We’re trying to talk to the movers and shakers of the Americana world this year, the promoters, label owners and everyone who is responsible for bringing the music we love to the forefront. John Cleere is a man who is well and truly submerged in music and has been for many years, a founder and organiser of the Kilkenny Roots Festival and he took some time to chat to A-UK about this year’s line up

Mike Ferrio re-jigged his previous line-up of Tandy following the passing of friend and fellow musician Drew Glackin to form Good Luck Mountain. This new project is now well under way with a fantastic record under his belt, we caught up with Mike for a Dirty Dozen.

It’s been an exceptional year for Dawes. Releasing records, touring Europe and the States, rubbing shoulders with legends and having your songs littering just about every U.S teenage based TV show. It certainly seems like the foundations have been laid for a very positive future.

Americana-UK caught up with frontman Taylor Goldsmith after a string of UK sold out dates where we could talk about their busy schedule and backing some of the biggest names in Americana.

No, we’re not featuring British waterways all of a sudden but in fact a Canadian band. Having just finished a string of UK dates and releasing a new album, Americana-UK caught up with Riverseven frontman Michael Bongertman for a ‘Dirty Dozen’.

This is a story of a young Welsh lad who went to the mountains and discovered himself as a musician, obviously being Welsh he carries a voice bred from the valleys too. Yes, Tomos Lewis is out of the very contemporary mould, very much of the moment and not afraid to show resemblance of his self-proclaimed musical influences. It’s artists like this that the Dirty Dozen is here for, so Tomos Lewis….

There are many characters in and around the music industry which have become the pillars of society. These people come in all kinds of forms - promoters, label owners, venue owners, management, agents, radio show hosts and journalists. It’s some of these folk that Americana–UK will be talking to over the course of this year, hearing what the guys on the ground have to say and providing more of an insight to what goes on in the world of music.

We’re starting with our brand new range of interviews with one of the UK’s finest promoters, Jay Taylor. Based in Manchester and running a very successful ‘Ruby Lounge’ we caught up with Jay for a chat about his past, present and future.

This Canadian seems to be keeping some illustrious company these days and when he’s not recording with Levon Helm, he’s touring most of the known world. Artists don’t come as hard working as Matt Andersen or maybe as privileged to have Garth Hudson making a guest appearance on your album!

Visits to the UK are a rare occurrence for Texas Tea but when they’re here it’s certainly worth tracking them down. With their stripped back, spooky, country style, the Australian duo have a couple of albums out already and another brand new instalment on the way. We tracked them down for a ‘Dirty Dozen’.

London in a very busy place and when it comes to bands and music we’re often really spoilt for choice. Some might say that emerging talent struggles in the city because it is so saturated but every now and then something claws its way up to the surface to surprise us all. So, here comes Straylings, a gothic, country duo with a haunting, earthy new record about to be released, Americana-UK caught up with Oliver Drake for a Dirty Dozen

Lincoln Durham is a very interesting young man from the States, a one man band musician with a rasping voice and a very raw and rootsy new record, ‘The Shovel vs. The Howling Bones’. This is a very fine record that dives deeply into traditional southern American folk music, it’s earthy and has integrity. There’s no doubt that Durham will be a common feature in the U.K in the near future. Americana-UK took some time to talk to the debutant.