a music blog about women in Americana & beyond
Last time we heard from Lindi Ortega she was hanging out in Faded Gloryville, where success was in the past but there was still a warm glow of positivity in her voice. This new E.P. Til The Goin’ Gets Gone takes a much darker turn, and was recorded at a time when she was deciding whether or not to continue with her career in music. Continue reading “Review: Til The Goin’ Gets Gone – Lindi Ortega”
Nowadays in popular music escapism is the name of the game. Songs are often nothing more than an attempt to make the listener feel good – even ballads are autotuned and polished to perfection. Raw emotion is no longer acceptable.
But look at the world. Look at all the terrible things that are happening. More than ever we need to hear songs that tell us the real stories of people’s lives – of their heartbreak and pain and suffering. These songs are still out there, but you won’t hear them much on the radio or at award shows. When Miranda Lambert stepped up to sing Tin Man at the ACM awards she said it was a ‘risk’ but it was a performance which proved that sad songs still have the most power. Continue reading “Why ‘Tin Man’ Is The Sad Song We Need Right Now”
The Ivor Novello awards, given for song writing, are to take place in London this week. They are strange awards in many ways – sometimes rewarding just for commercial success and other times recognising artists beyond the mainstream.
What makes this year’s nominations list stand out for the right reasons is the inclusion of Laura Mvula, who was recently dropped by her record label. Now you would think if they signed you for a five album deal then they at least believe in your talent and potential. But in this case they dropped her after her second album failed to reach their sales targets. And they did this by email. Continue reading “Why A Win for Laura Mvula Would Be A Win for All Women in Music”
The Americana music awards are a fantastic showcase for quality music, sweeping up all the great acts that country music award shows have left behind as well as giving the respect due to classic artists. Of course the definition of ‘Americana’ may never be fully concrete but if you glance back across the history of these awards you can see that they honour a great variety of musicians. Continue reading “Why the Americana Music Awards Needs Female Only Categories”
Country 2 Country festival is a vitally important part of being a country music fan in the UK, giving fans a chance to see the breadth and depth of Nashville’s finest all in one place. 2017 saw Brad Paisley, Reba McEntire and Zac Brown Band headline successful shows in London, Glasgow and Dublin. The event is now held over three days, in three locations and is by all accounts a smashing success.
While fans can’t get enough of the music, look closer and you will find there are issues with the event which need addressed. Even the most famous blog in country music covered the fact that a DJ booked for an afterparty seemed to have no idea she was playing a country music event (although this has since been explained away by that old chestnut ‘technical difficulties’.) A quick glance on twitter will confirm that fans are not happy about many other things to do with the festival.
Continue reading “How to Make Country 2 Country Festival Even Better”
Highway Queens 