The current musical climate should suit Red Sky July. The fascination for country and Americana continues apace, helped by the ever-enthusiastic Bob Harris (they are of course appearing at his festival in May) and the third album by these British exponents of the genre provides another reminder of their pleasantly slick musicianship and fine female harmonies. This is a trio with considerable experience, with Ally McErlaine (guitarist with Texas) and his wife Shelly Poole (once with Alisha’s Attic) joined by the Alice Band singer Charity Hair, and helped by a classy band that includes the pedal steel of Mark Neary. There’s even a collaboration with the Nashville singer-songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman on the gently exquisite Strathconon. In Jet Trails, the band claim they are “too strange for Nashville”, but to really succeed they need even more distinctive songs. The bravely autobiographical In Black and Long Time Dead show the potential.
