Ryan Adams at the London Palladium

 
Ryan Adams
Jason Isbell
London Palladium, 30 April 2012

Ryan Adams and I have had something of a chequered history. Like something out of one of his songs, I loved him but he just kept letting me down. In concert at least.

Sharon Van Etten interview

I got to talk to the rather wonderful Sharon Van Etten about her fantastic new album, Tramp (which is destined for many end of year lists, I'm sure) for Hive Mag. She was very sweet and friendly and we bonded over having the same name (I even thanked her for helping to make the name Sharon cooler "I don't know about that!" she laughed). You can read it on that link or below.

Earning rave reviews when it was released at the beginning of the year, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten’s third album, Tramp, is undoubtedly her best yet. It sees her move from the more solitary feel of her previous two records to a bigger sound with a little help from some of her musician friends, including Aaron Dessner from The National, Beirut’s Zach Condon, Wye Oak’s Jen Wasner, Walkmen’s Matt Barrick and Juliana Barwick.  With her first UK tour about to start next month, we caught up with Van Etten to talk about the new album and more.

It must be thrilling to see the positive reaction your new album, Tramp, has received so far.

It’s kind of crazy. I don’t know. I try not to think about it because it’s a little overwhelming sometimes. People are building upon something that started quite simple and it’s changed just through people wanting to listen to it. 

Judy Collins at Leicester Square Theatre

Judy Collins
Kenny White

Leicester Square Theatre, 22 April 2012

Last year I saw Judy Collins, then a sprightly 71 years old, for the first time and it was a wonderful experience: she was still in fine voice and full of wonderful stories and entertained her enthralled audience for two hours with selections of songs from throughout her career. It was really a magical concert and I was looking forward to seeing her again (especially that, given her age, I feel like the opportunities to catch her in the future will be much fewer). But this time was really a mixed bag and, although far from terrible, I felt that Judy's heart wasn't really in it for this show.

Goodbye Levon Helm

The Band's Levon Helm died today aged 71 after a long fight with cancer. I'm so sad, he was an amazing musician to put it lightly and not surprisingly a huge influence. Rest in peace Levon.