Country

Sparrow and the Workshop – Caves, Edinburgh, Thu 9 May 2013

The alt.country/rock trio launch latest album Murderopolis with aplomb

There’s a party atmosphere to tonight’s gig at the Caves, the second of two launch parties for Sparrow and the Workshop’s new album, Murderopolis. Bunting and balloons festoon the stage; a bottle of whisky makes its way round the crowd; and both Sparrow…

William Tyler - Impossible Truth

A shimmering, uplifting psych-folk album influenced by 70s singer-songwriters

(Merge) With gilded stints as backing guitarist to Bonnie Prince Billy, Silver Jews, Candi Staton and Lambchop under his low-slung belt, you might be inclined to wonder if prodigious fingerpicker William Tyler had the motivation, energy or indeed time…

Eat, sleep and breathe - Caitlin Rose

The 25-year-old country singer shares her tour habits, including a weakness for tapas and crisps

What time is breakfast? Whenever Shep (tour manager) starts yelling at everyone. Gotta get to the lobby in time for that complimentary continental! Tea or coffee? Usually tea. Coffee makes me jittery. I don't deal well with a caffeine jolt…

Caitlin Rose - The Stand-In

The country singer's second album is a mix of Sexsmith-style bluesiness and Nu-Nashville by numbers

Does a name get any more C&W than Caitlin Rose? It’s tempting/lazy to view any young female Tennessee-based female singer as some kind of Swiftian monster, but Rose feels more like an authentic musician than a determined fame-hunter, having already got…

John C Reilly & Friends - St Andrew’s in the Square, Glasgow, Tue 12 Feb 2013

Actor takes country band on the road as part of Wreck-It Ralph publicity tour

’We got the Death Star to work for us,’ laughs John C Reilly, actor, singer, raconteur and star of Disney offering Wreck-It Ralph, explaining the novel approach to around-the-world publicity junkets he managed to talk the megacorpration into. Instead…

Silver Jews - Early Times 1990-91

Reissue of early works by David Berman, Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich

Disbanded in 2009, David Berman’s Silver Jews project was a tremendous portmanteau of country and US indie that acted as a vehicle for Berman’s lyrics, his voice, smooth and unsteady as stretched taffy, often simply speaking the words in tune, offering…

Hazy Recollections – O2 ABC2, Glasgow, Sun 22 Jan

Electro-folk and French lullabies bring weepie and comedy moments

Celtic Connections’ Hazy Recollections sessions are great for two main reasons. Firstly, they provide a gathering place for the legion of those with beards and plaid shirts. Secondly, you get to see just how far the festival’s remit of ‘folk, roots and…

Five picks from Celtic Connections 2012

Featuring Zoe Muth, Jack Bruce, King Creosote and Jon Hopkins and Vieux Farka Touré

Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers The year in Americana 2011 belongs to Gillian Welch and the release of her album The Harrow & the Harvest, but amongst a promising field of young female country singers, Zoe Muth stands out. With her ear for an instant…

First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar

Heartfelt ode to Americana from the Swedish siblings

(Wichita) On the surface, First Aid Kit’s obsession with Americana looks a little odd, given that they’re Swedish sisters barely out of their teens. But the pair’s homage is steeped in knowledge, and this second album sounds like it could’ve been…

Chris Isaak - Beyond the Sun

Listenable but redundant take on some of Sun Records' finest

(Vanguard Records/Rhino) During its 1950s heyday, Sun Records churned out standards by the bucketload from the likes of Elvis, Cash and Orbison. During the recording of Beyond the Sun, David Lynch’s favourite bequiffed rockabilly star was presumably…

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Wolfroy Goes to Town

Compelling alt-country from Will Oldman

(Domino) ‘Stop all the moaning and bemoaning your fate / god isn’t listening, or else it’s too late,’ sings Will Oldham on ‘Time to Be Clear’, his voice like driftwood lapping at the shore. In all things heart-shattering and beautiful in the world of…

Celtic Connections 2012 line-up announced

Glasgow traditional music festival features 2100 artists and 300 events over 18 days in 20 venues

This year's festival will include 2100 artists, 300 events, 20 venues all over 18 days. Being that winter is in the offing, you now wake up in the morning for work and its dark, you then head home from work and its dark. One thing that will surely…

Kelly Clarkson admits depressing songs

Music Gossip

Kelly Clarkson admits although she writes a lot of "depressing s**t". The 29-year-old-singer admitted a lot of her lyrics can appear negative, but insists in real life she is a happy and satisfied person, as she channels all her negative energy into…

Treetop Flyers - Stereo, Glasgow, Sun 25 Sep

West London's new darlings of country-folk

Emerging through a cough worthy amount of dry ice, talented Glaswegian’s Dirty Beggars kick-start a not so typical Sunday at Stereo; their striking country-folk set all plucked cello, banjo and mandolin strings and loveable vocal harmonies.

Three Blind Wolves – O2 ABC2, Glasgow, Wed 14 Sep 2011

Solid line-up of Americana-tinged Scottish bands for No Mean City festival

Even in the context of the No Mean City festival, this gig is more Americana than most. The line-up spans the bluegrass, folk and country genres, with some indie rock and a smidgen of prog thrown in as well. While it’s not a flawless evening, each band…

Rich Hall’s Hoedown

Country and bluegrass gig from the gravel-voiced comedian

There’s a reason Rich Hall has two shows at the Fringe – let’s get that out of the way first. His stand up show is his outlet for the majority of his jokes; his Hoedown set is an opportunity for him to flex his musical muscles, in the company of friends…

Alt-country/lo-fi rocker Bill Callahan, formerly known as Smog, discusses new record Apocalypse

Bill Callahan is in his woodshed. Nature is tormenting him. ‘There are some annoying wind chimes, chiming in the wind,’ he grumbles. ‘Some birds are trying too hard.’ And how is our lusty troubadour, formerly known as Smog, on this glorious spring…

John Grant tours album Queen of Denmark

Former frontman for The Czars, Midlake collaborator and now solo artist with album Queen of Denmark

Name John Grant From Denver, Ohio Occupation From around 1994 to 2004, frontman of the dimly remembered but beloved by those who know them, Czars. Now an unexpected comeback king, with last year’s debut album under his own name Queen of Denmark…

Kort - Invariable Heartache

(City Slang) Lambchop frontman Kurt Wagner has made a career out of perfecting an alternative to his hometown Nashville’s commercial mainstream country sound. With this album of duets with Cortney Tidwell (the daughter of a Nashville dynasty)…

Lloyd Cole - Broken Record

(Tapete) He’s been Scottish rock’s adopted son for over a quarter of a century, and we’re damned if two decades in the States or lines like ‘I look like a million bucks’ will change that. Americana is Cole’s bag on Broken Record – warm, authentic…

Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival

Promising line-up in an absolutely stunning setting.

All festivals have their own unique selling point. Be it the buffalo burger stall, the grass sledges, the giant headliners, or a Ferris wheel. Here, besides the performances from Harper Simon, Badly Drawn Boy, The Divine Comedy, Erland & The Carnival…

Caitlin Rose - Own Side Now

(Names) Only a few short years out of her teens, this Nashville singer-songwriter belies her youth. Rose’s debut album proper (following the ‘Dead Flowers’ EP) is loaded with songs about heartbreak, delivered with a wry drawl reminiscent of Patsy…

Crosby, Stills and Nash line up 2010 UK tour

Since their guest-starring role at last year’s Glastonbury (playing in proximity to, but sadly not alongside, their erstwhile fourth member Neil Young), this trio have been pounding the rock’n’roll comeback trail so favoured lately by bands of their…

The Fox Hunt - Nowhere Bound

The Fox Hunt are a bluegrass/alt. country band from West Virginia who manage to stand out from the densely packed crowd, primarily down to the fact they write above average tunes. They have banjo, fiddle, mandolin and upright bass in their repertoire…

Richard James - We Went Riding

This second solo album from Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci co-founder James is a fairly infectious, ribald traipse across drowsy folk, garage-rock and pub R&B. It features his erstwhile bandmate Euros Childs and exalted singer-songwriter Cate le Bon (on the…