The excellent The London Roots Festival grows bigger and better for 2018

The London Roots Festival 24th October - 18th November (formerly The London Folk & Roots Festival) is now in it’s fifth year. It’s grown from doing 6 shows in the first year to 32 in 2017 year across various size venues such as The Palladium, Bush Hall, Union Chapel, Shepherds Bush Empire, Oslo and many more.  Growing from strength to strength each year, 2018 promises to be bigger and better than ever.

This year's great line-up includes:-

• Tom Baxter
• Blind Boys Of Alabama
• Joshua Burnside
• Callaghan
• Bruce Cockburn
• Fisherman's Friends
• Finbar Furey
• Jake Morrell
• Lindisfarne
• Over The Rhine
• Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys
• John Smith
• Sound Of The Sirens
• Trampled By Turtles
• Robert Vincent

In 2014 David Messer having promoted roots music for a number of years through DMP UK, decided to start a festival to give a platform for new and up and coming artists to play with known and established artists and to bring the best in roots music to London under one banner. So he teamed up with his friends at National Promotion company Kilimanjaro Live and created the The London Folk & Roots Festival, a multi venue event over two weeks in Oct/Nov.

It’s grown from doing 6 shows in the first year to 32 last year across various size venues such as The Palladium, Bush Hall, Union Chapel, Shepherds Bush Empire, Oslo and many more.

They have changed the name this year as they feel that folk comes under roots and they have an eclectic mix of folk, country, Americana, blues, singer songwriters and world music. We are very pleased here at LCM that this festival, is becoming a great part of London’s musical calendar.

If you are interesting in playing at the festival please send your info to david@dmpuk.com.

https://www.seetickets.com/tour/the-london-roots-festival

The excellent Music Makers Festival in London on October 6th and 7th announces artist line-up

The excellent Music Makers weekend festival set for the 6th & 7th October in the wonderful Half Moon in Putney, has just announced it's artist line up and stage times. This is a super London festival, if you haven't already discovered it before. It's organised and curated by Albert Mann and Manoja Ullmann. The full review of last years event is included for you on our LCM website.

This years line-up includes long term LCM favourites Danni Nicholls, Two Ways Home, Michele Stodart and Albert Mann and his band. As well as Hope, Jack O'Rouke, Jacko Hooper, Treetop Flyers, Aka George, Lucy May Walker, Declan Greene, Mide, Howard Rose and Kim Hayden.

Limited 'Early bird' full weekend passes are very reasonably priced at £20. All available tickets options including day tickets are included in the link below for you.

http://www.musicmakersfestival.com/tickets/

‘Sights & Sounds Of Tennessee’ Experiance To Debut At Waterloo Station: June 4th - 17th

Tennessee Invites UK Travellers to Experience the Soundtrack of America: performers include Gill Landry, Yola Carter, Kasheena Sampson & Robert Vincent

The beckon call of live music, complimentary Jack Daniel’s and an immersive multi-sensory experience will entice Waterloo Station travellers to delay their evening commutes and take a brief holiday in Tennessee at a special exhibit entitled “The Sights & Sounds of Tennessee” from 4th-17th June 2018.

The exhibit is part of a month-long campaign featuring the Tennessee destinations of Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville that follows British Airways’ introduction of its five-days-per-week nonstop service from London Heathrow to Nashville, the capital city and centre to the state. The Sounds of Tennessee exhibit at Waterloo and digital boards throughout London are to feature custom Spotify playlists that will serve as a formal invitation to British holidaymakers to visit Tennessee, one of the world’s top travel destinations for music lovers.

A special kick-off event, featuring Nashville recording artist Gill Landry, formerly of Old Crow Medicine Show, and AMA UK Artist of the Year Yola Carter, will take place at the exhibit on Monday, 4 June from 2 p.m. and include remarks by a Tennessee Department of Tourist Development representative.

Tennessee, located in the Southeastern United States, is the birthplace of seven different forms of popular music—blues, bluegrass, country, gospel, soul, rockabilly, and rock ‘n’ roll—and has more musicians per capita than any other place in the world. Tennessee is also home to world-renowned music attractions including Beale Street, Bijou Theatre, Bluebird Cafe, Blues Hall of Fame, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Graceland, Grand Ole Opry, Sun Studio, Ryman Auditorium and Tennessee Theatre.

‘Sights & Sounds of Tennessee’ visitors will stand atop a map of Tennessee and use headphones to listen to music recordings and other sounds one can only experience in Tennessee. Corresponding websites, accessible via mobile devices, enable visitors to virtually transport themselves to Tennessee destinations with 360-degree videos including a scenic vista overlooking the Great Smoky Mountains or one of the many blues clubs lining Memphis’ famous Beale Street.

Live music concerts will be held at the exhibit weekdays from 2 - 4pm, featuring music curated by the UK Americana Music Association (AMA UK) performed by some of the genre’s top artists, followed by a Jack Daniel’s Happy Hour from 4 - 6pm. Scheduled artists include:

Kashena Sampson, 5 June
Robert Vincent, 6 June
Danni Nicholls, 7 June
The Luck, 8 June
Bennett Wilson Poole, 11 June
Jake Morrell, 12 June
Worry Dolls, 13 June
Rob Heron, 14 June
Martin Harley, 15 June

“The UK is home to the world’s greatest travellers, many of whom have been coming to Tennessee for years to experience The Soundtrack of America and enjoy our southern hospitality, great cities, rich history and beautiful outdoors,” said Kevin Triplett, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. “The new nonstop service aboard British Airways makes reaching Tennessee easier than ever, and we look forward to welcoming even more of our friends from across the Atlantic in the years to come.”

On 4th May, the first new LHR - BNA flight (British Airways Flight 223; a Boeing 787-7 Dreamliner carrying 200 passengers) left London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) at 1545 local time and touched down at Nashville International Airport (BNA) eight-and-a-half hours later, initiating a five-days-a-week nonstop service from the United Kingdom to Tennessee’s capital city.

‘The Sights & Sounds of Tennessee’ exhibit is a joint effort led by the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, working in partnership with BrandUSA, the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp., Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau and Knoxville Convention & Visitors Bureau, to formerly introduce Tennessee to Londoners through an interactive sight and sound experience in London’s Waterloo Station.

Photo credit: EPE

For more information please visit: www.tnvacation.com.

Future Juke: A Festival Of 21st Century Blues - London May 29th – June 5th

A excellent London blues festival is taking place in London from May 29th to June in various location around town. Organised by DMP UK and our friend Joe Cushley from Balling The Jack this is a celebration of live blues music not to be missed.

John Lennon once said “The blues is a chair, not the design for a chair, or a better chair… It is the first chair.” Hip-hop guru Chuck D agreed – “Rap is the furniture, blues is the damn house…” Elvis once commented – “If you haven’t got a partner, use a wooden chair…

Future Juke Festival intends to present some of the finest chairs.

June 1st, Dingwalls – Tickets: https://bit.ly/2qMcv5U

Fantastic Negrito won the 2017 Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album. He is one of the most electrifying performers you will ever encounter. He is Bernie Sanders’ favourite bluesman. Chris Cornell personally asked him to be opening act on his final tours. The Daily Mirror wrote of ‘The Last Days Of Oakland’ – “The first great album of the post-Ali, post-Prince world.” The forthcoming, ‘Please Don’t Be Dead is even better. He will be supported by Miraculous Mule, a power trio who have revitalised British alt.blues-rock. Check out their recent 'Two Tonne Testimony' album. “Lashing voodoo grooves to a Delta moan, sounds like it was concocted by a post-modern chain gang” (Classic Rock)

June 5th, Bush Hall – Tickets: https://bit.ly/2HJoYPC

Jerron Paxton is still only in 20s, but delves into the deep history of African-American musical traditions and breathes new life into them. He's a multi-instrumentalist: guitar, banjo, piano, violin, harmonica and percussion, who has thrilled audiences globally. An evening with Jerron is a profound education and a joyous entertainment. He was a highlight of the BBC’s recent American Epic series and is a legend in the making. Nia Wyn is a young woman with an extraordinary talent – blessed with a keening country/blues voice and mean guitar-picking skills, she developed her love of roots and soul music sifting through second-hand shops in her native Llandudno. She describes herself as a hip-hop soul in a blues body. Her star is on the rise.

May 29th, Paper Dress Vintage – Tickets: https://bit.ly/2H9NQmF

Legendary actor/director Steve Buscemi says of Jake La Botz – “He is a true American classic, and a musical resource that is a joy to be discovered time and time again.” Need we say more? The Chicago-born bluesman is a deeply compelling performer who learned at the feet of blues pioneers David ‘Honeyboy’ Edwards and ‘Homesick’ James. His latest album, 'Sunnyside' is a masterclass in rootsy, grooving songcraft. Sister Cookie is an in demand DJ and an amazing soul-blues voice with the stage presence to fill a stadium. She's performed at festivals all over the world, belting out a mixture of originals and covers from the classic eras of swing and R&B with ebullience, class and pizzazz. Chanteuse extraordinaire, Annie Bea helps head up The Rotten Hill Gang and Fjokra (whose fleet-fingered accompaniment also graces Annie's solo performances). Annie is equally at home with punk, funk, prog and jazz – but blues is the natural home for her enthralling, evocative, smokey tones.

June 4th, 100 Club – Tickets: https://bit.ly/2qMdseu

Young, Eli Paperboy Reed is latter-day soul-blues don. He honed his skills in Mississippi jukes and Chicago gospel choirs. He has the voice of a classic 1960s R&B belter and superb guitar and harmonica skills to boot. He is joined on this occasion by the wonderful, 10-piece High & Mighty Brass Band to make a frankly heavenly racket. Blues-rocker Marcus Bonfanti is one of Britain's very best – a young gun guitarist who will make for fine support.

May 31st, The Islington – Tickets: https://tinyurl.com/yd6eu2ek

Aidan Connell, Husky Tones and Mudlow represent different strands of the vibrant British alt.blues-rock scene. Connell’s guitar pyrotechnics and scintillating brand of garage-psych has graced stages with Gary Clark Jr and Iggy Pop. His debut album Grio, is a sonic stunner. The frenetic, enthralling Husky Tones are launching their sonic rollercoaster of an EP, I Don't Give A Damn Anymore at this gig. A stand-up drummer and a swaggering, swirling guitarist – boy/girl alchemical punk-rock-blues at its finest. Brighton-based Mudlow’s dusty, gritty Americana is evocative and enthralling. Their new retrospective, Waiting For The Tide To Rise is proof that they are stars in a parallel universe.

Future Juke intends to present the most vital aspects of the genre. Our line-up will celebrate cross-pollinations between the blues and other musical forms, we'll champion variety and diversity, and honour the past while shimmying towards the future. “When I get the blues, I get me a rocking chair…” Big Joe Turner

Ashley McBryde's London Headline Show Upgraded Due To Phenomenal Demand

LONDON, UK - (16th April 2018) - After tickets sold out within minutes of being on sale, the venue for Ashley McBryde’s London show in October has been upgraded due to overwhelming demand, and will now be moved to Islington Assembly Hall on Wednesday 10th October 2018. McBryde, whose performances at the O2 Arena’s C2C Festival in March were described by Music Week as “nothing short of a revelation” and who Entertainment Focus highlighted as “one of the most talked-about artists on the country scene”, recently confirmed her return to the UK later this year, including a run of tour dates with Luke Combs, followed by a London headline show.

Original tickets remain valid, and the new tickets will be on sale this Friday (20th April) at 9:00AM.

This follows the release of her critically-acclaimed full-length album ‘Girl Going Nowhere’, out on Atlantic/Warner Nashville in March and declared last week as the biggest debut by a solo country artist this year. The album, described by The Fader as “a proper introduction to a true-blue talent, one who is capable of injecting personality into all types of country songs”, is currently in the top five on the UK Country Albums chart for a second consecutive week. 

Produced by Jay Joyce, ‘Girl Going Nowhere’ has also received rave reviews from Rolling Stone and Variety, a “Next-Gen Nashville” Billboard feature, inclusion in NPR’s All Songs Considered and half-page features in both The New York Times and Sunday’s issue of The Washington Post. Rolling Stone observes, “… she wrote or co-wrote everything here…with a sharp eye for piercing detail. She has a serious gift,” while The New York Times adds, “Ms. McBryde focuses on crisp songwriting and a wide-tent approach to influences, taking in blues and Southern rock” in this week’s Popcast; Billboard notes, “[Girl Going Nowhere] juxtaposes her bluesy delivery -- reminiscent of Susan Tedeschi’s and Patty Griffin’s,” and the The Washington Post proclaims Girl Going Nowhere showcases McBryde’s “gritty, rock-tinged country music and vivid, cutting lyrics.”

Prior to recording Nowhere and signing a deal with a major label, McBryde spent the better part of her adult life driving between Nashville, Memphis and her hometown of Mammoth Spring, Arkansas playing any biker bar or dive she could book. There were nights when she didn’t know if she had enough gas in the tank of her teal 1971 pick-up to make it home, yet she would listen to the radio to distract herself from the then-grim reality.

Now, when she turns the dial she hears everything from her single, 'A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega' on Country radio, to album cut “American Scandal” on SiriusXM’s The Highway, to NPR discussing none other than “Radioland,” as featured in a recent broadcast/podcast of All Songs Considered, which deemed Girl Going Nowhere a “fantastic album, that is just what country needs. The cheap comparison would be female Chris Stapleton, but Ashley is her own woman. She really does however, combine the energy of rock, the earnestness and simple beauties of prime-era Springsteen or John Mellencamp; her songs are about family, working people, about living your best life when your best life is maybe on the outskirts of town on a ranch house with a manual lawnmower.”

Ashley McBryde returns to the UK in October 2018 for a series of tour dates with Luke Combs, followed by a headline show in London:

3rd October - O2 Institute, Birmingham (w/ Luke Combs)
4th October - Shepherds Bush Empire, London (w/ Luke Combs)
5th October - Shepherds Bush Empire, London (w/ Luke Combs)
7th October - O2 ABC, Glasgow (w/ Luke Combs)
8th October - O2 Ritz, Manchester (w/ Luke Combs)

10th October - Islington Assembly Hall, London (Upgraded due to demand)

Exciting new London venue for Country songwriters in the round night the 'Round Up'

Alt-country duo Two Ways Home (Lewis & Isi) have confirmed that their popular monthly ‘Round Up’ song-writers night will move to a new Central London venue operated by 'CountryLine', the new online fan club for all of country music. As well as an app that puts country artists and experiences directly into your pocket, CountryLine has teamed up with the fine folks at Gail’s to launch a summer takeover of Gail’s Kitchen in London’s West End. CountryLine Café is a summer-long pop-up at Gail’s Kitchen, 11-13 Bayley St, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 3HD showcasing artists and experiences from the 'CountryLine' family. The 'Round Up' is usually held on the first Thursday of every month from 7:30PM

Starting with the next Round Up event on Thursday June 8th featuring Megan O'Neill & Owen Lloyd, and all through summer, the 'CountryLine' Cafe pop up will showcase the best of the UK’s thriving country music scene plus special guests from around the world, all fueled by an exclusive menu of the finest Southern hospitality from the award-winning team at Gail’s. Regular features will include songwriter rounds from the Round Up; live sessions from ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris’ Under The Apple Tree; and showcase sets from the most exciting artists in country music. 'CountryLine' Café aims to become London’s very own version of Nashville’s legendary Bluebird Café.

Follow CountryLine on Facebook and Twitter and download the new app from June 8th to keep up with everything country.

The new EP from Two Ways Home ‘Closest Stranger’ will be released to stream/download on June 2nd, and is available to pre-order now - more info at www.twowayshome.com.