New Music Interviews

Singer-songwriter Peggy Seeger: still in the vanguard of her musical dynasty

Liz Thomson Monday, 12 April 2021

If American music has a royal family, it’s surely the Seeger clan. Charles, the patriarch, the composer, musicologist and teacher who could be said to have invented ethnomusicology, married first to Constance de Clyver Edson, a violinist and teacher.

10 Questions for Vocalist-Lyricist Georgia Mancio

Sebastian Scotney Tuesday, 23 March 2021

This week marks a major step in the songwriting collaboration between British/Italian singer-songwriter Georgia Mancio and Alan Broadbent, the Grammy-winning jazz pianist who has played with Woody Herman and Charlie Haden’s Quartet West.

theartsdesk Q&A: Daryl Hall

Owen Richards Monday, 08 March 2021

Writing something people want to stream one billion times is inconceivable for most of us. But then, most of us aren't Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Daryl Hall.

10 Questions for Musician and Broadcaster Cerys Matthews

Sebastian Scotney Friday, 15 January 2021

Cerys Matthews is a best-selling author, award winning DJ and multi-million selling musician, singer, reciter... and broadcaster, originally from Wales. Her wide-ranging Sunday morning radio show on BBC 6 Music has a large, loyal and appreciative audience. She also presents the Monday night Blues Show on BBC Radio 2.

10 Questions for Singer/Pianist Joe Stilgoe

Sebastian Scotney Wednesday, 11 November 2020

Singer/pianist/songwriter/entertainer Joe Stilgoe responded remarkably rapidly to the new circumstances of March 2020.

theartsdesk Q&A: Mick Talbot of The Style Council

Thomas H Green Saturday, 07 November 2020

Following the break-up of The Jam in 1982, Mick Talbot (b 1958) was chosen by Paul Weller as his sparring partner in a new band, The Style Council. Talbot, a keyboard player from south London, had flourished amid the late-Seventies Mod revival, initially in the Merton Parkas, with his brother Danny, but also in The Chords, and even appearing on a couple of The Jam’s records.

Comment

theartsdesk Q&A: Sally Anne Gross and Dr George Musgrave, authors of 'Can Music Make You Sick?'

joe Muggs Saturday, 10 October 2020

Today is World Mental Health Day and of course that means an awful lot of hugs and homilies, thoughts and prayers, deep-breathing exercises and it’s-good-to-talk platitudes from people speaking from positions of immense privilege – ranging from the well-meaning to outright grifters.

theartsdesk Q&A: musician Kevin Rowland - 'it was painful to be misunderstood and misinterpreted'

Kieron Tyler Wednesday, 23 September 2020

“Whoargh! Steady lads!” Under that headline, NME reported that Kevin Rowland had “announced his return to the music scene with a bizarre national poster campaign depicting him in make-up and women’s clothing whilst hitching up his skirt to show his pants.”

theartsdesk Q&A: Record label New Heavy Sounds

Thomas H Green Friday, 07 August 2020

New Heavy Sounds is one of Britain’s most exciting and undersung labels. Founded in 2011, they have consistently released music that boasts innovation, imagination and a strong female presence. The added sweetener is that this comes attached to sheer guitar-slingin’ power of the kind heavy rockers, from the 1970s to the present, have always relished.

Remembering John Prine, one of the great American singer-songwriters

Jasper Rees Wednesday, 08 April 2020

John Prine, who has died at the age of 73 from a Covid 19-related illness, was one of the great American folk poets. Having spent his early adulthood pounding the sidewalks as a mailman in Chicago, he never quite shucked that blue-collar aura of the working man's minstrel.