South Yorkshire FRW Music Festival – Sep 2016: Madison Violet
Madison Violet “light Americana which grabs and appeals across the board” Starting off the South Yorkshire Folk, Roots, and World Festival there was the incredibly talented duo of “Madison Violet”. Madison Violet consists of Brenley MachEachern and Lisa MacIsaac, two great robust names and musical artists with a sound I am going to describe as […]
September 2016 : Little Lapin’s “Lover’s Gate”
Little Lapin – “Lover’s Gate” from the Album “Holding Out for the Kicks” Album available @ CDBaby and BandCamp Website http://www.littlelapinmusic.com/ Check out the website for details of their tour! What can I say? I reviewed this album the other week for FATEA magazine, (here) and listened to some of the tracks before moving on to […]
Jenny Sturgeon’s “From the Skein” Album Review
A good debut album that effectively conveys Sturgeon’s love of history. A balance exists as wide myth collides with shared Scots history; brilliance flickers in some of the darker tracks which hint at even better things to come. I have been taking some time to have a listen to Jenny Sturgeon’s debut album, “From the skein”, it […]
Gentle Heart – Saskia Griffiths-Moore’s debut album (a review)
An unabashed genre-hopping album that balances light with dark in a spiritually precise manner and a strong leading voice Some albums are like the snow-topped mountains of Asia, full of ancient mystery which might be a little unusual or less accessible to the everyday tourist but nevertheless has a solid following and interest, especially for […]
Rob Lane – Ends and Starts (album review)
Blues rock that warms the senses for Spring and gets the room moving in an optimistic, light-hearted manner Intro In taking a mild diversion from things going on in my current home County (Yorkshire), the South West with it’s wonderful mysteries, and the cosmopolitan excitement of emerging folk around London, I have decided to go […]
The Silver Darlings: Watermark- Single Launch in Sheffield (review)
A band with fire enjoying their musical influences without putting themselves in a box I recently had the pleasure of attending the single launch with The Silver Darlings, a Sheffield-based indie-folk group at The Heeley Institute (Sheffield) and was more than pleasantly surprised. The Silver Darlings are part of Ankle Breka Records, a growing independent […]
Steamchicken@Shakespeares “A dynamic, captivating performance that stays in the mind”
Shakespeares’ Pub, Sheffield 2 April 2016 These chickens can play, in a dynamic, captivating performance that stays in the mind I have recently had the good fortune to be very pleasantly surprised at a local gig in Sheffield; I scoured the ‘net looking for something I’d not heard of and the name “Steamchicken” leapt out […]
Edd Donovan and the Wandering Moles – Making Mountains (Vol 1)
An artist with old school authenticity and a collection of songs aptly wrapped in the phenomenology of experience drenched in Americana which takes the best aspects of modern music Album: Making Mountains (Vol 1.) Label: Paper Label Records Website: http://www.edddonovan.co.uk/ Release Date: 3rd June 2016 I don’t often venture into Americana I regret to inform. There […]
KARA – Some Other Shore – “a deep thematic album of tragedy and triumph” – review
Released June 2016 KARA return with another excellent album called “Some Other Shore” (their debut was also nautical sounding, “Waters So Deep”). The particularities that make the sound and ideas appealing can be boiled down into the three-part approach taken to their writing and recording of folk music. The first part is that their music […]