John (Biscuits and Gravy) Davy's Blog (347)

http://www.iseehawks.com/

These guys aren’t even halfway through their second decade as a band but there’s plenty of grey hair on display in the photo that adorns the cover of the new album. I guess they weren’t kids when they started out, then. It’s rather a nice photo, actually, an informal gathering of…

http://www.bradcolemusic.com/

       Brad Cole hails from Chicago but this third album of his sees him in Nashville recording some beautifully laid-back, mellow Americana sounds under the guidance of producer Tom Manche. Eight new original songs tackle various aspects of stumbling through love and life, trying to…

http://www.thebeautifulold.com/music.cfm

             Well, the top prize for the most unlikely project of 2013 will surely rest in the hands of Austin producer Gabriel Rhodes and his executive producer, Paul Marsteller. On The Beautiful Old they have chosen to…

http://www.kevindoherty.ie/index.php

            Dublin-based Northern Irishman Kevin Doherty has two music careers: one as a member of big deal folk group Four Men & A Dog, and a solo career that explores the musical possibilities of the singer-songwriter.…

http://www.benreel.com/

    Ben Reel is a new name to me, but he really shouldn’t be. The Northern Irishman has released five albums over the last thirteen years with this new self-produced album being the first to be recorded in his own studio. Clearly he’s built a name for himself in that time,…

http://dylansneed.bandpage.com/

            This one’s been around a while: originally recorded in 2010, this album was born in a five day session in an old farmhouse in South Carolina and successfully retains a low-key, makeshift ambience that just exudes the warmth of good friends making music. It kind of makes…

You can rely on these guys; if it’s got either of their names on the cover, then just get it. If it’s one of their occasional collaborations, you’ll be doubly rewarded. Gram Parsons’ old road manager calls them The Neverly Brothers, a name which fits with their own self-deprecating humour whilst paying respect to the quite wonderful harmonies they produce when they sing…

http://www.dustinbentall.com/

                     Vancouver-based Dustin Bentall has been around the music scene for quite a while with at least a couple of albums under his belt. This six-song “ep” introduces us to a new outfit (Dustin Bentall and The Smokes) that he clearly hopes might be the right…

http://www.melissagreener.com/index/

             The rather disconcerting pictures on the album sleeve in front of me make Melissa Greener look like she might be country music’s answer to Grace Jones, a mannish haircut setting off her striking looks in a way that suggests an uncompromising,…

http://www.adam-klein.com/

What is it about the old South, the Confederate States of yore, that makes them the source of so much romanticism, even for us on the far side of the pond? Whatever it may be – and quite possibly it is, at root, that new things have always happened somewhere else, it seems, ever since the end of the Civil War –…

http://www.redmoonjoe.com/

               Resurrected from way back when (1985-93), Red Moon Joe have added all-purpose music man Steve Conway to the original line-up of Mark Wilkinson (guitar/vocals), David A Smith (bass), Paul Casey (drums) and David Fitzpatrick (banjo, mandolin, harmonica, etc). With a bunch of new songs written by…

http://www.christacouture.com/

             Christa Couture’s singing voice has a light, sweet, girlish quality that floats through this record with a gentle, comforting presence. The tone varies – sometimes warm and intimate, sometimes bright and poppy, sometimes with a jazzy undercurrent – but…

http://www.charlieparr.com/

        Country bluesman Charlie Parr is a curious artist, intent on sounding true to an old tradition (“One man, one guitar, one foot in the grave” is the way his self-description runs) but good enough or canny enough to have acquired a pretty large following for a folk artist. Stylistically, he…

http://www.thecedarsonline.com/index.html

              London Americana band The Cedars roar into view with a fascinating album, recorded in California with their producer of choice, Ian Brennan. Fronted by Chantal Hill on vocals, this four piece…

http:///www.thejohnlanganband.com/

        You won’t have heard anything quite like Glasgow’s John Langan Band, a folk trio who lift off from a traditional base, and then soar high with an extraordinary melange of folk music that takes in some east European sounds, a jazz sensibility and some scabrously real, contemporary…

http://www.kingkingblues.com/

If you’re into British blues at all, this is probably the album you’ve been most looking forward to for a while. If you’re not familiar with the scene, then take this as your way in; start at the top, why don’t you? King King won Album of the Year at last year’s national awards with their debut effort, and I would say this album tops that one. As with a…

www.mattwoosey.co.uk/

Bristol bloke Matt Woosey has, by his own account, been pushing his music hard since he was a teenager, in an attempt to avoid being pinned down in a workaday life. Well, he’s had to do the day jobs, too, to keep body and soul together, but maybe not for much longer.  This current…

http://www.the-ir-group.co.uk/index.html

       There’s something immensely cheering about some old stagers getting themselves back into the studio after many years and coming up with a record that just oozes quality. Bridlington-based IR (once known as International Rescue) have re-formed after a long hiatus,…

http://www.reverbnation.com/thebeanpickersunion

Another quick report:

The previous Chuck Melchin/Bean Pickers Union album, Potlatch, was wonderful in places and still finds its way onto my player, some years after its release, so I was really looking forward to this new one. "I've been down and I've…

http://www.ritahosking.com/fr_home.cfm

Only time for a short report on this one: 

What a beautiful sound Rita Hosking makes! She has a lovely rich folk voice and is accompanied here by some beautiful, light-touch banjo, dobro, acoustic guitar - the usual folk Americana suspects…