a music blog
You can actually buy a t-shirt that reads ‘Emily Scott Robinson Made Me Cry’ and I can testify that her ability to reduce to a crowd to tears is unmatched. Her new album ‘Appalachia’ is another stunning collection of songs that showcase her angelic voice and sensitive heart.
Continue reading “Album Review: Emily Scott Robinson – Appalachia “
At the start of Season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the main character has to dig herself out of her own grave after being violently brought back from the dead. Afterwards she walks through riot-strewn streets of fire, disorientated and bleeding, asking: ‘Is this hell?’ The rest of the season she spirals into crippling depression, apathy and a self-destructive relationship.
Florence Welch considered calling her last album ‘Season 6’ in honour of that arc, so much did she see herself in Buffy’s struggle. During her last tour Florence suffered a broken foot on stage, before losing her unborn child and nearly dying with complications of that ectopic pregnancy. Hell and back doesn’t even begin to cover it.
Continue reading “Live Review: Florence and the Machine @ The Hydro, Glasgow 9/2/26”
On her YouTube channel Meels has included a playlist which details the ‘visual world’ of her new EP Across the Raccoon Strait. Included in this list are videos from TV shows Hee Haw, Gunsmoke, Free to Be You & Me, songs by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Muppets and Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton singing ‘Jolene’ on the Porter Wagoner Show, Roy Clark doing ‘Gentle on my Mind’ and the cartoon title sequence to Grease. This eclectic and irreverent selection tells you everything you need to know about the musical sensibilities of the artist known as Meels, whose music she describes as ‘critter country’.
Continue reading “E.P. Review: Meels – Across the Raccoon Strait”
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.
Continue reading “Live Review: Lucinda Williams @ Celtic Connections 1/2/26”
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.
Continue reading “Album Review: Lucinda Williams – World’s Gone Wrong”
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.
Continue reading “Album Review: Della Mae – Magic Accident “
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.
Continue reading “Live Review: Emmylou Harris @ Celtic Connections, Glasgow 16/01/26”
I’m always searching for new Christmas music and was delighted to discover that Morgan Wade had released a short EP of festive tunes this year. She has recorded three personal favourite covers and one original for this EP ‘Christmas in My Dreams’.
Continue reading “EP Review: Morgan Wade – Christmas in My Dreams”
Melissa Carper is on a hot streak after her last few brilliant solo albums and her work with Wonder Women of Country and she has now released this sparkling new Christmas album. Unlike so many other festive offerings ‘A Very Carper Christmas’ is a collection of nearly all originals, written mainly with her old bandmate Gina Gallina plus Brennen Leigh and Katie Shore.
Continue reading “Album Review: Melissa Carper – A Very Carper Christmas “
Highway Queens 