New Music 2016 - Part 34 - The Honeycutters - On The Ropes

I would stay up all night to write about this. This is cognisant music of the most perfect kind. It wasn't for no good reason that their last long-player 'Me Oh My' was on my list of Albums of 2015 - Part 1.
This is the follow-up to that and I am pleased to say the band has made no drastic changes. That certain predictability - the idea that while circumstances may change, for better or for worse, many things will remain much the same and that a gritty determination, and even redemption, will overcome those that don't.

The Honeycutters - On The Ropes (20 May 2016, Organic Records).

• On the Ropes
• Blue Besides
• Golden Child
• The Handbook
• The Only Eyes
• Back Row
• Useless Memories
• Piece of Heaven
• Let's Get Drunk
• 500 Pieces
• Ache
• Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen cover)
• Barmaid's Blues

Jason Isbell is playing Green Man 2016 and Margo Price plays End Of The Road 2016, so that is covered.
If I could wish to see just one more Americana act at a UK festival this summer then The Honeycutters would be it. It's not that this LP is particularly similar in style to those of either of the others and indeed that is a big part of the whole charm of it. They are each happy to plough (sic) their own furrow, however I regard it as an equally noteworthy one.
I have no reason to suspect that given the current mood here in Britain the band would find anything other than a very warm welcome indeed.

This video is for 'Jukebox', which is the opening track on the aforementioned 'Me Oh My'.

It is the perfect match to 'Barmaid's Blues', which is the closing song on 'On the Ropes' and that really matters.

My Music in 2015 - Albums - Part 1

So, with December 2015 almost upon us, it is time to kick off the season-of-lists. I'm not really convinced how important this all is despite the fact that so many of us take part in it. My rather simple reason is that it helps me take stock of the year and also that I rather enjoy putting the effort into doing the same.
I was going to keep this back for the start of December but since it was essentially complete I thought that I would share it now.

There are no systemic changes from last year. The acts in each list are grouped in alphabetical order and the number of entries in each list is ten. There is no attempt to 'rank' acts in each list, or indeed between lists (there will be at least three such lists of LPs). One thing that has changed not a jot is the influence that music I have seen live during 2015 or previously has had on the overall outcome but then perhaps remarkably there are actually four in this list that I have never seen live. Needless to say all those are very much in my sights in 2016.

• Danni Nicholls - Mockingbird Lane
• Don Gallardo - Hickory
• Flo Morrissey - Tomorrow Will Be Beautiful
• Free the Honey - Fine Bloom
• Gwenno - Y Dydd Olaf
• Hattie Briggs - Red & Gold
• The Honeycutters - Me Oh My
• Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free
• Lindi Ortega - Faded Gloryville
• Marika Hackman - We Slept At Last

I am happy if people would like to make comments and suggestions. I will be equally so if this leads anyone to find music of which they were previously either unaware of had forgotten about. If it tempts you to head out and see some live music then that is a real bonus. It is also, truth be told, quite simply the music that I really liked.
Here are the photos that I promised - one each of four artists that I took at four different festivals this summer.

Don Gallardo and Friends - Saloon stage,  Truck Festival - 18 July 2015.

Flo Morrissey (solo) - The Den stage, Cambridge Folk Festival - 2 August 2015.

Gwenno - Far Out stage, Green Man Festival - 20 August 2015.

Marika Hackman - Garden stage, End of The Road Festival - 6 September 2015.

It is fair to say that Jason Isbell comes very close to the top of the list of artists that I wish to see live in 2016. If the recorded music is not reason enough then this is why.

If you wish to look further into the music of 2015 that is in my mind then, following on from these and as I promised, here is Tracks of 2015 #3.
The second selection of LPs will likely be preceded by a selection of EPs and mini-albums sometime later this week.

New Music 2015 - Part 54 - The Honeycutters - Me Oh My

I'm going to stick with the American theme - it is 4th July after all - and The Honeycutters come from the Appalachian tradition that dates back to the earliest years.

The five-piece is fronted by songwriter, lead vocalist and sometime guitarist Amanda Platt and hails from Asheville, NC. This leads one to suspect a Blue Ridge influence and, to an extent, that is what you get here. One thing you most certainly do not get is manufactured Nashville country - it's homespun but with nice flourishes where they make a real difference. 
I suspect that they are not at all well known in the UK at the moment even though Me Oh My is their third album. On the other hand with the fast changing relationship between the US and UK in terms of folk/roots/Americana the timing is nothing if not propitious.

The Honeycutters - Me Oh My (UK release - April 2015)

It is nothing ground breaking in style but that was not its mission. If it makes your corner of the world seem a little bit better or even just more understandable, then it has succeeded it the minds of it creators.  If you like it then the 2012 LP 'When Bitter Met Sweet' might be worth a listen too.
It is also worth mentioning that, as someone who regards lyrics as important, I like this for that reason too. I can imagine them sung in a English, Scottish or Welsh accent and (without the pedal steel, possibly a fiddle might come in handy) they would seem every bit as plausible.