Tag: americana

Emmylou Harris’s Discography – Luxury Liner (1976)

When I saw Emmylou Harris live earlier this year she played three songs from this album ‘Luxury Liner’ showing the enduring importance of her best selling album. Released in 1976 it was again produced by her future husband Brian Ahern (who she married shortly after its release) and was her second number one country album in a row after Elite Hotel. 

Other artists in country music at the time like Loretta Lynn and Dolly sang songs mainly dealing with issues specific to women, often solo written about their own experiences. Like her friend Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou chose a different path. Luxury Liner, and many of her other albums in this era, were mainly composed of songs written by men, a choice which, subconsciously or not, helped to widen her appeal to male fans of both country and rock. 

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Album Review: Leah Blevins – All Dressed Up

Making vintage music sound both fresh and personally authentic isn’t easy to pull off but on this new album ‘All Dressed Up’ Leah Blevins has done just that. Assisted by producer Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys who has worked with Yola, Nikki Lane, Lana and Shannon Shaw in the past, ‘All Dressed Up’ is the sound of an artist stepping up in both her singing and songwriting. 

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E.P. Review: Meels – Across the Raccoon Strait

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’.

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Album Review: Lucinda Williams – World’s Gone Wrong

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. 

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Album Review: Della Mae – Magic Accident 

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. 

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Live Review: Emmylou Harris @ Celtic Connections, Glasgow 16/01/26

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.

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Album Review: Courtney Marie Andrews – Valentine 

Sharing memories of 2016 is the social media trend of the moment and ‘Honest Life’ by Courtney Marie Andrews was one of the albums released towards the end of that year which inspired me to start this blog. 

Ten years later she’s still going strong having been one of the most prolific artists I’ve covered on the blog. Between 2016 and 2022 she also released May Your Kindness Remain – a stunning Americana epic, Old Flowers a quieter and darker pandemic era offering and Loose Future a lighter, breezier collection.

In the four years since that album she’s been busy with painting as well as releasing her second poetry collection ‘Love is a Dog That Bites When It’s Scared’. 

This new album ‘Valentine’ was self-funded, recorded with only two other musicians – her producer Jerry Bernhardt and drummer Chris Bear. While it doesn’t return to the country-tinged sound of her earlier records, it does offer us a deeply emotional and impressive sounding collection of songs.

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