Blues & Roots Radio wins LCM 'Best Radio Station' Award for the second time

We are delighted to announce that Blues & Roots Radio have won our annual award for 'Best Radio Station' in 2017. Blues and Roots Radio is a multi award winning global online broadcasting network based in Port Credit, Ontario, Canada and Melbourne, Victoria, Australia with hubs in the UK, Ireland and the USA playing the best Independent artists 24/7. This is the second year running that this excellent radio station and network has won the top spot, this time on a public vote. Huge congratulations to Stevie, Anne, Neil, Megan and the rest of the Blues & Roots Radio family, including all the show presenters.

From September 1st 2017 they are now home to two stations, BRR Essential and BRR Discover, both independent online radio stations playing independent artists from around the world. Over 50 shows are housed on our network from around the world of which a vast  majority are produced exclusively for us playing Blues, Soul, R&B, Americana, Alt Country, Bluegrass, Celtic, Folk, Roots and everything in between. 

Our nominees for the award this year were truly international with radio stations submitted from around the world. Please check them out if you haven't listened to them before.

Our 5 five for 2017 were

• (1) Blues & Roots Radio, Port Credit, Canada
• (2) Radio Walkham, Devon, UK
• (3) BBC Introducing, UK
• (4) Joltin Joe's Radio Nowhere, New Jersey, USA
• (4) Laurel Canyon Radio, Los Angeles, USA

Ange Hardy wins the LCM award for 'Best Live Act' in 2017

We are delighted to announce that as chosen by our LCM Facebook Group members Ange Hardy wins our LCM award for 'Best Live Act' in 2017.

Ange Hardy is a most remarkable singer-songwriter and instrumentalist, the kind that writes songs which are so classic you think they have existed in the folk cannon for centuries. Ange is also unique as she is the only folk performer we know to use a loop station (called Mr. Miyagi), which she does to great effect. Her highly anticipated and recently released album 'Bring Back Home' is already receiving high praise. It's not too hard to understand why.

Our runners-up this year are the all-star Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys, who are rapidly becoming one of the 'must see' live bands on the festival circuit.

Our LCM Top 20

• (1) Ange Hardy
• (2) Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys
• (3) Kim Lowings & The Greenwood
• (4) Tobias Ben Jacob & Lukas Drinkwater
• (5) Daria Kulesh
• (6) The Young'Uns
• (7) Said The Maiden
• (8) Company Of Players
• (9) Gilmore & Roberts
• (10) Emily Mae Winters
• (10) Show Of Hands
• (10) Emily Barker
• (13) Luke Jackson
• (14) Hattie Briggs
• (14) Fred's House
• (16) Merry Hell
• (17) Ninebarrow
• (18) Edgelarks
• (18) Minnie Birch
• (20) Lady Maisery
• (20) Kadia

Emily Mae Winters & Beatrix Players joinly win LCM debut album of the year 2017

We are delighted to announce that 'Siren Serenade' by Emily Mae Winters and 'Magnified' by Beatrix Players joinly win our LCM award for 2017 'debut album of the year'. The award this year was chosen by our LCM core team. Huge congratulations to Emily, Amy. Jess & Amanda.

The multi-award winning Emily Mae Winters is one of the fast rising stars of UK Folk and Americana and one of our LCM 'Ones To Watch' in 2017. Already establishing herself as a force to be reckoned with, she has been included in many 2016 'end of year' award nominations. Her wonderful debut EP 'Foreign Waters' released last year produced by the multi award winning Ben Walker announced her arrival. Her new debut album 'Siren Serenade' creates a new watershed moment. A album full of high quality crafted music with the rich promise of more excellent music to come in the future. The album is a wonderful fusion of Irish Traditional folk, Contemporary Folk, Country and Americana. It's a combination of self-penned and traditional folk songs which draw inspiration from poetry, myths and stories of love, loss, fate and memory.

Beatrix Players are a London-based all-female trio who make florid, adventurous music that operates at the interface between folk, singer-songwriter acoustica, prog and quasi-classical baroque chamber pop. There is a light, translucent quality to the music, and yet when it is not being hushed and reverent, it has the attack and thrust, the surging dynamism, of rock. It can be soft and intimate, but it can also be fiery and intense, epic and immense. There are tempestuous passages in their music that you can imagine being delivered by traditional rock instrumentation but it is the very absence of guitars and drums that means that there is nobody out there quite like Beatrix Players. 

2017 has been an excellent year for music and we would also like to give recognition to other wonderful independently released debut albums which also featured strongly this year

• The Beauty Of This Life - Lauren Housley
• Wildfire - Elles Bailley
• A Polyphonetic Life - Tobias Ben Jacob
• She & I - Kirsty Merryn
• 100 Years - Allman Brown
• The Beautiful & The Actual - Rosie Hood
• Matt Tighe - Matt Tighe

Danni Nicholls to release her new album at SPOC

Danni Nicholls ‘The Vintage TV Recordings’ - Album Launch

St Pancras Old Church, London – 5th April 2017

Following her much acclaimed Nashville recorded albums ‘A Little Redemption’ and the AMA UK Album of the Year nominated ‘Mockingbird Lane’, Danni Nicholls will be launching her new ‘Live’ album, ‘The Vintage TV Recordings’ at London’s intimate and historic music venue St Pancras Old Church in April with promotion by Laurel Canyon Music and support from Dublin born singer/songwriter Robert Corcoran.

The album will feature nine songs from both albums as recorded live by Vintage TV for three separate episodes – ‘Live With’ recorded at the renowned Metropolis Studios London, ‘Live At’ performed at the famous Water Rats venue with a live audience and ‘The Vintage TV Sessions’ with full band at the historic Dingwalls in Camden London with a live audience.

Some proceeds from this album will go to support the incredible music therapy organisation Nordoff Robbins whose work brings life changing music to vulnerable people.

Advance tickets just £10      http://www.wegottickets.com/event/386494

http://danninicholls.com/

Jess Morgan to headline The Winemakers Club on 6th May

We are thrilled to announce that Jess Morgan will be headlining at The Winemaker's Club in Farringdon on the 6th May. Our special guest for the evening will be Tom Hartley Booth who will be opening the show and then performing with Jess on some of her songs. With it's great acoustics and intimate candle-lit setting in the heart of London, this is not to be missed.

Doors are at 7PM

Limited advance tickets are just £10 and available from our Website or via We Got Tickets. We only have a 70 capacity at the venue so purchasing a ticket in advance is highly recommended. http://www.wegottickets.com/event/387258

Liv Austen & The Southern Companion @ The Green Note (Wed 15th March 2017)

Laurel Canyon Music are proud to present an intimate evening of acoustic music with two of the finest rising stars of UK Country & Americana in one of London's favourite music venues.

Limited adv Tix just £11 http://www.wegottickets.com/event/383150

Liv Austen is a very talented Norwegian singer-songwriter who grew up in a musical home and sang from a very early age. As a teenager she started writing her own songs and in August 2014 she released her first record, the four track EP "Workin' Man's Dream" which was awarded the esteemed W21's EP of the year.

Liv started gaining momentum and received praise from other musicians and bands and got rave reviews from blogs such as '4000 Miles to Nashville' and 'For The Country Record'. The first single from her debut EP was the very catchy 'Rain On My Side' and the audience favourite 'The Guts You Always Had' followed soon thereafter.

Liv's single 'Don't Regret a Single One' from her 2016 EP 'Who I Am Today' was her first song to be played on BBC Radio2. Just two years after her debut EP she is now considered a main player on the UK country scene and her new single 'Over', written by Ben Earle (The Shires), was released through Decca Records to amazing reception from audience and reviewers alike. Liv is currently working on new music to be released in 2017.

"Liv shows incredible versatility on her voice and style and is obviously a very talented singer/songwriter, appealing to both fans of modern and traditional country music....... after seeing her live I firmly believe she's the best female country singer in the UK right now and has every tool at her disposal to go a very long way." (Steve Riley, 4000 Miles to Nashville)

"Combining her stunning voice with artful lyrics and beautifully crafted songs, Liv Austen never fails to impress. Expect to be entranced." (Live Manchester)

http://www.livausten.com/

The Southern Companion are a Country and Americana band from the South Coast of England. Their sound is a fusion of all the music they love," a sonic whirlpool where the UK and US currents meet". They are a band on the rise, recent winners of two British Country Music awards (The Horizon (best newcomer) and Album of The Year for '1000 Days of Rain'). At the very beating heart of the band is their singer-songwriter and lead vocalist Darren Hodson.

The band's collective CV is long and varied with individual members having played for Tom Jones, Lulu, Rumer, James Morrison, Lana Del Ray, Pete Townsend (The Who), Jon Allen, John Isley and Vanessa May amongst others. They have played together on and off for over 20 years in various projects which all finally lead to The Southern Companion and the album '1000 Days of Rain'.

In 2015 Darren toured the UK and Europe as the support act and guitarist for Rumer, including a career highlight opening at The City Winery in Nashville to a "roof raising" reception. Also in 2015 the band stormed the CM&T International Artist chart with the single "Drive" peaking at Number 3 twice! 2016 saw the bands best year so far with a UK tour supporting Lulu and numerous festival appearances including Europe's biggest Country Festival Country 2 Country at the O2 in London.

The next few months will be busy for the band as they are currently recording their third album, which is due to be released in 2017. 

**** Americana blend that delivers a lot of impressive moments (Maverick Magazine)

http://www.thesoutherncompanion.com/

LCM launch the brand new "Jacaranda Sessions" at the Lookout Mountain Music Club

LCM are proud to launch a brand new weekly one-hour podcast and playlist called the "Jacaranda Sessions" at the Lookout Mountain Music Club featuring some of our favourite music old and new. 

"This ain't no disco....it ain't no country club either.....this is"....the "Jacaranda Sessions" at the LMMC ....and everybody is invited. Pop over, bring some friends, a few beers & join us in our new Laurel Canyon home, high in the Hollywood Hills :)  

"It's not about the money......it's all about the music!"

#Country #Americana #Folk #Singer-Songwriter #Blues #Acoustic

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Katey Brooks to Headline at The Winemakers Club 24/09/16

The wonderful Katey Brooks will be headlining at our first LCM gig at The Winemakers Club in Farringdon on 24th September. This lovely intimate and candle-lit venue is a perfect space for Katey's music. We are big fans of Katey, so we are thrilled to be able to invite her to one of our gigs. She will being playing old favourites and new songs from her upcoming debut album, before she travels to Australia on tour. Katey will be joined on the night by another excellent singer-songwriter Ash Radford. It will be a magical night, guaranteed. The venue is only a 70 capacity, so space is limited and we would highly recommend an advanced ticket purchase, if you are planning to come along to join us. Advance tickets are normally £12 but we have a small number of tickets available at £10 via a secret link. Hopefully see you on the night. link. http://www.wegottickets.com/sct/P24G4Gv7XY

http://kateybrooks.com/

https://soundcloud.com/ashradford

Jess Morgan Trio to release their new single 'Natalie' at SPOC on 26th May

We are pleased to announce that our next LCM showcase at St. Pancras Old Church on the 26th May will be the official release concert for 'Natalie', the brand new single from The Jess Morgan Trio. Natalie with be the first single taken from their great new album.

Special guests on the night include Jack Harris and Steve Jones (Stylusboy). Our host for the evening will be the excellent Tom du Croz. It would be great to see you all there

Advance concession tickets are just £10

http://www.wegottickets.com/sct/R5SrthZsJf

Hattie Briggs wins 2015 LCM Favourite New Artist

We are very thrilled to announce that 2015 LCM Favourite New Artist of the Year is the wonderful Hattie Briggs. Hattie wins the next award from the Laurel Canyon Music Fund (which is created from the money we make in profit from our gigs and used to support the projects of up-and-coming independent musicians). Hattie also receives a guaranteed perfomance slot at one of our LCM gigs. Hattie will be on tour shortly and releasing her highly anticipated second album, so please go and see her if she visits near you or please join us in London on the 17th March at SPOC. If you would like to find out more about Hattie, you can either visit her website http://www.hattiebriggs.co.uk/ or I can highly recommend this excellent radio special with Daria from a F-Spot live session last year.https://www.mixcloud.com/…/the-f-spot-live-sessions-16-hat…/

Our runner-up is a musician and good friend who I have known for a number of years, the lovely Daria Kulesh. Daria wins 4 VIP Tickets to a LCM gig of her choice.

In the bronze medal winning postion is another very good singer-songwriter who will be supporting Kelly Oliver at Uxbridge Folk Club soon,Amy Goddard Music. Amy wins 2 VIP Tickets to a LCM gig of her choice.

Congratulations also to Katie (Little Sparrow) and Steve Pledger who also did so well in our poll. They both have great debut albums, which are some of our favourites. A big thank you and congratulations too to all of our final nominees who polled strongly Minnie Birch (last years LCM Music Fund winner), Kadia (The Band), Kelly Oliver, Tobias Ben Jacob andLukas Drinkwater, Marina Flo and Iona Lane Music.

A huge thank you and congratulations to all the nominees on our list and to everyone who took time to comment, vote and listen to their music. We hope that you have enjoyed discovering the music of artists new to you and hope that you will go to see and meet some of your new found favourites this year. We will be shortly announcing the winner of the ticket draw for the people who voted in the poll.

Wishing you all another great year of music

Thanks to Rob Bridge for the great photograph of Hattie

LCM Awards for 2015

We are delighted to announce that the 2015 LCM Award for Best album is awarded to Esteesee by Ange Hardy. Congratulations again Ange on a great album and a very successful 2015. With Ange's new partnership with Lukas Drinkwater and new projects on the horizon, we are sure that this success will continue into 2016.

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Huge congratulations also to Tracey Browne and Raevennan Husbandes for securing the No. 2 position. East by Northwest is also another gem of an album, well worth adding to your music collection.

Thank you everyone who voted for your favourite album of the year.

The final results are;-

#1 Ange Hardy - Esteesee (AOTM Sep)
#2 Tracey Browne & Rae Husbandes - East by Northwest (AOTM Feb)
#3 Amy Goddard - Burn & Glow.
#4 Steve Pledger - Striking Matches In The Wind
#5 Hattie Briggs - Red & Gold (AOTM May)
#6 Paper Aeroplanes - Joy (AOTM Apr)
#7 Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin - Watershed (AOTM Oct)
#8 Jason Isbell - More Than Free
Minnie Birch - Floudering
#10 Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman - Tomorrow Will Follow Today
Black Feathers - Soaked to the Bone.

We would like to give an special LCM Group Award for Best Debut album of 2015 jointly to Hattie Briggs for 'Red & Gold' and Minnie Birch for 'Floundering'.

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We would also like to give another special LCM Group Award for Best EP again jointly to Jess Morgan for 'The Bournemouth EP' and to Hattie Whitehead for 'Home'.

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2015 was another excellent year for music, with Folk, Country and Singer-Songwriters genres doing partically well. All the nominees in our final list have produced some very good albums and all are worth exploring. We are honoured to have so many talent musicians as part of our FB Group.

First concert announced in LCM Spring series - The Willows and Hattie Briggs

LCM are thrilled to announce a new spring series of showcase concerts at the historic and intimate St. Pancras Old Church, London. Headlining on Thursday 17th March will be one of our favourite bands the award-winning The Willows together with a very special guest one of our favourite young singer-songwriters Hattie Briggs. Both are excellent live and have released 5* rated albums in the past year.

Tickets are available now with early bird's at just £10 + bf and advance at £12 + bf.

Not to be missed

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Our First LCM Concert at SPOC is a resounding success

With amazing musicians, a sell-out attentive and appreciative audience and amazing sound our first LCM showcase concert at the historic St. Pancras Old Church, London was a resounding success. A huge thank you to Beth Rowley and her Band (Rob Updegraff & Joe Harvey-Whyte), Little Sparrow (Katie Ware) & Sarah Dale and Hattie Whitehead. Also to the LCM team on the night, our compere and MC Tom Du Croz, our Sound Engineer Alex Carson, Shay Rowan, Minnie Birch and Damien O'Doherty.

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Big thanks for Mike Watts and Oleg Katchinski for the photographs.

Beth Rowley to perform special concert at St Pancras Old Church, London

Laurel Canyon Music are thilled to announce a special concert to be held on Friday 25th September at London's historic St.Pancras Old Church by one of our favourite singer-songwriters, Beth Rowley. Beth will be performing this rare London gig with her band before the release later this year of her highly anticipated second album. Beth will also be joined by two special guests and excellent singer-songwriters Little Sparrow (Katie Ware) and Hattie Whitehead

The evening will be MC'ed by a great supporter of independent music in London, Tom Du Croz of the London Gig Guide.

We hope all of you will join us for this very special night of music.

Laurel Canyon Music launch new website

Laurel Canyon Music are delighted to officially release a new webiste www.laurelcanyonuk.com. We hope that it will be a very valuable resourse for independent musicians and music fans alike.

Laurel Canyon Music Awards (May 2015) - Minnie Birch

We are delighted to announce that the first winner of the Laurel Canyon Music Award is Minnie Birch (Emily Jacques). We are thrilled to have been able to support Emily's debut album 'Floundering', which has just recently been released. 

http://www.minniebirch.co.uk/

The Awards are funded by any profits that the LCM makes in promoting and organising gigs. The LCM fund is designed to help selected Group members with their musical projects.

New Series of Showcase concerts at St. Pancras Old Church

Laurel Canyon Music are thrilled to announce a new showcase series of concerts at one of London's most beautiful, inimate and historical music venues, St. Pancras Old Church, London. The venue is one of the oldest church sites in the UK, dating back to the 4th Century.

Just a stone's throw from King's Cross/St. Pancras Station, St. Pancras Old Church is one of London's first choice venue's for musicians.

Our first concert held on Friday 25th September will feature the award-winning and BRIT nominated singer-songwriter Beth Rowley with very special guests Little Sparrow (Katie Ware) and Hattie Whitehead. Not to be missed.

Our second planned for Friday 16th October will feature some of our favourite musicans. Headlining for us is the award-winning folk-rock band from Cambridge Fred's House with very special guests a classically inspired London based indie folk trio August & After and one of our favourite singer-songwriters Roxanne De Bastion

It would be great if you could join us on these special nights.