Three Chords and the Truth UK

For one night only, Birmingham’s premier listening venue transformed itself into the Kitchen Garden Cantina as Carrie Rodriguez finally brought her sublime vocals, classically trained fiddle playing and sumptuous songs to the city. Previously she had appeared in neighbouring Wolverhampton in the days before she left the Chip Taylor protégé tag. Now fully blossomed into a multi-dimensional performer, Carrie tours with husband Luke Jacobs and together they are entering a rich vein of experimental form designed to give you the rounded ethnic diversity of Texas music. The couple, now a family trio, have made Carrie’s hometown city Austin their home and it is her extended Hispanic roots which have fully inspired her latest record. Thus the wondrous cross border sound exploring the golden age of Mexican music filled the air at the Kitchen Garden this evening with no finer vocalist than Carrie to throw in a mix of Spanish, English and that hybrid language Spanglish. Several songs in this b...

When you use the term ‘maverick’ in your festival title, the challenge is to continually update what you have to offer and seek which barriers are there for stretching. Of course this hasn’t been too difficult for the first eight years of the Maverick Festival and the ninth annual gathering of roots music fans in the Suffolk countryside over the first weekend in July is set to be no different. In the wake of several strategic leaks during the course of March culminating in an official press launch on the day before Easter, the picture is now becoming clearer on what to expect if you venture down to Easton Farm Park for the mixture of great ambience, marvellous music, fine food and drink,  and historically – good weather!.   Paul & Jamie from Los Pacamonos The beautiful rustic location is a draw for committed and casual fans alike, along with the laid back feel, ease of access within the site and a guarantee that all attendees will be catered for from kids to th...

The phrase ‘culturally blended music for the culturally blended world’ is brandished on the inside cover of the CD booklet and in a nutshell does the reviewer’s job. However now we’ve started proceedings let’s elaborate on a record glistening in both its inner and outer beauty enabling Carrie Rodriguez to fulfil a lifelong passion. If LOLA is a vanity project, it opens its heart for us all to share as Carrie and her team of highly accomplished players present a record perfectly formed to be a soundtrack for those lazy relaxed warm summer evenings. Embracing both her Texan and Mexican roots as long been an influence for Carrie, but this leap forward with a bi-lingual album represents her at her vocally best in conjunction with the acclaimed writing and fiddle playing talent. Venture down to the southern parts of Texas and Tex-Mex music is an integral part of the Americana culture. Carrie has been a long time listener of Mexican music, inspired by her family background, and the re...