Friday 23 November 2018

Sound of the Sirens Announce New Album 'THIS TIME' and UK TOUR DATES

West Country folk-rock duo Sound Of The Sirens have announced their new album, This Time, out January 25th via DMF Records, as well as a 20-date UK tour starting in January.

This Time – the follow-up to their debut album, For All Our Sins, which was released in 2017 to widespread praise – continues to showcase an evident gift for crafting unique, vivid and enduring melodies over 15 heartfelt tracks.

'This Time’ is a collection of moments, emotions, challenges and stories,' say the duo. 'We've collected lyrics, melodies and ideas from the past couple of years for this project. We created this album last winter in an isolated barn in Wales with only guitars, a piano, wine and the dogs for company. The themes of time, love, loss, perseverance, hope and clarity are intertwined in these songs.'

Throughout the album, Sound Of The Sirens – duo Abbe Martin and Hannah Wood – blend intoxicating vocal harmonies with beautifully crafted instrumentals to create a seamless collection of captivating tracks. 'Troubles', the first track to be taken from the album, is a rousing and emotive ode to overcoming issues, amid inspiring lyricism and graceful cadences.

The album will be available digitally, on CD and black heavyweight vinyl, with signed copies available to pre-order now from Sound Of The Sirens’ online store. 'Troubles' is available as an instant grat with all album pre-orders.

This Time Tracklist

1. Awakening
2. Believe
3. Another Day
4. Troubles
5. The Yellow Road
6. All The Webs
7. All We Need
8. Through The Night
9. Have It All
10. Keeping Us Alive
11. The Order
12. Lie Awake
13. Count Our Luck
14. Four O’Clock
15. Every Time

The duo will embark on a 20-date UK tour in January, including dates in Exeter, Leeds, Newcastle, Glasgow and Manchester, and a date at London’s St Pancras Church. Full dates can be found here.

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More information about the duo can be found at soundsofthesirens.net.

Danielle Bradbury and Thomas Rhett Reveal 'Goodbye Summer' Video

Singer-songwriter Danielle Bradbery has unveiled the brand new video for her single 'Goodbye Summer', recorded with close friend and platinum selling artist Thomas Rhett.

The release of the new video comes fresh off the back of her supporting Thomas at his Eventim Apollo show on Saturday, with Rhett joining Danielle on stage to sing a duet of the single.

The poignant video charts the highs and lows of a whirlwind summer romance, following a young couple who fall in love, only for it to be cut short as the season comes to an end.

Danielle is one of country music's most exciting singer-songwriters. Having become the youngest ever winner of The Voice USA in 2013, she's since signed with Big Machine (Taylor Swift's label) and released 2 studio albums. Her sophomore LP I Don't Believe We've Met saw her really come of age, penning 7 of the album's 10 tracks and resulting in her being nominated this year for ACM New Female Vocalist of the Year as well as CMT Breakthrough Video of the Year and CMT Performance of the Year.

'Thomas Rhett was one of the first mentors I had in Nashville and we’ve become really good friends over the years. He's like a big brother to me, so to be able to record a song he wrote was incredibly special,' explains Bradbery

Watch the video for 'Goodbye Summer' below!


Friday 9 November 2018

JP Harris Kicks Off UK Tour This Saturday

After performing across Europe earlier this month, JP Harris is set to start his UK tour this Saturday November 10th with his full band, The Tough Choices, accompanying him. Including three dates in Scotland to kick things off, the critically acclaimed musician will also be stopping in Newcastle, Bristol, Oxford, Bedford, and headlining at the Omeara in London on November 16th.

Dates are as follows:

10th - Thomas Fraser Festival, Shetland
11th - The Blue Lamp, Aberdeen
12th - The Cluny 2, Newcastle
13th - Nice N Sleazy, Glasgow
14th - The Mother's Ruin, Bristol
15th - The Jericho Tavern, Oxford
16th - Omeara, London
17th - Ents Shed, Bedford

With his latest album Sometimes Dogs Bark at Nothing (released October 5th on Free Dirt Records), Harris is back after a four-year hiatus to remind folks what a lifetime dedicated to country music looks and sounds like. Sure to please fans of his hardscrabble earlier work, this new collection of songs finds the acclaimed songwriter and vocalist stretching himself both musically and personally.

In today’s musical culture, the word “authenticity” seems to have lost all meaning. What used to represent something bona fide and true is now just watered-down marketing speak, stamped onto press releases without a second thought. Born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1983, JP Harris doesn’t fancy himself a musician as much as he does a carpenter who writes country songs. However, his stranger-than-fiction story begins after the eighth grade, when he left home on a Greyhound bus in the middle of a summer night. And he’s never looked back.

For over a decade, Harris travelled the country, often alone, hitchhiking and hopping freight trains while making his living as a farm labourer, shepherd, woodsman, and carpenter, among many other titles. Still an in-demand carpenter to this day, Harris has been writing and performing country music for nearly ten years, releasing his debut album, I’ll Keep Calling, in 2012. He followed that release with Home Is Where the Hurt Is in 2014, which only saw his star rise both among country fans and critics at major outlets like Rolling Stone. Even Eagles frontman Don Henley referenced Harris in a 2015 interview with Hey Reverb saying that Harris made “thoughtful, authentic music.”

Working with producer and Old Crow Medicine Show member, Morgan Jahnig, Harris tapped a handful of his favorite players, sent them acoustic demos, and gave some pretty unconventional instructions: “Take five days to think about these songs. Please write notes of whatever ideas come to mind. Please don’t talk to each other about it. Let’s all just get in the studio on day one and compare notes as we go.”

The resulting sessions featured a palpable spontaneity and creative energy, both of which manifest in an album that’s real, raw, and more akin to his live performance than anything Harris has put out thus far. 'We took a counter-intuitive approach,' he says. 'We had no pre-production. There were no rehearsals. We basically had a whole studio full of multi-instrumentalists, a six-piece band total, for the whole recording session. Everybody played at least two instruments. It was a really interesting way to do it and I think it helped us avoid anybody, including myself, overthinking the songs.'

Sometimes Dogs Bark at Nothing opens with 'JP's Florida Blues #1' a hard driving country rock number that details some of Harris’ darker days touring Florida with his band, the Tough Choices. 'Lady in the Spotlight,' an affecting song with layered strings, turns a critical eye to the stark gender imbalance and the seamy, predatory side of music industry.

Album highlight, 'When I Quit Drinking,' is, as its title suggests, a tender look at one of Harris’ most personal struggles. Gossamer strands of pedal steel complement the gentle quaver in his voice, underpinning some of his most personal lyrics to date.

After years of writing and playing, Harris is more in love with country music than ever before. He sums up his hopes for the album simply: 'I’m just hoping that me coming to the table without gimmicks or cool-looking costumes or fancy vintage jeans—just the grubby guy I am with a sleeveless shirt and a pair of boots on—is enough to get people into the music.'

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Full information, including tickets, can be found here.

Monday 5 November 2018

Bob Harris Has First Play Of New Frankie Davies Single 'OPEN ROAD'

Bob Harris has had the first play of the new single by Frankie Davies called 'Open Road' taken from her debut album Wherever I Go.

Frankie has described the song as articulating how she feels about the love between her and her partner and their journey together.

'I wrote this song after a big road trip with my partner,' says Frankie, '...sometimes it's rough and we have no idea where we are going but actually it takes us to some place beautiful. More importantly, when it seems there is no more road left to take, we just turn a corner and carry on our adventure.'

Previous single 'High On Love' came with a playful new video that saw Frankie meandering home ‘the morning after’ around her local streets with the gorgeous landscape of JerseyWherever I Go was released worldwide this past Friday.
as a backdrop.

The album reached Number 2 in the iTunes Country Chart last week upon UK release.

Watch the lyric video for 'High on Love' below:


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