Three Chords and the Truth UK

Where January tumbles into February:  the time of year when the Celtic Connections deepening funds keeps Glasgow Americana folks warm and the London centric world feasts on a glut of touring artists. Yet keeping the spirit of the provinces glowing was a sold out gathering in the back room of an East Midlands pub, and a Texas singer-songwriter of the highest pedigree spilling out his poetic soul. The first good news is that Hayes Carll has consigned to history any indifference to touring the UK. Following this, is the first hand report that he has never sounded better, with the added bonus of new material taking shape. While his previous touring companions have often played a significant part in past shows, there was no diminishment of a solo Hayes Carll dominating the stage. Perhaps, the intense focus further contributed to the success of the gig. Midway through the set, Hayes segued two of his finest songs, bridged only by the assertion that his good friend Ray Wylie Hubbard...

With the corner barely turned into a new year, surely the most important release of the next twelve months has surfaced in Mary Gauthier’s epic new album RIFLES AND ROSARY BEADS. Eleven co-writes with wounded veterans via the Song Writing with Soldiers Program is just the mere structure for this project. Its real heart and soul exists in the tortuous stories, sprinkled liberally with a fair degree of hope. Gauthier digs deep into her whole expression and presentation repertoire to produce a career body of work; successful at leaving the listener suitably informed and visibly moved. Throughout 2017, anticipation built as to where Mary Gauthier would next direct her lyrical prowess, with very short odds on the political discourse in her homeland from the evidence of her online outpourings. There is an element of politics in the background to the stories, but this is outweighed by the personal stance and the highly creative way they have been woven into the prime medium of the popu...

Orphan Colours are a new name on the UK recording scene, although its inhabitants are no mere novices. Born out of members from acclaimed British bands: ahab, Noah & the Whale and Danny & the Champions of the World, this buoyant ‘hot off the press’ collaboration is set to map out a promising future with the release of their full length debut album titled ALL ON RED. Whether all their chips are being placed on one colour or not, widespread acclaim is assured to, at least provide a base for a stab of some remnants of commercial success. Throwing their hat into the ring of UK Americana may suggest some kind of niche outlook, yet there is absolutely no reason why the mainstream cannot slide back into the clear and accessible rock sound that emanates from this record. If you subscribe to the original ideals of Americana tumbling out of the old adage ‘too country for rock: too rock for country’, then you will be at least be travelling on the same highway as Orphan Colours. The n...

Sometimes records are blessed with a destiny. They capture a perfect sound to enthral a listener fortunate enough to tap into its wavelength. The fabric, dressing and substance of Laura Benitez’s third album hauls it into this category before unravelling as a timeless treat to fans who love a classic country sound laced with more than a hearty dose of fiery Latino sauce. WITH ALL ITS THORNS has put down a marker for an early instrumental delight of the year with lashings of luscious pedal steel sparring with border-inspired accordion, piercing your ear amongst a host of memorable tunes. Easy listening, maybe; absolutely adorable listening, certainly. Adding the word heartache to your band name is well on the path to adhering yourself with country tradition and as you submerge deeper into the album, the nod towards the Californian version becomes more apparent. Laura herself is steeped in the West Coast music scene and made the journey north from Los Angeles to her now base in the...

Maybe us folk south of Hadrian’s Wall are allowed a smidgen of jealousy concerning the January offering that Celtic Connections gives the good people of Glasgow in one of the year’s darkest months. However, some compensation exists in those American artists that choose to build in a few English dates during this mid-winter visit. In fact, The Lone Bellow has extended this to a handful of continental Europe shows as well, as they continue the quest of promoting their latest album through the most connective of mediums: live gigs. First stop in 2018 was a sold out night in Manchester’s Band on the Wall venue and a supreme opportunity to share a scintillating performance with fans old and new. Led by the effervescent and theatrical front person Zach Williams, this was a gig to blast the New Year into perpetual motion and set the tone for bands of a similar ilk to follow. This was my first time seeing The Lone Bellow live, and while similarities to Americana bands Dawes, The Bros Landre...

The second gig of the year proved a somewhat low-key affair, as Amy Wadge had to pull out of her nationwide duet tour with Luke Jackson at the last moment. Not one to sit in his Canterbury flat twiddling his thumbs, Luke decided to fulfil a number of these dates in solo mode, with the audience obviously notified of the change. Following a trip to the North West, the Birmingham date in the upstairs room of the city centre located Cherry Reds was an ideal stopping off point for this hastily rearranged format. Luke has frequently visited the Midlands area for shows in the past, including one at the Hare and Hounds when he toured with Amy in 2015. Just six months previously, the talent of this folk-blues singer-songwriter first alerted me via a gig at the Artrix in Bromsgrove. To this date, a casual eye has been kept on a promising career that now goes back quite a few years for one seemingly so young. During the two sets that Luke intimately delivered to a small gathering, you got a ...

A summer record in the middle of January; it can have its plusses as the long nights of a Northern Hemisphere winter bed in. While I will always associate a hazy, jingly jangly sound with that of the warmer months, there is certainly no hardship to be acquainted with the brand new record from Muscle Shoals region based outfit Belle Adair any time of the year. TUSCUMBIA for those not too au fait with the Shoals area geography is a city (a loose affinity to that word) close to where this band operates. It is the latest release on Single Lock Records, a growing label responsible for excellent albums from Nicole Atkins, Dylan LeBlanc and John Paul White over the last year or so. The sound domain of this record is a lock into the description that greeted this piece in the opening sentences and exceedingly excels at it. The bonus of having an album-defining track up top has long been championed here and ‘ Get Away’ does the job for this, the second album from core four-piece combo Belle...

What better way to begin the new gig year than a familiar venue hosting three familiar artists in a unique format. A near capacity audience was shoe horned into the angular sectors of the Kitchen Garden to see the second staging of The Bennett Family Singers show, and a first in the home city of its architect, Birmingham based singer-songwriter Katy Bennett. Together with her brothers, Robin and Joe of recent Dreaming Spires fame, a union of sibling harmonies was created, delivering a stripped back sound to a raft of songs, more often found in a haze of swirling electric guitars. However, acoustic was the de facto mode this evening, with the omnipresent guitar joined by fiddle, banjo and harmonica for frequent opportune moments. The intimacy of the stage presentation was conducive to a warm atmosphere being generated, with occasional insights to what a musical upbringing was like in the Bennett household, long before any family member saw it as a route to earning a living. Of course...

What do you need more in life than A GOOD OLD FASHIONED PROTEST? Keegan McInroe has pulled no punches in naming his new album, while going about populating the content with witty, hard hitting and articulate material. Of course, such a genre of popular music is nothing new, stretching back to a common focal point of Guthrie and penetrating the new century with artists like McInroe’s Texas compatriot James McMurtry. It was the latter’s play with a multitude of words that sprang to mind when listening to this album; one that despite being around in its homeland for a few months is getting a renewed lift overseas with a January UK release. Where this album scores highly is its balanced approach to a core topic. Well-crafted ire is mixed with a touch of uplifting sentimentality as the subject springs far from the architect’s homeland and takes both a macro and micro stance. Essentially, this record will fall into niche laps, but the widespread importance of the message will be enhan...

What more gentler way could be needed to ease you into a new year than the cherubic tones of Canadian folk super group The Wailin' Jennys. Maybe prolific is not a tag to label this loose trio, with each recording over their fifteen-year existence being as sparse in its frequency as to the sound it heavily relies on. However, to get notification that an ‘out the blue’ recording was to hit the shelves here in the UK in the first week of January was the perfect tonic to launch another twelve months of music musings. FIFTEEN may not win prizes for subtleties in the album title, but who is judging when the harmonious voices of Ruth Moody, Nicky Mehta and Heather Masse are in unison. Nine tracks and thirty-five minutes is not a too demanding task to savour the elegance of this release. To think about it, doubling both factors would hardly be an arduous act, but let’s not get greedy and just rejoice that the trio are back in recording mode for the first time since 2011. Not that the in...