Dustin Brown is living his life finally playing live music with all the enthusiasm and passion he can to excite his audiences again. Finally after quite a few years doing different jobs and living different lives Dustin is once again a fully fledged paid-up member of the musical fraternity. With the release of ‘Dreamer’s Last Drifter‘ his album from 2020 Dustin has shown what an amazing cosmic energy he brings to the world of music.
‘You‘ by Dustin Brown.
Dustin recorded the album as an acoustic album and then change his mind to make it a full band experience. You was recorded as a breakup song and relationships that disintegrate. Most of Dustin’s music is what he feels in his gut and how you can express that in musical form. Dustin’s grandfather and two of his sisters were and are accomplished musicians and a lot of Dustin’s creativity comes from the need to play guitar and express his voice. Townes van Zandt is a musical hero and influences his song writing style.
Dustin Brown in action.
Modern psychedelic rock stuff mixed with folk music is the only label that Dustin likes to put upon himself and his music. During a pandemic Dustin has been working on his sophomore album and has been putting all his energies into his music music that makes him happy and hopefully his followers happy when they hear it when they seem live or when the album comes out.
‘Dreamers Last Drifter‘ by Dustin Brown
For the future Dustin will be releasing new album in the summer of 2021. This was recorded with his band Dustin Brown and The Now. Dustin and the band have taken the time just to make sure that the listener gets chill experience. New singles should be coming out very soon.
Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Dustin Brown. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
In 2016 Bobby Dove released ‘Thunderchild‘ a collection of country songs that explore being released from oppression or at least self oppression with country music stylings. One of the most phenomenal tracks is ‘Floor Licker‘ which deserves to be a in a car chase in a movie. Truly if they ever do Baby Driver 2 then this is the soundtrack for this movie. ‘Cowgirl Bob‘ is about a lawyer from Texas that Bobby met online and how fantasy fell apart when it met reality.
Get ready to start your engines with ‘Floor Licker‘ from the album ‘Thunderchild‘ by Bobby Dove
In February 2021 Bobby released ‘Hopeless Romantic‘ light years away from Thunderchild as Bobby’s experiences of travelling and touring across the country and playing in front of live audiences enriched her life experiences and her music focuses on unrequited love, being on the road, haunted hotels and hard-rocking pallbearers. The album was co-produced with Bazil Donovan (Blue Rodeo) and Tim Vesely (Rheostatics) at The Woodshed studio in Toronto. On Hopeless Romantic, Bobby collaborates with some of the finest in Canadian Country music including members of Blue Rodeo Jim Cuddy, Bazil Donovan and Jimmy Bowskill (The Sheepdogs, Blue Rodeo), and Burke Carroll (Kathleen Edwards).
‘Haunted Hotel‘ from the album ‘Hopeless Romantic‘ by Bobby Dove
The album itself was recorded with Bobby’s long-term band members from Toronto and was recorded pre-covid timesBut wasn’t ready to be released in the height of the pandemic getaway tracks still to be mastered. Bobby released the album herself without the help of a label as a digital release but other formats will come out in due course. Along with merchandise that supports this music.
“Bobby Dove is a gifted artist, and a brilliant new light on the songwriting scene… A time traveler, Bobby’s songs meld genres with the touch of a master. I am a fan.” Mary Gauthier
Bobby Dove, Canadian Troubadour
Bobby is currently hunkering down in western Manitoba, supporting the launch of Hopeless Romantic as well as developing The Bobby Dove Show, a virtual variety show, featuring Bobby’s new songs, and interviews with renowned roots/Country singer-songwriters from across Canada. Sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Bobby Dove Show will be shared on Bobby’s social-media as well as on bobbydove.com.
The Bobby Dove Show
Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Bobby Dove. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Ingvild Flottorp is a fabulously talented 22 year old Nordicana (Norwegian Americana) artist from Åmli, Norway. Ingvild comes from a family of musicians that includes her older brother and sister Johanne and Tobias who play together in Ruby Red and the Moonshine Brothers while Johanne also plays in the legendary The Northern Belle band.
Ingvild is the next generation of singer songwriters to come out of Norway to carry the flame for the Nordicana music scene. Her voice and music are reminiscent of Iris Dement and Kate Bush but with lush country overtones.
Her debut album ‘It All Seems So Clear’ by Vestkyst Records came out in April 2021 and it’s a spellbinding display of virtuoso lyrics, heavenly vocals supported by sublime pedal steel and fiddle.
‘I Don’t Believe You Anymore’ by Ingvild Flottorp
In the podcast host CloudwatcherUno and Ingvild talk openly about the joys and lows of bringing an album to life only to have it nearly snatched away by the pandemic and the lockdown that followed not only in Norway but across the globe. It meant that the young star wouldn’t be able to promote her album by singing live to audiences across Norway.
With the help of Tobias who produced the whole album something magical has been born. Shania Twain was Ingvild’s hero and as a young girl dressed up and performed in videos for her siblings. This early exposure to country music from her father on road trips influenced her love for this genre. There’s also a rich folk tradition of making honest music that connects with audiences. The song writing process can sometimes take up to a year in trying to capture the sound that Ingvild is looking for.
The many faces of Ingvild Flottorp. Photos: CloudwatcherUno
Making and recording music brings joy to Ingvild and to us as fans of her imagination and you just have to listen to these magnificent songs. It took a year before Ingvild found a label that would champion her sound and promote it to a wider audience. Looking forward Ingvild has many more songs for her sophomore album which promises to be in a different direction.
Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Ingvild Flottorp. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
1 year ago today on the 14th of June 2020 a new podcast was born. This podcast featured Pete Jackson an extraordinary storyteller and musician. Five seasons later and Pete Jackson is again on the CloudwatcherUno podcast celebrating this first anniversary of a podcast that has grown in reputation, scope and delivering insights into the world of song writing.
In this special anniversary edition Pete Jackson along with his musical partner in crime Brad Dear sing two live acoustic songs ‘Sail Away‘ and ‘I Still Believe‘. We have an amazing time catching up on the years away for stories and adventures during an age of pandemic when it seemed the forces of darkness we’re going to engulf us all.
Pete Jackson
“Music should not be a competition it’s a celebration.“
It’s always darkest before the dawn and a light that has been brought by musicians and artists across the world through many different genres has given us hope happiness and joy. Pete and Brad reflect what is been like for musicians during this period of lockdown, live streams and virtual gigs.
Pete Jackson
It’s been a real privilege to have been able to connect with independent artists across the world such as Pete Jackson, Chase Crawford, Sweetheart, J.Tex, Ottoman Turks, South Texas Tweek, Pearl Charles, Lauren Housley and bring their musical journeys to the world through this year of podcasts.
Lock up you daughters! It’s Pete Jackson with Brad Dear from the podcast. Photos: CloudwatcherUno
To commemorate this first anniversary heres a link to the YouTube podcast of the special 1st anniversary podcast.
Click below to hear the audio podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Pete Jackson with special guest Brad Dear. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Jordan Hook and Joey Berglund two uber cool busking musicians who became friends in 2019 and teamed up to be the supergroup Baxter Elkins. Hailing from Los Angeles the duo bring sunshine and extraordinary banjo, fiddle, guitar and saxophone playing with harmonies and vocals that many other musicians would kill for. Just watch their Gems on VHS submission ‘Judas‘ to understand what I’m talking about.
J
“And then the horse says….”
We can stand here looking awesome all day long.
Baxter Elkins on tour from 13th of June 2021.
Handsome devils Jordan and Joey a.k.a. Baxter Elkins.
Baxter Elkins the dynamic duo you need between your ears.
Making music that seems unmarketable to regular country music labels is the way that makes Baxter Elkins truly stand out from all the usual music that comes out of the Nashville music factory. Their album ‘Hard Times and Hootenany’s‘ which was released in November 2020Is an absolute delight they breathe life back into traditional music with a slick sense of humour running through it. One of the absolute classics is ‘15 years of bliss and a quick death what else can a man dream of?‘.
Baxter Elkins also submitted their entry to the NPR Tiny Desk Contest and if it wasn’t for the teeniest tiniest confusion about time zones I’m sure that they would have won the contest.
One of the bands absolute classics is ‘Werewolves‘ a song that he wrote for Halloween for a radio show I chose the collaborative efforts that Joey and Jordan bring to Baxter Elkins. Growing up Jordan was influenced by Townes Van Sant and Willie Nelson and this explains how a surfer became hooked into country music and Joey explains how in a city of 10 million people country music still has a place in Los Angeles. Is this eclectic mix of traditional and new that both artists bring to their philosophy of music.
Jordan and Joey from Baxter Elkins from the podcast. Photo: CloudwatcherUno
The boys begin touring on Sunday 13th June 2021 at Lake Tahoe and continue across Nevada, Wyoming Pagosa Springs and Utah. For full details of venues and dates go check out their website or their Instagram page. Seriously what are you waiting for check out the music and if you can see them live!
Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Baxter Elkins. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Lauren Housley is a true ‘Girl From The North‘ growing up in Rotherham and then moving to Newcastle and Manchester. Her musical journey began with releasing ‘The Beauty of This Life‘ and the tracks ‘Sweet Surrender‘ and ‘Ghost Town Blues‘. From there Lauren played at Blues Fest at the o2 and Nashville’s American Fest. Lauren then followed this up in quick succession with many gigs to build her reputation as a phenomenal troubadour. Then in April 2021 Lauren released ‘Girl From The North‘ an album that showcases her extraordinary range as country/americana singer, songwriter and lyricist.
‘This Ain’t The Life‘ by Lauren Housley
In this podcast Lauren sits down with host CloudwatcherUno over a glass of wine to talk about how much her life has changed since those dreams of being a musician as a young girl in Rotherham. Two pivotal moments in her life has to be getting married to her friend and fellow musician Thomas Dibb in their one bedroom flat/recording studio and then the birth of their son Noah. Lockdown actually produced some extraordinary changes in Lauren’s life.
Lauren Housley ~ Girl From The North
My favourite tracks from are ‘Whats Troubling You Child?’ which I first heard on Bob Harris’s Country Show on Radio 2, ‘This Ain’t The Life‘ and ‘Stay Awake To Dream‘. The new album was produced with the help of Mark Lewis who previously worked on Lauren’s previous singles. So many female artists have inspired Lauren by proving that you can have a family life but also carry on with the life of a touring musician.
Lauren Housley from the podcast. Photos: CloudwatcherUno
Falling in love with Newcastle when Lauren was auditioning to get into university and a really strong feeling that this was the place she wanted to spend the next three years of her life and then met her best friend and then her future husband Tom also moved there to study music (they had met in college). Then spent the next five years gifting and learning the craft of songwriting. Lauren was inspired by the jazz, blues and roots music and then felt the need to grow and needing a change moved to Manchester.
‘What’s Troubling You Child?‘ by Lauren Housley
The studio has now moved from Rotheram to the Yellow Arch Studios in Sheffield. During the lockdown Lauren and Tom performed ‘Tuesday Night Live‘ from their kitchen a unique live-streaming experience for fans and share their music and songs from the album. One of Lauren’s favourite moments as a musician is to hear the songs in her head and bring them to life and share with the world. For the future Lauren will be playing at festivals across the country and promoting the album when touring the country in November/December 2021.
Lauren Housley ~ Killer songwriter and musician
Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Lauren Housley. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Coleman Williams has country-western music bubbling away in his DNA while also bringing the energy and excitement of punk rock sensibilities to his music, his lyrics and ethos of his strange band.
‘Son Of Sin’ by Coleman Williams – IV And His Strange Band
IV Son of III ~ Coleman Williams
“Music to me is like a way to communicate to anyone and anything even if you can’t understand each other. Music is the Universal language”.
CloudwatcherUno and Coleman talk about how every living thing responds to the frequency of music and if you just search on the Internet you’ll see cows loving music, the subtleties and complexities of the English language and literature. And how the written word is his true love and how he combines that with music. Using his music to express his views on love to other people.
Doc Watson’s music can transport Coleman through the power of musical time travel to his childhood running around barefoot and fishing with his friends. Music especially live music whether it be in a basement or a concert it is one of the best things that the young Coleman enjoyed and it is that joy that he tries to bring to his music. About a month ago Coleman got to experience some live music at a La Honda Records event with the Local Honeys, Vincent Neil Emerson and Riddy Arman.
‘Inbred’ by Coleman Williams
Coleman’s music almost always has two versions this stripped down version and the band version and this is how he sees himself as a country artist who is willing to experiment and branch out. An artist is an artist and it is unfair to pigeonhole artists into categories dreamt up by marketing teams of big monolithic music labels. Artists shouldn’t have to apologise for trying to branch out into rock or metal or punk when audiences only see them as country music artists.
Coleman knows that he will have made it as an artist when he gets to play with artists that he loves, respects and idolises and then can collaborate with those singers and songwriters to produce music that is unique thrilling and experimental that delights audiences around the world. Being respected by his peers and the music scene now he will know that he has made it in this world of music.
Coleman loves his father and deeply respects his grandfather and especially his great-grandfather and wants to be an artist in his own right who is related to all the amazing musicians in his family but is known for the music he wants to produce and showcase to the world. If you haven’t realised by now Coleman’s great-grandfather is Hank Williams, his grandfather is Hank Williams Jr and his father is Hank III.
Coleman’s song ‘Son of Sin‘ It is his calling card to the music world that he is his own artist and not just a relation to one of the greatest country western legacies that still resonate today in 2021. Coleman’s forthcoming album and music will be a country record with elements of other music genre’s.
Coleman talks about how Hank Williams is still not a member of the Opry. Hank Williams has been synonymous with the country music institution. Williams remains a former member of the Opry. It’s a mistake that has continued to be made for the last 60 years. There are many organisations that pay reverence to the name of this classic country-western artist but show a lack of respect by their lack of action or monetisation of the Williams name.
More and more in this age, tradition and respect mean nothing and the all mighty dollar and disneyfication of what was supposed to be music in all it’s rich and varied history has been left behind. Coleman talks about this and how music is no longer the main reason for tourists to come to Nashville. Born and bred in the city, Coleman has seen with his own eyes all the changes generally for the worse that has taken over the city that he loves.
Coleman’s mission as he sees it is to help country and western music grow through the influences of other genres so that it doesn’t wither and die and country music needs to grow and change. Artists like Coleman are leading a renaissance in what it means to be a country and western artist in 2021.
Coleman is looking forward to performing with his strange band in the summer and autumn and perform in front of fans scratch that actual fans instead of just online shows. Long may Coleman and his band continue to make music that excites and brings joy to fans across the world.
Coleman Williams (IV Son of III) from the Podcast. Photo: CloudwatcherUno
Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Coleman Williams. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Pearl Charles is quite simply a magician who has mastered the dark arts of creating cosmic country music with her album ‘Magic Mirror‘ with stunning songs such as ‘Only For Tonight‘, ‘Imposter‘ and ‘What I Need‘ she has pioneered new territory in combining the worlds of Americana, slide guitar country and western, soft rock disco, piano ballads, pedal steel harpsichord infused Fleetwood Mac, Abba, Toni Brown and Emmylou Harris.
Pearl Charles ~ Cosmic Cowgirl
Pearl Charles surrounds herself with cool doodads which give her inspiration and positivity inside her home in the desert. Dancing Queen was the jumping off point for Pearl’s ‘Only For Tonight‘ Andy is an outlier for the rest of the album as the songs that follow on the album don’t continue the Abba-esque music that’s captured by Pearl Charles on this track. We talk about astral projection alternate realities and what it means to be truly you in the universe that is constantly changing.
‘Only For Tonight’ by Pearl Charles
While Pearl and her band were touring of the ‘Sleepless Dreamer‘ record she was recording and writing the songs for ‘Magic Mirror‘. ‘Sweet Sunshine Wine‘ was released prior to ‘Magic Mirror‘ coming out as a single. The title of the album came to Pearl in a dream and reflected the magic that is Disney’s Snow White. We talk about how the magic mirror showcases the best potential vision of you but also delivers who you are right now at this point of time.
‘Magic Mirror’ by Pearl Charles
The album is fully biographical and captures Pearl’s hopes dreams and aspirations about relationships from breakup to sharing one’s life with a partner. Growing up Pearl was influenced by her father’s music collection which introduced her to Frank Zappa and Bob Dylan.
Pearl Charles from the podcast. Photo: CloudwatcherUno
As a DJ Pearl likes to mix it up when she is on the dancefloor from disco to country and everything in between. Songs that Pearl has written to change especially if they are continuously on the set list and so they become almost like a alternate brand-new version from the one that was born on the keys of a piano.
‘Sweet Sunshine Wine’ by Pearl Charles
Taking the pandemic in stride Pearl has been able to focus on performing with her band in preparation for when she gets to tour in England and Scotland in February 2022. Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Pearl Charles. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Nick Shoulders is the whistling, yodelling, guitar picking, mouth organ playing and bird calling superstar of the Ozark mountains. It was a privilege and a joy to spend time with my hero and get to talk about all the joys and happiness that is music as broad to not only me but to legions of fans across the world. Nick takes the sounds of yesteryear and melds them with the heavier rhythm of todays music.
‘Snakes and Waterfalls’ by Nick Shoulders
A saving grace for Nick in these Covid times has been connecting through the screen and connecting through the ones and zeros of the digital world. Playing country music has allowed Nick to connect with history in a real tangible way and a tradition of music which is larger than any musician and play ‘Grandpa Music’ and take what’s compelling about the music and make it his own. The lines between what is Folk Music and Country Music get blurred and the artifical barriers created by marketing teams of the music industry quickly dissolve into nothingness when you hear such songs as ‘Snakes and Waterfalls‘, ‘Black Star‘, ‘Rather Low‘, ‘Bound and Determined‘, and ‘Turn On The Dark‘.
‘Rather Low’ by Nick Shoulders for Western AF
Learning to warble from one set of grandparents, having a fiddle passed down to him from his other grandfather and having the wide open spaces to practice his vocal skills and fiddle playing has turned the young Nick Shoulders into a virtuoso instrumentalist. Moving to New Orleans Nick cut his album ‘Lonely Like Me with Mashed Potato Records and got his buddies to play the instrumental parts and the result is magnificent. One of the outstanding tracks on that album is a old Elvis Presley song ‘Black Star‘ a song that was a favourite of David Bowie and soon was a favourite of Nick’s as well.
‘Black Star’ by Nick Shoulders
In New Orleans Nick was a drummer for hire and played with Sabine McCalla and his metamorphosis to singer songwriter was complete with his album ‘Okay, Crowdad.’ The artwork for all the albums is doe by Nick himself as he is a painter and illustrator and these talents are further showcased in his new album ‘Home On The Rage‘. The blonde Mardi Gras haircut has now become synonymous with Nick’s musical persona as has his collaboration with fellow Ozarkian and family member in a distant way Willi Carlisle. Gems on VHS, Western AF and others have catapulted Nick into the public consciousness with their ‘Vidjas’ (Videos) that capture the essence of this musical genius.
‘Bound and Determined’ by Nick Shoulders for Gems On VHS
For our audio pleasure Nick Sings acoustically his warm up song ‘Irene Goodnight‘. Take a moment and just listen to a little slice of heaven.For the future Nick will be travelling and paying shows across the states and even across the Atlantic to England in the autumn.
Nick Shoulders from the podcast. Photo: CloudwatcherUno
Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Nick Shoulders. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Nick Garza comes from a long line of Texans and it’s this history combined with the music of the great state that influences his lyrics, songs and outlook on life. On this podcast CloudwatcherUno and Nick talk about the stories behind his songs ‘I’ll take another Margarita‘, ‘Muchacha‘ ‘Take me down to San Antonio‘ and ‘Denial‘, We also hear Nick sing acoustic versions of some of the songs and the collaboration process with other artists such as Augie Meyers and Los Texmaniacs.
Muchacha by Nick Garza’s Get Along (feat. Augie Meyers and Los Texmaniacs)
Nick also answers the life-and-death question of which city has the best tacos is it Austin or San Antonio? We talk about how it sometimes takes weeks and months to finish a song and how he uses a voice recorder memo function on his phone to put down ideas for his music. He currently has 2500 voice memos Which all could turn into fully fledged songs.
Denial by by Nick Garza’s Get Along (feat. Kelsey Wilson)
Now that the world is slowly opening up Nick is focusing on releasing singles all the rich would complete his first album and then being able to play those songs in front of a live audience. I for one can’t wait to hear new music from the Tex-Mex legend that is Nick Garza.
The legend that is Nick Garza’s Get Along
Click down below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Nick Garza’s Get Along. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict and many other platforms.
Nick Garza from the podcast. Photo: CloudwatcherUno
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