Rennie and Brett Sparks - unofficial ma and pa of alt-country and progenitors of last year's brilliant Twilight - return to teach us some Handsome Family values
Their live shows can be a little erratic, leaving some onlookers in doubt as to the "authenticity" of what they are witnessing: is the guitar playing intentionally bad or is it part of an act?
A match made in ... heaven? The Handsome Family - the husband and wife duo of Brett and Rennie Sparks who make beautiful, if rather spooky music together.
Alternative American country has never been healthier, with outfits like The Pernice Brothers, The Handsome Family, Calexico and Lambchop blazing diverse trails all across the landscape.
YUP, IT'S Wild Will again, the adopted son of Bob at his most hellfire-spittin', sickly nephew of Neil at his most 'Safeway Cart' Beckett-esque, brother figure to Bill Smog, the Handsome Family and any Gram-my loser who ever chased a ghost in anger.
YUP, IT'S Wild Will again, the adopted son of Bob at his most hellfire-spittin', sickly nephew of Neil at his most 'Safeway Cart' Beckett-esque, brother figure to Bill Smog, the Handsome Family and any Gram-my loser who ever chased a ghost in anger.
It's been a long strange trip and no mistake, one that describes a discernible line from
Harry Smith's Anthology Of American Folk Music through to the Handsome Family.
But there's even more going on beneath the surface. GREIL MARCUS, the music critic's music critic,
is PETER MURPHY's guide on a mystery train whose other passengers include Elvis Presley, Robert Johnson, Mark Twain, Nick Cave, The Blair Witch, Bill Clinton, The Band, Siniad O'Connor, Beck, William Burroughs, William Faulkner and Bob Dylan. And that's just the first class carriage. All aboard
With presenter John Creedon on a roll with his new mid-afternoon slot on RTE Radio 1, Jackie Hayden crosses the threshold of his Cork abode to see what the man gets up to away from the mike.
The outlaw loved by the in-law, Willie Nelson can draw 4,000 people outside Dublin virtually by word of mouth. But it ain't all middle of the road: as befits a veteran of the honky-tonks who had done battle with the IRS and the law, the country music legend can still get in touch with the dark side of Hank
Dundalk's Spirit Store will celebrate 10 years of world class gigs with a special evening of music on Thursday, October 29 featuring some of the acts who have graced its stage over the past decade.
No mere actor boy moonlighting as a rock star, Billy Bob Thornton is steeped in music and also in the kind of brooding Southern gothic aesthetic which informs his compelling album of song and story, Private Radio. Peter Murphy meets a singular man of stage and screen
By his own admission, Oklahoma-born Johnny Dowd lived the textbook American childhood, “driving in Daddy’s car, falling in love and listening to the radio”
By his own admission, Oklahoma-born Johnny Dowd lived the textbook American childhood, “driving in Daddy’s car, falling in love and listening to the radio”
Rumours of Bono and Len himself turning up proved to be unfounded, but that didn’t stop Came So Far For Beauty: An Evening Of Leonard Cohen Songs being the stuff legend is made of. Click to view the gallery
Diving For Pearls is the debut album from Scottish singer/songwriter Allie Fox and it’s as warm and intimate a collection of songs as you are likely to hear this year.
A refreshingly honest, soulful and intoxicating melting pot throughout, Cockahoop is essentially a pop album that sticks two fingers up to the sophisticated sheen and FX-laden production trickery of most of its contemporary cousins.
Rumours of Bono and Len himself turning up proved to be unfounded, but that didn’t stop this Dublin Theatre Festival shindig being the stuff legend is made of.
If someone unfamiliar with the current crop of Irish musicians were to cock an ear to Other Voices 2, they could be forgiven for thinking that Ireland’s rock ‘n’ rollers were mellowing out.
Budget cuts almost spelled the end of Other Voices. But the team behind the Dingle music institution rallied around – with the result that this year’s line-up is arguably among the strongest in the history of the show
