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Gillian Welch

December 2024

  • JPEGMAFIA in a white stetson, standing above a crowd of fans

    Observer critics' review of 2024
    Music: Kitty Empire’s 10 best albums of 2024

    Americana’s classiest duo weather the storm, Kendrick Lamar has the last word, UK jazz soars – and Charli xcx unleashes the power of Brat

August 2024

  • David Rawlings and Gillian Welch.

    Kitty Empire's album of the week
    Gillian Welch and David Rawlings: Woodland review – 10 exquisite songs of loss and love

    Named after their Nashville studio, hit by a tornado in 2020, the duo’s first album together in 13 years picks its impeccable, old-time way through personal and social upheaval
  • Gillian Welch performs during the 2024 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island

    The reader interview
    Americana icon Gillian Welch: ‘Bob Dylan walking on to our version of Billy put a smile on my face’

    Back with a new album, the singer-songwriter answers your questions on the Coen brothers, John Paul Jones, and having David Cameron as a fan
  • David Rawlings and Gillian Welch.

    The reader interview
    Post your questions for Gillian Welch

    On the cusp of a new album with long-term collaborator and partner David Rawlings, the Americana icon will answer your pressing enquiries

May 2021

  • ‘Scary and apocalyptic lyrics, viciously delivered’ … Mick Jagger’s verdict on Desolation Row, by Dylan, pictured at the BBC in June 1965.

    My favourite Dylan song – by Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull, Tom Jones, Judy Collins and more

    Bob Dylan is 80 today. But what’s his greatest song? Stars pick their favourite – and recall their own encounters, from Marianne Faithfull turning him down to Judy Collins whacking a policeman to get backstage

February 2021

  • Languorous intensity ... Gillian Welch and David Rawlings.

    Folk album of the month
    Gillian Welch and David Rawlings: All the Good Times review – lockdown covers of Dylan and Prine

    The pandemic hangs heavy in the long-term duo’s first album to share joint billing, and thrives when Welch leads

January 2021

  • Hopefully more than a one-off experiment ... Barry Gibb.

    Alexis Petridis's album of the week
    Barry Gibb: Greenfields – The Gibb Brothers' Songbook Vol 1 review – a spin in the country

    With subtle, beautiful arrangements, this foray into country-pop with covers by the likes of Dolly Parton, Jason Isbell and Gillian Welch is testament to the Bee Gees’ greatness

November 2020

  • David Rawlings and Gillian Welch.

    Gillian Welch: Boots No 2: The Lost Songs, Vol 3 review – more riches after the flood

    This final instalment of unpublished gems from Welch and David Rawlings doesn’t disappoint

August 2020

  • Gillian Welch and David Rawlings

    Gillian Welch: Boots No 2: The Lost Songs, Vol 1 review – inspired outtakes from 2002

    Spare yet perfectly formed, these discarded demos from Welch and David Rawlings – with more to come – offer riches galore

November 2018

  • Emmylou Harris

    My songbook
    Emmylou Harris on her greatest hits: 'I was arrogant enough to think I could survive a flop'

    The singer-songwriter talks us through her career, including duetting with Gram Parsons, discovering Gillian Welch – and wondering why today’s country music doesn’t speak to her

August 2017

  • gillian welch and david rawlings

    Kitty Empire's album of the week
    David Rawlings: Poor David’s Almanack review – his most Welch-like release by far

    The guitar great delves deep into rural America on his third solo outing

November 2016

  • Gillian Welch

    Gillian Welch: Boots No 1: The Official Revival Bootleg review – a dream debut revisited

    (Acony) (2 CDs)

June 2016

  • Sarah Jarosz

    Sarah Jarosz: Undercurrent review – classy modern Americana

    (Sugar Hill)

February 2016

  • Buffalo Springfield And Gillian Welch Perform At The Wiltern Theater<br>LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 04: Singer Gillian Welch performs at the Wiltern Theatre on June 4, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John M. Heller/Getty Images)

    Gillian Welch and David Rawlings review – a dark, masterful journey through American history

    The Nashville-based duo’s sparse, harrowing country music may have a high bodycount, but their real talent is bringing their characters to life

January 2016

  • David Rawlings and Gillian Welch

    Gillian Welch on the healing power of road trips: 'In every street sign there is poetry'

    The Americana star and musical partner David Rawlings are embarking on a 7,000km-plus drive across Australia, taking in two laps of the east coast

September 2014

  • Gillian Welch, Look again to the wind, CD

    Various: Look Again to the Wind review – homage to Johnny Cash’s radical 60s album

    The country giant’s tribute to Native Americans is given an impressive makeover on its 50th anniversary, writes Neil Spencer

May 2014

  • Hurray For The Riff Raff at Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, London

    Hurray for the Riff Raff review – magnificent, rousing and tender

    Alynda Lee Segarra takes tradition and adds her own spin – of a runaway American teen who rode the freight trains, writes, Kitty Empire

April 2013

  • Gillian Welch

    Pass notes
    Are David and Samantha Cameron Gillian Welch's biggest fans?

    The cult American folk singer is best known for her dark, gloomy songs. So can she really be a favourite of the prime minister and his wife?

March 2013

  • Tracy Chevalier photographed in Paris, France

    Meet the author
    Tracy Chevalier: 'Slavery has to be raised until it's put to bed'

    The London-based author on writing about America as an expat, the struggle for authenticity – and moving on from Girl with a Pearl Earring. Interview by Robert McCrum

February 2012

  • David Cameron in Smiths T-shirt illustration

    I was getting on so well with Gillian Welch. Then David Cameron butts in

    Stewart Lee

    Stewart Lee: The news that the prime minister attended a gig by the singer is, quite frankly, the final straw

About 36 results for Gillian Welch
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