THE MIRROR OF TRUTH On his new album The Crossing, Alejandro Escovedo takes an unflinching and poetic look at America and the immigrant experience. By Chris Familton Alejandro Escovedo has been surrounded by music his entire life. His father played and listened to Mexican music, his mother loved big band jazz music and his rocker …
Here at PTW HQ we’re very excited to be able to share ‘Undress’, the brand new single and title track from the forthcoming new LP by The Felice Brothers. Since they released their last album, Life In The Dark, in 2016, the band have undergone some lineup changes with a new rhythm section – Will …
Yesterday we revealed our favourite 2018 local releases from Australia (and NZ). Today we go global with our 40 favourite albums of 2018. We were going to make it a list that excluded the local albums, seeing as we’ve already published those favourites, but as with previous years we decided we don’t want to separate …
2018 was another strong year for the local alt-country, folk, blues and Americana scene here in Australia. We’ve put together a list of our favourite local releases, plus one New Zealand album that made the list this year. We highly recommend all of these records – check them out on streaming services, buy a CD …
Stripped back acoustic folk is the order of the day on this new track from Franklin, Tennessee-born Elaine Coles. Recorded with John Mailander (fiddle), Cory Walker (banjo), Jake Stargel (guitar) and mastered by Austin Lee in Nashville, the song has both a haunting musical backdrop and and rich and heartfelt vocal style that goes deep into both soul and … Continue reading
We’re loving the space in this new song from Canadian JUNO Award winner Catherine MacLellan. ‘Out Of Time’ matches its title and sentiment with the arrangement and exquisite playing on this slow soulful sway of a country lament. The song comes from her new LP COYOTE set to be released October 11, 2019. Continue reading
Authentic, organic, humorous, old school dusty floor honky tonk sounds from Pinto Bennett, the Idaho musician who made his first recordings at age 16 in 1964 with a rock band called The Fates before being seduced by Wynn Stewart’s Bakersfield country sound. By the 2000s, his hard living caught up with him in the form … Continue reading
Jeff Tweedy with Jen Cloher Metro Theatre, Sydney May 20th, 2019 By Chris Familton In 20 years of attending gigs at the Metro, this was the first time I’d seen seats in the venue. There were mixed comments from the audience but it worked well, creating a more intimate atmosphere in the room, which in … Continue reading
Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real + William Crighton Factory Theatre, Marrickville NSW April 18th, 2019 Bluesfest is nearly upon us for another year and so are the associated sideshows that roll through Sydney. If you’re a fan of Americana and country rock then Lukas Nelson and band Promise Of The Real should have … Continue reading
Alejandro Escovedo Camelot Lounge, Marrickville NSW March 4th 2019 When a songwriter performs, you hear their stories through song and all its associated elements of poetry, melody, cadence, tone and tempo. Often the essence of the song is shrouded in imagery and lyrical abstraction and some digging is required on behalf of the listener. Alejandro … Continue reading
Lo Carmen has released a brand new double A-side single with the tracks ‘Now You Know Nashville’ and ‘Half A Man’. Beautiful atmospheric authentic country music from the heart and soul. The first is a sweet honky tonk groove, while ‘Half A Man’ is draped in that heady and lonesome sound that bands like The … Continue reading
Freya Josephine Hollick is back from recording her next album at the famed studio Rancho de la Luna (Kyuss, QOTSA, Kurt Vile, Daniel Lanois, PJ Harvey, Iggy Pop, Mark Lanegan) in Joshua Tree, California, with Lucinda Williams’ band Buick 6 and renowned guitarist Greg Leisz. She’s celebrating by announcing her first full band headline shows of … Continue reading
SONGS OF TRIBUTE For my Waitin’ Around to Die column in Rhythms I recently took a look at some of the outstanding releases in the field of tribute albums. Specifically those that fall under the umbrella of Americana and alt-country, whether it’s in recognition of an artist’s body of work or a fundraiser to assist them … Continue reading
Simon Linsteadt is a songwriter living in New York City but he’s got a decidedly West Coast sound that draws on the sensitivity and light melodic touches of artists like Graham Nash as well as the sweet fragility of Elliott Smith and contemporary songwriters such as Sam Beam of Iron & Wine. Linsteadt recently released … Continue reading
An old-timey voice that blends and warm concoction of folk and country music on this single ‘Any Soul’, from her recently released debut self-titled album. Teresa Duffy-Richards hails originally from the Salt bush plains of Deniliquin NSW, Australia and is now based in Melbourne’s inner north where she’s been refining her classic, atmospheric sound. A dash … Continue reading
Chesterfield, UK native Holly Redford Jones has a brand new single out that finds her deftly navigating a sweet spot between country/blues rock and and a lowdown indie feel. It works wonderfully with her voice the real deal breaker here with its smoky, sultry, almost sneered delivery. ‘Bonjour Madame’ (recorded in Nashville, TN) came about when … Continue reading
It starts with a standard form – sleepy drums, blocks of piano chords and trailing notes, but then Eamon McGrath‘s voice rings high and lonesome, like a man with something to say, hollerin’ from the next room. It’s a great production move to offset the intimacy of the music with McGrath’s anguished declarations as he … Continue reading
THE DELINES THE IMPERIAL El Cortez Records Willy Vlautin has proven to be quite the Americana renaissance man with his time in the highly respected alt-country group Richmond Fontaine, a second career as an acclaimed novelist (Lean On Pete, Don’t Skip Out On Me) and most recently as main songwriter for The Delines. This, their … Continue reading
RYAN BINGHAM AMERICAN LOVE SONG Thirty Tigers/Cooking Vinyl Australia Ryan Bingham cut his teeth as a rodeo rider, he’s an actor, but most importantly he’s an accomplished singer-songwriter. On his sixth album he’s corralled his most wide reaching and rewarding collection of songs to date. Across 15 songs, Bingham paints portraits of the American dream, … Continue reading
