Album Review: Mary Chapin Carpenter, Julie Fowlis and Karine Polwart – Looking for the Thread 

It’s fitting that this collaborative album is being released in January, the traditional month of Celtic Connections festival where these three artists first performed together. In the spirit of Transatlantic Sessions these three women, two Scottish and one American come together to show that more unites us than divides us.

Individually Julie Fowlis and Karine Polwart have blazed a trail for women in Scottish folk music, helping to light a clear path forward for other artists to follow. Mary Chapin Carpenter has done the same in her own Americana/country sphere. 

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Somethin’ Bad: On Carrie Underwood Playing the Inauguration 

One of the reasons I started this blog back in 2017 was because I was sick of the divided, angry online world of politics in the Trump era. Writing about music helped bring me joy and connected me to a range of diverse people around the world who shared a common love of song. 

Strangely enough despite its conservative themes, for a while country music was actually a safe haven for a liberal leftie like me looking to avoid the negativity of politics. After the Dixie Chicks were cancelled for speaking out the genre seemed to have a kind of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy for both sides of the political divide, which meant most artists remained neutral (in public anyway). Dolly Parton also set the gold standard for how to deal with any potentially divisive discussions – be kind to everyone, judge no one, focus on the music and steer clear of party politics.

So why then would Carrie Underwood, who has spent her career cultivating a very vanilla and apolitical image, agree to sing at the inauguration of Donald Trump – one of the most divisive figures in history? And what does this decision tell us about the state of women in country music right now? 

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E.P. Review: Yola – My Way 

For many Yola’s unique selling point was that she was a black British artist who had vintage soul and country influences – she stood out in a good way, genre-fluid but gaining Americana awards and Grammy award nominations in the roots categories. There was an appetite to hear a powerful black female voice like hers sing the kind of soulful music that so many white men like Chris Stapleton etc were having success with.

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Live Review: Madison Cunningham @ Celtic Connections 17/01/25 

This week Karine Polwart shared a cover version of Madison Cunningham’s ‘Life According to Raechel’ and encouraged her followers to go see the young musician live at this Celtic Connections show.

Before the gig itself began, I spotted no less than three well-known Scottish musicians taking their seats in the stalls.

Later the excellent support act Louis Abbott would ask if there were any musicians in the audience and it seemed like more than half the crowd raised their hand (incidentally Louis confessed he had already bought a ticket for the gig before he was added as support). 

So it seems then that Madison Cunningham is your favourite musician’s favourite musician. 

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Top Ten Albums of the Year 2024

I’m still of the opinion that we should all wait until the end of the year to post our list of favourite albums and this year I am edging very close to the wire by posting on New Year’s Eve! 

Like most people I have found 2024 to have been good and bad, rewarding and frustrating in equal measure. In terms of music, I have been feeling really positive and found more to personally enjoy and get excited by this year than last. I still have been quite slow and uneven with posting on the blog, alongside an ever changing social media landscape it hasn’t been easy to maintain any kind of consistent online voice.

Still I am thankful to anyone who has read my blog and I just want to express my gratitude to anyone who still follows and comments. You have all made me want to keep posting. And I still believe small quiet places on the internet to share your thoughts are worthwhile things to have.

So then we come to my favourite albums of the year, in ranking order by the arbitrary rules I set up when I began this blog way back in 2017. For no particular reason I decided that to feature on the list an album should be made up of mainly new material by a female artist / group or duo and the top slot is reserved for an album which is majority self-written. The rest of the list reflects my own personal listening and is not intended to be any kind of ‘best of’. 

Please share yours in the comments! Click below to read any review if I have written about the album. 

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