ALBUM REVIEW: James Thomson – Golden Exile
Album Artwork / Album Reviews / Alt-Country / Americana / Soul / Stream

ALBUM REVIEW: James Thomson – Golden Exile

James Thomson Golden Exile Independent Thomson returns with his third album, and his most accomplished work to date. Golden Exile is a record that will bring to mind the loose rhythms and grooves of The Rolling Stones and the melodic nuance of The Beatles. Throw into the mix that sweet intersection of 70s folk rock … Continue reading

NEW MUSIC: Ride Til Dawn – (Ooh Baby) When I Can See Past The Shadows
Alt-Country / Americana / Cosmic Country / New Music / Rock / Stream

NEW MUSIC: Ride Til Dawn – (Ooh Baby) When I Can See Past The Shadows

Everything about this song we love. The way Ride Til Dawn‘s singer Mitch Grier sings the first line and leaves it hanging that bit longer until the next lines adds further details and context. There’s the chorus that swells skyward with a sweet ache and yearning. The song remind us a bit of the music … Continue reading

ALBUM REVIEW: Drive-By Truckers – The Unraveling
Album Artwork / Album Reviews / Alt-Country / Americana / Rock / Stream

ALBUM REVIEW: Drive-By Truckers – The Unraveling

Drive-By Truckers The Unraveling Ato Records by Chris Familton Over nearly quarter of a century, Drive-By Truckers have slowly established themselves as one of the great American bands of modern times. Harnessing the grit and swagger of alt-country and embracing and challenging the notion of being a Southern rock band, Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley and … Continue reading

NEW MUSIC: Mardi Lumsden – Heading Home
Americana / Folk / New Music / Soul / Stream

NEW MUSIC: Mardi Lumsden – Heading Home

Brisbane songwriter Mardi Lumsden has released this wonderful new folk single, ‘Heading Home’, the third to come from her debut album Hiatus. The song hits a soulful groove courtesy of the Hammond organ and her restrained voice with its sweet, soft, sleepy tones and blurred edges. According to Lumsden, “‘Heading Home’ is the feeling you … Continue reading

NEW MUSIC: Gretchen Peters – The Night You Wrote That Song
Album Artwork / Country / New Music / Stream

NEW MUSIC: Gretchen Peters – The Night You Wrote That Song

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Gretchen Peters has announced her new album The Night You Wrote That Song: The Songs of Mickey Newbury, will be released on May 15, 2020 on Scarlet Letter Records. The Night You Wrote That Song: The Songs of Mickey NewburyTracklist:1. The Sailor2. She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye3. Just Dropped … Continue reading

INTERVIEW: Fanny Lumsden
Americana / Country / Folk / Interviews / Stream / Videos

INTERVIEW: Fanny Lumsden

FANNY LUMSDEN WANTED TO CREATE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL THAT SHE COULD FIND SOLACE IN Fanny Lumsden’s third country-folk album, Fallow, sees her exploring new musical terrain and dealing with the loss of loved ones and the joy of bringing new life into the world. As she explains to Chris Familton, it’s an album that represents possibility … Continue reading

NEW MUSIC: Ron Pope – Dodge Aries Wagon
Album Artwork / Alt-Country / Americana / Country / Folk / New Music / Stream

NEW MUSIC: Ron Pope – Dodge Aries Wagon

Last month, Nashville-based Ron Pope released his new LP Bone Structure, a 15-track set of songs that are presented in both subtle and overt form as a collective letter to his young daughter. Pope seems to have had in interesting and at times challenging life to-date, as an impoverished child of teenaged parents to broken-hearted New … Continue reading

NEW MUSIC: Eric Long – Bluebird
Americana / Country / Folk / New Music / Stream

NEW MUSIC: Eric Long – Bluebird

Last year we featured ‘To Dream Again‘, a song from San Francisco-based Eric Long which caught our ear with its stripped back folk sound and his weathered voice. ‘Bluebird’ comes from his new 2020 album Looking Up and shows a warmer, more detailed sound, draped in a melodic vocal and some wonderful pedal steel and fiddle. On first … Continue reading

NEW MUSIC: August Knight – Arizona Rain
Alt-Country / Americana / Country / New Music / Stream

NEW MUSIC: August Knight – Arizona Rain

August Knight gets bare and desolate on this stripped back take on his song ‘Arizona Rain’. Though minimal in its musical dressage, it still sounds lush within its high and lonesome pedal-steel draped sound. Over all of that, Knight hits the sweet spot between heartache and simple lyrical impact. “Arizona rain bring me an angel, … Continue reading

NEW MUSIC: Secret Emchy Society – Everything Was Fine
Alt-Country / Country / Honky Tonk / New Music / Stream

NEW MUSIC: Secret Emchy Society – Everything Was Fine

The enigmatically named Secret Emchy Society from Oakland has a new track out which races along on a quick-shuffle, honky tonk heartbeat as Cindy Emch barrels out the song with high spirits and playful verve. Emch has been named by the Huffington Post as the ‘First Lady of Queer Country’ and No Depression christened her “Equal … Continue reading

NEW MUSIC: River Tramps – Mare And The Maiden
Americana / Country / Folk / New Music / Stream

NEW MUSIC: River Tramps – Mare And The Maiden

River Tramps are a Floridian and Texan duo based in Nashville who have recently released their debut single ‘Mare And The Maiden’. Adam Cohen and Nikole Martine have a fine way with country folk phrasing, both old-timey in its western feel but also contemporary in the production sheen. The allowance of space in the song … Continue reading

NEW MUSIC: Late Cambrian – It’s Just Me (Quarantine Edition)
Americana / Cosmic Country / New Music / Psychedelic / Videos

NEW MUSIC: Late Cambrian – It’s Just Me (Quarantine Edition)

Simple exquisite melodies are the winning hand on this song from Brooklyn’s Late Cambrian. There’s a touch of George Harrison, the tenets of power-pop in a stripped-back setting and a psychedelic country-tinged wander through psych pop. All in all it’s a wonderful track that buried itself in our short term memory when we first heard … Continue reading