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When Jeremy Pinnell released OH/KY in the summer of 2015 to stunned acclaim, it felt like an entire career compressed into one knock-out album. Hailed as a “ming-blowingly good” (Greg Vandy, KEXP) “tutorial on classic country music” (Popmatters), Pinnell’s debut immediately differentiated as authentic and unflinching. Dogged touring through Europe and the states and celebrated radio sessions followed, cementing Pinnell’s position as a no-fuss master of his craft. 

His 2017 album Ties of Blood and Affection presents a canny lateral move. Instead of doubling down on the stark themes and values of his debut, this sophomore album finds Pinnell finding comfort in his own skin and achieving the redemption only hinted at in his previous batch of haunted songs. Here Pinnell joyfully embraces the working life, family obligations, and faith. His new stories delve into acceptance and survival, all the while investigating his most challenging chapter yet: adulthood. While “If life don’t get any better / I’m alright with this” isn’t an out-right triumph, it’s an honest revelation.

You can feel the room breathe and get a sense of these musicians eyeballing each other as their performances are committed directly to thick analog tape. Honest and careworn, Jeremy’s voice can touch on wry, jubilant, and debauched - all in a single line. Ties of Blood and Affection offers a fair dose resolution to Jeremy’s story. At his best, Jeremy Pinnell chronicles the joy and sorrow of being human, which is the best that anyone could do.

A timeless enchantress, Sampson combines a 70s folk-rock aesthetic and sound, which draws on a California country and classic Laurel Canyon, quickly garnered flattering comparisons to giants such as Nicks, Ronstadt and Bonnie Raitt as well as cult heroes such as Barbara Keith, Jim Croce and Bobbie Gentry.

Sampson is not afraid to wear her heart on her sleeve and her unique and interesting life shines through her beautifully crafted songwriting and though her super sonic vocal powers that could shake the walls of an opera house. Her ability to embrace her own vulnerability and perseverance is more than apparent on her recent UK single ‘Long Way Back’ – no doubt drawing on life experiences including finding sobriety after a number of troubled years in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, and her years balancing a demanding cruise ship singing career with dreams of becoming a professional singer-songwriter.

Like many before her, the modern starlet put everything in her rear view mirror in 2015, when on a whim, she found herself driving to Nashville with no solid plan other than wanting to record her songs in Nashville. Initially she struggled, and found working multiple side jobs including a local greasy spoon to make ends meet. Finally her dreams came true when she saved enough money from bartending to cut her debut record, ‘Wild Heart’ at The Bomb Shelter in East Nashville with top Nashville based players including Jon Estes co-producing as well as playing bass, Jeremy Fetzer on guitar, and Jon Radford on drums. Despite its selfrelease, the record was a cult hit last year in the USA and was heaped with praise from esteemed media including Rolling Stone, who compared her to her hero, Stevie Nicks.

Reflecting on her success Kashena looks back on the experiences that forged her honest song writing and taught her persistence and to never give up on her dreams.

“I was drinking and doing a lot of drugs when I was younger, that was my main focus. I partied hard and ended up getting sober at 21, since then I have turned my focus and energy towards my music."