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Austin Lucas Finland Tour (10.11. – 14.11.)

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austini

Major news on the One Chord To Another scale. One of my favourite singer-songwriters Austin Lucas will be touring in Finland next week. I’ve been a big fan since his 2009 album Somebody Loves You and the last three albums have all ended up on my year-end top 10. Therefore I’m actually really ashamed that I haven’t seen Austin Lucas live before this current solo tour. He has been playing in Finland several times since that, but I’ve just been either too lazy or busy to drag myself to Helsinki. I’m really excited to finally see Austin Lucas perform at Dynamo, Turku next Saturday. That’s the last date of his current Scandinavian / Northern Europe tour. Earlier in the week, Austin will play in Maarianhamina, Jyväskylä, Tampere and Helsinki. Here are the Finnish dates.

Austin Lucas Finland Tour (10.11. – 14.11.)

Nov 10, Maarianhamina
Nov 11, Tampere, Telakka
Nov 12, Jyvaskyla, Lutakko
Nov 13, Helsinki, Bar Loose
Nov 14, Turku, Dynamo

There’s at least a dozen of Austin Lucas songs that I hold very dear, but I think I go with this most recent favourite. This is Splinters that ended his previous album Stay Reckless in perfect fashion. The video is from his Start A Scene Sessions earlier in the year.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvjuRJd5cuc]

Besides creating some of the finest and most captivating songs of the past ten years, there’s also more reasons to love Austin and that’s his bond with Sally. Actually, the only downside of Austin’s Euro tours is that I miss Sally photos. I’m pretty sure Instagram was created because of Sally & Austin and their mutual love and respect for each other that shines so brightly on the photos that Austin posts. Nowadays, my wife and I even often refer to Austin as “Sally’s dad” on our conversations. Every time I open that app, the first thing I do is that I check out what Austin and Sally are up to and I don’t think I’m the only one. Looking at a photo of Sally sitting in the guitar case while Austin sings his heart out. There hasn’t been a day when that hasn’t brought a smile on my face. And I’ve had some pretty fucked up days during the past year. Thank you Austin for the music and thank you for the photos of you and Sally.

Austin Lucas Website

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R.L. Cole – Live from Cherryvale & Patrick Sweany – Daytime Turned To Nighttime

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rlcole2

Stepping out of my comfort zone for a while. It’s time to head on to bluesier surroundings. I stumbled upon Denver-based songwriter R.L.Cole a while back and I think he masters this old-fashioned blues storytelling exceptionally well. He has a couple of releases out over at Bandcamp for name-your-price deal. Those are filled with rather awesome blues songs. This is one of my biggest favourites, Abel Johnson’s Baby Blues.

R.L. Cole at Facebook

sweanynight

A long time favourite Patrick Sweany also dropped a new album Daytime Turned To Nighttime a couple of months ago. This new one is definitely a bit more beautiful and subtle than some of his earlier material. So if you are looking for that intense blues rock side of Patrick, you might be slightly disappointed. There’s no need to worry about the quality though. That remains equally high as before and the album contains a bunch of gorgeous songs. I’m especially fond of Afraid Of You and this wonderful song called Mansfield Street.

Patrick Sweany Website

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Martin Courtney, Elvyn & Euros Childs

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courneymartin

I’ve always been sort of a semi-fan of Real Estate, but never extremely excited about them. This new Martin Courtney solo album on the other hand. Oh my, I’m totally into this. A bit strange I guess, because it doesn’t differ that much. Still there’s something extra for me here. Or perhaps there’s actually something less here and that’s why I love this sound so much. It’s pure ear candy for me and an absolute beauty of an album. This is Northern Highway from Martin Courtney’s solo album Many Moons that just came out on Domino.

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=vvN4wroh2Wc]

Martin Courtney Website

elvyn

Canadian pop group Elvyn are finally back and ready to give birth to another pop treasure. In case you’ve been following this blog for years, you might remember that I’m a big fan of the band and absolutely loved their previous album The Decline. I still love that thing. It’s among my favourite harmony-filled pop albums of the past ten years. Albums like The Decline by Elvyn, You Love It Here by I Was A King and Learning Love by Bobby Emmett should be world-famous.

The new one is called Valley Of The Kilowatt Hour and it’s due out 15th of November. I haven’t spent too much time with it yet, but it’s definitely another good one. It’s got a bit less of that “west coast meets TFC in Canada” kind of stuff which they master so perfectly. That’s a bit unfortunate, because I so love that. No harm done though, because there’s a lot of great songs and truckload of gorgeous melodies. For example the first three songs are all killers, the sweetest kind of killers. This is the opener Ellie.

Elvyn Website

eurps

The legendary Euros Childs is also back in this ball game delivering the sweetest kind of music. New album Sweetheart is now out and available. Just visit his website for more information. Here’s a tune called Fruit and Veg from the lovely album. Euros Childs with friends playing a sweet pop song, plus there’s a cat in the video. Who wouldn’t love that. This is all for tonight. Tomorrow something completely different. Take it away Euros Childs.

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=yiyQUOlHfcA]

Euros Childs Website

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Steven Lambke, Austin Craig & Andrew Bryant

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stevenlambke

I think it’s time to get back to this blogging thingy and update frequently during the next two months. There’s a few dozen amazing 2015 releases and songs that I haven’t mentioned or posted and that’s just not right. Let’s kick of with some of my current favourite songs. Ok, the favourite song is still Fuck The Government, I Love You, but these aren’t far behind.

I wrote a bit of a preview about Steven Lambke’s album Days Of Heaven earlier in the week. Now the album is out and available and it’s indeed magnificent. I can understand if it isn’t everyone’s cup of capuccino. Steven isn’t the greatest singer in the world and the songs are really short and fragile. I don’t have any complaints though. I do love this wholeheartedly. Perhaps Barna will keep that #1 spot, but a top 10 should be guaranteed. This is something similar to me as was The Shapes That Kiss The Lips Of God by J.E.Sunde. Not that they sound similar, but they managed to capture something insecure and fragile and turn it into something stronger than the character Jaws. This one below is the key moment of the record for me. A song called Memory Forever. It’s simple, but it touches me deeply. That moment where he sings “strong enough to love / strong enough to be loved / to listen close to love / and hear love” is probably my favourite moment of any song this year.

Steven Lambke at Facebook

austincraig

This one is actually from 2012, but I want to repost this, because I still return to this song on almost on a weekly basis. I’m not sure is Austin Craig still making music, but I sure hope so, because this whole A Country Dark EP is amazing. Sure it’s indeed very dark and almost uncomfortable to listen to. I don’t mind though. In a way sad songs are the foundation my happiness is built on and this whole heart might break if I took them away. This the amazing title track of Austin Craig’s 2012 EP A Country Dark.

Austin Craig Website

andrewbryant

Back to the finest of 2015. Andrew Bryant’s This is The Life came out early in the year and has been on heavy rotation throughout the year. The album is finally available on Bandcamp as well and I have to use this opportunity to share one of my favourite songs of the year. Sure there are plenty of other great ones on the album as well, but this is the one I love the most. Such a perfect song. My Own Saving Grace by Andrew Bryant.

Andrew Bryant Website

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