Tag Archives: Alt-Country

04.29.21
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Josh Halper – Honest Feeling

Boris Johnson, the Teflon Prime Minister, seems to be in trouble again. His capacity for dishonesty knows no bounds and it looks very much like he has broken ministerial code by getting a benefactor to loan him funds to decorate the Downing Street flat. The money that’s being reported would generally fund the refurbishment or renovation of a run-down house to help provide accommodation for people who are homeless. Just saying. But, it is of no consequence to many in the British public and Major Sleaze will likely go on to fight other battles. He’ll never know that honest feeling. It’s all a game to him.

 

In Josh Halper’s song, Honest Feeling, we find the Nashville resident gently chiding those who flood his hometown with false optimism and misplaced hope. This (to me) is a song for artists who get smoke blown up their arses by over-enthusiastic managers and promoters. It’s a song about not getting too excited by such praise because it will inevitably lead to disappointment. 

The lyrics though are open to interpretation. I guess that’s the way that Josh wants the closing track on his album, ‘Alrightnik’, to be. An ‘Alrightnik’ is an American-Yiddish slang term for a successful person, but of the nouveau riche kind — a little crass, a little smug. Useful contextual knowledge and a phrase we could certainly be chucking the way of Boris.

If you’re a fan of the works of Elliott Smith, it’s likely that you’ll find much to love in this track; the crisp yet complex guitar-picking giving way to a gentle, playful vocal. The alt-country on offer here is nostalgic. The charming and beautifully-shot video is a lesson on how to go fishing for a friend. 

Let’s hope that Boris has a thirst for honest feelings today; let’s hope we all do. Happy Thursday. 

04.15.21
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Arbor Green – As We Grow

“If you’re going to take a dip in the North Sea in January you either have to be much hardier than I am or extremely desperate to feel something new!” – Ali Begg, Arbor Green

I’ve been reading about the growing amount of people who take cold showers in the morning. They’re often the same people who find unfathomable amounts of pleasure in cold water wild swimming. Without wetsuit, they plunge into lakes, rivers and pools without a care in the world. They talk evangelically about the health benefits that such extreme activity is providing; it helps with mental agility, daily concentration and in boosting energy levels. As good as that all sounds, I’m not sure that the ‘freezing your nuts off’ treatment is for me. 

I suspect the same is true for Ali Begg, the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist behind emerging Scottish indie-folk act, Arbor Green. In the recent video for their glorious track, As We Grow, we find Ali dunking his body into the sea at a wintry Edinburgh beach.  “I spent a solid hour shivering in a cocoon of towels after that.“, he tells me. “I dunno how all the middle-aged cold water swimmers do it. They’re out there in all fucking seasons.”

There is a method to his madness though. The perky and upbeat folk tune dowsed with a liberal sprinkling of Americana masks a lyric that questions ‘the daily grind of a listless reality’. We’re all desperately pursuing the next thing that’ll give us happiness, those moments that’ll lift us out of the general mundanity of life. This is not a happy tale, rather it’s a gloomy, wry reflection on the human condition.   

“So I’ll fight like hell, And I’ll hide like a kid, And I’ll scream that I am just so sick of this, All I want is to be gone.“, sings Ali in one key moment of ‘As We Grow’. 

Arbor Green have recently released a new single, Waiting On The Sun. It’s all part of the build-up to the release of a debut-album in the next few months. If the releases so far are indicative of the quality across the album then we’re all in for an alt-country treat. Ali’s delighted that Roddy Hart has been playing the latest single on Radio Scotland. It’s easy to see why it has been getting airplay though. You should check out that single as well. 

But today, take the plunge with ‘As We Grow’.. 

 

 

11.13.16
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Mishka Shubaly – Cowards Path

Next weekend I’m going to see Mishka Shubaly play a live show at Derby’s Hairy Dog. Mishka’s quite a new discovery for me but I’ve got a feeling that I’m going to find a lot to love within the gig. 

For starters, Mishka describes his songs as a “collection of depressing, alcoholic, nihilistic songs”. That’s exactly the sort of tune that gets this voyeur going. I’ve given his album, Coward’s Path, a few listens now and, each dab has left me with a new buzz. Alt-Country is a genre well known for pushing the boundaries of despair but Shubaly squeezes even more drops of misery out of the form.

‘She turns off the light in the bedroom to make it easier to pretend I’m somebody new. Baby, I don’t blame you for pretending, for I’m pretending I’m someone else to.’

It’s undeniably dark stuff but laced with a delightful black humour. It mightn’t be for everybody but I’m scarily drawn to a man who imagines ‘your plus one at my funeral’. “Who’s gonna walk you home when I’m rotting down below?” sings Shubaly in his deep, anguished, booming voice. You might not hear a more heartbreaking love song in 2016.

We might also meet Shubaly in a grumpy mood. Press releases indicate that he’s no fan of Donald Trump so what’s happened in the last week must be playing on his mind. 

“I feel an unusual kinship with the English. Like you, I find Donald Trump terrifying and America worth mocking, even on a good day. I enjoy the fine foods available at your Tesco Express restaurants. And I feel so well-loved there, it’s almost like the English have an intimate familiarity with drinking problems, depression, and a pervasive sense of personal failure.” 

I’ll be sure to report back after the gig but here’s a list of the tour dates just in case your own appetite is fuelled. The poor chap seems to be up and down the country like a yo-yo. He’s going to know our motorway networks pretty well by the end of November. 

15 Nov – Ring ’o’ Bells, Bath. 

16 Nov – Gwdihw, Cardiff

17 Nov- Scarey Canary, Stourbridge

18 Nov- Gryphon, Bristol

20 Nov- Hairy Dog, Derby

21 Nov- Underground, Plymouth

22 Nov- Toast, Falmouth

23 Nov- Rowbarge, Guildford

24 Nov- Henry Boons, Wakefield

25 Nov- Gulliver’s, Manchester

26 Nov- Slaughtered Lamb, London

27 Nov- Latest Music Bar, Brighton

 

Yeah, you really should take a chance on Shubaly.