CHRIS WHILE & JULIE MATTHEWS Who We Are

CHRIS WHILE & JULIE MATTHEWS Who We Are

For those unaware of the charms of Chris While & Julie Matthews, their ninth studio album celebrating their 20th anniversary is unlikely to unlock any previously closed doors.
Winners of the best Duo at the 2009 BBC2 Folk Awards, and nine times nominees since 2001, the former Albion Band pair are the ‘heavyweights’ of the folk scene. The Floyd, Zeppelin, or Genesis of British folk.

Chris While & Julie Matthews fit neatly into the Bob Harris Radio 2 demographic and border at times on the mainstream – ‘Get Through This Somehow’ being typical of the sort of mature material Judie Tzuke is currently producing. ***1/2

Review by Pete Whalley

RUN BOY RUN Something To Someone

Arizona based folk outfit Run Boy Run are the new girls (and boys) on the block with their second all acoustic album that blends traditional South Appalachian folk with classical elements.

Grace Roland (cello and vocals), Bekah Sandoval Rolland (fiddle and vocals) and Jen Sandoval (mandolin and vocals) front up Run Boy Run with Matt Roland (fiddle and guitar) and bassist Jesse Allen.

With their classical elements they are more likely to have crossover appeal to the BBC Radio 3 audience. ***

Review by Pete Whalley

MICHELLE LEWIS The Parts Of Us That Still Remain

In bygone days, specifically the late sixties/ early 1970s, artists such as Michelle Lewis (and Sunjay, below) would have been brigaded as ‘troubadours’. Production values aside, nothing much has changed. Apart from the fact that, while there’s still a space for artists armed with little more than an acoustic and a set of songs, they’re never again going to make a global impact. The world wide web of infinite choice has seen to that.

Michelle Lewis hails from Boston and the acoustic based storytelling on her second album is more inspired by the likes of James Taylor, her unique selling point (although hardly unique these days) being her fragile ‘bird on a wire’ vocal style that, taken together, is reminiscent of early Jewel.

There remains a niche folk circuit where Michelle would provide a pleasant evening’s entertainment. ***1/2

Review by Pete Whalley

Sunjay

SUNJAY – Sunjay

Winner of the Wahl Festival Young Performers award and nominated for the BBC2 Radio 2 Young Folk award, Sunjay Brayne is reminiscent of a young Ralph McTell and sounds far older and wiser than his 20 years.

Disappointingly, his third release only includes tow self-penned numbers – with the majority of his eponymous toe tapping collection being covers written by the likes of Mark Knopfler, John Hiatt, and a slow tempo version of The Walker Brothers hit No Regrets. ***

Review by Pete Whalley

Tone Indbryn - Songs From The Red Phone

TONE INDBRYN Songs From The Red Phone

It’s debatable whether artists’ ability to self-release these days, with the world web providing an instant distribution channel, is a good or a bad thing. Choice is a good thing, but you could spend the rest of your life in search of the lost chord.

Tone Indbryn is a British Columbia Canadian singer/ songwriter/ poet who’s been plying her craft for 20 years, but to my mind her latest release Songs From The Red Phone still sounds like work in progress.

The fact that the opening bars of the opener ‘Light You Up’ are lifted straight from fellow Canadian Alannah Myles’ ‘Black Velvet’ isn’t the most promising of starts, but what follows is a pleasant ride through 1980s style soft pop/rock overlaid with Indbryn’s heavily Kate Bush style vocal delivery.

Many of the songs structures, especially those that are piano based owe much to Bush’s legacy and with the great woman back in the spotlight, it’s perhaps not the perfect moment to be standing in her shadow. I was also reminded in places of Hollywood Ending by Anouschka – a 2013 release highly rated by GRTR!

And that’s the rub with Songs From The Red Phone – it lacks originality and identity. But at the same time, it’s never less than enjoyable, if perhaps not entirely memorable. **1/2

Review by Pete Whalley

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Josh Taerk Sunday Sessions 2024

Latest session: Sunday 14 April

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 7 April 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 2 April 2024.

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More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 15 April 2024

ENMY The Ledge (FiXT)
KAROBELA Get Hard (indie)
KATH & THE KICKS Neptune (indie)
THE BEE TELLERS River Poem (Black Sand Records)
LAUREN FREEBIRD Like A Bomb (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 15 April 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023
14:00-16:00 KATARINA PEJAK – Pearls On A String (Ruf Records)

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