These aren’t new. It’s a comp

@cerysmatthews.bsky.social if you’re looking for a great story for feature on Sunday, Alice Gerrard’s memoir (just published) Custom Made Woman is a peach. If you could get her on a phone interview she would be totally fascinating

30 Days of Dead | Grateful Dead Official Site Of The Grateful Dead

For Sunday morning @cerysmatthews.bsky.social can you share the good news of the return of 30 Days of the Dead - a free Grateful Dead doowload very day of November at this link..

www.dead.net/30daysofdead

@cerysmatthews.bsky.social Billy Cobham played a great show at Union Chapel last night

Live Review: Jolie Holland + Annie Dressner, Neon 194, London – 18th September 2025 A show from Jolie Holland is always a cause for celebration as the much-travelled multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter comes towards the end of the UK leg of her tour with dates in Ireland to follow. The venue is Piccadilly’s Neon 194, a slick cocktail bar with the music room in the basement. The room is wider than it is deep – an upmarket 100 Club – with chairs laid out in rows from the stage almost to the back of the room.

Live Review: Jolie Holland + Annie Dressner, Neon 194, London - 18th September 2025 "The audience keeps cheering but McKowski is gone" @joliehollandmusic @anniedressner @mark_mckowski

Morning @cerysmatthews.bsky.social thanks for the Jolie Holland track and message and the bonus of a shot of Michael Hurley. Jolie's show last Thursday night at Neon 194 in London was a real joy. She included a couple of Michael Hurley songs in the set, one from the tribute EP.

Hi Cerys the legend that is Jolie Holland is touring the UK right now - there's a wild out show at Neon 194 on Piccadilly on Thursday. Would love to hear anything of Jolie's especially from latest Haunted Mountain.

@cerysmatthews.bsky.social remember hearing Trees' "Fool" back in 1970. They played a superb semi-reunion show at Cafe Oto a few tears ago.

Morning @cerysmatthews.bsky.social - we lost some big stars the last couple of days - country's Jeannie Seely and accordion maestro Flaco Jimenez. If you have anything from either to remember/ celebrate them that would be great.

Reading through @johnmulvey.bsky.social review of Bill Callahan's excellent if abruptly ended show at EartH on Wednesday and discover there's a live album taken from last year's ICA shows with Jim White. Bought, downloaded and on the iPod. Thanks for the tip Mr M.

Ava McCoy “Dragonfly” A moving set of well-performed songs laced with resilience. Ava McCoy is still in her twenties and "Dragonfly" is her second full-length album after “Moss On The Celling” (2022) and an EP, “Closer To The Bugs”. Born and raised in New York, but with family based mainly in the Pacific Northwest, with whom she spent her summers, McCoy has written and performed songs since a young age.

Album review: Ava McCoy "Dragonfly" - A moving set of well-performed songs laced with resilience @avamccoy.mp3 @acrophaserecords

Hope you’ve scheduled the Jefferson Airplane’s “Rejoyce” Grace Slick’s reworking of Ulysses into psychedelic rock music.

@cerysmatthews.bsky.social Lael Neale’s support Entrance covered Dolphins Wednesday night at O’Meara. Definitely based on Tim B’s interpretation.

Jolie Holland returns to the UK for autumn dates Renowned singer-songwriter Jolie Holland has announced a series of UK dates in the autumn of 2025.  The shows mark a welcome return after her last tour here in the early Spring of 2024. Holland’s latest album, "Haunted Mountain", was released in October 2023 and was partly co-written with Big Thief’s Buck Meek, who also appeared on the album.  Several of the pair’s co-writes also featured on Meek’s album of the same name – including the title tracks(s).

Jolie Holland returns to the UK for autumn dates @joliehollandmusic

For The Sake Of The Song: Chatham County Line “The Carolinian” Chatham County Line (CCL), the four (now three) piece string band from Raleigh in North Carolina, have had a pretty impressive career, starting with their self-titled debut on Bonfire Records in 2003 through to their latest “Hiyo”, which was reviewed very positively here in February 2024. They have been signed to Yep Roc Records for twenty years and continue touring albeit less seen this side of the Atlantic than previously.

For The Sake Of The Song: Chatham County Line “The Carolinian” @chathamcoline

BBC One - Songs of Praise, Sing Gospel! Mark De-Lisser hosts a special celebration of gospel worship from Union Chapel, London.

Morning @cerysmatthews.bsky.social Blind Boys of Alabama were in great form at Union Chapel this week. And right after your show (13:15) today's Songs of Praise on BBC1 features gospel from Union Chapel. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Book Review: Neko Case “The Harder I Fight The More I Love You” Neko Case’s memoir provides a starkly honest picture of her early life as well as the route by which she came to be the artist and the person she is today.  The book takes us from her birth in Virginia to parents she says were totally unsuited to their role and subsequent early relocation to Washington state, where she spent the vast majority of her childhood.

Book Review: Neko Case "The Harder I Fight The More I Love You" @nekocaseofficial - "an absorbing and emotional read"

Classic Clips: Dave Rawlings Machine “Method Acting/ Cortez The Killer” – Live From Here, 2018 In the beginning there was "A Prairie Home Companion" a live radio variety show presented by Garrison Keillor from the Fitzgerald Theatre in St Paul, Minnesota.  By 2016, Keillor was ready to hand over to a new, younger host.  The announced replacement was mandolin legend Chris Thile (Nickel Creek, Punch Brothers and more). A year later, Keillor had been the subject of misconduct allegations, and it was decided to change the name of the show – which was closely associated with Keillor – to "Live From Here".  

Classic Clips: Dave Rawlings Machine "Method Acting/ Cortez The Killer" - Live From Here, 2018 @daverawlingsmachine @daverawlingsmusic @williewatsongs @brittfiddle @arkansausage

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum online exhibition From Where I Stand has this Charlie Parker tale: "Charlie Parker liked to play country music on the jukebox. A brave jazzman asked him, 'How can you stand that stuff?' Bird said, 'The stories man, listen to the stories!'"

They won’t have gone to bed yet

It's a typical US shakedown of a successful foreign business. If it's sold to US owners (at a knock down price, natch) the ban's off.

Last 30 minutes of this morning's @cerysmatthews.bsky.social show was truly exceptional - Coltrane > Sturgill > Willie Watson - where else on the planet can you hear that.

@cerysmatthews.bsky.social Chalomet was close on Like A Rolling Stone but not on Girl From The North Country. The new film will have to be really good to surpass I'm Not There which nailed it by painting around the space.

Sunday morning listening to @cerysmatthews.bsky.social before jumping on the tube donw to London Bridge for @thirdmanrecords.bsky.social Xmas Fair at Omeara. Some great acts playing and hoping for a find or two for the stocking.

Great afternoons entertainment at the Betsey Trottwood celebrating Gene Clark’s 80th birthday