Three Chords and the Truth UK

The sumptuous sound of country soul, especially where pedal steel meets Hammond organ meets horns, can take a lot of beating. On a slightly different footing is the equally ravishing sound of folk soul or to borrow a phrase from the press supporting this new album by Alice Di Micele, acoustic groove. No two words are better phrased to describe SWIM, the latest in a long line of releases from this Oregon based artist. Right from the off this record is a constant mover using a multitude of instrumental pieces from a lengthy list of players to breathe musical life into the lyrical outpourings of Alice. Drawing on the experience of her natural surroundings, there is a strong environmental theme to Alice’s writing and this is no more passionate in its expression than the moving protest track ‘ Old Life Back ’. The US are a lot further down the line with the exploratory process of fracking than the UK and thus issues have arisen for song writers to fuel (pun certainly unintended) the ...

On the surface, the pairing of Blair Dunlop and Emma Stevens appears to be a curious combination with respect to their contrasting background, style and sound. However dig a little deeper and the synergy begins to emerge. Both are aspiring, driven and fiercely independent artists spinning the wheel of fortune with the power of the immaculate song. The skill of writing is an endemic part of their DNA and a key component of an innate ability to communicate via their craft. Ultimately Emma appears to crave that killer melody to unlock the door to limitless appeal, while Blair is seemingly pursuing a path of creative versatility to seek that niche of ultimate respect. The amalgamation of these two artists for a short UK tour presented the perfect opportunity to enjoy the yield of their energetic labours. Over the course of her two albums to date, the first initially appeared in a 4 EP series; Emma has demonstrated the knack of penning a tune ripe for cross appeal airplay. This has l...

Sometimes it’s not a case of when you understand an artist but the fact that you have finally cemented the act of discovery. Over the last seven years this radar has been active in many places elsewhere while the Laura Marling phenomena exploded across the wider music world. However if there is still a little room to hop onto the curve, the experience of seeing her live show has made it the mission of 2015. To complement her spine chilling performance at a packed Institute, the continual playing of the new record SHORT MOVIE has been in danger of developing into an unhealthy obsession. In these inter-connected times it doesn’t take too long to piece together an artist’s career and Laura Marling has certainly packed an awful lot into her still relatively young years. Five albums and countless tours in the spotlight has led to many witness her evolution which has now taken root into full blown plugged in electrification. This rounded and more complete sound etched into a venue full ...

Stamp marked with 100% authenticity and a fully paid up member of the heartbreak songwriter's ‘A’ list club, Cale Tyson is a mystical mirage of a golden age projected onto a contemporary canvas. Should country music need a saviour then the music of this Nashville based Texan announces its candidacy. The good folks at Clubhouse Records have unearthed a precious jewel to spearhead their real country preservation mission and this specially packaged album is an achingly brilliant collection of timeless original tunes. You can’t have a more explicit title than INTRODUCING CALE TYSON and 45 minutes after inserting this CD into your player, it is mission accomplished. Technically this cleverly presented record is an amalgamation of Cale’s two Ep releases to date which merge into a fully-fledged style album for those hooking into the sound of an artist blessed with precise interpretative skills. Whether this aptitude for absolute re-creation is natural or nurtured by a lifelong s...

The talents of Bella Hardy are well known within the folk world, so maybe it’s worth just opening this piece with a complementary word about her band which does an incredible job bringing the songs to life. Obviously it helps when you have the most gorgeous of voices to project the lyrics, but the subtle way in which two keys, piano, percussion, guitar, banjo and lap top melted into the songs was a highly impressive listening experience. Yes the word lap top is correct as Ben Seal added a digital touch to what is in essence a roots infused sound. When you factor in Bella’s fiddle playing to the mix of Ben (keys, lap top) Anna Massie (guitar, banjo), Tom Gibbs (piano, keys) and Tim Lane (percussion), the setting was perfect for an abundance of outstanding songs and tunes to flourish. Bella was returning to the MAC in Birmingham just under a year since her last visit to the venue as part of the 30 shows project to celebrate her 30 th birthday. This time the tour had the purpose...

Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt may have sold more records when they got together for their TRIO project and The Highwaymen were certainly more advanced with their careers, but surely there cannot have been a purer collaboration of three independent artists than the one witnessed this evening at Biddulph Town Hall. Born from an impromptu performance at Telluride Bluegrass Festival last year, the combination of Aoife O’Donovan, Sarah Jarosz and Sara Watkins represents the cream of 2015 traditional revivalists, easily finding common ground to share their natural ability to sing, play and make beautiful music. Billed as the ‘I’m With Her Tour’, this celestial choir showed a glimpse of roots heaven in a 90 minute sonic shower free of any musical impurity. In consecutive years all three have added an elegant sparkle to the Transatlantic Sessions roadshow, an effect magnified to sublime proportion when taking full possession of the centre stage. The slick manoeuvre betwee...

‘Mind the Gap’ was the tour headline with its connotations spanning style, sound and the Atlantic divide. However the evening was all about two fiercely independent artists bridging the gap between the signed and the unsigned world, whilst being totally united in a determined drive to plough through their own vision of music. This was life at the epicentre of the twenty-first century music model, spiced by crowd funding, social media, digital sharing and reaching out to connect with the fans. Rocking it all the way from Georgia, USA was the dynamic Sonia Leigh, being guided through these isles with a little help from the polished tones of Hereford-based UK singer-songwriter Sasha McVeigh. This concluding date of their short, but action packed, tour anchored in the Birmingham suburb of Kings Heath and an enthusiastic audience gave this brief liaison a fitting farewell. In line with other shows on the tour, a couple of local artists briefly opened before Sonia and Sasha split the stan...

The gap may have been fourteen years but the wait for THE VICAR St SESSIONS VOL. 1 to emerge in a recorded format is over, much to the delight of the legions of Paul Brady fans. On the contrary, if you are yet to be acquainted with this highly acclaimed Irish artist then this new release will act as a fresh introductory opportunity. With this project being the snapshot of one month in the life of a performer back in October 2001, perhaps the use of the word ‘fresh’ is ironic. The decision to descend on Dublin’s Vicar St venue for a residency was ambitious at its outset, cautionary with its start, rampant in its promotion, before ultimately succeeding in its legacy. In total Paul played 23 dates during that single venue run and this initial release, in what promises to be a series, evokes a little of the bristling craftsmanship that surrounded each night during the month. The obvious attraction of the thirteen tracks selected to populate Volume 1 is the sheer magnitude of the colla...

The journey down MOCKINGBIRD LANE took a swift turn last night for Danni Nicholls as she began the live roll out of an album destined to reach its destination of widespread acclaim. Birmingham’s respected folk and roots venue, the Kitchen Garden Café, hosted the first date of Danni’s ‘Pre-Release Tour’ and it was a golden opportunity to see if the album tracks from the new record responded well to a stripped back delivery. The result exceeded expectations, but that was hardly a surprise from a highly crafted song writer capable of spinning a winning formula when pairing the tale with the melody. The privilege of accessing a preview copy of the new material had whetted the appetite enormously and the consensus amongst the majority enjoying their inaugural listen was unanimous in the affirmative. Any trepidations of playing a venue for the first time were soon removed as Danni eased into a sweet groove of enlightening inter-song interludes to add considerable value to a continu...

P As a regular listener and advocate of Michael Park’s The International Americana Music Show, there is no finer way to explore continental music that is infused with definable twang and heavily influenced by the reams of iconic roots music to emanate from the States. Sweden’s Ben Folke Thomas has been one such artist to be featured and his style of alt-country rock compactly fits within the ideals of the Americana genre. In support of his second record due out in May, Ben and his fellow Scandinavian band members are embarking on a wealth of UK dates and on the evidence of this Birmingham show, folks are going to be well enamoured with his bold vocal delivery, driving rhythms and engaging songs. Ben is far from new to the UK scene, adopting almost Anglo status during his lengthy periods of residence, but the challenge has to be to expand out of the London scene and bang on the doors of provincial music nuts. This evening’s show at the Hare and Hounds did just that and those present ...

Rebecca Lovell Almost a year on from unveiling their new sound, it was time to once again catch up with a Larkin Poe live show to check out the continual evolution of the talented Lovell siblings’ career odyssey. The gradual transformation from harmonious roots traditionalists to full blown ‘swampadelic ‘ southern rock has reached a point of embedment with prime evidence of both Rebecca and Megan effortlessly growing into their new sonic identikit. Close up observation revealed a band optimising a voluminous sound within the confines of sisterly harmony; this time more prevalent in musical intuition and emotion rather than vocal entwinement. Megan Lovell The team from the Kitchen Garden Café was vindicated in re-booking the band for a second successive year and a healthy turnout in their borrowed home of the Hare and Hounds manifested into a convivial atmosphere of shared appreciation. An interesting observation when comparing Larkin Poe 2015 and the 2014 version was the s...

Without doubt April Verch is the complete package as her records continue to match the magnetism and grace of the live performance. Having first crossed April’s path in 2013, with both a live review and a feature on her album BRIGHT LIKE GOLD, it is a pleasure to present the next instalment of a career that is already bulging with many records and countless live performances. THE NEWPART is in fact April’s tenth studio album, quite prolific for an artist in her mid-thirties but a symbolic reflection of her thirst for discovering, re-interpreting and making music, all stamped with her Canadian fiddle prowess. Some people may consider April a revivalist, but more aptly she acts as a conductive force bridging early twentieth century roots music into the new millennium. This new record sees April lean heavily on breathing contemporary life into a mixture of old songs and tunes, many dating back to the twenties and thirties. Within the context of her illimitable appeal, April and ...

Caddy Cooper tempts you to ‘ Get Onboard’ in the first few bars of the aptly named opening track on OUTSIDE THE WIRE. This is quite possibly the best invite you will get all year to join an enticing lady on her ambitious journey through the trials and tribulations of a heady mix of real country, sultry blues and a phenomenal stab at some classic storytelling folk. On a record sumptuously merging the smitten vocals of Caddy with stacks of splendid playing and spiritedly led by lashings of pedal steel, the longevity peels away to reveal an artist hell-bent on doing things the right way and coming up trumps. This album, a follow up to 2014’s SNAPSHOT, is bursting at the seams with songs designed to melt, engage and enthral the listener. The treasure trove of glorious tracks effortlessly moves through a haze of late night lounge jazz blues onto more feet shuffling rock n’ roll, always paying the utmost respect to the style of the traditional songbook. What makes this album even mor...

Back in 2013 when reviewing Danni Nicholls’ previous album, her candidacy for the vacant crown of Queen of UK Americana was announced. Two years on and it is a privilege to announce that the plans for the coronation are well advanced. Where A LITTLE REDEMPTION signed off, MOCKINGBIRD LANE picks up the mantle and under the same guidance of producer Chris Donohue and his team, Danni has raised the stakes higher with an album packed to the hilt with sultry vocals, majestic musicianship and songs strewn with the emotional strains of life. From a strong background of early exposure to classic sounds right across the spectrum of country, blues, folk and rock n’ roll, Danni has a clear vision of the musical style she wants to portray and takes a major leap towards this goal in the production of her sophomore album. The journey from Bedfordshire to the Nashville-Memphis corridor is a long one but made more practically attainable with a singer-songwriter marrying up the holy trinity of t...

Rich in familiarity, alluring in sound and genuine in its extraction of inner talent, Georgina Callaghan’s second album announces her prominent arrival on the international adult contemporary singer-songwriter scene. A HISTORY OF NOW is a bright and breezy bout of organic pop designed to project Callaghan’s profile significantly in both her new home in the US as well as a tilt at the UK market. Since leaving our shores around four years ago, she has sought career development in several quarters, most strikingly teaming up with Shawn Mullins for her debut album and re-locating from Atlanta to Nashville in order to tap into Music City’s wider resource pool. A lot of hard work has gone into Callaghan getting to this stage of her career and she has come as long way since first seeing her play a showcase set at Americana International probably around ‘08/’09. Of course Callaghan has long been championed by Bob Harris to the extent she featured on his excellent recent BBC aired document...