Brook Terrace is Californian (but with Italian origins) Zachary Vito, a man who, to make his debut album, quit his job and used unpaid leave in order to fund a plane ticket to the UK just to work with Bill Ryder-Jones, who had just announced he’d opened a home studio. Vito was involved in many from the San Francisco area, including Union Pacific, Sonny and the Sunsets, Blades of Joy and April Magazine. When he discovered Billy Ryder-Jones (co-founded of The Coral, and solo artist, writing both his own albums and film scores, as well as producing records for other artists) specifically his 2016 album, West Kirby County Primary, Zachary fell in love with his music which served as a soundtrack to the artist’s life. So, after seeing an Instagram announcement, Zach took a chance and sent over some demos. Ryder-Jones invited him to spend a productive week of recording sessions in his home studio.  Vito found himself in the small seaside town of West Kirby, delicately breathing life into already beautiful songs alongside producer and songwriter Bill Ryder-Jones. Brook Terrace was born.

Scott William Urquhart is an acoustic fingerstyle guitarist from Stirling, Scotland. His debut album, A Recipe For Reverie, was released in January 2020 following a run of self released singles and EPs and, in 2022, Golden Sunlight Mountain Snow was out. Scott’s music has been described as peaceful and meditative and is characterized by single take solo guitar compositions, often in open tunings, released on micro-edition lathe vinyl pressings coupled with original paintings and upcycled sleeve art.
On April 14th, a collaborative album with Stirling-based group Constant Follower -led by Stephen McAll-  Even Days Dissolve, will be released. For Even Days Dissolve, Urquhart and Constant Follower frontman Stephen McAll drew from a very specific inspiration: after a violent attack that left him partially paralyzed, on the long road to recovery, McAll often found relief to the works of Scottish poet Norman McCaig. Those same poems serve as the inception point for Even Days Dissolve. Central to this record is Urquhart’s magnificent guitar work, which serves as the album’s instrumental core, incorporating blues and folk into the record’s arrangements.

The Declining Winter started out as the meanderings of Richard Vincent Adams, a musical project to keep him occupied whilst his band, Hood, was on hiatus (they’re still on prolonged hiatus, apparently). In 2008 their first 7″ The Future Sound of Hip Hop parts 1 and 2 was released, together with a bonus CD of remixes by Epic 45, Remote Viewer, Part Timer and Northstation and their first album, Goodbye, Minnesota came out on Ireland’s Rusted Rail Record. The next Declining Winter record was entitled Haunt the Upper Hallways and appeared on Home Assembly Music in 2009. In 2010 the band released their Official World Cup Theme 2010 again on Home Assembly Music and Scenes from the Back Bedroom Window, a very limited 3″ CDr release on Secret Furry Hole. In 2013 Fragment 5, a 10″ record a was released. The cassette only Lost Songs came out on the same year. 2015 was a busy year for The Declining Winter: they released Home For Lost Souls (Home Assembly), Endless Scenery (Sounds in Silence) and a split 12″ with Isnaj Dui on Rural Colours. Three years later the band released Belmont Slope. Recordings Of Weird Air, a collection of songs recorded onto iPad in late summer/autumn 2020 by Adams alone, was out in 2021, again on cassette only. Really Early ,Really Late, the first proper album since 2018, will be out March 31st and, believe us, it’s magnificent.

THE HEPBURNS were born in the Welsh city of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire county. They formed in January 1985 and have recorded 11 albums, four singles and four BBC sessions in their 32-year career. They also toured the US and Scandinavia in 2017. Born of the post-punk, indie boom of the early-80s, but with their roots in the 1960s, their sound is an amalgam of indie guitar pop with Burt Bacharach, Jake Thackray, and Jonathan Richman as references. Their first full length, The Magic Of The Hepburns came out in 1988 on Cherry Red. After that they started their own label, Magic Records, and in 1989 released the single Electrified (From Countryside To City). In 1989, they also recorded Road Movie, but adverse situations led to the album never coming out (until more recently, when it was released in digital format in 2017) and to a decade-long silence. Then in 2000, Radio Khartoum offered them the infrastructure and support that the group needed, and they released Champagne Reception. In 2003, The Last Thing I Saw Before I Said Goodbye came out and Something Worth Stealing arrived in 2007. The following year, they released Trojan Hearse, a somewhat atypical album on the Welsh label Bendigedig Records. In 2010 How The Fallen Are Mighty came out, back with Radio Khartoum. Seven more years would pass for the next album to arrive: There’s No Such Things As The Hepburns. In 2018 In The Mean Time came out; it was the last album released to date with Radio Khartoum. In 2020, they self-released an album based on stories of the people from Llanelli, the place where they were born, Electric Lliedi Land. In 2021 they released Architecture Of The Ages on Elefant Records, with the vocal collaboration of Estella Rosa (the singer for NAH and SAPHIRE & STEEL) and, again with her contribution, a new album, Only The Hours, will come out March 4th on Lavender Sweep Records. Along with their leader, songwriter and founder Matt Jones, current line up is: Estella Rosa, Mike Thomas, Les Mun and A.D. Clement.