So, just who are The Lost Sons of Littlefield, you may ask? To answer that, we need to go way, way back. Back to Waylon Jennings birthplace, in fact. Yes Littlefield is where the great man comes from but his inspiration has spread a great deal further.
It’s not quite that simple though and we need to go digging a little deeper. Alan Tyler, the singer with the acoustic guitar, was turned on to country rock by listening to none other than the late, more than great, Gram Parsons, and, of course, The Flying Burrito Brothers.
Back in the early nineties together with his band The Rockingbirds he made two highly regarded country-rock albums, their eponymous debut in 1992, and Whatever Happened To The Rockingbirds, two years later.
Alan is from the UK and these albums were seen as pioneers of English country rock. Television appearances followed, most notably slots on Later With Jools Holland, Top Of The Pops, and MTV. The Rockingbirds also clocked up four Glastonbury’s during an extensive tour schedule.
Now Alan has teamed up with former Rockingbird bassist Chris Clarke to form Alan Tyler And The Lost Sons Of Littlefield. Clearly he needed more than one lost son to form a band. So they added guitar man Paul Lush; Canadian drummer Phil Van Couver, formerly of The Raincoats; along with the superbly named Jim Morrison, who adds the vital ingredient of fiddles, and that wonderful instrument, the mandolin.
That’s the history, so let’s mosey on up to the present. The band has earned a huge reputation within the UK alt-country scene, performing a mix of their own songs that sit comfortably alongside covers from their heroes.
When seen live we are treated to the inevitable Waylon, alongside versions of George Jones, Hank Williams, and Townes Van Zandt. All three of which are connected by the curse of driven genius but whose music will doubtless live forever.
Alan Tyler's band is helping to keep that legacy alive on this, their latest album, Lonesome Cowboys (Hanky Panky Records, October, 2008). He combines that tradition with his own well crafted songs that, despite his English heritage, are rich in Americana.
Or is it that simple? There is most definitely an Englishness to some of the lyrics, telling campfire stories but from a North London perspective.
Article comments