shelby lynne
Recent content on Elsewhere by Graham Reid tagged as shelby lynne.
Jenny Owen Youngs: Batten the Hatches (Shock)
This album has floated to the top of the pile quite frequently in the past three months and it has only been distractions which have meant it hasn't made an appearance here earlier. Let's rectify that oversight and tell you what prompted it: a line I saw somewhere which said that if KT Tunstall could be big why not this woman. Fair point....
Delgirl: two, maybe three, days ride (Yellow Eye)
This Dunedin-based, folk-country three-piece of Deidre Newall, Erin Morton and Lynn Vare impressed with an earlier EP Live at the Wunderbar which hinted at something special, but wasn't quite strong enough to be placed on Elsewhere. But that promise has come with this album of close harmony, suggestions of alt.country and Polynesia,...
Amy Speace and the Tearjerkers: Songs For Bright Street (Wildflower/Elite)
Here is another album (like that by the wonderful Jimmy Norman, see tag) which has appeared long after its US release: this from singer-songwriter Speace came out mid-06. No matter, this alt.country/folk/Americana collection confirms why she has been a critics' favourite everywhere from Nashville to New York folk clubs. Speace has a classic...
music/1456/amy-speace-and-the-tearjerkers-songs-for-bright-street-wildflower-elite/
Shelby Lynne: Just a Little Lovin' (Lost Highway)
Quite why anyone would get excited over the over-emoting 19-year old Adele's debut album when Shelby Lynne conveys more depth of ache in one line is beyond me. This exceptional album sees country singer Lynne go down a very difficult route: taking on songs made famous by the late Dusty Springfield (and offering one stunning original). And...
Melody Gardot: Worrisome Heart (Universal)
There is nothing a music journalist likes better than a musician with a backstory, it just makes for better copy. And 23-year old Gardot has a backstory. She spent a year in rehab. But not THAT kind. When she was 19 this New Jersey-born singer/pianist was knocked off her bike and suffered serious injuries. She couldn't sit, her...
BEST OF ELSEWHERE 2008: Duffy: Rockferry (Rough Trade)
Funny how the UK rock press works, innit? Just a month or so ago this soulful, young Welsh singer who has a mainline to Dionne Warwick, Spector girl groups and Motown was being hailed as the next big thing/one to watch etc. Her record company had slipped out an advance sampler CD/7 inch which was so terrific it was posted here at Elsewhere...
music/1545/best-of-elsewhere-2008-duffy-rockferry-rough-trade/
BEST OF ELSEWHERE 2008: Van Morrison: Keep It Simple (Lost Highway)
Another year and another Van album on yet another label . . . And with the reissue of his earlier albums drawing attention to great work like It's Too Late to Stop Now (read about it in Essential Elsewhere) it would hardly be surprising if this one was ignored by even longtime followers, many of whom might be picking up the remastered...
music/1552/best-of-elsewhere-2008-van-morrison-keep-it-simple-lost-highway/
Beth Rowley: Little Dreamer (Universal)
In the wake of the success of Duffy comes this bluesy singer from Bristol who also possesses a touch of French chanteuse and pop belter in her delivery, is courageous enough to open her debut album with a downbeat version of the old standard Nobody's Fault But Mine (which Led Zepp covered), deliver Dylan's I Shall be Released with a reggae...
Carrie Rodriguez: She Ain't Me (Manhattan)
This alt.country/rock singer out of Austin and Berklee College of Music in Boston came to attention with her 2006 solo album Seven Angels on a Bicycle which won great praise from the likes of Lucinda Williams and Elsewhere for its melodic darkness delivered by Rodriguez in a voice pitched somewhere between innocence and experience. And she...
Paloma Faith: Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful? (Sony)
For the past few months it seems to have been impossible to miss Pixie Lott: posters and interviews (none of which I've read I must admit), her poppet-features poking out of every corner of popular culture. It came as a surprise to me then to learn just last week that the ubiquitous Pixie -- clearly a talent whose genius requires our...
music/2596/paloma-faith-do-you-want-the-truth-or-something-beautiful-sony/
The Watson Twins: Talking to You, Talking to Me (EMI)
This album might be surprisingly short -- a mere 33 minutes -- but it represents a significant and reasonably impressive shift in direction for Chandra and Leigh Watson who here call on friends from My Morning Jacket and Everest for an album that is by turns moody bluesy and soulful, all delivered with a pop economy. The folk and rootsy...
music/2975/the-watson-twins-talking-to-you-talking-to-me-emi/
Carol Bean: Crossing the Dirty River (carolbean.com)
This album by peripatetic British-born, LA-raised country-blues rocker singer-guitarist Bean -- now resident in NZ -- has been around the stereo for perhaps so long I forgot to post it. With a tight, revolving door band which includes slippery and earthy guitar by Mike Petrie, Robbie Duncan, Mark Laurent and Ray Ahipene-Mercer, Bean delivers...
music/2992/carol-bean-crossing-the-dirty-river-carolbeancom/
Melissa Etheridge: Fearless Love (Island)
From the opening title track here – a windblown open-road rocker and statement of ferocious independence – Etheridge confirms her credentials as someone who performs open-heart surgery on the emotions while backing it up with powerful songs. As with Springsteen, she also drops into characters (the unfulfilled housewife in The...
Duffy: Endlessly (Universal)
Poor Duffy. The preview tracks for her debut album Rockferry had everyone hailing her as one of the great new voices (even though she referred to classic pop and soul traditions) but when the album did arrive -- with some admittedly weaker tracks -- a section of the British press turned on her. They got in with the backlash even before the album...
Jessica Lea Mayfield: Tell Me (Nonesuch)
With a languid delivery not dissimilar to Lucinda Williams but with a whole swag more alt.rock in her system, Mayfield certainly keeps excellent company: she appeared on the Black Keys' album Attack and Release (the Keys' Dan Auerbach produced this); she has opened for familiar Elsewhere names such as the Avett Brothers, Ray LaMontagne and Jay...
Katie Thompson: Impossible (Thompson)
New Zealand singer-songwriter Katie Thompson clearly has a following. This album was funded to the tune of US$50,000 through Sellaband (where supporters chip in for the artist to record an album) and she has just been announced as the opening for an Elton John concert in Dunedin later in the year. That's pretty good for a girl from Hokitika...
Brigitte DeMeyer: Rose of Jericho (BDM)
Although now five albums into her career, it is highly likely few have heard of this soulful country-rock singer who here co-produces with Brady Blade. She has a little gospel and blues in her (religion is scattered throughout) and marries that to fiddle and mandolin-coloured tunes which are instantly memorable. And many shine with the...
THE JAYHAWKS, MARK OLSON INTERVIEWED (2011): Today in the green grass again
Whenever anyone speaks of the No Depression movement – the alt.country and roots music which emerged in the early Nineties -- one band's name is always mentioned: The Jayhawks. Out of Minneapolis, the five-piece Jayhawks influenced bands such as Uncle Tupelo (which split to form Wilco and Son Volt) and their first two major label...
absoluteelsewhere/4397/the-jayhawks-mark-olson-interviewed-2011-today-in-the-green-grass-again/
The Watson Twins: Southern Manners (Shock)
Earlier this year twins Chandra and Leigh Watson appeared with Jenny Lewis on the damn fine album Rabbit Fur Coat which was sort of neo-trad.country, if there is such a thing. Their voices were more than just counterpoint or harmony to Lewis, as this album proves. Imagine the Everly Sisters singing alt.country and pedal steel-coloured indie...
Linda Ronstadt and Ann Savoy: Adieu False Heart (Vanguard/Shock)
When was the last time you read a review of a Ronstadt album in New Zealand media? Hmmm That said, I too might have passed over this one if it hadn't been for someone of impeccable taste suggesting I listen to their version of the old Left Banke hit Walk Away Renee here . . . and then I noticed the liner notes thank the people of Breaux...
music/922/linda-ronstadt-and-ann-savoy-adieu-false-heart-vanguard-shock/
Tags related to shelby lynne
al green alt.country amy speace amy winehouse be good tanyas best of elsewhere 2008 beth rowley bonnie raitt breaux bridge, louisiana brett dennen brigitte demeyer bruce springsteen carlene carter carol bean carrie rodriguez daves true story delgirl dolly parton duffy duke special dusty springfield eliza gilkyson emmylou harris gary louris gillian welch heptones irma thomas iva lamkum james brown james hunter jayhawks jenny lewis jenny owen youngs jenny watson jessica lea mayfield john mellencamp jolie holland kasey chambers kt tunstall lauren thomson linda ronstadt linda thompson liz phair lucinda williams marie queenie lyons mark olson melissa etheridge melody gardot miriam clancy neko case norah jones paloma faith po' girl richard thompson ronnie spector rough trade rupa and the april fishes ryan adams soha sonny landreth the empire strikes back tierney sutton tift merritt troubadours van morrison victoria williams watson twins wilco willard grant conspiracy willie nelson