a music blog
Earlier this year I was lucky enough to catch Kelsey Waldon supporting Margo Price at Celtic Connections festival, where she previewed this brilliant new album of bluegrass and old time music called ‘There’s Always a Song’.
Continue reading “Album Review: Kelsey Waldon – There’s Always a Song”
By choosing to start her new album with the killer line: ‘country music made do it and I’ll do it til I die’ followed by the sound of a fiddle, Carly Pearce is making it clear to country fans: she’s in this genre for the long haul.
Her last album, 29 was her most country sounding record and also her most vulnerable lyrically – this combination worked wonders for her career, winning her both commercial and critical acclaim (and a Grammy). Carly continues on that strong streak on ‘hummingbird’, sounding ever more comfortable and confident in her musical choices and songwriting – even producing the album herself.
Continue reading “Album Review: Carly Pearce – hummingbird”
After the joy of giving birth to her first child, Lucy Rose was left in unbearable agony from undiagnosed osteoporosis. Through such a bewildering time she found solace in music, inspiring this new album ‘This Ain’t the Way You Go Out’ recorded at Paul Weller’s studio with a brilliant band of musicians.
Continue reading “Album Review: Lucy Rose – This Ain’t the Way You Go Out”
They say you’ve truly made it when your audience starts dressing like you. On a sunny Friday night in Glasgow, there was a sea of cowboy boots, stetsons, denim, fringe and, of course, flares as far as the eye could see. Hillbilly hippies were everywhere, such is the influence of Lainey Wilson, country music’s rising superstar.
Continue reading “Live Review: Lainey Wilson @ Glasgow O2 Academy 19/04/24”
Alynda Segarra’s last two albums looked outwards: The Navigator towards their Puerto Rico heritage, telling the story of immigrants living in a city, trying to find a place in a new world, while follow up Life on Earth sang of places and people under siege in a hostile world. Musically these albums ranged from innovative Latino inspired folk, to indie rock, to lo-fi electronica and spoken word. Here was an artist asking questions, searching, making exciting and original music that grew with every listen (like those rhododendron they sang about).
New album The Past is Still Alive is less conceptual, more inward looking, a narrative where the personal becomes political. Musically this harks back towards the simpler acoustic beginnings of this artist’s career.
Continue reading “Album Review: Hurray for the Riff Raff – The Past is Still Alive”
Lola Kirke lives in Nashville and has flirted with country music on her first two albums, offering some indie Americana on her debut Heart Head West and a more light 80s pop country on ‘Lady for Sale’. On her new E.P., produced by Elle King, she finally admits to being ‘Country Curious’, fully exploring the genre with her heart wide open. The results are a delight – four songs that just remind you how much fun this genre can be.
Continue reading “E.P. Review: Lola Kirke – Country Curious”
Being chosen to support a pop star like Harry Styles on a massive stadium tour looks from the outside like a dream. Here’s a guaranteed payday and an opportunity to play in front of thousands of fans who probably wouldn’t normally hear your music. By choosing women from mainly the indie/alternative sphere Harry was continuing on his quest to appear both cool and inclusive, distancing himself from his reality TV, manufactured boy band past. All credit to him (or more likely his savvy management team) for giving out these opportunities.
However a little digging into the online fan culture would suggest these slots are not always groundbreaking for careers as they may seem.
Jenny Lewis faced online abuse from his fans that basically amounted to them deciding she was too old and her music too weird to support him. Despite Harry’s wish for indie credibility it was clear most of his fans were stuck in their pop lane. Typical of Jenny she didn’t give a fuck and enjoyed herself massively, making the absolute best of the opportunity despite the general apathy. Wet Leg and Wolf Alice reportedly got similarly muted responses.
Kacey Musgraves fared better since she is younger and poppier, even duetting with Harry at one point. She managed to win fans online and carry some of these over to her own shows, which began to skew younger around the time she opened for him.
So now you may be wondering what happened with Madi Diaz? She was chosen to support Harry as a solo acoustic performer, in massive stadiums when most people were probably not even in their seats yet. At least Harry was a definite fan of her music – watching her from the side of the stage, wearing her ‘Crying in Public’ T-shirt and then asking her to join his own touring band, elevating her to the main event.
Since releasing this new album Weird Faith last Friday, Madi has appeared on her first Late Night talk show, played Rough Trade and had a week that has left her ‘humbled and bewildered’. How much of this success is down to her being connected to Harry is hard to measure, but the increase in name recognition alone has been a driver in getting her music in front of a wider range of fans, myself included.
Continue reading “Album Review: Madi Diaz – Weird Faith”
On Lizzie No’s debut album, Hard Won, she showcased her talents as a harp playing folk singer with something to say and she then built on that foundation with her second record Vanity, creating a more ambitious, rockier sound. Her new record Halfsies is released in conjunction with Americana label Thirty Tigers, which is fitting since Lizzie has been a vocal advocate for more black women in country and folk music. Halfsies is a fantastic record which blends those genres along with some intriguing indie rock influences.
Continue reading “Album Review: Lizzie No – Halfsies”
The untimely death of Nanci Griffith in 2021 came after a long period of declining health and retreat from recording music. Her final album, released in 2012 was described by Paste magazine as being ‘utterly shot through with vitriolic anger, disappointment, fear and dissent.’ There was an air of bitterness in some of her interviews around the time of that album, suggesting a frustration with the music industry and her legacy as a whole.
Continue reading “Album Review: More Than A Whisper: Celebrating the Music of Nanci Griffith”
Highway Queens 