rescuing musical virtue in distress.
Used to Be is one of those songs which feels like an old friend. As soon as its classic tones come tumbling out of the speakers, its familiar country undercurrents, its late 60’s soaked, west coast, singer-songwriter vibes, its reflective and sentimental lyrics, you are immediately put at ease. But there is also that slight,... Continue Reading →
If Bye London Bye , which helped pave the way for this release, showed Matthew Austin Hunt’s more subtle and reflective side, on this, his debut album, he gets to really let rip. American Made which acts as the opening sonic salvo is a proud statement of identity but one which rings with an honesty which... Continue Reading →
You could make a valid argument that country music, much like the blues, can only really be sung by someone with more than a few miles on the clock. How else are you going to fill songs with the requisite life-experience. Pop singers might wax lyrical about first loves and do so as if they... Continue Reading →
If rock and roll is all about the swagger and the spectacle and country music based around more deft and emotive song crafting, then it is in bands such as 32 Below that the two genres manage to marry up perfectly. A rock yin to a rootsy yang. As Such a Waste nearly demonstrates, the... Continue Reading →
There seem to be plenty of country crooners wandering around the charts these days but whereas most seem to be some sort of earnest, all-American type with a beard, a pickup truck and a broken heart, Matthew Austin Hunt actually seems more authentic than those cliched images. Instead his style is more believable, more natural,... Continue Reading →
They may be known for a sound which is an upbeat mesh of country cool and rock 'n' roll swagger, rustic textures driven home with one foot on the monitor, but No Fool proves that the Devon Worley Band are just as adept at delivering something more supple and subtle as they are rocking out.... Continue Reading →
Alias Wayne may be the fun, musical alter-ego of Ranzel X Kendrick but that isn’t to say that the music made when he is in this mode isn’t seriously good too. He has always woven a smart path between the cowboy and the rocker, the country groove and the rock cool, the flicker of... Continue Reading →
If there is a more powerful metaphor for protection against adversity in the great American story than the image of wagons being circled up to keep out wild beasts and perhaps even wilder men, then I don’t know what it is. And whilst Love Me In The Dark’s latest release is high in detail about... Continue Reading →
The earth is flat, the super rich are dimension travelling lizards, the nazi’s have an underground base in Antartica..or is it on the moon, I can’t remember, and Arlo Guthrie once jammed with The Foggy Mountain Boys. Okay, there isn’t much evidence for the first three but Blind Uncle Harry is certainly proof of the... Continue Reading →