Southern Wind - Dean Owens (16/02/18)

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• Artist: Dean Owens
• Release Date: 16th February
• Genre: Americana, Celticana, Singer-Songwriter
• Record Label: At The Helm Records
• Tracks: 12
• Website: http://www.deanowens.com/

Southern Wind was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, with the same team responsible for his acclaimed Into the Sea – producer Neilson Hubbard, award winning guitarist (and long time collaborator) Will Kimbrough and some great US musicians.

Dean’s music has been described as Celtic Americana with a rocky pop edge, and draws as much from his Scottish roots, especially his home town of Leith (referenced and loved by the Proclaimers) as from his US heroes. The emotional honesty in his songs shines through as he sings about people and places, love and regrets, drawing favourable comparisons with the likes of Springsteen. A gritty yet lyrical Scottish sensibility, delivered with a searingly soulful voice.

Dean’s solo career has seen him tour far and wide, including in Europe, USA and Australia. Dean is also highly regarded among other musicians and has played shows and toured
with Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Joan As Policewoman, Eddi Reader, John Hiatt and Nanci Griffith, to name but a few.

In his early career Dean was the front-man of the much loved and lauded Americana band
The Felsons. Since launching his solo career he has produced 5 albums, including the highly regarded Whisky Hearts (also recorded in Nashville), New York Hummingbird (recorded in the Big Apple with some exceptional New York-based musicians) and Cash Back (Songs I Learned From Johnny) album, inspired by one of his lifelong idols, Johnny Cash.

Blue Rose Code - The Waters Of Leith (27/10/12)

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• Artist: Blue Rose Code
• Genre: Celticana, Folk Singer-Songwriter
• Release Date: 27th October, 2017
• Record Label: Navigator Records
• Tracks: 12
• Website: http://www.bluerosecode.com/

A nomad both geographically and musically, Ross Wilson, aka Blue Rose Code, writes from the heart eschewing any specific genre and the twelve new songs on his new album 'The Water Of Leith', addressing themes of love, loss, travel, home, accepting the past and embracing the future, are painted with colours of folk, jazz, soul and pop; an eclecticism that has become a hallmark of Blue Rose Code and has seen him compared to John Martyn, Van Morrison and Tom Waits.

Underlining the sense of movement and place in Ross's work, The Water Of Leith is rooted in his return to his Scottish homeland. There, he reconnected with the stellar musicians who were to become an integral part of the new album's sound: multi award-winning singer Julie Fowlis, celebrated Gaelic singer Kathleen MacInnes, BBC Folk Award Winner, Ross Ainslie, 2017's Scottish Jazz Awards' instrumentalist of the year Konrad Wiszniewski, leading violinist Seonaid Aitken and three of Scotland's finest jazz musicians; John Lowrie, Colin Steele and James Lindsay, to name just some of the contributors. Grammy-winning American singer-songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman features on the opening track. Ross co-produced the album with Angus Lyon.

In the space of a few short years and the release of well-received albums North Ten, The Ballads Of Peckham Rye, and And Lo The Bird Is On The Wing, Blue Rose Code has built a growing reputation as a powerful writer and performer, gaining extensive radio play and the praise of key broadcasters including Edith Bowman, Mary Ann Kennedy, Bob Harris and also actor Ewan McGregor who made a cameo appearance on And Lo The Bird Is On The Wing after commenting: "My uncle Denis Lawson (star of Local Hero) gave me a copy of The Ballads Of Peckham Rye, it's beautiful and I can't stop listening to it."