The promotional cycle for Shannon Smith’s debut album ‘Out of The Shadows’ didn’t take a standard route by any means. Looking beyond the typical approach of “let’s release a couple of singles over a couple of months, then get the album onto the streamers” favoured by so many in 2025, Smith started the ball rolling far earlier. His first single, the fantastic ‘Dance The Night Away’, appeared in late 2023, almost eighteen months before it was clear an album would be forthcoming.
At the tail end of 2019, Real Gone received an email requesting coverage from a band calling themselves Get The Fuck Outta Dodge. We had no idea what to expect. Within about thirty seconds of hitting the play button, it became clear that Dodge were one of the best bands we’d heard all year. Their lo-fi garage punk was never less than furious and in terms of a DIY set up, their then current EP, ‘We Make The Future Here’ raised the bar for independent noise making. We’ve followed their progress very closely ever since. In 2022, having survived a couple of years in a Covid ridden world, they found themselves in the studio with renowned Sheffield based producer Alan Smyth. In June 2022, James (bass/shouting) and Ren (drums/more shouting) dropped into Real Gone to talk about their whirlwind of work…
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2019 was a big year for UK blues rock band Big River. After a few years of tireless gigging, they’d started to make higher profile appearances. Perhaps more importantly, they finally released their debut album ‘Redemption’, a long time in the planning. We last spoke to founding guitarist Damo Fawsett four years ago, so he was keen to come back to Real Gone and fill us in on the band’s activities. This time, we got the full picture as we also got to spend time with Ant Wellman (bass), Adam Bartholomew (vocals) and Joe Martin (drums). Obviously, they’re all thrilled to bits with the response the album has gained…
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Charlotte Carpenter is no stranger to Christmas songs – in 2018, she recorded a gloriously downbeat version of Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’. Nor is she a stranger to reflective, semi-autobiographical works, as evidenced in her own ‘Burn’ and ‘Shelter’.
With her digital single ‘Another Year’, both elements collide as Charlotte reflects upon her place in the world in the build up to Christmas 2019. Continue reading
In 2010, back when Real Gone was in its embryonic stages, we received an email from a musician in the US asking if we’d review the then new album by his band The Great Affairs. That man was Denny Smith, singer-songwriter and previously a member of rock band fORMER. When he contacted us again approximately five months later, he had the distinction of being the very first artist to approach Real Gone for repeat coverage. Almost ten years on from that first contact, Denny dropped by to tell us all about the new album, his extra-curricular projects and more besides. The Great Affairs’ current album, ‘Ten & 2’ could be their best yet…
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