Sound checked & ready to play our first show of three this week as special guests of Gene…We’re absolutely thrilled to be invited to be a small part of it…Tonight in Leeds, Thursday Sheffield & Saturday at the legendary Hammersmith Apollo!! Thanks so much for having us along guys! 🙏😎❤️🚀

Day off Listening #2 More early 90s Neil…The stunning ‘Harvest Moon’ from 1992…One of his greatest collections of songs and up there with his very best albums…So many beautiful songs ❤️😎😎🚀

Day off listening #1 An afternoon of early 90s Neil…’Ragged Glory’ from 1990…What an incredible album! So much melody and so many amazing guitar workouts…Up there with his very best for me 🔥😎❤️

If you love The Flying Burrito Brothers, Dillard & Clark and Clarence White era Byrds then this is right up your street…Swampwater’s self titled album from 1971…They were Linda Ronstadt’s backing band and featured Gib Guilbeau & John Beland who both went on to join The Burritos…Great record! ❤️😎🚀✌️

Continuing In a similar vein, Rob Galbraith’s ‘Nashville Dirt’ from 1970…Its a really lovely, gentle ‘Funky Country’ album…Bit Willis Allen Ramsey, bit Tony Joe White…❤️🤠😎

More influential brilliance with Bobbie Gentry’s classic ‘The Delta Sweete’ from 1968. She was just wonderful…such an incredible singer and songwriter…one of THE great record covers too ❤️😎🔥🤠

Linda Martell’s brilliant ‘Color Me Country’ from 1970…A wonderful, soulful and hugely influential record…one of a bunch of amazing new additions for me…❤️🚀😎🔥

Hey folks! I’m playing an acoustic double bill show with my great mate Gabe Minnikin, who’s over from Canada, at my favourite pub in the world, The Betsey Trotwood on Wednesday 17th September…It’s going to be a really fun night so see ya there!! 🪕😎🍄✌️❤️ wegottickets.com/event/674346

Was really lovely to revisit an old Grand Drive song (our second single from back in 1997 I think!) last night with my great friend John Bennett and his brilliant band ‘Luxury Holiday’…Thanks for having me jump up guys!!

I’m absolutely thrilled to be asked to open Gene’s sold out comeback shows this autumn! Gene were among the very first to champion & encourage Grand Drive in our early days so it’s extra special to be sharing a stage with them again! Huge thanks to the Gene guys for the invite…it means a lot! 🙏❤️😎

Thinking of Neal Casal today…A beautiful man and a great friend to so many folks…had so many lovely times together ❤️

Huge thanks to The Long Road Festival and to the mighty Loose Records for having us this weekend!! We had an absolute blast!!! Saw so many great bands, caught up with old friends and made new friends…Loved it!! 🙏🌶️😎❤️🪕🚀

. @dannythechamp.bsky.social Blown away by your set last night at The Long Road Festival man. The mix was great. The band was tight & the energy was off the charts. So glad I finally got to see you post Grand Drive. Props to Steve Brookes 🥁🙌🏻 Every Beat of My Heart is playing on repeat now ❤️🙏🏻

Another stunningly beautiful album from a few years later with truly magical string arrangements…Colin Blunstone’s ‘One Year’ from 1971….Genuinely right up there ❤️🪐🌳

Pure magic ❤️🌳🪐

Just a little bit of prepping ready for this week folks! Open again from 11am tomorrow and all week…See ya here! 🔥🚀🤘😎❤️

Last one for the day…the heartbreakingly beautiful ‘Time Of The Last Persecution’ by Bill Fay, released in 1971. Stunning music ❤️

Bit more Breton music on the deck…Alan Stivell’s ‘From Celtic Roots’ released in 1973. It’s pretty psychedelic & atmospheric with some great big beat folk rock jams…when I was a teenager his stuff was often in charity shop racks & for some reason I dismissed it…Absolutely love it nowadays 🔥🪐🌳❤️🪕

Staying in France for this one…Veronique Chalot’s ‘J’ai Vu Le Loup’ from 1979. It’s an astonishing record…not intentionally psychedelic but completely otherworldly and atmospheric…A truly haunting, cinematic and beautiful record 🌳🪐🔥❤️

Another fantastic recommendation from @andrewmale.bsky.social…From ‘76 this is Malicorne’s ‘Almanach’ album. It’s like a French equivalent to Fairport’s ‘Liege & Lief’ or Pentangle’s ‘Basket of Light’ with some incredible haunting string arrangements. A wonderful discovery & not expensive either! 🌳

Day off Listening #1 Right now this could well be right up there with the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard…Van Morrison’s ‘Common One’ from 1980, apparently Van’s own favourite. ‘Haunts of Ancient Peace’ is just stunning…transcendental hymnal jazz gospel…genius ❤️🌳🪐

Finishing my night with some true magic ❤️

This weekend is a big one folks..Sat we’ll have a stall at the ace ‘Folk in the Park’ & on Sun we’ll be continuing the party with our ‘Bluegrass All dayer’ at The Sound Lounge from 2pm…Why not grab tix for both & make it a special weekend of great music, great people & great fun! See ya there! 🪕✌️❤️😎🚀

Super excited to say that our new ‘Looking for the Magic’ merch has arrived!! We have tees & caps available in the shop from today and you can also message us on here and we’ll arrange posting your order!! Huge thanks to @heykidsshop.bsky.social for the fantastic designs!! 🔥😎❤️✌️🚀

Day off Listening #2 From 1969 The Golden Earing’s ‘Eight Miles High’ album. Including a 19 minute version of their cover of The Byrds cosmic classic. It dips a toe into Space Rock and heavy-ish psych…It’s a period piece for sure but it’s really great 🚀🪐✌️🍄🤯😎

Day off Listening #1 Moby Grape’s astonishing debut from 1967…a mind blowing album to kick off the day. It’s intricate, inventive, electric, beautiful and exciting…they don’t come much better than this. Had a few upgrades to the turntable and it’s sounding absolutely incredible 🚀🔥🤯❤️

A new Champs London show at the fantastic Islington Assembly Hall has been announced for early 2027…Lots of stuff coming up in the meantime too so watch this space! Tickets go on pre-sale at 10am BST on Wednesday, ahead of general on sale to the public on Friday…Exciting! 😎🚀❤️

Nilsson could’ve done a great version of this tune…Bill Ward’s ‘It’s Alright’ from Sabbath’s ‘Technical Ecstasy’…it’s a great track I think! 🤔❤️😎🚀 open.spotify.com/track/3UbbBn...

We’re putting on a few events here at the @soundloungecio.bsky.social this month! First up is our Bluegrass All-Dayer on Sunday August 17th & then our monthly ‘Sunday Sessions’ on August 31st with Pete Astor & Band & more..Details/tix are over at thesoundlounge.org.uk… We’d love to see you there! 💥

Listening to the wonderful Terry Reid all morning has led me on to another of our greatest singers, possibly the most underrated of all, Reg King. Been after a copy of this for over twenty years & struck gold earlier this year at the fantastic @riverman.bsky.social in Oxford…A stunning album ❤️🚀😎💥

“He didn’t see himself as the guy who missed out.” While perhaps best remembered for turning down the offer to join Led Zeppelin, Terry Reid was a vocalist of rare talent, heralded by Aretha Franklin among others. MOJO pays tribute to the singer dubbed “superlungs”, who has died aged 75...

Thank you for the beautiful music Terry Reid…way up there with the greatest 🙏❤️🪐

Day off Listening #1 Michael Stearns’ ‘Planetary Unfolding’ from 1981…Completely immersed in the transcendent and cosmic beauty of this recording…picked up a copy after a post by @andrewmale.bsky.social…It’s a beautiful album 🪐✌️❤️😎

Shirley Collins & The Albion Band’s 1971 album ‘No Roses’..It features members of some of my fave bands, Fairport,The Watersons & Mighty Baby & Nic Jones & Barry Dransfield & at times it has that ‘Matty Groves’ dubby funky folk-rock sound but it’s Shirley who shines with her beautiful, pure voice 🌳❤️

Van Morrison’s ‘Veedon Fleece’ from 1974…It’s just transcendental music, he was tapped into some real magic, reaching for something almost undefinable…I’d say he was a genius. Sounds truly wonderful 🌳🚀🌵🪐😎❤️

Kicking off with a total classic, Nick Drake’s beautiful ‘Bryter Layter’ released in 1971. Produced by the legendary Joe Boyd and featuring Richard Thompson, Dave’s Pegg & Mattacks, John Cale and string arrangements by the great Robert Kirby…It’s a stunning record, a melocholy beauty 🌳❤️🦢⭐️

Khan’s ‘Space Shanty’ from 1972…Knew of it but had never seen a copy…a friend actually sent me a cd of it recently & a vinyl copy fell into my hands the next day! Khan featured Steve Hillage & Dave Stewart from Egg. Prog jazz-rock…Very Canterbury, inventive, playful & yes very cosmic..Loving it! 🪐🚀✌️

Hey folks! Just a quick heads up that there’s only 10 tickets left for our London Omeara show in November so if you fancy coming along you should probably nab one now! Gonna be a fun night!! 🚀❤️😎🙌

Budgie’s classic ‘Never Turn Your Back On A Friend’ from 1973…proto progressive metal featuring the original version of ‘Breadfan’ which Metallica later brought to a new generation…Sabbath like in approach….fantastic riffing yet pretty melodic & some lovely acoustic stuff too…🦅💥😎❤️

Pushing into 1971 with UFO 2 - ‘Flying…One Hour Space Rock’, released on Beacon Records. Extended spaced out psych blues rock cosmic jams…with the title track clocking in at 26 plus minutes! I’d file alongside The Groundhogs’ incredible ‘Split’ from the same year…It’s way out there & fantastic!! 🚀✌️🍄

Staying in 1970 to follow…Deep Purple’s classic ‘In Rock’. Such an exciting record…They don’t garner the same cross-over appreciation as Sabbath but it’s an amazing album & right up there for me…one of the great rhythm sections of all time too. This Harvest 1970 UK pressing sounds stunning💥🚀😎❤️🌵

Completely immersed in the new Rhino Hi-Fidelity remasters of Black Sabbath & Paranoid…two of my all time favourite albums. Cut from the original Analog Master Tapes by Kevin Gray. I’m lucky enough to have UK Vertigo pressings but was excited to hear these…beautifully packaged & sound amazing ❤️🚀🔥🍄

Prob the last of the day, got some stuff to do but can’t stop playing records!! This is a stone cold masterpiece, Allen Toussaint’s ‘Southern Nights’ from 1975…a lightly psychedelic New Orleans Soul concept album…transcends genre though, incredible songs, stunning arrangements…It’s astonishing ❤️🤯🔥😎🎷

Willis Alan Ramsey’s debut released in 1972…One of the greatest debut albums of all & made all the more notable by the fact he’s never made a follow up…He’s known to brilliantly answer that question with “What’s wrong with the first one?”…Every song is wonderful, It’s pretty much a masterpiece 🌵❤️💥😎

Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Lost & Found’…Not got the box set (yet?) but am loving the 2 LP selections album…As always there’s some absolute gold in those vaults…To these ears at least, often way better than much of the later album stuff…Great to hear 🎷😎❤️🚀

Saw Van at Hyde Park on Friday…he was definitely searching for the magic & very nearly found it. Pulled out ‘Beautiful Vision’ from 1982. People often dismiss his 80s stuff but he made some of the greatest music of his career in that decade…This album is just so magical…a beautiful vision indeed 🎷🙏❤️

A lovely lazy day…Now spinning Bonnie Raitt’s 1974 album ‘Streetlights’. It sounds wonderful, very smooth production and super sophisticated playing with Steve Gadd on drums with some absolute classic songs from the likes of Joni, John Prine & James Taylor. It’s sounding great today! 🚀😎💥❤️

Another cult classic from 1970, Emitt Rhode’s first proper full album. It wears its influences very proudly on its sleeve, if you love McCartney & Nilsson then you’ll LOVE this, but it’s not too derivitive, in fact it’s incredible…Some of the best Pop music I’ve ever heard…just stunning ❤️🚀🔥

Jesse Winchester’s brilliant 1970 debut…Produced by Robbie Robertson & engineered by Todd Rundgren at the legendary Bearsville studio…Levon adds drums and mandolin too. The songs are just wonderful and as Bob Dylan said “You can’t talk about the best songwriters and not include him.” 🚀❤️💥😎

I’m Not Sleeping from Springsteen’s Tracks 2 sounds like classic @dannythechamp.bsky.social & The Champions of the World. I can pay it no higher compliment. youtu.be/KE21s2Q3Zx4?...