Cosmic News
Latest releases, featured artists, stories from our archive plus more!
We’ll be kicking off 2023 with a Canadian Double-Bill!
Canadian double bill -Sarah Jane Scouten and Del Barber play Nottingham in January 2023
We are delighted to announce that our first gig of 2023 will be a Canadian double bill - featuring two brilliant artists - Sarah Jane Scouten and Del Barber. With a full band, and in this atmospheric venue, this show is sure to be a special one!
With nominations for JUNO Awards, Western Canadian Music Awards, and Canadian Folk Music Awards - Del Barber has shaped the folk music canon in Canada with five critically acclaimed studio albums under his belt, as well as a myriad of fans. 'Easy Keeper’ recorded in a cabin during the pandemic, has received critical acclaim from Rolling Stone Magazine and The Bluegrass Situation.
As the follow-up to his Easy Keeper record, Stray Dogs finds Del Barber bridging his past and present. Conceived during pandemic isolation at his rural Manitoba home, the eight songs on Stray Dogs are drawn mainly from Del’s large stock of previously unfinished demos, given renewed focus and polish by his longtime band and producer Scott Franchuk. Paring things down to the bone, the acoustic-based Stray Dogs captures the essence of Del’s art, of which Rolling Stone wrote, “Like John Prine (one of his primary influences), Barber writes the types of songs his characters might listen to themselves.”
Four-time Canadian Folk Music Award nominee, Sarah Jane Scouten is a songwriter of rare quality, combining sounds of early country music, ballad singing, folk rock and 60’s soul. It’s modern indie Americana that knows exactly where it comes from, with confidence and sophistication only bought by time. Surrounding herself with top-notch musicians, the live show is as dynamic as her four (soon to be five) albums: at any moment making feet move or eliciting laughter or tears. She is dry, funny, irreverent yet generous. She has a job to do and she takes it very seriously: to entertain, to inspire, and to be cathartic. An ever-expanding palette and a warbling iconic country voice – honed over many a campfire – brings a freshness to her brand of ambient indie Americana. It's as relevant today as it is rooted in the music of her forebears.
"An agile voice, ruminative songwriting, and love for classic country, indie pop, and everything in between."- American Songwriter.
We look forward to welcoming them (and you) back to our Cosmic American stage at The Chapel in Nottingham !!
Interview: Willy Tea Taylor
It was a UK-first for Willy Tea Taylor, when he graced our stages in Nottingham and Birmingham in Sept this year. And boy, were we not disappointed!
We caught up with him last summer, to dig a bit deeper into what got the California native to where he is today:
“One of the most important American singer/songwriters of our time.” - No Depression
It was a UK-first for Willy Tea Taylor, when he graced our stages in Nottingham and Birmingham in Sept this year. And boy, were we not disappointed!
We caught up with him last summer to dig a bit deeper into what got the California native to where he is today:
INTERVIEW - (AUGUST 2021)
COSMIC AMERICAN: When did you first realise that a career in music was what you wanted?
WTT: I believe it was autumn of 1994, I was 18 years old and was attending a music festival in Yosemite, CA, called the Strawberry Music Festival. The first act I saw upon arrival in the afternoon was a man named Greg Brown. He absolutely made time stand still and that was the moment in my life when I told myself, you gotta learn this craft man.
COSMIC AMERICAN: What was the first song you heard that made you feel this was for you?
WTT: It was when I heard him sing a song called Spring Wind. It was everything I needed to unlock the door and walk through to my path in songwriting.
COSMIC AMERICAN: Who have been / still are your main musical influences?
WTT: I’m a bit all over the place, I’m a big fan of all my best friends in the songwriting world, Tom Vanden Avond is one of the best. TK and The Holy Know-Nothings are my jam these days, Nathan Moore, I really get inspired by my buddies, I guess.
COSMIC AMERICAN: With the advent of the likes of Spotify, and other streaming platforms, how do you feel about this?
WTT: I feel like there is a beautiful movement in this business of music to get back to the meat of it all, spinning vinyl. The streaming platforms are a very convenient way for the listener to access their favorite jams, not a very convenient way for an artist to get their dues for all the hard work. But the payoff is always spinning a record and I believe as long as vinyl is being made or some other form that captures the grace like it, this ritual will always be the payoff. I feel that us as artists do have the responsibility of setting the standard for our art and rewriting a bit of the script on how this business and platform treat our creations.
COSMIC AMERICAN: How has it been for you throughout the time of Covid (2020)?
WTT: When my travels stopped it kind of closed the door to an old way of life. I feel like a newborn babe trying to figure out what it was like. It’s all just new again and as of now I’m a bit rusty, I’ve started doing shows again and it feels really good but I feel it’s a great time to reinvent some parts of me and carry on this journey a lot more thankful this is the path I chose.
COSMIC AMERICAN: What's in the pipeline regarding new recordings / new albums?
WTT: I’ve recorded a new album called, The Great Western Hangover. Hopefully, it’s out this summer. I really love the songs and my buddies who play on it are at top shred. It’s got a little bit of every kind of song and I’m digging it!
DISCOGRAPHY:
Album: 4 Strings (2011)
Album: Knuckball Prime (2015)
EP: Damn Good Dog (2018)
Single: National Treasure (2021)
Danny George Wilson announces 2022 Spring Tour
On the back of his acclaimed new solo album Another Place, Danny George Wilson hits the road in spring 2022 with a tour that stretches from Falmouth to Newcastle. The band Danny has brought together to perform with him on these shows features Champions of the World alumni Paul Lush on lead guitar, Joe Bennett on bass and Steve Brookes on drums, and is rounded out by Henry Garratt on keys.
Another Place was recorded in Lewes with producer Hamish Benjamin and has been praised for its sonic adventuring and some of the best songwriting of Danny's to date. Mojo called the album "an idiosyncratic gem...one of Wilson's finest" and RnR praised it for its "sheer beauty".
Danny George Wilson’s formidable credentials go back to his days in seminal UK roots rock band Grand Drive with brother Julian, followed by six albums of consistently high calibre output with his enormously successful Danny & The Champions of the World incarnation: in 2016 the band swept the boards at the first UK Americana Awards, winning with Album, Artist and Song of the Year. Alongside Robin Bennett (The Dreaming Spires, Goldrush, Saint Etienne) and Tony Poole (Starry Eyed and Laughing) he released an eponymous album as Bennett Wilson Poole (“instant classics… hints of Willie and Levon” Bud Scoppa, Uncut) - the band was named Americana UK's ‘Band Of The Year’ in 2018 and the UK Americana Awards ‘Artist of the Year’ 2019.
Praise for Another Place (out now on Loose Music):
"an idiosyncratic gem...one of Wilson's finest" ★★★★ Mojo
"Wilson’s weather-beaten voice is an atmospheric conduit for tales of troubled romance and hopes for happier times ahead" Uncut
"mightily impressive" ★★★★ Daily Express
"sheer beauty" ★★★★ RnR
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Danny will be gracing our stage at Nottingham’s Old Cold Store on 30th April 2022! See you all there folks!
Cosmic Recommends: Gram Parsons
“The man who made Country Music cool. Gram Parsons has come to be viewed as one of the most influential artists of his era, or even, some say, the father of a musical movement (country-rock, alt-country, Americana...... label it what you will, or as he did, “Cosmic American Music”).
The country-rock pioneer reshaped the Byrds, redirected the Stones, and pursued his own, often glorious vision of ‘cosmic American music’. ”
Gram Parsons - COMPLETE REPRISE SESSIONS
Includes Remastered and Expanded Versions of Gram Parsons' Solo Albums plus 16 Unreleased Tracks.
The first two discs of COMPLETE REPRISE SESSIONS contain remastered versions of Parsons' two classic solo albums expanded with rare Parsons interviews and bonus tracks that feature Parsons and Emmylou Harris performing "Love Hurts" and "Sin City" live in the WBCN radio studio, as well as a stunning instrumental version of "Return of the Grievous Angel" that spotlights the improvisation skills of pianist Glen D Hardin and guitarist James Burton, who played on both of Parsons' solo albums.
The final disc contains 15 alternate versions of influential tracks from GP and Grievous Angel.
Los Angeles - FALLEN ANGEL - a documentary by producer/director Gandulf Hennig and co-writer Sid Griffin - provides a revealing account of Gram Parsons' life and the ongoing influence of his music.
Deflating many of the myths that have grown over the years about Parsons' hedonistic lifestyle, the film retraces the life of this Florida-born, Georgia-raised heir to a million-dollar orange juice fortune through his early days as a musician and his rise as a country-rock icon to his tragic death from an overdose of drugs and alcohol at the age of 26.
The documentary features music and performances from Parsons' groundbreaking career with The International Submarine Band, The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, as well as his highly acclaimed solo albums. Also included are interviews with family, friends and fellow music.
Welcome to Our New Website!
Hello All
So it’s been a long year, a year of rescheduled gigs, struggling venues, and trying times for musicians (and others working in the industry) whose lives have been turned upside down in terms of performing to live audiences.
At Cosmic American, 2020 gave us a chance to pause and consider what is important to us, look back over the last 20 odd years of organising gigs, and figure out what direction we wanted to move in.
We feel ever grateful for the continued support from loyal local music fans, and the trusted relationships we have built with artists, agents and other industry insiders over the years, many of whom have become great friends.
We are excited about welcoming you all back - and the return of great musical talent to our stages this autumn - with a whole host of amazing gigs already booked in for 2021 and 2022!
The last year has shown us the importance of keeping in touch with folks online and so we thought it was about time to upgrade our website! Our hope is that this will help us be closer to our audiences and the wider Americana community both in the UK and abroad; promote new artists; attract new audiences, support musicians and grassroots venues; and allow us to play a more active role in promoting the music we love. So we hope you like it!
Don’t forget you can also follow us and join our conversations on social and we’d love to hear your feedback on the new website!
Here’s to fresh starts, renewed hope and new musical journeys! We look forward to seeing you all in person soon :)
The Cosmic American Team