Edinburgh Spotlight Review of Al's Album Launch!

The chaps over at Edinburgh Spotlight were at the album launch gig on thursday! Here's the full review:

In his grey suit and hat, Al Shields may be a little lighter in tone than The Man In Black – but with his appealing set of old country, blues and American folk, he walks a similar line to Mr Cash.

Tonight’s gig at The Voodoo Rooms is to celebrate the launch of Al’s debut long player ‘Slow Burner’, a collection of self-penned songs steeped in the 20th century Americana which he obviously loves so much. With titles like Travelling Man and Had A Little Lovin’, you get the sense Al would be more at home in some dustbowl diner in the mid-west rather than a grand ballroom in the east end of Edinburgh.

Tonight however, he’s gathered his local musical friends for an enjoyable and accomplished celebration of his LP release; and shows that you don’t have to be born in the USA to capture its musical spirit.

Support comes from Edinburgh singer songrwriter Kat Healy, whose short but sweet set of country-hued acoustic songs set the mood perfectly. Joined by guitarist Rory Butler, Kat has a stage presence which mixes vulnerability with good humour and has a voice and songs which drip with fragile emotion. The harmonies with Butler are something special; but Kat has an undeniably strong impact solo too, when her lone presence on stage emphasises her ability to take an audience on a heartfelt journey through her music.

Al Shields has assembled something of an Edinburgh alt-country / folk supergroup to accompany him onstage tonight. With Matt Norris on banjo and his And The Moon bandmate Tom MacColl on upright bass; Gavin Taylor of the Whisky River Boat Band on steel lap guitar; and Andy Duncan from Black Diamond Express on drums: it comes as no surprise when the sound they create is distinctive and hugely appealing.

What comes as more of a surprise is the fact this band doesn’t really exist – it’s been created specifically for this launch gig. So – although Duncan and Shields are long-time collaborators – the level of tightness on display from Norris and the others is impressive, coming across as if this band have been travellin’ the railroads together for a long time.

Shields acknowledges his good fortune at having such talented friends; but the night is his, and his set of songs about bad work, bad luck and bad lovin’ shows his ability not only to evoke the spirit of the lone bluesman, but also to pen some mighty fine tunes into the bargain.

As the band depart leaving Edinburgh’s Man In Grey alone on stage playing a couple of his songs solo, Al Shields has launched his album in style – and turned the Ballroom of the Voodoo Rooms into a little long-lost state of America.

Video Blog - THANKS!

'Slow Burner' album review from Bluesbunny.com

Scottish music reviewers Bluesbunny just gave the new album 'Slow Burner' a 4/5 review! Here's what they had to say:

The search for authenticity is an onerous task but it seems to be one that Edinburgh singer songwriter Al Shields has chosen to take on with his debut album "Slow Burner" and, whilst he has chosen to plough the deep furrows of the Americana genre like so many others, he has managed to entertain where so many have failed to inspire.

You'd be hard pressed to guess his origin from his accent. It is certainly more of mid America than Midlothian. Then again, the songs wouldn't travel the road of life as well with a Scottish brogue driving them along. The near Nashville sounds of "Home" and the reverential to The Band "Travelling Man" illustrate his influences well and provide evidence that Al Shields is capable of more than just jumping on the roots bandwagon.

Although the Americana genre is not renowned for supplying laughs, there is chuckle or two be had in the wry "Warning". It's about the wrong kind of woman but, then again, all the best songs are.

Whilst mostly downbeat in tone, "Slow Burner" is nonetheless a good natured album that is both easy on the ear and worthy of closer attention.

Been a long time since blog n' roll...

Hey guys. It's been a while since I last posted on here, but I'm sitting in the dark at 4am and figured you all deserve som Al-time. So I'll tell you what's been happening...

The album is finished! Good god, it only took 2 years. It's mixed, mastered, and the artwork is saved on a little photoshop file right here on my computer. I'm aiming at a release in october. I'm going to book the launch night before any offical release date, but rest assured you will know all the details when I do!

I have also decided that my dayjob as barman at the Auld Toll Bar must finally come to an end. It's been a pretty emotional ride, but the album has finally given me a little focus and positivity, and barwork has been slowly sapping those very same things away over the past 5 years. Well no more! Come september I shall be off on tour and when I get back, There's a record to release! I cannot wait to get out of there.

What else...? I recently stumbled across a band called The Staves on youtube and was immediately floored by how good they are. Then I found out my good friend and fellow musician Kat Healy is supporting them in Glasgow on the 8th of August! You should totally go to that if you can. I will certainly try! Have a look at the video at the bottom of this blog for a great version of their song 'Winter Trees' - you need to skip about a minute in before they actually start the song.

Well I reckon I should sign off. I'm pretty rubbish at this blogging thing but if I wanna stay 'street', then it has to be done :) Here's that video:

Lazy Bones

After looking forward to 3 days off my mundane day job, i've managed to waste them by sleeping all day.

It hasn't been a total waste though. I saw the Secret Sisters in glasgow last night and they were amazing. Better than i had ever expected. And only £7.50 a ticket! They're on a european tour so go see them if you get a chance.

I'm also excited to have tickets for Fleet Foxes, The Avett Brothers, and Justin Townes Earle in the coming months. It's gonna be a good summer...

Other than that, the Cattle & Cane support slot i played recently was...nice. They're quiet folk. Not like the other 2 support acts who made me feel like my ears were having a period. It was great to play Sneaky Pete's though, as i always like playing new places to people i don't know.

Did you see the royal wedding? AWWWWW!!! I was ill with food poisoning but saw some of it on TV. I forgot how boring weddings are. Any wedding. Not just royal weddings. They are BORING!!! The only fun part is the party afterwards and it wasn't even televised! Is this what my tax money pays for? :-)

I'll sign off, but not before i remind you all i'll be playing at Edinburgh's Wee Red Bar this saturday, the 7th of may. It's cheap as chips if you fancy some live music before a saturday night out. DO IT!

Boy, keep movin'

I'm so tired! We got the keys to the new flat last week and have spent the last few days decorating before we can move in. I'm not in a routine of getting up regularly at 7.30am so it's been taking it's toll. I've had to put the guitar obsession on hold too, but i can't wait to get back to near-civilization (assuming Leith falls into that category?)

So it's been fun times on the music front. I had a BRILLIANT time at the Liquid Ship in Glasgow last thursday. One of the most fun gigs i've done for a while, and i'm now gearing up for my support slot with Cattle And Cane on the 11th of April. Y'all should come along!

As well as that, The Electric Ghosts are back jamming, and are set to play at Haddowfest in Edinburgh on April 3rd. Our first live outing since the summer! We're playing Cabaret Voltaire around 4.30 if you're interested.

My musical discovery this week has been Secret Sisters. Proper old-skool country tunes wrapped up in a mighty purdy package. I've posted a video below, and also a song from the Liquid Ship gig. Hope you enjoy!

Blog numero dooz

The new EP arrived in the post today. Yippee!

They look lovely, and I am very happy about it too. But I’m also a little confused. The print on the actual disc is much paler than on the sleeve. I actually quite like it, but will need to see if this can be remedied for the next run I have made. Nothing’s ever easy!

Had a good gig on Monday at King Tut’s in Glasgow playing with The Scattered Family. Lots of young girls lined up along the front of the stage would be daunting you may think, but I am a sex god and take it all in my stride :-)

Writing this, I realise I don’t know how to write blogs. I should maybe look at other people’s and see what you should actually write about. I’m adamant I’m not gonna use this as an outlet for my constant misery though. But I might.

Anyway, here is my crap cover of a Merle Haggard song. You can look him up on youtube if you want to hear a better version!

Hmmm...

It’s half 12 at night. The Bourne Identity is on TV, my girlfriend is crocheting a teddy bear for my newborn nephew Archie, and i’m at a loose end.

So I figured I’d start a blog.

More than anything, it’s an incentive to keep me pro-active. I reckon if I make a vow to myself (and you guys) to update this page frequently, then I had better get off my arse and find stuff to write about, be it gig news, releases, music recommendations, and maybe some home-made videos? Who knows?

Apparently it’s important in this day and age for independent musicians to have a busy web presence, so i have spent this last week promoting my new Some Songs EP (check it out on the website), and as a result I now have more web pages than Justin Beiber. Possibly.

I’m gonna keep this first blog short. It’s just for practice. While you’re waiting for another one, you should check out Josh T. Pearson. He’s awesome, if you like downbeat melancholy country songs. But hey, who doesn’t?

Al