Three Chords and the Truth UK

Songwriting retreats where artists formally meet up to share and hone their craft appear to be increasingly popular. It's not that audiences are open to such things, just that more and more songs are being introduced as originating from these structured events. This has happened on consecutive nights during a current run of four straight gigs. First Robert Vincent preluded a new song with a story of it being a co-write with James House at one of these events. Now a pair of artists have taken the concept a whole step forward by not only meeting up to write one song, but continue the association to come up with a whole album. This process is not just a vehicle for novices to plot their way forward. Indeed Robert Vincent has written some excellent songs prior to his involvement and the two songwriters who spun the whole concept in a new direction are no other than established operators, Emily Barker and Marry Waterson.  Earlier this year, A WINDOW TO OTHER WAYS introduced the collab...

The irony of discussing streamed music funding models in the vicinity of a small but dedicated band of gig goers each paying £14 to attend on a Monday night in a tiny city centre cellar bar quickly resonated around all concerned. This signalled the ultimate bond of three artists on stage and in front of them, the very reason they exist. A poignant moment indeed, yet one that struck a chord and if anything helped bring the purpose of live music together. From the moment Matt Owens commenced his opening set at 8:15 to Robert Vincent not creating a shock two hours later by ditching ' Demons ' as the closer, this ad-hoc combo sprang up as an unpolished gem, not exactly purring like a stage managed operation, but prevalent in an unconscious gel that only intuitive musicians can adopt.  Essentially this was a Robert Vincent gig, but certainly one with a difference. Over the last six years, I have seen him live on several occasions and in different formats. These included full b...

A member of the Thompson clan is just one piece of the jigsaw, though not a too shoddy one to portray when making introductions. Throw into the mix a co-front person with the pedigree of James Walbourne and it of no surprise that The Rails have created great waves since moving into the world of a recording outfit in 2014. The core duo of Walbourne and Kami Thompson, husband and wife in their regular lives, morph into a five-piece band when hitting the road, and it is this format that greets folks heading out to catch them live on the current tour. This latest run of dates coincides with the release of the band's most recent album. Therefore the bulk of the seventy minute set played at the Hare and Hounds this evening came from the recently released CANCEL THE SUN and those present had the perfect opportunity to tune into its riches in a near unfiltered and complete state. This album is The Rails' third full length release since formation and cements a status of being at the...

The lure to compare and contrast a new album with the previous work of an artist is one mulled over to determine any degree of relevance. In the midst of gathering some thoughts on Hannah Rose Platt’s long awaited follow up to her 2015 debut effort, thoughts did turn back to an artist who drifted under the microscope via an independent network and left a positive impression. Not only was PORTRAITS dusted down and played, but past published thoughts were relived to gauge the starting point of a journey that ventures in a new direction now that LETTERS UNDER FLOORBOARDS is delivered to the world.  Firstly, the four years between releases has seen Hannah striving to remain a presence to such an extent that her own network has solidified in an established community where it was initially felt her music would find synergy and conformance. So a case of all change in the team assembled to create the album was initiated. Secondly, the names of those called up reads like a ‘who's ...

Two prevailing thoughts from attending this gig at the Hare and Hounds were: 1) those anointing Curse of Lono as lauded pioneers of UK generated Americana rock are pretty smart and, 2) isn't it about time John Murry shifted from being an artist known to one actually listened to. The first needed no further action as this show confirmed what had been briefly considered when seeing them play an opening set for Chuck Prophet back in 2017. The second rectified within 24 hours of the gig by listening intently to John Murry's most recent album. You can debate streaming all day long, but its propensity to unlock easy access and enable widespread availability moves the world forward in a positive way. There was an element of military precision about this show, which acted as the opening night of Curse of Lono's latest UK tour. John Murry on at 8, finishes 30 minutes later. Main band enter stage dead on 9, then depart for merch stand/bar not a minute either side of half ten. Gre...

The journey began in some parts just over four years when an album popped up in the inbox by a new name, but with an interesting concept. Pieces quickly assembled that this was part the work of Ben Glover, an artist quite well known at the time for his association with Gretchen Peters and Mary Gauthier alongside a solo album released and reviewed the previous year. Over time, Ben's output has gathered pace, and that project from a band intriguingly hailed as The Orphan Brigade morphed into two further albums filtering out through a similar process to the original concept.  Likewise to Ben Glover's steady growth, the name of Neilson Hubbard started to exponentially expand as the production engineer on what seemed to be every other album churned out from a tightly knit community of progressive artists in Nashville. Admittedly, the third Orphan Brigade member remained the lower key figure, although it doesn't take too much effort to deduce that Joshua Britt is as active as...

Much time was spent in the summer wrestling with Rod Picott's new album. Reviews complementing such a contemplative personal effort tallied up, yet to this date TELL THE TRUTH & SHAME THE DEVIL remains a tough listen. There is still an element that the album had to be made and that it would be dealt to listeners with a 'take or leave it' tag. My utmost respect for Rod Picott, one of the most sincerest and highly crafted singer-songwriters around, has been solid since first discovering his work a decade ago. Although it had to be concluded that maybe his most connective work with listeners is found in material that comes across as less intense.  The personal background to the album's recording process was candid in the notes accompanying the release and it was similar as he took to the stage to share songs with an audience as the concluding part to Bewdley's American Epic weekend. If thoughts of an audience being the missing piece in the record still prevail, s...

Within a few months of this blog commencing, it was presented with the opportunity to write reviews of albums available through the promo network. That was back in 2012 and it became a feature to such an extent that a firm decision was made to only publish album reviews from these sources. Over the years numbers escalated to the point where only a third submitted were ever getting some element  of coverage. The upside to this choice meant a finely tuned filter allowed for only favourable albums with a high degree of personal preference awarded the time required to publish something that was meaningful and to the best of my ability. This time was always competing with listening to purchased music, which had always been kept away from the blog until time came to post those end of year favourite lists. 2019 has seen much contemplation on how to keep this one man operation going with a couple of temporary manoeuvres and aborted policies. Album and gig reviews were halted for a couple...