Hot North Carolina 4-piece, Woody Pines are in the UK for their first ever tour here to promote their sensational new release, Counting Alligators

Tickets are already selling well but there are still some available from the venue - Tel: 01505 706070

Please note that this is a BYOB event. Doors open at 7.30pm

Everyone's talking about them as the hottest new act on the rootsy Americana scene and ever since UK radio started playing tracks from the sensational new album, Fields of Fescue in December, and Americana UK awarded the CD an 8-out-of-10 rating, describing the release as "blisteringly good", the word has spread like an out-of-control bushfire right across Europe too.

As a result, the album soared to the Number 11 slot on the Euro Americana Chart after so many contributors - mostly music journalists and radio presenters who send in returns - included it as one of their latest fave raves.

The band will arrive in the UK for their first ever tour here in September and most of the dates (Scotland, England and Wales) have already been snapped up due to the "must book 'em" demand.

Tickets for all events (£12) on sale now from the venue
tel: 01505 706070

Looking at the world through a windshield…that’s been Cam Penner’s view as he toured relentlessly over the past two years, through five different countries, performing hundreds of shows. He has opened for Chip Taylor, Richard Thompson, Slaid Cleaves, Fred Eaglesmith, Greg Trooper, Carrie Rodiguez, Blackie & the Rodeo Kings, John Prine, Glen Campbell, Lyle Lovett, and the Flatlanders, and with no label or booking representation he has taken his music into the bars, theatres, cafes, backyards, and honkytonks.

He has also won his way into the hearts of countless fans who admire his song-writing and gritty style.

Penner hails from a Mennonite community in Southern Manitoba, where his parents, the town rebels, ran an illegal roadhouse and his grandfather, a bootlegger, was a much-loved character in the rural community. Growing up in small towns in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Penner found an appreciation for common people's stories.

His latest album, ‘Trouble & Mercy’ has rightly been receiving strongly supportive reviews on both sides of the Atlantic.

Cam Penner & Jon Wood – Laurie’s Acoustic Music Bar, King Street, Glasgow. 7.30pm. Tickets (£10) from 0141 204 5151.

New York singer/song-writer Matt Keating, with eight albums under his belt and widely regarded as being in the same league as Ron Sexsmith or Elliot Smith, is all set to tour the UK promoting his latest release.

And we were fortunate to be able to book the man to appear in Scotland for two dates.

No Depression has described his songs as "elegant in structure and packed with wordplay that can amuse, dazzle, or hit way too close to home"; Time Out praised his material as "beautiful and honest" and The Times said he "writes the kind of effortless, eloquent songs Elvis Costello doesn't write anymore".

Keating consistently issued critically-acclaimed albums throughout the 1990s, his everyman twang juxtaposed against a quirky urban phrasing and lyrical subject matter to create a Willie Nelson-meets Lou Reed impression.

We recommend you catch him while you can.

www.mattkeating.com

Sassy Boston songstress Sarah Borges has been making a name for herself across the USA and much further afield ever since the release of her 'Silver City' album in 2005.



Now firmly established as one of the must-see acts whenever Austin’s SXSW extravaganza comes along, when she has her fabulous band, The Broken Singles, beside her onstage, everyone knows they’re in for a helluva night out.

A feisty performer with a driving rock ‘n’ roll style she can be a heartbreaker too and her ballads are timeless pieces of beautiful Americana.

In 2009, Sarah and the boys were invited to appear at the prestigious Americana Music Awards in Nashville and she was nominated in the Newcomer of The Year category.

The band’s 2007-issued ‘Diamonds In The Dark’ won glowing reviews and they will be touring the UK for the first time later this year to promote the new Sugar Hill Records’ release, ‘The Stars Are Out’.

Legendary BBC Radio 2 presenter Bob Harris loves the new material so much that he invited Sarah and her sidekicks into the studio for a special “In Session” presentation which was broadcast at the end of 2009.

UK music journalist, Jela Webb got a taste of what’s coming by attending the band’s New Year show at Boston’s famous Lizard Lounge.

This is what we gleaned from the review of that performance:

“…What a fabulous live performer she is; full of energy and the spark between her and the guys, especially Binky the bassist is electrifying! She's so confident on stage, has wonderful presence and looks gorgeous.

“They played 26 songs and I think she spoke between every single one relating stories about the band, their travels and inter-acting with the capacity crowd.

“I can see why she and the boys recently won 'Americana Act of the Year' at the Boston Music Awards. We Brits are in for a heck of a show when she comes over in Spring - not to be missed!”

Track: Blind Love from the 2007 album Diamonds In The Dark