a music blog
This week I started using Substack for the first time. I know I’m seriously behind the times but after looking at the abysmal current state of social media, I thought an app focused on writing would be worth investigating.
Continue reading “Women in Music to Follow on Substack! “
The recent Rilo Kiley reunion has been a total joy for fans like myself and as they are one of Katie and Allison Crutchfield’s formative influences, it was lovely to read the post about them traveling to see the shows together.
Waxahtachee also supported Rilo on some dates and Katie ended up singing with Jenny too, which was incredibly sweet.
Rilo’s reunion and listening to this excellent album makes me hope we might even have a noughties indie rock revival on our hands.
Continue reading “Album Review: Snocaps – Snocaps “
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”
The recent trend in the music industry for collaboration between women artists continues with this recently released Plains record, featuring Jess Williamson and Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee. When so much of an artist’s worth seems tied up in who they are and how they can sell themselves as individuals, there’s obviously something very appealing in working with different people and releasing music under a new name. Perhaps financial pressures also encourage women to team up, tour together and share the burden of press duties. In the old days you formed a band and then went solo, nowadays it’s the other way around.
Continue reading “Album Review: Plains – I Walked With You A Ways”
The final song on Waxahatchee’s last album gave us some clues as to the next direction her music might take. Fade was an introspective, acoustic track that felt like a quiet sonic reset after the blistering indie rock on the rest of Out in the Storm, while lyrically it explored her internal struggle to assert her identity in a toxic relationship. On Saint Cloud we thankfully find her in a much better place – being newly sober and in love. Musically too she embraces a breezier Americana sound, evoking early Lucinda Williams, her songwriting hero. Continue reading “Album Review: Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud”
When I read a few years back that Katie Crutchfield, the singer/songwriter of Waxahatchee, had a tattoo of one of my favourite bands, Rilo Kiley, I was immediately intrigued to listen to the band. The problem of course is then your expectations are so high you start thinking that they will fill the void of said dearly departed group and well, that is an impossible task. Therefore I’ve always found listening to this band a slight disappointment, interesting work but not exceptional. This new album Out in the Storm is a welcome step up from the previous bedroom albums, recorded with a producer in a studio and featuring their best songs to date. Continue reading “Album Review: Waxahatchee – Out in the Storm”
Highway Queens 