The Baker's Dozen #46 The Last Hurrah (!!)

December 12, 2023 by David Vousden in Americana, Country, Interview, Pop, Singer-Songwriter, The Bakers Dozen

These days, with a seemingly inexhaustible amount of music available at the click of a mouse, it is easy to miss things in our search for instant gratification. The art of getting to know an album over repeated listens, allowing it to slowly reveal itself, is in danger of being lost. A case in point is the aptly titled ‘Modern Nostalgia’, the latest release from The Last Hurrah (!!), a project helmed by Norwegian musician/producer HP Gundersen. ‘Modern Nostalgia’ blends a distinctly European (Serge Gainsbourg/Marianne Faithfull) approach with the California sound of Gram Parsons and The Byrds, utilising a variety of singers and instrumentation along the way to reveal its charms. With this in mind, we caught up with HP Gundersen to learn more about HP and his collaborators in The Last Hurrah (!!).

The Baker's Dozen #43 Dave Foster

May 18, 2023 by David Vousden in Classic Rock, Interview, Pop, Prog Rock, Singer-Songwriter, Rock, The Bakers Dozen

Fans of Big Big Train and the Steve Rothery Band will need no introduction to Dave Foster. The guitarist and songwriter has been heavily involved with both in the last few years but dig a little deeper, and you’ll discover Dave’s solo career and his work with vocalist Dinet Poortman. ‘Glimmer’ is the second album from the duo and does a wonderful job of utilizing progressive instrumentation, including plenty of fluid, yet punchy, guitar playing from Dave, on a bunch of songs with striking pop sensibilities. Fans of the aforementioned acts, and a band we recently championed here at Red Guitar Music, League Of Lights will surely enjoy ‘Glimmer’ immensely. The album was released on CD/LP in April, with a digital release on May 19th, so go check it out. We caught up with Dave for a wide-ranging chat (anyone who starts out by mentioning Bob Seger’s Nine Tonight is alright in my book) about his musical tastes, career and choice in film (Wes Anderson is another big tick here at RGMHQ). Now if we can get him to elaborate on that Steve Vai story…

The Baker's Dozen #37 Kaya Stewart

September 21, 2022 by David Vousden in Alternative Rock, Interview, Pop, Singer-Songwriter, The Bakers Dozen

Kaya Stewart will release her second album ‘If Things Go South’ on September 30th via Bay Street Records. Kaya released her first album via Warners while still in her mid-teens back in 2016 and is now an industry veteran at just 22. Co-written and produced with her father, Dave Stewart (Eurythmics, Daryl Hall, Tom Petty), it is Kaya at her most authentic, expressive self.“This record is one-hundred per cent who I am now,” she declares. “This is the Kaya I was working towards all along.” RGM caught up with Kaya to learn a little more about her and the influences that helped to shape the new record.

The Baker's Dozen #36 Gareth Dunlop

July 15, 2022 by David Vousden in Interview, Singer-Songwriter, Pop

As the world seemingly came to a grinding halt due to a global pandemic, there was still plenty happening in Gareth Dunlop's own Sycamore Studios in Northern Ireland as he produced impressive releases from Foy Vance and Lee Rogers. He also found the time to complete a very fine album of his own in ‘Animal’. Gareth is now busy on the road as a solo performer and as a member of Foy Vance’s band, but we were able to catch up with the singer/songwriter to get a few thoughts on the lockdown, an early love of Lynyrd Skynyrd and his fledgeling attempts at being in a band - which will sound very familiar to some of us. So, over to Gareth Dunlop for the latest edition of the Baker’s Dozen here at Red Guitar Music.

The Baker's Dozen #29 Emily Wolfe

June 25, 2021 by David Vousden in Americana, Blues, Interview, Singer-Songwriter, The Bakers Dozen, Pop

With a brand new album ‘Outlier’ out today (June 25th, 2021) Emily Wolfe has plenty going on. The Crows Feet Records release marks a departure for the Austin, Texas singer-songwriter and guitarist whose fretboard talents recently netted her a signature model Epiphone guitar deal. For the new record, those blues-rock roots are given a genre-defying makeover with a host of other musical influences rising to the surface. RGM caught up with Emily for a quick chat about those influences, how a fiddle-playing uncle planted a musical seed and that buying a LeAnn Rimes tape really can lead to Queens Of The Stone Age.

The Baker's Dozen #28 Tim Bowness

June 23, 2021 by David Vousden in Alternative Rock, Electronic, Interview, Pop, Rock, Singer-Songwriter, The Bakers Dozen

Tim Bowness is probably best known for No-Man, the duo he formed in 1987 with multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson, but this is only a small part of Tim’s expansive musical CV that includes a solo career (six albums and counting) plus work with David Torn, Nosound, White Willow and The Opium Cartel etc. One of these many and varied projects is Plenty a band originally formed in the mid-80s as a trio with Brian Hulse and David K Jones. It would be thirty years before Plenty would actually release their debut album ‘It Could Be Home’ in 2018, but their brand of melancholy indie-pop/art-rock in the vein of The Blue Nile and Talk Talk has a timeless quality and the trio are back with a new 2CD set due for release on June 25th 2021 the press release refers to as “Something old, something borrowed, but all blue” which sums things up rather nicely. RGM was pleased to catch up with Tim for a chat about his songwriting approach and their emotional impact, his early career plus recommendations for good TV shows and a fair bit more.

The Baker's Dozen #26 League Of Lights

March 10, 2021 by David Vousden in Electronic, Interview, Pop, Prog Rock, The Bakers Dozen

Farrah and Richard West aka League Of Lights will release their third album ‘Dreamers Don’t Come Down’ on March 12th via Eightspace (CD/Digital) with vinyl to follow on 23/04/21 via Plane Groovy. ‘Dreamers Don’t Come Down’ is a cool record on which the duo deliver pop hooks and sumptuous soundscapes in equal measure. RGM caught up with Farrah for a wide-ranging chat about musical influences, making the very best of things when your tour is cancelled and really important stuff like X-Men or Star Wars…

The Baker's Dozen #17 Murray A. Lightburn

September 25, 2019 by David Vousden in Pop, Singer-Songwriter, Soul

Canadian singer-songwriter Murray A Lightburn is about to embark on a run of UK dates starting September 26th in Manchester (full details here). The dates are in support of his recent ‘Hear Me Out’ album release. ‘Hear Me Out’ is a terrific album that showcases Lightburn’s soulful croon to great effect on a string of carefully crafted, tastefully produced, string laded tracks. If you only know Murray from his work in The Dears then I urge you to check out the record, you’ll be glad you did. We caught up with Murray as he became the latest, willing victim to partake in the RGM Baker’s Dozen feature. So please read on as Murray shares some of his many influences, a dread of school talent shows and a love of British crime drama.

The Baker's Dozen #16 Johnny Drille

July 10, 2019 by David Vousden in Folk, Interview, Pop, World Music

Johnny Drille is best known for his single ‘Wait For Me’ which was nominated for Best Alternative Song at the 2016 Headies Awards. The Nigerian singer first sang in the church of his clergyman father before he came to the attention of the Mavin record label. Johnny’s folky/acoustic sound is firmly rooted in his Nigerian heritage but he’s looking outside of his native borders for additional inspiration, which should bring the singer widespread international recognition. We caught up with Johnny to find out a little more about his influences and his love of classic US TV shows.