Steve Dawson - Lucky Hand (Album Review)

June 14, 2018 by Rich Barnard in Acoustic, Americana, Instrumental, Blues, Folk

In our house, space is a very precious commodity. Instrumental guitar records have to work extremely hard to earn their place on the CD shelves (yes, I do know what Sonos and Spotify are, and no, no thank you). No matter how impressive, super-noodling is not enough if there is no musical heart beating beneath. Thankfully, the latest release from celebrated Canadian guitarist Steve Dawson has that beating heart and yes, he has the hands to match.

Scott Matthews - The Great Untold (Album Review)

April 24, 2018 by Rich Barnard in Acoustic, Album Reviews, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

Scott Matthews is one of those artists I just can’t imagine not being there. His solemn, haunting vocal style has been winning over fans ever since his acclaimed debut, Passing Stranger, was released in 2006. Back then, amid the acoustic singer-songwriter boom of the 2000s, there emerged a handful of acts that may no longer make huge commercial waves but still continue to make exquisite, interesting records. New releases from the likes of Polly Paulusma, Tom Baxter and Tom McRae - all contemporaries of Matthews - are a comforting reminder that great songwriters can and do endure, regardless of time or fashion. A new album from Scott Matthews (or any of the above) is the sort of thing that, even before I hear it, helps to restore my ailing faith in humanity.

Old Crow Medicine Show - Volunteer (Album Review)

April 18, 2018 by David Vousden in Acoustic, Album Reviews, Americana, Bluegrass, Country, Folk, Traditional

Looking back, It must have been four years ago and the fledgling RGM was just starting to get noticed by Pr companies and labels. It was an exciting time; a review of the self-titled Parker Millsap album would lead to an invite to see him open for Old Crow Medicine Show on their UK tour, at The Roundhouse in London, in support of the ‘Remedy’ album. Parker was excellent and he fully lived up to the promise of his record and Old Crow would be up next. Now, to be honest, I wasn’t really fully aware of O.C.M.S. much beyond ‘Wagon Wheel’ but a very quick spin through the highlights of their back catalogue on the day of the show made me think they could be pretty good. Obviously, as any fan of the band knows, they’re a monster live act with songs and musical dexterity to burn. Needless to say ‘Remedy’ became pretty popular in the RGM office in the days that followed so when ‘Volunteer’ hit the RGM inbox I was very keen to check it out.

Torgeir Waldemar - Jamais Vu (Album Review)

April 03, 2018 by David Vousden in Acoustic, Album Reviews, Classic Rock, Folk

Norwegian singer-songwriter-guitarist Torgeir Waldemar will be no stranger to regular readers of RGM as we reviewed his second album ‘No Offending Borders’ back in 2017. An album of sprawling classic rock with more than a passing nod to Neil Young & Crazy Horse ‘No Offending Borders’ was a quality record (if you’ve not heard it I urge you to seek it out). The record exhibited an, often meandering, rough-around-the-edges 70’s rock approach that was in stark contrast to his debut release, which owed more to the California infused sounds of the Laurel Canyon singer-songwriters of the early 70’s. Bearing this in mind, it should come as no surprise that for his latest release Waldemar has taken a good look at both albums and made a few changes. The more stripped back folky sounds of the debut album have been seriously electrified while ‘No Borders’ material is now laid bare.

Joan Baez - Whistle Down The Wind (Album Review)

March 01, 2018 by David Vousden in Folk, Singer-Songwriter

With a career that effectively straddles the entire history of popular music, Joan Baez is an artist for whom the legendary tag was probably invented. Baez made her debut at the Newport Folk Festival in 1959 and released her debut album in 1960 (an album selected by the Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Recording Registry) and was one of the first artists to recognise the talent of an aspiring Bob Dylan before she closed out the 60’s with a performance at Woodstock. Her recording career has continued to this day with over thirty albums and songs performed in a range of languages. Alongside her musical achievements, her political and social activism has shone a light on many areas including the civil rights movement, human rights and the environment. Joan is one of very few artists who can claim (not that she would I’m sure) to have made a difference and her legacy is assured. Refusing, at 77, to rest on her laurels she’s back with a new album ‘Whistle Down The Wind’ her first release in almost a decade.

Darlingside - Extralife (Album Review)

February 23, 2018 by Rich Barnard in Acoustic, Album Reviews, Folk

Darlingside - the world’s coolest band without a drummer - totally floored us with 2016’s Birds Say. The band enjoyed much praise from the mainstream press here in the UK and subsequently picked up a lot of new admirers. Now they’re back with a new record, Extralife, to the delight of one and all here at Red Guitar H.Q. At first glance the record is a little more weird and therefore a little less immediate than its predecessor but the band’s thrust remains the same. Welcome to harmony-driven acoustic bliss with uncommon quirks and unusual weight.

I'm With Her - See You Around (Album Review)

February 12, 2018 by Rich Barnard in Acoustic, Album Reviews, Bluegrass, Folk

Celebrated bluegrass stars Sara Watkins, Aoife O’Donovan and Sarah Jarosz first joined forces as a trio in 2014 and, having dabbled with some singles and live appearances in the last couple of years, they’re now releasing their debut album ‘See You Around’. As individual live performers each has a formidable reputation, so catching them as a band on their current tour is surely a must (they’re back in the UK in May if you missed their recent London show). Given Jarosz’s modest collection of Grammy awards and the lauded, long-established band and solo careers of O’Donovan and Watkins (of Crooked Still and Nickel Creek fame, respectively) it’s little wonder that this release carries with it the weight of high expectation.

Mary Gauthier - Rifles & Rosary Beads (Album Review)

January 25, 2018 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Folk, Singer-Songwriter, Americana

Possibly the most shocking statistic I’ve come across in recent times is the following: It is estimated that 7400 current or former members of the United States Armed Services take their own lives annually. This is obviously not just a problem specific to the USA, here in the UK military personnel face the same challenges on active duty and when their tours end. SongwritingWith:Soldiers is a non-profit organisation, founded in 2012 by singer-songwriter Darden Smith, which pairs veterans and active duty military with songwriters to hopefully confirm the old idiom “A problem shared is a problem halved.” With this in mind Mary Gauthier’s ‘Rifles & Rosary Beads’ could well be the most important album you’ll hear this year.

Dane Joneshill - Everything That Rises Must Converge (Album Review)

January 19, 2018 by Rich Barnard in Album Reviews, Americana, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

Dane Joneshill and I have a few things in common: we both write songs and make records; we are both slightly ill-at-ease with social media; we’re the same age and we both know the simultaneous joy and pain of life as a domestic dad. Obviously, I shouldn’t let this sense of kinship colour what ought to be an objective appreciation of his debut album, Everything That Rises Must Converge, but it’s just possible it might.

Glen Hansard - Between Two Shores (Album Review)

January 17, 2018 by Rich Barnard in Album Reviews, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

Between Two Shores is Hansard’s third solo album and, rather than finding him adrift as its title might suggest, it sees him grounded as a solo artist for the first time. Plenty of the songs from his first two outings would’ve passed unnoticed as Frames songs but this album really seems to put an end to all of that. I will always associate Glen Hansard with the raw crunch and visceral angst of ‘Pavement Tune’ and the Zeppelin crashings of ‘The Stars Are Underground’ (that said, I do always seem to be about twenty years behind the times) but that urgent, exploratory rock of youth has totally given way to an effortless songwriting maturity and an altogether more seasoned approach to making records.

The Wailin' Jennys - Fifteen (Album Review)

November 09, 2017 by Rich Barnard in Acoustic, Album Reviews, Folk, Country, Bluegrass

The covers album is a tricky old beast and one that few acts manage to fully tame. It’s an endeavour that can easily expose a lack of direction, an absence of fresh ideas or worse still, an ill-judged excursion into self-indulgence. It’s no small miracle, then, that female-vocal-bluegrass darlings The Wailin’ Jennys have made such a coherent success of Fifteen, their first album since 2011’s highly acclaimed Bright Morning Stars.

Jasper Sloan Yip - Post Meridiem (Album Review)

October 26, 2017 by Rich Barnard in Album Reviews, Singer-Songwriter, Pop, Folk

The first thing that strikes you is that name. Jasper Sloan Yip. Is the ‘Sloan’ included just to stop people confusing him with all the other Jasper Yips out there? If you rearrange the letters you can make J-Lo, A Sniper Spy, so perhaps this album contains all sorts of other loosely-encrypted conspiracy theories… Whatever the true story behind the unusual moniker, the thirty year-old singer songwriter has made quite the (metaphorical) name for himself in his native Canada, becoming a big hit on college radio after releasing his 2010 debut Every Day and All At Once. 2013’s follow-up Foxtrot spawned the Canadian top ten and award-winning hit ‘Show Your Teeth’ and now JSY (sorry, I just can’t keep typing it in full) has returned in 2017 with the more fully-formed and mature Post Meridiem, a record that should - if there is any justice - bring his talents some serious global attention.

Bob Bradshaw - American Echoes (Album Review)

October 19, 2017 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Americana, Country, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

I have recently taken up photography as a hobby, not digital, but on film. I am shunning “Auto” and taking time to compose each shot, being choosy about what I take, as the roll is not infinite. As such, each shot becomes treasured, even if it does not come out as expected. Bob Bradshaw’s new album, ‘American Echoes’, has the feeling of a treasured photo album crammed with fond memories and experiences. Indeed, Bradshaw started his journey in America, which has led to the content of ‘American Echoes’, way back in 1989. It is a product of the people, places and venues he has visited and the experiences he has had in his adopted homeland. It draws on classic American genres ranging from country and folk to bluegrass and the blues. The album is a celebration and a document of the dreamers, poets and sinners that he has met on his journey across the nation’s landscape.

Paul Brady - Unfinished Business (Album Review)

September 07, 2017 by Rich Barnard in Album Reviews, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

Paul Brady celebrated his 70th birthday earlier this year and has been making albums and stealing hearts with an onstage twinkle in his eye for more than five decades. His significant achievements are little known (especially outside of Ireland) making him an almost secret national treasure and speaking volumes about the man’s modesty. Given the changes in the music industry during the seven-year gap between this release and 2010’s acclaimed Hooba Dooba, Brady admits wondering - for a time - if there was even any point in putting out a new record but his fans will no doubt be glad he did. The album has evolved at its own pace over the past four years with Brady handling almost all the instruments himself, as well as engineering the record at his own studio in Dublin. This gives Unfinished Business a cosy, boxy feel but cements the idea that Paul Brady is unassuming, humble and grounded, despite being one of the most important folk-rock artists of his generation.

Martin Simpson - Trails & Tribulations (Album Review)

August 31, 2017 by Jon Amer in Acoustic, Album Reviews, Folk, Blues

Martin Simpson, a master of acoustic blues, releases his 20th solo album in 40 years. ‘Trails & Tribulations’ arrives in the wake of a triumphant headline set at the Cambridge Folk Festival and in heated anticipation of his appearance at London’s Kings Place in support of the album launch. The album follows ‘Vagrant Stanzas’ which was warmly received by critics in 2013 and the collaborative ‘Murmurs’ from 2015 which saw Simpson join forces with Andy Cutting and Nancy Kerr to dramatic effect - performances noted for their sense of “majestic, intuitive and joyful playing”.

Rain Perry - The Shopkeeper (Film Review)

August 08, 2017 by Rich Barnard in Film Review, Americana, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

Anyone who’s ever financed the recording of their own album will know that there are certain things that really ought to matter, and The Shopkeeper is a stark reminder of those things. People matter. Can you think of an app that can replicate the relationships between songwriter, musician, producer and engineer? Thought not. Places matter. Can you imagine The Beatles without Abbey Road? Nope, neither can I. Things matter. If you’re making an album, why wouldn’t you want to make it into a something you can hold in your hands? Musicians today find themselves in a world where people, places and things appear to all matter a little less than they once did and The Shopkeeper pushes us, ever so gently, to consider the consequences.

Carrie Elkin - The Penny Collector (Album Review)

July 13, 2017 by Jon Amer in Album Reviews, Americana, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

Carrie Elkin has a fascinating voice. Earnest, yet powerful, with a sense of longing to her vocal and a purity which adds gravity to her emotive lyrics. Legendary Radio 2 DJ Bob Harris has compared her spellbinding performance to Patty Griffin, Iris DeMent, and Nanci Griffith, no less. Her vocal style shares similarities with Sheryl Crow, Carole King, Karen Carpenter, Joan Armatrading and Marie Fredriksson of Roxette. There is also elements of First Aid Kit to be found here - albeit solo voice with male harmonies. Carrie’s debut album “Simplicity” was released in 1996 and she has never looked back. She received glowing reviews for her 2007 LP, “Jeopardy of Circumstance” and toured the UK and the US as well as recording on her partner, Danny Schmidt’s, albums. “Call It My Garden”, recorded for award winning folk label Red House Records in 2011, gained widespread acclaim and “For Keeps” followed in 2014. “Penny Collector” is a collection of songs which inhabits the musical realm of Americana/Roots, Folk and Indie Rock. It is her sixth solo album and arrives in the wake of much critical praise and admiration for her previous recordings.

Ani DiFranco - Binary (Album Review)

June 08, 2017 by Rich Barnard in Album Reviews, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

Free of major-label interference for her entire twenty-seven-year career, Ani Difranco is one of the most revered independent artists on the planet. After all, she pretty much invented the idea of subverting the music industry’s normal route to success, inspiring countless other coffee house singer-songwriters to follow her DIY example and to never, ever, ever sell out. Her fierce independence is part of her appeal, along with her sharp lyrical wit and flair for balancing the political with the personal in her prolific output of spikey guitar-driven songs. She may not be the ball of unstoppable feisty energy that she used to be but Binary sees her unafraid as ever to tell it like it is and stick it to the man.

Aimee Mann - Mental Illness (Album Review)

May 07, 2017 by Rich Barnard in Album Reviews, Folk, Pop, Singer-Songwriter, Alternative, Acoustic

Mental Illness is the sort of provocative title a rapper might choose for a record but for Aimee Mann the name of her first album in five years is a tongue-in-cheek pre-emptive strike against the critics who've always labelled her output as depressing. She is, of course, guilty as charged but it's no apology - the title should be taken as a gentle warning: Mann mines the loneliness, anxieties and complicated human relationships that can so often be the cause of our mental malaise. The songs on this record aren't fairytales; they're personal, real and, more often than not, don't have a happy ending. It's this unflinching reflection of life's various disappointments that is part of Aimee Mann's appeal. Difficult, conflicting emotions aren't neatly reconciled; regrets don't disappear overnight and sometimes things just don't turn out as planned.

Torgeir Waldemar - No Offending Borders (Album Review)

March 20, 2017 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Alt-Country, Classic Rock, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

Norwegian singer-songwriter Torgeir Waldemar released his debut album in 2014 to widespread acclaim, and a Norwegian Grammy Award nomination, for a record that had a marked 70’s Laurel Canyon influence. At first glance, the tall and bearded Waldemar looks like he should be fronting a Black Metal act with an indecipherable logo, luckily images are often deceptive, and Waldemar is more folky troubadour than extreme metal screamer as his debut disc proved. Three years on and ‘No Offending Borders’ finds Waldemar intent on expanding on his musical palette.