Valerie June.



Valerie June

Without question when you stumble across a musical discovery as good as this one, you automatically want to share it with the world and this is no exception.

Hailing from a small town called Humboldt, Tennessee that sits between Memphis and Nashville, it seemed only natural that Valerie June should be influenced by a whole melting pot of roots music.
Her stunning fusion of soul-jazz, blues and gospel is compellingly arresting and it is no surprise that her love for old records comes through in her singing and her string playing.
Valerie June's debut album 'Pushing Against A Stone' is on it's way for release along with an extensive U.K tour beginning on February 12th.
There is an Irish date too thankfully, on May 3rd she will play The Sugar Club in Dublin which will be a date to mark in the diaries.
This is one of her stand out songs entitled 'Workin' Woman Blues'...

Kill It Kid

The good people at the One Little Indian label have just given me the heads up on a pretty fine new album from U.K band Kill It Kid. .'Feet Fall Heavy' is the second album from this bluesy rock outfit and will be released on September 19th next. Drawing heavily from influences as diverse as vintage American Delta blues, to modern  garage rock, Kill It Kid have been marking their territory as a seriously creative force since their beginnings in Bath, England in 2008. This four piece includes Chris Turpin on Guitar and Vocals, Stephanie Ward - Piano, Vocals, Marc Jones on percussion and Dom Zozubik on Bass.

Turpin and Ward each have a vocal range capable of reaching gritty heights; accompanied with unforgiving guitar riffs and trashing percussions.  Violin, slide-guitar and piano  are also part of the sound of Kill It Kid. Chances are if you like The White Stripes, The Kills,or Mumford And Sons, you will love this band.

Here is the official video for the first single from 'Feet Fall Heavy' called 'Pray On Me' this fine three minute rocker complete with blues sampling is a good indicator of what to expect from the album throughout.

'Feet Fall Heavy' is a scorching  album that grabs you from the first listen and keeps you hooked until the last note plays out. It's the record that will define Kill It Kid as one of the steadiest new rock groups least likely to enter into mainstream territory any time soon. Stand out tracks are a plenty like 'Sweetness has A Hold On Me ' which is  probably my favourite on the album. Here is a more stripped down version of that song played for the first time live in the U.K last year.

Kill It Kid will be embarking on a U.K and Ireland tour in September to promote the album, the dates are as

follows.

September,10th - Dublin, 11th - Belfast, 12th - Glasgow,13th - Liverpool, 14th - Leeds

16th - Brighton,17th -Portsmouth, 19th - Britol, 20th - London, 21st - Manchester,22nd - Cardiff.

                                                         

                                                                      

,



Mick Flannery

Mick Flannery is a remarkable singer-songwriter from Blarney, Co. Cork whose debut album 'Evening Train' was released on EMI Music Ireland in 2007. Formally employed as a stone mason, Flannery found his true creative talent in music while living in the US for a brief period. While there he entered a songwriting competition based in Nashville and won two top awards.
His course singing voice could be compared to that of a young, Tom Waits or perhaps even John Martyn; it wouldn't be unfair to suggest that Bruce Springsteen is a big influence also.
Urban Folk magazine described Flannery as a 'songwriter of the first order...His voice is pained, gravelly and powerful. Recorded or live, it follows through and stops you in your tracks' which is a good assessment of what this man is about.
2008 saw the release of his second studio album called 'White Lies' to high critical acclaim, 'Wish You well' is one of the songs on that collection. Here is a live version, filmed at Sherkin Island Co. Cork 2009...

Both of Mick Flannery's albums are a document of an a natural storyteller unafraid of writing about heartbreak and human fragility expressed with true emotion.  This is the title song from his first album 'Evening Train'

Seasick Steve.

I saw this man play live in Limerick on July 4th last when he did support act to Bob Dylan who was headlining on that day. Californian born Seasick Steve shares the same birth year with Dylan (1941) but had a much, much later vocation to recording, to the point that his career is very unique indeed.
Better late than never, Steve Gene Wold, aka Seasick Steve recorded his first album called 'Cheap' in 2004, he was however no stranger to the music industry from previous years,  working as a producer and engineer for various indie record labels. His CV includes production work on the debut album by Seattle band Modest Mouse.
He also as a musician toured and performed and also befriended such people as Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell and  Nirvana vocalist Kurt Cobain along the way.
His songwriting focuses mostly on his young adventurous hobo life, living rough and riding on freight trains across America. (his step father was abusive and prompted Wold to run away from home when he was 13 years old.)

 2006 saw the release of his second album called 'Dog House Music' a collection of rugged blues songs that caught huge attention in Britain and Ireland especially after his television appearance on The Jools Holland Show. Seasick Steve puts on an amazing live show, you'll see him play various home made instruments including a one string guitar that makes as mush noise as a full band. he has played many huge rock festivals across Europe including Glastonbury, England last year to enormous appreciation. When I saw him last year he went down into the crowd after the gig and joined various fans for a chat and signed autographs. He lives in Norway today and has to date released six albums.

Long may he run.....here is a clip from the Glastonbury show, with him playing one of his home made guitars, designed from a broom handle.

C. W. Stoneking

C. W. Stoneking hails from Katherine, Australia, but you would probably think otherwise when you listen to his music. Actually you could easily be mistaken for thinking this guy came from another era altogether, possibly 1930's deep south USA.
36 year old Christopher William has been recording since 1998 but his most accessible albums to date are 'King Hokum' from 2006 and  'Jungle Blues' released in 2008, both of which have been highly acclaimed.
I first saw this man on television in 2009 on a folk concert show from London, hosted by Seasick Steve.
 I was so impressed that I went out the following week and bought 'Jungle Blues'.
Here is that clip...The 2 songs he performs here are 'Dont Go Dancing Down The Darktown Strutters Ball' from the 'King Hokum' album and 'The Love Me Or Die' from 'Jungle Blues'.

Everything about this man's music is vintage which to me is very commendable in the time we live in today.

Even the album cover art would fit in anywhere along with a collection of old Blues and Folk records.

Joe Bussard- Record Collector.

Now here is a man who loves his music, 75 year old Joe Bussard from Frederick, Maryland U.S.A. is an avid collector of  78-rpm records. Amounting to over 25,000 discs, Joe's collection  is believed to be the world's biggest treasure of old time country, blues, jazz, folk, bluegrass and gospel music (mostly from the 1920's and 1930's).
Today Bussard works on several radio stations including WREK Atlanta and in his earlier years (1956-1970) he managed the record label Fonotone, which was the last label to produce the78-rpm format.
Although he grew up in the early rock n roll era, he has stated that he has no interest whatsoever in modern music, he also claims that good country music died out  after 1953.
'Desperate Man Blues' is an excellent documentary about Bussard, here is the first 10 minutes of it.
The opening shot of him down in his basement, smoking a cigar and not being able to sit still, listening to a record is truly a joyful piece of film.
Watch out also for his passionate reaction to the Charlie Patton record that he puts on the turntable...

In 2003 a compilation of 24 of these recordings were released on cd called 'Down In The Basement; Joe Bussard's Treasure Trove Of Vintage 78's (1926-1937)' on Old Hat Records.