a music blog
The new album ‘Goodnight Rhonda Lee’ from Nashville-based Nicole Atkins is a soulful blast of pure personality from start to finish, making it undoubtedly one of the best albums of the summer. Continue reading “Album Review: Nicole Atkins – Goodnight Rhonda Lee”
Don’t be fooled by the title of this new E.P. by Margo Price. Weakness only proves how powerful a performer she is and these four songs are brimming with musical confidence and conviction. Continue reading “E.P. Review: Margo Price – Weakness”
Summertime sadness is the sweetest kind. It’s that feeling you get when it’s too hot outside and you just want to sit in a dark room and wallow in depressing music until autumn comes and you can breathe again. Miranda Lambert knows the power of the heartbreaker and how listening to sad music can actually make you feel better. So here’s a list of her ten most tearjerking songs – I recommend you drink some wine and hug a dog while you read/listen. Continue reading “Feelin’ Empty: Ten Saddest Miranda Lambert Songs”
Even cowgirls get the blues, so the story goes. Sometimes you have to pack up your life, hitchhike across America and move to a ranch to find yourself. Okay so that’s just the novel but the idea is clear – starting over can be liberating. After her band Chumped went on indefinite hiatus Anika Pyle had to begin again. She wrote some new songs, teamed back up with drummer Dan Frelly and together they took the name of her great grandmother Katie Ellen to release this excellent new record Cowgirl Blues. Continue reading “Album Review: Katie Ellen – Cowgirl Blues”
The history of music is littered with lost treasures once overlooked and out of circulation, now easily rediscovered through the internet. None are more deserving of your time and ears than two women, who by fate or chance, have always lingered in the shadows of their more successful sisters. Dee Dee Warwick and Erma Franklin both came from talented musical families and found the path of their careers strikingly similar in their struggles for success. Continue reading “Dee Dee Warwick & Erma Franklin: Forgotten Sisters of Soul”
Kitty Wells, who died five years ago this week, had success in country music with her proto-feminist song ‘It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels’. The history of this song can tell us much about sexism in music, issues which are sadly still prevalent today. Continue reading “Kitty Wells & The Recurring Problem of Sexism in Music”
A rose only blooms for a short time, soon they wilt and leave behind nothing but thorns – such is the reality of life sometimes. Sarah Jane Scouten’s new album When The Bloom Falls From the Rose explores the consequences of heartbreak using the sounds of traditional country and folk. Continue reading “Album Review: Sarah Jane Scouten – When the Bloom Falls From the Rose”
For any artist there’s probably a moment of doubt when they begin to wonder: what is the point, does anyone care if I make this or not? Lucy Rose, a talented singer songwriter found herself in that place after her second album failed to make the impact she wanted. She didn’t know how to bring the fire back. So she decided to go off grid and toured South America, staying with fans and playing small gigs. This adventure helped to refocus her music and Something’s Changing is the result. Continue reading “Album Review: Lucy Rose – Something’s Changing”
If you have a spare fifteen minutes (or a few hours) I can think of no better way to spend it than listening to some of the best musicians playing NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert. These sessions are now legendary, breaking new artists as well as bringing in those at the top for a more intimate performance.
Of course there are so many now it can be hard to find the time to search through them, let alone watch them all so I have picked ten great ones for your viewing pleasure (and to be honest I’m partly making this list for myself so it’s easy to find the links) Enjoy! Continue reading “Ten Awesome Tiny Desk Concerts”
Highway Queens 