It's my opinion that the UK Country scene has been pretty much dominated by female singer-songwriters since I can remember (other opinions are available, but wrong!) but very recently there has been a wind of change. A new generation of male artists are emerging from the shadows. One such name is Lloyd McGuigan, a singer-songwriter from the south coast of England and he has a new single out, it's called "My Fathers Words".
So having a quick look into Lloyd's press release, it appears that like a lot of UK artists, his musical tastes are pretty varied and he says that he has taken little slices of these genres (Blues, Country and Rock) to blend his own brand of Americana.
Right, so let's dive into the song. From the get-go we are hit squarely between the eyes with a juicy little electric guitar lick, an acoustic guitar and some hard-hitting drums and it's all good. In fact, we get to soak it all in for around 25 seconds before Lloyd makes his presence known with some excellent raspy sounding vocals that really hit the spot and match the vibe of the song. An excellent start!
As the track develops, there's plenty of storytelling as Lloyd recalls some wise words from his father and as the song unfolds a little further, we hear more of the acoustic guitar as it starts to beat a steady percussive rhythm. Now I like an acoustic guitar possibly a little more than the next man, but the track is really all about the vocals, those deep, deep drums and the little bluesy/rocky guitar licks sprinkled throughout the song.
Mix wise, this is a really decent job, all well balanced. As a song, it's not your current fizzy Country-pop sound, it has some weight to it. I guess it the combination of all the genres that Lloyd has grown up with all fused together. It's that smidgin of blues, the sprinkle of Country and a spoonful of Rock, that all mixed together has created a sound that many will find very appealing. I think it shows off Lloyd's talents very nicely and it has all the elements to launch Lloyd into the UK Country scene.
I do believe that there is an album in his future plans and at Nashville Calling we can't wait to hear more from him in the future, especially if it's as good as this first single.
Hopefully we can persuade him to come and play for us in 2023
Anyway "My Fathers Words" dropped on Friday 7th October, go check it out on all the usual streaming platforms.
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