I’ve been at Celtic Connections over the last week or so. There’s a lot going on and I’ve managed to (almost) balance taking part with seeing some things and meeting some good friends. For Another Country we get some of the best interviews and guest sessions thanks to the huge turnover of Americana artists visiting Glasgow.
The first fruits of this will be heard on Friday when we chat to Teddy Thompson. We’re big fans of Teddy’s music on the show and Teddy’s album, Upfront and Lowdown was his answer to people who don’t quite get country. We’ll be playing something from that on Friday as well as an exclusive recording from the Way To Blue/Nick Drake show on Wednesday night. Nick Drake’s music was perhaps the most unAmerican of any artist I can think of but his influence was huge and Teddy will talk about this on Friday night. Stay tuned to for what my daughters always refer to as a “randomer” during the interview. It’s no ordinary “randomer” though. Rather one of the doyens of British Folk music and it’s a great moment. Pictures later!
There’s lots of new music for the new year. I got an advance copy of something I’ve been waiting for for ages; the new Patty Griffin album. Called “Downtown Church,” the record’s produced by Buddy Miller and recorded in the Downtown Presbyterian church in Nashville…..you’re going to love it. In no particular order here’s some other things I hope to draw your attention to over the next few weeks: new albums from The Eels,Brendan Benson, Israel Nash Gripka, Danny and The Champions of The World and a great tribute album to The Mississippi Sheiks.
Finally thank you to those of you who have come up to me recently and told me how much you are enjoying the show. That means so much to me and it really is great when I meet you out enjoying music. Keep in touch. Right now I’m going to have another coffee and listen to the rest of the Dolly Parton album that’s been playing in the background while I wrote this blog. A track from that next week too, I hope. I’ll catch you on Friday at 8.
