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Interviews & Features

Outlaw Orchestra: ‘Can you imagine us doing a dance routine?!’

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We had the pleasure of sitting down for a quick chat with our friends The Outlaw Orchestra at Hella Rocks festival the other week. Check it out below!

How was the set?

Dave: Fantastic! Great sound up there, really good sound! It was our first time here and was excellent!

It’s been a couple of years since we caught up now! How’s the last few years been?

It was Call of the Wild! 2022? 2023? Time flies!

Ryan: Really good! Some really good progression and upwards trajectory.

Pete: Festivals have been crazy. We’ve had a really good live year.

Dave: Phil Campbell passed the buck to us to go do a gig in France, a headline slot… albeit at 1:30am! They said headline but I’d give that to the Guns n Roses tribute band on from 9-11. It was more the graveyard shift! But when we walked on stage there was still 20,000 people there.

Yeah, I’ve done Graspop the last couple of years and it seems to be such a thing in Europe where you’ll have a headliner and then people will still keep going for three, four hours after!

Dave: It’s great! As a musician… someone said to me before take a moment, take it in, and take a photograph with your eyes. And I did! I remember seeing people miles away and then down at the front, but seeing that many people was crazy! I couldn’t take a moment, I was concentrating!

Pete: We had the tour before that with the Gypsy Pistoleros. Done a number of really good gigs. I’ve taken a moment at each of them to kinda go ‘this is not a normal life, this is great!’. It’s a privilege to be here and enjoy it!

Dave: Next week we’ve got one down on Glastonbury farm. 10k ticket sold already! It might not be for us, but that should be fun! That’s in the more commercial pop circuit too, what the hell?!

I feel like there’s more crossover than ever between genres these days!

Pete: I think that’s part of the reason we got the gig; variation. You’ve got Raye headlining, you’ve got Inhaler, Bonos kids, so more indie rock, and then us doing the pub stuff! Up there with a pint of beer and a packet of scampi!

Dave: Then again saying that you get bands like Chaz and Dave who used to rock big and people love it! It’s good time rock’n’roll!

Ryan: Everyone says you guys look like you’re having a good time, smiling, and that’s almost the difference!

Dave: I know I’ve faked it before!

You guys have also put out the last album since we last chatted!

Ryan: Yes! You did your reaction videos that we loved, too!

Dave: I watched it with my mum and when it got to the end and you like ‘fuck yes’ she was like “is he allowed to swear?”! I was like ‘Hell yes!’

I was wondering how you guys write stuff. In terms of inspirations from that album alone there’s all sorts!

Dave: I think that was different in that Alessio, the vocal coach and engineer, sometimes sings with Dragonforce, we literally walked into the studio and Ryan set up in one room and us in the other. He says ‘wait, I’m going to record the drums, keep playing it’. Once we were warmed up he was like ‘now Ryan’s mapped out we can tinker. I want to capture you live’. You get a lot of influences from everywhere, but he would shout things out too. As a vocal coach he’d be saying ‘I can hear a harmony here’. The only thing is, he sings in Dragonforce, so he’s like ‘Dave, try and do this’ and hits some Bruce Dickinson-like note. I’ll tell you what Alessio you come in here and I’ll go and record!

Ryan: We’ve worked with so many different produces but Alessio, he’s got some different kit. His ear is different! Instrumentation too, he’s got loads of good effects and would be like ‘try and play it with this chord’.

Pete: From a songwriting point of view we’ve approached every album a bit different. First album you play the songs you’ve been playing for years. Second album you kinda experiment a bit. It was a lot shorter timeframe this time, we didn’t sit with the songs very long. This album we’ve got a nice long timeframe, really lived with it. We’re also much more collaborative with the new stuff. We’re had a really good writing session last night actually for some new stuff, looking at ideas and reference tracks.

Dave: get YouTube up and nick that bit from that song and that bit from that one, put it all together, they’ll never know!

You’ve got a few more gigs in October I saw, right?

Pete: Yeah, we’ve got Black Deer (sad), that’s gonna be really good! This is the thing, we’ve had some great gigs this year, and have got even more great ones coming up!

Dave: I really loved playing over on the continent. Nobody knows you but it’s such a great vibe!

Ryan: The food as well! And you can have red wine at like seven in the morning!

Pete: You can do that at home!

Ryan: Before we went on at 1:30 in the morning they had what they called a sexy show. Strippers, pole dances, fire breathers, and you’re just stood there!

Dave: The funniest thing. This one French girl, very natural very beautiful and confident. She goes out there in front of 20,000 people, so classy, like burlesque. Goes all the way down the catwalk, right out there… and whips her thong off. She’s now just wearing her heels, spins them on her finger. She walks off stage, stands between me and Pete, lights a cigarette. Pete’s saying to me ‘play it cool, play it cool!’. She’s stood there completely casually as we’re both riddled with being English, we didn’t know what to do!

Pete: A few days later when I was telling the story I said I didn’t know where to look! I went ‘I just looked at my wedding ring!’.

Ryan: We went for a swim at the local theme park, it was so good, honestly brilliant!

Pete: Ryan lost his sunnies! A wave hit him and as he came back I was like ‘where’s your sunnies?’ And he was like ‘NO!’.

Dave: Prescription too, prescription sunnies!

Ryan: Honestly I’d loved to have been there a few more days, done a few more dates. Europe is completely different!

You’re pretty active on social media. It seems to be going well!

Pete: We’re trying! It’s tough isn’t it, social media! It’s not really anyone’s natural thing. We’re trying to be better!

Do you have any advice for people in that area?

Pete: Honestly we are the worst people to ask! For me the thing I respond to is when I see people being authentic. We’ve recently tried to do more than share a gig poster, we’ve tried to capture what it’s like to be around us.

Dave: It’s mad. When we did the Phil Campbell tour, our biggest hit rate was the three of us eating a bag of fish and chips! It’s real!

Pete: You can’t predict what videos are gonna pop up. We had one outside a gig in Chesterfield where me and Dave were just busking Kiss. Ryan sort of turned it round and sang. I don’t know why but that kinda randomly caught on as a video!

Dave: I’d love to watch Iron Maiden just having a laugh! But then you cannot get backstage footage of AC/DC, and I’m hungry for that!

Pete: Have you seen the video of James Hetfield doing the rounds recently? Obviously they play on that big circular stage and there’s a big instrumental section and Hetfield just sits down, his roadies made him a cup of tea, and he has his cigar. And then he goes back up again, it’s really weird! It’s obviously a massive video because people want to see that!

Dave: All I heard is the only advice was do three posts a week and one reel. Do them at the same time each week, and it will start to get out there. I’ve certainly found when we’ve done preorders and stuff, don’t do it on a Tuesday morning. Friday mornings do okay!

Pete: We always try to put it out after 6pm if we can!

Dave: Consistency, and as painful as it is, be yourself.

Ryan: People can tell if there’s a facade. People watch musicians through a filter. That’s fine, but you have your onstage and offstage personas, and people want to see the offstage.

Dave: Unless you’re downright gorgeous and then you can do what you want!

Pete: I’ve seen bands do dance routine, can you imagine us doing a dance routine?! It would be so stupid, it wouldn’t fit! It would be awful!

Dave: But there we go, there’s the advice! Album recorded January/February, hopefully out end of summer, and then we’ll see you again in a couple of years! The grind. But then that’s why we do it, because it’s better than sitting at home channel hopping!

Features, Interviews & Features

Larry Fleet: ‘I had someone ask me how I’d describe my music once and I said “it’s country Western bluegrass soul!”’

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We had the privilege of chatting to the amazing Larry Fleet at The Long Road the other week. Check out below as we chat about his UK tour, his latest EP and his future album plans!

How’s the tour been so far?

It’s been great! People are showing up, filling up the rooms, literally packed every single night. Well, we’ve played two shows, but they’ve been packed! And tonight is gonna be great I think. Then Belfast in a couple of days is sold out, too! I think it’s good for these festivals and all this stuff going on. People are showing up, they’re singing the songs. We’ve already pretty much sold out of our merch and we doubled what we were told to buy! People are buying stuff, they’re having fun, singing songs, showing up, I couldn’t be happier!

Is this your first time out in Europe?

This is my first headlining thing. I came out and did London in ‘23 with Morgan [Wallen], at the 02 I was first of three, and then this year I was direct support for him touring. It went really well and I think it’s helping me sell a lot of tickets, too. Getting in front of his crowd, and there’s a lot of them, I think that’s helped us out. But this is my first headlining thing so I’m pumped about it. And I’m thrilled with how it’s turned out.

Are there any comparisons you can make from out here compared to back home?

There’s differences. I would say one thing I’ve noticed the last couple of nights is people listen to you when you’re talking. I tell stories, and when I’m doing that they’re silent and it’s like ‘wow, they’re actually paying attention!’. And then they sing every word you do, but that happens in the States too! But I think it can be more respectful and attentive here. Back home we’re coming out for a good time and they can get a little drunk and rowdy, while here they seem a little more respectful. I like it!

Yeah, I think even today we’ve been at a couple of the smaller stages and there’s been some learning almost from people coming out and being like ‘oh yeah, this is really quiet when I’m talking!’

Yeah! And some people don’t like it. They want people,to be rowdy all night because they’re playing rowdy kinda stuff, but I’m a singer/songwriter so I like when people listen. I wanna tell you the story of how it came about. It’s cool they wanna be a part of it.

As for similarities, when you go to a city it still feels similar to back home, you just have building that are 400 years older! The architecture is a little different but cities feels similar. All in all people have been super nice to us!

Somewhere in the South came out a month or so ago now, the response seems great so far!

Yeah! It’s funny because when it came out, we’ve only played it maybe once in the States; we didn’t play a lot in July. We came over here and were like ‘let’s try it out’ and Baylen started playing it on the radio, and just a few days ago we saw it’s like top 50 on a bunch of album charts over here! The songs been doing great and that whole EP, we’ve been playing pretty much everything on it and people are digging it!

It’s four different songs with four different styles. And that’s what I kinda wanted to do when I put it out. I’ve been sorta pigeonholed into what is just traditional country, but there’s a lot more than that. Here’s this blues, this soul, this rock. It gave me a chance to say here, this is what’s coming.

What made you choose an EP over another album?

Honestly, when I split with Big Loud at the end of last year, I wanted to go in the studio for a few days, see what I come up with, and show different songs with different styles. I just wanted something I could get out quick to show ‘hey, I’m here’. To show the record label has nothing to do with me being successful. I had a great relationship with the label but they can slow you up as they have a lot of artists, you can’t put out music when you want to. This allowed me to drop some songs to keep people with me.

You’re pretty active and successful on social media, do you have any advice for people on that front?

That’s something I have to work at! I’m not the greatest at it. One thing I can’t do is be fake. I know there’s a lot of people like me who want to see something real, so I try to give them something real. Whatever I’m doing, whether it’s something stupid or whatever, we have a fun sense of humour between us as a band so I try to let you in on what you do. When I’m hanging out with my kids, it’s just me being a dad! I try to make my music as honest as possible and I think that’s why things have worked out that way. I’m not trying to act like somebody else, so for advice just be yourself. Whatever you’re into, odds are someone else is gonna be into it too. Your demographic or crowd may not be millions, but it may be a couple hundred thousand! You can make a living!

You used to be in a bluegrass band as a kid with your family. Would you say it still influences your sound today?

For sure! That’s how I started. If you can play Bluegrass music you can play pretty much anything. Like sped-up jazz, almost! It’s a very hard thing to learn, so me learning that early on helped a lot. I still write songs so every now and then I have one that’s like ‘oh, this feels like a Bluegrass song’! I had someone ask me how I’d describe my music once and I said ‘it’s country Western bluegrass soul!’. I’m not always bluegrassin’, I like Southern rock and blues and all these other things too. But bluegrass is always still in my DNA, I love it. I played a bluegrass song in London last night!

Is there anything we can expect from the set?

I mean you can expect ‘Where I Find God’, that’s what kinda got me here. I’mma play a few new songs. Honestly I don’t even know what the set looks like. My drummer, I just kinda let him do his thing, and if we need to change it I’ll just call it out. We tend to play something different every night. If someone comes up and is like ‘hey, you didn’t play this song I wanted to hear’, well, come tomorrow night! Every night we try to make it a little different, that’s what keeps people coming back. It’s not just a rehearsal, you wanna be tight but you don’t want it to feel like a Chuck E. Cheese show, you want it to feel organic!

Features, Interviews & Features

Everette: ‘I do my best to try and mix storytime and the rock and roll ecstasy of a show!’

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We had the pleasure of chatting to an artist we are BIG fans of here, Everette! Not only was his set at The Long Road awesome, but check out as we chat about him being a solo artist now, his writing and touring in the UK!

It’s been a few years since you’ve been out here, right?

Yeah, I think it was three years ago. I can’t keep up with time any more.

Tell me about it! Everything since Covid has been a blur.

Yes! I have a child now, since Covid, and one on the way in the middle of September.

I absolutely fell in love with your sound the last time you were here so it’s so cool to be able to chat!

Last time you were here you were a duo, how’s it been since the change?

Well, me and Anthony played music together for 17 years. Not just as Everette but in different bands, and I was a solo artist before and he played guitar with me then. So it was tough at first, but Anthony’s kids were getting older so he wanted to stay off the road and spend more time with them. I respect that totally and we’re still brothers and write music and hang all the time. But I will say I really enjoy carrying it on. We had already committed to the Larry Fleet tour in the States, Larry asked if I wanted to come out here and I said any opportunity I have to come to the UK, put a checker on that! I love it so much over here, I love the people and the audiences. It feels like we’ve done pretty well over here, there’s a homey vibe!

Has the setlist needed to change at all?

No. I recorded a new EP that released earlier this year, Simple as that. So I’m playing some of those songs, definitely two of them. Then the rest of the stuff, I’m actually using Larry’s guitar player to play with me tonight. He’s killing it, doing great! No one can replace Anthony, he’s one of the best, but I’ve been having a great time.

Is it just you two tonight, then?

Yeah, but we might have a special guest or two!

How’s the tour been? About midway through the European leg, right?

Yeah! We did Glasgow, London, now we’re here. Then we have Dublin and Belfast after. I’ve never been to Ireland so I’m looking forward to that!

But the crowds have been… I always remembered them being amazing and attentive and a really kind response. Being a support act just acoustically is sometimes, a little nerve-wracking, but I’ve grown to kinda like the feeling. And the UK crowds are always arms wide open from the beginning.

I imagine it’s a nice change of pace playing an acoustic set before a big band show?

Yeah, I love it man! There’s more freedom, doing it acoustically. It becomes more of a singer-songwritery set. I do my best to try and mix storytime… it’s so dad of me to say that… storytime and the rock and roll ecstasy of a show! I try to mix that as well as I can!

Is there any comparison between the scene here compared to back home?

I mean there’s definitely some similarities but the classic thing everyone says is very true. I always tell people who haven’t played here before; most UK crowds treat the artist with respect. It’s kinda like a tennis match, they’re very quiet while you’re in play, and as soon as you’re done they erupt in cheers. I love that! Especially acoustically, you want people to hear these songs you worked hard for, and if you don’t have the sparkle of bass drums and all the stuff, to have peoples ears is what you want. They do it in the US too, but it’s a little less. This is kinda a guarantee. Then again, I’m doing the afterparty so maybe they’ll be a little more sauced up! But I like that too!

You did the afterparty last time too, right?

Yeah we did two last time, we played Front Porch and then the afterparty. Honestly that afterparty is one of my favourite shows I’ve ever played. People were just ready, man!

We’ve chatted to a few artists from Bowling Green over the last couple of years, it seems to be a real hotbed of music these days!

Yeah, well Bowling Green’s changed since me and Kyle were growing up there. But yes, there was a time when Bowling Green, and maybe it’s still that way, I don’t know, that the music scene was just great to be a part of. And we were all so close. We would play our shows and then get together at someone’s house. There was no competition, everyone was kinda like family. My friend Josh Mitchum was here, he knows Kyle as well, he was in a band called Floored who were super inspiring to me and Anthony. We were all so close and I learned a lot from those guys back when I was in my early twenties. Bowling Green was a hot spot for music for a hot minute there!

You’ve been pretty steady with your musical output. Are we taking some time to rest now with the baby on the way?

Yeah man, I think I’m gonna be off the road the rest of the year after this. I’ve been touring my entire life and I think what I haven’t done is take a break, really see the direction I want to go without people breathing down my neck when it comes to the commerce part of it. I’ve cut ties with some of those things on purpose. I just want to be an artist this season. Not that we haven’t before, but just taking a minute to point my arrow somewhere and really go 100% on it. I’m really excited about it! I’m writing for another record, I just don’t know when I’ll put it out. It’ll be next year, I’m sure. I’m always writing and I’m always working on a record! New music will come, for sure.

Has the writing changed since becoming more of a solo project?

Yeah, me and Anthony still write but yeah, it is changing. I heard someone in Glasgow say they’re enjoying the new music and the more introspective side of me. I didn’t see it that way but now that I think about it I guess it is. There’s songs like ‘Simple as That’ which is just the dream that I’ve always wanted, the basic things in life. Then there’s songs like ‘Space Between the Stars’ where I was going through a dark period out there for a minute, and my wife was right there with me, riding with me through the dark times. So maybe it is a little more introspective, maybe that’s just where I’m at in my life. That’s the kinda music I love to listen to, so hopefully more of that to come. Always a rowdy side to it too, though!

Is there anything we can expect from the set tonight?

It’s gonna be full of rock n roll ecstasy, some acoustic ecstasy and, hopefully if the crowd is willing to listen, some storytime! I’m really looking forward to it, man! Larry’s guitar player has been killing it so far and we’re just having so much fun jamming together. There’ll be a lot of jamming and singalongs!

new music mondays

New Music Mondays: Spiritbox, Neil Young and More!

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Another huge week of new albums for us to check out, from metal to rock to country! Let’s not waste and time and dive right in!

Spiritbox: Tsunami Sea

It’s no secret that I don’t quite get the Spiritbox hype. I gave their debut a slightly generous 7/10, but have not revisited it once since. It wasn’t bad but outside of a couple of bangers… meh. So, I was cautious about sitting down with their highly anticipated sophomore release. However, this may have won me over! I didn’t check out any of the singles so went in completely blind, and liked a lot of it. I feel like it’s a touch more riff-oriented this time, some of them easily being highlights of the album as a whole. Honestly, I feel like the more pop-based tracks surprisingly did a lot less for me compared to when the band went hard. It was a bit of a shame that we have these heavy-ass riffs to open tracks and then it’d drop down to synth-based clean stuff for the most part. Still, ‘Fata Morgana’ is the perfect opener, and tracks like ‘Soft Spine’ and ‘No Loss, No Love’ are awesome additions to the band’s quickly growing discography. Clearly I just want them to be a hardcore band!

However, the more I listen to this, the more the average outweighs the good. There’s a lot of good elements in the tracks I’m not too into, but there’s a LOT of synthy, clean pop stuff, which I don’t enjoy as much as the metal. Even when the heavy, distorted riffs come in, more often than not it’s steady pop still around those guitars. I completely get why they have such a huge and growing fanbase, as the appeal is very much there. But it still isn’t really my sort of thing. The opening track did its job of getting me hyped, but the rest of the album didn’t keep me at that level. There are some good moments and songs and breakdowns, but overall I don’t think I’d listen to it much again. This is completely my own opinion and I know most will rank it higher, but this is a 6.5/10 from me.

Neil Young: Oceanside Countryside

The country rock legend and future Glastonbury headliner is back with yet another studio album. We checked out a couple of his last releases and didn’t mind them. This is another one one of his ‘lost albums’, recorded back in 1977 and never released. It’s very country, a style it feels like he and his band haven’t done in a long while at this point. It’s good, but very typical of the country scene at the time. It’s pretty Don McLean/ Hank Williams in its pacing and sound and chilled-out-ness. That’s certainly not a bad thing, but it does make for a slightly trying listen by the second half when it’s all the same slow stuff. He’s a legend for this stuff just as much a the rock or other genres he’s explored, but I don’t favour it as much as some of his other styles. Still, tracks like ‘Goin’ Back’, ‘Field of Opportunity’ and ‘It Might Have Been’ are all worth checking out if you’re into his particular brand of country-Americana. So yeah, not a bad album at all, and I’m glad Neil finally got the chance to release it. But it’s not something I’ll be rushing back to outside of a song or two. 5.5/10

Whitechapel: Hymns in Dissonance

We’ve already checked out this awesome album! Read the full review here.

The Wildhearts: Satanic Rites of the Wildhearts

Despite having a turbulent few years as a band and musician as a whole, Ginger has powered on and produced a damn good return album after nearly four years away. The man’s modern, unique brand of heavy punk, almost bordering on metal at times, is on full display through this, sounding as good as ever! The opener sets the tone perfectly, feeling like the perfect mix of their early stuff and Renaissance Men. Then you have tracks like ‘Scared of Glass’, the ‘cleverly’ titled ‘Kunce’ and ‘Blue Moon Over Brinkburn’ that are all certified bangers in their own right. However, if you’re a fan of their sound like I am, you’ll love all of it as there really isn’t a bad track on the album. I

t’s a lot of fun to listen to, and may actually be my favourite release from Ginger since maybe even The Wildhearts Must be Destroyed. Yep, that’s how truly good I believe this album actually is. It’s quirky, heavy and catchy all at the right levels and like really only Ginger can do. And while he had a questionable fallout with his previous members, it’s nice to see the guy coming back strong after years of struggling with his mental health. And to hear some of that emotion bleed into his songwriting is even better, and makes for a fascinating listen. This is a solid 8.5/10 from me, and I’ll definitely be listening to it again in the coming weeks and months!

Destruction: Birth of Malice

The German thrash legends are back with their first album since 2022’s Diabolical (which we also enjoyed!). This one is no different, as it’s another awesome release from a band that really don’t get the credit they deserve as they have a discography full of them! Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always been a massive thrash fan so of course I was going to love this, but I honestly can’t recommend it enough to any fans of the genre or metal in general!

Right from the quiet intro track into the band’s namesake, it sets the tone perfectly and doesn’t let up for another 45-minutes of awesomeness. Between ‘No Kings – No Masters’, ‘God of Gore’ and ‘Greed’ there are plenty of tracks that I’d put up there among some of the band’s best. Yet, every song on this release feels pretty unique to each other and are all great in their own right. It didn’t feel like it went on for nearly an hour at all, my listens going by in a flash. Their sound really feels like the perfect blend of modern and old-school thrash, as well as having just a sprinkling of NWOBHM for good measure. It’s just a good metal album, there isn’t much more to say! The band are extremely talented players and songwriters, and all get their own times to shine throughout. I’ve gotten into the band a lot in the three years since their last release, and I’d honestly put this one up there with some of their better releases. It gets a solid 8/10 from me!

Caylee Hammack: Bed of Roses

The modern country star is back with her sophomore album after a rather surprising five year break. She’s been plenty busy in that time, with four awesome singles on top of the other four released to hype this album. As a fan of her work, though, it’s definitely nice to have a longer collection from her again! It also helps that it’s an awesome release, too!

Her voice is as incredible as it always has been, flipping from powerful, effortlessly and delicately soaring and brimming with emotion and attitude with ease. And her writing, be it the lyrics or instrumentation, is great throughout, and surprisingly varied through a few different country-adjacent styles. The album is packed full of highlights too, it being a very easy 46+ minute listen that goes by in a flash. From the opening track to the beautiful ballad ‘Mammas’, to the more Americana ‘The Hill’, to the likes of ‘Bread & Butter’ and ‘Cleopatra’, there is so much amazingness on the album! Heck, I’d put them up alongside any of her top songs, for sure!

My only slight complaint is about the arrangement; there’s a lot of slower stuff at the start and maybe putting in another of the more upbeat tracks in the mix earlier may have kept the energy more consistent. However, it’s a minor gripe when everything is this high quality! I’m gonna be listening to this a fair bit moving forward and I just hope she tours over here again soon as I’d love to hear a lot of this live! 9/10

Jethro Tull: Curious Ruminant

When I started this site back in 2021, I had no idea that I’d end up reviewing THREE Jethro Tull albums. Heck, the fact that they’ve been going this long (nearly 60 years!) and are still regularly releasing music is honestly commendable and fantastic, even if I have now accidentally signed myself on to reviewing each of Ian Anderson and co’s quirky prog-folk rock until either he or I die. While I wasn’t a fan of the bands last release, I still jam out with some stuff off The Zealot Gene every so often. So, I’m morbidly curious to see what they have to offer here…

It’s certainly Jethro Tull, that’s for sure. It’s weird, proggy, folky and rocky all in rather equal measure, and has more flute than I’ve ever heard in any other bands music. However, as a legitimate fan of the band, I did find myself enjoying this the more I listened. There’s some really great Tull tracks on here, like the title track, ‘The Tipu House’ and the honest to god prog masterpiece, journey that is ‘Drinking from the Same Well’. And Ian doesn’t sound anywhere near as tired as he did on RökFlöte, both as a vocalist and as a songwriter. Who knew that taking nearly two years off to recharge, especially in your seventies, would be helpful, ey? The highs, I would say, are better than Zealot, but overall I didn’t enjoy the album as a whole quite as much. To (surely not just) my shock, the band have once again knocked it out of the park with their whopping 23rd studio album. I wasn’t expecting this at all, but it’s another solid 7.5/10 for them!

P.S extra points for the sick album artwork!

Alex Runions: Above the Clouds and on the Ground

A fantastic, popular mainstay of Canada’s country music scene, Alex released his highly anticipated third studio album, a full decade after his last one! Right off the bat, it reminds me a lot of his contemporaries like Julian Taylor and ?, in the best possible way of course. Heck, it gives slight vibes of a local easy-listening/soft rock guy to us, Jodie Blunt. I love his stuff so of course I love this! Tracks like the opener, ‘Watching the World Go By’ and ‘A Song for My Dog’ are all awesome and personal highlights, nit honestly it’s a very easy 35-minute listen packed full of awesome, chilled-out tracks. If you’re into the slower side of country music, I can’t recommend this enough. I’ll certainly be listening to this again, and it’s the best release of this style I’ve heard in a while. It’s a solid 8/10 from us!

Deathless Legacy: Damnatio Aeterna

The sixth album from the symphonic/industrial metal has been pretty highly anticipated by us here at Overtone as I personally loved their last release. This album doesn’t disappoint either, certainly living up to my hype for it! Honestly, two and a half years has been two long between releases because I LOVE this band, and this is another excellent addition to their discography. I’d put it up there with Master Larvarum for sure, too. There really isn’t a bad song on the album, so it’s nearly impossible to pick highlight tracks. However, the slower, almost jazz-bar-like ‘Get On Your Knees’ is utterly fantastic, and maybe my favourite song the band have done. However as I say, every song is awesome, and this certainly doesn’t feel like nearly an hour at all, it goes by in a flash.

It all has such an epic feel to it, bordering on power/folk metal as much as symphonic and industrial stuff. The closest band I can think of to them is Lacuna Coil, and I’d honestly put this up there with their awesome new album, which is saying a lot! Then again, Steva has just a hint of P!nk to her vocals too, which surprisingly fits perfectly with this sound! And the whole thing feels so cohesive, the dark culty style and themes being only emphasised by the chanting and organs. So, if you’re a fan of any of the styles or bands I’ve mentioned already, or are just into metal in general, I can’t recommend checking this out enough. It’s an easy 9/10!

Jason Isabell: Foxes in the Snow

The folk/Americana singer-songwriter returned last Friday with his first album in a couple of years, and his first solo venture (sans The 400 Unit) in a decade. While I do generally prefer his work with a bit more of a backing band and instrumentation to it, this is still a good listen. Much like Alex earlier on, it made for a relaxing, easy time, even if it did feel like ever so slightly more of a slog than the aforementioned album, given in large part to this just being one man with his vocals and guitar. Still, tracks like ‘Ride to Robert’s’ and ‘Open and Close’ are fantastic and big highlights for me. It’s not an album I’ll be rushing back to listen to often, but it’s certainly not a bad listen and I wouldn’t turn it off if it came back on. It’s a solid 7/10 from me, and it’s another I’d happily recommend to any Americana fans out there!

Sierra Hull: A Tip Toe High Wire

We don’t cover nearly enough bluegrass on this channel, so whenever I get the chance to I love it. This is no different. Don’t get me wrong, I do prefer the genre when it has a bit more to it and has a bit more energy and almost a rock edge, but this is still a damn good, fun album that I enjoyed listening to a lot. It’s an easy listen again too, only being 10-tracks and 35-minutes. In that time it still has plenty of time for highlights, from ‘Come Out of My Blues’ to the awesome instrumental jam ‘Lord, That’s a Long Way’ and ‘E Tune’ to ‘Truth Be Told’. Honestly, the best parts of this album are when they cut loose instrumentally and jam out some amazing, quicker stuff. But I do like the contrast between them and the more ballad-like, folkier tracks featuring vocals. If nothing else, you can’t possibly be bored listening to this! It’s a lot of fun and the Sierra and her band are clearly incredibly talented players and songwriters. I’ll certainly be listening to this again, and I’d recommend anyone reading this, the whole album is definitely worth a try! It’s a solid 8.5/10 from me!

Reviews

The Long Road 2022: The Big Bad Review – Day 3

Our third and final day at the festival again found us headed to the Front Porch stage early doors. We heard Tim Prottey-Jones on the YETI Tailgate Bar while we waited for James Riley to come on with his 90s Nashville set. Both artists were good and helped set the tone of the day pretty well, much like before. Whether it was the solo acoustic act or the full-on country/bluegrass band, they were both good to sit back and relax too after queuing far too long for a coffee.

Lauren Morrow grew on me a lot throughout her set. While the whole singer and acoustic guitar setup had grown a little thin on me by this point in the weekend, Lauren was such a nice, wholesome person that you couldn’t not have a good time. Whether it was the fun stories she told behind the songs or getting genuinely choked up about finally getting to return to the UK, it was a real pleasure to watch. She has clear Dolly Parton inspirations and ‘Barbara Jean’ is one of my favourite tracks of the whole weekend, honestly.

Next up were Gangstagrass. My god, hold my beer. Remember on the last day when I said that there were a few contenders to set of the weekend? Well, this is another one up there with Hudson. They are a unique blend of Bluegrass and Public Enemy style rap which honestly should work nowhere near as well as it does. This was a rock show in everything but sound. The guys owned the stage and the crowd and honestly tore the roof off the whole festival. They had such a presence about them that made it impossible to take your eyes off them, whether you are into the genres or not.

Check out more country here.

And, surprisingly, the tent was PACKED. Given the rap element, I kind of expected the band to be more niche. But nope, the crowd was the biggest I’d seen in there and they were bouncing around, singing and doing whatever the band asked them to do. And they’re all so talented, both at their instruments and the insane 5-part harmonies. And the lyrics were actually meaningful and profound, too. Man, I cannot gush about this band enough. They should and will be massive. put them on any stage at any festival and they’d go down a storm. SEE THEM.

We headed back to the main stage then for Kyle Daniel. We actually saw him twice, once with his band and once on his own acoustically later on. Both sets were great, and very different. Being rockier than most on the bill and sounding like a fun combination of Blackberry Smoke and Chris Stapleton, it was right up my street. Plus, his voice was so amazing that it translated amazingly over to acoustic. Two great sets from a guy that I definitely need to check out more. He could be massive over here, given the sucess of bands like Black Stone Cherry and The Cadillac Three.

We got to see a full set from Sunny Sweeney next. It felt a little like Stevie Nicks doing country, that’s probably the closest thing I can think of to describe it. It was a good, fun, set and another that was nice to chill out to. Much like Brandy the day before, very typical country music, but with a little more of a pop edge. She’s a good frontwoman and everyone did their parts well.

We caught the all-female bluegrass band Della Mae next and had a lot of fun. I mean, how can you not have fun seeing bluegrass live? They were pretty polished which is sometimes rare in the genre and played a good set to a loud, supportive crowd.

Then it was back to the main stage for the final run of acts. Lindsey Ell was great, but man does she have a lot of energy on stage. Like that isn’t a bad thing at all, but she was almost hyperactive between songs and could have been slightly off-putting at times. Still, she has a fantastic back catalogue of pop-rock-country songs and played a great set showing of a lot of them. Her band were great too. I couldn’t help but enjoy myself watching her and she’s another artist I’d love to catch again.

Next up were Locash, the third in the tie of best performances of the weekend. The most bro-country band to ever bro-country. It’s so easy to love them just as much as it is for some to inevitably hate them. I found myself struggling when they first came on, and it seemed like the crowd were sharing my sentiment. However, as soon as they started to interact with the crowd and their personalities came out, they quickly turned the tides. By the end of the set they had everyone swaying and jumping around.

Whether it was their big hits like ‘I Love This Life’ or ‘Beach Boys’ or covers of Backstreet Boys and Fountains of Wayne, they owned that stage and the crowd watching them. I don’t have a bad thing to say about them. Both brothers are phenomenal frontmen and the band behind them were excellent. Heck, the lead guitar was far too over-qualified. I wasn’t expecting to hear any sweep-picking at a country festival, never mind multiple solos with it! I cannot wait or these guys to announce a UK tour, I’ll be there in a heartbeat. A HUGE highlight of the weekend.

Then we reached the headliner of the night, the mighty Cadillac Three. They’re the main reason I wanted to go to the festival aside for Chris Young. I’ve seen them a handful of times already but not too recently, so I was excited to see their new stuff.

I loved it, but unfortunately there seemed to be a bit of a disconnect with some of the crowd. Don’t get me wrong, their bigger tracks like ‘White Lightening’ and ‘The South’ won people over by the end and everyone was interacting. However, they opened on a lot of their newer stuff and did a whole ‘Tabasco and Sweet Tea’ section that even bored me a little. I love COUNTRY FUZZ and hearing stuff off that was great. However, maybe at a festival where it seems that not as many people are into the heaviest band on the line-up playing a bit more of their older stuff may have helped. And while I loved the THICC guitar tone, it made them sound even heavier and clearly scared a few people off. It was a great set overall but maybe the wrong one for the crowd they had.

Then we got a real treat. Everette opened the after-party in the Insterstate, and it was amazing. They played the same sort of set but in a completely different environment than the previous set it was so interesting. The tent was pretty packed and everyone was loving it, dancing around and singing when they could. Also, my god do the band do a FANTASTIC cover of ‘Rocketman’. And bringing on Jared and the boys from TC3 on at the end was just the icing on top of the awesome cake. What a great way to close a great weekend!

And there we have it, our review of everything we saw at The Long Road 2022! We loved every minute of it, having discovered loads of new amazing bands and artists to listen to. I want to see a lot of the bands we saw again and we’ll definitely be back next year!

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<- Day 2

Reviews

The Long Road: The Big Bad Review – Day 2

We spent the morning of day 2 wandering around the arena, taking in what other things it had to offer aside for the live music. There was plenty to do. From a great classic US car show to traditional games like Cornhole and Horseshoe, we had great fun killing some time. The festival really gave you your moneys worth, with axe throwing on offer too as well as various events like hotdog and wing eating, cowboy Olympics and barn dancing.

I also just wanted to take this opportunity to speak about how fantastically organised this festival was. It had such a warm and friendly atmosphere throughout, with plenty of families bringing their kids and dogs. There was a place for kids to play and a whole field closed off where the dogs could be taken to run around. And because there were bins everywhere the place was so clean. I’m so used to rock festivals being just music and that’s it and generally the crowd littering more, so being somewhere like this was great.

As we were wandering around we caught Benjamin Francis Leftwich on the Front Porch. Hearing a British person performing at the festival was a little odd but he did a good job. He had a cool folk vibe to his acoustic singer-songwriter presentation. It fit in well with the rest of the music there. Honestly, I feel bad for not knowing him beforehand as he seems like a pretty big name. Much like Kevin Daniel, he was a slower, stripped-back way of opening the day for us. It was the perfect way to set the scene.

Next up were one of my highlights of the weekend, Everette. I could have watched them play all day and was so glad they did two sets across the weekend (more on the other later). This one saw them far too early on but on the Front Porch, which felt like a perfect setting for the duo. Opening on crowd (and personal) favourite ‘Dang the Whiskey’, the two whisked through a far too brief set of their greatest hits, and a couple of brand-new ones thrown in for good measure. They held the crowd’s attention throughout and are another that are going to be the future of the genre.

Check out our last big review here.

Then we had the awesome pleasure of seeing Jess again. This time it was at a more intimate setting of the Buddy’s Good Time Bar stage. While playing a muchly similar set, it was nice to be able to sit down and see everything a little better and relax, instead of bouncing around and singing. The Good Time Bar had a pretty chilled out feeling all weekend. There was little crowd interaction, just appreciating the music, and that’s exactly what we all did here.

We headed back over to the Interstate stage, this time for an Irish band called Hudson Taylor. I had them circled on my app as ones to check out but couldn’t remember why. I’m so glad I did. They put on maybe one of the best performances of the weekend. At least on parr with a couple of the bands from Sunday.

The brothers fronting the band again put in their all and had the talent to back it up. And of course their band did their part to perfection too. It’s another act that I feel disappointed in myself for not knowing, especially given that I generally love the alt-folk kinda sound they play. They also had that pop edge to them that reminded me of the 90s US pop rock bands like Hanson and Matchbox Twenty. Whether it was their older hits or tracks off their 2022 album, they performed it all amazingly and the crowd loved every second. They have a new, big fan in me! Hopefully they come back nearby soon!

We finally headed over to the mainstage for the first time that weekend to see the amazing Seaforth. Being such a big name, I’d heard a couple before. But have to admit, I wasn’t that fussed on track. They brought it live thought, and more than won me over. It’s all very polished and pop, right down to the Sean Kingston samples, but it was good to watch live. The guys are consummate professionals and I’m honestly shocked they haven’t broken out over here massive already. ‘Good Beer’ is a catchy, poppy, radio-baity hit and I have found myself humming it a bunch over the last few days.

We went for some food and caught the back end of Camille Parker on the Front Porch. She was okay, but even more pop than Seaforth. It didn’t quite fit with the feel of the festival in some ways. Then it was back over to main for Cassadee Pope.

One of the most rock artists of the weekend, Cassadee leaned into that distinction with a set that wouldn’t seem out of place opening for P!nk or Orianthi. Obviously her formerly being the vocalist of Hey Monday influences her current sound a fair bit, which is great. It was definitely my sort of pace and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The band did a great job and the crowd were surprisingly into it quite a bit. She threw in a Monday song or two with the more country tracks. But, honestly, tracks like ‘Tomorrow Night’ would have fit right at home with her old band. It’s rare to hear so many genres blended together so effortlessly, and it made for one hell of a set from Cassadee.

Brandy Clark was up next with an almost completely different set and sound. Having a lot more of a traditional country setup with a double bass and other strings, it was a more chilled out set that seemed to perfectly bridge the gap between Cassadee and the nights headliner. Tracks like ‘Get High’ and ‘Big Day in a Small Town’ of course went down a storm. The crowd were clearly, for the most part, big fans of her work. She’s got such a stage presence and swagger, as well as a great back catalogue, that you’d expect her to have been going much longer than she has been. I’d love to see her again, and may have to soon.

Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives to close out the night. Yep, that’s right, MARTY FUCKIN’ STUART LADIES AND GENTS. And, for a guy in his 60s and who has done it all, the guy did not disappoint one single bit. Whether it was playing his fantastic own songs or diving back into his history of playing and collaborating with other artists with covers of ‘Ring of Fire’, ‘Wipe out’ and ‘I’ve Always Been Crazy’, he and the Superlatives smashed it all out of the park.

Due to being a very late bump up to headliner due to Chris Young having to drop out due to Covid, he brought on some fantastic guests too. Whether it was Andrew Coombs, Sunny Sweeney or Kezia Gill, each made it count and you could tell they had a blast. Oh, and did I mention that each of the other three band members had their time in the spotlight, fronting for a couple of songs each (all of which were great, by the way). This was as masterclass and a history in country and bluegrass music and I was hooked from the start to the very end. What a fantastic way to close out the night.

<- Day 1

Day 3 ->

Reviews

The Long Road: The Big Bad Review

Yep, you read that right. Overtone crashed a country festival. And, spoiler alert, it was fucking awesome. The Long Road 2022 celebrated the best of country, Americana and roots music, as well as having plenty of US pastimes as well on top of it all. We tried to soak up as much as we could of this fantastic, family friendly festival. And, we wanted to let you know just how much we enjoyed it!

After setting up and getting a quick lay of the land on the Friday, we found ourselves at the beautiful Front Porch stage watching Kevin Daniel. The North Carolinan/Brooklynite Americana songwriter did a fantastic job playing so early on and opening the festival for a fair few people. He rattled through a fantastic 40-minute set of some of his biggest hits. It was a great, chilled out way to start us off and ease us into an environment we hadn’t really experienced before.

Next up we ended up at the second stage, The Interstate, for Canadian pop-country Breakout star Jess Moskaluke. This was a little more of my sort of speed as she had a full band behind her and it had a rock edge, even if it was very pop. She reminded me a lot of Shania Twain, especially in her most recent single, ‘Knock Off’. She went down a storm in the tent for her entire set, having everyone dancing around and joining in. It’s very clear to me why she’s getting so big and she definitely has a new fan in me. I’m pretty sure each of the tracks she played has made it onto my Spotify, so that should say something!

More country here.

After taking in a few of the stalls, we headed back to the Insterstate stage for Priscilla Block. While she was still very good, she felt like a slight bit of a comedown after Jess. She’s a little slower and more ballady, which definitely isn’t an issue, but a quicker track or two might have been fun! Still, the stuff off her February album, ‘Welcome to the Block Party’, went down a storm. Plus, ‘Off the Deep End’ is a tune and everyone in the audience loved it. I’ll definitely be listening to her more of her moving forward.

Next up on said stage were the folk/indie rock band Fruit Bats. While they were even slower than Pricilla, they brought a fair amount of energy and stage-presence to the set. They gave it their all and, in turn, so did the crowd. I didn’t know them heading into the festival but, even though I’m not a huge fan of the genre, I’ve found myself listening to them a fair bit in the couple of days since. I’d love to see these guys again.

And now for something completely different (for Overtone, at least). That is a sentence I feel like I’ll say quite a lot in this write-up. Noble Jacks played an Americana set that I loved, and it’s opened my eyes properly to a whole new genre. Yes, I’d had a fair bit to drink at this point, but they were a lot of fun to listen to. The mostly seated crowd at the Front Porch were loving it too. A great way to spend a night, sitting around a fire, learning American Folk songs and getting drunk. What’s not to love?

Then we reached the headliner of the night, Drake White. One of the acts I was most excited for heading into this, he didn’t disappoint one bit. Whether it was his biggest tracks like ‘Livin’ The Dream’ or ‘Power of a Woman’ or snippets of covers of the likes of ‘Hard to Handle’, ‘Use Somebody’ or even Pearl Jam’s ‘Alive’, the setlist was packed full of fantastic songs. His band were top notch and Drake had the crowd in the palm of his hand from start to finish. It was one of the busiest times I’d seen the tent stage for a band, and I cannot imagine a single person came away disappointed. The Optimystic has been on a lot on my Spotify since this set and for very good reason. Drake White is the future of country music, and I’m sure you haven’t heard that here first.

Day 2 ->