is utterly captivating.  His poetic lyrics are themed around the metaphor of a trapeze artist who falls and has to get up to perform again.  We all fall sometimes and this hymn-like song is an anthem for resilience in tough times.  Jasmine McGlade, who directed the video, says: “Gregory’s music is so poignant, and ‘The Fall’ in particular has such a powerful, spiritual quality to it. I knew I wanted to make a video immersed in nature that fit with Greg’s aesthetic and the emotional realm of the song, while also creating characters and vintage, old-timey elements that connect with the lyrics. The piece, perhaps like the song, should ultimately say something about the human condition, and what it means to be alive—in a way that is a bit surrealist.”  This was the first single from ‘Appaloosa Bones’, the compelling new album from Isakov.

July – Beth Nielsen Chapman ‘Love’ (Original post here)

Accomplished songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman produced a heartfelt version of ‘Love’, originally written and performed by US artist Sara Groves.  Chapman’s interpretation and delivery are captivating and full of emotion.  The music swells as she binds together sorrow, joy, loss and hope into this one great feeling: love.  Chapman explains: “The simplicity and elegance melodically and lyrically of this song is so powerful to me.  It is a song about resilience which seems to be a theme for me in my songwriting as I work through stuff and try to make sense of it all. ‘Love’ feels like it was written for me to sing, especially during these days of healing not only my grief, but as a part of all humanity in a time of collective grief. There’s nothing more powerful than a song that touches deeply into well of our experiences of sadness and loss, but also carries within it the light of hope as this song does.”  This, like previous single ‘Back To This Moment’, is a fine performance and it’s a welcome follow-up to the excellent 2022 album ‘CrazyTown’, which received a 10/10 review here at AUK.

August – Nils Lofgren ‘Ain’t the Truth Enough’ (Original post here)

There was some great stuff from Allison Russell, Elles Bailey and Ags Connolly this month but this single from the mighty Nils Lofgren, featuring a Beatle on drums, is just marvellous.  Famous for his work with other artists, such as Springsteen, Young and Lou Reed, Nils Lofgren is, quite simply, one of the finest guitarists, singers and songwriters we’ve known.  His solo material is remarkably consistent and recent album ‘Mountains’ was amongst his best recordings.  On the new album, there are appearances from Neil Young, the late David Crosby and, of course, Nils’ friend Ringo Starr.  It’s a fine collection of songs recorded and produced at home.  ‘Ain’t the Truth Enough’ is one of the album’s highlights.  Musically and lyrically powerful, the song relates to the insurrection in the USA on 6th January 2021.  Lofgren reflects on how the challenging state of the world inspired the song: “I grew up living through the Vietnam War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Kennedy and King assassinations.  I thought we’d moved beyond that kind of turmoil, but more and more over the last few years, I found myself having flashbacks to the ’60s and all the uncertainty that came with it.  Music has always been my sacred weapon in tough times, so when history started coming back to haunt me. I decided to reach for the guitar.”  Brilliant stuff.

September – King Creosote ‘Blue Marbled Elm Trees’ (Original post here)

Wow – September was incredibly busy with magnificent music.  We hosted premieres for Jason McNiff and Anton O’Donnell, along with fabulous tunes from Great Lake Swimmers, Larkin Poe and The Glorious Sons.  Any of these could have been selected – all absolutely worthy of inclusion – but, this month, King Creosote gets the nod.  There is a real sense of musical urgency in the rhythms and brilliant bass and percussion that pulse through ‘Blue Marbled Elm Trees’.  Sweeping, swirling sonic layers give the song a textured fullness that makes it feel epic.  It’s a spellbinding, hymn-like reflection on death and life, loss and love, full of arresting, thought-provoking lyrics: “I had the best time laughing with my girls // I had the best life offered up // By this blue marble or any alien world.”  The video, directed by Reuben Sutherland, is a visually stunning piece of art in its own right, as utterly absorbing as the song itself.  One of the songs of the year.

October – Sarah Jarosz ‘Colobus & 89th’ (Original post here)

AUK readers will be very familiar with Sarah Jarosz – no introduction required.  The simple, straightforward beauty of this song is breathtaking.  I find myself lost in it, drifting through its fluttering notes and gentle rhythms on currents of wistful memory and melancholy.  With her effortlessly clear, pure voice Jarosz takes us on a beautifully melodic and lyrical journey to New York, which was her adopted home for much of her adult life.  Moving to Nashville and leaving New York behind in 2020 was a huge and emotional decision.  She explains how this moved her to write: “New York signified this childhood dream that I’d had for so long, so moving to Nashville was like turning the page from youth to adulthood.  ‘Columbus & 89th’ ended up just pouring out of me once Daniel Tashian and I started working on it – there was so much nostalgia and melancholy that I needed to process, and now I still tear up whenever I hear it. As a songwriter my main goal is to tell the truth about my experience, and I think the fact that that song makes me so emotional means that I was tapping into a real feeling.”  This is taken from Jarosz’s forthcoming album, ‘Polaroid Lovers’, which is due out early in 2024.  We can expect more songs that blend lyrical poetry, gorgeous melody and outstanding songwriting.  For the record, ‘Columbus & 89th’ is my pick for song of the year.

November – Teni Rane ‘Goldenrod’ (Original post here)

November was such a strong month that I cheated my own rules by including Robert Vincent and Dean Owens at the top.  We also had songs from the likes of Passenger, Kurt Vile and Ferris & Sylvester.  So much wonderful music to be absorbed in and choose from.  In the end, Teni Rane was selected because ‘Goldenrod’ is, quite simply, one of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard in a long time.  Teni Rane’s vocal melody is captivating, soaring above gorgeously arranged and produced layers, including Dave Eggar’s soothing cello, Roger Gustafsson’s warm bass and Phil Faconti’s electric guitar.  Rane’s thoughtful, wistful lyrics effectively convey a sadness about the impermanence of things that remains with you after the song is over.  Rane shares her thoughts about the song and its themes: “There is something reassuring about the waltz of a field of goldenrod in the late summer – the bees and the breeze and the slow mirage of time like heat rising off a curving road winding high into the mountains. A feeling that the moment might be capturable, maintainable, fixed in a golden memory. The in-between moments in the seasons are my favorites.  When the blinding heat of summer is fighting the giving way to gusty autumn evenings and bright crisp mornings. As much as I enjoy the tension of those moments in nature, I am less of a fan of it in my own life. Change – even chosen, planned for change – is incredibly difficult for me.”  Like Sarah Jarosz’s ‘Columbus & 89th’, ‘Goldenrod’ is one of those songs that manages to find that gorgeous junction where melody, production and reflective lyrics meet.

December – Matt Owens ‘One For the Grapes’ (Original post here)

Noah and the Whale founder-member Matt Owens is a fabulous live performer and we’re going to round out the year with his latest video, in which we see him deliver an energetic show in a party atmosphere.  This is all about the rocking rhythms and searing guitar-work; in particular, the extended wailing solo towards the end is hugely absorbing.  The song is an intense tribute to the residency Owens and his band set up in Bath’s liveliest pub – their long sets and stirring performances have been condensed into one three-and-a-half-minute song.  ‘One for the Grapes’ is the opening track from Owens’ upcoming new album, which was co-produced with the always-excellent Robert Vincent and is due out early in 2024.  Something to look forward to in the bleak mid-winter.

So, that’s it folks.  Another year has rushed by like Slayer song, fast and frenetic.  Of all the thousands of videos – many of them excellent – that I was sent this year, just a handful have made it onto this list.  So much great music isn’t represented here…but you are left with a pretty decent playlist to put on during your Christmas Day lull in conversation.  The best gift that you can give to these artists and to yourself is to dig down into the catalogue of each artist featured here, paying particular attention to their most recent releases.  As well as enjoying the work of all the artists above, your other Christmas holiday project is to check out the 2023 albums from the following: Jarrod Dickenson, Our Man in the Field, Jerry Joseph, Shred Kelly, Sufjan Stevens, The Handsome Family, Tré Burt, Trapper Schoepp, Allison Russell, Cat Clyde and Lukas Nelson.  It’s been some musical year.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy Christmas… and looking forward to more great music in 2024.