Lowdown & Lonesome - Kendell Marvel (13/10/17)

• Artist: Kendall Marvel
• Genre: Country, Americana, Rock
• Release Date: 13th October, 2017.
• Record Label: Big Daddy Records
• Tracks: 10
• Website: http://www.kendellmarvel.com/

Selma Avenue - Troubadour 77

• Artist: Troubadour 77 (T77)
• Release Date: 1st December, 2017
• Genre: Rock, Alt Country, Indie
• Record Label: Transfer Records
• Tracks: 11
• Website: http://troubadour77.com/

To quote a Troubadour 77 song, “I guess we’ll never know how the story could’ve read, cause we can’t go back again, to 1977.”  Or can we?  Forty years later there is one band boldly leading the charge and taking fans back to the Rock n’ Roll, California Country and Singer-Songwriter roots of the 1970s.  T77, has listened to the generation raised on great melodies, lyrics and records, and agree with them that there is an under-served population of music lovers who are ripe to hear some new original music that can live beside the nostalgic tunes spinning in an endless loop on their favorite classic rock satellite radio stations or streaming playlists. The time has come to deliver songs that address the life circumstances, social issues and perspectives of an older and wiser generation of music lovers. 

The band is the brainchild of Grammy award-winning singer-songwriters, Anna Wilson (Piano/Lead Vocals) and Monty Powell (Electric Guitar/Vocals).  Wilson and Powell have been married for 16 years, making music together as artists, songwriters and producers in Nashville.  Collectively they have written a dozen #1 songs and countless album cuts that appear on over 70 million records sold and have co-produced unique special projects that pay tribute to The Eagles, Billy Joel and the Countrypolitan era of music.  Additionally, Powell was a key creative force in establishing the mega success story of Keith Urban.  He was his early producer and one of Urban’s top collaborators for many years, earning Golden Globe nominations and countless industry awards for the songs they composed. Ultimately, Wilson and Powell spent 25 years in Music City together, but it wasn’t until after breaking away and retreating to their second home in the Utah mountains that they found a new muse that came calling so strong, they had to answer. 

The songs of Troubadour 77 are written by Wilson and Powell and recorded in their world-class studio in Utah.  It all started when Wilson began revisiting the records of Jackson Browne, The Eagles, Firefall, Linda Ronstadt and many others, and realized how much she missed someone just singing her a great song. Wilson states, “Those artists made music that was authentic and addressed the issues of the times, and yet all those songs still hold up 40 years later because they are honest and real.  It’s the type of music I’ve always wanted to write and record as an artist but the industry would not allow.  Today, of course, we can take our music directly to the fans. I used to think I was just born 20 years too late because I wasn’t in Los Angeles in 1975.  I was just 5 years old singing in my room in Pennsylvania into my hairbrush.  But now I think perhaps it’s not too late, and it's worth it to attempt to carry the torch of that great era of music, so that's what I am going to do.” 

Powell chimes in, “With all the new ways to discover music, you can go find your true believers.  We figured if we love that classic sound but don’t just want to hear Stairway to Heaven for the ten-thousandth time, there’s probably a whole lot of other folks out there who would love to hear some fresh tunes not dominated by kid singers, hip-hop based rhythms and soundscapes with cultural themes that just don’t match who they are.  Troubadour 77 is here to say it can be done." 

Joined by their band mates, Austin Weyand (Guitar/Vocals), Kassie Weyand (Bass/Vocals) and Nathan Chappell (Drums), the band hails from Salt Lake City.  In an interesting twist, Austin and Kassie have also been married for 15 years and making music together.  Austin, originally from western Pennsylvania, is a premiere finger style guitar player who has recorded two solo albums and is the 2014 champion of the Wyoming finger style guitar competition, and also holds the same title in Utah from 2012.  His wife Kassie, from Honeyville, Utah, began playing the piano at a young age (5), and was very involved in theater and dance during her teenage and young adult years.  After getting married she picked up the bass and began to perform with Austin and they forged a duo.  Powell says, “When we met Austin we knew he was something special.  Then he told us his wife played bass and Anna and I said, bring her over and lets jam.” Needless to say, Wilson & Powell were thrilled to have them join the band.  Powell often jokes, “Yes, we are two married couples in a band together, like Fleetwood Mac, without the drugs and affairs.”

On drums is Nathan Chappell, a Native American from the Hopi tribe who grew up in Brigham City, Utah.  He started playing drums at thirteen (1977) and later joined the Marine Corps at seventeen.  He served for four years, and afterwards decided to take the leap and pursue his first love...music...as a full time musician.  In addition to his role in T77, he is a drum instructor for two private music schools, facilitates drum workshops for various after school and library arts programs and is a world-class cajone player, which is a skill all in itself. 

Music, and making music, is not just for the young, although you would be hard pressed to know that by what is regularly turned out by the music giants.  In fact, instead of an explicit language sticker, T77 says with tongue firmly in cheek, that they label their music as “not suitable for anyone under the age of 35”. Wilson says, “It’s high time artists start making new music for adults as well as kids.  Yes, dare I say songs you can understand the words to and make you reflect and celebrate your place in life, without relying entirely on the nostalgia of a bygone era.  We just want to carry on the great music made in the 70s.  Back then artists weren't afraid to write and sing protest songs, and neither are we.  We've got some songs that reflect the current issues and the times we're in now and we hope they can affect change in our world in a positive way.  We’ve also got songs about getting older, as well as looking back. I think artists should make music that addresses those parts of the journey too.”

Troubadour 77 is just getting started.  Their debut was an appearance with Brandi Carlile at the 2017 Sundance Film Fest, and now they will be kicking off their summer tour at this year’s star studded BottleRock Festival in Napa as well as performing additional concerts with Los Lobos and Robert Randolph and The Family Band later in the season.  T77 is giving listeners a chance to rediscover that sense of wonder and connection, when you heard someone singing TO you, FOR you, ABOUT you and in some mystical way, WITH you.  Make room on your playlist for Troubadour 77…new music with a classic sound!

Kenny Foster - Deep Cuts (17/04/17)

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• Artist: Kenny Foster
• Genre: Country, Americana, Roots, Rock
• Release Date: 17th April, 2017
• Record Label: Kenny Foster
• Tracks: 12
• Website: https://kennyfostermusic.com/

While Kenny Foster isn’t exactly ‘new’ to country music, the momentum behind the unmistakable balladeer’s 2017 release ‘Deep Cuts’ has a host of new fans flocking to the raw grit and brutal honesty of Foster’s remarkably mature, thoughtful and unapologetic songwriting. Lush with real instruments, astute observations and the deconstruction of one man’s head and heart, Foster has built a monument to the American experience that seeks to universalize the specific, and embody the very specific ways that we are all very much the same. While the pop-laden sounds of country radio have been trending away from the genre’s organic roots in recent times, Foster makes a case for preserving the foundations of country music while still allowing it the chance to comment on and even pine over the ever-evolving landscape.

Authentic. Accessible. This timeless collection of songs will echo through the annuls of the story that birthed a great American tradition, and gave words to a nation seeking to reflect its own identity. A welcomed ‘new’ voice may just have us longing for our past, and at the same time, looking ahead at how we will preserve what has always been good, and right, and true.

Foster has shared the stage with artists including Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves, Brothers Osborne, Old Dominion, Lady Antebellum, Marc Broussard, Butch Walker, Buddy Miller and countless others, along with multiple appearances at the ACM and CMA music festivals. He has received press in Rolling Stone, the New York Times, Washington Post and Forbes - who referred to him as a 'country music superstar.' He has been featured in two Super Bowl commercials with Sheryl Crow and Danica Patrick, respectively, and has appeared in numerous episodes of ABC's ‘Nashville’ and had songs placed in ‘Extreme Home Makeover’ and ‘Boston Med’, along with videos featured on national US music channels CMT and GAC.

‘Deep Cuts’ is out now worldwide, and Kenny Foster is on tour in the UK/Ireland later this month.

Wildwood Kin - Turning Tides (18/08/17)

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• Artist: Wildwood Kin
• Genre: Indie Folk
• Release Date: 18th August, 2017
• Record Label: Silverstone / Sony
• Tracks: 11
• Website: https://wildwoodkin.com

A family trio – two sisters and their cousin – Wildwood Kin borrow heavily from early folk influences, not least in their hypnotic three-part harmonies. But their extraordinary debut album, delves deeply in to other genres, featuring both electric and acoustic instruments and it boasts inventive electronics and spectral atmospherics.

Guitarist Emillie Key, her bouzouki/keyboard-playing sister Beth and their drumming cousin Meghann Loney all sing, swapping leads on songs they write themselves, and joining forces on harmonies that have remained their trademark.

The Barr Brothers - Queen Of The Breakers (13/10/17)

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• Artist: The Barr Brothers
• Genre: Sci-Folk, Rock, Roots, Blues, Folk
• Release Date: 13th October, 2017
• Record Label: Republic of Music
• Tracks: 11
• Website: http://www.thebarrbrothers.com/

“Queens of the Breakers” is The Barr Brothers’ finest work yet, a collection of 11 hypnotically fluid songs that speak to the raw, elemental power of reflection, forgiveness, loss, and growing up. The record finds the band, featuring brothers Brad (guitar) and Andrew Barr (drums), and Sarah Pagé (harp), further on their thrilling path of exploring the outer limits of folk, blues, rock and Americana made north of the American border.

Tedeschi Trucks Band - Live From The Fox Oakland (17/03/17)

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• Artist: Tedeschi Trucks Band
• Genre: Rock & Blues
• Release Date: 17th March, 2017
• Record Label:  Decca (UMO)
• Format: CD+DVD, Deluxe Edition, Live, Box set (3 Discs)
• Tracks: 17
• Website: http://tedeschitrucksband.com/

After many years on the road building separate, successful solo careers, Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi have united to form a new band with an extended pool of collaborators and friends. Well-known for their outstanding live performances, the formidable husband-and-wife duo are now exploring new ideas together through songs rooted in the blues and infused with their own unique blend of southern soul, American roots music, authentic rock ‘n’ roll, and a touch of Florida swamp magic.

Jaime Wyatt - Felony Blues (30/06/17)

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• Artist: Jaime Wyatt
• Genre: Country, Folk, Singer-Songwriter
• Release Date: 30th June, 2017
• Record Label: Forty Below Records
• Tracks: 7
• Website: https://www.jaimewyatt.com/

Jaime Wyatt’s newest release 'Felony Blues', whose title is a nod to records like David Allan Coe’s Penitentiary Blue, is largely an autobiographical collection of convict love stories, prison songs, and honky-tonk laments. After completing the record and looking for a label, Jaime met Forty Below Records head, producer Eric Corne (John Mayall, Walter Trout). Corne fell in love with the songs and agreed to remix the record and release via Forty Below Records. Most songs on 'Felony Blues' are inspired by reckless life choices.

The musicians on the record include top notch Americana and country pickers John Schreffler Jr and Ted Russell Kamp from Shooter Jennings band; Gabe Witcher of the Punch Brothers on fiddle; fellow Angelino country songwriter Sam Outlaw (who features on the duet “Your Loving Saves Me”); and long time friend and drummer Freddy Bokkenheuser, now the touring drummer for Ryan Adams.

Lucy Rose - Something's Changed (07/07/17)

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• Artist: Lucy Rose
• Genre: Indie Folk, Indie Rock
• Released Date: 7th July, 2017
• Record Label: Communion Records
• Tracks: 11
• Website: https://www.lucyrosemusic.com/

Haim - Something To Tell You (07/07/17)

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• Artist: Haim
• Genre: Rock, Pop
• Release Date: 7th July, 2017
• Record Label: Polydor Group
• Tracks: 11
• Website: http://haimtheband.com/

Sophomore 2017 album from Los Angeles indie-rock siblings featuring 'Want You Back' & 'You Never Knew'.

Hannah Aldridge - Gold Rush (16/06/17)

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• Name: Hannah Aldridge
• Genre: Rock, Americana, Singer-Songwriter
• Release date: 16th June, 2017
• Record Label: Rocksnob
• Tracks: 10
• Website: https://hannah-aldridge.com/

Americana is the perfect concoction of American roots music that comprises our musical ethos as we know it today. It is something so ingrained in our history, folklore, tradition, and mythology that it is not as simple as just "becoming" Americana, but rather, it is something that you are born into. It's that old cast-iron Coca-Cola sign that's been in your neighbor's shed for 50 years, a banjo and a Fender telecaster playing together, a 1955 Chevy with a modern stereo.

There are few artists that can truly encapsulate the essence and true range of Americana like Muscle Shoals artist Hannah Aldridge, whose musical pedigree precedes her and speaks for itself.

Hannah Aldridge is the daughter of Alabama Music Hall of Famer Walt Aldridge, who is one of the most prolific songwriters of the modern musical era. Twice named by Billboard magazine as one of the Top Country Songwriters of the year, ASCAP Songwriter of the Year, and countless Number One and Top Ten hits recorded by the likes of Lou Reed, Reba McEntire, Travis Tritt, Earl Thomas Conley, Ricky Van Shelton, Ronnie Milsap, and Conway Twitty.

With sounds ranging from blues in the Mississippi Delta to the dusty, dixieland jazz sounds from New Orleans, the musical stylings of Muscle Shoals on up to the primitive roots of American Country music, Hannah Aldridge leaves no inspiration or influence untapped. 

The excellent 'Gold Rush' is Hannah's second album and our LCM album of the month for July. Hannah is also on tour in the UK this month, catch her if you can.

"Gillian Welch backed by The Stones in their Country influenced days - Fabulous" 4* (Maverick)