Rob Dickens, Author at Listening Through The Lens

Apr18

John Smith Hums Along Ever So Smoothly

Check out our review of ‘Hummingbird’ by English folk artist John Smith By Rob Dickens When I saw John Smith perform a short in-the-round set in a crowded room at Folk Alliance International last year, I only managed to write three words in my notebook – ‘London’ and ‘John Martyn’. I remember being duly impressed by his songwriting and breathy vocals and for it to invoke a comparison with the...

Apr17

Ken Burns’s ‘Country Music’ and its Birthplace

See the link between the new documentary and the historic music town Ken Burns Visits The Birthplace Of Country Music Museum Award-winning and prolific documentary maker Ken Burns is working on his next project Country Music. Bristol, a town dissected right down the main street by the border of Tennessee and Virginia, is officially regarded as the place where country music was spawned. For it was here in 1927 that saw the first...

Apr11

Ordinary Elephant Live

Read our review of folk duo Ordinary Elephant’s first Australian show Ordinary Elephant Photo: LTTL Ordinary Elephant Caravan Music Club Melbourne, Australia 10 April 2019 Words: Rob Dickens Images: Jim Jacob Tight. In unison. This couple epitomizes these attributes, both in life (they share their RV with four dogs) and on stage (close harmonies and taut arrangements combining into a singular melodic vision). Ordinary Elephant...

Apr09

Charley Crockett – Australian Tour 2019 CANCELLED

The Australian tour for Texan Charley Crockett has been cancelled Charley Crockett – photo LTTL Charley Crockett First Australian Tour Not Going Ahead Charley Crockett has announced that he must cancel his proposed Australian Tour due to ill health. Crockett had multiple surgeries recently, including open heart surgery and hernia surgery. He was advised to take 3 months off for recovery and did. Unfortunately, the surgery was...

Apr08

Mark Webb Jr’s Striking Banter

Read our review of ‘Smoke Wine Banter’ by Mark Webb Jr Mark Webb Jr Photo: Katy Sergent ‘Smoke Wine Banter’ by Mark Webb Jr Out April 26 2019 Smoke Wine Banter is Mark Webb Jr’s second release from Bristol’s niche label Gold Ship Records. The album was engineered and produced by Brad Phillips at Studio 101 in Woodruff, South Carolina. Phillips also produced Mark’s debut release, Home in 2016....