Christene LeDoux’s June appearance was a SWEET, SWEET night. Christene is a true pilgrim of the soul, blessed and cursed in equal measure by wander lust. She is a spiritual aborigine, who sings the world into being as she passes through it, healing and loving. It was as though Christene’s songs sing her, as I have never felt a more honest union of the written and the writer. Her new album Dust n Branches is like some kind of absolution to listen to, a balm for the burn of living. What a gorgeous heart this woman possesses.

Matt Andersen’s show on Thurs May 29 was a musical triumph. Made In Americana is about quality, and artists do not come better qualified to entertain than our touring cousins from the US. These guys are honed performers, and come from a long tradition of creative expression which means the standards are always very high. Made In Americana is proof of this, so that the name itself guarantees a perfect night out. Matt Andersen, Canada’s foremost Blues guitarist is testament to the above statements. Let’s just say that Matt inspires awe. His is a gift for the guitar and plays on instinct. going where his heart informs him. His playing was sensational, and he rounded off his set with some of the best licks these ears have ever heard. Matt had the audience baying for more. If you missed the show, pity! Just come in future for different artists and different sounds, but the very same standards of excellence.

A sad goodbye to The Young Republic, who turned up and played a blinder on Thursday May 22. Dripping with musical nous, this Nashville eight-piece were a master-class in electric folk-pop. If you know who The Decemberists are then you’ll have a good idea how these guys sounded.

Tift Merrit on Wednesday May 7 launched Made In Americana in fabulous fashion. Tift played her new album Another Country in its entirety, and to hear those great songs performed as they were written, on keyboard and guitar, was to get a handle on just how great a song writer she really is. For those in the audience as yet unfamiliar with the new album, Tift played the wonderful Supposed To Make You Happy and Virginia from her debut Bramble Rose and the stand out Good Hearted man from Tambourine. The crowd was adoring and the performance one of the great events ever to happen in Swansea.

Heavenly ( the label, not an appropriate adverb and adjective to describe the person ) artists Jaymay was Tift’s tour support. 27 years old New Yorker Jaymay sang like a bird with a broken wing, eliciting wonder from the audience, which witnessed a new star in the making. Articulate and erudite, this urbane song writer brought the manners of the Upper West Side to West Wales, and made us all pine for American love!

Our mates at The Chattery, Uplands, Swansea, have got a superb line-up in the next month. All Americana fans should support what Alex, Nigel and Margaret are doing for our entertainment and cultural needs. Here’s why: