With a songwriters poise and a natural sense of folk and country musicality, Violet Road is a far superior collection of songs to Sam Newton’s debut Set In Stone, which hinted at his potential. Newton focuses on a couple of themes on the album. Most prominently there’s a trio of songs (‘Hold You Down’, ‘Homesick’ … Continue reading
Taking the leap from being part of a band to standing on one’s own feet as a solo performer had never occurred to Dear Orphans’ Nick Payne. When it was suggested, he decided to approach the Rise Up Like A River project with 100% commitment and passion. As a founding member (with partner Lyn Taylor) … Continue reading
For the last decade Nick Payne has led Sydney folk and bluegrass outfit Dear Orphans across two albums and a ton of live shows. His debut solo album has him keeping one foot firmly in the Dear Orphans camp and the other heading into contemporary Americana. Payne presents the album as two halves, the first … Continue reading
With the recent release of his sophomore album Violet Road, Sydney Americana artist Sam Newton has certainly made good on the promise he showed on his debut Set In Stone. The new record is intensely honest and personal, the result of Newton’s focus and desire to become the best songwriter he can possibly be. With … Continue reading
A decade ago, Devendra Banhart was the poster child for the American acid-folk movement that rose out of a close-knit community. As with all scenes, the different members went on to pursue their muses into contrasting and varied territory with Banhart continuing to explore eccentric song form. At first he took it into a more … Continue reading
This Sunday, Dec 4th is the final Heartbreaker Sessions for 2016 (we’ll be back early in 2017) so we’re hoping that plenty of alt-country and folk lovin’ types will come down to The Bearded Tit in Redfern, Sydney for live sets from Darren Cross and Jen Mize plus the usual cosmic country, troubadour picking, folk … Continue reading
In the pantheon of modern songwriters only a few explore the dark corners of the heart and soul with such poetry, precision and weight as Leonard Cohen. He’s in that revered group alongside Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and increasingly, Nick Cave. Now 82, Cohen sees the end in sight, the curtains closing on a storied … Continue reading
ALL STRUNG OUT Californian bluegrass exponents The Brothers Comatose are constantly on the road, visiting interesting places and mixing lifestyle with their job as working musicians. On the back of their appearance at this year’s Dashville Skyline festival, Chris Familton caught up with singer/guitarist Ben Morrison to find out more. They might have a name that … Continue reading
The high-quality overload of Americana music in Sydney this week continued with a triple serving at The Basement that traversed country, folk and the cosmic musical universe of Robert Ellis. Last time he played here back in July, Joshua Hedley made solid headway through a bottle of whiskey during his set, the jokes and banter … Continue reading
Residing in Ballarat, VIC, Freya Josephine Hollick is about to release her new LP The Unceremonious Junking Of Me next month on Heart of the Rat Records. We’ve heard it and it’s a beautiful album, overflowing with cascading old-timey melodies and the lilting refrains of Hollick’s plaintiff voice. It sits somewhere between folk, blues and … Continue reading
Over their career The Felice Brothers have applied broad brushstrokes to the Americana genre. They embody the rich meeting point of country, folk and bluegrass music – where the song comes first and the style is the framework upon which it sits. The latest album feels their most relaxed and natural in years. It rolls … Continue reading
After two decades as a musician, Darren Cross is finally releasing his debut solo album _Xantastic. It is his personal view of the world around him and in his typically unique fashion it draws influence from two seemingly contrasting musical styles in Bruce Springsteen and Kraftwerk. Sitting opposite Darren Cross in the Annandale Hotel … Continue reading
Country music has always excelled at capturing the pain and loneliness of heartache and doomed and failed romance. Here at PTW we co-curate a monthly live gig called Heartbreaker Sessions and we thought we’d ask some of the artists appearing to choose a few of their favourite songs that capture that feeling. First up we’ve … Continue reading
Darren Cross made his name as a founding member of collage pop provocateurs Gerling but these days he’s one half of folk noir duo Jep and Dep and a solo artist trading in dark avant-folk. Surprisingly, this is Cross’ debut solo album and in many ways it embraces his past and present musical explorations with … Continue reading
Queenslander Josh Rennie-Hynes has backed up his debut album with another set of bittersweet Americana songs that sound more assured and worldly though sometimes lacking dynamics that could have elevated the songs into more emotionally heavy-hitting territory. Songs are filled with people and places from Rennie-Hynes’ constant touring and he’s mastered melancholy and a sympathetic … Continue reading
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