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Originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, Gregory Alan Isakov’s song-craft lends to the deepest lyrical masterpieces. With hints of his influences, Leonard Cohen, Iron and Wine and Kelly Joe Phelps, Gregory Alan Isakov has been described as “strong, subtle, a lyrical genius” and has shared the stage with touring artists such as Calexico, Ani Difranco, Brandi Carlile, Indigo Girls, Richie Havens, and Fiona Apple.
We’ve been catching up on news from some of our favourite artists today and came across this recent live performance by Sharon Van Etten. Sharon is due to release her second album in October titled Epic which will be a seven song collection. This video was filmed at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto and it’s one hell of a powerful performance.
Vincent Moon has given Mumford and Sons the Blogotheque treatment. With only an hour to spare, Moon set up whilst Mumford attempted to translate one of their songs as well as find a nearby filming location that hadn’t been used before. As always, they succeeded in pulling it off along with the help of Johnny Flynn improvising on violin! This was the result:
In 2008, the Aga Khan Music Inititative and the San Fracisco-based Kronos Quartet inaugurated a pioneering musical collaboration that brought the quartet together with leading musicians from Azerbaijan and Afghanistan to create music rooted Central Asian traditions. Over a period of nine months, Kronos met with renowned Azerbajani vocalist Alim Qasimov and his ensemble, and with Afghan rubab virtuoso Homayin Sakhi, to compose, arrange, perform, and record a body of …
Paul Curreri is renowned for his inspired songs, bright voice, and talented finger-style playing as well as his wife, Devon Sproule. He has also been described as “A ruffled gypsy gutter cowboy, a true life adventurer…”. He has been touring in the UK promoting his latest CD, California. In some ways the album came about due to a vocal-cord injury which forced him off the road, which he had been …
I just came across this brilliant short film animation. I know there are a lot of John Martyn fans who visit us so I thought you might enjoy this. Future Shorts presents Elliot Dear’s inspiring short animation about the legend John Martyn, the latest animation in the Music Matters campaign. Stay tuned to Music Matters on Facebook and Twitter @whymusicmatters. You may enjoy:
Seth Lakeman was the last person I expected to turn up in our local pub, The Oak, Clevedon. But after a phone call from a mate saying, “Alex, come to the Oake, Seth Lakeman is here, this isn’t a wind-up, honest!” I went, arrived, and there he was sat playing fiddle with Benji Kirkpatrick along with a discreet couple of film makers to record the video for Hearts and Minds.
La Blogotheque managed to get Megafaun and Sharon Van Etten together in Montreal for a great video session. The whole setting was quiet and peaceful, very unlike some of the other settings they contend with when filming. They were really keen to spend the afternoon with them and listen to their stories and drink coffee but they had to leave for Toronto.