Pickin’ & Grinnin’ Lynn Miles & Alana Levandoski Brontë Music Club, Rathfriland, Co. Down November 23 The promotional flyer invited recipients to come along and view, at close quarters, a pair of fine Canadian songbirds, rarely seen in these parts and only just flown in for a fleeting winter visit. A not insignificant crowd heeded what turned out to […]

Duke Special, Juliet Turner Barrels, Berwick on Tweed, July 16 We came to listen to the new ‘star’ on the horizon, Juliet Turner promoting her new album Season Of The Hurricane and ended up praising her support act as well. The appearance of Duke Special was the first of many pleasant surprises at Barrels. This was the […]

Pickin’ & Grinnin’ Eleanor McEvoy Kirkstyle Inn, Glenmavis, May 24 It was my first time at the Kirkstyle Inn and first opportunity to experience Eleanor McEvoy live. On both counts I was impressed. The evening got off to a promising start with the support act provided by Glasgow-born lass, Maeve O’Boyle, who treated us to selection of tracks […]

Pickin’ & Grinnin’ Deadstring Brothers The Musician Pub, Leicester February 5 If Carlsberg made bar bands they would have made the Deadstring Brothers! They genuinely are the bar band of your dreams; think of the Stones around Exile on Main Street but without Sir Mick and actually fronted by Tom Jones and Tina Turner and you’ll only get some of […]

Terry Clarke Big Road: The Caithness Sessions QPQ 001 **** Another fine album from superlative Country Rock ‘n’ Roll songwriter Terry Clarke is a human dynamo of Americana who writes more songs than most people have had hot dinners. Given that he usually records in Texas or with kindred spirit Wes McGhee, an album of songs recorded in the wilds […]

Kelli Grant Don’t Mess With Texas Silverfalls Records SR 712228 **1/2 Dated mix of country, swing and honky-tonk The late Carl Perkins dubbed Texas-born piano-pounder Kelli Grant ‘the Queen of Swing’. This latest album is full of her accomplishments—Grammy candidate, Western Swing Hall of Famer, and many more—there’s little doubt that she has quite a reputation for her live performances […]

Justin Townes Earle The Good Life Bloodshot Records-BS151 ***** Bloodshot have a roster full of great acts, now they have an artist that could carry the torch for the future of country music! Just think of the weight that must be on the shoulders of a singer/songwriter who is not only the son of Steve Earle, but is also named […]

Jenny Gunn One Thousand Words Cat no: JGN CD 01 ** Unclassifiable set of songs from ‘quirky’ American singer/songwriter At the moment, there is an abundance of female singer-songwriters who don’t fit easily into one category. This is no new thing and with Joni Mitchell it has been hard to categorise the folk/jazz style of many the new inhabitants of […]

Jack Johnson Sleep Through The Static Brushfire 1756 126 ** It may be deepest midwinter as I write this, but the release of a new Jack Johnson CD is enough to signal the first stirrings of spring among his devoted followers. All over the country Bermuda shorts and sleek swimsuits will be surfacing, flip flops dusted down, hammocks unfurled […]

Various Artists Golden Age Of Rock ‘n’ Roll – The Follow-up Hits Ace CDCHD 1190 ** Lovers of the teen-driven music that made the 1950s and 1960s so exciting will already be aware that Ace Records’ genre-defining Golden Age series has advanced to Volume 11, so this oddball off-the-wall release comes as something of a surprise. As the title […]