For fans and musicians of Folk, Americana, Country, Blues, Singer-Songwriter, Rock, Roots & Acoustic and music from the Laurel Canyon late 60’s/early 70’s era.
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LCM #SongOfTheDay: ‘Party Of One’ - Brandi Carlile (ft. Sam Smith)
The excellent “Party Of One” was recorded live at Capitol studios and produced by Dave Cobb. This great duet by Brandi and Sam sees them combining their considerable talents to support a cause very close to their hearts, ‘Children In Conflict’. A portion of the profits of the new single will go to the charity.
Photo Credit: Matt Hayslett (Warner Music South Africa)
LCM #SongOfTheDay: ‘Drive’ - Remember Monday
Remember Monday are a country-pop trio featuring Holly-Anne Hull, Lauren Byrne and Charlotte Steele. They are launching their latest single ‘Drive’ at The Troubadour in London this evening. It was produced by Tim Prottey-Jones of The Wandering Hearts. We love their rich harmonies and songwriting, and think this could be their breakthrough year. They remind us of a fusion of The Dixie Chicks, The Wreckers, Runaway June and The Pistol Annies.
They girls met at college at age 17, and bonded over their mutual love of John Mayer and harmonies. From there it was a short seven years before Remember Monday was born. They were known for a number of years as 'Houston', and released their debut EP 'Manuscripts' in March 2018. The first track, "Your Kinda Love", reached number 3 in the iTunes Country Music Chart in the first week of release.
After wowing audiences at festivals across the UK this summer, they are now working on new music, which will be released later this year.
LCM #SongOfTheDay: ‘How To Win’ - The Native Sibling
We take a trip to Seattle today to meet award-winning brother and sister duo Ryan and Kaylee Williams, better known as The Native Sibling. ‘How To Win’ is the wonderful brand new single taken from their forthcoming second album ‘Hammer is Heart’.
Reflecting on the songs inception Kaylee comments
“How to Win’ was conceived during my time working in Pioneer Square in Seattle. I experienced a lot of confusion and heartbreak living in such an urban area and wrote the song as a call to action to acknowledge the brothers and sisters around you. I brought it to Ryan as a slow, somber piano ballad and we worked through the arrangement together, changing up the groove and tempo. It was the first song we started recording for the new LP, and it felt like a horse leaving the gate. It set the mood for us and we hope that it sets a tone for the new record.”
The duo’s previous album ‘Letters Kept to Ourselves’ received millions of plays on Spotify and secured them a ‘Daytrotter’ session along with a ‘best of’ iTunes album placement upon release.
Photo credit: Ben Blood
LCM #SongOfTheDay - ‘Revved Up’ - Katy Hurt
We have something special today to get your blood pumping, your heart beating faster and toes tapping. ‘Revved Up’ is the excellent new country rock single from young UK Country star Katy and her band The Healers. It’s the second single from the highly anticipated ‘Unfinished Business’ EP which was recorded in Winnipeg, Canada with Juno Award winning producer Murry Pulver. The wonderful video for the song is a spaghetti western themed ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ heist story directed by Ryan Say.
The first single from the new EP, ‘See Ya Later’ was released on July 30th and currently has received airplay on over 30 radio stations including ‘Chris County’ and ‘Eagle’ and has already over 90,000 streams on Spotify.
Katy Hurt has quickly become a leading young star on the UK Country/Americana scene and all this without so far releasing a full length studio album. 2018 has seen her open for Liam Gallagher at Pilton Party, support Jools Holland, receive a nomination for “Best Country/Folk Act” at the Unsigned Music Awards, as well as performing at festival slots at Country 2 Country, BlackDeer, Stone Free, Rhythmtree, Cornbury and many more.
Katy Hurt has lived a lot of country for a 20-year-old. American culture is stamped on her soul from a childhood living there. Then she returned to England to put her love of Nashville sounds to use. Katy spent 2017 performing at over 100 shows around the country following the launch of her EP “Pieces of Me”, with songs impressing fans by combining the honest lyrical content of country with the riffs and raucous vocals of southern rock.
BBC Radio 2’s Paul Sexton described Katy as “One of the most exciting prospects on the burgeoning country scene”, saying “Hurt’s confident, distinctive EP is the latest evidence of a career that’s already produced an iTunes UK Country No. 1 in ‘Love You More,’ among other successes”.
LCM #SongOfTheDay: Who’s Been Talkin’ - Whitehorse
We are very big fans of husband and wife duo Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland, better known collectively as Toronto based multi-instrumentalists Whitehorse. Our featured track today is the excellent ‘Who’s Been Talkin’’ taken from their forthcoming six-track EP ‘The Northern South Vol. 2’, out on January 18th 2019 via Six Shooter Records.
Ethereal folk, space cowboy twang, psychedelic spaghetti western, Intergalactic blues grooves and pop noir. Since their debut in 2011, Whitehorse has evolved from magnetic folk duo to full-blown rock band. In truth, Whitehorse is never fully either one or the other, but an ever-evolving creative partnership that challenges both artists to explore new instrumental and lyrical terrain with each project. Together, Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland’s searing Americana noir sensibility is distinguished by guitar wizardry (and instantly recognizable tone) and magnetic harmonies.
Now, the JUNO Award winning duo Whitehorse return to the early days of electric blues with The Northern South Vol. 2, the second instalment of a project that melds the grooves and melodies of the original selections with the band’s steamy, swampy, squalling approach. ‘The Northern South Vol. 2’, coming January 2019 deals 1950s blues bops, hellfire gospels and sexed-up cuts from Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Dixon, Jimmy Reed and more. The first single, “Who’s Been Talkin’” channels the cross-continent blues super sessions with spiny Wurlitzer, serpentine White Falcon and, above all, a deep reverence for Howlin’ Wolf and his longtime guitar player Hubert Sumlin.
https://www.whitehorsemusic.ca/
Pre-order your copy now
LCM #SongOfTheDay: - ‘London’s Blues’ - Ferris & Sylvester
Issy Ferris and Archie Sylvester are a fast rising London duo. Their music references the mid-60s sounds of Greenwich Village combined with their meatier blues tones. They sit somewhere between Jack White and First Aid Kit, with their clever combination of blues, folk and rock n roll. We really like their latest single ‘London’s Blues’ taken from their latest EP ‘Made In Streatham’.
The London-based pair met two and a half years ago and have since won over the capital with their ever-growing live presence and songwriting. This year, the duo released their highly anticipated EP 'Made In Streatham' which they self-produced in their South London flat. Released through their own label 'Archtop Records', the EP has clocked up over 2.5 million Spotify streams, rose to No.1 on the iTunes Singer-Songwriter chart and received widespread praise across the board. The duo also reached the final of the UMA awards in the Folk & Country category, with the final results yet to be announced.
After a packed summer of Festivals including appearances at BST with Eric Clapton, Bath Fest with Robert Plant and main stage at Wilderness with BBC Introducing, the pair are moving into the next phase of their exciting career with new music coming soon.
http://www.ferrisandsylvester.com/
Photo Credit: Daniel Alexander Harris
LCM #SongOfTheDay: ‘Good On You Son’ - Mark Knopfler
As huge DIre Straits fan it’s always exciting when Mark Knopfler releases new music. We love this very catchy new single taken for his forthcoming album ‘Down The Road Wherever’ due for release on November 16th.
Ask Mark Knopfler to explain the title of his ninth solo studio album and he will tell you that ‘Down The Road Wherever’ is a line from one of the tracks: 'One Song At A Time.' He'll give the credit for that title phrase to a sadly departed friend with whom he shared a lifelong love of songwriting and guitar playing, and their endless potential to change lives.
‘I remember my pal Chet Atkins once saying that he picked his way out of poverty one song at a time, and it just stuck in my mind,’ says Mark. ‘You get to an age where it is a few songs. But Down The Road Wherever seems to be appropriate, just because it's what I've always done. I've always tried to keep my own geography happening in the songs, that applies there as well.’ In One Song At A Time' that autobiographical geography pinpoints Deptford, where the up-and-coming Dire Straits began to make their way, one song at a time.
The unassuming spirit of the itinerant songsmith is still Knopfler's pilot light, inextinguishable through more than 40 years at the absolute pinnacle of his profession. ‘Down The Road Wherever’ is the latest, elegant evidence of that steadfast hunger, a bold and often surprising songbook of 14 selections (more on the deluxe editions) boiled down from twice as many that went into the workshop.
LCM #SongOfTheDay ‘The Snake’ - Eric Church
It’s dark and broody, it’s bluesy, rootsy and southern gothic….and we love it. Eric’s brilliant new single ‘The Snake’ is one of our favourite tracks from his recently released new sixth studio album ‘Desperate Man’.
Eric has long maintained that putting music into specific genres is an outmoded concept, and ‘Desperate Man’ (11 tracks tellingly overseen by regular producer Jay Joyce) is further proof of EC’s broad range of influences, from rock and metal acts through to Hank Williams Jr. and Ray Wylie Hubbard, the latter getting a co-writing credit on the new album’s lead single and title track.
Given Eric’s revered status and record-breaking stats, ‘Desperate Man’ could have been a collection of slickly-crafted stadium anthems, but instead of going down that pyro-laced path, the end result, very much a body of work, spotlights Eric as a thoughtful artist fuelled by emotion, feel and the desire to tell a story; a family man cast in the great American song-writing tradition, bringing to mind names like Springsteen, Seger and Jackson Browne; a musician whose substantial success hasn’t detracted from his ability to both talk from the heart and shoot from the hip. In short, an album for our (desperate) times."
LCM #SongOfTheDay: ‘Make It Sweet’ - Old Dominion
The next song is so good the the multi-awarding Nashville based band Old Dominion have named their current world tour after it. We really love the sentiments in the song and we are sure you will too. ‘Make It Sweet’ is taken from their second album ‘Happy Endings’ released at the end of August.
“We walked into the studio one day without discussing what we wanted the next step for our band to be. The plan was to write a song and record it on that same day. What happened was something we could never have planned. The words fell out and the next thing we knew, we had recorded “Make It Sweet.” It’s raw and natural and 100% us. We are so proud and grateful to have the opportunity to share such a meaningful moment with the world.” - Old Dominion.
Proving that they are not your average country band, Old Dominion blends old-fashioned country charm, lyrical wit and rock n’ roll grit into radio-friendly, hook-heavy pop nuggets. The band has emerged as one of the hottest breaking bands in country music, fusing clever lyrics and an infectious sound. Old Dominion recently released their highly anticipated sophomore album, ‘Happy Endings’, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart & #7 on the Top 200.
If you would like to see the band live they will be in London at the O2 SBE on the 4th November. All other tour dates are on their website for you.
LCM #SongOfTheDay: ‘Eagle Bear Buffalo’ - Passenger
We take a trip to the stunning Yellowstone National Park today to meet Mike Rosenberg (Passenger). We love Mike’s new single which is a very fitting tribute to the park. The great video was filmed on location and directed by Jarrad Seng and the track is taken from Mike’s latest album ‘Runaway’ which was released at the end of August via Black Crow Records. Please let us know what you think?
Mike has also teamed up with the amazing people at Sierra Club who are battling to keep places like Yellowstone as beautiful as they are. Please go and check them out or support if you can.
LCM #SongOfTheDay - Until The Night Is Over
Our wonderful featured song today is Cheshire singer-songwriter Sam Lyon’s latest single and it was written as a present for her father. We think that the song really showcases Sam’s songwriting, arrangements and pure vocals. Sam comments “A few years ago, my dad got a tattoo of some song lyrics on his arm. These lyrics were from a song I wrote when I was about 15. It was his favourite song of mine, and yet, I never released it. Well, today it's his birthday, and since I only ever buy him socks, I figured this might make for a nice surprise. So, without further ado, this is my latest (yet almost my oldest) single, 'Until The Night Is Over'.”
LCM #SongOfTheDay: ‘You’re Not Alone’ - Lucy May Walker
Opening the Sunday programme at the recent Music Makers Festival was the very talented Lucy May Walker, a folk pop singer-songwriter originally from Worcestershire but now London based. You can often find Lucy busking around London, if you do please say hello. We really like our featured track today ‘You’re Not Alone’ which was written about her life in the capital. It’s taken from Lucy’s EP ‘Heartbreak Songs’, which reached No.3 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter chart chart and received numerous plays on BBC Introducing across the Midlands.
Catch Lucy on 31st October at 1:30 PM as she performs a live session and has an interview with Jeremy Vine’s on his BBC Radio 2 show.
April 2018 saw Lucy set off on her debut UK headline tour, selling out in both Birmingham & London. She has also supported the likes of The Dunwells, Mark Wilkinson & most recently Lucy Spraggan.
LCM #SongOfTheDay: ‘Needle’ - Treetop Flyers
We stay with the excellent artists at the recent Music Makers Festival with the great award winning London based Folk-Rock & Americana band the Treetop Flyers. We loved their stripped set at the festival, so much so that we bought their self titled latest album which was released on the 24th August. Our featured song today is the wonderful ‘Needle’ which is taken from the new album. The band also won the Glastonbury Festival Emerging Talent Competition 2011
If you would like to see the band live in London, they are playing next at The Scala supporting Israel Nash on the 22nd November. If you have been following us for a while, you will know how much we love Israel’s music. This is a highly recommended date for your diaries.
LCM #SongOfTheDay: ‘Stone Cold Classic’ - AKA George
For the next few days we are going to be featuring some of the many excellent artists at this year’s Music Makers Festival in London. First up is London based multi-instrumentalist AKA George. We really love ‘Stone Cold Classic’, a catchy pop gem rooted in classic rock rebellion. With a full band It really reminded us live of the great and sadly missed INXS,. The song has also been featured on a recent Skoda ad.
AKA George currently has 30 million+ YouTube views and is forging his own way in the indie music world after turning down a couple of record companies already.
It all began after uploading a cover of Daft Punk's 'Get Lucky' to the internet, which he mainly did it to amuse his friends. Tens of millions of views later, Pharrell Williams gave his nod of approval calling him a ‘genius’, sparking a major label scrum in the process. But then he took a step back. Wanting to retain his independence, AKA George vowed to move ahead on his own.
Going places fast we think AKA George could be one to watch……..
LCM #SongOfTheDay: ‘Broken’ - Callaghan
Our featured song today could quite easily be the next James Bond movie theme. It’s powerful and big, it’s emotive and it has an 30 piece orchestra with a wonderful string and piano arrangement. ‘Broken’ was written by Callaghan and Starr Parodi and the video was filmed recently in sunny LA. It’s one of the great lead songs from Callaghan’s new self titled album released at the end of August.
Relocating to LA, UK born Georgina has been very busy crafting a more cinema pop oriented sound, moving away slightly from her previous excellent Country-Pop releases. The new album still has her high quality songwriting and rich pure vocals.
Let us know what you think of the new song?
Callaghan will be on a UK tour in early November with her London date at Dingwalls, Camden on the 7th November. The special guest on the night is the wonderful Danni Nicholls. We think it’s a date for your diaries.
LCM #SongOfTheDay - ‘I Got The Lonely’ - Mel Parsons
We take a trip today to Wellington in New Zealand to meet our next featured artist the multi-award winning and very talented Mel Parson. ‘I Got The Lonely’ is the first single from Mel’s forthcoming new album due in late 2018. It was produced by the excellent Mitchell Froom. We have been a big fan of Mel’s music for a few years now. Mel is one of New Zealand’s fast rising songwriting indie-folk singer-songwriter stars.
With a dynamite live show - solo, duo, or with her dynamic band, Mel is an engaging performer with a natural emotive voice that allows the listener to become part of the story. With a wide breadth of material, Parsons has a dynamic songwriting range: from the gutsy & rhythmic hand-clappers like audience favourite ‘Far Away’, through to pin-drop ballads like ‘Don’t Wait’, featuring Canadian songwriting royalty Ron Sexsmith.
Mel is a two-time NZ Music Award (VNZMA) finalist for ‘Folk Album of the Year’, and a current finalist for the coveted APRA Silver Scroll award. With home as a hotel room and a suitcase, she has built up a solid fan base the old fashioned way - winning over audiences on the live circuit. Along with NZ performances, Parsons has had recent tours in Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia and Germany. She is also a cast member of Kiwi musical collective ‘Fly My Pretties‘, with tours and festival performances including the prestigious Byron Bay Bluesfest.
LCM #SongOfTheDay: ‘She Took The Tennessee River’ - Special Consensus
We have some great bluegrass for you today from a star studded multi-award winning band from Chicago. First formed over 40 years ago the band have released a great new album ‘Rivers and Roads’ in April, which is where our wonderful featured song is taken.
Special Consensus are a superb bluegrass outfit in a classic vein but with more than enough modern sensibilities to attract every ear in this great genre. The vocals are spotless, the playing as shiny as a newly minted penny, and music like this is the reason people come to love bluegrass… Special Consensus approaches this hallowed American musical form with boundless energy and an aesthetic reverence that tickles the ribs, tugs at the heart, and puts a restless two-step in boots and bare feet.
On 'Rivers and Roads', Special Consensus shines on a well-curated set of top notch bluegrass songs. The core band - Greg Cahill (banjo, vocals), Rick Faris (guitar, vocals), Nick Dumas (mandolin, vocals) and Dan Eubanks (bass, vocals) - has never sounded better and shows the depth of their vocal and instrumental mastery on the album's lead off track "Way Down the River Road", a John Hartford original, augmented by the dancing feet of former John Hartford Stringband member Mark Schatz. Other stand out tracks include "She Took the Tennessee River", a song destined to become a bluegrass classic, penned by Becky Buller who contributes a blistering fiddle solo and featuring the inimitable Bobby Osborne on lead and harmony vocals. On "Hurting Sure", written by Mark Simos, the band enlists the talents of label mate Molly Tuttle on lead and harmony vocals as well as a clawhammer banjo part that dovetails elegantly with Greg Cahill's Scruggs-style banjo. Ten String Symphony and the album's producer Alison Brown join the quartet on a virtuosic arrangement of the old time instrumental "Squirrel Hunters" with another tip of the hat to John Hartford.
Over the past 40+ years, the members of veteran bluegrass outfit Special Consensus have served as evangelists for the genre, bringing their own spin on Mid Western bluegrass to audiences around the globe. Their commitment and talents have been recognized with a Grammy nomination and 3 IBMA Awards including Instrumental Recorded Performance for "Fireball" from their 2016 release 'Long I Ride'.
Produced by Chris Bond Bvs by Lydia Clowes facebook.com/tomspeightmusic
LCM #SongOfTheDay; Collide - Tom Speight
Our featured artist today is the fast rising London based indie singer-songwriter Tom Speight. We love his new single ‘Collide’ which was released today. The song also features the wonderful vocals of Lydia Mary Clowes. Tom is currently on a UK tour, with dates in Manchester tonight, Birmingham tomorrow and a London date at Thousand Islands on the 11th October. The song was written in Belfast in January and epitomises a very personal and difficult journey for Tom due to his bad health. The song pictures falling for someone and knowing it could be like this forever.
It’s very appropriate that we are featuring Tom’s music today on the eve of the Music Maker’s Festival, as that is where we first met Tom and his band last year. Tom’s back catalogue is excellent and worth checking out if you haven’t discover his music before.
LCM #SongOfTheDay: ‘No Place Like Home’ - Martha L Healy
WIth a brand new Nashville recorded album ‘Keep The Flame Alight’ due for release on October 5th via Frogeye Records, our LCM featured artist today is Glasgow based singer-songwriter Martha L Healy. Although the new album was recorded in Nashville, it retains a strong sense of Martha's Celtic heritage. We love Martha’s album opener ‘No Place Like Home’, a an ode to home and Scotland and a reflection on how the place we come from can frustrate, but ultimately inspires us.
Martha comments “I started to write this before I left for a “life sabbatical” in Nashville in 2016. Scotland and me had reached a point in our relationship where I had to leave and escape for a while. I also knew I couldn’t stay in Nashville for ever…As I wrote the next verse, in Nashville, I was still intent on easing the blow of my return to Scotland and I also found myself writing lyrics about the things that I both love and hate about my homeland: the rain; the greyness; the cold wind but I also write about missing the warm fire and the fact that the people are ridiculously honest. The whole song is about feeling weary but also that feeling you get – wherever you’ve been in the world – when you get in your own front door and sit down in front of the fire.”
Through a mix of personal insight and story songs, Martha provides a fresh take on some classic themes – the need to leave somewhere to help find your place in the world, the ache of an unfulfilled love, the complexity of family and friendships and the need to live your own dreams. She also explores how being a woman in the 21st century is not without its fair share of pressures and demands.
The majority of ‘Keep The Flame Alight’ was written in Nashville on Martha's 3-month life sabbatical in 2016. Following receipt of Creative Scotland funding, the album was recorded back there in October/November 2017, with David Spicher in the production chair and a host of fantastic Nashville session players.
Photo Credit: Kris Kasiak Photography
Written by Holly Redford Jones Vocals and Guitar - Holly Redford Jones Bass Guitar - Hunter Mulkey Drums - Simon Knudtson BGVs - Hollie Hammel Organ - Athena Kulb Lead Guitar - Adam McPhail Grand Piano - Will Houchens Pedal Steel - Tyler Sutphen Mixing Engineer - Ben O'Neill Tracking Engineer - Chris Hickman Cover Art by Athena Kulb
LCM #SongOfTheDay: ‘Big Blue Sky’ - Holly Redford Jones
Originally from Chesterfield, Holly Redford Jones is an indie folk artist possessed of a dry wit and deep, soulful voice. She released her debut single, ‘Big Blue Sky’ on the 24th of August, a track recorded in Nashville, Tennessee. We like this song a lot here at LCM HQ. The track is also getting a lot of support from BBC Introducing. Let us know what you think?
Vocals and Guitar - Holly Redford Jones, Bass Guitar - Hunter Mulkey, Drums - Simon Knudtson, BGVs - Hollie Hammel, Organ - Athena Kulb, Lead Guitar - Adam McPhail, Grand Piano - Will Houchens and Pedal Steel - Tyler Sutphen