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Tag Archives: country
Album review: JJ GREY & MOFRO – Ol’ Glory

Provogue [Released 24.02.15] ‘Ol’ Glory is JJ Grey & Mofro’s 7th album and their first for Provogue and perhaps because of the label change they’ve quietly dropped their soul swamp rocking and embraced the current shift towards Memphis soul and … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, blues, Clark Gable, country, Dan Prothero, Derek Trucks, funk, George Clinton, James Dean, JJ Grey, Luther Dickinson, Mayer Hawthorne, Memphis soul, Mofro, Ol' Glory, R&B, review, Rick James, Robert Cray, rock, Sly Stone, Stax, swamp rock
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Interview: JJ GREY (February 2015)

JJ Grey’s 9th album ‘Ol’ Glory’ is released on February 23rd and it’s his first for his new label Mascot/Provogue. As with previous album he’s immersed himself in a seamless blend of deep swampy grooves, country blues and jammed out old school … Continue reading
Posted in INTERVIEWS, Interviews/Rock Stars
Tagged Alligator Records, Andrew Trube, Anthony Cole, Anthony Farrell, blues, country, Dan Prothero, Dennis Marion, Derek Trucks, funk, interview, Jeff Dazey, JJ Grey, Luther Dickinson, Ol'Glory, Provogue records, R&B, rock, soul, Todd Smallie
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Album review: REBECCA DOWNES – Back To The Start

Real2Reel Records [Release date 09.06.14] Rebecca Downes is a good singer who makes the most of some concise arrangements. Initially she sounds like a MOR singer trying her hand at the blues before finally settling for a broader based outlook … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Andy Summers, Back to the Start, blues, country, Julia Fordham, Rebecca Downes, review, rock, singer songwriter, vocalist
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Quick plays: CLIMAX BLUES, THE LUCID DREAM

LUCY MAY – Whirlwind (EP) www.facebook.com/iamlucymay [Released 06/03/15] The PR sheet says there has been a country music revival in the UK and that certainly bears up given the success of artists like Lady Antebellum and Taylor Swift (although you … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Quick Plays, Single and EP reviews
Tagged album, Angel Air, blues, Broke Heart Blues, classic, Climax Blues, country, EP, Lucy May, Pete Haycock, pop, review, Robin George, rock, Whirlwind
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Album review: BLACKBERRY SMOKE – Holding All The Roses

Earache Records [Release date 09.02.15] www.blackberrysmoke.com This is amazingly Blackberry Smoke’s fourth studio album, as their last album ‘The Whippoorwill’ was released in the UK last year (although it dated from 2012 when it was released in their native US) … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Blackberry Smoke, country, Holding All The Roses, review, rock, southern
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Quick plays: ANDREW COMBS, MICHAEL ARMSTRONG

ANDREW COMBS – All These Dreams www.andrewcomsmusic.com [Released 26.01.15] This is the second album from Nashville based singer-songwriter Andrew Combs. As you would expect being based in Nashville there is a little country in the musical flavours on offer, along … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Quick Plays
Tagged album, All These Dreams, Andrew Combs, country, Michael Armstrong, pop, Quick Plays, review, singer songwriter
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Quick plays: AWNA TEIXEIRA, KIMMIE RHODES, PAUL BIBBY, LYNRYD SKYNYRD

AWNA TEIXEIRA Wild One Like Po’ Girl Awna Teixeira’s solo debut – Where The Darkness Goes (2012) – her follow up Wild One is a sparse, plaintive set. For the most part written in Salt Lake City and reflecting on … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Quick Plays
Tagged album, Awna Teixeira, Bliss & Lullabies, country, Cowgirl Boudoir, Invocations, John The Baptist And The Second Coming, Kimmie Rhodes, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Midwich Assembly, Nashville, Paul Bibby, Po' Girl, review, roots, singer, songwriter, Vinyl, Wild One
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Album review: SARAH DUNN BAND – You Or The Whiskey

Audacity Records [Release date 19.08.14] When you hear the opening bars of ‘Finish What You Started’ – the opening number on You Or The Whiskey – a mix of Southern blues rock, rootsy fiddle and mandolin, a crisp production and … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, country, pop, Reba McIntyre, review, rock, roots, Sarah Dunn Band, Tim McGraw, Vince Gill, You Or The Whiskey
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Album review: DIXIE DREGS – Dregs Of The Earth, Unsung Heroes, Industry Standard (reissue)

BGO Records [Release date 06.10.14] www.bgo-records.com OK. I own up. I thought Dixie Dregs might have been another Poco or Flying Burrito Brothers. Yes, I knew that this was Steve Morse’s first major calling card, but even though liking his … Continue reading
Album review: ALVIN STARDUST – Alvin

Conehead UK [Release date 01.12.14] It must be difficult working with an “established” artist who hasn’t made an album for 30 years. Which direction do you go in? Do you leave the past behind? Do you embrace the past? In … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Alvin, Alvin Stardust, country, pop, review, rock
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Album review: JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE – Single Mothers

Loose [Released 29.09.14] Justin Townes Earle has led an interesting life that’s for sure, from stints in rehab through to a revolving door with record labels. He is also the son of legendary country artist Steve Earle, although as the … Continue reading
Album review: LARKIN POE – Kin

RH Music [Release date 25.08.14] Having lost all sense of direction on their last release – The Sound Of The Ocean Sound with Thom Hell in 2013 – you wondered whether sisters Rebecca and Megan Poe were destined for obscurity. … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, bluegrass, blues, country, Dixie Chicks, Kin, Larkin Poe, pop, review, roots
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News: THE RISING play exclusive session for Get Ready to ROCK! on Sunday 7 September

Irish pop-rockers The Rising are featured ‘In Session for GRTR!’ on Sunday 7 September at 21:00 GMT, playing tracks from their new album ‘Coming Home’. (The session is repeated on Tuesday 9 September at 16:00 and Thursday 11 September at … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, NEWS
Tagged 2014, 7 September, acoustic, Americana, Coming Home, country, Get Ready to ROCK!, live, pop, radio, rock, session, the Rising
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Quick plays: JULIA HENNING, SARAH BORGES, JENNIE DEVOE, GIRLS,GUNS AND GLORY

JULIA HENNING Fledgling (www.juliahenning.com) In days gone by, record companies would sift the wheat from the chaff and, generally speaking, you got a fairly finished product. But in the digital age it’s every man, or woman, for him / herself … Continue reading
Gig review: NEIL YOUNG AND CRAZY HORSE, British Summer Time Festival, Hyde Park, 12 July 2014

How typical of the idiosyncratic, sometimes curmudgeonly, always unique Neil Young to amble on stage and effectively jam for five minutes with his band before turning to the audience and uttering his first lyric. Trends ebb and flow, fashions swell … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged British Summer Time festival, country, Crazy Horse, grunge, Hyde Park, live, Neil Young, rock
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Album review: HANNAH ALDRIDGE – Razor Wire

Trodden Black Ent. [Release date 13.05.14] ‘Dark Americana’ is how Hannah Aldridge – daughter of esteemed Muscle Shoals/ Nashville songwriter and producer Walt Aldridge – describes her gritty, uncompromising debut. Recorded in analogue (naturally) in Nashville (where else?) she’s backed … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Americana, country, Hannah Aldridge, Nashville, Razor Edge, review, rock, roots, singer, songwriter
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Album review: MATT ANDERSEN – Weightless

True North [Release date 14.04.14] Produced by former Blasters sax player and Los Lobos producer Steve Berlin, ‘Weightless’ puts the emphasis squarely on songs, catchy hooks and a subtle sonic landscape that nestles Matt Andersen’s emotive baritone vocal. Released by … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Americana, blues, country, Dave Gunning, David Myles, folk, JOE COCKER, Joel Plaskett, Keith Mullins, Los Lobos, Matt Andersen, Paul Rigby, review, Robert Cray, Ryan Hupman, singer songwriter, Steve Berlin, Suzie Vinnick, The Blasters, Thom Swift, Tom Wilson, Weightless
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Album review: MODERN EARL – Hot Damn!

Modern Earl/Christopher Hudson [Release date 23.01.14] While the terms ‘kick ass’ and ‘southern country rock’ aren’t necessarily antithetical, they fail to fuse or spark on Modern Earl’s ‘Hot Damn!’ I’m sure this German exiled American southern country rock band do … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Christopher Earl Hudson, country, Ethan Shaffner, Hot Damn, Modern Earl, review, rock, southern rock, The Outlaws
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Album review: ULTAN CONLON – Songs Of Love So Cruel

Darksideout [Release date 09.06.14] The fact that the ‘Songs Of Love So Cruel’ dominates the CD sleeve tells you all you need to know about Ultan Conlon’s mindset, on an album full of enduring relationship and love songs. He treads … Continue reading
Album review: SUSAN CATTANEO – Haunted Heart

Jersey Girl Music [Release date 20.01.14] We’ve been impressed at GRTR! by Cattaneo’s previous releases, and her fourth album Haunted Heart continues the good work. The warm honeyed vocals of previous releases are still there, as is range of styles … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, blues, country, folk, Haunted Heart, review, roots, singer, songwriter, Susan Cattaneo
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Album review: ASHLEIGH FLYNN – A Million Stars

Sheryl Crow’s got a new album out soon, but judging by the lead single it’s going to be slushy, sentimental pap. Shame, as she used to be one of the leading singer songwriters who could comfortably straddle the country/rock divide. … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged A Million Stars, album, Americana, Ashleigh Flynn, country, pop, review, rock, roots, singer, songwriter, The Decemberists
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Quick plays: KAYLEIGH LEITH, KIMMIE RHODES, BAND OF SISTERS, THE BEAUBOWBELLES

KAYLEIGH LEITH This Woman Looking for a Nashville ‘new country’ sound on her second album, young American singer songwriter Kayleigh Leith turned to one of Nashville’s top songwriters Rob Crosby (Lady Antebellum, Martina McBride). Her debut album Miles Away (2011) … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALL POSTS, Quick Plays
Tagged album, Band Of Systers, country, Covers, Issues, Kayleigh Leith, Kimmie Rhodes, review, rock, roots, singer, songwriter, The Beaubowbelles, This Woman, To The Moon
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