James Thomson released one of our favourite albums of 2015 with his sophomore album Cold Moon. With his band The Strange Pilgrims in tow he’s about to head out on tour for a run of East Coast dates through February and March including a Sydney gig as special guest of Ruby Boots. Highway Nights Tour: Feb … Continue reading
On RSD 2015 (April 16th) the wonderful Light In The Attic Records will release the Heartburn Highways: 40th Anniversary Edition Box Set. Limited to 1,000 copies worldwide Proudly Made in the USA Hand crafted custom wood box by Boles Studio, Bronx, NY LP-sized 80 page book with exhaustive 20,000 word essay by Sam Sweet interviewing artists, documentary creators and … Continue reading
Photographer and director Lyn Taylor has started producing some great clips of live acoustic performances of Australian folk and alt. country acts with Nick Payne recording and mixing the audio. The pair also form the core of folk/bluegrass group Dear Orphans. Here are three of our favourite sessions so far with Mark Lucas, Katie Brianna … Continue reading
Mark Moldre continues on his quest to release a clip for each of the ten tracks on his excellent 2013 LP An Ear To The Earth. ‘O, Dreamtime’ is a special family affair with Moldre’s 14 year old daughter creating the video on her iPad. It’s a stellar effort, suiting the song wonderfully with its … Continue reading
The middle of the 1960s was a turbulent time culturally. Collars were loosening, hair was growing and music was changing at a rapid rate as rock ’n’ roll began to explore its possibilities aided by free thinking and stimulants. Dylan was the poster boy, the artist out front pushing the limits with a wild surrealistic … Continue reading
Neil Young continues his archival Performance Series releases, this time chronicling the latter part of the ‘80s which for many fans was a head scratching and frustrating period. On the back of the This Note’s For You album he hit the road with a full band including organ and horn section, applying that sound to … Continue reading
As well as compiling our own 40 Favourite Americana Albums and 20 Favourite Australia & NZ Americana Albums we also decided to widen the net and ask a handful of respected musicians and radio/print media people to tell us their top five albums of 2015 and why they liked their number 1 so much. We … Continue reading
I found myself immersed in Americana music much more than other genres in 2015 and as such I ended up with a large list of great albums to whittle down to the 40 you’ll find below. They’re all worthy of a listen, ranging from excellent to brilliant and they cover all bases – from … Continue reading
Given our general focus on Americana music in this part of the world we thought we’d publish our favourite local releases from Australia and New Zealand in 2015. Some of these will also appear in our main Americana albums of the year list but until then, here are local folk who released music that caught … Continue reading
LIVE REVIEW: Lachlan Bryan & The Wildes, Imogen Clark, Hussy Hicks @ The Basement, Sydney (18/11/15) Hussy Hicks created one impressive and soulful sound as the opening act at the latest showcase evening presented by Lost Highway Records. Their blend of country, blues, jazz and soul is grounded in Julz Parker’s consummate guitar playing and … Continue reading
LIVE REVIEW: Tiny Ruins, Flowertruck, Stolen Violin @ Oxford Art Factory, Sydney (25/11/15) The evening at the portioned and reduced capacity OAF began with a solitary figure cross-legged on-stage with a twelve-string acoustic guitar, microphone and effects pedals. What followed was a brace of only three or four songs from Stolen Violin (Jordan Ireland from … Continue reading
LIVE REVIEW: Marlon Williams & The Yarra Benders, Ben Salter @ Oxford Art Factory, Sydney (21/11/15) With the sold-out sign stuck to the front window of the venue Ben Salter ambled on-stage, unassuming and with that tousled mop of hair. Sans The Gin Club he’s a riveting performer with loop and vocal effect pedals and … Continue reading
We’ve joined forces with the wonderful Areatha from Mother Hen Touring (M.E Baird, James Thomson, Dan Waters, Leo Rondeau etc) to put on an end-of-year gig/party at the Petersham Bowling Club on December 20th. This will be a chance for the Sydney alt.country and folk music scene to celebrate another wonderful year of music in which some … Continue reading
Lucinda Williams, Dan Sultan @ Enmore Theatre, Sydney (02/12/15) On this night of alt. country royalty returning to Sydney Dan Sultan had the opening honours and with just electric guitar, mic and keyboard he showed the full gamut of his musical CV, from brooding bluesy stomps to anguished and emotive soul music. He admitted he … Continue reading
The Felice Brothers have just released a digital 5-track EP for the festive season. The EP is $5.00 (US) and net proceeds from its sale will be donated to the Food Bank of The Hudson Valley. The band have also announced they’ll be released a new full length album in 2016. Felice Navidad Track Listing: Carriage The Dollar Store … Continue reading
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