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’...

The 3rd February 2009, marked the 50th Anniversary of rock 'n' roll legend Buddy Holly's death in a plane crash. Fellow performers Ritchie Valens and "The Big Bopper", J P Richardson also died on the flight which took off from Clear Lake, Iowa to Fargo, North Dakota on that freezing night in 1959. Buddy Holly & the Crickets' first international hit was "That'll Be the Day" in 1957, Buddy was the first musician in his home town of Lubbock, Texas USA to have a red Fender Stratocaster . Back in the UK, Cliff Richard was the first rock 'n' roller to buy this most coveted item for Shadows' guitarist Hank Marvin. Hank Marvin and his red Stratocaster was an inspiration to 60s guitar legends such as Dire Strait's Mark Knopfler, Pink Floyds' Dave Gilmour and Pete Townsend of the Who. Buddy Holly's song-writing and great guitar riffs also influenced The Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Today you can still get hold of an iconic...

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...