Album Review: Miranda Lambert – Crisco 

If you’d told me a few years back that Miranda Lambert would be releasing a disco album, I’d have laughed in your face. The crazy ex-girlfriend who likes to burn stuff down? The woman who was more likely to be standing at the bar getting the drinks in than heading onto the dance floor? Miranda who released the Marfa Tapes? Last seen in a Texas honky tonk? Miranda? Disco?

So yes before listening to this whole album in full, I had severe doubts. On first glance the project seemed like a mid-life crisis, an artist trying to follow Kacey’s ‘High Horse’ or the ‘Bell Bottom Country’ 70s trend and getting it slightly wrong. The video for ‘Crisco’ felt a little awkward, like she was uncomfortable dancing on camera. 

But I did love ‘A Song to Sing’, with Chris Stapleton and loved the roller disco vibe of that video which was the original inspiration for this whole album. After the first few songs were released I was still unsure but soon I found myself going back to them quite often. Sure it was disco, but it was country disco, it had a beautifully lush sheen to the sound. Plus Miranda’s voice just always pulls me in. Slowly Crisco started to make sense to me. 

Continue reading “Album Review: Miranda Lambert – Crisco “ →
0

Album Review: The Womack Sisters 

Living in the legacy of your family can sometimes be a curse, with the nepo baby insult now being thrown around at anyone even with even the remotest connection to their respective industry. For some people nepotism suggests a kind of intervention to elevate untalented people above their station, which in most instances is just not the case. I think it’s much more interesting to consider how younger generations are tackling the need to continue their family’s musical legacy. How do you honour the past and yet convey your own sense of self?  

The Womack Sisters have a lineage that lives and breathes soul music. Their parents are Womack & Womack, their uncle Bobby Womack and their grandfather is Sam Cooke. That’s a legacy to be proud of, not to hide behind – hence their group name shouts the connection proudly (as they should). The sisters are BG, Zeimani, and Kucha Womack, vocalists who started out as backing singers for their family before stepping into the spotlight. After the deaths of their father and uncle they had to regroup and find a new path forward in the music industry. 

Continue reading “Album Review: The Womack Sisters “ →
0

Album Review: Julia Jacklin – The Gem

Even if you’re always listening to new music, or even if you’re a music blogger like myself, sometimes there’s an artist whose name you hear often but whose music for whatever reason you never get around to listening to. Julia Jacklin is one of those names for me. I resolved to make an effort this album cycle, after enjoying the preview songs. ‘The Gem’ was also the first new album Apple Music added to my library this week, so with zero expectations or knowledge of her at all, I pressed play and found myself hooked into her melodic, vulnerable indie music right away. 

Continue reading “Album Review: Julia Jacklin – The Gem” →
4

Album Review: Two Runner – Porchlight

Two Runner have been quietly building a stellar reputation in the Americana scene over the last few years: recording sessions with Western AF and Gems on VHS, and going on tour with Alela Diane and Watchhouse. The new album ‘Porchlight’ comes six months or so after violinist Emilie Rose left the duo, making Two Runner now a solo proposition led by songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Paige Anderson. 

Continue reading “Album Review: Two Runner – Porchlight” →
0

Emmylou Harris’s Discography – Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town (1978)

After Dolly’s death this week the tribute statements and social media posts flowed in from family, friends, collaborators, fans and people all over the world. Her longtime friend and Trio collaborator Emmylou Harris did things differently. 

Emmylou is now 79 herself and was in Europe playing her farewell tour. She had made no public statement about Dolly’s death. Instead she chose to open her show on Wednesday evening in Stockholm, Sweden alone with an acoustic guitar by singing ‘To Daddy’, a song written by Dolly which she had been gifted by her friend back in the seventies. 

At the end of the track she simply said ‘I love you, Dolly.’ 

It was a fitting tribute to a musical connection that began many decades before. The story of how Emmylou came to record ‘To Daddy’ for her fifth album ‘Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town’ sums up much of what everyone loves about Dolly Parton: her talent, her kindness and her steely ambition.

Continue reading “Emmylou Harris’s Discography – Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town (1978)” →
1

DOLLY PARTON FOREVER

I’ve always known what song I would listen to at the dreaded moment I found out Dolly Parton was dead. The Grass is Blue might sound on the surface like a breakup song, but for me it is a song of mourning, of sorrow, an exploration of the way humans can lie to themselves to cope with the infinite darkness of life. A perfectly written song for any time the world threatens to destroy your sanity. 

Yesterday evening, I pressed play.

Continue reading “DOLLY PARTON FOREVER” →
0

In Praise of Hayden Panettiere

When the news of Nashville star Hayden Panettiere’s death broke last week, I was extremely sad but to say I was shocked would unfortunately be a lie. The exact circumstances remain unclear but it was well known that Hayden had been struggling for years with addiction and horrific turmoil in her personal life. It’s depressing to me how inevitable her death was, how certain kinds of fame and particularly child stardom feel like a lingering curse leading to suffering, addiction and early death for far too many. 

Continue reading “In Praise of Hayden Panettiere” →
2

Album Review: Laura Veirs – Temple Songs

Laura Veirs’s new album is the first she’s entirely recorded and produced herself and the first in four years since Found Light. Her garden studio is called ‘Temple of Bloom’ and this was where ‘Temple Songs’ was born, after living through a songwriting drought she has reframed as a ‘gathering phase’. The seeds of that work have grown into songs whose roots feel surprisingly strong. 

Continue reading “Album Review: Laura Veirs – Temple Songs” →
0

How to Cure Blue Dot Fever

Over the past few months many in the music industry have been struck down with what is being called ‘blue dot fever’. The name for this disease comes from the way Ticketmaster show unsold seats on their site but this problem of lack of ticket sales is not confined to seated concerts. In Scotland alone this summer we’ve had cancelled festivals, and other major events offering heavily discounted tickets for standing concerts. 

This week Brandi Carlile was the latest artist to come down with blue dot fever. She’s cancelled and rescheduled her entire European tour, with every venue in the UK being downgraded to venues that are less than half the size of the original ones booked. She’s used the ‘personal circumstances’ reason for the changes, which may be true but is suitably timed to save face and cover her losses. As a fan it’s irritating to have to rebook, especially as I’d carefully chosen the best seat for the lowest price in the previous venue. Other fans had booked flights and hotels for these shows leaving many much more out of pocket than me. 

Continue reading “How to Cure Blue Dot Fever” →
3

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑