Mike Davies

Likened equally to The Travelling Willburys, George Harrison, the Band and Jerry Garcia, Sideways Rain is a 13-track collection of American folk-tinted pop.

Musically tied to the dry and dusty landscape of his adoptive Texas home, Put it Together reinforces Jim Keaveny’s position as one of the most authentic dust bowl Americana artists currently riding the trail.

London-based songer songwriter Nigel Brown returns with Looking For The Rising Sun, his eighth self-released album.

Deservedly likened to All Things Must Pass in its scope and ambition, Brilliant Light is assuredly Danny & The Champions of the World’s masterpiece, an aural aurora borealis that will illuminate your musical life. 

Sarah Jane Scouten is another sterling example of the top grade Americana coming out of Canada as she ably demonstrates on her latest album When The Bloom Falls From The Rose.

With an already solid reputation established on the UK folk festival circuit, Tilly Moses’ new album ‘Alight & Adrift’ should firmly plant her feet on the ladder to the genres upper rungs.

Hannah Aldridge returns with ‘Gold Rush’, a strong second album that is unquestionably one of the best Americana albums of the year,  she’s struck the mother lode.

With Nashville Sound, both Jason Isbell and his band are sounding both loose and hugely assured. From roots-rock to alt-country and the politically charged he delivers a broad musical horizon.

For her latest, Kathryn Williams pairs up with author Laura Barnett with a collection of songs based on her second novel, Greatest Hits. The diversity across the album is anchored by her smoky tones and the quality of her and Barnett’s lyrics.

Three years on, Luke Tuchscherer returns with  Always Be True, a more sonically fleshed out affair that, as the press release notes, comes with echoes of Uncle Tupelo, Tom Petty and Steve Earle.

John Alexander’s latest release ‘Of These Lands’ follows on further down the dusty and rocky road with a weathered collection of 11 songs that have been scratched from time spent on his recent journeys. These tales of weather-beaten lives make for engrossing listening

Having signed to Naim Records Daudi Matsiko’s self-released recordings are brought together under ‘An Introduction to Failure’ for wider distribution. His warm tones, sparse arrangements and confessional songs deserve the additional exposure.