From the Blogs

• Enter to win a signed copy of 'Steve Earle: The Warner Bros. Years' box set
  Ever since his 1986 debut (and, in some ways, even before that), Steve Earle has been one of the most prolific and distinctive singer-songwriters on the Amerciana/alt/country/rock scene. His 15 studio albums have encompassed political protest music, bluegrass, rock and roll, Townes Van Zandt covers, and just flat-out, darn-good genre-defying music. His work […]
• When politics met Americana in 1976
  One of the pleasures of being of a certain age is that you can literally rack up decades of seeing great musicians and attending gigs of all shapes and sizes. A recent BBC documentary about The Eagles jarred my memory about one such event in (gulp) 1976.  I was a Brit newbie in America and was taken to a political fund raiser for then (and now) California Go […]
• Father's Day: Songs About Dad
  This is the weekend where we examine the impact great fathers have made upon history.  From the Bible, where the landscape is littered with the actions of fathers.  Who could forget the long walk Abraham and his son took in Genesis?  Adam, the first father, raised a fine bunch of stand-up children.  And what about the Big Father himself -- Jesus' daddy […]
• Album Review: The Human Experience ft. Rising Appalachia - Soul Visions
  The Human Experience, an artist I’ve come to know much about recently, will be releasing a new album on Monday, featuring sisters Leah and Chloe Smith of Rising Appalachia. The album is called Soul Visions, and, upon listening, truly resonates as the vision of three creative souls collaborating to produce something highly elevated. David Block, the mind behi […]
• Remembering Rory Gallagher: "The People's Guitarist"
  I've always remembered a great line from a wonderful little film called The Commitments, which tells the story of a ragtag assortment of Dubliners who form a soul band. A character named Jimmy Rabbitte says, "The Irish are the blacks of Europe." To me, that says a lot. Like African Americans, the Irish have lived The Blues for centuries. And i […]
• Billy Bragg, Union Chapel, Islington (London, UK. 5th June 2013)
  Really, all is need to tellyou is that for the second encore Billy Bragg played the whole of his debut album LIFE’S A RIOT WITH SPY VS SPY for you to understand what an amazing show this was! In thirty years, Bragg has travelled the path from angry young man, to political activist to national treasure and his live performances are among the best you’ll ever […]