September 2011 Blog Posts (18)

         Blame Sally are an all-woman band from California who've been on the go for ten years, building quite a following over that time. The four band members came into this band from various musical backgrounds and accidentally discovered they'd hit on something successful. Easy to see why they've been successful; each of them has multiple strengths as musicians, writers and singers and they blend their talents so successfully that you couldn't identify any of them as the one the others…

 http://www.jonbyrd.com/

It's a little confusing that there is a Jon Byrd and also a Jonathan Byrd who are enjoying notable careers in country music. Well, Jon Byrd hails from Alabama but has been based in Nashville for a while, making a name for himself as both guitarist and songwriter. He appears to be good pals with Eric Brace and Peter Cooper, two guys much lauded on Flyinshoes in…

   www.joewestmusic.com     

A little while ago Joe West made a trio of albums over a five year period that remain essential listening as far as I'm concerned. Using country music as his background (always played in the finest loose-but-together style) he brought to life a succession of tales of the world around him, singing about lovers and friends and…

Call me naive, but I'd have thought that a songwriter and performer of Slaid Cleaves' stature would be able to make his living from music. I've just discovered from his website that he works as a subject in drugs trials to cover the bills in between tours, and somehow that saddens me. It's not so  much that he has to do that sort of stuff, it's more to do with the strange scale of rewards in the music business. Slaid…

FTB podcast #133 features the new album by ERIC HISAW called Ghost Stories. Also new music from CONNIE SMITH, GUY CLARK and DRIFTWOOD FIRE. The full playlist is posted below. Check the artist's websites and order their CD's or downloads. Please…

www.annacoogan.com  

The sea offers so much inspiration to the imagination: it can be a blank canvas, a means of escape to fresh pastures, an opportunity for adventure or a passageway to the world beyond this one – as it is in many folk legends. More prosaically, living in a coastal community gives you an appreciation of the wealth to be…

In 2005 Bob Harris played Iron from Sam Baker’s 2004 debut MERCY, on his BBC Radio 2 programme, to much audience acclaim.…

We have some truly global events happening at our home venue of The Coffee Shop in Strathpeffer. We now have a video suit and recording studio attached to the coffee shop in Strathpeffer and video-cast all shows on stageit.com of whom we are now Euro Reps for,  www.stageit.eu for more…

 www.donalhinely.com      

This album may well have been recorded pretty much at the same time as Tori Sparks' album, subject of my previous post. It certainly features some of the same personnel gathered in the studio with producer David Henry - Viktor Krauss on bass, Will Kimbrough on guitars and David Mead popping in as a guest vocalist.  Texan Donal Hinely has been based in…

www.universal.com 

In celebration of the tenth anniversary of the 2001 release of O Brother, Where Art Thou? (written, directed and produced by the Coen Brothers and starring George Cloney) one of the top-10 selling soundtracks of all-time as claimed by RIAA we now have an additional bonus disc accompany it. Additional tracks from artists featured on the original come by way…

www.torisparks .com

There seems to be a bit of a retro fashion at the moment to issue music as if on a piece of vinyl, with nominated “sides”. Tori Sparks has gone a step further than most by issuing these thirteen new songs as a double cd package. I’m sure they could all have fitted on one disc but, wishing to distinguish between…

FTB podcast #132 features the new album by ARTY HILL called Another Lost Highway. Also new music from BOTTLE ROCKETS, MICHAEL O’CONNOR and CLAUDIA NYGAARD. The full playlist is posted below. Check the artist's websites and…

http://www.clubhouserecords.co.uk/artists/case-hardin/

 This is probably the most interesting UK Americana album I’ve heard this year and almost certainly the most American sounding that I’ve ever heard from a UK act. Self-confident and unafraid to experiment, Every Dirty Mirror touches base with a…

 www.catherinemaclellan.com

Canadian Catherine Maclellan has been steadily building her career over the last ten years or so and Silhouette is her fourth solo album. With the support of her touring band, producer David Baxter, and some guest musicians including Canadian folk hero Jim Cuddy, she brings us a really nice collection…

http://eilenjewell.com

http://signaturesounds.com

This is a brilliant, albeit dark and moody album from Eilen Jewell (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica) and her terrific band. That comprise of Jason Beek (vocals, drums, percussion), Jerry Miller (electric, pedal steel guitars) and Johnny Sciascia (upright…

www.goodluckmountain.com

Mike Ferrio's previous band, the much-feted Tandy, came to an end with the untimely death of his musical partner Drew Glackin. Good Luck Mountain is Mike Ferrio's response to the shock and grief of that event, and also a fresh start in a new direction. Good Luck Mountain is the name he's adopted for his…