Reviews

Usually to be found out front of the bounciest, most committed, keenly melodic folk rock aggregation you’re ever likely to stumble across, of course I refer to Merry Hell, Virginia Kettle is a creative figurehead. Sure she urges everyone to their feet through witty banter and sentiments with which no thinking person could disagree, but… Read more »

Those amongst you with long memories might recall Mr. Harvey who surged keyboard sounds as well as merry recorder tootling for prog/early music masters, Gryphon. Prog of course with classical overtones and space for endless improvisation – if you knew what you were doing- suited those seeking fresh fusion between genres. The important bit in… Read more »

North Carolina’s Chatham County Line have built their career as a four piece line up that gathers around a single microphone in an old time style to deliver bluegrass with a contemporary feel. A new album from them is always an event of note and ‘Strange Fascination’ will get more attention after the departure of… Read more »

Album number four from this quintet from Norfolk whose fusion of blues and hard rock has seen them build up a devoted following on the live circuit. The band certainly wear their influences on their sleeve on this latest slice of hard rockin’ fare with the amps turned up to 10 and a swaggering sound… Read more »

All Our Yesterdays. As record companies empty their vaults or eager younger labels find long lost master tapes in dusty cupboards, reissues are taking more space on the release sheets. Here the Spiral Earth review team back track in the name of fair hearing and sound judgement. Hard to believe it now but these naïve,… Read more »

Walls and Ceilings is the first recorded music from the new line-up of Fred’s House; the band have been joined by Prue Ward (ex The Willows) on violin and vocals. Fred’s House have carved out a joyful niche for themselves playing upbeat folk-rock, making them really popular on the live circuit and mainstays of the… Read more »

Irishman John Doyle’s talents as both guitarist and songwriter have been recognised by many people. He has worked with Karen Casey, Tim O’Brien, Kate Rusby, Alison Brown and Linda Thompson. He is a member of folk supergroup Usher’s Island with Andy Irvine, Paddy Glackin, Mike McGoldrick and Donal Lunny. He has also been working with… Read more »

Slowly building a reputation in Europe and the US for the best part of a decade this Californian quintet is little known in the UK. That should be all about to change with the release of this stunning album. Tagged as Southern Rock, like their forefathers Lynyrd Skynyrd, this band have a lot more to… Read more »

Quite why some musicians attract a large audience and others continually produce music of great worth without its justified reward is a mystery. One, sadly, not always corrected by critical acclaim in public like this. Some years ago, Denison Witmer was recommended to me by Gretchen Peters and she was not wrong with this musical… Read more »

Over one million album sales. A duet with Joe Cocker on the mega selling ‘Bodyguard’ soundtrack. A world tour with the David Bowie alumni lead by Mike Garson. Yet outside of her native Canada Sass seems to have been unfairly overlooked. With raspy chops that hint at Janis Joplin and Maggie Bell her later albums… Read more »