Tag Archives: featured artist

This week’s featured artist: guitarist Joe Hodgson – new single out 28th March

Music news, Rock music, , , , , , ,

Guitarist Joe Hodgson hails from the village of Ballymagorry in Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland. His music, shaped by his upbringing during The Troubles, mirrors the fierce rain and winds of the Emerald Isle. It is both sweeping and intense, boldly blending rock, blues, jazz, and Irish traditions into finely crafted instrumentals, which reveal a multi-facetted, emotive, and diverse performer.

After many years playing and recording with London-based bands and touring throughout Europe, Joe returned to his birthplace in 2018. In 2020, he released his debut solo album Apparitions to widespread critical acclaim. Guitar World called his playing “elite”. Prominent Canadian music journalist Steve Newton said he is “the best guitarist you’ve never heard of”. While ANR Factory described the album as “a modern-day masterpiece”.

In June this year, Hodgson is set to release his second solo album, Fields Of Redemption, which will be preceded by a series of singles. The first, a double A-side, comprising ‘The Grass Is Greener’ and ‘Shapeshifting’ will be out on 28th March. The tracks vibrantly straddle and blend musical genres, as Joe’s mantra of “words can lie, but my guitar can’t” sees him draw the listener into a world where his instrument does the talking for him.

From the rock, blues, jazz, and Indian-tinged ‘The Grass Is Greener’ to ‘Shapeshifting’, with its forays into baroque melodies, jazz, Irish jigs, rock and roll, and Thin Lizzy-inspired harmonies, the listener is taken on a journey through eclectic soundscapes by a multi-dimensional, intense, and passionate musician.

Joe Hodgson: “The Grass Is Greener” is the story of the twists and turns we all experience in the search for inner peace and happiness, while Shapeshifting explores the chameleon that is in all of us.”

These tracks capture feelings of introspection, hope and joy, and they come from a guitar player who is certainly not afraid to take chances in the pursuit of his art.

‘The Grass is Greener’ / ‘Shapeshifting’ released 28 March 2025

https://joehodgsonmusic.com/

This week’s featured artist: Pippa Reid-Foster – latest album ‘Undercurrents’

Album reviews, Folk music, , , , , ,

Pippa Reid-Foster is a contemporary Scottish harp player who began her professional career after graduating from Scotland’s Royal Conservatoire. Not only is she an accomplished performer and composer but, through her teaching work, she is also passionate about passing on her skills to a new generation of musicians and composers, covering everything from classical to traditional to modern pop.

© Eoin Carey

Her debut album, Driftwood Harp, retained strong roots to her Scottish heritage, but her minimalist compositional style and her desire to innovate was already apparent and she would take that a step further with her next release. 

Undercurrents is her second and most recent album, released in September 2024. It was borne of a wish to perform music on her chosen instrument, the Scottish lever harp, that one might not typically expect to hear from such an instrument. Comprising ten original compositions and interpretations of three additional pieces by Max Richter, Phillip Glass and Alexandrea Hamilton-Ayres, the emphasis is very much on creating contemporary music that’s infused with minimalist elements to create an album of exquisite musical soundscapes.

Pippa Reid-Foster: “The album is a collection of musical soundscapes meant to evoke strong feelings, uplift the spirit, and provide moments of reflection within the hectic world that humans have created.”

Touchingly, Undercurrents is dedicated to the surgeon who helped save her career. Whilst surfing she snapped the ligaments in her wrist and suffered excruciating pain and problems playing for two years. She was referred to Dr Iain McGraw, Consultant Hand and Orthopaedic Trauma Surgeon at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, who successfully carried out a rare and delicate operation which could have left her unable to use her hands for good if it didn’t work.

Pippa Reid-Foster: “I simply cannot thank Dr McGraw and everyone else involved enough. This album only happened because of their skill and belief that mine was a musical career worth saving.”

That uplifting tale will surely put anyone in the right mood as they sit down to enjoy this equally uplifting album.

Released: September 2024 https://pippareidfoster.com/

This week’s featured artist – classical folk guitarist David Mitchell

Album reviews, Folk music, , , , , ,

David Mitchell is a Somerset-based classical and folk guitarist whose debut album, Contours, came out in October. He describes his guitar playing as “Folk-Classical fingerstyle” and combines elements of both genres to create his own unique interpretations of well-known classical pieces and traditional folk tunes, as well performing his own original compositions.

Besides his solo work he has been involved in various collaborations with other musicians, including performing in a duo with multi-instrumentalist, Rupert Kirby,  and being part of the Monkey See Monkey Do Ceilidh Band.

In addition to being a talented musician, Mitchell trained as a luthier (the traditional name for a craftsperson who makes stringed instruments) at Newark and Sherwood College. On the album he plays a classical guitar that he crafted himself.

Contours is an instrumental album made up of tunes from the folk and classical world alongside original compositions.

David Mitchell: “A lot of the tunes and sets relate to the landscape and natural world, particularly the high and the low places, so ‘Contours’ seemed appropriate as a title to bring this collection altogether.”

A beautiful album of incredible virtuoso playing, David Mitchell brings together his love and knowledge of both folk and classical to create something truly special with Contours.

Released: October 2024 https://www.davidmitchellmusician.com/

This week’s featured artist: singer-songwriter Martin Flett – debut album out now

Album reviews, Folk music, , , , , , ,

Prior to 2020, the sum total of Martin Flett’s songwriting was a solitary song. That’s not to say he’s ever been idle. He’d been a local government officer, gym owner, housing manager, TV quiz show champion and a successful powerlifter, with numerous championship titles under his belt as well as being the main commentator for the World and European Powerlifting Championships. However, as many of us discovered, the Covid lockdown period provided an ideal opportunity for nurturing latent talents and exploring new-found interests. Flett renewed his acquaintance with the guitar and soon turned his hand to crafting his own songs.

Martin Flett: “Sitting indoors day after day, apart from venturing out to exercise my dogs, I picked up a long neglected guitar and started getting to know it again. After a few weeks, song ideas started forming in my head. I likened it to muses planting seeds, and it was my job to grow them.”

He has since written over a hundred songs, eleven of which feature on this debut album, When The Introverts Come Out, recorded at the age of 68.

Flett: “I never intended or wanted to be a performer but I soon realised that if I didn’t ‘take my songs to market’ then no one else was going to and they would wither on the vine. My dream is still that one or more of the songs are taken forward by an established artist, but in the meantime it would be great to bring the songs to a wider audience and use the proceeds from CD sales and downloads to fund a follow up album.  The next set of songs is ready and waiting…”

Based in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland where he was born and brought up and returned to more recently, Flett recorded the album at Wee Studio in Ness, at the northern tip of the Isle of Lewis. A talented bunch of local musicians joined him in the studio, adding piano, accordion, fiddle, mandolin, electric guitar and percussion where it was required.

Combining folk, country and classic-era singer-songwriter influences, the result is this highly-impressive debut. Showcasing poignant, often highly-personal, lyrics and instantly-appealing melodies, When The Introverts Come Out is a thoughtful album with bags of charm and well worth exploring.

When The Introverts Come Out is available via martinflettmusic.co.uk

This week’s featured artist: singer-songwriter, Mark Neal – debut solo album out now

Album reviews, Folk music, Rock music, , , , , , , ,

Cool Waters is the debut solo album from singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Mark Neal. While he’s been playing and recording as part of the Scottish traditional music scene for many years, this is the first time he’s worked solo.

Based in Helensburgh in the west of Scotland, Neal is mainly a guitarist and singer but ever since he started playing music as a young child he’s enjoyed the challenge of picking up and learning new instruments and different musical styles. Having a keen interest in science and technology (having studied a degree in Physics and a PhD in musical acoustics) he has always enjoyed the technical side of music. He’s been heavily involved in sound engineering and recording since his university days and is co-owner of the Edinburgh recording studio ‘The Sonic Lodge’ with fellow musician and producer Phil McBride.

Mark Neal: “I have been writing songs for many years and over 2023 I decided to take a bit more time to do more writing and ended up completing this collection of songs. This album started as a solo songwriting project but as it developed it seemed like a nice idea to make the whole album completely solo with me playing all the instruments, producing, recording and mixing.”

“The songs are mostly all based around my acoustic guitar playing but move away from the trad/folk style that has been a feature of most of my recording and performing and pulling in influences from jazz, pop, rock and classical music which I also love. Much of the songwriting has been inspired by nature and many of these songs come from thoughts that have popped into my head when wandering around the land and seascapes in the West of Scotland.”

Cool Waters is a highly enjoyable album with some lovely guitar, both acoustic and electric. Although Mark Neal’s musical background is very much in Scottish traditional music, this album is much more in the gentle, laid-back singer-songwriter vibe. Think of a Scottish James Taylor and you won’t go far wrong. Beautifully written and performed and well worth checking out.

Photo credits: Gordon Russell

Cool Waters available on CD via Bandcamp and released on all major platforms from 1st November 2024

Visit website here

This week’s featured artist: Church Street Shuffle – debut album ‘The Five Day Weekend’

Album reviews, Folk music, , , , , , , , ,

A contemporary Scottish fiddle and guitar duo featuring fiddle player, Neil Ewart, and guitarist, Ali MacQuarrie, the pair came into one another’s orbit through the bustling live music scene in Inverness and the band’s name pays homage to that, where it’s not unknown for in-demand musicians to play up to three venues in one night, shuffling up and down the city’s Church Street as they do so.

Church Street Shuffle: “Recognizing a shared vision, they embarked on a collaborative effort to blend Neil’s multilayered fiddle loops and chops with Ali’s intricate guitar work, bass lines, and beats. Despite their modern approach, they remained steadfast in honouring the timeless traditions of Scottish music, infusing each track with authenticity and reverence.”

The inspiration for the album’s name, meanwhile, harks back to an old expression about a musician’s typical lifestyle during the winter months, where the weekends would extend beyond the conventional working week.

Neil Ewart’s musical journey began at the National Centre for Excellence in Plockton, where he honed his skills before pursuing a degree in Applied Music at Strathclyde University. His innovative and daring compositions are deeply entrenched in the rich heritage of Scotland’s west coast. Echoing the creative spirit of pipers from centuries past who improvised variations on Gaelic airs, Neil breathes new life into the genre by infusing it with contemporary harmonic structures and rhythmic complexities.

Ali MacQuarrie’s masterful guitar playing and infectious grooves, meanwhile, are also a key feature of each track. He continues to refine his craft at the Royal Conservatoire in Glasgow, enriching his musical repertoire with classical training. His reputation as a sought-after guitarist in the Highlands continues to soar, which has seen him share stages with acts such as Calum MacPhail and Cala.

Recording the album, the pair joined up with established recording engineer and producer, Barry Reid, who also plays synths and percussion.

A contemporary and fresh-sounding take on Scottish traditional music, the duo have created an instrumental album that’s both fizzing with innovation yet also feels like the warm embrace a familiar old friend. The Five Day Weekend is an impressive debut.

Released: 17 May 2024

https://www.churchstreetshuffle.com/

This week’s featured artist: Singer-songwriter Anita Abram – debut EP ‘The First Escapade’

Album reviews, Folk music, Music news, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

Anita Abram is a singer-songwriter, radio presenter and producer who also has a passion for the visual arts. A member of the DIY female musicians’ ‘Rise and Release’ community, she composes, records and produces music from her home in Suffolk, and is the founder of Every Bird Records, a community interest company supporting independent female musicians with unique voices.

Abram herself performs as part of folk trio, The Copper Foxes, as well as a solo artist. The First Escapade is her debut EP.

Opening track, the poignant and beautifully-atmospheric ‘Gravity Running’, is a personal commentary on the “futility, inevitability and insanity of human conflict driven by fear and greed”. The song’s final line “we will never back down” pays tribute to the strength and determination of the Ukrainian people.

Comprising five original songs, other themes explored on this charming and thought-provoking EP include love (‘Go Again’), ongoing threats to our natural environment (‘Shift Away’) and loss (‘Stars Above’), which is dedicated to NHS staff. Bearing striking hand-painted cover art, the CD artwork also incorporates an additional images created by Abram.

Luke Concannon, best known from the folk duo Nizlopi while influencing a young Ed Sheeran, says: “There is something classic in Anita’s song writing. Simple, mythic, deep…”

In addition to Anita Abram (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, field recordings), the release also features Pete Moody (vocals, piano, arrangements), Chris Lockington lead guitar) and Mark Sewell (percussion)

Released: 1 January 2024

https://anitamusic.uk/

This week’s featured artists: transatlantic-inspired folk duo, David & Clare Rozzell

americana, Folk music, Music news, , , , , , ,

I first came across David and Clare Rozzell as two-thirds of the bluegrass/folk trio, Wood Wire & Words. The trio saw David (guitar/vocals) and Clare (double bass/vocals) joined by Clare’s father, Pat Francis (dobro/mandolin), with the trio chalking up a plethora of gigs and festival appearances across the UK and Europe and releasing several albums – one of which I reviewed here.

The constraints of lockdown restrictions, however, meant that the established trio reformulated themselves into a duo and for two years , every Friday evening, the pair would stage their online Folkgrass Lockdown Sessions direct from their home on England’s South Coast.

Recently, the pair released their very first single as a duo, ‘Museum of the Missing’, which came out towards the end of February.

Conceived as the theme song for a sci-fi/horror podcast of the same name, ‘Museum Of The Missing’ is said to be a powerful, dark tale, of a world where all memories and evidence of a global incident in which 3.5 million people vanished, have seemingly been erased from existence.

For David Rozzell, however, the song was also inspired by events much closer to home. On a personal level, the song is about memory loss, something he has experienced himself as a result of a brain injury.

The duo explain: “The museum being that part of the brain where a condition, like Alzheimer’s or a brain injury, such as David has, hides the memories they had before it stole them away.”

With the duo’s trademark blend of David’s deep, rich vocal delivery, poignant lyrics and gentle melodies, ‘Museum of the Missing’ heralds an important new step in David and Clare Rozzell’s continuing  musical journey.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/folkgrasshippies/

Bandcamp: https://folkgrasshippies.bandcamp.com/track/museum-of-the-missing

Related post:

Folk/Americana/Bluegrass: album review – Wood, Wire & Words ‘The Boy With The Smile’

This week’s featured artist: Yorkshire-based singer-songwriter Serious Sam Barrett

Folk music, Music news, , , , , , ,

New album: A Drop Of The Morning Dew: Live At Bacca Pipes Folk Club released 1 March 2024

Distilling both folk and country influences and performing a heartfelt mixture of self-penned and traditional songs on 12-string guitar and banjo, Serious Sam Barrett was raised in the Dales village of Addingham and began performing in and around Leeds in 2004. With the release of his debut album Close To Home in 2009, word began spreading further afield and Sam was soon grabbing the attention of audiences both around the UK and in the US.

Having performed at SXSW in Austin, Texas in 2010, he has toured the US widely, usually in the company of friends and fellow skaters The Pine Hill Haints. Along the way, Sam has shared stages with the likes of Martin Carthy, Dave Burland, Katherine Tickell, Lucero, The Young Un’s, Frank Fairfield, Deer Tick and Karine Polwart, and received airplay and praise plaudits from the BBC’s Bob Harris, Marc Riley, Mark Radcliffe and Mike Harding.

Recorded live at a gig at a celebrated Keighley folk club in January 2023, Sam’s forthcoming album A Drop Of The Morning Dew: Live At Bacca Pipes Folk Club includes eleven self-penned highlights from his career, along with his own arrangements of a further seven traditional songs. A folk club has existed in Keighley in one form or other since the early 60s, adopting the name Bacca Pipes during the early 70s and playing host to a long line of notables such as Mike Harding, Swan Arcade, Julie Felix, Peter Bellamy, Norma Waterson, Martin Carthy and many more. It was a tradition into which Sam Barrett was born.

Serious Sam Barrett: “Folk clubs have always been part of my life. My parents met in one and I was taken to the clubs and festivals from a young age. The clubs have always been a massive source of inspiration for my music. The magic that happens week in and week out is impossible to put into words. Sometimes the experience is almost transcendental. The old pubs, the reverence for the singers, the jokes, the raffle, the stories and the music. There’s nothing like it.”

Ahead of the album release, Serious Sam Barrett is touring throughout February and March this year including a gig at the Music Room in the world-famous Liverpool Philharmonic on Thursday 15 February.

When I asked for a quote for this piece, Sam came straight back:

“What an honour to be part of Darren’s Music Blog!! Thanks so much I can’t wait! I’m in some very esteemed company there!!! Can’t believe I’m getting to play the world famous Liverpool philharmonic!! What an honour. And it’s all thanks to Mellowtone!!”

For all gigs visit:

https://www.serioussambarrett.co.uk/

This week’s featured artist: south-coast psychedelic rock from The Clocks

Album reviews, Hastings music scene, Rock music, , , , , ,

Straddling the territory between indie, alt-rock and psychedelia The Clocks are a three-piece outfit from down here on the Sussex coast in Hastings. Formed in 2018, they are: George Bond (guitar/lead vocals), Adam McSweeney (bass/backing vocals) and Garry Alexander (drums).

As well as picking up a growing number of followers on the local live circuit, there has also been a flurry of recording activity over the past eighteen months. Initially releasing several singles independently, the band then signed with local label, Frontier Music. More releases soon followed, such as recent single ‘The Conversation’ which came out back in the summer.

The Clocks: “This track is more than music – it’s a conversation between the instruments and your soul. Let the waves of sound wash over you and take you on a musical adventure like no other.”

‘The Conversation’ is one of eight tracks that appears on the band’s long-awaited and newly-released debut album Road To Ascension which came out on 27th October.

From Cream to the Jimi Hendrix Experience to Grand Funk Railroad, the classic power trio line-up of bass-drums-guitar remained a key fixture of the psychedelic era. The Clocks remain true to that tradition. And while there’s more than a nod to rock’s illustrious heritage in The Clock’s sonic template – from the early ’60s beat boom to the late 60s psychedelic ‘era and beyond – the band also have their feet planted firmly in the present. More contemporary indie-rock influences are also very apparent, too. It’s an appealing mix and makes for an impressive debut and one that is likely to enhance the band’s reputation and and win them over plenty of new fans.

Available on all the main digital platforms you can check out Road To Ascension here:

https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/theclocks/road-to-ascension

https://www.facebook.com/TheClocksUK