Each year in September the Americana Music Festival & Conference is held in Nashville TN with dozens of music showcases from labels, genres and collected offerings from specific countries. Australia has a good profile at the event with shows like Tamworth Presents: Australiana @ Americana, Sounds Australia Presents: The Aussie BBQ and other smaller shows organised by … Continue reading
Spencer Burton is a Canadian singer/songwriter who like so many others these days manages a fine blend of country and folk music. Burton was a member of the band Attack In Black (2003-2010) with Daniel Romano, another great Canadian artist in his own right and the producer of Burton’s new 2014 album Don’t Let The … Continue reading
Josh Rennie-Hynes is a Brisbane singer songwriter who released his debut album February in July. Produced by Shane Nicholson it’s an accomplished and mature set of songs that carry themselves with a nice sense of balance between earthy emotiveness and catchy hooks. There’s a carefree Australian flavour to much of Rennie-Hynes’ music as much as … Continue reading
Les Thomas is a Melbourne singer-songwriter, activist and blogger who has built a name for himself as a strong supporter of alt-country music in Australia. His songs resonate with themes of social justice and a desire to awaken social conciousness. He recently released his full length album Survivor’s Tale, a record that tells the story of those … Continue reading
The latest instalment of Six Strings, where we focus on an Australian or New Zealand songwriter and dig into their musical psyche, opinions and memories via our Q&A. This one features Mark Lucas, a long-time stalwart of the local Sydney scene who arrived here from England at the dawn of the ’80s and went on … Continue reading
Ryan Adams discusses his new self-titled album, his struggle with Ménière’s disease and his PAX-AM label and recording studio. Ryan Adams has always resisted any temptation or peer pressure to become an alt-country purist after he emerged out of the ashes of the band Whiskeytown and firmly established himself with his solo debut Heartbreaker (2000). … 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
Later this month the new documentary film Jim Lauderdale: The King of Broken Hearts is officially launched at a screening in Nashville ( Bongo After Hours Theatre on Monday 15th Sept) prior to the Americana Music Festival. The film traces the career arc of the country music singer/songwriter who has been rejected by record labels, had his songs recorded … Continue reading
The Yearlings recently released one of the finest local Americana albums of 2014 in All The Wandering and they’ve backed it up with strong reviews of the shows on their album release tour. As that tour winds up Robyn Chalklen kindly took the time to answer a few questions in our regular Six Strings Q&A. Album Review: … Continue reading
Tracy McNeil released her new solo album Nobody Ever Leaves last week to strong reviews (including ours) and now she has started a comprehensive tour (dates below) to celebrate its release and spread the magic with her great band The Good Life that includes guitarist Luke Sinclair of Raised By Eagles. McNeil was kind enough to take some … Continue reading
Sydney-based US singer/songwriter Jenny Queen recently released her new LP Small Town Misfits which we summarised in our review as “A very good album that proves how catchy melodies and astute, substantive songwriting can successfully coexist.” Queen was kind enough to answer our Six Strings Q&A and give us an insight into her musical world. … Continue reading
Darren Cross has been part of the music industry for the last two decades as a member of a number of bands, most notably 90s indie pop upstarts Gerling. He’s also a soundtrack composer, runs the music and video production company Bernstein Studios, has co-written with Jagwar Ma and is now one half of Jep and Dep … Continue reading
De’May has just released her debut album If We Don’t Leave Now, a record that announces the arrival of an intriguing new talent on the local scene. The album weaves it’s way through blues, country and folk styles with her voice the unifying element. She sings with real conviction and the ability to sound both tender and fragile (‘Tell … Continue reading
Dave Favours has just released his debut full length album Wet Suburban Sunday, that follows last years EP One Hand On The Wheel and it’s a great mix of country and rock with covers of The Rolling Stones, Ramones and The Saints thrown into the mix of originals. We’ll have a review of the album up shortly but … Continue reading
Last year Dan Waters released his excellent solo LP La Vita E Bella to critical acclaim and he was rewarded with Best Country Album at the Age Music Victoria Awards. Waters has followed that up with a new EP under the name The Gulbransen Brothers, featuring Chad Mason of Wagons as his equal songwriting/sparring partner. Don’t Let The Music Stop … Continue reading
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