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 #33 Jamie Telford (My Glass World)

September 23, 2021 by David Vousden in The Bakers Dozen, Singer-Songwriter, Rock, Jazz, Interview

The latest from My Glass World ‘Still Life With Machine Gun’ finds Scottish singer/songwriter Jamie Telford expanding on his piano playing roots in search of a more wide-ranging sound. Jamie has plenty to say on environmental and social issues, while the sound is warm and jazzy due to the sax and trumpet contributions of Sean Read. The result is an album (complete with an unexpected Bowie cover) that rewards repeated plays. RGM caught up with Jamie for a chat about his influences and the state of the world in general.

The Baker's Dozen #30 Dim Gray

July 01, 2021 by David Vousden in Alternative Rock, Folk, Prog Rock, Rock, The Bakers Dozen

Norwegian trio Dim Gray released their debut album ‘Flown’ digitally in 2020 and it is now available on CD or a 2LP set with four bonus tracks across the physical formats. The Dim Gray sound is difficult to categorize with modern progressive and art-rock rubbing shoulders with Nordic folk as the trio all bring markedly different influences to the table. Radiohead, Fleet Foxes, Steven Wilson, Sigur Rós and Susanne Sundfør all get a mention in the band bio, which should be enough to get the more discerning listener on board. RGM caught up with Håkon Høiberg, Oskar Holldorff and Tom Ian Klungland to discuss a wide range of topics such as those myriad musical influences. We also delved into why choosing a band name is not for the faint of heart, and that, underneath the surface gloss, reality TV can leave a positive impression when approached with an open mind.

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 #24 Lyle Workman

February 18, 2021 by David Vousden in Interview, The Bakers Dozen, Soundtrack, Jazz, Prog Rock, Rock

Lyle Workman will release ‘Uncommon Measures’ digitally on February 19th with a CD release set for 16/04/2021 via Blue Canoe Records. Lyle has enjoyed a varied career as a songwriter, composer and guitarist first enjoying a brush with fame as a member of Bourgeois Tagg, when the Todd Rundgren produced ‘I Don’t Mind At All’ became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, before his skills as a songwriter and guitarist resulted in work with Beck, Sting, Frank Black, Norah Jones, Bryan Adams, Sarah McLachlan, Jellyfish, Ziggy Marley and Jazz great Tony Williams. Inspired by The Beatles at an early age Lyle is always on the lookout for innovative jazz and rock artists and still finds plenty of time for Better Call Saul and Fargo. Many thanks to Lyle for his time.

The Baker's Dozen #14 JD Simo

March 08, 2019 by David Vousden in Blues, Interview, Singer-Songwriter, The Bakers Dozen, Rock

Nashville based guitarist/singer JD Simo is in the UK (March 2019) playing a run of shows with fellow guitarist Tommy Emmanuel CGP. JD recently released ‘Off At 11’ an album that finds him blending straight ahead blues with much more expansive material than incorporates a range of jazz/blues and jam band influences. The album is a fine introduction to JD Simo and well worth tracking down. We caught up with JD for the RGM Baker’s Dozen feature where he explains how guitar great Steve Cropper proved influential in his early days and a more recent love for Bojack Horseman.