Lost Ragas debut album Phantom Ride (2013) crept on me slowly and it wasn’t until I saw them play it live that it really hit home how great their songs are and what a damn fine group of musicians they are. Fast forward to this week and the Melbourne band have released the first track from … Continue reading
It’s been a big year for Darren Cross with his solo EP No Damage and the release of the excellent debut album from Jep and Dep. Now Cross has released a new clip from the aforementioned EP, another to come out of his Bernstein Studio. It’s a great video, quite different to what I’d expect … Continue reading
The last 12 months have been a bountiful period for Americana releases in Australia and New Zealand. From debut albums to notable EPs, collaborations to albums recorded on the other side of the world, there was something for everyone and most importantly it showed our local scenes are going from strength to strength. The music … Continue reading
On her long-awaited debut album Caitlin Harnett finds a lush and harmonious middle ground between folk and country music. There’s a lightness to her music and voice in the vein of the carefree sound that came out of Laurel Canyon in the 1970s, with Joni Mitchell an obvious touchstone. Strings, harmonica, organ and horns enhance … Continue reading
Green Mohair Suits, who always put on a great live show – from lounges to festival stages – can now add a strong debut album to their CV. Their strength lies in their uber-tight harmonies that blend in virtuosic layers, equal parts Fleet Foxes and CSN. Like local alumni Little Bastard they’ve captured the vibe … Continue reading
Gretta Ziller has already generated a great deal of critical and industry acclaim in the 2013 Telstra Road to Discovery Grand Finals at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, as well as her 2013 TSA/APRA New Songwriter of the Year award. Now she has released her debut EP Hell’s Half Acre which captures the essence and graceful … Continue reading
Gretta Ziller has already generated a great deal of critical and industry acclaim in the 2013 Telstra Road to Discovery Grand Finals at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, as well as her 2013 TSA/APRA New Songwriter of the Year award. Now she has released her debut EP Hell’s Half Acre which captures the essence and graceful Americana beauty of … Continue reading
Wagons have been tearing it up across the USA on the back of their new album Acid Rain & Sugar Cane and now they’ve returned to Australia and put together another run of live dates through Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney in the coming months. Also below is the claymation video clip for the new … Continue reading
Darren Cross has been steadily building an impressive body of work as a solo alt-country singer/songwriter (and as half of Jep and Dep) in the wake of a long musical history in Gerling, as a DJ and many other projects. This feels like the most genuine channelling of his muse. The solo platform suits his … Continue reading
For those of us unable to make it to the inaugural Out on the Weekend Americana Festival (JTE, Robert Ellis, Nikki Lane, Henry Wagons, The Delines, Emma Swift, Raised By Eagles etc) in Melbourne, this is the start of the news we’ve been waiting for. The sideshow announcements have started rolling with Justin Townes Earle … Continue reading
After his appearances at the Sydney Festival and elsewhere earlier this year, John Murry is heading back to Australia to record his next album in the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria with Australian producer Mark Stanley and Irish producer Karl Odlum (Kila, Glen Hansard & The Frames, Lisa O’Neill). While he is here he will also … Continue reading
Robyn Chalklen and Chris Parkinson are the core duo of The Yearlings and this, their fifth album, finds them at the top of their game. All The Wandering is the kind of album that fires melancholic shots straight to your heart. With weeping pedal steel courtesy of Lost Ragas’ Shane Reilly alongside a raft of … Continue reading
The last few years has seen Little Bastard gain a reputation as one hell of a live band, the septet causing raucous, drunken partying with their punk-spirited folk and bluegrass. Now they’ve finally stepped off the road to try and bottle some of that stage magic on their debut album. The good news is … Continue reading
Jenny Queen is an Ohio native, based in Sydney, who sits on the stylistic fence on her third album. Her sound is firmly in a pop country vein that wouldn’t be out of place on the soundtrack to the TV series Nashville yet there is a constant undercurrent of mild emotional turbulence and the sense … Continue reading
If you haven’t heard the other-worldly voice of New Zealander Marlon Williams you need to fix that immediately. Below you can check out his new single ‘Strange Things’, released today and presumably from a forthcoming and much anticipated solo album. It’s a lush and beautifully haunting song with ghostly backing vocals that highlights Williams’ voice and … Continue reading
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