Every face tells a story – New Orleans

Like most of the USA, New Orleans in Louisiana is very much a mixture of races, ethnicities.

Large portions of North America, including Louisiana, were claimed by Spain and France as colonies from the mid-1600s until the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803.

Louisiana people who descended from those earliest colonial times were known as ‘Creoles’.

Hayes Carll + Lindi Ortega + The Cactus Blossoms

Three of the headline acts at the week-long ‘Southern Fork Americana Festival’ in Auckland, New Zealand, 7-16 October.

Hayes Carll is a Grammy-nominated Texan songwriter and  Lindi Ortega originally hails from Toronto, but both have ‘paid their dues’ for well over a decade and have a handful of albums each.

On the other hand, young siblings The Cactus Blossoms have just issued their first album

James McMurtry

Birmingham, Alabama, Sept 12 2015.

I was fortunate to catch James McMurtry playing at Workplay Theatre.  A really nice all-purpose, small venue – in a city that seems to be re-vitalising, after the decline of the iron and steel industry in the 1970s.

It was my first visit to the Deep South of USA

Lucinda Williams in Auckland, NZ

On 4 Dec, Lucinda visited us again and played the Vector Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand.

She presented a solid set of around 20 songs, largely from her own substantial catalogue – most of which are well-known to her fans.

Commencing up-tempo with Protection from the recent album, Down Where The Spirit Meets the Bone. 

Jimmie Dale Gilmore – plays Downunder

Jimmie Dale Gilmore came down to New Zealand from his home in Austin, Texas.

He played at the The Tuning Fork on 20 April, accompanied by his son Colin Gilmore.

West Texas country-folk & country-rock.  With a dose of Jimmie’s metaphysical thoughts mixed in.

Every face tells a story – Rajasthan

The Thar Desert or Great Indian Desert, in NW India, occupies half of the state of Rajasthan.

Prior to the 18th Century, spice and silk trade using camel-caravans from the West, enriched the Mughal empire & the fortified city of Jaisalmer in westen Rajasthan.

Srinagar, Kashmir – available light pt.3

Srinagar in Kashmir, north India, is a magical place.  A beautiful valley, full of lakes and waterways with the Himalayan backdrop, sandwiched between Pakistan and China.