Black Deer Festival 21st - 23rd June 2019

April 09, 2019 by David Vousden in Acoustic, Alt-Country, Americana, Bluegrass, Blues, Country, Country Rock, Festivals, Folk, News, Roots, singer-songwriter, Tour Dates

The Black Deer Festival will return to the leafy confines of Eridge Park in Kent on June 21st - 23rd 2019. The festival recently won Best New UK Festival at the AIF Independent Festival Awards 2018 and is looking to build on that momentum in 2019. The lineup looks strong with Band of Horses, John Butler Trio, The Staves, The Mavericks and legendary singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson already announced. Recent additions to the bill include Billy Bragg, Ethan Johns (solo), Yola, Treetop Flyers and Sam Morrow while a few of RGM’s personal favourites are also set to appear including The Sheepdogs, Ferris & Sylvester and Worry Dolls. Much more about the festival including ticket details follows:

New JJ Cale album of previously unreleased songs due April 26th 2019

February 01, 2019 by David Vousden in News, singer-songwriter, Blues, Country

On the 26th April Because Music will release ‘Stay Around’ an album of previously unreleased songs by the late JJ Cale. The album has been compiled by his widow Christine Lakeland Cale and longtime friend and manager Mike Kappas. The first single from the album ‘Chasing You’ is released today and the video for the track and more about the compilation of the album by an artist universally respected by his peers follows:

The Marcus King Band 'Carolina Confessions' due October 5th + UK Dates

August 22, 2018 by David Vousden in Americana, Blues, Classic Rock, News, Tour Dates

The Marcus King Band will release their latest album 'Carolina Confessions' on October 5th via Snakefarm Records. The album was produced by Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson) at RCA Studio A in Nashville. To coincide the band will visit the UK for a short run of dates with shows in Bristol, London, Manchester and Glasgow. Two tracks from the album 'Homesick' and 'Welcome 'Round Here' are available to stream today. Both tracks and more about The Marcus King Band follows:

Counting Crows and Alison Krauss confirmed for BluesFest 2018

June 18, 2018 by David Vousden in Acoustic, Alternative Rock, Americana, Bluegrass, Blues, Classic Rock, Country, News, Tour Dates

BluesFest 2018 at London's O2 was already looking like a pretty special few days and now looks even better. Counting Crows are to headline the Sunday night of the festival and they will be joined by Alison Krauss who will also play a full set with The White Buffalo in support. I think you'd have to agree that this is a very impressive line-up for the closing night of BluesFest 2018. Previous coverage of BluesFest can be found here. More about the artists and the festival follows including ticket details:

Terry Reid announces London date @ Nell's Jazz & Blues April 26th

April 13, 2018 by David Vousden in Blues, News, Tour Dates

Acclaimed vocalist Terry Reid has announced a show in London on April 26th at Nell's Jazz & Blues. Reid first came to prominence in the late 60's and is still going strong as evidenced by his recent contributions to Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry's 'Sweetzerland Manifesto' release. Reid has enlisted guitarist Neil Hubbard (Joe Cocker, Kokomo, Roxy Music), bassist Jennifer Maidman (Penguin Cafe Orchestra) and drummer Ash Soan (Del Amitri / The Producers) to form a very impressive band to join him for the show. Opening the show will be a special guest singer-songwriter Jon Allen in advance of his upcoming 'Blue Flame' album release on May 18th. More about Terry Reid, ticket links etc follows: UPDATE: In very late news Jon Allen will no longer be able to perform on the night so Kaleb McKane will be filling the special guest spot.

The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer release new 'Hard On Things' single.

February 20, 2018 by David Vousden in Americana, Blues, New Single, News, Video

In an unexpected piece of very welcome news, one of Canada's finest exports The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer return with a brand new single 'Hard On Things'. The track was recorded in late 2017 as the duo took a break from touring to promote their excellent 'Apocalipstick' album (review). The single was released digitally on February 16th and is available from wherever you get your digital music fix. More about The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer and the video for 'Hard On Things' follows:

Frontiers Music presents The New Breed

February 20, 2018 by David Vousden in Blues, Classic Rock, Hard Rock, Melodic Rock, News, Tour Dates

The roots of the Italian Frontiers label can be traced back to 1996 and over the years they've expanded to become a major player in classic rock / hard rock / melodic rock / AOR circles. Previous label releases include some of the biggest names in the genre including Whitesnake, Yes, Def Leppard, Rick Springfield, Journey etc. The label recently opened offices in London and announced the first edition of 'Frontiers - New Breed Night' which will showcase three British acts recently signed to the label. The event takes place at The Black Heart in London's Camden on April 26th with Doomsday Outlaw, Dirty Thrills and The Brink turning up the volume. Much more about Frontiers and The New Breed follows:

Tom Waits reissues continue with entire 1970s Elektra Asylum catalogue via Anti- in 2018

January 23, 2018 by David Vousden in Americana, Blues, News, singer-songwriter, Vinyl

In October of 2017 RGM bought you news of remastered reissues of Tom Waits' Anti- Records label albums here. Now the label will continue the reissue campaign with remastered reissues of his complete 1970's Elektra Asylum catalogue commencing March 9th with his debut 'Closing Time' on CD, LP and Digital. Six more albums will also be released digitally on that day. CD reissues of the remaining six albums are set for March 23rd with vinyl reissues to follow throughout 2018. The press release with a full rundown of the albums included in the campaign follows:

Ladies Of The Blues Return to Under The Bridge, London March 23rd 2018

January 16, 2018 by David Vousden in Blues, News, Tour Dates, Video

Blues fans are in for a treat when three of the very best in the business combine under the 'Ladies of the Blues' banner at Under The Bridge in London on March 23rd, 2018. Finnish slide guitarist Erja Lyytinen will join forces with two of the UK's best blues voices Connie Lush and Kyla Brox to showcase a wide range of blues influences. More about Erja, Connie, Kyla and venue details follows:

Mary Gauthier, Seamus Fogarty & The Blasters latest names added to Kilkenny Roots 2018

December 05, 2017 by David Vousden in Acoustic, Americana, Blues, Country, Festivals, News, Roots

The Kilkenny Roots Festival is celebrating 21 years in 2018 and the latest additions to the line-up include Mary Gauthier, who has an excellent new album 'Rifles & Rosary Beads' due in January, Irish songwriter Seamus Fogarty and, from the USA, The Blasters. With RGM fave Whitney Rose already announced alongside a host of impressive names that include Deep Dark Woods, Michael Nau and Nikki Lane this looks like an excellent weekend of great music. More about the festival and the artists set to appear follows:

Tom Waits to release remastered Anti- albums commencing November 10th

October 26, 2017 by David Vousden in Americana, Blues, Jazz, News, singer-songwriter

Tom Waits has remastered his Anti- catalogue and the reissue of the albums will commence on November 10th. Waits has referred to the process as “Necessary but cursedly laborious” but I'm sure fans will be keen to check out the new remasters which will include a completely new mix for the 'Real Gone' album. More details about the upcoming albums including release dates follows:

The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer bring 'Apocalipstick' to the UK

September 12, 2017 by David Vousden in Blues, New Single, News, Roots Rock, Tour Dates

Canadian duo The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer will return to the UK in September for a run of shows in support of their 'Apocalipstick' release due October 13th via Tonic Records. Earlier this year the boys opened for St Paul & The Broken Bones in London and are now returning for headline shows. So with a Harpoonist and an Axe Murderer visiting the UK it might be time to run and hide but a better idea would be to check out the live shows (and how do you hide a Whale anyway?). More about the duo, their upcoming album and those tour dates follow:

Josh McGovern contemplates 'The Devil Below Me' on new single release

August 01, 2017 by David Vousden in Americana, Blues, Folk, New Single, singer-songwriter, Soundcloud

Brighton based Josh McGovern has released a new single 'The Devil Below Me' which finds the singer-songwriter contemplating his life and past mistakes. The results are dark, brooding and introspective and will appeal to fans of Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen. Dig a little deeper though and the versatility of McGovern's voice matched with a darkly spiky arrangement, that utilizes some particularly effective backing vocals, is sure to win the listener over and bodes well for future releases. The stream for 'The Devil Below Me' and a little more about Josh McGovern follows:

Two legendary Folk Festivals combine forces

July 20, 2017 by David Vousden in Acoustic, Americana, Blues, Folk, News

These days there seems to be a new festival turning up every five minutes, but if you want to do things properly, then you can't go wrong with two festivals that effectively wrote the book on the festival experience. The Newport Folk Festival dates back to 1959 and would claim a place in musical/cultural history when Bob Dylan plugged in and switched on in 1965. Coincidentally 1965 would see the launch of the Cambridge Folk Festival so that was a pretty good year. The two festivals have announced plans for a historic twinning of the two festivals to form a unique transatlantic alliance. Please read on for more about Newport, Cambridge and their plans going forward:

Maverick Festival 2017 Final Line-Up and Stage Times

June 15, 2017 by David Vousden in Acoustic, Americana, Bluegrass, Blues, Country, Festivals, News

The Maverick Festival today announced their final additions to the line-up with Nashville duo American Young and Alabama songwriter Sonia Leigh added to an already impressive artist list. Leigh has songwriting credits on that guilty pleasure that is the Nashville TV series while American Young performed recently at C2C in London. The Maverick Festival runs from June 30th - July 2nd and with so many excellent acts in just three days some inventive clock watching, or a flux capacitor, might be required to catch that not-to-be-missed set. We have all the info you'll need so please read on for more about Maverick and those stage times.

Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers set for BluesFest at O2 London

May 09, 2017 by David Vousden in Blues, Classic Rock, Festivals, Jazz, News, Tour Dates

The annual BluesFest at the O2 in London has announced the first names for the 2017 event set for Friday 27th - Sunday 29th October 2017. Steely Dan will be performing in the UK for the first time since 2009 (It will be their only UK show in 2017) and will close the festival on Sunday night. The duo will be joined by legendary hitmakers The Doobie Brothers. More acts will be announced soon and tickets are on general sale from Friday May 12th.

Mike Andersen brings the devil back June 2nd 2017

May 09, 2017 by David Vousden in Blues, News, Pop, Rock, singer-songwriter, Soul

Danish singer-songwriter Mike Andersen returns with his seventh album ‘Devil Is Back’ on June 2nd 2017 via Nordic Music Society. Looking to expand his blues-soul palate Andersen teamed up with producer Mads Michelsen (The Gnags) and worked with a range of songwriters. This process included a trip to Nashville where collaboration with Heather Bond resulted in the first single ‘This Time’ a duet with Joss Stone. More about Andersen, his new album, and a link to ‘This Time’ follows:

The Magpie Salute announce debut album for June 9th

April 04, 2017 by David Vousden in Blues, Classic Rock, Country Rock, News, Tour Dates, Video

The Magpie Salute recently announced the release of their self-titled debut album for June 9th via Eagle Rock Entertainment. The Magpie Salute features Rich Robinson, Marc Ford and Sven Pipien who will need no introductions to fans of The Black Crowes. The band will be in residence at Under The Bridge in London for a run of shows from April 12th - 15th to showcase the new record. More about The Magpie Salute and the album follows:

Cream give 'Fresh Cream' the deluxe treatment January 2017

November 30, 2016 by David Vousden in Blues, Classic Rock, DVD / Blu-ray, Rock

Legendary trio Cream will see their debut album 'Fresh Cream' get the deluxe treatment on January 27th 2017. 'Fresh Cream' will be released as a 4 disc set (3 CDs + 1 Blu-ray Audio) with a 6 LP version (to follow in April 2017) for the folks who love their vinyl. The deluxe set will feature stereo and mono versions of the album and a host of early versions, outtakes and alternate mixes including BBC sessions. The set is housed in a gatefold sleeve with slipcase and hardback book. Please read on for a complete tracklist and additional info on the release:

The Crooked Brothers play Green Note, London November 3rd 2016

October 31, 2016 by David Vousden in Americana, Blues, Country, Folk, Tour Dates

As part of their European tour Canadian act The Crooked Brothers will play a run of UK shows that include a date at the award winning Green Note in London on November 3rd. The full tour details and more about The Crooked Brothers follows: