The Happy Couple - Lullaby of Broadland

December 02, 2024 by David Vousden in Acoustic, Album Reviews, Ambient, Folk

One of the positive aspects of running Red Guitar Music is that you encounter all manner of different musical genres that you wouldn’t necessarily find on your own. The RGM Inbox is positively overflowing with the good, the bad and, yes, the ugly (although something we find unlistenable is probably the best thing in the world to someone). One example that falls squarely in the good category of pleasant surprises is The Happy Couple, discovered on a recent visit to London’s Green Note, where the duo opened for Dimple Discs labelmate Kelsey Michael.

Molly Murphy - Tigers In Your Backyard (Nocturnal Edition)

September 12, 2024 by David Vousden in Acoustic, Album Reviews, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

A new name to me, but based on the new EP, ‘Tigers in Your Backyard (Nocturnal Edition)’, Molly Murphy is one to watch. Initially, Molly embarked on a promising college career as a double Film and English Major pursuing a career in screenwriting but left all that behind to form a band (as you do). Murphy’s latest release finds the singer-songwriter adding a modern sheen to her traditional Celtic roots.

Scott Matthews - Restless Lullabies (Album Review)

April 28, 2023 by Rich Barnard in Acoustic, Album Reviews, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

For bands and singer-songwriters, 2020 was hardly the best year to release a new album. And let’s face it, 2021 wasn’t much better. The only hope for artists with new music was that they could somehow connect online, as reaching fans via physical touring was out of the question. As a result, countless records were overlooked, under-noticed and sailed away, unloved. Scott Matthews released his eighth album, the sonically ambitious New Skin, in December 2020, at the start of a winter most of us are keen to forget. Three years later, Restless Lullabies sees the same set of songs reborn, and, in an effort to ensure that each are properly heard, they have been stripped of skin, flesh and - in some cases - their very bones, in his most exposed and intimate record to date.

Maple Leaf Christmas Special: EP Reviews

November 29, 2021 by Rich Barnard in Acoustic, Album Reviews, Christmas, Folk, Singer-Songwriter, Traditional

This is the time of year when I’m regularly called upon to make donations to the Scrooge Jar. Every time I say something even vaguely negative about the festive season (which I confess is quite often) I am swiftly rebuked by the rest of the family and duly relieved of a few more pennies. So, I am possibly not the best suited to reviewing a pair of Christmas-themed EPs, but these new releases from two of my favourite Canadian singer-songwriters have, I confess, begun to thaw my miserly, humbug-riddled heart.

Justin Rutledge - Islands (Album Review)

March 15, 2021 by Rich Barnard in Acoustic, Americana, Singer-Songwriter

Justin Rutledge has put out a steady stream of critically acclaimed but somewhat under-noticed albums since his 2003 debut. Eighteen years on, Islands is – at just nine songs – a lean retrospective of stripped-back, acoustic versions, alongside two new tracks. Few artists possess Rutledge’s poetic lyrical flair and even fewer can boast a career of such a consistently high quality so, for the uninitiated, Islands could be the perfect stepping stone to the mainland of his back catalogue.

Jon Gomm - The Faintest Idea

October 14, 2020 by Rich Barnard in Acoustic, Album Reviews, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

Jon Gomm has long been known as a guitar-playing pioneer, using a Michael Hedges-inspired brand of percussive fingerstyle wizardry as the backdrop to his songwriting. While you - yes, you - clock up millions of hours sat on your posterior in front of Netflix, you can be certain that Jon Gomm is putting in the equivalent practising. I suspect he even practises while having a wee, but let’s not linger on how that might work. Anyway, as your teachers always told you, practise pays off and everything about Jon Gomm’s playing is flawless on his latest record, The Faintest Idea. While similarly gifted artists like Newton Faulkner have successfully crossed over into the mainstream, Gomm has gathered his successes more quietly, remaining fiercely independent (this is the first of his albums not to be self-released) and retaining the respect of his peers while still winning thousands of fans around the world.

Darlingside - Fish Pond Fish (Album Review)

October 07, 2020 by Rich Barnard in Album Reviews, Acoustic, Folk

Darlingside are back with more bucolic future-folk on their new album Fish Pond Fish. The Massachusetts quartet have not lain idle since their last full-length LP, 2018’s Extralife, having released the Look Up & Fly Away EP in 2019 and a 20-track collection of instrumentals earlier this year. Where Extralife imagined a post-apocalyptic future, Fish Pond Fish is essentially a love letter to the natural world, rooted in the here and now. Work that began in late 2019 - with the band living together in the studio with producer Peter Katis - had to be halted and the record was subsequently completed with each member working remotely from home. For a band whose character is reliant on - and embodied by - a finely balanced synergy (live, they perform around just one central mic) this sudden change must have thrown up significant challenges. Ultimately, though, these have worked in Darlingside’s favour, the resultant album having more in the way of space and intimacy than those that came before.

Son Of Town Hall - The Adventures of Son Of Town Hall (Album Review)

November 06, 2019 by Rich Barnard in Acoustic, Album Reviews, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

We’ve been rather taken with transatlantic duo Son Of Town Hall since catching them at Cecil Sharp House last year (review). The pair are made up of London-based singer-songwriter Ben Parker (in a past life, one half of Ben & Jason) and Santa Fe-based singer-songwriter and author David Berkeley. Here they are, eighteen months later touring the UK once more, this time in support of their long-awaited debut LP. Their live show can’t really be translated to record (you just have to go) but the album does its best to bring the uninitiated up to speed, with the aid of its accompanying newspaper inserts in which their tale is wittily woven.

The Iveys - Colors Of Honey (Album Review)

June 07, 2019 by Rich Barnard in Acoustic, Album Reviews, Americana, Folk

The Iveys are a bona fide family band, comprising two sisters, two brothers and one brother-in-law. The current five-piece lineup has built from the initial sibling duo of Arlen Ivey and Jessica Ivey Carr and Colors Of Honey, their new six-track release, will serve as their calling card as they embark on a very busy tour of their native Texas in June.

Tom Baxter - The Other Side Of Blue (Album Review)

August 13, 2018 by Rich Barnard in Acoustic, Album Reviews, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

A decade and a half ago, Tom Baxter, was riding the wave of an acoustic singer-songwriter renaissance, championed by the New Acoustic Movement and Roadworks tours, which played a part in the successes of Tom McRae, Ben & Jason, Polly Paulusma and KT Tunstall. Like Tunstall, Baxter landed a major label deal but Columbia didn’t invest in him as a long-term prospect (Tunstall was, conversely, carefully developed by Relentless). Baxter was dropped after his debut Feather & Stone failed to cut the commercial mustard; a criminal state of affairs, given that the album was an incredible, hit-riddled record, dripping with giant string arrangements and emotional energy. The independently recorded yet equally strong Skybound followed in 2007 and spawned the single ‘Better’, a cover of which - for better or worse depending on your view - was a big hit for Boyzone a year later. Fast forward to 2018 and Tom Baxter - having been married, divorced and married again in that time - is back with The Other Side of Blue, a record that is devoid of all the whistle-and-bellery that adorned his first two outings. Every song features just a solo vocal with only guitar or piano for company. Brave? Foolish? Let’s find out…

The Milk Carton Kids - All The Things That I Did and All The Things That I Didn't Do' (Album Review)

June 27, 2018 by Rich Barnard in Acoustic, Album Reviews, Americana, Folk

Until now, The Milk Carton Kids have been Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan alone but for their latest record they’ve gone for a full band treatment to fill out their sound. And it’s a lineup to die for, featuring, among others, Jay Bellerose, Pat Sansone, Russ Pahl and Dennis Crouch. Everything remains light-touch however and the duo’s twin vocal and acoustic guitars remain very much in the foreground. The pair have been through some personal changes too in the time since 2015’s hit LP Monterey, with Ryan now a father of two and Pattengale surviving a battle with cancer. Thus, ATTTIDAATTTIDD (even as an acronym it’s a ridiculously long title) sees The Milk Carton Kids reflecting on how they got this far, while simultaneously forging ahead with a new chapter to their story.

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.

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.

LeRiche - X-Dreamer EP (Album Review)

November 24, 2017 by David Vousden in Pop, Singer-Songwriter, Acoustic

Impossibly handsome Canadian singer songwriter LeRiche has somehow found his way to us here at RGM and we’re very glad he did, as his debut EP is a rather nice thing. He made an appearance at The Great Escape festival earlier in the year and now the seven-song X-Dreamer is out in the UK on Fierce Panda. The EP is a curious mix of acoustically driven songs, beats and pop-smoothness with flawless production values. Think (if you can) Kings of Convenience meets George Michael via Noah & The Whale.

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.

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”.