SONGS OF STRENGTH & DEFIANCE Ruby Boots’ commitment to life as a professional musician and the sacrifice that goes with it are about to come to fruition with the release of her second album. Her home for the last year has been Nashville, TN and during a recent solo Australian tour she took time to …
When Kyle Jenkins sings ‘I fell in love with your methadone eyes, upon the ground where we lied’, it gives you an idea of the territory that Suicide Swans are operating in – warts and all human emotion and experience. It’s tempered with a sympathetic and empathetic casting of Augusta’s characters and presented in a …
Today we’ve posted the first episode of our brand new online music show Post To Wireless. Its current home is on Mixcloud where we’ll be publishing a new show each fortnight. Join me, Chris Familton, for a selection of alt-country, folk, blues and rock ‘n’ roll songs, information and interviews. We’ll be drawing from the …
Here they are, the 40 albums that I personally felt were the most important, fascinating and listenable in 2017. It was a near impossible process to collate them on a spreadsheet and make decisions and adjustments as to the creative worth of one over another. I’d highly recommend all the albums on this list and …
SELLING THE SNAKE OIL Old Crow Medicine Show are nearing their 20th year as a band and ahead of their Australian tour, Ketch Secor explains to Chris Familton how they came to celebrate a famous Dylan album, why he was recently called by Johnny Cash’s son and he reveals they have a new album due …
David Rawlings recently released his third solo LP, Poor David’s Almanack, and on the eve of it’s release he phoned in from a sunny summer’s day in Nashville to chat with Chris Familton about the creation of the new record, his name change and memories of his and Gillian Welch’s 2016 Australian tour. How quickly …
Ruby Boots today releases her new single ‘Believe In Heaven’, ahead of her imminent return for three full band shows in Australia (see tour poster below). Bex says, “This song is about desire, so I wanted to create a world of what I thought my desire would look like at the time when I … Continue reading
On first listen to Ross Cooper’s third full length, I Rode The Wild Horses, you’d be excused for mistaking the subject matter as just another songwriter assuming the role of cowboy. However a little research reveals the Texan native is in fact a cowboy assuming the role of writer. Born and raised into rodeo, Cooper’s … Continue reading
Melbourne quartet Pony Face have released their new single ‘Justine’, taken from their 2017 LP Deja Vu. The album drew strong reviews and found them digging deeper into their mix of brooding rock, alt-country and gothic psychedelia. ‘Justine’ finds its groove and holds it with a steady tension over four minutes. It’s all about restraint, … Continue reading
RESHAPING ROCK ’N’ ROLL REPUTATION From his home in Nashville, TN, Deer Tick head honcho John McCauley rasps down the line and fills in Chris Familton on the evolution of their live shows and why they’ve released two new albums. Living on the cusp of bar-band rock ’n’ roll and ragged alt-country, with a carefree punk spirit, Deer … Continue reading
IN THE WAKE OF THE NASHVILLE SOUND Ahead of his recent return to Australia with his band The 400 Unit, Jason Isbell took Chris Familton through what he’s been up to in the wake of last year’s The Nashville Sound. “I still don’t think of myself as a country musician,” says Jason Isbell, talking about the … Continue reading
Nine albums in and Calexico are still pushing the boundaries of expectations and their own creative urges. Many of their albums have sounded produced and polished – polite even. Here they dismiss any need for a clean or cohesive sound, instead adding some grit and distortion and a gauzier texture to some the album’s 15 tracks. … Continue reading
EMOTIONAL RESCUE Ahead of Blair Dunlop’s second visit to Australia, he took the time to chat with Chris Familton about his new album – it’s blend of English folk and American country music and the role that anxiety played in its genesis. With his brand new fourth album, Notes From An Island, in his back … Continue reading
Deer Tick, The Smoking Flowers, Justin & The Cosmics @ The Lansdowne, March 27th 2018 The swagger and rock hit early with Nashville’s Justin & The Cosmics laying down some primal leather and denim-clad rock ’n’ roll. The brothers Collins led the charge on guitar and vocals, the latter showing a fine line in deadpan banter, middle … Continue reading
Dori Freeman only released her self-titled debut album in 2016 but she’s already gone and followed it up with Letters Never Read, an album that takes the template of her first release and adds greater warmth, soul and depth of writing. Freeman has again employed the services of Teddy Thompson as producer, and he in … Continue reading
A couple of years ago, with little money in her bank account, approaching 40 and feeling burnt out, Lindi Ortega contemplated giving music up but instead she left her label, management and agent, got engaged and left Nashville and moved to Calgary. That led to the release of her EP Til The Goin’ Gets Gone … Continue reading
Reflecting on The Disarmers previous record, Sidelong, it is near impossible for this reviewer to hear train beat and tremolo without immediately conjuring the Old 97s, and if this is the jump off, think of Sarah Shook as Rhett Miller’s badass younger cousin. Sidelong, re-released on Bloodshot in 2017, was originally recorded and self released … Continue reading
A new Post To Wireless show has hit the virtual airwaves today for your listening pleasure. PLAYLIST #004 Elvis Presley – Mystery Train Lobby Loyde – Daily Planet Davy Graham – Moanin’ Eilen Jewell – You Gonna Miss Me Dick Curless – Bury The Bottle With Me Sir Douglas Quintet – At The Crossroads Devendra … Continue reading
Ben Mastwyk is currently a busy gent with a run of interstate shows with Luke Elliot (USA) and today he’s sent the video clip for new single ‘This Country’ out into the world. It’s a great horn-led slice of honky tonk and country groove, matched by an equally fine video complete with gold satin jackets, … Continue reading
Hurray For The Riff Raff, Slow Dancer @ Factory Theatre, March 26th 2018 Back for the first time since their Newtown Social Club show in 2014, Hurray For The Riff Raff were upsized to the much larger Factory Theatre, an overly ambitious punt by the promoter given that their profile hasn’t risen greatly in the intervening years. … Continue reading
American Aquarium have signed with New West Records and are set to release their new LP Things Change on June 1st. Here’s the first single from the record – ‘Tough Folks’. It’s a freewheeling’ slice of heartland rock with a Mellencamp flavour. Pre-order Things Change Continue reading
