A new live album, new singles and touring news are all part of this month’s round-up.
Here we are with this month’s round-up of what’s happening in Americana on the European mainland. We’re starting with the same artist who started last month’s column, Martha Fields. Back in March, we announced that Martha and her band were putting the final touches to their first live album, which would be released later this year. Showing serious commitment to getting her music out there, we can tell you that the album, “Martha Fields Live”, has been finalised and will be officially released at the end of April – but early bird copies are already available on Martha’s website. You can listen to a first release from the album in the tracks at the end of this article.
UK-based Canadian outfit, April Moon, will be heading over to Belgium and Germany for some European gigs this summer. You can catch this lively duo at the following venues:
July 3 Missy Sippy, Gent, BE
July 4 Shamrock, Liege, BE
July 17 VinylCafe Schwarzes Gold, Dorsten, DE
July 22 Kaffeegarten, Sulze, DE
July 25 Music Star, Norderstedt, DE
The dates are in support of their upcoming EP, “Forgiveness Juice”, scheduled for release towards the end of May and are part of their ‘Far May We Roam’ summer tour. You can find more details via the band’s website.
As said in previous articles, we do like a collaboration and this one is particularly interesting. Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains are a French-British band (formed by Franchman Frànçois Marry in Bristol) whose music is usually described as Indie Folk. They’ve teamed up with American singer-songwriter, Cassandra Jenkins, for their new single, ‘Le Fil‘, an ethereal song about life’s continuous renewal that is an interesting combination of French and American writing styles, with Jenkins commenting that “working with French and English gave us that much more to draw from and play with”.
American country soul artist, Moses Patrou, has recently released a new album, “Confession of a Fool“, and will be touring in France during May. Tour dates are:
May 13 IMFP Music School, Salon de Provence
May 14 Le Bus, Dragignan
May 16 L’Eglise Haute, Banon
May 17 Le Sonograf, Le Thor
May 23 La Caverne Jazz, Marseille
From Germany, we have news that Markus Rill is putting the finishing touches to the mixes for a new Markus Rill & The Troublemakers album, expected to be released in the Autumn. Markus is currently touring around Germany in a variety of formats, mostly solo or in the company of Robert Hasleder and Mr Jones, but there are also some gigs with The Troublemakers. Details can be found on his website.
He Is Tall is the stage name of Danish singer-songwriter, Troels Thorkild Sørensen, and his songs have been described as bringing “a Northern European sensibility to American grandiosity”. Judge for yourself on his latest single, ‘Lemonade‘, released this month on the Berlin-based label, Greywood Records.
Finally, for this time around, we have exciting news for Americana fans in the Netherlands. Scottish singer-songwriter, Dean Owens, winner of many an Americana UK poll and something of a favourite around these parts, will be touring in Holland from the 3rd to the 11th May inclusive and will, no doubt, be including some songs from his highly acclaimed latest album, “Spirit Ridge“. Full details of the dates and venues can be found on the Dean Owens website.
That’s it for this month. Next month will be a Festival Special, with a roundup of some of the Roots Music festivals taking place in continental Europe over the summer months. Do please get in touch if you have a festival appearance to promote, and we’re always happy to hear about new releases and touring news. Until next time. Keeping it continental!
