ALIVE AND KICKING On his debut solo album, What A Way To Die, Brandon Dodd shows he’s more than ready to step out of the shadows of his other musical projects with an accomplished and wide-ranging collection of roots music songs. If you’ve ever seen Kasey Chambers live in concert over the last five years … Continue reading
Hell yeah, this thing kicks along like a fleet-footed mountain cat. Locomotive drumming, brisk strumming and some killer electric guitar playing are the hallmarks of this song from Californian El Warren who has played in a bunch of other bands, across a myriad of styles. He know country and folk though by the sound of … Continue reading
Brandon Dodd What A Way To Die Independent ‘Absolute’, the opening track on Brandon Dodd’s debut solo album sets a high standard with its warmth and intimacy, a wonderful blend of country, folk and heart-on-sleeve soul. The subtlety and restraint in the guitar playing and Dodd’s voice introduce a solo artist who has treaded the … Continue reading
Birmingham Alabama’s Dan Sartain has a new tale of western gothic noir for your listening pleasure. There’s drama aplenty in his sound that contains a tinge of Nick Cave in its moody salute to the cowboys of the silver screen and television. ‘The Return Of Ringo’ comes from Sartain’s album Western Hills (Out now with vinyl … Continue reading
Charley Crockett, today announced his latest studio album Welcome To Hard Times, released July 31st on Thirty Tigers. A bold new record from the definitive young voice in country and western’s modern reinvention. Produced by Mark Neill, with songwriting contributions from Pat McLaughlin and Dan Auerbach, Welcome To Hard Times’ is a genre-bending mix … Continue reading
Tami Neilson Chickaboom! Outside Music/Neilson Records On her latest album, Canadian-Kiwi Tami Neilson strips things right back to the core essence of song, rhythm and particularly a spotlight on her exceptional voice. Her focus was to record the songs as they would sound on stage, as performed by a three-piece band – her current preference … Continue reading
Dave Favours & The Roadside Ashes Not Your Average Country Band Stanley Records It’s been six years since Sydney songwriter Dave Favours released his solo album Wet Suburban Sunday, but he’s spent those years building up the roster on his label Stanley Records, releasing the Australian alt-country compilation Take Me To Town and honing the … Continue reading
Today we’re featuring two new songs from Grey River & The Smoky Mountain, a folk group from Athens, Greece. Both tracks showcase the sensitivity with which they approach their music. The soulful vocal and the sparse instrumentation. There’s a bluesy country quality to their sound too, with shades of a darker gothic delivery. Both songs … Continue reading
Great lyrics and delivery on these recent new releases from Texan Zach Aaron. There’s some Guthrie and Dylan in the mix, and a countrified blues sound that reminds me of a cross between Townes Van Zandt and a contemporary in Leo Rondeau – with his laidback style. The songs come from Aaron’s third studio album Fill … Continue reading
Johnny Cash meets Orville Peck Deadpan kitsch country noir is the order of the day from Brent Amaker DeathSquad. ‘Hello‘ a slice of self-proclaimed western performance art from Amaker who has previously released music as Brent Amaker and The Rodeo (five albums in six years). ‘Hello’ is the title track from the group’s new album, … Continue reading
Melbourne group Team Love are set to release their debut album in 2020 and ‘Running‘ is the first taste of the new record. The quartet have added a bass guitarist and drummer to their line-up on their most recent recordings and that’s fleshed out their sound and allowed them to draw more country and folk … Continue reading
We’re digging this song by Halifax, Nova Scotia songwriter Norma MacDonald that we came across online. She released her new album Old Future a few weeks ago and ‘Wonder In The Summer’ is just one of its many highlights. MacDonald’s voice is a classic country sound, soaked in that ache and melancholy that we love. … Continue reading
Nothing beats a well-written song, with strong playing and topped off by a voice brimming with soul and character. All the boxes are ticked on this new single (and the accompanying album) from Nathan Kalish. ‘Delta Woman’ comes from Kalish’s tenth album Songs For Nobody. It’s pure country but it also contains a strong streak of … Continue reading
Tommy Alexander has a new album coming out on June 5th and that’s a promising prospect based on the sound of this track – ‘End Of The World’. A mid-tempo piece of alt-country rock, it channels Prine and Kristofferson as he chronicles troubled times. The song has that weary, poetic grain to it that we … Continue reading
Fanny Lumsden Fallow Cooking Vinyl Australia Right from the outset of Fanny Lumsden’s third album you sense that something different is in the air – a new maturity and and depth to the music as the lush opening hymnal refrain of ‘Mountain Song’ echoes and reverberates from the speakers. Musically it’s unexplored territory for the songwriter … Continue reading
