As the end of the year is approaching we’re looking back at 2024, and wondering which were the best musical experiences of the year. For us it was probably playing at ALSO festival in July. The ALSO team is putting together a great lineup for next year, so go check them out at www.also-festival.com!
Also, a reminder that if you’re looking to get a musical present for a loved one, this coupon will get you £10 off any subscription of three months or longer: HOLIDAYJOY2024. As always if you have any questions, you can reach us on:
[email protected].
Now, on to this month’s records. This has been a great year for sourcing from our side, with the most boxes coming out with two albums ever! Here’s another two for you:
LP number one is a rare blues release from 1981.
Brian Knight was a UK blues guitarist and contemporary of the Rolling Stones, playing with Charlie Watts, and forming a pre-Stones band with Brian Jones in the ‘60s. The band was short-lived, as apparently Knight was a devotee of Muddy Waters, while Jones favoured Chuck Berry. They split on stylistic differences, and Jones’ next band ended up being the Stones. Ronnie Wood, Peter Green and Eric Clapton were all influenced by Brian Knight’s playing, so
“A Dark Horse” is a great album to fill in some deeper historical flavour around the greats of that time. We haven’t featured much blues on W&S up until now, so do let us know if you’d like to see more!
Our second album is a lovely acoustic work by Canadian singer-songwriter
Billy Raffoul. This is a very impressive effort, as Raffoul engineered, arranged, and recorded these songs on his own,” so all the vocals, guitars, and harmonica you hear on the record are the artist alone with the only help being mixing and mastering from long-time friend and collaborator, Alex Seguin. Studio trickery isn’t really in evidence here though, as this is a stripped back, Dylan and Springsteen-inspired slice of soulful americana. One for an in-depth listen with a coffee, or perhaps a smokey whiskey.
