The Artists | Hotpress

Music
29 Mar 01

The Artists

A closer look at the current Round Tower roster

TOM PACHECO

Tom Pacheco's career is on a roll at the moment. His tour diary is chock-a-block and his album with Steinar Albrigtsen, Big Storm Coming, has hit the No.1 spot in the Norwegian charts, notching up impressive sales all over Scandinavia.

The American-born singer-songwriter-guitarist already has three solo albums in the Round Tower catalogue. With the release of Eagle In The Rain, the influential Folk Roots magazine described Pacheco as "one of the finest singer/songwriters of recent times" and this was confirmed by the ease with which tracks like 'Jesus In A Leather Jacket' and 'Robert And Ramona' immediately struck sympathetic chords with both radio listeners and live audiences alike.

When Sunflowers And Scarecrows hit the racks Top Magazine compared Pacheco with Bob Dylan and Butch Hancock, and songs like 'Hippy On The Highway' and 'Swan With A Broken Wing' more than justified such comparisons. But it was with Tales From The Red Lake that even the sceptics began to capitulate, accepting that not only was Pacheco a major contemporary talent but that he was here to stay.

By recording the album in Nashville, he felt that he was returning to his roots and frankly admitted that he no longer felt 'a stranger in a strange land'. "Sometimes you have to go home again," he admitted, "even if only for a short time."

The simple, uncluttered sound of Tales From The Red Lake reflected Pacheco's preference for albums like The Beatles Rubber Soul or Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska over the more sonically complex Sergeant Pepper or Born In The USA. The album also benefited from the fact that several of the musicians on it had previously done studio time with artists of the calibre of Garth Brooks and Kathy Mattea, and thus reflected a more open-minded approach than their more predictable Nashville predecessors.

Tom's production duties on the album gave him a taste for working on the other side of the control panel and he admitted that being more closely involved with the technical side of the recording process enabled him to bring a more relaxed feel to his own performances. Never one to set his sights too low, he would dearly love to do some production work for Bob Dylan.

But Dylan is not his sole influence. Pacheco listens to artists right across the spectrum from seminal rocker Chuck Berry to ace country songsmith Tom T. Hall, as well as the street-blues of the comparatively unknown Minnesota Blue - on whom Tom's song of the same name is based - but he frankly admits to having a predilection for story songs, something that will hardly surprise any of his growing legion of fans.

Perhaps his eclecticism stems from his own mixed heritage. At least one of his ancestors was Portuguese and two were Cherokee Indians. "I grew up in a town where everybody's ancestors came over on the Mayflower. I knew I was different but I didn't know why. It wasn't until I examined my roots that I realised that some thoughts and feelings I had were connected to the cultures of my ancestors," he explains.

Many of his songs are based on true-life stories as in 'Minnesota Blue', 'You Again' or 'Jessica Brown' - the latter reflecting Pacheco's belief that a conspiracy surrounded the assassination of President Kennedy.

Pacheco has no quibbles about the hand fate has dealt him. "I've had an interesting life, with not many regrets. I'm doing what I dreamed of since I was fifteen, and the going down was worth the coming up," he concedes.

And it looks like "up" is where Pacheco's future career is heading. To use a phrase from the astrological scene of which he is a serious student, this man's career is very much "in the ascendant."

Kieran Halpin

HIS FIRST album emerged as far back as 1979, but in 1992, Kieran Halpin sold more records than ever.

Born in Co. Louth, Ireland, Halpin was initially inspired by sixties pop, and by Irish folk music to start writing his own songs. After an initial spell playing in clubs, theatres and on streets all over Europe, Kieran recorded his first album in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the North East of England with fiddler Tom McConville.

1981 saw a second album, this time recorded in Edinburgh. Both albums helped establish Halpin as a significant performer and writer on the folk scene and several of his compositions have earned folk standard status. In 1983 Halpin moved his domestic base to Dublin, where he recorded his first truly solo album. Shaking off the shackles of the pure folk idiom, on an album exclusively made up of Halpin's own songs, there was a determined shift to a more contemporary folk rock style.

His next album was a live outing in 1985, with Kieran teaming up with ex-Jethro Tull and Fairport Convention bassist Martin Allcock. Hot Press readers were warned at the time of Live And Kicking to "ignore it at your peril." It might have been a breakthrough, but Halpin's career then became entangled in legal red tape which kept him out of the studios for four years before he joined the Round Tower roster.

When the Dublin-recorded Crystal Ball Gazing album emerged in 1989, in Hot Press Oliver Sweeney discussed Halpin's songwriting skills in the same breath as the hallowed Paul Brady, Van Morrison and Jimmy McCarthy and Halpin's status as a creative Irish talent of significance reached new heights. The album was his first to be released simultaneously on album, tape and compact disc.

Meanwhile the artist continued to win new fans through his constant gigging in various countries and there was much comment by music industry and media pundits concerning the adapability of Halpin's songs to either the basic acoustic guitar format or the rock band style. He was adaptable lyrically too, proving himself equally capable of dealing with a diverse range of song topics, from the international impact of the Berlin Wall to such personal, internalised subjects as home sickness or his views about 'Dear Dirty Dublin'.

1991 saw the release of Kieran's Mission Street album on which he kept the best musical company: renewing his musical relationship with bassist Martin Allcock, he was also joined by former Elton John and Kate Bush band member Charlie Morgan and uillean piper par excellence Davy Spillane of Moving Hearts and solo fame.

Mission Street offered a generous 62 minutes playing time and served as a timely reminder of Kieran Halpin's enduring strengths - which are likely to be further emphasised by his third Round Tower album The Rite Hand which is set for imminent release.

Tom Russell

Tom Russell is a busy man! Few other artists would have the talent (or the stamina!) to co-produce Katy Moffatt's The Greatest Show On Earth album, record a duet album with R 'n' B soul screamer Barrence Whitfield, write and record the material for a solo album Box of Visions and work on a forthcoming follow-up with Barrence Whitfield, all in the one year.

Even those for whom Tom Russell is not yet a revered name have heard at least some of his excellent songs recorded by other artists. Nanci Griffith covered 'St Olav's Gate', country legend Johnny Cash recorded a fine interpretation of 'Veteran's Day', while 'Outbound Plane' was a substantial hit in the USA for new country star Suzy Boggus.

Tom has also co-written songs with several acclaimed songwriters. He co-wrote 'Outbound Plane' with Nanci Griffith, 'Navajo Rug' with Ian Tyson (of Ian and Sylvia fame), 'Beyond The Blues' in partnership with Peter Case and Bob Neuwirth, and he shares co-credits with Katy Moffatt on 'Walkin' On The Moon' and 'The Greatest Show On Earth'.

Bucking the usual music industry trend Round Tower's first release with Tom Russell was a compilation album Beyond St Olav's Gate 1979-92, showcasing the best of his work over a prolific thirteen year period and tossing in two previously unreleased songs as a bonus. Stereo Review highlighted the quiet, intense beauty of Russell's lyrics and his ability to avoid the excesses of sentimentality that mar the work of many lesser singer-songwriters, while also telling real emotional truths.

His next Round Tower album Hurricane Season saw Tom apply a harder country rock edge to his studio sound, which brought him even wider appreciation from both the rock and country fraternities. This was further enhanced by the crisp feel of his next album, Box of Visions, a record which inspired many to describe him as the real voice of blue-collar America, now that their former hero Bruce Springsteen was seen to be becoming a little too comfortable in both his music and his lifestyle.

Next came the unexpected success of Tom's collaborative album with blues-influenced rock 'n' roller Barrence Whitfield. Many felt that the tasteful country and folk-based music of Tom Russell might be swamped by the more abrasive Whitfield, but it proved otherwise. On the contrary, this was a marriage made in musical heaven: Hillbilly Voodoo was an unqualified success from start to finish, and it won new fans and wider respect for both artists.

All of which has merely served to whet the appetite for Russell's next projects, a follow-up album with Barrence Whitfield and producing a new Katy Moffatt album. Certainly not when it comes to talent (or stamina!).

Katy Moffatt

Calling your album The Greatest Show On Earth could be tantamount to tempting fate as well as providing an irresistible target for the self-regarding savage 'wit' of the lowest form of music critic. But anyone who has seen Katy Moffatt live in concert will acknowledge how her riveting performances achieve the highest standards and she does it all without the aid of a safety net!

Katy was born in Texas and first lit up the music scene in the late seventies with two superb albums in the progressive country rock genre. Despite some impressive, even rave reviews, neither album achieved massive sales and Ms Moffatt upped sticks to California in 1979 where she became an intrinsic part of the roots rock scene, making a valuable contribution to the album A Town South of Bakersfield.

Through the eighties, Katy earned a reputation as a singer's singer as she toured constantly around folk clubs, rock venues, honky tonks, theatres and arenas. In the mid-eighties she was nominated by the Academy of Country Music as Best New Female Vocalist and in 1985 she starred in an award-winning episode from Ian Tyson's Sun Country Music series. Her songs have been covered by such luminaries as Hoyt Axton, Janie Frickie and Sylvia Tyson, while she has appeared on the same bills as Willie Nelson, Warren Zevon, Loretta Lynn, Don Williams and The Everly Brothers.

In 1989, she released an acoustic album Walkin On The Moon. This stripped-down format admirably highlighted the quality of her songs and vocal style, as people on this side of the Atlantic will shortly discover when Walkin' On The Moon is re-released on Round Tower. The following year she displayed her versatility by recording an album of country blues covers, for an album produced by ex-Blasters Steve Berlin, and featuring musical contributions from members of Lone Justice and k.d. lang's Reclines.

Her writing partnership with Tom Russell was established in 1987 and bore vintage fruit for The Greatest Show On Earth. Of twelve songs on the album, eight are collaborative compositions, with two solo works by Moffatt herself on a superb record that covers the spectrum from solo acoustic guitar backing to a full band sound with Katy and Tom sharing the production credits. Bob Dylan train-spotters should also note the inclusion of David Mansfield in the backing line-up. The album reached the No. 11 spot in the UK country charts.

Moffatt's work is notoriously difficult to categorise. Depending on which track you hear you could file her under country, folk, blues or rock. Maybe we should create a brand new category for her. How about 'One Class Act'?

Steinar Albrigtsen

On paper it sounds like an unlikely, even bizarre combination. Tom Pacheco, an American folk-rock based singer-songwriter of Cherokee Indian descent. Steinar Albrigtsen from Lappland, a superstar in his native Norway whose roots have been steeped in blues and country.

On record however their partnership offers a seamless blend of a diverse range of contemporary musical influences. Their 1993 album Big Storm Comin' achieved gold album status in Norway on its release date, and then leap-frogged to the number one spot with sales of over 50,000 in the first two weeks and a platinum disc rapidly replacing the previously-awarded gold version.

As if their partnership was mapped out by the stars, Tom and Steinar first met casually at a Norwegian airport in 1991. Shortly afterwards their paths crossed again in Austin, Texas, so they decided to concede defeat to the forces of destiny and began playing together for fun.

Thus began a firm friendship as well as a productive musical partnership leading to Steinar including a bunch of Pacheco's songs on his first solo album for Round Tower, entitled Bound To Wander. While Pacheco is already a well know name throughout Europe, Albrigsten is still relatively unheard of outside his homeland. All that is set to change with the pan-European release of what is a solo tour-de-force.

Growing up in Tromso, one of the two most Northern cities in the World, Steinar learned to play guitar as a child and in due course became an accomplished performer on several instruments, but despite playing around for nearly twenty years he showed little inclination to study music formally. But in 1990 a Norwegian newspaper awarded him a grant to do precisely that and he set off to Austin for some inspiration and began to formulate the kind of album he wanted to record. That album eventually sold 200,000, taking the number one spot in the Norwegian charts.

Bound To Wander is well on its way to matching that remarkable success, selling 100,000 in its first five months of release. Meanwhile, to cap a magnificent year, Steinar was presented with a Norwegian Grammy Award and he will release a brand new album next year. Watch this man go.

Josie Kuhn

Anyone who has heard Josie Kuhn's debut Round Tower album Paradise will be fully aware of the strength of character reflected therein, but many will puzzle over the origins of a voice described by Rick Danko of The Band as the best he has ever heard.

In fact, Kuhn grew up in somewhat straitened circumstances in Santa Fe, New Mexico, of German and Choctaw Indian descent. She lived in a two roomed cabin in the New Mexico hills with no running water and only a wood-burning stove to keep out the cold. In due course she taught herself guitar and joined a couple of ill-fated groups before deciding that she preferred performing solo.

In mid-seventies New York she fine-tuned her ability to communicate with an audience and to deal cuttingly with any heckling from the crowd. She played virtually every type of venue imaginable, from O'Lunney's Irish country and western bar to CBGB's, the legendary punk mecca.

Even when she toured Portugal she played just about anywhere she was allowed to, from smokey bars in Lisbon to glamorous hotels in the Algarve. Before long she scored a publishing deal, a record contract and toured as background vocalist in Rick Danko's band before being nominated Best Country Act in the 1987 New York Music Awards.

Since then she has earned the plaudits of countless fellow performers, including John Prine, Nanci Griffith, Don Everly, Duane Eddy, Jerry Jeff Walker, John Hammond Junior and Townes Van Zandt. She has also co-written material with Tom Pacheco, Steve Earle and Eric Anderson, but her heart, and her voice, will always belong to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Josie is currently recording a new album for release on Round Tower iin 1994 with Steve Forbert producing.

Gary Hall & The Stormkeepers

Gary Hall and the Stormkeepers emerged from their home-base of Preston in Lancashire just a few short years ago, to almost instant critical acclaim. In a genre more accustomed to false emotions and lost ideals, their innovative fusion of nouveau roots music, born of authentic folk-country traditions and nurtured on contemporary rock sensibility, swept in like a breath of fresh air that reinstated and redefined concepts like musical integrity, motivation and individuality.

Lead singer and songwriter Gary Hall's lyricism is inspired by the best work of Tim Buckley, Tom Waits, Gram Parsons, vintage Dylan and, to an extent, Bruce Springsteen, but these influences are subsumed beneath Halls' own highly distinctive style. His words burn with the emotion of a man who, although still short on years, has already had a full quota of life's extremes.

His lyrics are at times clear and forceful in their imagery, at other times oblique and naggingly ambiguous, often cynical, occasionally optimistic, always profound and based on first-hand experience. He frames them in tuneful and instantly catchy melodies; dramatic, low-key, moody or vibrant according to the message they reinforce, as perfectly demonstrated on hisfirst Round Tower album What Goes Around Comes Around.

Barrence Whitfield

Like many a hotshot rhythm and blues vocalist before him, Barrence Whitfield learned how to sing as a child during the gospel sessions at his local church just across the road from his home in Newark, New Jersey. He also availed of some free lessons in rhythm and blues from his uncle who also happened to be a concert promoter with some clout in the locality.

All of which subsequently lead to him picking up numerous awards in Boston, where he'd relocated, as top r 'n' b artist, tours of USA with his band The Savages, and even great acclaim across Europe.

Now Whitfield's duet album with Tom Russell has introduced his artistry to a whole new clutch of music aficionados. Not that their pairing up for the album Hillbilly Voodoo was a mere chance collaboration. Tom and Barrence had met on numerous occasions over the past decade and were avid admirers of each other's work. That aside, they had a shared affinity with both African music and country music, so some kind of collaboration was almost inevitable.

Not surprisingly then, the album spawned by this meeting of hearts and minds is a magnificent magnum opus, combining elements of country, rock, blues, rockabilly, rock 'n' roll, reggae, Appalachian music and even torch songs in a wild and wonderful musical odyssey.

Whitfield, apart from being an indefatigable performer, is an avid collector of records, and a browse through his ample collection is likely to find albums by Link Wray sitting alongside those of country giants like George Jones. It is that eclecticism that distinguishes Whitfield from other performers in the same genre, and his audiences are equally unpredictable, with serious blues purists sharing floorspace with thrash punks and body surfers.

Exposure on the BBC TV show The Whistle Test revealed the mayhem of a Whitfield performance to a whole new audience and he now tours Europe at least twice every year with his backing band. If he comes your way, don't miss the opportunity to experience one of the most original talents currently treading the boards. Meanwhile you can satisfy your curiosity by checking out Whitfield and Russell's duo album. That Hillbilly Voodoo is coming to get you, one way or the other.

JOHN B. SPENCER

John B Spencer's voice and music are so redolent of smoke that his recordings ought to have a government health warning on them!

Spencer hails from West London, his earliest influences being Big Bill Broonzy, Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie and John Lee Hooker and he built up a strong following for his acoustic guitar and vocals in the early seventies in English folk and blues clubs.

During the mid-seventies he moved to electric guitar, formed a band and began concentrating on his own songs which lead to him having some rather bizarre dealings with UK record companies, about which the less said now the better. Between intermittent record releases his songs were covered by other artists, including Augie Meyer from The Sir Douglas Quintet and Jerry Williams, who enjoyed a Swedish top ten hit with John B's 'Cruisin'', and he achieved cult status for his combination of Chicago urban blues, reggae, rock 'n' roll and country styles.

In 1989 he released his first album on Round Tower, entitled Break And Entry, marking the start of a long-term recording deal. That album showcased Spencer's songwriting, guitar-playing and singing talents in a rock context. In 1990, however, he dissolved the band in order to develop a more acoustic sound. His next album, Parlour Games, was widely critically acclaimed.

John spent the autumn of 1991 producing an album of cover versions of his songs with artists of the calibre of English folk heroes Martin Simpson and Danny Thompson. He also prepared a book of his complete lyrics for publication.

His third Round Tower release Sunday Best had reviewers remarking on Spencer's ability to create songs that lodge in the inner recesses of your cranium and, making highly complimentary comparisons to Elvis Costello - its success prompted the re-release of the earlier Out With A Bang album and four other previously unobtainable albums issued under the banner 'John B. Spencer's Back Pages'.

AROUND THE TOWERS

The very first Round Tower album was an eponymous release by Dolores Keane. Since then Dolores has gone on to major national success in Ireland through her involvement in the A Woman's Heart project. Her second album for Round Tower, Lion In A Cage, was truly ground-breaking, with the title track 'Lion In A Cage' joining in the call to Free Nelson Mandela. It also featured Dolores emotional re-interpretation of Paul Brady's 'The Island', and she scored a substantial Irish chart hit with her duet with Mick Hanly on 'My Love Is In America'.

Mick Hanly himself was no stranger to success. After a spell with the musical cross-pollinating outfit Moving Hearts and his own band Rusty Old Halo, Mick went solo for his first Round Tower album All I Remember. That album contained Mick's own version of his song 'Past The Point Of Rescue', which was a hit in Ireland for Mary Black and in the USA for Hal Ketchum. Those successes, plus his second Round Tower album Warts And All earned Mick the Irish songwriter of the Year title in the Smithwick's Hot Press Awards, voted for by the Irish media . . .

Another noted Irish songwriter to move from garret to studio is Johnny Duhan. Johnny had previously had several of his songs recorded by other artists, but his Family Album was a concept album of songs directly related to his own life, reflecting the highs and lows of family life in rural Ireland . . .

Penelope Houston is another Round Tower singer-songwriter to deal with adult themes in the songs on her album Birdboys. Houston has the remarkable knack of hitting on precisely the most appropriate phrase to shine a light on some aspect of modern relationships and when she marries that to her acrobatic vocal style and almost medieval-sounding lyrics, you get some idea of what heaven must be like . . .

Jim Fitzpatrick had already earned a fine reputation as a designer and artist whose work was steeped in the Ancient Irish legends, and his album Erinsaga is a concept album which adds an entirely new dimension to his visual talents. The stunning colour cover design by Fitzpatrick himself is an added bonus to the musical treat between the covers.

Little has happened in Irish roots music in recent times without Arty McGlynn being right in the middle of it or his presence hovering somewhere close by. Arty's string-driver artistry can be heard on his acclaimed duet with Nollaig Casey on Lead The Knave, one of the freshest sounding Irish traditional albums of recent times.

Exploring a totally different set of Irish and musical sensibilities, Francie Conway's highly rated Wake Up mines the coalface where Irish popular music interacts with the contemporary international scene. Conway is particularly popular in the countries of Middle Europe and is one of Ireland's busiest live gigging musicians.

Sylvia Tyson

When dewy-eyed folkniks gather round the fire to wax nostalgic about the formative years of folk music, the names of Ian and Sylvia Tyson are invariably invoked like some magic formula, in the same sentence as Guthrie, Dylan, Paxton, Seeger and the other greats of the era.

In fact, Ian and Sylvia were initially inspired towards song writing when Bob Dylan played 'Blowin' In The Wind' at the Kettle of Fish in New York. Sylvia's very first effort was 'You Were On My Mind', becoming a No. 3 hit for We Five in 1965, and in time the likes of Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Gordon Lightfoot and Judy Collins have all acknowledged the influence of the Tysons on two decades of writer-performers.

In the mid-seventies Ian and Sylvia, who had married in 1964, split and the Ontario-born Sylvia embarked on a solo career hosting acclaimed radio and tv shows, and releasing five solo albums which reflected her interest in folk, country, rock and pop. One of her best-known songs, 'River Road', was recorded by Crystal Gale.

Now comes news of Sylvia's first album for Round Tower, called Gypsy Cadillac, co-produced by Sylvia and the boundlessly prolific Tom Russell. Fans of hot country guitar should take note of the presence of Albert Lee on the album which overall is arguably Sylvia's most obviously country recording to date, although there were always strong country overtones in the music of The Tyson duo.

She frankly admits that while up to now her favourite album was the one which showcased 'You Were On My Mind,' all that has changed with the birth of Gypsy Cadillac. As Tom Russell himself reckons: "The truth lies in an honest voice singing honest songs." When you see the album on your record store racks you will be able to judge for yourself.

Peter O'Malley

Described as a cross between Big Tom and The Sex Pistols, with influences as diverse as Pope John Paul, Jim Kemmy and his local barman Eoin, Peter O'Malley is a Limerick Man With Attitude.

Of course, you've probably never hear of him. He hasn't co-written with anyone, supported anyone (except the wife) or had his songs covered by anyone. His major claim to fame (up to this time) is having been interviewed by a famous radio personality at his secret poitin still in the Galtee Mountains.

But all that is likely to change now that Peter O'Malley is releasing his debut album on Round Tower Music this month. Entitled Beyond The Pale, it contains 10 original (or original-ish?) tracks, mostly written by The O'Malley himself with a most excellent version of a classic J J Cale song, now aptly re-titled 'Poitin'.

The O'Malley started his career in the music business as a member of The O'Malleys, who achieved cult status in the Mid-West and Limerick in the late '80's. They described their music as bluesy-country-folk-rock, with loads of craic and improvisation, a description that just about sums up Peter O'Malley's current style. The O'Malleys released several singles and toured the former Soviet Union before splitting up, each to go his separate way.

As Peter explained: "As a solo artist I can please myself and succeed on my own merits." Or as the Limerick Tribune put it: "Mr. O'Malley is, of course a professional 'artiste' but I'm sure the thought of having to split the beer money one way rather than five must have had a certain appeal . . ."

The O'Malley now performs exclusively with Jim Hanley, and you can expect to see them at a venue near you soon.

Don't Say we didn't warn you.

The Nelson Brothers

Steve and Simon Nelson come from the English West Midlands. Steve began playing guitar at 15, inspired by the music of Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. Simon, a jazz fan, studied trombone at school and performed in the County orchestra. Eventually he switched to the guitar and, initially inspired by Paul Simon, he learned all the guitar parts from the Paul Simon Songbook in a few weeks. Then Steve went off to college to train as a teacher, while Simon joined a local blues band, and discovered the electric guitar and the music of Jeff Beck, Peter Green and Eric Clapton.

Several years later, the brothers formed a country rock/blues band, which featured their own compositions, as well as covers by bands like The Byrds, The Rolling Stones and Free. In the late 70's they won both the 'new talent' and 'songwriting' sections of a national competition, and then decided to head for pastures new.

Thus it was that Steve and Simon packed their acoustic guitars and offed to Amsterdam, to play in the bars and cafes and busk in the streets. For the next couple of years they travelled extensively in Greece, Yugoslavia, Italy, France, Germany, Morocco and Cornwall before being offered a twelve month contract to perform in Bermuda.

In Bermuda they became professional for the first time - performing four hours a night, six nights a week. They also found the time to explore their Celtic roots (their great-grandparents spoke only Irish Gaelic) through the Irish and Scots expatriate community who introduced them to the music of Christy Moore, Dick Gaughan, Planxty and Paul Brady among others. They played frequently at the Bermuda Folk Club, alongside artists like Silly Wizard and Tom Paxton and were also regulars at Bermuda's top jazz night-spot, jamming alongside drummer Andy Newmark (Richard Thompson Band, Roxy Music) and pianist Jean Roussel (Cat Stevens).

The six months following this were spent on the east coast of the United States, performing at coffee houses and folk clubs and doing a residency in a ski centre in New Hampshire, which culminated in an offer to do some shows at Lake Placid in the build up to the Winter Olympics of 1980 The Nelsons then returned to London to play the folk clubs and pubs. Steve took singing and drama lessons, reaching gold medal standard at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, while Simon studied jazz guitar and composition.

After a period embarked on solo projects the Nelsons set up their own studio in 1990, to produce their own and other people's demos. They have also done numerous radio jingles, for Jazz FM and others. Persevering with their own brand of 'roots-rock' they formed a variety of bands before settling on the current streamlined line-up that is featured on their first album for Round Tower called Home Town.

New To You

The other good news is that this prolific release schedule will continue in 1994, with new albums already scheduled from Josie Kuhn, Steinar Albrigtsen, Katy Moffatt, Sylvia Tyson, Russell/Whitfield, John B. Spencer and latest signing "Barrowside."

The View From The Round Tower; London

The existence of a Round Tower office in London has major benefits for the company as well as its roster of artists. According to Claire Hudson who runs the London office, their main concentration is on sales, because, she explains, the status of an artist in Britain can have a huge influence on the European market.

Another advantage is that most visiting American artists use London as their first port of call on a European tour and the existence of a Round Tower office in the English capital assists in facilitating personal contact with the artist and the setting up of media interviews .

Claire Hudson believes that the market for Round Tower artists in Britain is expanding, particularly in relation to the type of singer-songwriter genre in which the label has many artists. Also, the proximity of Ireland and Britain makes it easier for Irish artists to tour, and as Claire would be the first to admit, live gigging is a crucial component in building up the profile of any artist.

Round Tower Music 1993 Releases

RTMCD50 Katy Moffatt - The Greatest Show On Earth

RTMCD51 Peter O'Malley - Beyond The Pale

RTMCD52 Steinar Albrigtsen - Bound To Wander

RTMCD53 Pacheco/Albrigtsen - Big Storm Comin'

RTMCD54 Tom Russell - Box of Visions

RTMCD55 Russell/Whitfield - Hillbilly Voodoo

Other 1993 New Releases

RTMCD36 John B. Spencer - Out With A Bang (first time on CD)

RTMCD48 Tom Russell - Poor Man's Dream (Irl/UK release)

RTMCD56 Kieran Halpin - The Rite Hand

RTMCD57 Gary Hall - What Goes Around Comes Around