Adam Larson & Co are both an individual and a band who tell tales of music from yesteryear with a new modern sensibility. Host CloudwatcherUno sits down with Adam to talk about his personal journey into music. We speak about his album ‘ Long Time Coming Home’ falling in love with his song ‘Ain’t Too Old to Still Die Young’ He is such an old soul in such a young body. He has such a warm resonant voice that connects in that space between your ears and a perfect example is shown in ‘These Colors Never Run’ which you get to listen to at the beginning of the podcast. This was released in 2017 and inspired by Sturgill Simpson and the alt country movement.
Adam Larson & Co is an artist you should keep at the top of your playlist.
‘These Colors Never Run’ by Adam Larson & Co
A lot of years as a solo artist meant that Adam had a variety of songs that were resting in his phone was the gem that is ‘Long Time Coming Home’ an almost a surf rock goth country sound. ‘Trigger’ is also an amazing song inspired from a conversation about a tree. About what that tree had seen written with his wife. Murder ballads are the songs that Adam likes to produce even though he is the most genuinely happy person you’ll ever meet. It’s the perfect audio accompaniment to a spaghetti western.
Adam’s music is a blend of traditional sounds mixed with Goth country sensibilities.
During this pandemic Adam has also produced the perfect song for this age called ‘Quarantine’ a perfect blend of comedic genius and homage to Willie Nelson’s ‘On The Road Again’. Go check it out on his Instagram page.
Adam Larson from the podcast. Photo: CloudwatcherUno
We get to listen to listen to the new single ‘Prairie Wind’ it’s a song deeply rooted in the tradition of Jerry Jeff Walker, John Prine and Johnny Cash a tradition of epic songwriters and storytellers. Adam is the latest in the line of these musical heroes and carries forward the torch of this dark, goth country and western music. For the future Adam and the band are working on new material and producing new songs and hopefully the wait for a new full band album will not be too long.
‘Prairie Wind’ by Adam Larson & Co
Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Dan Whitaker. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict and wherever you listen to your podcasts
J.Tex has an authentic Texas sound that will immerse you in the stories told in his album ‘Neon Signs & Little White Lies.
Born in the USA but brought up in Denmark, J.Tex (Jens Einer Sørensen) grew up listening to Bluegrass music while other children were dancing to Abba. CloudwatcherUno sits down with J.Tex from his home in Copenhagen where we talk about his childhood, travelling to Tennessee as a teenager, his amazing tattoo’s, busking on the streets of Italy, driving trucks on the Faroe Islands and all the while honing his skills and his sound to produce a sumptuous album called ‘Neon Signs & Little White Lies’ from the Heptown Records label.
‘Way Down In The Country’ by J.Tex from the album ‘Neon Signs & Little White Lies’
This is his seventh album and is simply the nest. The album was recorded in Lund, Sweden with the production skills of Tommy Tift. The album was recorded on the same analogue mixing board which produced the hits for ABBA. With this album J.Tex wanted to capture the sound of that live music experience to his audience. Recorded in the studio over three days the music truly captures the electrifying magic that is J.Tex. Jens describes how his songs grow and develop from practice sessions to live performances. Music is his job 24/7, 356 days a year. In this podcast we get to listen to ‘Way Down in The County’ and two acoustic tracks ‘I Told You So’ and ‘Broken Rose’.
J.Tex ‘Neon Signs & Little White Lies’ needs to be in your album collection. It’s the sound that you’ve been looking for. Cheers to J.Tex for bringing country and western music to life.
J.Tex mixes Americana, Country, Bluegrass and Roots music and influenced by Doc Watson, Norman Blake, Mississippi John Hurt and Lightnin’ Hopkins. Jens music is a melting pot of sound, riffs and melodies that invoke an era of music that is far from the music that comes out of Nashville now. It connects with your soul, mind and body to make you smile and get up and dance.
J.Tex from the podcast. Photo: CloudwatcherUno
Click down below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring J.Tex. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict and wherever you listen to your podcasts.
So Are We are songwriters Guro Vikingstad (L) and Stian Haslie (R)
So Are We are a phenomenal duo who are a refreshing change in the world of Americana music. Guro’s voice is precisely the breath of fresh air you need in your music streams. And add Stian’s dreamy guitar and you’ve got a killer combination to make sure you have their songs playing on repeat.
‘LA Love’ by So Are We
In this podcast CloudwatcherUno sits down with Guro and Stian to talk about growing up in their native Norway and being exposed to the English language in all its forms from movies, television and most importantly music. It’s their mutual love of music that brought them together not only as songwriters but as a couple. In this podcast we get to hear two acoustic songs ‘Be Alright’ and ‘Alive Again’ with ‘LA Love’ as a bonus track.
We also discuss what it takes for artists to create, produce and release music in these pandemic times and what drives Guro and Stian to want to showcase their sound onto the global stage. Norway has seen an explosion of singer songwriters who have carved out a place for themselves in this uniquely western of genres.
‘Alive Again’ by So Are We
Having just released their latest single ‘LA Love’ from their upcoming album ‘Piece of the Puzzle’ out on 9th October 2020 the talented duo are making sure their musical vision is being heard loud and clear.
‘Piece of the Puzzle’ is the upcoming album by So Are We.
Click down below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring So Are We. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict and many other platforms.
William Poyer performing live at Luna, February 2020 ~ Photograph by Matt Bradshaw
William Poyer is as unique as his music. An outstanding lyricist whose words come to life with a passion and haunting elegance that goes beyond poetry into the sublime spoken word of fellow artists Ray LaMontagne and Jason Isbell.
In this podcast CloudwatcherUno sits down with William and discuss his adventures in Mexico City, taking the brave step of moving across the world to find himself and learning to focus on his music and meeting fellow musical souls such as Jairus McDonald and José (Tato) Grageda from the band Peregrino. In those years he learnt a new language, met his wife and they have a beautiful baby boy.
Wiliam Poyer ~ Photograph by Russell Sansom
William has supported Great Lakes Band and Ferris and Sylvester on tour and has performed on stages large and small to connect with audiences with his music. In this podcast we get to hear two acoustic songs ‘Where Do I Begin’ and an unrecorded song ‘Forgiven’ which he will record in the home studio of Ferris and Sylvester.
‘Where Do I Begin’ by William Poyer
For William his passion has always been the acoustic guitar and from there his love of creating hooks, melodies to connect with audiences on an emotional level. William gets to showcase these talents on 10th October by performing in a socially distanced gig at the Old Joinery in Greenwich and a premiere a documentary about artists performing at the Spiritual Bar in Camden on October 22nd / 23rd 2020. Tickets for this event will be out shortly.
Click down below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring William Poyer. Also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and many other platforms.
Once in a while, a voice stops you dead in your tracks. The voice goes deep into your musical should and stops you cold. You look around to see if you have left this reality or have gone into another realm. I heard Eric Burton’s voice coupled with Adrian Quesada’s guitar on ‘Colors’ last year on Spotify and I must have played that track multiple, multiple times. It brought me immense pleasure and happiness to be moved by this deep, rich totally immersive sound. It was as if I had discovered an unknown treasure from the seventies one that had escaped the notice of all the music that has since passed.
There is an urgency in Eric’s voice a message that needs to be delivered to your heart bypassing your mind. It needs to open up that part of you that has become worn down by the relentless grey that is modern existence.
On 7th February 2020 at Islington Assembly Hall, London the Black Pumas continued with their Black Moon Rising tour they came and performed their music onto an audience who had travelled across the globe to hear them play. As far as Venezuela to Spain fans had travelled to experience in person the music of this incredible band.
From the first opening chords of ‘Old Man’ the Black Pumas gripped the audience and a wave of positivity, warmth and electricity flowing through the concert venue which went through each and every fan. We knew this was special that this was a night to say afterwards that we had seen the Black Pumas live. Lets not forget that the Black Pumas are a duo and the other half of that duo is Adrian Quesada and without his guitar and the almighty power he wields with that instrument there would not be those delicious hooks and riffs to thrill and excite your senses.
Hearing the album the self titled ‘Black Pumas’ you are transported to a world full of funkadelic soul, pulsing electronic heartbeats of bass with hypnotic beats. When you hear this music live in concert the effect is magnified a thousand fold sending shivers down your spine. Your feet can’t help but move along to the rhythms of the music.
The whole atmosphere at the audience was electric, sending positive energy back to the band by singing the words to each and every song. And then Eric stepped it up another level by singing ‘Fire’ into the crowd itself. Surrounded by fans the whole audience went estactic.
What a show, a performance from the band that easily rates as being in the top ten live experiences I’ve been to. Well worth the wait of all these past months to a glimpse of the mercurial talents of these exceptional musicians. It’s no wondered Black Pumas were nominated for a Grammy this year for Best New Artist.
Of course it didn’t as the band came back to an uproarious encore when Eric asked the crowd if they wanted to hear another song? The crowd erupted with a almighty ‘YESSSSSS’ and so Eric sang an acoustic version of the Beatles classic ‘Eleanor Rigby’.
‘Eleanor Rigby’ perfomed by Black Pumas.
Then this evening of supreme came to an end. We had witnessed music in it’s purest form connecting us not only with the artists but with each of us who were in the venue.
As if the night couldn’t get any better Eric then launched into a cover of Tracey Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’ a sublime mix of soulful vocals and words to connect with the audiences souls.
‘Fast Car’ performed live by Eric Burton from Black Pumas at Islington Assembly Hall, London on 7th February 2020. Video by Renato Ramone.
What next for the Black Pumas? They are currently on a path that is leading them to be interstellar. For now I can say that I was there at ground zero seeing them lift off on career that will take them into the stars.
‘Bluebird, Blue Flew by caught my eye and I fell in love with blue Don’t know what to do Sweet song lead me on I just wanna follow you.’
‘Bluebird’ by Dawn Landes.
Harking back to the best of country and bluegrass, Dawn Landes follows in the tradition of Hank Williams and Jimmy Driftwood. On 7th December 2019 Dawn Landes performed at The Grace, London and brought with her the echoes of those musical heroes on a grey night. A voice that carries you to a land of harmonies, love and laughter.
Songs that evoke feelings of the open road, travelling across wide open skies, the joys of whiskey and the downfalls of that mercurial liquor. Fleeting memories of heartbreak brought vividly to life on stage by an artist whose dextrous finger picking skills on the guitar are sublime.
Dawn sang songs from ‘Bluebird’ and ‘Meet Me at the River’ starting with the title track ‘Bluebird’, ‘Keep on Moving’, ‘Bodyguard’, ‘What Will I Do’, and ‘Wind and Rain’ which is a stunning song about the effects of the elements not just on the landscape but as a metaphor on the eternal battles that swirl within us all.
The song that brought Dawn to my attention was ‘What Is The Color Of The Soul Of Man’. A song about the politics of colour, race and belonging. An extraordinary song considering it’s origins are from the 1960’s. A time of racial upheaval which still continues to be felt now sixty years later.
This was followed by ‘How To Say “I Love You”‘ and ‘Why They Name Whiskey After Men’. A real show stopper was when Down took off her right shoe to sing ‘I’m Your Mamma’ acapella and create the percussion elements of the song by stamping her feet and her thighs. A truly original way of bringing the song to life and using her own body to be the instruments!
Dawn ended the evening with two songs the first was the classic ‘Lost Highway’ a phenomenal performance which showcased Dawn’s vocal abilities and kept the hearts and minds of the audience captivated.
The final song was ‘Silent Night’ which Dawn performed had only recently added to the setlist. This was the second time that I had heard this sung by an american artist that week. The first had been by Sarah Darling at Union Chapel and now again in a smaller venue but one no less potent or sung with such emotion.
I had been waiting to hear Dawn sing her songs and perform live for more than a year. Now meeting Dawn in person was an absolute pleasure and was the perfect way to end a year of seeing live music and supporting artists from a music genre that is thriving and brings to life a feeling of love and genuine affection from fans from this grey island.
With Dawn Landes at The Grace, London on 7th December 2019.
‘Blue skies smiling at me. Nothing but blue skies. Do I see Bluebirds? Singing a song nothing but Bluebirds all day long.’
Signed album from Dawn Landes at The Grace, London.
Freya Ridings is a phenomenon. A home grown worldwide music sensation who has captured the hearts of fans across the globe. The north London singer songwriter played to a sold out show at Hammersmith Apollo on 22nd November 2019.
Freya opened the show with ‘Love is Fire’ her new single and a stunning example of how she blends her lyrics with her voice to achieve a ballad of exceptional power.
This was the fourth time that I had seen Freya perform and each time she has grown more confident in delivering her songs. her stories, her history and taking that personal joy and anguish and turning into a way of connecting with her audience that at once makes them feel like old friends and spectators in the secret life of Freya Ridings.
One of the nights biggest anthems was ‘Castles’ a stunning song that soared up and above into and through the audience. You feel the passion and the performance of star in control of her vocal abilities delivered in her own unique way. London Community Gospel Choir appeared as if by magic to provide heavenly support at key moments throughout the performance.
Freya is capitalising on the momentum generated from her self titled album ‘Freya Ridings’ by showcasing her songs, ‘Blackout’, ‘Maps, Unconditional, ‘Waking Up’ and Ultraviolet.
Ending her main performance Freya came back for an encore with the song ‘Ultraviolet’ and ended the night with ‘Holy Water’ and an explosion of silver and blue confetti which covered the whole auditorium.
A stunning performance from an artist who continues to amaze and delight with her passionate delivery of intimate ballads that captures the hearts and minds of fans across the globe. Truly Freya Ridings is the voice of a generation.
CloudwatcherUno PLAY.LISTEN.ENJOY. 