Six new guitar artists to check out this month
These future guitar heroes are shaking things up in the six-string world.
Image: Timothy Casten
Craving a taste of what’s fresh in the world of guitar music? Here are some artists you’ll want to keep an eye and ear out for. From eclectic garage rockers to rising stars of modern Americana, here’s a little bit of everything for everyone.
Honey Lung
Drawing from the nostalgia of 90s alt-rock and putting their own spin on it, Honey Lung are one of the hottest, and hardest working bands in the London scene today. The quartet launched their debut EP Postmodern Motorcade Music this year, a collection of catchy, heartfelt songs that bring to mind days of lying on the carpet and listening to Dinosaur Jr. and Belle And Sebastian on repeat.
Read our full interview with Honey Lung here.
The Beths
The story of The Beths is one of four university music majors who weighed out a choice between a career in jazz, or seeking jangle-rock nirvana. As you’d have probably guessed, they chose the latter. But it’s clear that an education in music wasn’t completely for naught, as the band’s latest record, Jump Rope Gazers hides some surprising musical intricacies – from four-part vocal harmonies to atonality – you would be hard-pressed to find in your average indie pop outfit.
Read our full interview with The Beths here.
Pottery
Not many bands can say that their debut record was inspired by uncooked hotdogs, but it’s just that quirkiness that makes Pottery such a fascinating act to follow. Bobby’s Motel is a collection of energetic, groove-ridden punk songs from the Canadian five-piece that is just an absurd blast to listen to – particularly for fans of Talking Heads. In recent years, Pottery further cemented their indie “cred” by supporting the likes of legends Parquet Courts, and signing to Partisan Records.
Read our full interview with Pottery here.
Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard
Much more than just a pastiche of the glam, hard and folk rock genres of yesteryear, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard’s music is less looking back on the era with rose-tinted glasses, as it is diving through an interdimensional portal to an alternate timeline. Their latest EP The Non-Stop represents all of this in a journey through dirty guitar riffs, organ segues and even a dash of cultism.
Read our full interview with Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard here.
Madison Cunningham
With a Grammy-nominated record, a spot at the 2019 Newport Folk Festival and praise from John Mayer himself, it’s clear that Madison Cunningham isn’t your average twenty-something-year-old. Her jazz-inflected guitar work – which draws from Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell one minute, Jeff Buckley the next – is best experienced through Who Are You Now, her sophomore record.
Read our full interview with Madison Cunningham here.
Maya Delilah
Over the last couple of years, the London-based Maya Delilah, a self-professed “guitar expert” has been riding a wave of serious hype. Not only is she a Marshall Spotlight Artist, but a BRIT School graduate, to boot. She brushes off the pressure like a soldier though, and put out an expressive debut this year, Oh Boy, a colourful combination of her vast influences which span lo-fi jazz, pop, R&B and ska.