News, reviews and more
The Nashville Meets London Presents Series will be bringing the best in country music from both sides of the Atlantic to London in 2019. A monthly residency at Pizza Express Live, 99 High Holborn, London will launch on Tuesday February 19th with Sonia Leigh and O&O set to perform while DJ Baylen Leonard will compare the evening. More about Nashville Meets London, future dates, Sonia Leigh and O&O follows:
Read MoreWelcome to Red Guitar Music in 2019 and a Happy New Year to all our readers. 2018 was a banner year for RGM as we increased our readership by a little over 50% so we’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who’s taken the time to read, share or comment and to all the PR companies, labels and artists who’ve been in touch since we launched in 2014. RGM was established to shine a light on the music we liked and to, in some small way, help to promote both established artists and new acts looking to break through. A quick look at an RGM inbox overflowing with great music tells us this will continue, but who are the artists to look out for in the early months of 2019?
Read MoreChristmas is nearly here and by now you’ll have heard all those classic Christmas tunes at least a million times...and that’s just today. In a change to the usual festive programme PIG aka Raymond Watts has released a new EP of Christmas covers by Wham, Elvis and John Lennon. If you like Industrial sounds, or just something a little different, this is pretty cool. The EP is available to stream/download via Bandcamp but please leave a donation as all profits go to International Rescue Committee https://www.rescue.org A link to the release and a video for Last Christmas follows:
Read MoreThe good folk of Canada continue to shower the RGM inbox with their musical missives and we’re delighted to be able to share with you another selection of exciting new tunes from over the water.
Read MoreCanadian singer-songwriter Steve Brockley has released ‘A Fire, The Cold To Fight’ the first single from his new album ‘Is Not Was’ due January 25th 2019 via Afterlife Music/Membran. Sometimes a first look at the the cover of an album is all that is required to get you interested and ‘Is Not Was’ just looks right. Judging a book by its cover might not be a scientific approach but I’m pleased to report that 'A Fire, The Cold To Fight' is more than enough to build anticipation for ‘Is Not Was’. You can judge for yourself as the single and a little more about Steve Brockley follows:
Read MoreHave you made plans for New Year’s Eve? Well, one idea might be to pop along to Under The Bridge in London for six hours of country, Americana and Roots music. UK duo Holloway Road are performing on the night and Baylen Leonard will be spinning the tunes so a great night is definitely on the cards. More about the party and ticket details follow:
Read MoreNorth Carolina Americana/folk duo Mandolin Orange will release a new album ‘Tides Of A Teardrop’ on February 1st 2019 via Yep Roc Records. The video for ‘Golden Embers’ from the new record is out now and is sure to please fans of the band. It’s a superb, heartfelt song with an equally impressive video. A tour of Europe, including a London date, has also been announced with tickets on sale November 30th. The video for ‘Golden Embers’, more about Mandolin Orange and the tour dates follow:
Read MoreOur Canadian cousins are apparently incapable of producing anything other than top-quality new music and October alone has yielded yet another bumper crop of goodies. We’d love to be able to cover more of these acts in an in-depth way but, frankly, we need occasionally to sleep. Nevertheless, carefully curated just for you, we present our latest selection of must-hears from the land of the common loon.
Read MoreFleetwood Mac will play Wembley Stadium on June 16th 2019 as part of a European tour. The European dates will feature the newly announced line-up of Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Stevie Nicks, and Christine McVie along with newcomers Mike Campbell and Neil Finn. Tickets are on sale from 9am on October 26th. More about Fleetwood Mac including ticket detail links follow:
Read MoreLondon based singer-songwriter Keeva has released a new single ‘The Kindest Thing’ her first new music since the excellent ‘Whiskey’ appeared late last year. ‘The Kindest Thing’ is taken from her upcoming EP the intriguingly titled ‘Four Sad Songs and a Ballad’ due October 26th. ‘The Kindest Thing’ features the kind of songwriting honesty that I’m sure will strike a chord with many listeners. A stream of the single and a little more about Keeva follows:
Read MoreRecently signed to Broken Bow Records Lainey Wilson will visit the UK for the first time to play shows at Country Music Week in London later this month. Lainey independently released her debut EP earlier this year and as a songwriter has placed songs with Luke Combs and Kasey Tyndall. If you were lucky enough to grab tickets you can catch Lainey when she opens for Chase Rice at Bush Hall on October 23rd with a further date set for The Borderline on October 27th at the CMW Daytime Hub. More about Lainey including a track from her EP ‘Workin' Overtime’ follows:
Read MoreThe debut album by Amigo The Devil ‘Everything Is Fine’ is set for release October 19th (RGM Review) via Regime Inc/Membran. ‘Everything Is Fine’ is as striking an album as you’ll probably hear this year switching effortlessly from murderous folky troubadour to full-on metal assault in a heartbeat. Produced by Ross Robinson (Korn/Limp Bizkit) and with Audioslave/Rage Against The Machine drummer Brad Wilk involved metal credentials are assured but believe me when I say there is much more to ‘Everything Is Fine’. A track ‘Cocaine and Abel’ from the album:
Read MoreDeer Tick are fast becoming a bit of a favourite here at RGM towers. Thanks to a terrific live show earlier this year in London and the two albums they released late last year entitled ‘Vol 1’ and ‘Vol 2’. Most bands would now be putting their feet up but Deer Tick are back with a 13 track collection ‘Mayonnaise’ due Feb 1st 2019 via Partisan which contains alternative versions of tracks from the albums, cover tunes of songs they played on the tour and new material. The guys are also back in the UK for a run of shows in November which is pretty cool. More about the band and ‘Mayonnaise’ follows:
Read MoreThe Gary Douglas Band will release their new album ‘Deep In The Water’ on October 12th. GDB deliver heartland rock n' roll and melodic reflection in equal measure with their blue-collar take on the American dream, which is sure to appeal to fans of Springsteen, Mellencamp, Seger etc. One listen to the title track or rousing opener ‘River Road’ and it’s obvious Gary Douglas has something to say about the state of his home country and the world we live in today. The video for ‘Nothing Ever Goes As Planned’ and more about The Gary Douglas Band follows:
Read MoreOur latest gathering of Canadian grooviness is, shockingly, an all-male affair. Fear not, though, because two Canadian female geniuses are going to be the focus of imminent full-length album reviews… watch this space. But for now, here is a roundup of the latest Canadian boys making (in our opinion) the bossest noise.
Read MoreTenille Townes will be in the UK in October 2018 for Country Music Week playing the CMA Songwriters Series and opening for Drake White (More CMA info). To coincide ‘Somebody’s Daughter’ the first video from her upcoming Jay Joyce produced album is available now. The album is set for release in 2019 via Columbia Nashville / Sony Music UK and you can check out the video for 'Somebody's Daughter' here @RGM along with more about Tenille Townes and those all-important tour dates.
Read MoreThe Moody Blues will release a 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of their classic third album ‘In Search of the Lost Chord’ on November 2nd via UMC. The 3CD/2DVD set includes a wealth of material with three versions of the album on the DVD Audio disc including a 96kHz/24-bit 5.1 Surround mix + a new stereo mix and the original stereo mix. The new and original mixes are also to be found on the CDs with a host of alternative versions and BBC session tracks. The Deluxe box set also includes a 76-page book. Other CD and vinyl variations will be available. A breakdown of the various releases, track listings and more about The Moody Blues follows:
Read MoreBenjamin Folke Thomas will release his new album ‘Modern Man’ via Aveline Records on November 9th. Regular readers of RGM will remember Benjamin as we reviewed his last studio album ‘Copenhagen’ back in 2017 (review link) with Rich Barnard claiming it featured “A diverse and very thoughtfully arranged set of songs”. If ‘Tasteless and Complacent’ the first single from the album is anything to go by then ‘Modern Man’ should be well worth seeking out. Benjamin Folke Thomas is currently on tour playing solo shows with John Murry and will embark on a run of headline shows with his full band on November 21st. More about Benjamin Folke Thomas, the video for the new single and those tour dates follows:
Read MoreThe 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:
Read MoreOn October 5th (Update: release date pushed back a week from September 28th) Liam Russell will release the EP 'No Contest' via Hidden Pony/Slaight Music. The 30-year-old Russell is hardly a newcomer to the scene as he signed a major label deal at fifteen and has toured extensively (his dad is Canadian musician Brent Titcomb so music was obviously in his blood) but 'No Contest' is a new beginning for the singer-songwriter. The first music released from the EP is the excellent 'Half Chance' which should whet your appetite nicely. More about Liam Russell and the new EP follows including a stream of 'Half Chance':
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