Three Chords and the Truth UK

The first proviso of being included in this selection is the accessibility of a decent video to share ones listening pleasure in 2016. So these ten promoted songs are just a mere element of the acres of good music that crossed my path over the last twelve months. All are part of albums that featured in my favourites of the year list and in most cases acted as the focal track of an excellent record. Needless to say countless formats of these songs have been listened to since acquiring a copy and their longevity will be extended when the curtain finally comes down on another calendar year.

Each year my peripheral horizon is expanded to bring into focus a successful artist from outside an ever increasing core musical domain. In 2015 Norwegian band Katzenjammer took the honour and their lauded steps have been followed this year by American performer Lissie. This enhanced focus began at the start of the year with the release of her third full length album MY WILD WEST and was sealed when she returned to Birmingham to play a date on her solo acoustic tour. This spotlight exposure revealed what a talented and versatile artist Lissie is and how there is so much potential for her to achieve in the ensuing years. However coming right back to the present, and for this first opportunity to catch Lissie live she was accompanied by classy guitarist Nick Tesoriero who brought a near full room to a rapturous applause with a stunning piece of mesmerising playing on the final song. By the time that Lissie had sealed her promise to end on an upbeat note with the track ‘ In Sleep’ ,...

Mud is the title of the new Whiskey Myers album and deep down on terra firma is also where they take their live show. Raw energy and a powerful punch ruled the evening as this Texas combo, steeped in the lore of Southern Rock, continued their current UK tour with a sold out show at Birmingham’s O2 Institute. The venue had called time on ticket sales for its second room just prior to the gig and fans flocked from a multitude of angles to view a band subject to serious press in recent times. Two possible routes into Whiskey Myers are from their association with country music, albeit on a distant right field edge, and a far more straightforward rock perspective. Traditionally the latter has been an easier sell in the UK and it is more convenient to define the live show from that angle. However the near two hours on stage could not be wholly described as a full-on rock show as the band was not afraid to bring the fiddle to the forefront and frequently intersperse ballads heavily rel...

Possessing a fertile imagination and engaging the musical side of her creative capacity has worked wonders for the career of Emily Portman. A voice beautifully formed to extol the mystique of her thoughts and observations has also played a significant part alongside working with a host of premium musicians and collaborators. Her latest venture is to harness the talents of the Coracle Band and undertake a series of full shows around the country in the run up to the holiday season. Birmingham’s premier eclectic arts venue – the MAC – was first up to host Emily and her band thus giving Midlands’ folks another opportunity to hear a range of songs primarily from her three studio albums. Emily’s core inner circle comprises Lucy Farrell and Rachel Newton, a pair of high class musicians with a lengthy association and also integral members of the traditional leaning side project, the Furrow Collective. To give the Coracle a fuller sound, the ladies are joined by established folk circuit f...

Robert Ellis Americana is one of the most contentious and open to individual interpretation labels attached to music in the second decade of the twenty-first century. However if you can squeeze another stab at personifying the term look no further than Robert Ellis. Too country for rock and too rock for country fits the bill neatly, as does a left field approach to making music. Throw in a stellar band and a rack of songs bulging with imaginative lyrics and you start to build a picture of an artist at the cutting edge of progressive roots music. Amongst an array of dates forming his latest tour to the UK, the eclectic and fiercely independent High and Lonesome Festival in Leeds awarded Robert the headline slot in the Left Bank Saturday evening presentation of this burgeoning event. Together with a three piece band hailed as the Perfect Strangers, Robert set about showing why he is such a respected artist and proved a fitting finale to a successful festival first day. Like any mu...

A couple of years ago Jason Ringenberg paid tribute to those in the teaching profession during one of his UK gigs. This evening Sara Watkins trumped that by dedicating ‘ Tenderhearted’ to teachers, social workers and volunteers before delivering a song epitomising the way she uses her talent to make meaningful music. This extraordinary ability to mix vocal skill, song writing expertise and multi-instrumental virtuosity is reaping rewards in this phase of her career as a flourishing solo artist. Solo was the word tonight as any misguided assumption that she would tour the new album in some kind of band format was laid to rest as she pulled off the one woman show with a stunning performance. You only had to hear the lead track from the new album to grasp that this was a breakout release. Breakthrough wouldn’t be the right word for a highly respected artist at the top of her game for a long time whether as a fledgling member of iconic roots revival pioneers Nickel Creek, part of the ...

Midway through this gig, the penny dropped on what makes The Black Feathers one of the most precious duet harmony acts on the UK folk and acoustic circuit. Apart from the impeccable timing, a sweet sound surrounded by a dark wrapping and dovetailed voices, it is the way they interject the golden moment of anticipated silence so effectively into many of their songs. The dramatic effect leaves the listener hooked on where the piece is heading and is borne out of an inherent talent to harness the beauty of the duet. It took a while for this Gloucestershire based duo to hook up with the Kitchen Garden Café and now sealed, it is a union made for the idealistic music listener. To comment that their debut performance at Birmingham’s premier listening venue was a resounding success is a dramatic understatement and surely a trend set for subsequent visits. Right from the irony of opening track ‘ Goodbye Tomorrow’ through to an inclusive rousing unplugged cover of ‘ Big Yellow Taxi’ to brin...