Dave Franklin
Musician, scribbler, historian, gnostic, seeker of enlightenment, asker of the wrong questions, delver into the lost archives, fugitive from the law of averages, blogger, quantum spanner, left footed traveller, music journalist, zenarchist, freelance writer, reviewer and gemini. People have woken up to worse.
That’s How They Getcha – The Muster Point Project (reviewed by...
As someone whose job it is to make sure you spend your time and, hopefully, your hard-earned cash on the product that I represent,...
Grasslands @ The Richard Jefferies Museum, Swindon, 4th July 26
If ever an artist and a gig location were perfectly suited, it was watching Grasslands in the shaded courtyard outside the museum dedicated to...
Surf Spot Steamer Lane – Stephen Jacques (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I’m sure that I’m not the first to notice that Stephen Jacques has a voice like Joe Strummer traveling along the California Trail in 1843 (even more pertinent...
Worth It – Kim McClay (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
The best artists are the ones you can’t describe with a simple word-tag or generic byline, even when making a fairly familiar sound (broadly...
Not Over – By Million Wires (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Pitching itself between the coolly cultish and the commercial…or at least the accessible and appealing to the more discerning mainstream indie-kid, By Million Wires’s latest...
New Scrolls – Erik Rabasca (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
There is an art to finding that sweet spot between freshness and familiarity, that place from which to make music that both plays into...
Videopticons – The Zaxons (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Sometimes the fun of listening to music is found in metaphorically pulling things apart to see how it all fits together… a perverse occupation,...
Bongo Boy’s Kidz and Katz, Vol 3 – Various Artists (reviewed...
Music for children doesn't have to treat them like...well, children. Of course, it has to be part of a process that helps them develop,...
Like A Tiger – Cello (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If rock music has a tendency to take itself too seriously from time to time, and pop often errs on the side of the...
Cosmic Country Calling: The strange world of The Sensational Country Blues...
With a new album out, the fantastically named Music Sounds Better When You’re Stoned, I sat down with Gary Van Miert of The Sensational Country Blues Wonders! to find...
Serving Your Country: Ed Earl’s twin worlds of boots and boogie
Ed Earl’s world of Navy Reserve Officer by day and country rocker by night might seem an odd balance, so I sat down with...
Keep On Moving/I’m Here/Roses and Thunder – Taivi (reviewed by Dave...
Although the album that spawned these three songs, Rising Tide, has been with us a while now, reappraisals, relistens, and reminders are useful exercises, especially...
Theme Songs – Camille Baziadoly and The Filthy Honey (reviewed by...
Theme Songs is essentially the next chapter following on from Camille Baziadoly and Phill Honey’s (hence the striking moniker The Filthy Honey) debut album, Fifteen. And if that album was a...
High Noon – Moon and Aries (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If music associated with deserts usually comes at us in the form of spaghetti western soundtracks, Turaug blues albums, or Palm Desert rock bands, Moon...
Now That’s What I Call Americana comes to the Tuppenny 9th...
Love Americana, roots music and great storytelling? Then make your way to The Tuppenny for an evening celebrating the finest traditions of American music,...
Mojo Maker – Jim Blair (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Jim Blair is known as the man with the slide guitar and the gravel voice, not a bad combination. For many years, either fronting bands...
All For Nothing: Unreleased, Alternates, and Rarities 2016-2026 – Last...
To my shame, I have to confess that I am not that familiar with Last Letters music. But I will say that if this compilation is...
30 Dolls – St. Divine (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
People forget one crucial point when making music that falls into the general garage-rock, punk, or even post-punk. It was never just about making...
nowherehouse – Night’s Bright Colors (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Three albums in and this collaboration between Jason Smith and Kevin Boggs is still going strong, but then, as “Halo”, the opener of nowherehouse kicks in, it is easy...
Comfort Food – Messy Eater (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I'm not saying that Messy Eater is my best alt-pop find of recent times...actually, I am saying that...no question. I know that might seem...
The Devil That You Know – St. Divine (reviewed by Dave...
There are, musically speaking, two sorts of gothic music doing the rounds in recent times. The first is that of the more performative, eyeliner-wearing...
Outdoor Shower – Ruby & Sasha (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Some songs feel like just that, songs. Others, and that is certainly the case here, feel like diary entries, so much so that you...
Songs of Courage – ooberfuse (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
ooberfuse has always been a band that mixes artistry with altruism; sometimes it is subtly worked into their sonic stories, more often it stands...
Video Premiere: Spring Cleaning – Benjamin Cartel (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Benjamin Cartel walks with one foot in the deftness of the Americana sound, the other in the accessibility of more commercial concerns, making for an...
A Week in June – KAATWALK (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If you are looking for the perfect artist for the current age, one that blends the best of singer-songwriter traditions with quiet yet zeitgeist-busting...
Everything – MARYSGARDEN (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If you are anything like me, your overall impression of this new album from MARYSGARDEN is likely to be one of scale. Even when the...
Mercedes Lament – NUTRI3NT (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Blending cutting-edge, electronic grooves and a timeless folk vocal, “Mercedes Lament” is the sound of worlds, not to mention eras, genres, scenes, and styles,...
Twelve – Ammar Farooki (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
It is sometimes easy to forget, especially with contemporary music, that just because something is entertaining and accessible, it can also be intelligent and...
Ally the Truth – Gravity Machine (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Some songs seem to turn up in the time it takes to write them, flashes of inspiration that seem to arrive finished and ready...
The Grass & Time Soundscape Lecture @ Richard Jefferies Museum
The Grass & Time Soundscape Lecture
National Meadows Day – Richard Jefferies Museum
Saturday 4 July 2026 | 2:00 pm–4:30 pm
Part environmental lecture, part live performance,...
