New Music 2018 - Part 10 - Mike Ross - Jenny's Place

More new music and another release by Brighton's At The Helm Records. Let me see what I can tell you about why I like this after a few days and several listens.

Mike Ross - Jenny's Place (At The Helm Records, 2 March 2018).

Mike Ross - Jenny's Place:

• Bamboozled
• The Big Picture
• Dakota Red
• Coffeecan Telephone
• Baby I Love You
• Jenny (Sun Goes Down)
• Dark Powder
• Loveslide

If you can accept that his influences are eclectic then you are quite likely to be fine with this. If not then it might be a rather bumpy ride.

If I had to chose a favourite, and as you may have noticed I most often eschew doing this, it would go to 'Dark Powder' and it is quite something. This album, or at least some of it, goes back a bit further.

Mike Ross - Dark Powder (2016).

This harks back to his childhood spent in the north-east of England during the death throes of the coal mining industry there. It is a narrative that is familiar in many parts of the world and in many different ways. This album flits across borders, even continents, as readily as it does musical influences. 
This is the point at which this album starts to make complete sense to me. This could be Pennsylvania or West Virginia were it not for the proximity of the sea as a waste disposal unit. To make a record that can merge all these influence and still sound like a coherent whole is quite some feat.

Records such as this make interminable January more bearable and I can't wait for the opportunity to hear how this plays out live. I fully intend to do that and, what is more, I believe that Mike Ross plays Truck Festival 2018.

New Music 2017 - Part 35 - Angelina - Vagabond Saint

This follows from my previous post in that I realise sometimes it takes new music time to reveal itself to me. This is a more extreme case in that I first heard it almost a year ago. It has more recently become a a go-to album especially when I find myself in a somewhat ambivalent mood. There is something about it that works for me. That mood is not actually the case just now and probably why I have finally seen my way around to writing about it.

Vagabond Saint - Angelina (WONDERFULSOUND, 2 December 2016). D/l & vinyl.

Vagabond Saint - Angelina:

• Dark Heart 
• Rose Cascade 
• Mandolin Man
• I Don't Cry 
• January Butterfly
• Prayers and Grace
• Vagabond Saint
• Smokes Like A Dream
• Manola
• Wild Cloud
• Sometimes

It's soulful, smoky, southern, pastoral and she wrote the songs too. The artist comes from the nearest that the UK has to an island in the delta, the Isle of Wight, but don't let that put you off.  Had I found it in time last year it would have been on my year-end list. That it was released when it was is a great commitment to the fact that fine new releases no longer stop at the start of November in fawning to the 'don't-offend-anyone' Christmas market fare of decades past.

It is better to buy (or give, or be given) an album you love and an album you detest than end up with two albums that don't evoke much response either way. 

New Music 2017 - Part 18 - Turn Your Face To The Sun - I Draw Slow

This is just so welcome news.
From Dublin, but also Americana and roots inspired, please embrace the return of 'I Draw Slow'. Centered around siblings Dave and Louise Holden the band is so much more than that.

I Draw Slow, Turn Your Face To The Sun (Compass Records, 21 April 2017).

I Draw Slow - Turn Your Face To The Sun:

• Maria
• My Portion
• Same Old Dress Will Do
• Garage Flowers
• Apocalypso
• Don't Wake The Children
• Alveregna
• Tell The Girls
• Carolina
• Twin Sisters
• Crooked Life

This is Don't Wake The Children, taken from the new album...

You might find that a little searching of the bands's earlier recordings is rewarding too. Just one example, and another video, is this.

  'Goldmine', taken from the 2011 LP Redhills .

New Music 2017 - Part 13 - Oka Vanga - Dance Of The Copper Trail

Thanks to many people, not least the band, this is the next in a series of posts about new music that has grabbed my attention for all the right reasons.

Oka Vanga - Dance Of The Copper Trail (Crazy Bird Records, 31 March 2017).

Oka Vanga - Dance of The Copper Trail:

• The Wicken Tree
• Capercaille
• Ashes To The Wind
• She Moved Through The Fair
• Don't Let The Clouds Roll In
• The Devil's Tide
• Song of the River
• Rose of the Hill
• My Sweet Guitar
• Out Of The Fire
• This Train

The heart of this duo is husband and wife Angela Mayer and William Cox, the former from South Africa and the latter from London, but what you get here goes far beyond anything that those facts might begin to reveal. This is their second LP, following 'Pilgrim' of 2014 that was instrumental. If songwriting and singing talent was hidden under a bushel then, neither is the case any longer! This album also features Patsy Reid from Scotland on fiddle and Oliver Copeland on double bass. The variety in the songs is just about perfect.
'The Wicken Tree' is a new revelation of many an old theme; 'She Moved Through The Fair' is a song about as venerable as any that can be reliably traced - the air is likely of mediaeval origin and may have origins in the music of south-eastern Europe. Regarded as of Irish tradition numerous versions, yet still recognisable as such, are to be found throughout the folk canon of the British Isles and especially so in the Romany communities of Ireland as well as further afield, particularly in North American tradition.
The lyric is usually adapted to fit the place and circumstance so it is probably rather recent by comparison. It has been serially adopted by players and singers wheresoever they have found themselves, often far away from their native home, and this elective mutability is another key attribute of folk tradition.
You could sing about the hardships of cod fishing on the Newfoundland Banks when stuck in drought-stricken Oklahoma during the years of the dust bowl and depression, if only for the sake of remembrance. Most likely you would still sing but about things more immediate and pressing.

One of my particular favourites, given just a couple of listens through the whole album so far, is 'The Devil's Tide'.
I'm wondering if this has subconsciously to do with the fact that last week was the fiftieth anniversary of the disaster that was the wreck and foundering of the oil tanker 'Torrey Canyon' off the SW coast of Cornwall on 18 March 1967. The French called the shoreline pollution that the spill caused "la marée noire" - the black tide.  It is in fact about a quite different peril on the high seas - piracy -  and in this case a female pirate from Co. Cork, Ireland!

Here is the aforementioned 'She Moved Through The Fair' performed live:



There is also a song about the plight of coal miners 'Rose Of The Hill' and one about railways 'This Train', so that has most of my folk interests covered.
This is the variety you get here and it is well worth your time to explore it. Oka Vanga is well and truly added to my list of acts to see live.

Imaginary Appalachia - a road trip through Americana.

These posts are the hardest kind to write but, perhaps because of that, also some of the most interesting and rewarding to attempt.  I was never one for writing fiction when at school and I doubt that I could do it convincingly now.

We start this trip, the title of which is inspired by the title of his 2015 EP, with Colter Wall, a native of Saskatchewan, Canada. His first LP 'Colter Wall' is coming soon.

Colter Wall - Colter Wall (Young Mary's Records/Thirty Tigers, 12 May 2017).

This is a live version of 'Kate McCannon' from that LP, recorded in 2015. He supports Margo Price on her US  spring tour.

This next artist isn't from Appalachia either and is not so well known in her own right as perhaps the songs and certainly the artists for whom she has written or co-written. This collection is about the place, quintessential rural America, which she remembers as the home of her grandfather in Puxico, Missouri. It is all her own but the supporting musicians and the production (by her husband Mike Wrucke) are absolutely top class.

Natalie Hemby - Puxico (GetWrucke Productions, 13 January 2017).

In this next record we are finally approaching Appalachian territory; Rayna Gellert, a co-founder of Uncle Earl, is a traditional fiddle player with roots deep in mountain and string band territory.

Rayna Gellert - Workin's Too Hard (SoundStory Records, 20 January 2017).

She is also a fine songwriter and this, following 'Old Light: Songs From My Childhood and Other Gone Worlds' (2013), is the second release in her pursuit of that space. Her desire in this is that innovation need not be, and indeed should not be, stifled by the desire to preserve tradition. Both outcomes can co-exist to the benefit of all.
Of the seven tracks here five are written or co-written by Rayna Gellert. The other two are interpretations of the traditional songs 'Oh Lovin' Babe' and 'I'm Bound For The Promised Land'.

This next record is a paean to the value of the journey itself rather than the knowledge of its ultimate destination.

Julie Byrne - Not Even Happiness (Grapefruit Record Club, 13 January 2017).

If you like finger-picked acoustic guitar and contemplative lyrics, as I do, this might be right up your street. Originally from Buffalo NY she has travelled and lived across much of the continental USA in places as far removed from each other as New Orleans and Seattle. Sometimes she briefly heads to Europe too. If all goes as planned then our paths will cross in August as Julie Byrne plays Green Man Festival 2017.

The journey's end is this album, likely  the best known artist/album of the five as a result of her work with Carolina Chocolate Drops and then her 2015 LP 'Tomorrow Is My Turn', which was all covers and now this that is not.  Whilst the record was quite certainly planned, conceived and recorded before the denouement was known, the title and subject matter could hardly have been more prescient.

Rhiannon Giddens - Freedom Highway (Nonesuch Records, 24 February 2017).

Rhiannon Giddens playing fretless banjo, Stage 1, Cambridge Folk Festival  -  1 August 2015.

Well that's it for this post. Five albums, one soon to be released and four already released in 2017 and we're only just approaching the Ides of March!
There is certainly no shortage or variety of new music that a little exploring can't uncover. The only problem with trips like this is that as soon as one is over the bug bites again. It is time to start planning the next.
The question is should it be Antipodean or Scandinavian?

New Music 2017 - Part 5 - Wildwood Kin - The Author

This is the new release from the trio Wildwood Kin based in the south-west of England.  The music strays far beyond that locale and furthermore 'The Author' is a song more contemplative when compared to 'Warrior Daughter' that was released in 2016.

In addition to the release of this new song, and an album to follow soon, the band has just been announced as the recipient of an award to be presented at the UK Americana Awards 2017  that take place at St. John's, Hackney, London on 2 February.
To put that in proper context, Bob Harris has been around the sun a fair few times and in the top echelons of new and independent music discovery for a very long time too: 'The Old Grey Whistle Test' with Bob presenting ended decades ago (it ran thus from 1971-1978). In that sense he has been there since the start of my music experiences. I still remember seeing bits of that as a child. Since then he has become something of a lodestar for those interested in roots and acoustic music beyond simply UK and Irish folk and through most of those decades it wasn't a part of mainstream musical fashion, to say the least. How times have changed!


The Author (Croft Sessions, in collaboration with Sidmouth Fringe).

It would appear that I didn't mention the release of 'Warrior Daughter' at the time, although I certainly intended to do so, so I shall make amends now.

Here is the video for that song too:

Warrior Daughter (official video).

As soon as learn more about the album I'll be reporting back; don't imagine otherwise.

A meander through music...

This isn't quite the virtual road or rail trip through music that I have been mentioning in my plans for some while, though I expect I'll come to that sooner rather than later. It's just a spur-of-the-moment thing and I don't really know where I'm headed. Its genesis was last week when I had been listening to lots of stuff that is new to me and, every so often, something quite unexpected ended up in my path.
It really started just fifteen minutes walk from home with live music at the Grain Bar Roots Sessions in my home town of Frome, played by an acoustic trio from down the road in Devon. This is folk (of the English variety) but not quite just that. Amongst the summer rain, so typical of England, touches of blues and even jazz seep in through the cracks whilst the stories told are relevant to those in almost any place or time. That trio is Velvet & Stone and they were touring their six-song début release.

The Storm - Velvet & Stone (self released, 8 December 2015).

Not a weak track on this and how this band has passed under my radar completely requires an investigation. These are not traditional songs but new songs that embody traditional themes and the distinction is a rather important one.

The next is certainly the result of a improbable set of coincidences. It all started with a local (but not particularly so to me) community radio show called FNARW (Folk is Not A Rude Word) that is primarily broadcast on Hailsham FM (Sussex, England) but is also available (almost) worldwide on Mixcloud here. Chris Giles, the presenter, cited his awareness of this duo as a result of 'networking'. I'm going to continue that theme...
He introduced me to this next act and played a couple of tracks from it yesterday. I couldn't wait to find out more. This one is a collection of folk songs revisited and reinterpreted:

Wolf Hunter - The Creek Rocks (self released, 2016).

The Creek Rocks is husband and wife team Cindy Woolf and Mark Bilyeu both from the territory covered by the Ozark Mountains (they are similar in altitude to the "mountains" in the UK so not Rocky mountains or Alps style) but cover extensive tracts of southern Missouri and north central and north western parts of Arkansas. Wolf Hunter is their first truly collaborative work although both have released music before.
It is released on vinyl, CD and d/l but finding the physical versions in the UK is a slight issue at the moment. I rather like the idea of buying the vinyl for myself as a birthday present, even if it has to ship from the US. The album certainly deserves a listen and you can listen to five tracks from it here.

Last but not least is this news from today, about new music from an artist possibly better known on both sides of the Atlantic than either of the aforementioned. This is the follow up to 2014 self-titled début Arc Iris.

Moon Saloon - Arc Iris (19 August, Bella Union in the EU and possibly also the UK too).

The first track released from the second LP from Jocie Adams and her cohort is Kaleidoscope. I'm guessing that the title might serve as a good guide to the rest of the offering.

Arc Iris, The Garden Stage, End Of The Road Festival, 6 September 2014.

New Music 2016 - Part 20 - Grant-Lee Phillips - The Narrows

After a straight run of UK artists in posts here I guess I ought to return to my other musical influences. This release captured my attention this week and it was an obvious choice after only a few listens.

The Narrows - Grant-Lee Phillips (Yep Roc Records, 18 March 2016).

Careworn and resigned maybe, but not bitter and never malicious, is how this comes across as I listen to it.  Another important thing is that he is certainly no newcomer and I'll leave it to you to explore that aspect should you wish to do so.

This is the track-list :

• Tennessee Rain
• Smoke And Sparks
• Moccasin Creek
• Cry Cry
• Holy Irons
• Yellow Weeds
• Loaded Gun
• Rolling Pin
• Taking On Weight In Hot Springs
• Just Another River Town
• No Mercy In July

An early stand-out is Smoke And Sparks. Yellow Weeds too, but to be honest there is nothing notably weak here in my opinion. I could listen to this whilst holed-up in the depths of winter or, equally, outdoors whilst watching the fire burn down with friends late on a warm summer night.

Here is 'Smoke and Sparks' live:

New Music 2016 - Part 19 - Sam Green and The Midnight Heist - Factory Studio Sessions EP

One of the things that frequently appears at or near the top of the side-bar of this blog is a poster under the title "Musicians to see live in 2016...". This poster will appear there too in a few days time but in the meanwhile here is a thought.
You could see Sam Green and The Midnight Heist at The Isle Of Wight Festival in June. Failing that you can catch the same at Boomtown Festival, Hampshire in mid-August. Or you could see them, eight weeks before the former, without the need for a ferry to the Isle of Wight and with no camping involved either, at a venue that guarantees that you will be amongst a crowd that does not exceed a hundred persons!
Cast your eyes to the last date on this poster...

Marnhull Acoustic Sessions - Sunday, 17 April 2016. Tickets: £11 (inc. £1 booking fee).

Note added 11 April 2016:

The above performance has been postponed to a later date, to be announced. Tickets are valid for the rescheduled date or refunds can be obtained by contacting Marnhull Acoustic Sessions via the website.

Should you be wondering what the 'Factory Studio Sessions EP', released sometime in April, might sound like then worry not. You can wrap your ears around it right now. That will be as nothing when compared with seeing and hearing the band live.

Sam Green & The Midnight Heist - The Factory Studio Sessions EP.

Note added 11 May 2016:

Sam Green and The Midnight Heist is now confirmed to play Green Man Festival 2016, on the Chai Wallah's stage.

A virtual Sunday roots - Americana - bluegrass road trip.

This was sparked by a comment from a US friend about a band recently seen live (twice) and how good it was. Today I have listened on rotation to these three LPs whilst doing routine jobs around the house. I haven't had the good fortune to see any of these artists live, yet.

It prompted me to think about an artist whose début LP I happened across a couple months back and then never got around to mentioning.  Of the three that is the one that I shall start with and it is the only one that consists largely of traditional tunes and songs; they were both collected and arranged by the artist, Jake Xerxes Fussell. That is indeed his name from birth and splendid it most certainly is. Much of the music here is acoustic singer-with-guitar material but lap-steel and fiddle feature too. 

Released: 26 January 2015 (Paradise of Bachelors)

I could have chosen almost anything here. Not a single song showcases the diversity that is sampled from the original sources. In the end I chose 'Star Girl' as it displays more of the instruments on offer here than some other tracks.

The next that I shall mention is the one recommended to me this morning and therefore the seed from which this conceptual road trip grew. Originally hailing from a slew of places across the US the five members, none were known one to another before they found themselves in Portland, OR in 2014.  In a matter of months they became Crow and The Canyon. From that point on they toured solidly, mostly in the Pacific Northwest, writing what would become their first LP 'Leaving Soon'.

It was released 9 June 2015 (CD Baby).

To a great extent this is their own material and it covers, indeed fuses a wide variety of styles across the folk, country and bluegrass spectrum. As Crow and the Canyon had been recommended to me this was actually where I started this 'road trip' but in terms of story-telling it seems to fit best in the midst of the three. It is invidious to attempt to choose just one track to illustrate this, but I'm going to try anyway.

The final piece in this trilogy is The Lil Smokies from Montana. This is very much led by modern bluegrass.

It was released 28 June 2013 (CD Baby).

'Mending The Fence' live in Missoula, MT, 2013.

New Music 2016 - Part 10 - Erin Rae and The Meanwhiles - Soon Enough

More music from across the Atlantic...

The good people at Clubhouse Records here in the UK have announced that their latest signing is Erin Rae and The Meanwhiles and that the début LP 'Soon Enough' will be released in the UK on 3 June.
Having been told this I felt it incumbent on me to see what I could find out about the artist, band and music. One of the first reviews that I read opined that it was perfect listening for a Sunday afternoon. I also discovered that as it was self-released as a download, as well as vinyl and CD, in the US in September 2015 I was able to listen to it.
I am inclined to agree with that review, which is why I am writing this one grey and windy Sunday afternoon here in southern England.
The first thing that struck me is that Erin Rae has a soothing voice; she doesn't push its boundaries or resort to the histrionic, but that is not to say that it lacks weight or purpose. The songs talk of a variety of themes both dark and light and, while instrumentation associated with "country" such as pedal-steel loom large, it is hard to categorize the music.

The whole LP was recorded live over two days in West Tennessee and it maintains that essence of existing in its own three-dimensional space --- where modern folk, roots and country mingle and in so-doing may become beyond place and time.
That is possibly the greatest achievement of all, and some of the songs do just this.

From that LP this is 'Clean Slate', live in Nashville, August 2015.

New Music 2016 - Part 6 - Clay Parker and Jodi James

I had no plans to post today but then again, lists aside, I rarely plan posts to a schedule even when writing about festivals and such. Things just happen for a reason. This was actually released at the very end of last year. Both protagonists have worthy releases individually, which I intend to explore further in due course. This however demanded my attention right now.

This short self-titled album is their calling-card as a duo and it is self released.

Clay Parker and Jodi James

1. Come Back
2. What It Knows
3. Moonshiner
4. Showboatin'
5. Meditation Blues
6. After the Smoke Clears

This live performance of Jodi's own song Kiss Lonely Goodbye goes right back to the start of the collaboration.

It was recorded in Memphis, TN. 1 August 2014.

Ian Tyson - Carnero Vaquero

There is so much 'new music' to be discovered and it is easy to make comparisons that are unwarranted. Then there is the deadly 'genre' debate.
It is not something that I'm inclined to visit anyway but this is one album that tempts me towards that trap even less than most. The best thing is to keep your ears, and your mind, open to all possibilities and see what comes along.

It is a newish release, by Stony Plain Records on 16 June 2015.

Not new at all is the style of music or indeed the artist for that matter. Ian Tyson was 81 years-young when this album was recorded and as well as being an active, touring musician he still runs his stock ranch in a remote part of Alberta, Canada, that is far removed from the bright city lights of Calgary.
You might be interested in his previous recording history too, for it is a long one, but that is not in any way a prerequisite to listening to this. It might actually be better to listen to this first and then, should you be so inclined, follow the trail back through time. Carnero Vaquero comprises ten original vignettes of a life well lived:

• Doney Gal
• Colorado Horses
• Will James
• Jughound Ronnie
• Darcy Farrow
• The Flood
• Shawnie
• Chantell
• Wolves No Longer Sing
• Cottonwood Canyon

If I were to be snowed-in at home, which is unfortunately rather unlikely, I'd be listening to this sooner rather than later.

New Music 2015 - Part 70 - Francis Pugh and The Whisky Singers - A Place Back West EP

The Oxford music scene is vibrant and nowhere more so than in the inter-related genres of folk, roots, bluegrass, and thus also the behemoth that is Americana. It is not so long since I mentioned Great Western Tears in that regard. This is another and the two are commonly found as part of the pop-up live performances known as Oxford Roots Rambles.
Francis Pugh and The Whiskey Singers is a six-piece and the latest Roots Ramblin' event that took place yesterday evening also served to launch their EP 'A Place Back West'.

In the original tradition of EPs it has just three tracks - two originals and a cover in this case. These are they:

• A Place Back West
• I Saw The Light (Hank Williams)
• You Can't Fix A Heart That's Been Broken

For all the downbeat lyricism of the first and last tracks the theme and the joyous music, including the combination of banjo and brass playing together, results in an effect that is entirely one of positivity in quest for the fabled 'sunlit uplands'. The other vital component is not only do these songs and the stories fully hold their places they are actually enhanced by the choice of the song that separates them.
The inclusion of Hank Williams 1947-composed 'I Saw The Light' is interesting not only for its range of interpretation and the virtuosity of the playing displayed within it by the band, but also for its history.

It became, mostly through covers rather than Williams' own performance, a gospel-country standard and probably his best-recognised creation. In actual fact it was written about a comment that his mother made while driving the band back from a gig. 'The Light' in question was that emanating from Dannelly Field airport and it signalled that they were approaching their home town of Montgomery, AL.

God moves in mysterious ways.

New Music 2015 - Part 57 - Sofia Talvik - Big Sky Country

When it comes to listening to new music (and also music that is new to me), both live and recorded, I am on something of a roll at moment. This is more Americana it is true, and this LP was released only a month or two back, but Sofia Talvik is not new to the scene as 'Big Sky Country' is her sixth full-length studio release. She isn't American either - she is from Sweden although, when not touring, she is currently resident in Berlin.
I'm only really just getting the measure of this album but I can see it will be around for a long time. Much of it comes from observations she made during a 16-month, 38-state road trip touring her earlier songs around the US. It is full of the kind of observations that someone new to somewhere recognises as special in some way but that those local either simply take for granted or don't even notice at all.
You see it put very simply in the title track and her response to Idaho, but the more I listen the more I am starting to notice the subtleties - not just in the lyrics but in the way that they are played out. Once I've got my head around this I shall be delving into her back catalogue, which also includes the 2013 LP 'Drivin' and Dreaming LIVE'.

New Music 2015 - Part 56 - Della Mae - Della Mae

You never know where the next thing will come from... This time it was a tip from a locally based band that have something of a bluegrass thing going on. Della Mae is an all female four-piece from Nashville, TN and while not entirely bluegrass there's plenty of that in the mix. The rest is traditional country and roots. This is actually their third LP and the band is on tour in the UK and mainland Europe at the moment too.

It was released by Rounder Records (distributed by Decca Records in some countries) on 10 July 2015.

The original compositions are quite on point but as it so happens it also includes a cover of 'To Ohio', which is one of my favourite tracks by The Low Anthem and from the 2008 LP 'Oh My God, Charlie Darwin'. It is pure speculation but I do wonder if this is something inspired by how Jocie Adams might have liked it to sound. Just thought that I'd mention that.
Overall things can't get much better, except to say that now I need to see Della Mae live!

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.

New Music 2015 - Part 49 - Will Hoge - Small Town Dreams

It is no secret that I like a great deal of folk, roots and alt/indie-country music that is being produced on both sides of the Atlantic these days. In that vein I shall continue with this, the latest LP from Will Hoge, a native of Franklin, Tennessee and maybe the small town of his musings, at least in part. It was released by independent label Cumberland Recordings (Nashville, TN) - about which I can find little information but would like to if not least to hear more of their artists - on 15 June 2015 (in the UK).

Since then I have listened to it, from start to finish, a number of times and I like it. I like it a lot, to be honest. I am planning to listen to as much folk, roots and Americana as I can over the summer festival season. If Will Hoge turns out to be playing then I'll be there if I possibly can. This comprises eleven songs, none are covers, and I can't say that I have a particular favourite yet and that is no bad thing. I can safely say however that there are none that I would skip. This is the track-list:

1. Growing Up Around Here
2. They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To
3. Better Than You
4. Little Bitty Dreams
5. Guitar Or A Gun
6. Middle Of America
7. All I Want Is Us Tonight
8. Just Up The Road
9. Desperate Times
10. The Last Thing I Needed
11. Till I Do It Again

This time next week 'The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts 2015' will be heading towards the closing night. As mentioned before I shan't be there but, while looking forward to the coverage and hearing all the tales, it does mark a certain kind of start to the summer. The weather forecast for the next week in these parts looks fairly benign too.
It is also, a tradition on my part, the time that I start to think about my end-of-year lists. My reason for this is that, with half of the year done, it should be possible to determine at least some trends...
Why bother? Well, having thought about it I then have the summer, and the festivals, to see if my ideas hold up and also still the time to explore new ones.

New Music 2015 - Part 48 - The Deslondes

Writing a blog is something like handling a heavy train; it is an unending battle between inertia and momentum. I seem to be in the hard-to-stop situation at the moment.

This album was released today by New West Records.

The Deslondes is a New Orleans acoustic five-piece and this is their first LP released as such. It starts with the piano led 'Fought The Blues and Won', which is some claim. On first listen I was much affeared that this was a case of best-foot-first. That was not to prove so.
It has a sense of the timeless about it. That is oft-times a phrase used with a forked-tongue but in this instance even Pitchfork seem to be very much on the positive side.
As for me, well I'm sold on this. This is for summer - if we have one - and despite the fact that East Somerset is notably short of bayous and their accompanying catfish and crawfish I'm always good for any excuse for a BBQ.

This is track #6 'The Real Deal':

It is not in my opinion one of the deal-makers but it shows well both the intent and the acoustic milieu live. The record ends with another slow number led by piano and that is 'Out On The Rise'. It is demurely astonishing.
This is the track list:

• Fought the Blues and Won
• Those Were (Could've Been) the Days
• Heavenly Home
• Less Honkin' More Tonkin'
• Low Down Soul
• The Real Deal
• Still Someone
• Time to Believe In
• Louise
• Simple and True
• Same Blood As Mine
• Out On the Rise

What you may not expect, even after listening to it from start to finish, is that all twelve songs are originals and the band members share writing and singing duties in many and various ways.

New Music 2015 - Part 43 - The Great Western Tears EP

This is something that I have been meaning to mention for some time and a merry band that you might well be aware of in various disguises. The Great Western Tears is a five-piece from middle-England that just can't resist middle-America except to the extent of not being there at least for now.
Their introductory EP is self-titled and uses the term 'ameripolitan' to describe at least some of their sound; it is a new term to me but I can clearly see where it is coming from. The link above explains much of the thinking that leads to this.

It has four tracks and, possibly, the immediate attention-grabber is 'The Late Great Man In Black'. There is no need to explain what that is about...


That the band has both male and female vocalists and pedal-steel guitar soothes things no end. They even spoil us with a track-by-track explanation of just how things came to be - it is here.