Kings Place - Kings Cross, London
Thursday February 13 – Saturday 15, 2014

It was a little over a year ago that the initial announcements were made about the formation of the Americana Music Association UK. Since then, the organisation has held its inaugural meeting at the Maverick Festival at Easton Farm Park last July and has been busily pulling together various factions that constitute country, Americana and roots music across the UK.

Moving forward the Association will present a special Showcase of concerts at Kings Place, Kings Cross, London from Thursday February 13 to Saturday February 15. Laura Cantrell, Police Dog Hogan and Emily Barker will be the headline acts over the three nights. Other performers will include Sturgill Simpson, the Vagaband, Austin Lucas, and Hatful of Rain. In addition there will be a multi-media afternoon showcase on the Saturday entitled Woody Guthrie: Hard Times and Hard Travellin’, by musician and Professor of American Literature and Culture Will Kaufman. He will present a live programme that sets the songs of Woody Guthrie in the context of the American 1930s—the Dust Bowl, the Depression, the New Deal and the state of popular music itself.
 Acclaimed Nashville-born, New York based, country music singer-songwriter Laura Cantrell will be headlining Thursday night, She has released five albums since her 2000 debut NOT THE TREMBLIN’ KIND and has toured extensively in the UK. Her most recent album is NO WHERE THERE FROM HERE, which has been widely acclaimed.

Friday night’s music will include performance from highly energetic, British, eclectic seven-piece band, Police Dog Hogan; who combine fiddle, banjo, mandolin, drums and guitars along side knockout four-part harmonies in an exuberant fusing of country, pop, folk, and rocking urban bluegrass. They are long-time favourites at the Maverick Festival and around the London club scene.

Finally, Saturday’s headliner comes from BAFTA award-winning songwriter and performer, Emily Barker & the Red Clay Halo. Emily’s music has been used as the theme to BBC TV's Wallander, starring Kenneth Branagh. In my review in Maverick magazine I described Emily & the Red Clay Halo’s latest album DEAR RIVER as: ‘Bloody amazing’! There’s a theme of longing, travel and home that runs through the whole collection. Emily’s vocal style, grounded and mature, offers wisps of Alison Krauss and Lucinda Williams, and her extremely able band fills out and graces a sound rooted firmly in her song-craft. She is a masterful lyricist, fully adept at using techniques and tools to create vivid imagery, crafty euphemisms and clever metaphors.’

 The AMA-UK takes its inspiration from the original Americana Music Association based in Nashville, an organisation that has had a profound effect on the perception and development of Americana music in the US. The AMA-UK’s mission is to support, encourage and grow the Americana scene in the UK, bringing together the artists and fans who love the music. My one reservation is that the AMA-UK needs to ensure that it remains inclusive and not exclusive. In other words it must not just champion the various committee members’ favourite acts, or those that the various agents, promoters and festival bookers work with at the exclusion of other equally talented performers. These are early days, and hopefully over the ensuing months and years they will offer equal opportunities to the many other acts out there struggling to get their music heard and appreciated.

To become a member of the AMA-UK visit: www.theamauk.org
To buy tickets for the AMA-UK Showcase concerts visit: www.kingsplace.co.uk/americana