a music blog
At the start of this year I was lucky enough to see Madison Cunningham live at Celtic Connections and she played a set made up almost entirely of new material on piano. The confidence she had in those songs, which now make up her excellent new album ‘Ace’, was entirely justified.
Continue reading “Album Review: Madison Cunningham – Ace “
Launching her debut album with a sold out in-store performance at Assai Records in Edinburgh last night, Rianne Downey described herself as ‘giddy’ at finally having ‘The Consequence of Love’ released into the world.
The last few years have been a whirlwind for the singer from Bellshill in Scotland, going from busking and sharing her music online to headlining festivals, after being chosen by legendary Paul Heaton to sing in his band.
Now she’s stepping into the spotlight herself with this country inspired collection of beautiful songs about love, loss, home and finding your own way.
Continue reading “Album Review: Rianne Downey – The Consequence of Love “
The one time I saw Bob Dylan play live he was terrible but it didn’t seem to matter, everyone else lapped it up and the guy next to me nearly got thrown out for standing on his chair and yelling ‘LEGEND’ between every song. After that I promised never to pay money to see an old narcissist deliberately sing his own songs out of time and tune, all in the name of artistic independence or some other male bullshit.
I do love Dylan’s old music but since I obviously wasn’t a diehard, I went to see ‘A Complete Unknown’ without any real expectations. I left both impressed and irritated.
Continue reading “On ‘A Complete Unknown’ & the Myth of Male Genius “
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.
Continue reading “Album Review: Mary Chapin Carpenter, Julie Fowlis and Karine Polwart – Looking for the Thread “
Scotland is lucky enough to have the best roots and folk music festival in the world to keep us music fans warm during the winter. Celtic Connections began last night with their opening concert celebrating the city of Glasgow and over the next few weeks the music on offer is not just the best of Scotland, but the rest of the world too.
Continue reading “Celtic Connections 2025 Highlights”
The new year is here and soon the release schedule will begin filling up but I thought I would do a quick round up of what’s already been announced for 2025.
If you know of any new releases by women not mentioned here then please add to the comments and also let me know what you’re most looking forward to hearing!
Continue reading “Music to Look Forward to in 2025 “
The insanely talented guitarist Yasmin Williams returns with her beautiful new album Acadia, inspired by nature and offering a dreaming autumnal soundtrack. Acadia means ‘Place of Abundance’ and here is a land of musical plenty.
Continue reading “Album Review: Yasmin Williams – Acadia”
After releasing ‘Saint Cloud’ during the pandemic, Katie Crutchfield’s life changed. She found a new audience within the Americana scene, while also maintaining her core fans from her earlier indie rock records. Success in the genre led to the Plains collaboration with Jess Williamson and even working with Wynnona Judd, further underscoring her dedication to explore her Southern roots and influences.
Katie and her brilliant band (who included Spencer Tweedy on drums) came to Glasgow for the first time in many years, fresh from releasing the new album Tiger’s Blood. She performed that album in full, relishing in the opportunity to play these songs to a sold out audience.
Continue reading “Live Review: Waxahatchee & Anna St. Louis @QMU Glasgow 30/07/24”
‘I was an imitator; you have to start that way.’ – Emmylou Harris
Finding your voice is never as simple as opening your mouth and hoping you hit the right notes. Rarely do artists arrive fully formed, with something to say and a distinctive voice to carry them into the public consciousness. The history of music is littered with the sound of people hoping to find success by emulating others, many straight up stealing ideas in a desperate form of mimicry.
Work produced during this youthful development stage is referred to as juvenilia. If you make it to the other side of this time of experimentation and exploration then you might just have what it takes to become something original. Of course, once you become a success there is a level of embarrassment associated with this early work and indeed Emmylou Harris’s discography begins with Gliding Bird, an album she is so averse to that she no longer even classifies it as her debut. She actually sued a record company who tried to reissue the album after she became famous.
“I was trying to keep it a secret. I hope somebody in authority will be able to buy the masters and burn them. Everybody involved with that record hated everybody else and I was in the middle trying to keep the peace. It was a disaster.”
The album can be bought on second hand vinyl and some of these copies have been recorded and uploaded onto YouTube (in the internet age you can’t hide your past even if you wanted to).
So let’s take a listen and find out exactly what went wrong with Gliding Bird. Are there any positives to be found in this album? Was Emmylou right to disown this record?
Continue reading “Emmylou’s Discography – Gliding Bird (1970)”
Highway Queens 