Bruno Merz returns with 'Whisper Turn' on October 4th 2017

September 14, 2017 by David Vousden in Acoustic, Folk, New Single, News, Pop, singer-songwriter

The much travelled, New Zealand born, singer-songwriter Bruno Merz will release 'Whisper Turn' on October 4th. The single is a highly impressive teaser, and the title track, from his new album due in early 2018. When your press release includes comparisons to Nick Drake, Simon and Garfunkel, Iron and Wine etc you need to be able to hold your own but fans of his 2014 'Highways' release will need no convincing that Bruno Merz is a talent on the rise. This view is cemented by the achingly beautiful 'Whisper Turn'. More about Bruno Merz including a stream of 'Whisper Turn' follows:

The Black Feathers 'Holy Water' single / video + UK dates

September 12, 2017 by David Vousden in Acoustic, Americana, New Single, News, Tour Dates, Video

Sian Chandler and Ray Hughes aka The Black Feathers have released a video for 'Holy Water' the first single from their upcoming second album due in the spring of 2018. 'Holy Water' will be released on October 13th and is a stunning track which will be familiar to those of us who've been lucky enough to catch the duo live. If 'Holy Water' is anything to go by then the new album can't come soon enough. In the meantime the duo are setting out on a UK tour which starts on September 13th in Nottingham. More about The Black Feathers, those tour dates and the new video for 'Holy Water' follows:

Drake White is Livin' The Dream and returns to the UK in October 2017

September 12, 2017 by David Vousden in Americana, Country, Country Rock, New Single, News, singer-songwriter, Tour Dates, Video

Fresh from huge success at the C2C 2017 Drake White & The Big Fire will return to the UK as special guests of Kip Moore. The London show with Moore and a further headline show at The Borderline form part of Country Music Week which finds some of the biggest artists of the genre performing live in London. To coincide with the UK visit a new single 'Livin' The Dream' from the 'Spark' album is due October 13th. More about Drake and those dates follow:

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:

Ricky Ross announces new solo album and European tour dates

August 23, 2017 by David Vousden in Americana, News, singer-songwriter, Tour Dates, Pop

Ricky Ross has announced a new solo album 'Short Stories Vol.1' due September 15th via earMUSIC. Fresh from the success of the most recent Deacon Blue album 'Believers' and an extensive tour to support the album, which was immortalised on the 'Live at the Glasgow Barrowlands' DVD (The London show from the tour RGM reviewed here). Ricky will again be hitting the road for a string of European dates. More about the album and those tour dates follow:

Seth Lakeman News: Deluxe album reissue, new single + Robert Plant tour

August 22, 2017 by David Vousden in Acoustic, Folk, New Single, News, Tour Dates

Seth Lakeman has been very busy indeed in the last year or so. His album 'Ballads of the Broken Few' received some of the best reviews of his career including one from RGM that can be found Here. Since the album release Lakeman has toured extensively and continues to do so. On September 15th the album will be reissued with five bonus tracks including the new single 'Everything' once again featuring Wildwood Kin. In further news Lakeman will be joining rock legend Robert Plant pulling double duty as opening act and as a member of Robert's band. A win-win situation for Lakeman fans. Further details about the album and the tour follow:

'Life Changes' for Thomas Rhett

August 15, 2017 by David Vousden in Country, New Single, News, Pop, singer-songwriter, Tour Dates, Video

Thomas Rhett will release his new album 'Life Changes' on September 8th via Big Machine Records and the title seems a perfect fit as Thomas and his wife Lauren Akins welcomed the arrival of their second daughter Ada over the weekend. Rhett has developed a sound that perfectly embraces his country routes but adds an appreciation for pop and R & B that has seen his music embraced far beyond country music devotees. More details about the album, upcoming UK tour dates, a video or two (and maybe even a pic of the new arrival) follows:

Russell Dickerson will be 'Yours' October 13th

August 15, 2017 by David Vousden in Country, News, Video

Russell Dickerson will release his debut album via Sony Music on October 13th, 2017. The singer is fresh from a headline set at the Nashville Meets London Festival and arena tours with Thomas Rhett and Kelsea Ballerini. The title track from the album has had 4.5 million views on youtube and over 40 million audio streams. Pretty staggering numbers. More details about the album, future touring plans, and Russell in general follow:

JD McPherson 'Undivided Heart & Soul' due October 6th via New West Records

August 14, 2017 by David Vousden in Country, News, Rock, singer-songwriter, Video

JD McPherson has released a video for 'Lucky Penny' the first taste of his upcoming album 'Undivided Heart & Soul' due October 6th, 2017. The video was shot where the album was recorded, the historic RCA Studio B in Nashville. So McPherson is following in the footsteps of Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Jim Reeves and Elvis (pretty impressive company). The album includes collaborations with artists from a range of genres including Parker Millsap and Butch Walker. An extensive press release and the video for 'Lucky Penny' follows:

Casey Donahew announces London shows + 'kiss Me' video

August 10, 2017 by David Vousden in Americana, Country, News, singer-songwriter, Tour Dates, Video

Texas country singer-songwriter Casey Donahue will be visiting the UK for the first time in October to play at the Texas Music Takeover festival which takes place from Oct 9th-16th in London. Much more about Casey including a video for 'Kiss Me' from his acclaimed 'All Night Party' album follows:

Denny Strickland 'California Dreamin' by way of Arkansas and Nashville

August 01, 2017 by David Vousden in Country, News, singer-songwriter

Regular readers of Red Guitar Music will be no strangers to Denny Strickland. The Arkansas born, Nashville based, singer-songwriter featured in our country showcase slot earlier this year. I'm very pleased to report the promise of the single 'We Don't Sleep' hasn't proved to be a false dawn. The debut album 'California Dreamin' was recorded in Nashville with Sean Giovanni (Big & Rich, Randy Houser, Tyler Farr) at the helm. The album is now available and contains an excellent range of modern country music with definite chart potential.

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:

Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real share tracks from upcoming album

July 07, 2017 by David Vousden in Classic Rock, Country Rock, News, Rock, singer-songwriter, Soul, Soundcloud, Tour Dates

Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real will release their self-titled album on August 25th via Fantasy Records. Three tracks that capture a beguiling mix of country, rock and soul from the record are now available to share. When your dad is country legend Willie Nelson and you've been working with Neil Young in recent years then expectations are going to be set pretty high. Well, the good news is the three tracks are all excellent and showcase an album which sounds like it'll be very fine indeed. Please read on for more about Lukas, those tracks and even news of upcoming European tour dates.

The Cadillac Three to release new 'Legacy' album August 25th

July 07, 2017 by David Vousden in Americana, Country, Country Rock, News, Southern Rock, Tour Dates, Video

The Cadillac Three have a new album 'Legacy' set for release August 25th via Big Machine Records. As a taster for the upcoming album the band today (07.07.2017) released a video for the impressive title cut, which finds the boys in a more reflective mood than we've been accustomed to in recent times. The band will return to the UK in November for a headline tour with support from Broken Witt Rebels and Brothers Osborne. This tour will. I'm sure, be one of the hottest tickets of the year. Much more about The Cadillac Three follows including tour dates and the video for 'Legacy'.

Juanita Stein announces debut solo album 'America' and UK dates

June 30, 2017 by David Vousden in Americana, New Single, singer-songwriter, Tour Dates, Video, Alternative Rock

Howling Bells singer Juanita Stein will release her debut solo album 'America' on July 28th via the Nude Records label. The Australian born, UK based songwriter will also be playing plenty of UK shows this year with dates booked through into October. As a taster for the new record 'I'll Cry' has been released as a single and very good it is too. The single wears its Phil Spector and Roy Orbison influences well and would be an ideal fit for a David Lynch movie. Those tour dates and the video for 'I'll Cry' follow:

Starsailor to release new album 'All This Life' September 1st

June 30, 2017 by David Vousden in Alternative Rock, Indie, New Single, News, Tour Dates

UK quartet Starsailor are getting very busy indeed. Their anthemic new single 'Listen To Your Heart' is available now and bodes well for their upcoming new album 'All This Life' due September 1st via Cooking Vinyl. This will be the first album of new material from the band in nearly a decade (2009 to be exact). To support the album the band will be touring the UK in October, or if you're lucky enough to be in Hyde Park today (June 30th) they're on the bill with Phil Collins so check 'em out. More about the band, the new album and those tour dates follow:

Ferris & Sylvester to release 'The Yellow Line' EP June 23rd 2017

June 20, 2017 by David Vousden in Acoustic, Americana, Folk, Tour Dates, Video

Ferris & Sylvester are gearing up for the release of their 'The Yellow Line' EP on June 23rd 2017. The duo recently signed to Youth's new publishing company Painted Word Music. Killing Joke bassist Youth will be most familiar for his impressive string of production credits that include The Verve, Crowded House, Paul McCartney and a terrific album by Howie Day. With this heavyweight support things are looking bright for Ferris & Sylvester and the EP shows immense promise for the future. You can catch the duo live in London on July 12th 2017 at the famed Half Moon in Putney. You can catch the duo live in London on July 12th 2017 at the famed Half Moon in Putney. The press release about the EP and the video for 'Berlin' follows:

Will Hoge 'Anchors' due Aug 17th 2017 + July UK dates.

June 19, 2017 by David Vousden in Americana, Country, News, singer-songwriter, Tour Dates

Will Hoge will release his new album 'Anchors' August 17th, 2017 via Thirty Tigers. The album includes the single 'Little Bit Of Rust' featuring Sheryl Crow. Will Hoge will introduce the album with a run of solo UK shows in July prior to the album release. More about Will Hoge and those tour dates follow:

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.