This March a brand new event will be bringing folk music to the inner western suburbs of Sydney and it looks pretty exciting. The brand new Summer Hill Folk Festival is set to take place at the Summer Hill Church on Saturday 5th March. The line-up for the festival is impressive, bringing together some of…
Quilt’s second album, Held In Splendor, was one of 2014’s biggest surprises. I ranked it the #9 album of the year but in the twenty-four months since its release I confess that I kind of forgot all about them. When word came out of a new record from them I went back and listened to…
Giggles from littlies and laughter and hand clapping from adults are what greet a strongly visual and athletic mime artist – the pianist – whose specialty is piano playing … although in his hour-long show he hardly tickles the ivories. Instead, he is intent on making a grand entrance, positioning himself and his sheet music…
The slack rock from Wimps is a take back to simpler times when talking about your wretched living quarters, being the older and wiser one at a party or the temperature in the basement was the “it” thing. Those unassuming topics are what drives Suitcase and its quick undertone of punk that is smart, funny…
“This Music Should Be Played Loud” is the bold statement you will first see on the back jacket of Paul Orwell’s debut LP, Blowing Your Mind Away. The London area singer/songwriter will steamroll you with his retro energy and if you didn’t know any better you would think this was the solo project from a…
Several years ago you would have never heard me go on and on about a violin player but K. Ishibashi (aka Kishi Bashi) changed all of that with his genre changing debut 151a (2012). String Quartet Live! features reimagined versions from not only 151a but last year’s Lighght, performed live by himself and an accompanying…
City and Colour’s latest release, If I Should Go Before You, is a full band effort and it shows. Formerly, Dallas Green (of Alexisonfire) was the primary creative force for City and Colour. I fell in love with 2013’s The Hurry and The Harm, which was a beautiful folk album marked by thoughtful lyrics, sweet…
Talk about speed. Ryan Adams announces that he is working on a track by track cover of Taylor Swift’s 1989 (2014) and the social media world can’t get enough which includes Swift. Fans faint, tweens ask “who is Ryan Adams?” and somewhere out there parents gain some cred with their youngsters. Win-win in my book…
Great Lake Swimmers know their lane and stay in it during their most recent LP, A Forest of Arms. That lane is aptly described by the album’s title; triumphant and scenic, the band sticks to that aesthetic for album’s entirety. The Toronto-based band members presently include Tony Dekker (vocals, guitar), Erik Arnesen (banjo, guitar), Joshua…
Two of Australia’s finest folk singer-songwriters, John Flanagan and Liz Frencham, have announced plans to head out on a co-headline tour this October and November. Flanagan and Frencham are both firm favourites on the folk and festival scenes and getting the chance to see them in the same space is going to be truly magical….
