The Wicked Messenger is based around songwriter Jimi Beavis and bassist Janey Mac, who have surrounded themselves with a damn fine bunch of players, the most recognisable being Ben Franz on pedal steel. ‘You Don’t Love Me Anymore’ is a deceptively simple track that slays with its shuffle and pulse and the super hooky vocal … Continue reading
I’m digging this reverbed, rollicking sound from R McClure & Tall Shadows. The British Columbian has a great take on country music, adding a really cool, dreamy psych sheen. Lovely stuff. ‘Big Night’ rides a great shuffling drumbeat like the rush of a successful night mission. ‘Me And My Hangover’ slows things down but finds … Continue reading
As this song starts you’re drawn in by Appalachian songwriter Pierceton Hobbs‘ interesting drawl that curls around the vowels and twists them into interesting shapes. Then the band kicks in and there’s a wonderfully laidback yet deep feel to the groove. ‘Fawn’, the title track from Hobbs’ debut album makes for a really nice introduction … Continue reading
This is just hands-down superb playing from Chris Larcombe, a young guitarist out of the UK who made the wise decision to head for the sounds of country music when he first heard the telecaster of the late Byrd Clarence White a couple of years ago. ‘Sweet Cheeks’ is a classic country instrumental written by … Continue reading
It’s great to see Robert Connely Farr has a new album comin’ round the bend next week. We were really taken by his LP of 2019, Dirty South Blues, and everything we’ve heard so far from the new one, Country Supper, has sounded mighty good! Farr is a Bolton, Mississippi bluesman who has a knack … Continue reading
In the great tradition of spaghetti western meets surf guitar music, here’s the German group Beyond The Breath Of Grace and their fine instrumental track ‘Atacama’. Named after the desert in Chile, it charges along at a fair clip of its hooves, conjuring up evocative western images of desert dust rising against sunburnt hills. The … Continue reading
This week we’ve got a brand new track from one of our local Australian songwriters, Ben Leece (out on Monday). This single is a beautiful tribute to a friend who died in tragic and unsolved circumstances and is yet another example of the way Ben so effortlessly imbues his alt-country melodies and music with pathos … Continue reading
Today we’re please to be able to premiere the new video clip from Melbourne group Honeymoon Bridge. ‘Sweet and Strange’ comes from their new cassette/digital album Volume V, released today via Bandcamp. Don’t forget that from 5pm today, Bandcamp waives their fees for 24 hours so all your money goes to the artist! The harmonies … Continue reading
There’s a Leonard Cohen cadence and observational wit at play, filtered through Cuchulain‘s voice that recalls Evan Dando of The Lemonheads. It’s a clever and lyrically impressive track that rolls along perfectly like a Randy Newman lost gem. ‘Been There’ comes from the San Francisco Bay Area-based songwriter’s forthcoming album Songs For Grownups. “For a … Continue reading
The meeting of musical minds is one of the real joys of collaborative projects and there seems to be more and more of them happening in these times we’re living in. On the local Sydney scene, songwriter/musician/producer Michael Carpenter has joined up with the guitar-slingin’ dream team of The Banks Brothers (Zane – guitar, Jy-Perry … Continue reading
Daniel Young is a songwriter out of Salt Lake City, Utah who has been plying his craft for two decades now. It shows too. ‘Hold You Tighter’ is one of those effortless delights that gently tumbles out the speakers on the back of warm and mellifluous melodies, a voice inhabited by just the right amount … Continue reading
Following the release of ‘In The Stream’, which was in the top ten of the AMRAP Metro Chart for three weeks and is on high rotation on ABC Country, Australian Americana songwriter Mitch Dean releases the third single and title-track from Holding Back The Levee. Featuring guest vocals by Kevin Bennett, from revered Australia country-rock group The Flood, ‘Holding Back The Levee’ is a stellar example … Continue reading
As usual, a great county of new singles hitting the airwaves and digital universe this week. First up is this lovely duet between Kurt Vile and John Prine, recorded late in 2019. “Probably the single most special musical moment in my life,” says Vile. It’s part of a new KV EP called Speed, Sound, Lonely KV, out … Continue reading
This track caught our ear for a few reasons when we first heard it. Obviously the title and subject matter… anyone willing to take a poetic swing at the evil piece of shit that is the US president gets our musical vote. Canadian Zach Kleisinger has a great cadence in the delivery of his lines. … Continue reading
Super smooth and soulful jazz and country-blues flavoured sounds on this new single from Micah Edwards. The song has a lightness of touch about it that makes those melodies damn hard to shake. Perfect for this time of year as we head into spring in the Southern Hemisphere. Edwards hails from Houston and other than … Continue reading
