Yet another version of this little Rock and Roll number, this time dropping back to the 1950's again and how it might have been influenced by the American R&R movement.

This 'n' That - 1950's skiffle influence

Forty years in the making.  The basis for these were recorded in the 80s and 90s, then given an AI sheen in the 2025.  Quite a wide variety of styles and genres, some tracks a bit messy and experimental.  Don't like one?  Try the next.

In The Shop

Well the site may have changed
But the logo remains
Conditions have worsened
And the music for certain
Oh the times always change, sure
But these changes are stranger
Positions reversing
Now the young are the puritans

But they’re working for peanuts
And they can’t get a leg up
Do they still take their comfort in gossip and booze-up?

In the shop
It’s all mixed up now
In the shop
It sends me back

Now the tables are turning
Cos vinyl’s returning
And CD’s on the rack
They’ve been pushed to the back
It’s out with the new
And back to the old
And that goes for the pay
We’re in Dickens’s day

See her play with her phone on the counter
They’ll accept it as part of the outfit
Yeah they lean to your lifestyle
But they give you the breadline

In the shop
They stitch you up now
In the shop
I wish you luck

Well I passed through these parts
On my way to the stars
Which I never did reach
So I’ve lessons to teach
Was so sure of myself
That they’d furnish these shelves
With my musical tales
Well now that ship has sailed

I could play the prodigal son there
Sing my songs to less than a throng there
No the dream never landed, but it still has its charm yeah

In the shop
It’s set me off now
In the shop
I wish you luck
In the shop
I look back with love
I’m talking shop

Written, performed and produced by Oliver Shaw

In The Shop (45rpm Mix)

Джентельмен Зигги и мистер Игги

Смерть Кощея

Neo-Skiffle by Columbus, Ohio, father and son duo.

London Calling

Love Me I'm Popular

Folsom Prison Blues

Animal Eyes (demo)

Today on another episode of Summer on the Range we begin in Prince Edward Island, amidst fiddles and potatoes, head to Argentina for some accordion stylings, then over to the UK to celebrate the origins of skiffle, back across the pond to a classic Newfoundland pub, down to American spacegrass territory, back over to Britain for a folk punk lesson in ideology, back to middle America for some uppity blues, over to South Africa for some classic mbaqanga jive, then back to Louisiana for a cajun-Innu crossover, then we end up back in PEI.  Hope you've got your passport with you.

All from musicians such as Barachois, Inn Echo, Acadilac, Chango Spasiuk, Van Morrison & Lonnie Donegan & Chris Barber, The Government Rams, Tony Rice Unit, Ry Cooder, Billy Bragg, Saffire, The Mahotella Queens, and Zachary Richard & Florent Vollant.  Grab your travel ginger tablets and join me.


Routes & Branches & Beyond show # 376 2025 07 24

big weak is:

the man who taught his asshole to sing:  vocals, wrath, pride, greed, lust, gluttony, sloth, guitars, envy

existential terror: inspiration

Purple Scruffs are a "Skifflebilly" duo featuring singer/guitarist Jim Hutter and his drummer son Zachary.  They draw inspiration from 1950s British Skiffle and American Roots-Rock.

Worldview is the alias of Oliver Shaw, an Oxford UK-based songwriter, performer and producer mingling rock, pop, dance and folk with insightful lyrics and an overarching melodic sensibility. Oliver began playing in bands, including one with Coldplay’s bassist-to-be, then spent several years honing a one-man band approach in his home studio, writing, singing and playing everything in the manner of Stevie Wonder, early Prince or World Party. Oliver then adopted a new format mixing live instruments and PC as Worldview, playing dates in Oxford and London and releasing the album Our Condition in 2008; Oxfordshire Music Scene wrote: “Worldview's aptly titled 'Our Condition' takes a snapshot view of modern living, with its raw honest exploration of life today...It's a strong offering with music that combines the ballads of REM with the dance beats of Duran Duran". The album track 'Entitlement' was later featured in the major BBC drama The Driver starring David Morrissey, broadcast in autumn 2014. The recent financial crisis was the subject of 2009's single, 'Party’s Over' which featured on the diverse personal and political album Schoolboy Errors, released in February 2012. This and other album highlights were aired on radio shows and podcasts worldwide, and Oliver discussed the album and his musical path in the UK's Vents Magazine. Now largely a studio act, Worldview's 2014 album Pop Philosophy was a mature reflection on life, loss and mortality in melodic, guitar-led rock songs with elements of electro, folk and funk. In its album review Skope Magazine concluded: “Pop Philosophy takes the basics of pop music, the hooks, the delivery, the thoughtfulness, and perfects them”. 
After a six year hiatus Worldview returned with Young Eyes Burning Bright. The rock/pop album’s ten songs addressed twin, related themes: midlife regrets and lessons and mortality and bereavement. Musically an established love of the sounds and songwriting of the 1960s was augmented by a belated reconnection with his formative ‘80s and ‘90s influences. Music blog The Static Dive wrote: “From the opening percussive arpeggios, live drums and analog synth of ‘Under the Bonnet’ to the New Order vibes on tracks like ‘A Rothko And Your Face,’ he blends modern Indie with the classic sounds of the pioneers of Rock and Pop. More often than not, the Worldview sound mixes dramatically different styles to create something entirely new. From the melancholy Americana Alt-Pop of “It’s What Happens’ to the cool experimentation of ‘Certain Love,’ it’s a great listen.”
The new album Everything Is Temporary is a collection of songs exploring topics of loss, nostalgia, changed times, and the vagaries of success; the common thread being contingency and impermanence.  These eleven tracks are a melodic, eclectic mixture of rock, pop and folk, incorporating everything from Moogs to musical boxes, Telecasters to Theremins, vocoders to violins, and ukuleles to uilleann pipes. Everything Is Temporary is released on digital platforms on 17th January 2025.

All My AI assisted songs are free to download.

I have been writing songs since1959 until the present. As a songwriter, I am more than happy with the wide range of songs I have written over the years. But my musical skills are quite limited and the early demos on Souncloud are of me singing  and accompanying myself on guitar or latterly ukulele. I can strum the strings well enough, but there my skills end.

Recently I discovered Suno AI and the results astounded me. I could finally produce demos of my songs to be proud of. I am currently going thru my catalogue of songs and producing AI assisted demos. I know many musicians turn away from AI but it has a place for me. There is no other way I could have obtained some 300 demos to this level. I do not and do not intend to look for any reward except the satisfaction that hearing my own songs gives me.

I am still writing and hope to have many more years of songs left in me, Enjoy if you can and I would love to hear your comments on the tracks, if the music moves you at all.

New tracks tagged #skiffle