Tag: uk

Baylen’s Brit Pick: The Southern Companion

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Artist: The Southern Companion
Hometown: Lymington, Hampshire
Latest Album: 1000 Days of Rain

Sounds Like: Counting Crows, The Black Crowes, (yes they sound like two bands with “crows” in their names. Never thought about a crow genre before, but there ya go). They also remind me of some non-crow artists like Eric Church, Tom Petty, and Ryan Adams.

Why You Should Listen: The musicianship in this band is off the charts, with members having played for Lana Del Rey, Tom Jones, James Morrison, Rumer, and Vanessa May, these guys aren’t messing around.  They’ve played together on and off for more than 20 years, and you can hear that in their debut album 1000 Days Of Rain. Yes, it took them two decades to get around to making an album, but sometimes good things take a while – come on, they were busy.

The comfort and musical version of “finishing each other’s sentences” that comes from a band that’s known each other and played together for so long isn’t something you can fake. This band is tight and it sounds like they are having the time of their lives. In a different place and time, lead singer Darren Hodson’s voice would have made him a 90’s “modern rock” god and that’s a wonderful thing as far as I’m concerned. His voice and this album remind me of so many bands I was listening to growing up, that I almost had to check I didn’t already have 1000 Days of Rain on cassette somewhere.

That’s not to say this album is a pastiche or retro, far from it, but the influences are clear. That’s something they acknowledge with a bit of old school yesteryear glorification on “Wrong Side of the 70s.” For an emotional deep dive, check out “Dead Man Walking.” This album has been out for a minute, but it’s taken me until now to fully appreciate it, and sometimes that’s how it goes. I just hope we don’t have to wait another 20 years for more music from them.

Photo credit: Wilky

As a radio and TV host, Baylen Leonard has presented country and Americana shows, specials, and commentary for BBC Radio 2, Chris Country Radio, BBC Radio London, BBC Radio 2 Country, BBC Radio 4, BBC Scotland, Monocle 24, and British Airways, as well as promoting artists through his work with the Americana Music Association UK, the Nashville Meets London Festival, and the Long Road (the UK’s newest outdoor country, Americana, and roots festival). Follow him on Twitter: @HeyBaylen

The Long Road Ahead: A Visit With Danni Nicholls

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Take heed, all Americana fans in the UK. Danni Nicholls will be taking the stage on the final day of the Long Road Festival at Stanford Hall in Leicestershire. Leading up to her appearance, the talented singer-songwriter fielded a few questions from The Bluegrass Situation.

As a performer, what do you enjoy most about festivals?

I think the collective good energy that you usually find at festivals is my favourite thing. Everyone has come together to have a good time and that can be infectious. I’ll usually get to bump into friends/fellow artists too which is always lovely. I love to go off and try to discover great new music too.

The life of a touring musician is certainly unpredictable. How do you like to pass the time when you have a couple of free hours on the road?

Ha, sure is! I like to try to see a bit of the place I’m playing in – not just the inside of the venue. I’ll usually go for a wander if there’s some time to kill, and try not to get too lost! I’ve stumbled across some beautiful, memorable places that way.

Do you consider yourself a collector of guitars? And do you have a favorite one that you like to use when you write songs?

I wouldn’t consider myself a collector as such but I do have quite a few that I’ve acquired over the years! My prized possession is my first ever guitar which I inherited from my uncle Heathcliffe when I was 16. It’s a stunning Burns London 1964 shortscale jazz guitar. A real beaut. But my main touring guitar is an acoustic parlour, a Tanglewood TW73 E called Meryl. She’s feisty but sweet and mellow when you get to know her. She’s my favourite for writing on as well as playing live.

How did your grandmother’s record collection influence the kind of music you’re writing and recording now?

Massively! The music that filled her house and so many family parties was mostly American roots – lots of country, soul and rock n roll. It’s deep rooted in my soul and my music. Feels like home.

How would you describe your first visit to Nashville?

Unforgettable. Really – it was like a dream, I remember walking down a side street and turning onto Broadway where so many of my heroes have walked and known so well and feeling this rush of energy and joy. Seeing the Ryman, Tootsies where the likes of Patsy Cline would have hung out before crossing over to Ernest Tubb’s place. My first night in the city I ended up on stage in two of the bars singing old country songs being backed by these incredible musical strangers and I felt so welcome and included. I was hooked and have explored and fallen in love with many more parts of the city since then and I’m so grateful to have had that opportunity.

What are you working on now?

I just returned from Nashville where I have recorded my third studio album with the wonderful, talented Jordan Brooke Hamlin (Indigo Girls, Lucy Wainwright-Roche) at the new and wondrous studio MOXE, out in the woods just north of the city. I’m very excited to be getting it into shape to send off out into the world in early 2019.

When you finish a song that you’re proud of, who is the first person that gets to hear it?

My cat, Winnie. Yes I think of her as a person. I should maybe address that.

For those people who come to see you at the Long Road Festival, what do you hope they take away from that experience?

I hope they can find some connection, some resonance perhaps. By going out singing my truth I hope to contribute to raising positive vibrations, so I hope they walk away with a little lift, a smile, or at least a bit of one of the songs stuck in their heads.

Photo courtesy of the artist

WATCH: Ben Somers, “Sideman”

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Artist: Ben Somers
Hometown: London, England
Song: “Sideman”
Album: Poor Stuart
Release Date: September 7, 2018
Label: Rock Creature Records (MOFOHIFI)

In Their Words: “A year or so ago I stepped in on bass with a touring bluegrass band from the US. There was a somewhat difficult dynamic with the personalities in the band. One of the leaders of the group was overheard referring to us as ‘sideman’ in trying to placate another of the leaders who was, pretty unjustly unhappy with our input. It was confusing to see exactly how little some performers understand the level of support we can give as ‘sideman.’ Listen and you’ll get the picture.” — Ben Somers

Photo credit: Bobby Williams

BGS Preview: The Long Road Festival in the UK

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As this is being written, we’re on our way to the UK to prepare for our FIRST EVER international stage takeover, taking place next weekend at The Long Road Festival, in Leicestershire (near Birmingham). It’s a milestone event for BGS, and part of a larger initiative to reach our dedicated audience outside North America and shed light on some incredible talent that is putting their own spin on folk and roots traditions from other parts of the globe.

To prepare for The Long Road, held Sept. 7-9, we’ve summed up the top stuff we can’t wait to see and do while we’re in town. Hope some of you can join us to check out these highlights too:

1) That lineup tho…
With main stage appearances ranging from Carrie Underwood and Lee Ann Womack to Billy Bragg and Joshua Hedley, TLR is representing a variety of talent from commercial [read: Pop] Country to Americana with a capital A. The lines between roots and country music seem a bit more blurred over here, and we can’t wait to see how it all comes together.

2) Birmingham
Less than an hour from the festival lies the city of Birmingham. What was once a hardened industrialist town is now a breeding ground for creatives and start-ups, fostering one of the youngest populations in Europe (nearly 40 percent of the population is under 25). There’s plenty to discover here — from the old Custard Factory market to four (4!) Michelin-starred restaurants — so it’s a great stopover before or after the festival weekend.

3) AMA-UK stage takeover
Friday kicks off the fest with our friends at Americana Music-UK curating a stage featuring their freshest crop of British Americana talent. (Stay tuned to the BGS site for an announcement highlighting an upcoming collaboration with that team very soon….)

4) Moonshine + whiskey tastings?!
Say no more. You can find us in the Honky Tonk for more than just the BGS stage…

5) Stanford Hall
This is not your mama’s country festival. TLR is held on the grounds of Stanford Hall, a 400-year-old stately home in the heart of Leicestershire, sitting on over 700 acres of expansive parkland. Not too shabby!

6) Born in Bristol film screening
Produced and presented by the Birthplace of Country Music, retracing the 90 years since the recording of the original Bristol Sessions the resounding impact that music has had on the world, the documentary features the likes of Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Eric Church, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Marty Stuart, Sheryl Crow, and Doyle Lawson. Special screenings of the film will take place on site at TLR.

7) The Bluegrass Situation Takeover at the Honky Tonk stage on Sunday, September 9 (DUH!)
Featuring a cavalcade of fierce females from three different continents, our BGS-curated stage highlights everything ranging from bluegrass (Cardboard Fox) to country (Ashley Campbell, Angaleena Presley) to folk (Dori Freeman, Worry Dolls) to Americana (Danni Nicholls, Ruby Boots). It’s gonna be great. You can check out the full day’s schedule below:

13:05-13:45: Danni Nicholls
14:10-14:50: Ashley Campbell
15:15-15:55: Worry Dolls
16:20-17:00: Angaleena Presley
17:25-18:05: Cardboard Fox
18:30-19:10: Ruby Boots
19:35-20:15: Dori Freeman

Discover more about The Long Road and stay in the know by liking our BGS-UK Facebook page.

Purchase tickets for The Long Road.

Gig Bag: The Jellyman’s Daughter

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Graham Coe and Emily Kelley, better known as The Jellyman’s Daughter, hail from the foothills of Edinburgh, Scotland, but they’re traversing the United States this fall with a new record, Dead Reckoning. With a little peek inside their Gig Bag, we get the scoop on what they’re bringing along.

Chess Board

Our tours always involve a running chess competition between the two of us, staged in the various hipster cafes we visit along the way. One of us is better at peacefully accepting defeat than the other. So, future audiences – if you notice Emily making a suspiciously numerous amount of cutting remarks towards Graham, now you’ll know why.

Ear Trumpet Labs mic

We like to perform using our ‘Myrtle’ condenser mic when we can – it’s a delight to combine our voices in the air before sending them out through the speakers. Sometimes it’s not a delight for Emily when Graham’s cello bow flies unnervingly close to Emily’s face. But we’re working on that. It’s also great to be able to put up the mic in front of our camera in a unique location and record a little video – a tour is a wonderful way to find these epic little spots.

Tea

One of the perks of living in the UK is having easy access to proper tea. Some countries seem far more interested in having plentiful supply of what amounts to hot watery juice. On the other hand we also bring plentiful supplies of Yogi Tea’s Throat Comfort which is a wonderful concoction, even if 80 percent of its effectiveness for your throat is because it’s called Throat Comfort.

Sat Nav

Our trusty sat nav has in its time taken us from the Northwest of Scotland to the Southeast of England, across Europe from Denmark down to Vienna and across the USA and Canada. We’ve often found ourselves completely devoid of phone internet signal and bearings, feeling extremely thankful that smartphones haven’t completely replaced sat navs quite yet.

Tunes

An extremely important part of any tour is a load of great new and old music. On the longer journeys taking in a full album is the preferred medium. Here’s a few notable albums we’ve been enjoying recently:

Punch Brothers – All Ashore
Phoebe Bridgers – Stranger in the Alps
Theo Katzman – Heartbreak Hits
Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight
Joni Mitchell – Hejira

Rearview mirror buddy

Sometimes on tour as a duo it’s not logistically feasible to bring a third, calming, mediating member along. So our solution is to bring a delightful little fabric friend that hangs from the mirror and commands an unassuming Zen-like presence in the car.

Photo credit: Graeme MacDonald

 

Baylen’s Brit Pick: Olivia Chaney

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Artist: Olivia Chaney
Hometown: Florence, Italy but grew up in Oxford, England and now lives in London so we are claiming her.
Latest Album: Shelter

Sounds Like: Eliza Carthy, Joanna Newsom, Johnny Flynn, Laura Marling

Why You Should Listen:

Sometimes you just need to step outside your box, leave your comfort zone, and proactively NOT stay in your lane. Olivia Chaney not only does all those things but she’s made me do them too. I like to think I’m a pretty open minded guy, who loves music, not just genres, but when it was suggested to me that I take a look at Olivia Chaney for this month’s Brit Pick, at first I balked.

Folk isn’t really my wheelhouse, or so I thought. Then I listened to her striking new album, Shelter. Then I listened again. And again. I was no longer sitting in my studio on a busy city street with sirens constantly screaming by, I was roaming around a charming cottage that is older than America on the Yorkshire Moors in the rain without an umbrella or a care in the world.

Knowing that Olivia nestled down in said cottage to work on this album and watching the video for “House on a Hill” that was shot there obviously helped with that vision, I didn’t just conjure it up out of nowhere, but the music certainly fits. With eight original songs, and lovely versions of Purcell’s “O Solitude” as well as “Long Time Gone” made famous by the Everly Brothers, all produced by Thomas Bartlett, this album is a gem whether folk is your thing or not.

By collaborating with The Decemberists, sharing stages with Robert Plant and Zero 7, and citing Edith Piaf AND Sonic Youth as inspiration, Olivia Chaney has no intention of staying in her lane, and we are all better for it. She’s currently on a North American tour through August including dates with Patty Griffin and Bruce Hornsby.

Photo: Nonesuch Records

As a radio and TV host, Baylen Leonard has presented country and Americana shows, specials, and commentary for BBC Radio 2, Chris Country Radio, BBC Radio London, BBC Radio 2 Country, BBC Radio 4, BBC Scotland, Monocle 24, and British Airways, as well as promoting artists through his work with the Americana Music Association UK, the Nashville Meets London Festival, and the Long Road (the UK’s newest outdoor country, Americana, and roots festival). Follow him on Twitter: @HeyBaylen

WATCH: Worry Dolls, “Tidal Wave”

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Artist: Worry Dolls
Hometown: London, England
Song: “Tidal Wave”
Album: Go Get Gone (Deluxe Edition)
Release Date: July 13, 2018
Label: Bread & Butter Music / SFE

In Their Words: ​”​The first verse of the song was a voice memo on ​my phone for nearly a year that ​I kept coming back to but couldn’t really figure out what it was about. I knew tidal wave was a metaphor for when it feels like life is coming at you at full force and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. But it wasn’t until I lost an extremely close family member last summer, very tragically and suddenly, that I came back to the song and realised it was about grief. When you’re grieving they say it comes in waves, but for me it felt like a tidal wave.

Around the same time, I had just got my first Gibson and it was this gorgeous Sheryl Crow edition Southern Jumbo with this beautiful rich, warm bass. Zoe was using a vintage Earl Scruggs banjo and when we got the instruments home, this song just poured out. It was like the stars had finally aligned. Quite soon after finishing it, we produced it ourselves and recorded it live in a converted cowshed just outside of London!​” ​– ​Rosie Jones, Worry Dolls

Photo credit: Finlay O’Hara

Baylen’s Brit Pick: Bennett Wilson Poole

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Artist: Bennett Wilson Poole
Hometown: Rural Oxfordshire. Well, that’s where the group was dreamed up but two-thirds are from South London and one-third from Oxford proper.
Latest Album: Bennett Wilson Poole

Sounds Like: Hard to pin down but at a push I’d say Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young but there’s something of the Tom Petty about these guys and a little Schoolhouse Rock. Maybe a bit of Belle and Sebastian…. As you can tell they are pretty eclectic.

Why You Should Listen: Here’s the thing, I’m writing this in a pub. Try not to judge me, I’ve just moved and my broadband hasn’t been installed yet. However, even if I had Wi-Fi in the studio, I might be writing this in a pub anyway because: A) We do a lot of important things in pubs in the UK; and B) I can think of no finer three fellas to spend the afternoon in the pub with.

Individually each of these guys are musical heavyweights in the UK. Danny Wilson is the mighty leader of Danny and The Champions of The World and formerly Grand Drive, who has been moving and grooving since before Americana was even a word in the UK. Robin Bennett is one half of the swoony brother group Dreaming Spires and Saint Etienne. Tony Poole is from Starry Eyed and Laughing (a.k.a. the English Byrds), all-around wizard of a producer, and master on the electric 12-string Rickenbacker.

Listen to any of these guys individually and you’re already having a great day, all together and you’re looking at a great week if not month. The three work wonderfully together, leaving egos at the door, each taking turns on lead vocals but joining in on perfect harmonies when the song calls for it.

Sonically the album is varied, rich and layered with echoes and mirrored sounds. Lyrically it’s just as deep with songs inspired by the murder of UK politician Jo Cox (“Hate Won’t Win”) and harrowing photos of refugee boats in the Mediterranean (“Lifeboat”). I hope I’m not damning them with faint praise when I say this is a well-rounded album in every sense of the word. An album for our times. Some say trio, I say UK Americana supergroup

As a radio and TV host, Baylen Leonard has presented country and Americana shows, specials, and commentary for BBC Radio 2, Chris Country Radio, BBC Radio London, BBC Radio 2 Country, BBC Radio 4, BBC Scotland, Monocle 24, and British Airways, as well as promoting artists through his work with the Americana Music Association UK, the Nashville Meets London Festival, and the Long Road (the UK’s newest outdoor country, Americana, and roots festival). Follow him on Twitter: @HeyBaylen

Photo credit: John Morgan

The Bluegrass Situation Expands: Meet BGS-UK

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Think of the Union Chapel as London’s version of the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

An architectural wonder of a church, it still gathers a congregation for Sunday services. The rest of the week, however, it attracts worshippers of a different kind. The type who want to have a spiritual experience with Townes Van Zandt, Laura Marling, Father John Misty, The Civil Wars and Rosanne Cash.

In 2017, Sarah Jarosz sold out its 900 seats to a British fan base that knows her music well. “I don’t think I’ve ever sold out a venue as big as Union Chapel in the States,” she said at the time. “I’ve been blown away by the reception I get in England, Scotland and Ireland.” This year, she has already completed not one but two UK trips with Aoife O’Donovan and Sara Watkins, touring as I’m With Her. “I love coming here,” said O’Donovan. “We’ve made a home for ourselves here.” “You can actually see the growth,” added Jarosz.

This summer, the UK is awash with the diverse sounds of roots music. It’s as if everyone has suddenly woken up to the special relationship between the British folk scene and its American cousin. Major new festivals – like Black Deer in June, Maverick in July and The Long Road in September – are showcasing the powerful creative influence that Americana music is exerting on a new generation of British musicians: Jason Isbell and Passenger, Iron and Wine and Robert Vincent, Lee Ann Womack and The Shires.

Other fledgling festivals have begun bringing bluegrass and old-time to audiences that never knew they liked it before. In May, IBMA-award-winning Molly Tuttle wowed audiences at the Crossover Festival, which was started by a mother and daughter who wanted to hear and play the music they loved with their friends in Manchester. On the south coast of England, Beer and Bluegrass’s line-up includes The Hot Seats from Washington D.C., and Wesley Randolph Eader from Portland, Oregon, alongside some of the best bluegrass acts in Britain, including The Hot Rock Pilgrims and Midnight Skyracer.

Musicians who have toured the folk clubs of Britain and Ireland can attest to the strength of feeling that people there hold for the music of their native isles. And anyone who has encountered the Transatlantic Sessions, with Jerry Douglas and Aly Bain, has heard just how magical the bond that exists between the musical traditions of the old country and its American evolution. Celtic Connections in Glasgow has been fostering a creative exchange between artists on both sides of the Atlantic for decades, and the opportunities for future collaboration are limitless.

This July, Rhiannon Giddens will curate the Cambridge Folk Festival, an event which is always a highpoint of the summer calendar. Her program brings together women of colour from all over the US and the UK, including Amythyst Kiah, Kaia Kater and Yola Carter. “I love the UK folk scene,” Giddens says, “and I see audiences in the UK embracing the broad spectrum of what Americana really is even more so, sometimes, than in the US. A lot of people know the history of this music so well. I’ve always found a lot of acceptance here.”

So join our BGS-UK Facebook page, and join a community that’s excited to see where the music we love is going next. We’re excited about what’s happening across the pond right now and this is where you’ll be able to find out about all the gigs, artists, festivals and releases happening there. We’re ready for you, Britain!

BGS Takes Britain with the Long Road Festival

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Britons, rejoice. We know it’s not been an easy year for you, what with Brexit, and Prince Harry being taken off the marriage market. But we have good news. The first-ever BGS event hits the UK this summer, and it’s going to be, as they say over there, bloody brilliant.

BGS’s overseas debut follows the launch this week of the Long Road, a major new festival taking place September 7-9, 2018. A celebration of everything Americana, the Long Road is set to bring a slice of the South to the English countryside. For three days, the elegant grounds of Stanford Hall — a 17th-century stately home in Leicestershire — will rock out to the sounds of dozens of country and roots artists, including Lee Ann Womack, the Wood Brothers, Parker Millsap, and the Lone Bellow. And, when it’s not too busy, it’ll be doling out bourbon, moonshine, and Southern cooking, and inviting you to swim in its beautiful lake.

On Sunday, September 9, BGS will takeover the Long Road’s Honky Tonk stage to celebrate some of the fiercest females in modern roots music. The all-female line-up includes artists making waves on both sides of the Atlantic. From the U.S., we’ll be bringing you Ashley Campbell, Angeleena Presley, and Amythyst Kiah, while breakthrough British acts Danni Nicholls, Cardboard Fox, and the Worry Dolls will be flying the home flag. Look out, too, for Australian singer/songwriter Ruby Boots.

This is a thrilling — dare we say, pivotal — time for American music in the UK. The Long Road is one of three brand new festivals celebrating roots music to open this summer, including the Black Deer Festival, headlined by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. In August, Rhiannon Giddens will curate the Cambridge Folk Festival for the first time, and the Guardian recently reported that this year’s Country 2 Country festival, at the O2 arena, has enjoyed a four-fold increase since it began in 2013.

With so much good stuff happening just a plane ride away, BGS has exciting plans to bring you more great music both from and in the UK. Keep your eyes peeled for future announcements.