Focus Music Notes. "Out of the Blues". Popular music through the decades

Introducing Laura McGhee, the Scottish/Americana singer/songwriter/fiddler/guitarist who hails from Dundee and has now made her home in Nashville. She was raised on Celtic roots, folk and country music and has been hailed by the London Times as the "Musical Heroine of the Y Generation". She first hit the American roots scene while performing with Pete Seeger in New York. Since that time, she has performed with the great Odetta, Ricky Skaggs, Jim Lauderdale, the Pogues & Shane McGowan, Oscar Brand, Ian Hunter, Josh White, Jr., David Amram, and Runrig. Her album Celticana , recorded in Nashville, garnered rave reviews and strong airplay on both sides of the ocean and stayed for ten solid weeks on the Americana Top 40 Chart from May to July of 2010 (unprecedented for a Scottish artist). Laura recently toured with John Carter Cash & John McEuen of  Nitty Gritty Dirt band on the 'Will the Circle Be Unbroken Tour-songs of the Carter family', to pay homage to th...

The Melodic are an English afro-folk-pop ensemble , their debut album Effra Parade is the follow up to the band's acclaimed EP On My Way. The Observer described The Melodic as "Incredibly beautiful, with harmonies and rich instrumentation that make you want to dance and cry at the same time," while in the US the band has drawn comparisons to indie darlings Beirut and The Decemberists. The group's members came of age in the South London neighborhood of Brixton amidst bustling streets and open air markets reverberating with a rich assortment of musics from around the world. In the distinctly English tradition of sonic assimilation, they found influence in the sounds they were hearing. As band member Huw Williams explains, “Brixton is a real melting pot of different people so it doesn’t feel inappropriate for us to introduce sounds from around the world into our music, there was South American and African music around us all the time, as well as reggae a...

23 year old rising star John Newman follows his massive number 1 single “Love Me Again”, and equally rousing follow-up “Cheating” with the release on October 14th of his hotly anticipated debut album ”Tribute”. The album, co-produced by Newman, confirms his class as a songwriter, peerless power as a vocalist and offers conclusive proof that the UK has a singular new talent in its midst. “Love Me Again” which has achieved Gold Status in the UK for sales in excess of 500,000, has hit the No1 spot on iTunes in a staggering 16 countries across the globe and follows John’s previous anthem and chart-topper “Feel The Love”, which he co-wrote and fronted with Rudimental. October is going to be a very busy month for the young Yorkshireman who releases his new Island Records single ”Cheating” on October 7th , and played a special homecoming show at the Grade 2 listed Victorian Music Hall in Settle, on October 3rd. The Settle gig, which sold out in less than 2 minutes, will be a taster of what’...

Mac Miller’s new album “Watching Movies With The Sound Off” made an impressive debut at No.3 in the US charts, after going head-to-head with new albums from Kanye West and J. Cole in the same week. Mac releases his amazing new single “ I Am Who Am (Killin’ Time) ” featuring Niki Randa on October 7th, and the video has already clocked up over a millon views on YouTube . Mac recently collaborated with singing sensation Ariana Grande, on her platinum selling hit single ‘The Way’, which saw them perform together on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon andThe Ellen DeGeneres Show. Mac exclusively played a sold out one-off show in London back in June, backed by the Odd Future/OFWGKTA affiliate band The Internet, playing his new album “WMWTSO” for the first time anywhere in the world. Mac returned to tour the UK this autumn, with support from Maybach Music Group’s Rockie Fresh and Pittsburgh hailing singer songwriter Dylan Reynold, check them out at www.rockiefresh.com and soundcloud.com/dyla...

"Back to School" period is still underway so now is the time to take advantage of the special offers at Musicroom . This  is a great voucher offer on selected products if you shop via the following links Code: LEARN1 Offer: 20% Off Tuition Books , DVDs and CDs Expiry Date: 31/10/13

Grammy Award-winning multi-platinum superstar, entrepreneur, actor, and philanthropist, NELLY, who has sold almost 100 million albums and singles in his 13 year career , releases his brand new album, “M.O.” on September 30 th . The album, Nelly’s 7 th , includes his hot new single “Get Like Me” where the St Louis superstar joins forces with two of the world’s hottest stars Nicki Minaj and Pharrell. The single is the follow up to Nelly’s recent major hit “ Hey Porsche" and his current US megahit "Cruise" (Remix), r ecorded with his f riends, the country duo, Florida Georgia Line. “H ey Porsche” incredibly gave Nelly his 22 nd charted Top 40 song, making him tied for 11 th most charted Top 40 hits artist of all-time.  Get Like Me (feat. Nicki Minaj & Pharrell) -  Get Like Me (feat. Nicki Minaj & Pharrell - Single