My Universe - The Shires

For our LCM #TrackOfTheDay we feature the very catchy latest single and album title track 'My Universe' from Ben and Crissie of The Shires. They are releasing their second album 'My Universe' on the 30th September and we have it on good authority, that is it very good indeed. The single is released in support of the #ItCanWait campaign which tries to stop the very dangerous practice of people using their hand held mobile phones while driving.

UK Country Duo The Shires, formed in Mid-2013 after meeting on facebook. Formed by Ben Earle who had previously been signed to Island Records as a solo art, and Crissie Rhodes a country lover who until 2013 had spent her career singing in clubs and pubs throughout the UK.

When they came together the magic started! Union started working with them a couple of months after they formed, already with an impressive backlog of Earl penned songs. Signed to Decca in the UK Feb 2014, Universal have re-launched their Decca Nashville label and The Shires are the first act of this new era for the label. Their debut single ‘Nashville Grey Skies’ released May 2014 was immediately A listed by Radio 2. This was followed by 2 sold out tours in 2014. They recorded their debut album in Nashville in May 2014.

The album ‘Brave’ was released in the UK in March 2015, they made UK chart history, by becoming the first ever UK country act to chart Top 10. 2015 saw a fourth sold out tour of the UK headlining The Shepherds Bush Empire. Check out the bands website for tour dates and heavy festival touring activity of the Summer of 2016.

They made history becoming the first ever UK act to play the legendary Grand Ole Orpy in Nashville.

Their debut album ‘Brave’ went Gold in the UK in December 2015, making them one of only 4 UK debut acts to break gold that year. Radio 2 the UK’s most listened to Radio station have A listed 5 singles for the album. TV performances have included; BBC Breakfast News, Graham Norton (that put the album back in the UK, Australian and New Zealand itunes charts), BBC Awards.

They toured in January 2016 with Irish band The Corrs and are heading off to Germany and Europe for their own shows.

http://www.theshiresmusic.com

I And Love And You - The Avett Brothers

Our LCM showcase band today are the very good The Avett Brothers from North Carolina. They are currently on their European tour and will be performing at the O2 Shepherd Bush Empire this Tuesday and Wednesday. Our #TrackOfTheDay is one of their big hits, the title track from their 2009 'I And Love And You' album. We like this one a lot.:)

They have recently released a new album in June called 'True Sadness', which is well worth checking out.

Scott and Seth Avett were born in Cheyenne, WY and Charlotte, N.C. (respectively) and raised in Concord, North Carolina. They began with dreams of rock/pop stardom (Scott) and astronaut adventures (Seth). Eventually, they abandoned those dreams for the more attainable goals of folk and old-time stardom and ultimately, abandoned these dreams for the even less likely dream of making a living playing original songs for people. These dreams were made exponentially more lofty by the sheer badness of their earliest compositions. As fate and ignorance would have it, the brothers were not aware of the vast room for improvement their early songs provided and so felt the need to proudly share them with anyone who would listen, or anyone who would not listen. They grew up on a small hobby farm, grumbling often over the fact that they had never seen the likes of Hall & Oates, David Lee Roth, or El DeBarge anywhere near a pasture or a chicken house. They received piano lessons from a woman named Karen, guitar from a man named Nelson, and banjo from a man named Ned (all of the talented Concord, NC-based Mullis family). They recorded song ideas on cassette tapes and thought a lot about themselves and the world they lived in (in that order). They discovered pop music, rock music, American roots music. In high school, they played soccer and performed in the yearly talent show, believing both to be the world stage. Each studied visual arts in college, while still thinking a lot about themselves and the world they lived in. They eventually found themselves in a band together, Nemo, and went about the task of global rock-and-roll domination. Alas, the world was not ready to be rock-and-roll dominated (by them anyway), and while the band was destined to disband, the takeaway was substantial, with valuable results including a bold 5-song EP, experience on the stage, and lessons in commitment and communication a plenty.

Ultimately, The Avett Brothers joined together to present songs about experiences that they as humans have known to humans who know what they mean. Subject matters are tragic, joyful and inexhaustible. They sing and play often, as long as they are not too busy walking around the mall, changing kid’s diapers, buying coffee, making coffee, washing dishes, going to the mountains, going to the beach, taking a run, moving into a different house or apartment, visiting St. Jude, producing a record, talking before thinking, nursing thought-induced headaches, getting married, getting divorced, falling in love, falling out of the top bunk, building cardboard spaceships, complaining about whatever there is to complain about, painting, planting a doomed garden, befriending a rabbit in the backyard, getting the truck inspected, watching Doc Watson on YouTube, paying a small fortune for an old book about how to play the banjo, counting blessings, forgetting blessings, going to the Fischl exhibition, going to the Estes exhibition, building a dining room table, making a podcast, teaching children how to fiddle, petitioning a governor, practicing an instrument that they’re already supposed to be good at, making a print, making a mess, taking kids to church, taking kids to school, taking kids to soccer practice, cleaning up after kids, laughing in the kitchen, sending flowers, pacing in the waiting room, thinking it over, talking it out, watching it go or leaving it be.

http://www.theavettbrothers.com

Meet Me In The Twilight - Seth Lakeman (Ft. Wildwood Kin)

For our next LCM showcase artists and #TrackOfTheDay we turn to the wonderful Seth Lakeman and Wildwood Kin. "Meet Me In The Twilight" is the new single from Seth's forthcoming album 'Ballads Of The Broken Few" released on September 16th. Catch them if you can on their UK Tour.

I'll Make You Strong - Hannah White

Our next LCM featured artist has been described as "simply stunning", "the Amy Winehouse of UK Americana" and "a Nora Jones with a edge". London singer-songwriter Hannah White has recently released her very good new album 'Whose Side Are You On?" in April and our LCM #TrackOfTheDay is one of the lead singles, the very catchy and upbeat "I'll Make You Strong". 

Thanks to Peter Males for the great recommendation. If you are going later I'll see you there :)

Hannah White is a singer songwriter, an ambassador of independent art of all kinds and a feminist. Despite her feminist credentials, Hannah is adamant that the album, ‘Whose Side Are You On?’ is not just political rhetoric. There are certainly no passages claiming right or wrong either way. For Hannah, this deeply personal collection of songs has been written and offered out to the world, simply to start conversation.

With a view of doing just that, Hannah began performing the album across the most classless of institutions, Fish 'n' Chip shops, and started the conversation with people of all ages and all backgrounds. And in doing so she has attracted more attention than she could have anticipated.

Hannah has been invited on to BBC regional radio shows all over the country performing live and talking about her music. Her latest single 'I'll Make You Strong' has been played on BBC Radio 2, Amazing Radio, BBC London, BBC Merseyside, BBC Manchester, BBC Kent, BBC Essex and more. The artist has enjoyed glowing reviews from publications nationwide and she was recently invited to perform for Whispering Bob Harris an Under The Apple Tree Session in his Oxfordshire studio. Hannah's growing following and demand has led to a series of tour dates across the country in the summer of this year. Keep checking this website for dates.

http://www.hannahwhitemusic.com/

The Fall - Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage

Our LCM #TrackOfTheDay comes from a very exciting new folk duo Hannah Sanders and Ben Savage. They are releasing their new debut duo album 'Before The Sun' at the Green Note on the 5th September (UK Tour Sep-Nov). Also, they are running a pre-sale and other goodies on Indiegogo. If you would like to grab yourself a copy, the campaign is ending in a couple of days (link below). Guests on the album include Kevin Breit, Jon Thorne, Evan Carson and Katriona Gilmore. One taster of the new album is the very good 'The Fall'. The video was produced and filmed by Rob Bridge. https://youtu.be/_-lQ0JRvbXk

https://www.indiegogo.com/…/before-the-sun-pre-o…/x/5537976…

http://www.hannahbenmusic.com/