2019 delivered another bounty of homegrown treats in the form of full-length albums that captured the range and spirit of Australian and NZ Americana music. We encourage you to hit the links to read reviews, listen and buy any new discoveries you might make from our list of favourites, head to a show, buy …
The Cryin’ Pedal Steel You’d be hard pressed to find an instrument so intrinsically linked to the sound of country music as the pedal steel guitar. Acoustic guitars and fiddles are ubiquitous instruments that cross a number of genres but for the pedal steel, country music is its undeniable home. Developed from the lap-played Hawaiian …
D.C CROSS ECSTATIC RACQUET No Drums Records D.C Cross is the latest chapter in the career of Darren Cross, he of Gerling fame and more recently as a solo artist and one half of the folk noir duo Jep and Dep. His solo albums have been sonically varied affairs with alt-country, folk, electronica and psychedelic …
THE LIFE OF A BIG BOSS MAMA The Australian market is becoming more of a priority for Tami Neilson, she’s was recently here in May for the Blues On Broadbeach Music Festival and now she’s set to return for the Dashville Skyline and Out On The Weekend festivals. Chris Familton gets the lowdown on all the …
1969: A Watershed Year For Americana Music Half a century ago, in a single calendar year, an avalanche of albums were released that would go on to have a lasting and monumental impact on what would become known as alt-country and more recently Americana music. Looking back at 1969 and pursuing the list of albums …
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 …
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 …
Vickers Lee Cunningham is coming your way from Houston, TX with his sweet, swingin’ honky tonk sound. Smooth pedal steel and a healthy dose of twang are the backdrop for his laidback drawl as he sings about making your own luck in the game of love and life. Continue reading
BETWEEN THE PAGES As any righteous fan and music nerd will attest, biographies and autobiographies of their favourite artists and albums are an invaluable insight into the life and creative journey of a songwriter. Even in this day and age of smorgasbord information access via the internet, an in-depth and well-researched book by a writer … Continue reading
River Tramps are a Floridian and Texan duo based in Nashville who have recently released their debut single ‘Mare And The Maiden’. Adam Cohen and Nikole Martine have a fine way with country folk phrasing, both old-timey in its western feel but also contemporary in the production sheen. The allowance of space in the song … Continue reading
Simple exquisite melodies are the winning hand on this song from Brooklyn’s Late Cambrian. There’s a touch of George Harrison, the tenets of power-pop in a stripped-back setting and a psychedelic country-tinged wander through psych pop. All in all it’s a wonderful track that buried itself in our short term memory when we first heard … Continue reading
This song caught our ear the other day, the new single from The Golden Lancers out of South Carolina. It’s a stripped back sound, capturing the honky tonk essence of the song that has one of those classic country lines in “I’m tired of saying sorry, so I’ll say goodbye.” We’re looking forward to hearing … Continue reading
Roscoe Parker Band were founded in 2018 by Rickard Beurling and his friend Joakim Paulsson. The two met as teenagers living in (in their words) the “shittiest city of Sweden” Mjölby. Rounding out the band are pedal steel player Roger Gustafsson, bass player Lars Söderberg and David Pärsson on keys. The single ‘Hurt Me One … Continue reading
We’ve posted about Dan Croll in the past and yet again he’s caught our ear with this wonderful, kaleidoscopic slice of folk-pop. Musical colours are thrown about generously and with great precision on this track that takes in power pop melodies and a psych-folk West Coast vibe. “’Actor’ is about my first step in to … Continue reading
A few years ago we posted a track by Melbourne singer-songwriter Eddie Nuardo that really caught our ear with its lilting country sound. Now he’s back under the name Sunset Stranger, with this great track, ’60 Mile Yonder’, from his forthcoming new album. Over a soft freight train shuffle, the guitars and fiddle lead the … Continue reading
Atlanta, GA’s Nikki & the Phantom Callers have a new album coming out on April 3rd called Everybody’s Going to Hell (But You and Me) and ‘Blue Moonlight’ is one of the early singles from it. The song has a wonderful swing to it – a countrified indie, garage-rock sound with its melodic back-and-forth, distorted guitar … Continue reading
Yeah I know we’ve posted a couple of Cave Flowers‘ songs from their new self-titled album already, but damn it’s a cracker of a record and this track, the most recent single, is maybe our favourite. ‘Upper Hand’ has that windswept, slacker country vibe, perfectly enhanced by singer Andy McAllister’s gravelly voice and the way … Continue reading
Asheville, NC’s Christy Lynn Band is the project of Christy Lynn and Ryan Schilling who hooked up musically back in 2011. Their full-length album, the cleverly titled, Sweetheart of the Radio, will be released on vinyl digital, CD and streaming platforms on April 3rd. Lynn describes the album as tales of heartbreak and leaving, an outlaw’s last … Continue reading
Promises is the name of (Nashville, TN) Thomas Bryan Eaton‘s new EP and ‘Keep Us Free’ in particular highlights his strengths as a singer-songwriter. This track hustles along with vim and verve, bursting with guitars, pedal steel, fiddle and piano as he sings vividly of optimism and moving forward. It looks like Eaton has been treading the … Continue reading
‘Stone Me’ was the first single that Margo Price released in 2020 and now she’s posted the video for her second single ‘Twinkle, Twinkle’ and announced that her third studio album That’s How Rumors Get Started (Loma Vista), will be out May 8th. The album was produced by Sturgill Simpson and Price collaborated on most … Continue reading
UNDRESSING THE NATION In 2019, The Felice Brothers returned with some changes to their line-up and Undress, a new album that manages to address both personal and political concerns, all with their trademark poetic imagery and organic musicality. A year ago, in the aftermath of touring their album Life In The Dark, it was announced … Continue reading
THE ALT-COUNTRY ENIGMA THAT IS FALLON CUSH A strange name and an intriguing album title to match. Songwriter Steve Smith leads us into the shadows of Fallon Cush’s new album where its mysterious themes are matched a colourful sonic palette and infectious melodies. Fallon Cush – It’s a name that rolls off the tongue but … Continue reading
