Browsing Tag

americana

Brandon Bing – Dyin’ Breed: Rapturously Raucous Country Rock

Posted on 31 March 2021

Singer-songwriter Brandon Bing is keeping modern country rock alive and breathing, ironically, with tracks such as ‘Dyin’ Breed’. The southern sun-kissed single plants itself firmly within the roots of country and resounds through the massive radio-ready rock production.

It’s a track that rhythmically commands you to move and lyrically compels you to see the beauty in the world in the same way the Florida & Nashville- based artist does. You almost don’t need the artist’s bio to know that he lives between Florida and Nashville, the gloss and grit delivered in Dyin’ Breed is a telling sign and just one of the reasons why Brandon Bing stands out so easily from the rest.

His rapturously raucous lyricism paired with their gritty southern twang will do infinitely more for your outlook on life than pawing your way through a mountain of self-help books. The energy from the stomping rhythms paired with the rich resonant vocals won’t fail to crawl under your ribs as you listen to the hook-filled feat of honkytonk.

Dyin’ Breed is now available to stream via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Need Some Peace: Harrisonburg’s Who Shot John sing with such soul on ‘Big Mean Light’

Posted on 25 March 2021

Bringing us the story about needing a few extra winks in bed before rising again, Who Shot John sing so passionately on their new single taken off their debut album called ‘Big Mean Light‘.

Who Shot John is the unassuming Shenandoah Valley, West Virginia-based indie Americana/blues/rock-fusion four-piece act, who organically formulate a humbly lovable sound, as they sing about true life stories of how crazy this world really is.

Their true love for the rock, soul, blues, and Americana music shines through their bones, as they effortless charm flows like the stream of your beating heart, your body uplifted by their soulful music.

With a likable sound and vocals that has you in raptures, this is a band with a classic feel that absolutely love what they do when they are together, playing their hearts out and telling stories that inspire them each day.

‘Big Mean Light‘ from Harrisonburg, Shenandoah Valley-based Who Shot John, is an escape from the current world of heartache, as they tells us their disgust with the sun filtering in, that has interrupted their sleep to barge into the door unannounced. The day has begun with a flick of a switch, as they try and get those extra five minutes before rising up, to see what the world has in store.

Hear this top new song on Soundcloud and see their story on IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Award-winning bluegrass singer, Kevin Serey is set to release their wisdom-driven single ‘Old Man’s Eyes’

Posted on 9 March 2021

Singer-songwriter, Kevin Serey has been raking in the accolades since making their debut. As an Ohio Music Award Winner and an International Acoustic Music Awards finalist, his highly-anticipated forthcoming album holds plenty of promise. On the basis of the standout single, Old Man’s Eyes, he’s discernibly delivered.

As we’re collectively living through some of the most isolating times in living history, wisdom-fuelled singles, such as Old Man’s Eyes are priceless. Serey’s consoling words melodically shove you in a positive direction while his timeless bluegrass country folk tones leave you enraptured by evoking just as much emotion as the lyrics.

You’ll have to wait a little longer before you can check out Kevin Serey’s new album, in the meantime, hear their award-winning previous releases via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Canadian folk singer-songwriter, Mike Latimer has made an unforgettable debut with ‘Your Memory’

Posted on 8 March 2021

Canadian folk singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Mike Latimer has released the first single from their forthcoming album ‘Coastal Life’; ironically, ‘Your Memory’ is an unforgettable release.

The timeless single suckers you in through folk Americana familiarity, once you’re immersed, you’ll start to embrace the candidness of Mike Latimer’s adoringly sweet lyricism which wraps itself around the ghost of a lost lover. With the radiant tones and the affection in the vocals, the air of wistfulness doesn’t stand a chance when it comes to dominating this escapism-aiding release. Instead, Your Memory delivers a powerful lesson in the power of perception.

Your Memory is available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

cp howes plays the ‘Situational Worldwide Blues’

Posted on 27 February 2021
cp howes

Wisconsin-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, cp howes, lyrically captured the monotony of a lockdown lifestyle while freeing us from it with his liberatingly soulful infusion of Blues, RnB and Gospel in their latest single ‘Situational Worldwide Blues’.

‘situational worldwide blues’ sounds like it should be a paradox, the clever juxtaposition drives home the devastatingly unifying reality of our lives while refusing the listener to be saddened by it. The honkytonk piano, shimmering organ wails and the unique acoustics of a cigar-box-6-string guitar ensure that nothing but good vibes are transmitted on the airwaves through Situational Worldwide Blues.

You can check out cp howes’ latest single here.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

D. Marin Perez – Los Angeles: 60s psych pop-tinged blues

Posted on 27 February 2021
D. Marin Perez

Through exposure to the Beatles and Mormon hymns in their formative years, Cuban-American singer-songwriter, D. Marin Perez’s signature sound is laden with soul so strident it practically shimmers.

“Los Angeles” is the first single to be released from their 2021 album ‘Change Is’. Their infusion of 60s psych pop, accordant Americana, blues and soul unravels as a burst of visceral sun-bleached optimistic-in-spite-of-awareness-suffering euphoria.

With vocals as tender as Elliott Smith’s and instrumentals which find their roots in old school blues, Los Angeles is a track which blossoms as a compassionate snapshot of the trials and tribulations of modern living without allowing you to be depressed by them. You may just find yourself with a renewed sense of gratitude and purpose to invoke positive change once Los Angeles has faded to a close.

You can hear by heading over to Bandcamp or the artist’s official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

VIDA NOA – Wild Woman: a cliché-free emboldening celebration of femininity

Posted on 22 February 2021

Fans of Stevie Nicks won’t struggle to find the same appeal in the latest single to be released by trailblazing singer-songwriter, VIDA NOA.

Wild Woman is a cliché-free celebration of femininity. The single rings with the same empowering sentiment as Bikini Kill’s ‘Rebel Girl’ and resounds as VIDA NOA’s panoramic vocals work with uplifting guitar progressions which drip-feed euphoria with every bended bluesy note.

Wild Woman is a perfect slice of radio-ready Americana pop-rock which would attract you to the front of a festival crowd like a moth to a flame.

Wild Woman is available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mike Freund has unleashed his latest feat of humbly affable Americana ‘Crooked Teeth’

Posted on 23 January 2021

‘Crooked Teeth’ is the latest all-consuming offering of aural solace from New Jersey-born artist, Mike Freund: the progressively cinematic soundscape is transfixing from the first sepia-tinged mellifluous verse to the last.

The single runs you through stunningly delicate finger-picked acoustic guitar solos, organ notes hitting like celestial sunrays, and that gorgeously rare feeling of wanting to sing the lyrics before you have them fully memorised when the chorus hits.

The masterful soundscape exhibits the affable authenticity of Mike Freund with his blues licks which come with a meditative kick and his sonorous imagery-projecting vocals which will leave you seriously inclined to keep hitting play.

With their influences ranging from The Allman Brothers to Guns and Roses, Mike Freund is set to enamour fans of both and anything between.

You can check out Crooked Teeth via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sailing off on a ‘Sea Of Change’ with the Star Prairie Project

Posted on 19 January 2021

The Star Prairie Project – named as a portmanteau of the village of Star Prairie in Minneapolis and the Alan Parsons Project – is the project of songwriter Nolen R. Chew Jr along with a collective of musicians and producers from around the US and Europe.

‘Sea Of Change’ is the first single from the project’s second album ‘Surreal’, released on the 18th December. The Star Prairie Project’s first album, released in July, has already ratcheted up over 1,000,000 streams on Spotify, with the single ‘Frantic Mind’ reaching #36 on the iTunes Top 100 Rock Chart.

Fresh, light, americana-meets-rock, ‘Sea Of Change’ is part-Lemonheads, part-Jayhawks, with a touch of Tom Petty guitar jangliness thrown in for good measure. It’s catchy, poppy without being disposable, with a nicely wah-driven guitar solo and a cute little middle-eight before the sing-along chorus carries you away once more.

Check out The Star Prairie Project’s latest release via Spotify.

Review by Alex Holmes

Mauri Dark – Poison Woman: Cinematically Dark Alt Folk

Posted on 6 January 2021

If you could imagine what it would sound like if Nick Cave and Johnny Cash aurally met in the middle, you’ll get a good idea of what is on offer in Finnish singer-songwriter, Mauri Dark’s, latest single ‘Poison Woman’ taken from their LP ‘Dreams of a Middle-Aged Man’.

With rhythms which will throw into a dark Western while sending a few postcards from 70s Folk, Poison Woman is an eclectic smorgasbord of familiarity, rearranged to offer undiluted ingenuity. It’s as immersive as any Tarantino film but easily eclipses them on an emotional level. The sonorously low vocal timbre coalesces with the baritone guitar, setting a dismally cinematic tone which draws you into the melancholic mindset the single was written with. But with the level of emotion on display, listening to Poison Woman is anything but an exercise in morosity.

You can check out Poison Woman via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast