Joshua Seymour (Cherrywood) has stepped out on his lonesome for a solo album that digs deep into emotive and dark Americana. There’s a touch of Bon Iver, Iron & Wine and occasionally the band Spain in Seymour’s gothic sounding songs that are ornamented with stately piano, pedal steel, handclaps and all manner of stringed instruments. … Continue reading
Last weekend provided the musical highlight of the week with the superb Marlon Willams show at The Basement in Sydney. It was sold out, in fact his whole tour was and he absolutely nailed it with his backing band The Yarra Benders acting as musical foils and conspirators. Read our full review. We’ve got a … Continue reading
Laura Jean opened the evening with an absorbing set that highlighted both her clever lyrical turns and delicate, almost textural finger-picking guitar style. Songs about married life, domesticity and crazy dogs from her 2014 album comprised the bulk of her performance as she drew the audience into her world of observational songwriting and dry-humour. Her … Continue reading
After dalliances with an orchestra and antique lo-fi recording equipment Neil Young is back to playing rock n roll with a band. Not Crazy Horse this time but a group that includes Willie Nelson’s sons Lukas and Micah. It’s a political statement in the vein of Young’s other strident environmentally themed albums but even if … Continue reading
My Morning Jacket’s mystical musical powers seemed to be waning on their last two albums. There was a restlessness at play, a desire to shrug off the shackles of cosmic Americana rock and show they could do anything, or at least whatever they wanted. It didn’t work when they swung the pendulum too far outside … Continue reading
Here’s a new mixtape for your listening pleasure, the first in a series that will cover decades, styles, trends and continents. The first one includes country classics from legends such as Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings through to rising stars such as The Deslondes and Caitlin Canty. Tracklisting: John Prine – Sam Stone … Continue reading
After a successful run of East Coast solo dates Davey Craddock has released a new single from his forthcoming debut album. Girls Like Fires continues the soulful country sound he’s established but this one has a breezy drifting feel to it. It’s yacht rock in the best sense, in a similar direction to what Dawes … Continue reading
Melbourne musician Ben Mastwyk is an integral part of that cities’ Americana music scene, playing with Jemma & The Clifton Hillbillies, Sweet By & By and The Shotgun Wedding. Now he’s in the process of releasing his debut solo LP, conceived both in Melbourne and while traveling through the American South. He’s pulled in a … Continue reading
We updated our Sydney Gig Guide the other day and July is already looking like another bumper month. Tonight you can catch James Thomson and band at Gasoline Pony while our gig of the week is the sold out Marlon Williams (full band) show at The Basement on Saturday night. Head over to the guide to check out … Continue reading
A very enjoyable evening of music last night at the Union Hotel in Newtown with Alison Ferrier and Jed Rowe celebrating the release of their new albums and Cat Canteri also playing an opening set. Continue reading
Jed Rowe has hit a fine vein of songwriting on his third album, drawing on the production skills of Jeff Lang and players that include members of Melbourne’s The Stillsons. Rowe’s songs fall easily on the ears, drifting by with a US West Coast feel, rich in vocal harmonies and slide guitar. Folk, country and … Continue reading
This was billed as The Wild Wild Inner West Revue featuring a lineup of local Americana flavoured acts curated by musician and producer Michael Carpenter. Not Good With Horses opened the night and showed a commanding presence on stage with their mostly slow and atmospheric country soul. They mixed up originals with covers of Townes … Continue reading
Stu Arkoff (A Man Called Stu) has been doing the long miles in America of late and having to deal with cancelled shows due to a car accident and a tragic family loss. The good news is that he seems to have had a blast at the shows he’s played from the look of the … Continue reading
Yours truly (Chris – PTW editor) and the mysterious shadowy figure known as Daz have joined forces to introduce a new regular evening of live alt. country, folk and blues music to Sydney. From early August Heartbreaker Sessions will take place fortnightly on Sunday evenings at Freda’s in Chippendale. Nice and handy to Central Station we’ll … Continue reading
Delaney Davidson, Tami Neilson, Marlon Williams and Barry Saunders have been announced as the travelling troubadours for The Church Tour in New Zealand this October. The concept has been an annual event since 2009, taking in some of the finest churches in NZ. TOUR DATES Thursday 1 October – St John’s Cathedral, Napier BUY TICKETS Friday … Continue reading
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