On the eve of the prestigious Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival and ahead of an intensive run of touring to promote his brand new album Nashville Obsolete, Dave Rawlings takes our call in the gregarious and generous manner he’s become known for. A passionate and generous interviewee, he talks enthusiastically about the genesis of the new record, its … Continue reading
Ruby Boots has had an epic year with her debut album finally being released on the local imprint of the Lost Highway Records label. We loved the record and it is stacking up as one of the finest local Americana releases of the year. At the time we said of the album: She can evoke … Continue reading
On his third solo album Melbournian Dan Parsons immerses himself deep in US west coast-styled country folk music. There’s a light touch to his music that at first gives it a breezy, occasionally easy-listening sound but behind the sunny and drifting pop melodies there are tales of troubled souls trying to find their way. The … Continue reading
Friedman, the author and provocateur, has also been a musician since the early 1970s and finally, after 39 years, he’s recorded a new studio album. It’s a mix of Friedman originals and a raft of covers including Merle Haggard’s ‘Mama’s Hungry Eyes’, Bob Dylan’s ‘Girl from the North Country’ and a duet with Willie Nelson … Continue reading
The Morrisons have been a mainstay of the local Americana scene here in Sydney and wider afield for the last few years. Now they have a brand new debut single and video to match for ‘Wild Eleanor’. Showcasing their dextrous ensemble playing and way of crafting some soaring melodies, they find the sweet spot between … Continue reading
Lyttleton is fast becoming the ground zero for contemporary country and folk music in New Zealand. From Marlon Williams to Aldous Harding, Tami Neilson to Julia Jacklin, The Sitting Room has been perfectly capturing New Zealand music for over a decade now and the latest album to emerge from the studio is singer/songwriter Nadia Reid‘s. … Continue reading
As part of the AWME music conference in Melbourne next month, a stellar bill of alt. country music will perform at Max Watt’s on Friday Nov 13th. Henry Wagons will play solo backed by his band The Only Children while Ruby Boots and Raised By Eagles cap off a huge year of touring and new albums. … Continue reading
Austin, Texas band The Lonesome Heroes have been on tour in Australia for the last few week, making friends and fans along the way. They played the inaugural Dashville Skyline festival as well as shows in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. Though their name may be new to many alt. country listeners in this part of … Continue reading
If you’re in Sydney you might have been starting to get excited about a great day out in Western Sydney today at the Out On The Weekend festival. Of course that isn’t going to happen now that the festival sadly got cancelled earlier this week. It’s a sad state of affairs that a city this size can’t … Continue reading
A long time between drinks for Keith Richards solo albums, the last one was 23 years ago, and he’s even used the same band for this checklist of the usual ragged blues, low slung rock ’n’ roll and even a dodgy Gregory Isaacs reggae cover. That aside, the quality quota is high across the board. … Continue reading
On her tenth album Patty Griffin dives deep into the mysteries of love and nature, soundtracked by an organic and smokey mix of blues, jazz, folk and country noir. She possesses the kind of sultry tone that suggests hidden meaning, raw emotion and bruised romance. Songs snake and meander by, woven around drones and mantra-like … Continue reading
Papa Pilko & The Binrats come charging out of the gate with ‘On Your Own’ and lay down a rip-roaring swampy blues-funk testimonial that sets the scene for the rest of their debut album. Tried and true influences are at play but the way the band combines them is a winning formula. John Lee Hooker, Tom … Continue reading
Lachlan Bryan is one of those artists that straddles the worlds of commercial and alt. country, equally comfortable in Tamworth or an inner-city bar. The Mountain finds him exploring a more soulful sound complete with weeping pedal steel, fiddle, piano and shuffling drums. The emotional quota is high and generally hits the mark as Bryan … Continue reading
Small towns and the escape from them or retreat to them are often the subject of songs in country music. In recent times we’ve had Jenny Queen (Small Town Misfits) and Hurray For The Riff Raff (Small Town Heroes) address the topic in their album titles and now NSW songstress Fanny Lumsden has dug into … Continue reading
A couple of weeks ago we posted news about Lo Carmen’s brand new album, describing it as sounding like the Velvet Undergound jamming with Mazzy Star in a Nashville honky tonk after closing time. Now she’s released the beautifully colour saturated clip for the title track, directed by Aden Young (star of the TV series … Continue reading
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