I’d never heard of this Tennessean Country music singer songwriter until his latest album arrived in my inbox from Country Music People. I was blown away. The songs wrap around the sad reality that his partner, in life and song, Joey, died of cervical cancer in 2016. After a hiatus he recorded this album; a galaxy of Country stars all turned up to sing on the album, Lee Ann Womack, Vince Gill, Trisha Yearwood, Alison Krauss and Dolly Parton: probably because his loss had touched everyone. The sentimentality is remarkable. It’s traditional Country with stories of everyday rural American folk. The duet with Dolly of One Angel is literally a tearjerker. Bliss.
Tylor & The Bank Robbers – Non-Typical Find
Not much Americana comes out of Idaho but when it does then it can be remarkable. I’ve loved both their recent albums of Country Rock with a terrific acoustic rock vibe and engaging lyrics.
Jacob Tovar – Another Time, Another Place
This is an artist who makes a modest living around Tulsa, Oklahoma. He’s not fêted on a big label. Tovar possesses a classic Country sound and this album of originals and covers hits the spot.
Ashland Craft – Travellin’ Kind
A winner of a US TV talent show. She has a voice that could break your heart whatever genre she sings. Here she’s got great Country pop songs with sublime tunes and a great band. She’s going to be stellar.
5. Emily Scott Robinson – American Siren
In the 70s she’d be called a ‘Singer Songwriter’ like Carole King or Joni Mitchell. In addition to great songs she has a distinct crystal clear beautiful voice. Again, this is the start of something special.
Brandi Carlile – In These Silent Days
An enormously talented woman. Her latest was a another highlight of this year’s Americana where the arrangements, compositions and that pure, soaring and occasionally achy voice drew you in.
Altered Five Blues Band – Holler If You Hear Me
Blues Rock is a timeless genre. Take a mean electric guitar that can squeal, a solid rhythm section and some B3 organ; you’re nearly there. Next add Jeff Taylor’s voice and you have heaven
8 James McMurtry – The Horses and the Hounds
McMurtry inhabits a world of unvarnished Ameriocana takes on rural USA with the struggles and little victories told to you as if he was further along the counter sharing a beer. A complete master.
Blackberry Smoke – You Hear Georgia
A pastiche of 1970s Southern Rock that mines the sound of Little Feat, Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allmans with a soupçon of Country. A wonderful album that shows there’s a market for this stuff.
Thorbjørn Risager & Emil Balsgaard – Taking The Good With The Bad
This Danish duo have been important international blues artists for a couple of decades. Usually part of a larger band here they’ve delivered a sensational traditional New Orleans fused piano driven gem.
Anna lost her landmark birthday celebration of 60 in 2020. A trip away was cancelled. However we eventually got away to Bakewell to rent a property avec les enfants et hommes. We had a splendid weekend eating and drinking. I managed to drag Harry out on his bike around the Peak District, which is not an easy bike ride for someone not expecting the odd hill or two!
Barrier
A small stream that runs past the end of my sister’s little Welsh garden. It switches between a summer trickle or a winter torrent. It’s been eroding the bottom of her garden in an alarming fashion. We needed a strong barrier to stop the erosion. It was difficult to find a contractor for a residential project. After a few false starts, mainly to do with the weather, it was started and finished in July. Ann Marie is now looking forward to heavy rainfall to maximise the return on her investment!
Chafer Bugs
Much to our dismay we woke up earlier in the year to find the lawn was ripped up. After more visits and damage it was shortly tracked down to hungry badgers that were searching beneath the turf for chafer bugs. The solutions to eliminating the desirable bug or deterring badgers were bordering on comical and old wives tales. We did consulted far and wide and then decided to build a fence around the garden to stop access. It’s worked so far!
DIY
Alongside Matt (son-in-law) we managed to do a decent job of sanding his dining room floor. Other DIY at their house involved some pointing of their long brick wall. Back in Acaster Malbis I did some fencing and fence painting at the front of the house to keep out the pesky badger. After all this I decided to retire for the year and bask in the glory knowing that next year had a long list of jobs.
Eric (Father-in-law)
A difficult time for my father-in-law was made easier as lockdown easing meant there was access for relatives into his care home. More importantly his three daughters could make pre-arranged vsits to sit with him. For them it was a great relief to be able to get into his company. He’s remained in terrific spirits and it was super when we could take him out the home and bring him to York to join in Katrina and Matt’s wedding celebrations. For those in homes this pandemic has and continues to be awful.
Ferragudo
Our one escape abroad was to Portugal. This was initially delayed from October to November, when I caught Covid. We stayed on the Algarve toward the west just outside Portimāo at Ferragudo in an apartment. With a car we drove around including a memorable lunch at Salema and popping along to Quinta do Lago to meet a friend who was also over there on holiday. Some warmer weather was a delight and taking my bike enabled me to get out and see around us whist Anna when running. We also found some lovely sunsets.
Galloway
A trip to Dumfries & Galloway was one of our staycations. We took a house on an estuary near Kirkcudbright and either cycled or drove around. This part of Scotland is beautiful, green (wet) and dramatic. Despoite the vistas the level of tourism is restricted to a few caravan parks. As a complete pleb I did eventually yearn for a bakery with sourdough and maybe a deli.
The Ives
After being prodded by sister I had converted to a digital format cine films and photograph negatives from the late 1940s and early 1950s. This revealed people at times in their early lives that I saw in a different light. The quality of my grandfather’s photography was exceptional in composition and inclusion. We now have an easily accessible treasure trove.
Jurassic Coast by Bicycle
A cycle ride along the UK’s southern Jurassic coastline took place in September. The expedition started in Devon and then climbed and climbed to Dorset. I cycle every year for a few nights with a pal from my University days, Tony. Along for the ride this year was Martin, an old work colleague. I chose the coastline from Plymouth to Southampton (and then onto Abingdon with Martin).) It was possibly a mistake! The coastline is terribly hilly and the traffic can be busy. Martin cycled with the wrong set of gears and Tony, an irregular cyclist, manfully went about every day but finished in darkness twice. I worry they’re daft enough to be back for more next year.
Katrina & Matt
In 2020 the Favourite Eldest Daughter, Katrina, married Matt. Due to Covid restrictions we couldn’t bring all the family together. Eventually in our garden the weather held up and we brought everyone together for a belated celebration. It was a lovely day that will be remembered for a long time for the great company and not least for the egg and spoon race!
Lands End to John O’Groats by Bicycle
Bicycles feature in my life and with no long overseas bike ride in prospect I decided to do the iconic British ride: Lands End to John O’Groats. That is, from the tip of Cornwall to the far top of the island in the Scottish Highlands. It was a hard ride of 1,000 miles riding with Peter, an old friend. It has a memorably brutal start but eventually things got easier. The weather was kind until the last day. The last night of the trip we celebrated with malt whiskey and the day after was a groggy and leaden affair getting back by train to York! I blogged everyday.
Moving (Keep)
The lockdowns meant lots of time for walking around the local area drinking in the scenery and seasons. We’re blessed with lots of fields and leafy paths. This was a great opportunity to have my headphones plugged in to listen to new albums or podcasts. After all these years I started to notice how transitory nature is. Other regimes to keep fit included pilates every week and occasional trips to the gym. When added to the 5,200 miles of cycling then I think I did a good job on trying to keep fit.
Norfolk
The holidays this year were mainly short breaks and we went down to Walsingham. Here we stayed in a property near the coastal harbour town of Wells-Next-The-Sea. It was wet but very delightful. Further east is the splendid Royal Palace at Sandringham. The house is set in beautiful grounds and after visiting here we went for lunch in nearby Hunstanton with some local friends. Norfolk could do with a road system to get to it but it is truly a lovely part of England.
Old Friends
I think we all became more social as lockdowns became part of our lives. I certainly put quite a bit of time into seeing friends. Some of these I had known for over 50 years. A special night was organised with old work colleagues, many I hadn’t seen for over 10 years. The list of old pals included Tim J, Mark D, Lyndon B, Tony, F, Brian E, Tim S, Mark G, Andy W, Tim M, Martin A, John V, Jim B, Steve & Sharon J, Mark S, Greg S, David C and Robert H.
Pensionable Age
Despite having not worked for a long time my state of antiquity was finally confirmed when I started to receive my State pension every four weeks plus a free bus pass and my Winter Fuel Allowance (£200.) What a time to be alive! Despite my excellent environmental cycling credentials I’ve not managed to use the bus pass yet and also slightly embarrassed by the Winter Fuel Allowance I have donated that to a more worthy cause.
The Queen
The Queen has had a rough year (in fact it’s one the Royal Family will want to forget.) I came to respect and like the Duke of Edinburgh more as I got to know more about him. I think his past had its blemishes, some of his comments are quite rightly unacceptable today, but there was a gritty self sacrifice that garnered him a lot of respect and his departure was the first tangible sign that the old order was moving on. I hope Her Majesty has a lot more years in her.
Reading
I subscribe to a Morgan car magazine, plus MoJo, Record Collector and Country Music People. My consumption of books is modest . This year I mainly read history ‘The Mallon Crew’ (WW2 Bomber crew), ‘Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee’ (the demise of Native Americans at the hands of the US Cavalry), “Fatal Colours’ (The War of The Roses machinations leading up to the Battle of Towton) or biographies about Martin Luther King, Reggie Maudling or Tammy Wynette. I’m currently reading a book about the war in East Africa in WW1. It’s always non-fiction for me.
A Life in the Age of Steam
I embarked on what I thought was a simple bit of typing but it turned out to be a massive document of 166,000 words telling the early life of Eric Blackburn. A lad who left school at the age of 13 during war torn Hull and found his way onto the locomotive footplate. An interlude of National Service took place before he moved to then Tanganyika to work on the East African Railway. It’s a wonderful, event strewn, story and hopefully it will make it into published print.
Tideswell, Derbyshire
In December Anna found a property back in the Peak District at Tideswell. With our daughters and Sophie’s partner’s mother, Tracey and sister, Annabelle. We spent a couple of nights walking and seeing the sights. The ladies went to look around Chatsworth House decorated for Christmas, it looked magnificent. I popped to Bakewell to look around a record shop; then on the Sunday managed to get out on my bike. Log fires, hot soup and umbrellas were de rigeur.
USA
In 2019 we had some flights booked to Singapore (and back from Cambodia) in 2020. This quickly got shelved as the Far East went and stayed in lockdown. Next we used a voucher to fly to Miami for next February. This was weirdly compromised when British Airways cancelled some connecting flights with no solutions offered. So yet again we took a voucher. We still plan to get over to the USA in 2022. The thought of all those wide open spaces, eggs over easy and amazing parks call us. However, we’re not counting any chickens yet.
Writing
My journalism continued with mainly scribing for Country Music People. A selection of Country or Americana music was sent to me to listen to and then I had to pen 3/400 words and send back to the editor. As if by magic I was then in print every month. My blogs continued albeit they were a bit spasmodic. I blame the pandemic for limiting my ability to write something interesting or ridiculous! Added to this was Eric’s journal that saw my often looking through Google Maps to find the spelling of a remote railway station in 1960s Tanganyika.
It was an unlikely pairing of bluegrass country/folk singer Alison Krauss with her ethereal and crystal clear voice and 70s rock icon Robert Plant with his remarkable range and phrasing for their award winning 2007 collaboration Raising Sand. The album’s success was likely built on their respective followings and a varied selection of accessible americana. This showcased their vocals with T Bone Burnett’s excellent song curation and production. In 2021 this team is back.
Plant’s seems to have spent 40 years (and 16 albums) attempting to distance himself from Led Zeppelin; his subsequent record sales are impressive but it’s that legacy that excites new and old listeners. He’s latterly ploughed an Americana roots furrow with world music rhythms. Krauss hasn’t been prolific and 2017’s delightful Windy City was her last album. Krauss has her roots in bluegrass but aside from the Union Station work I think of her songs as being country folk ballads where smooth heartfelt melancholy seems to be her signature.
Like Raising Sand here are a selection of covers from the likes of the Everly Brothers, Allen Toussaint, Hank Williams and Lucinda Williams. The album often has rhythms that find their origin in world music and it certainly gives the sound a greater vigour. There are a breadth of songs from different genres ghostly reimagined whether 1960s pop, folk, country, rock and rockabilly. Both take various lead vocals with the other picking up the chorus. The duets are few and far between. Plant’s leads are strident yet flexible, yet when he joins on the chorus he croons sympathetically in the background. Krauss takes the lead on songs that are quite similar to her existing catalogue and otherwise it is always the second voice you hear on a duet.
Tony Ives’ Blog 