Here’s Townes Van Zandt with a great full band recording of Hunger Child Blues, taken from the compilation In The Beginning (Compadre Records, 2003). The songs on In The Beginning were recorded in his first Nashville recording sessions in 1966 –predating the release of For the Sake of the Song by two years. Eight of these ten … Continue reading
Bonnie Whitmore (Denton TX) has a brand new album There I Go Again out now and it is a wonderful journey through country and sun-dappled soul and rock. Playing country music from the age of 8 means she has lived and learnt it and her songs flow effortlessly, overflowing with a sense of purpose, strength and … Continue reading
It has been two decades since Uncle Tupelo split and gave birth to the Jeff Tweedy-led Wilco and Jay Farrar’s Son Volt. Wilco have been the more adventurous while Son Volt have mostly remained loyal to the traditional tenets of folk and country music. Honky Tonk sees them extending that stylistic allegiance by honouring honky tonk, … Continue reading
Melbourne singer songwriter Nigel Wearne released his album Black Crow at the end of 2012 and this month he will be releasing the title track as its second single. A brisk shuffle with strains of bluegrass and country running through it, Black Crow is a great track that showcases Wearne’s colourful vocal and some wonderful … Continue reading
by Chris Familton Veritable veterans of country music, Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell have been friends ever since she heard a cassette demo of his song Bluebird Wine (covered here) back in 1975. She included the song on her debut album and he joined her band so it is surprising this is their first true … Continue reading
by Chris Familton Collaboration isn’t new to Dawn McCarthy and Will Oldham who released an album of demos in 2007 (Wai Notes) as an addendum to the previous year’s The Letting Go on which McCarthy sang. Those songs showed an ethereal synergy between their voices making this new album a tantalising proposition for those who … Continue reading
Jay Farrar’s band Son Volt have a new album, just released last week, called Honky Tonk via Rounder Records. The album features eleven new songs that are inspired by the classic honky tonk sound of Bakersfield. Check out the video for the opening track, an Rdio stream of the LP and the band’s upcoming US tour dates. http://rd.io/x/QUN9AiJ31oE … Continue reading
Richmond Fontaine are set to release their tenth album The High Country in September. Here is the first listen featuring their now trademark viv imagery and storytelling courtesy of singer/guitarist/novelist Willy Vlautin… Continue reading
Ahead of the release of his new New York influenced album Harlem River Blues on September 14th you can check out a stream of the title track below. It has quite a different feel with gospel and rock n roll influences marking a shift away from the solo fingerpicking country styles of previous releases… Continue reading
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