Nashville
Shelby Lynne, Queen's Hall, EdinburghSunday, 01 May 2011
It may not be a particularly popular statement, but the financial black hole rapidly consuming the music industry undoubtedly has its fringe benefits. Five years ago Shelby Lynne would have toured the UK with a session band and played for perhaps 70... Read more... |
CD: Emmylou Harris - Hard BargainSunday, 17 April 2011
Always renowned as an interpreter of other artists' material, Emmylou Harris has been a late developer as a songwriter. On 2008's All I Intended to Be, she successfully balanced cover versions with her own songs, but this time she has written... Read more... |
CD: k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang - Sing it LoudWednesday, 13 April 2011
With k.d. lang's original "cowpunk" days of Absolute Torch and Twang now a distant memory, she has settled into the role of deluxe vocal stylist with a bit of heritage balladry on the side (for instance, her collaboration with Tony Bennett, A... Read more... |
CD: Alison Krauss & Union Station - Paper AirplaneSunday, 03 April 2011
Alison Krauss hasn't made an album of new material with turbo-bluegrass combo Union Station since Lonely Runs Both Ways, from 2004. Having filled some of the time in between by co-starring with Robert Plant on the mesmerising (and Grammy-guzzling)... Read more... |
Country StrongThursday, 24 March 2011
Hollywood stars are well known for bragging they do all their own stunts, often at the expense of the genuine daredevils who risk their lives on their behalf. With the advent of CGI and motion-capture technology, though, it is becoming increasingly... Read more... |
Caitlin Rose, The WindmillMonday, 06 September 2010
Last night was the third and probably last time this 21-year-old Nashville songstress will grace the humble Windmill pub in Brixton with her charismatic yet down-to-earth presence. Not because the gig wasn’t a sell-out and an unqualified success,... Read more... |
Kris Kristofferson, Festival Theatre, EdinburghWednesday, 04 August 2010
“This song is for my kids – and all their Mommas.” Even at 74, Kris Kristofferson exudes the quietly satisfied air of experience of a man who has spent at least half his life drinking, shagging, smoking and strumming to his heart’s content, and now... Read more... |
Willie Nelson & Family, The Playhouse, EdinburghThursday, 10 June 2010
A few years ago I wrote a book about Willie Nelson. Keith Richards supplied the introduction – a Kafkaesque saga which deserves a book in itself - during which he opined that Willie had a severe case of “white line fever”. This (for once) had... Read more... |
Richard Hawley, Royal Festival HallSunday, 24 January 2010
"So, we made it eventually." Having postponed this show two weeks ago due to the M1 doubling as a skating rink, Richard Hawley opened not with a song but an apology. It was hardly necessary. The sold-out Royal Festival Hall last night was prepared... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Nashville: Writing a Song With Guy ClarkSunday, 17 January 2010
Nashville is much more than the Grand Ol’ Opry, big hairdos and rhinestones, and I was looking for something beyond the occasionally enjoyable kitsch. I was failing to make much sense of the place and fell back on a technique which I’ve often found... Read more... |
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