Live Review: Lucinda Williams @ Celtic Connections 1/2/26

Three years after her last triumphant performance at Celtic Connections, Lucinda Williams made a welcome return to Glasgow to celebrate her new album ‘World’s Gone Wrong’. As a younger artist she was always known for taking her time between albums but since her stroke in 2020 she has become hugely prolific – releasing two albums of originals and her various ‘Jukebox’ series of cover albums, alongside a packed touring schedule. On stage she remains a powerful, potent voice, one whose message of peace and love was rapturously received by a packed crowd of fans.

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Album Review: Lucinda Williams – World’s Gone Wrong

Lucinda Williams has previously released three albums with the word ‘world’ in the title. The first was her 1992 classic ‘Sweet Old World’ where the title song was a poignant tribute to a friend who died by suicide, lamenting his loss and singing of all the beauty they’d left behind. She re-recorded that album in 2017, calling it ‘This Sweet Old World’ as though she was trying to bring back to life the innocent optimism she’d once had. Then there was ‘World Without Tears’ her 2003 album, that seemed to arrive at a kind of weary acceptance of the reality of life’s pain and suffering. 

Her new album ‘World’s Gone Wrong’ has more of the latter’s tone, and yet that positivity of ‘Sweet Old World’ still simmers just below the surface. What this album also brings is a continued fiery spirit that started with her ‘Good Souls Better Angels’ album and suggests she’s become more of an activist, more confident in her politics, more outward looking in her music the older she gets. 

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Album Review: Della Mae – Magic Accident 

Della Mae’s previous albums have been filled with such heart, humanity and fierce feminism that I’ve always thought they were one of the most underrated bands in the Americana / Bluegrass space. 

New album ‘Magic Accident’ was recorded in Nashville with producer Alison Brown, who also plays banjo on the album and has signed the band to her label Compass Records. This is an album showing the power of female collaboration, offering ten tracks of sunshine and strength. 

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Live Review: Emmylou Harris @ Celtic Connections, Glasgow 16/01/26

Emmylou Harris last played Glasgow at Country to Country festival in 2018, and since she’s turning 79 in April some thought that was the last time she would play this side of the Atlantic.

Luckily for us she decided to grace us with her divine presence one more time, beginning her European farewell tour with this career- spanning celebratory evening at Celtic Connections festival. 

As many fans have pointed out, this isn’t the end. She still intends to tour America and play dates near her home in Nashville.  When she stepped on the stage last night she looked sprightly on her feet and her voice sounded great, suggesting she can run for a long time yet.

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Album Review: Courtney Marie Andrews – Valentine 

Sharing memories of 2016 is the social media trend of the moment and ‘Honest Life’ by Courtney Marie Andrews was one of the albums released towards the end of that year which inspired me to start this blog. 

Ten years later she’s still going strong having been one of the most prolific artists I’ve covered on the blog. Between 2016 and 2022 she also released May Your Kindness Remain – a stunning Americana epic, Old Flowers a quieter and darker pandemic era offering and Loose Future a lighter, breezier collection.

In the four years since that album she’s been busy with painting as well as releasing her second poetry collection ‘Love is a Dog That Bites When It’s Scared’. 

This new album ‘Valentine’ was self-funded, recorded with only two other musicians – her producer Jerry Bernhardt and drummer Chris Bear. While it doesn’t return to the country-tinged sound of her earlier records, it does offer us a deeply emotional and impressive sounding collection of songs.

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Celtic Connections 2026 Preview

The best roots festival in the world begins on Thursday, bringing together artists from Scotland and across the world to play in Glasgow. Every year I’m so thankful for this beacon of live music light in the January gloom, and the festival line up never disappoints. 

There’s so many gems this year the only issue is deciding what to see. I’ve rounded up some of the women in Americana, indie and folk who are playing the event this year to give you a flavour of what’s on offer!

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Against the ‘Mood Machine’: How I Listen to Music in the Spotify Age

I recently finished the fascinating book ‘Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist’ by Liz Pelly, which brutally exposes the flaws in the streaming giant. She takes us through the history of music in the digital age and how we ended up living in the ‘Spotify era’, before an eviscerating takedown of the flaws within the company itself and how damaging its rise has been for musicians and the wider music industry. 

Of course I already knew the payment model was hugely flawed and hurting artists but what I was most surprised to learn about was the impact Spotify has made on the way most people consume music. 

The concept of the ‘mood machine’ itself was just completely alien to me. I use streaming services so differently than the way it was being described in the book. I realised with a sinking heart that my kind of passionate, obsessive music listening might be seriously endangered. 

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Blogging Resolutions 2026

At the start of each year I re-read Woody Guthrie’s list of ‘New Year’s Rulins’ from 1943 and try to capture a little of his spirit. My favourites remain the same: Work more & be better, work by a schedule, eat good, write everyday, read lots of good books, listen to the radio, learn people, don’t get lonesome, stay glad, keep the hoping machine running, beat fascism, love everyone, wake up and fight. 

In the past I used to write yearly blogging resolutions but haven’t done since 2021. Maybe that indicates how the past few years have been challenging in the blogosphere. Looking back at that 2021 list feels crazy now as it’s all about the pandemic and trying to find ways to cope without live music. Now five years later, I thought I’d take stock and write my blogging resolutions for 2026. 

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