Whip-John-Will

It looks like the long awaited album from producer Ethan Johns.  A video for a song called 'Whip-John-Will' surfaced on the internet recently and is rather addictive!  According to his Three Crows Music website the album is due this July and this first track has been mastered by his Dad, Glyn Johns.  The track features Ryan Adams and Laura Marling on backing vocals.  From the sounds of this track, the albums is going to be something special and I really can't wait to hear more from him!

Ashes & Fire

Ryan Adams unleashed his new solo album earlier this month and it's everything that I was expecting and more! Anyone who frequents here often will know of my love of all thing Ryan and how devastated I was when he announced he was quitting music in 2009. Thankfully, as we all expected that didn't last for long!

He's been in the studio with the legendary Glyn Johns on production duties, whose son Ethan Johns has worked with Ryan on Heartbreaker, Gold and 29. The new album, 'Ashes & Fire' is up there with his best work and is certainly his most focused and consistent album to date.

There's even an official music video, a first since 'So Alive' from 2003's 'Rock N Roll'. The video is for 'Lucky Now':

And here's an awesome acoustic take on the title track:

Caballeros

Ethan Johns has produced albums by Ryan Adams, Kings Of Leon, Ben Kweller and Ray LaMontagne, amongst many others. He also runs the Third Crows Music studio and is a multi-instrumentalist, but until last September he'd never stepped out into the spotlight.

During Ray LaMontagne's UK tour last September, Ethan Johns opened the show with just an acoustic guitar, under the guise of Caballeros. Three tracks have surfaced from this support slot, 'Hello Sunshine', 'Long Way Around' and '21st Century Paranoid Blues'.

The tracks are live cuts, but almost sound like studio quality recordings. The only tell-tale sign is the applause at the end. I really like the sound of these tunes, with 'Hello Sunshine' probably being my favorite and really hope we see some materiel from this project at some point this year.

Check out the Caballeros page on the Three Crows Music website to listen to the tunes and for a bit of background information on them.