Love Ain't Enough - Holly Rose Webber

Here at LCM we are big fans of Bob's Harris' 'Under The Apple Tree Sessions' and our very talented LCM featured artist today Holly Rose Webber Band recently performed a great session for them. Holly is from Harrogate in North Yorkshire and is another of our wonderful group of UK Country music artists, who we hope will have a great 2017. Our LCM #TrackOfTheDay 'Love Ain't Enough' is taken from her Sparkle & Fade album. 

Born in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England in 1987, Holly Rose Webber fell under the influence of bands such as Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, the Small Faces and The Rolling Stones from a very early age. This, coupled with the influence of her Father (he was the singer in the psychedelic rock band Wally in the 1970s who were signed to Atlantic Records) meant it was no surprise that these voices influenced her decision to become a singer.

Being the only girl out of six brothers, she was raised and educated on rock and roll, soul, country, blues and everything in between. She spent her adolescence in and out of the studio dabbling in her own songwriting, producing a couple of EPs. After finishing school and graduating from Leeds University with honours in Law, she decided to try her luck with the property market in Central London and moved to Notting Hill, selling multi-million pound properties throughout the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. In 2012 she began writing songs for her debut album. Although sales is a passion, it always came second to her love of making music and in 2013 she left her career in London and moved back to the beloved motherland of Harrogate.

Surrounding herself with some of Harrogate’s most talented musicians, all of whom are life long friends, she continued to write and build material for her album. It started off as a project, a bit of fun, but having played the demos to some very influential people in the music industry it became clear that it was a real opportunity to showcase her talent and Holly Rose Webber was born.

She shot her first music videos for the single “Love Ain't Enough” and her cover of the ever-popular Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds”. Having previously made a couple of visits to Nashville, Tennessee she built relationships with local artists and songwriters in the hope of getting her music in front of the right people…

http://www.hollyrosewebber.com/

Something Lost - Carly Dow

We stay in Canada for our next LCM featured artist and head for Lake Audy, Manitoba the home of singer-songwriter Carly Dow. Carly is coming to the UK and mainland Europe on her new tour with a London date on the 19th January at the Green Note. Our LCM #TrackOfTheDay is a live version of 'Something Lost' and kudos to Carly and her team, this is the first recording I have seen from a canoe on a lake. 

Carly Dow’s music will leave you charmed and haunted. Her wildcrafted soul-folk blends inspiration from wordsmith Gillian Welch with an edge reminiscent of Neko Case. Dow’s songwriting reflects a deep appreciation of beauty and darkness balanced throughout personal, physical and natural histories. The depth, space and stark allure of her home province of Manitoba seep into her music as main influences, which is apparent in the delivery of her striking, smoky vocals. Soft and sultry, pretty and gritty - this music has it all.

Ingrained is Carly's first solo studio recording and was co-produced herself along with Darwin Baker and Jesse Matas (Crooked Brothers) at Private Ear Recording in Winnipeg and the historical log-built Visitor’s Centre in Riding Mountain National Park.

Carly has performed locally and nationally as a solo act, a duo, or with a band - giving her a rich and adaptable musical style. She has performed with the Winnipeg Folk Festival’s Young Performers Program on multiple occasions, the National Artist Program at the 2011 Canada Games, and at various other renowned venues and festivals in Manitoba and throughout the rest of Canada.

She has co-produced and recorded 3 additional albums with several projects, including Lost in the Woods (Bog River, 2010), Hands in the Ground (Bog River, 2011), and her solo demo (2013).

Take Me Home - The Ennis Sisters

Our LCM featured artist today are a great sister trio The Ennis Sisters from Newfoundland in Canada. They have just released their latest album of Christmas songs called 'Upon A Winter's Day'. Our LCM #TrackOfTheDay is a lovely live version of 'Take Me Home' taken from their 2015 album 'Stages'. 

With multiple accolades – a Juno Award, SOCAN Award, multiple East Coast Music Awards, and Music Newfoundland and Labrador Awards, The Ennis Sisters, comprised of Maureen, Teresa and Karen Ennis, are world renowned, celebrated songbirds. With their buttery harmonies, and voices as powerful as the Atlantic, it’s in their bones to sing.

Stages is a love letter to old world Newfoundland with a modern flair. Songs like “Dreaming My Dreams With You,” “The Pines,” “Rock Yourself On The Ocean,” and “Out From St. Leonard’s,” conjure up the island’s otherworldly beauty, deep rooted history and seasoned resilience.

“The name represents the workstations that our forefathers toiled over when the fishery was alive and well in Newfoundland,” says Teresa. “It also represents the way we’ve made our living, having built our career performing music on so many stages around the world, and we’ve gone through so many stages to get to this point in our nearly 20 year musical journey, personally and professionally.”

Recorded over a month at The Sound Solution in St. John’s, Stages is an 11-track collection of contemporary folk songs charting life cycles, love, and loss, produced by Maureen Ennis and Billy Sutton. Stages features the island’s finest musicians, including: fiddle player Emilia Bartellas, Craig Young on dobro, Paul Kinsman and Louis McDonald on piano, percussionist Greg Hawco, piano accordionist Catherine Allan, Glenn Simmons and Jason Whelan on electric guitar, Joel E. Hunt on mandolin, as well as a string ensemble, comprised of Heather Kao, Kate Read, and Theo Webber.

After wading in and out of pop and country waters, with albums such as The Fortunate Ones (2012), Lessons Learned (2009), Be Here For Awhile (2007), Can’t Be The Same (2003), Ennis Sisters (2001), Three (2000), Christmas On Ennis Road (1998), and Red Is The Rose (1997), The Ennis Sisters took a break, and returned with 'Stages': a homecoming.

“I think we lost ourselves a bit along the way and it was really necessary for us to take a hiatus in order to regain our focus,” says Maureen. “We’ve come to realize that we feel most satisfied singing songs inspired by our roots, especially when we sing them together. Stages is a direct reflection of that.”

The Ennis Sisters were born and raised on Irish Newfoundland tunes. Their father is a traditional button accordion player, and mother grew up on the southern shore of the Avalon, surrounded by music. Throughout the Ennis Sisters’ childhood, if their parents weren’t making music, it was coming through the radio – particularly the Irish Newfoundland radio shows, which aired on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

“There was just no escaping the Irish Newfoundland, Traditional music growing up,” says Karen. “When we first began singing for an audience, these were the songs we sang. It’s what came easiest and most natural, and still does.”

http://theennissisters.com

Don't Give Up On Christmas - Forty Elephant Gang

If Squeeze and The Divine Comedy had an East London Americana love child... it would be our next LCM featured band. The always show stealing Forty Elephant Gang are one of our current favourite London live bands....and guest what....they will be joining us on 24th February at IMD to play a set for us. Our LCM #TrackOfTheDay is their new Christmas single 'Don't Give Up On Christmas'. 2017 looks be an exciting year for the band, as they work their way towards their debut album release.

The Band takes their name from The Forty Elephants or Forty Thieves a 19th-century all-female London crime syndicate who specialised in shoplifting. This gang was notable for its longevity and skill in avoiding police detection. The Forty Elephant gang operated from the Elephant and Castle area. They raided quality stores in the West End of London and ranged all over the country.

Andrew White (Guitar / Vox), Sean Mannion (Mandolin / Backing vox), James Bachmann (Guitar / backing vox) and Douglas Cameron (Bass) aka Forty Elephant Gang are a rousing and innovative guitar, bass and mandolin wielding four piece from East London. Their songs relay tales of heartbreak, misdeeds and revelry, presented with rich harmonies on a textural musical canvas.

Blending genres from Folk, Acoustic, Americana, Bluegrass, Rock and Pop and tipping the cap to greats like Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Radiohead, Punch Brothers et al, they have been forging their own very unique sound.

Formed in late 2011, the band nurtured this individual style with a desire to collectively push their musical boundaries. Having all come from diverse musical backgrounds they have fused their collective musical experiences and influences to create something very original.

2012 saw the band taking their sound to large and varied audiences throughout London. From ad-hoc rooftop parties, Folk/Acoustic nights to Rock bars and back-street boozers, Forty Elephant Gang have received great responses and won friends and admirers from all walks of life.

With the wheels in motion, 2014 saw the band release their first E.P. through Hit Ray Records, as well as taking their show to even wider audiences. Let the stampede begin....

http://www.fortyelephantgang.com/

Tin Man - Miranda Lambert

Our LCM featured artist today is the very talented and multi-award winning Nashville star Miranda Lambert, who released her latest double album 'The Weight Of These Wings' in November. Our LCM #TrackOfTheDay is the beautiful and personal 'Tin Man'

https://www.mirandalambert.com/

Orphan Country - Yola Carter

Our next LCM featured singer-songwriter has been making waves in UK Country. Based just outside Bristol, Yola Carter has just released her critically acclaimed new Country Soul EP 'Orphan Offering'. Our LCM #TrackOfTheDay is a very good live version of 'Orphan Country'. 

Yola is coming to London on Monday night (December 19th) at the Borderline, she will be joined by the always great Danni Nicholls and Emily Barker. If you are going, I'll see you there.

From her late teens, Yola Carter (born Yolanda Quartey) quickly earned credibility and respect throughout the industry as one of the U.K's top Singers and a uniquely gifted Songwriter. As a lover of Soul and Country music her influences include The Staple Singers, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, The Band and Otis Redding. Carter found that her soul voice was the first to get attention and graduated quickly to touring internationally straight out of school with critically acclaimed acts such as Bugz in the Attic on their world tour and later Massive Attack most notably headlining The Glastonbury Festival's Other Stage Live on the BBC to 60,000 people. Other notable supports and live collaborations include The McCrary Sisters, The Fairfield Four, Willie Watson, Jan Howard, James Brown, Elizabeth Cooke and The legendary Staxx Band with whom she duetted "Knock on Wood" live with Eddie Floyd.

As a songwriter able to apply her soul sound across genres, she soon found herself being asked to write for people as well as record. She moved to London for short stint as her career as a writer began. She was being asked to deliver her unique gospel style by writing and singing on numerous Pop projects during this period working with acts like Chase and Status, DJ Fresh, Katy Perry, Duke Dumont and wrote the lead single "Hopes and Fears" for Will Young's Album The Hits as a pop writer. As an artist she collaborated with Nitin Sawhney's on his concept masterpiece "Last Days of Meaning" that previewed at the Royal Hall and centered on a stunning performance from the legendary John Hurt following the epic metaphorical Dickensian journey of a lonely intransigent man.

Somehow all at the same time she was asked to join Country-Rock band called Phantom Limb based in her hometown of Bristol UK. Originally intended as a side project for the member who belonged to separate bands as writers and producers, Yola took to plying her soul voice to the project and writing from her country soul heart. The Band originally rocky in style and styling began to morph into a country soul outfit, though never completely shedding its rock roots. As the front woman and top line writer Yola Carter co-wrote two albums with the band the eponymous debut album "Phantom Limb" and the later more countrified effort of "The Pines" produced my Marc Ford of The Black Crowes and supported acts such as Dr John, Solomon Burke and Candy Staton. She recorded two Studio albums with the band in the eight years it lasted and left the band in December 2012.

Yola Carter has since combined her two skill sets of singer-writer and writer producer to produce her debut solo EP "Orphan Offering" out this Year, and is already working on her debut album "Orphan Country", alongside contributing backing vocals on the album of the award winning folk singer-songwriter and frontman of Lau, Kris Drever. 2016 will see a return to the touring with dates throughout the Summer for Yola Carter, including supports of St Paul and The Broken Bones, Sam outlaw and Imelda Mae, and a focus on this much anticipated debut album.

http://yolacarter.com

Charly - Good Harvest

We have become very big fans of our next LCM featured duo Good Harvest in the last few months. We think 2017 will be a huge breakthrough year for them and they one of our LCM 'ones to watch'. Hanna and Ylva have just released a brand new single and our LCM #TrackOfTheDay 'Charley'. This is pretty special and a great taster of a new debut album planned for next year. Enjoy :) 

Extraordinary beautiful, emotional and well crafted. That's how the music of Hanna Enlöf and Ylva Eriksson is described. They call themselves musical twins, which shines through the inter weaved harmonies and phenomenal interaction on stage.

Their journey together has had an impressive start and along the way they’ve garnered a vast and devoted fanbase. It seems almost unlikely that it hasn’t been more than two years since they randomly ended up on a stage together and found their musical home in Good Harvest. In 2014 they released their EP Bottom Dollar.

To best describe their music, imagine a mix of how Simon & Garfunkel play together, add the harmonies of Nick Drake and finish of with the strong approach and narrative style of Gillian Welch - and you get a great amount of musical warmth and a big craving for more.

Not only have they held concerts for the King of Sweden, they’ve also appeared live on Sweden’s main national radio station several times and toured all over Sweden. Among the many great things that has happened since this astonishing duo started out, they’ve been awarded with the title ‘Newcomer of the Year’ at Dalecarlia Music Awards, given a songwriting scholarship at Live at Heart and played at huge venues such as the South By Southwest Festival in Austin, TX and Stockholm Music & Arts 2015.

Safe to say, a lot of people are looking forward to their debut album with great expectations - and it’ll leave no one disappointed when it comes out in a near future.

http://goodharvestmusic.com/

Irene - Courtney Marie Andrews

Our next LCM featured artist is a very good singer-songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews, who is originally from Phoenix, Arizona but is now based in LA. She released her first album, 'Urban Myths' in 2008,and has released five albums since. Courtney Marie is releasing her latest one 'Honest Life' in January in Europe and our LCM #TrackOfTheDay is a live version of one of the lead tracks called 'Irene'. 

Courtney Marie is heading to the UK next year and has a date at the wonderful Union Chapel on March 2nd.

After a decade spent at the height of the music industry, touring solo and with large pop bands, Courtney Marie Andrews has realised her desire for a place to come home to. She found that in a small rural town in the deep forests of Washington. There, she posted up at a local bar, slinging drinks, basking in the simplicity and reflection it allowed. She has emerged with a new fire on Honest Life, melding indie-folk and Americana with a rebellious country flavour reminiscent of her Southwestern roots. Honest Life is the culmination of Andrews' life on the road, absorbing the stories, traditions and heartbreaks along the way. The songs on Honest Life touch on personal coming-of-age stories (Rookie Dreaming), the stunning beauty of resiliency (How Quickly Your Heart Mends), take-no-shit self-determination anthems (Irene), and thoughts on how to accept emotions like loneliness and vulnerability in your life (Table for One). Andrews' heart-wrenching songwriting and crystal-clear vocal style are as captivating as they are invigorating. It's no wonder Ryan Adams called Andrews 'a phenomenal songwriter' True to her own vision, Andrews produced the entire record herself and recorded it at Litho Studios in Seattle with recording engineer Floyd Reitsma, whose recent credits include Noah Gundersen and Pearl Jam

http://www.courtneymarieandrews.com/

New South Wales - The Black Feathers (Jason Isbell cover)

We continue our "cover" series with a another great one from our LCM featured artists today The Black Feathers. This is a wonderful live version of Jason Isbell's 'New South Wales' taken from his 2013 album 'Southeastern'. A rare performance from Ray on the piano

https://theblackfeathers.com/

Hate To See You Go - The Rolling Stones

Our next LCM featured band have gone back to their roots with their first studio album in more than a decade. 'Blue & Lonesome' is the result and it's a thing of beauty. Bluesy, rootsy and a whole lot of rock & roll from one of the UK's premier bands The Rolling Stones. 'Hate To See You Go' is one of the great lead single and it really reminds us of John Lee Hooker. 

http://www.rollingstones.com/

All American Mutt - Jamie Kent

We stay in the US and head for 'Music City' for our next LCM featured artist Jamie Kent. How would we describe Jamie's music "A little bit country, a little bit soul, a lotta rock and roll". Our LCM #TrackOfTheDay is the very catchy and timely "All American Mutt" the title track from Jamie's new album released in October. 

Named by RollingStone.com as an "Artist You Need To Know", and dubbed a "rising country star" by Fox & Friends, one might say the future of Jamie Kent looks quite promising. Drawing on influences from modern country rock artists like Jason Isbell and Will Hoge, as well as paying tribute to classic greats like Bob Dylan and Tom Petty, Jamie's perfectly mellifluous tunes are roll-the-windows-down, soak-up-some-sun kind of good.

Jamie has no fear of hard work, playing over 200 shows a year including tours with Huey Lewis & The News, The Doobie Bros, America, Brothers Osborne, Brandy Clark, Marc Broussard, and multiple showcases at the South By Southwest Music Festival. Jamie is supported by The Collective, an amazing grassroots group of fans who help advise and fund his career in exchange for access to exclusive music, merchandise, and vote in the major decisions he makes. He's officially endorsed by Durango Boots, Gibson Guitars, BOSE and Telefunken Microphones, and his brand new album "All American Mutt", just debuted at #16 on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart. Landing in between Luke Bryan and Dolly Parton, Kent was the only independent artist to break into the Top 20.

http://jamiekent.com/

Call Me - Imelda May

Our next LCM artist is a very successful award winning singer-songwriter and producer from Dublin Imelda May, who is probably best known for her fusion of rockabilly, blues, jazz, pop and soul. Our LCM #TrackOfTheDayand her new single 'Call Me' is a new departure from her regular type of music. We think it's a very heartfelt, soulful and personal song with lovely hints of americana, which really showcases Imelda's pure vocals. 

http://imeldamay.co.uk/

Drunk Like You - The Cadillac Three

We are heading back to Nashville for our next LCM featured band the dynamic Country rockers The Cadillac Three. Born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, the trio of singer-guitarist Jaren Johnston, lap-steel player Kelby Ray and drummer Neil Mason are brothers in "hell yeah!" spirit and in music. They are effortlessly cool, as real as they come and arguably the most vital addition to the country-music landscape this decade. Our LCM #TrackOfTheDay is a little something to get the blood pumping, the great "Drunk Like You' taken from their brand new album 'Bury Me In My Boots' released in August. 

Recently signed to Big Machine Records, these guys could be ones to watch in 2017. The Cadillac Three have toured relentlessly in the U.K., where they've garnered a rabid fan base, opened U.S. tours for Eric Church and Dierks Bentley and are currently on the road with Florida Georgia Line. While their debut album 'Tennessee Mojo' record broke ground for the group with its rebellious swamp-rock vibe, 'Bury Me in My Boots' finds The Cadillac Three writing, recording and performing at a more assured, bolder level. It is the sound of a band fully aware of its power, one ready to decimate arenas.

http://www.thecadillacthree.com/

Halley's Comet - Sarah Darling

We are big fans of our next featured artist Sarah Darling here at LCM, so we were thrilled to see that Sarah recently performed at an 'Under The Apple Tree' session for Whisperingbobtv. Our LCM #TrackOfTheDay is a stunning live version of the beautiful 'Halley's Comet' taken from her new album 'Dream Country' (review coming shortly) .

Sarah is co-headlining with Jenn Bostic at the Green Note in May and after the last gig there, it's one that you really don't want to miss.

https://www.sarahdarling.com

Bottom Of The Sea - Sean McConnell

We always like an album release gig and our next LCM Showcase artist US singer-songwriter Sean McConnelll is releasing his self titled new one at The Garage on Friday (2nd December). Sean was born in Massachusetts to two folk singers who played in local venues in the Boston area. His family moved to Georgia when he was eleven years old, and while there he began playing guitar and writing his own songs. Sean attended Middle Tennessee State University in Nashville, where he performed regionally and continued songwriting. Our LCM #TrackOfTheDay is the catchy and sage 'Bottom Of The Sea' taken from his new album. 

Sean released his debut album on his own label in 2000, when he was just 15 years old and went on to self-issue five more full-lengths and three EPs between 2003 and 2014. Concomitantly with this, Sean entered into a publishing deal with Warner-Chappell, writing songs for artists such as Meat Loaf, Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, Buddy Miller, David Nail, Rascal Flatts, Jason Castro, Scotty McCreery, Jimmy Wayne, Phil Stacey, Brothers Osborne, Plain White T's, Eli Young Band and Brad Paisley, as well as for the television show Nashville.

Sean releases under his own name, including the 2009 album 'Saints, Thieves, Liars', drew the attention of the Texas red dirt music scene while he was still living in Nashville. Sean wrote songs for, and performed on the albums of, Texas musicians Wade Bowen and the Randy Rogers Band and opened for Bowen on a nationwide tour.

Sean signed with Rounder Records in 2016, and a self-titled album (the first not released on his own imprint) was released in July. The album was produced by Ian Fitchuk and Jason Lehning.

Pining - Parker Millsap

For our next LCM featured artist we head to California the home of an excellent new singer-songwriter Parker Millsap. At only 23 years of age Parker is already making waves in the music world. Playing a blend of blues, country, alt-country/Americana and folk music, Parker has been named one of Americana Music Association's 'Emerging Artists of the Year' after the release of his self-titled album in 2014. Parker plays guitar with a style that has drawn comparisons to Elvis.He also plays the harmonica, banjo and slide guitar. He reminds us of Paolo Nutini in some of his songs. Our LCM #TrackOfTheDay 'Pining' is one of the very catchy lead tracks from his new album 'The Very Last Day' released back in May this year. 

Parker attributes his musical influence to growing up in a Pentecostal Church and listening to blues with his parents.He has opened for Patty Griffin, Old Crow Medicine Show, Shovels & Rope, Lake Street Dive, John Fullbright, Jason Isbell, and Sarah Jarosz.

Parker grew up in the tiny town of Purcell, OK (pop. 5,952) where he attended a Pentecostal church with his family three times a week for most of his youth. Though Parker doesn't consider himself very religious these days, the experiences engraved upon him inform his songwriting. Blending that fire and brimstone preaching with rock, country, blues and Waits-ian imagery, he has created a sound uniquely his own.

Parker first picked up an acoustic guitar at nine, then plugged in and went electric after getting into Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan, eventually starting a cover band, Fever in Blue, with classmate Michael Rose who still plays bass with him today. After graduating high school, he moved to Northern California, where he interned at Prairie Sun Recording, the studio where Tom Waits recorded Bone Machine and Mule Variations. Returning to Oklahoma, he put down the electric guitar and got into songwriting, releasing an indie album in 2012, Palisade, which he sold from the back of his van.

A trip to Nashville found Parker playing at the Tin Pan South songwriter's festival, where his performance impressed Old Crow Medicine Show's manager so much that he invited Parker to open a string of dates for the band, later leading to a slot on their New Year's Eve gig at the Ryman Auditorium.

“I like to set goals for myself that are impossible to reach,” he explains. “That way, I always have something to aim for, a better song, different characters, new stories. I just want to pay the bills and feed my dog, and maybe buy a new guitar every now and then. That’s all I need. I don’t want to be Elvis Presley, but I wouldn’t complain if a million girls screamed for me, either. Just don’t tell my girlfriend that.” Parker Millsap is ready to share his Oklahoma roots with the rest of the country, and, hopefully, the world.

http://www.parkermillsap.com/

Bird In A Broken Clock - Jack Harris

Our next LCM featured artist Jack Harris - Singer/Songwriter is a London based singer-songwriter, who is releasing his latest album 'The Wide Afternoon' at the Winemakers Club this Saturday 19th November, 2016 (bells and whistles are promised). Support comes from the lovely Emily Mae Winters. Jack is a true bastion and regular of the London and UK folk circuit. The new album is a bigger, darker record than Jack’s previous, critically acclaimed offering, 2012’s 'The Flame and the Pelican'. ‘The Wide Afternoon’ is an album of mystery and melody, set against the expansive sound-palette and intricate arrangements of Gerry Diver (Sam Lee, Lisa Knapp, Tom Robinson). Gerry’s swooping violins and eerie percussion are at the record’s sonic heart, perfectly offsetting songs of dangerous men, literary women, stolen horses and vanished birds. All are delivered in husky, intimate vocals and fluid guitar picking. Our LCM #TrackOfTheDay is a live version of 'Bird In the Broken Clock' taken from another great Before The Gold Rush session. 

Jack was a SXSW showcasing artist at 17, as well as the youngest ever winner of the Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Folk Award in 2005 (previous winners include Gillian Welch, Devon Sproule and Anais Mitchell). He has been the recipient of the PRS ATOM award for new music creation, as well as an EFDSS creative bursary for songwriting. Those days are gone, along with most of Jack’s youth and vigour, but he’s still happy to find himself touring extensively, bringing his riveting live show to appreciative audiences, and making as much music as he can.

http://jackharrismusic.com

House Of Mercy - Sarah Jarosz

You will be very pleased to know that our next LCM featured artist multi Grammy award nominated Sarah Jarosz is in town tonight performing at the wonderful Union Chapel. Support comes from the lovely Hannah Saunders and Ben Savage. If you are going I'll see you there. Sarah released her latest album 'Undercurrent' in May and our LCM #TrackOfTheDay is a live version of one of the excellent lead songs called 'House Of Mercy'. 

Sarah is an American singer-songwriter from Texas. Her first album, 'Song Up in Her Head', was released in 2009 and the tune 'Mansinneedof' was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Country Instrumental Performance. Her second album, 'Follow Me Down', released in 2011, received a "Song of the Year" nomination from the Americana Music Association's 2012 Honors and Awards. Her third album, 'Build Me Up from Bones', was released on September 24, 2013 through Sugar Hill Records. 'Build Me Up from Bones' was nominated for Best Folk Album at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, and its title track was nominated for Best American Roots Song.

She has been called "a songwriter of uncommon wisdom" by the Austin Chronicle. Sarah has been interviewed by NPR and Rolling Stone and described as a contemporary-bluegrass prodigy. A New York Times reviewer wrote that Sarah is "widely regarded as one of acoustic music's most promising young talents: a singer-songwriter and mandolin and banjo prodigy with the taste and poise to strike that rare balance of commercial and critical success." Her 2013 release, 'Build Me Up from Bones' has already been dubbed by Stereo Subversion as an "organic masterwork...a warm, nuanced collection that wraps and enchants the listener", as well as "her boldest work yet" by WNYC Soundcheck.

https://www.sarahjarosz.com/

Mighty River - Railroad Earth

For our next LCM featured artists we stay in the US and travel to Stillwater, New Jersey the home of Americana Rock band Railroad Earth. Our LCM #TrackOfTheDay is a wonderful live version of 'Mighty River' first released on their 2002 'Bird In A House' album. It was filmed 333-feet below ground, deep inside Tennessee's Cumberland Caverns. We think it has touches of bluegrass rock Bob Dylan. 

Our Vinyl Sessions EP was released by the band just over a week ago, 'Mighty River' is one of the tracks included.

The members of Railroad Earth aren’t losing sleep about what “kind” of music they play – they just play it. When they started out in 2001, they were a bunch of guys interested in playing acoustic instruments together. As Railroad Earth violin/vocalist Tim Carbone recalls, “All of us had been playing in various projects for years, and many of us had played together in different projects. But this time, we found ourselves all available at the same time.”

Songwriter/lead vocalist Todd Sheaffer continues, “When we started, we only loosely had the idea of getting together and playing some music. It started that informally; just getting together and doing some picking and playing. Over a couple of month period, we started working on some original songs, as well as playing some covers that we thought would be fun to play.” Shortly thereafter, they took five songs from their budding repertoire into a studio and knocked out a demo in just two days. Their soon-to-be manager sent that demo to a few festivals, and – to the band’s surprise – they were booked at the prestigious Telluride Bluegrass Festival before they’d even played their first gig. This prompted them to quickly go in and record five more songs; the ten combined tracks of which made up their debut album, “The Black Bear Sessions.”

http://www.railroadearth.com/

Jukebox - The Honeycutters

For our next LCM featured band today we are heading to sunny North Carolina the home of the wonderful The Honeycutters. They have released a great new album back in May called 'On The Ropes', which is well worth checking out. Our LCM #TrackOfTheDay is the very catchy 'Jukebox' from their 2015 album 'Me Oh My'. 

The Honeycutters have a voice you can’t ignore; a voice of persistence, of struggle and of hope, a voice that leads the new music movement erupting out of Asheville, NC. Poised to release their 4th studio album On The Ropes May 20, 2016 on Organic Records, Nashville’s Music City Roots’ Craig Havighurst says principal songwriter and frontwoman, Amanda Anne Platt “has a voice that’s complex, sweet and aching. Even more potently, she writes songs that folks are citing as up there with the best of the field, such as Mary Gauthier and Lucinda Williams.” Along with Platt, The Honeycutters are Rick Cooper (electric and upright bass), Josh Milligan (drums and vocal harmonies), Matt Smith (pedal steel and electric guitar), and Tal Taylor (mandolin). On The Ropes was produced by Amanda Anne Platt and Tim Surrett and engineered and mastered by Van Atkins at Crossroads Studios in Arden, NC

http://www.honeycutters.com/