Country Mile
Johnny Flynn threatens to become a star of a different order if his 2014 film with Anne Hathaway, *Song One*, becomes a measurable hit. As of the fall of 2013—with the release of his third album, *Country Mile*—he’s still a low-key British singer/songwriter working in an Americana style with his longtime collaborator Adam Beach of The Sussex Wit. Flynn’s acting background handily puts him in character as a busking troubadour who sings quaint songs such as “After Eliot” (that’s T.S. Eliot, of course), “Gypsy Hymn,” “Fol-De-Rol,\" and “Tinker’s Trail.” While some folks who know Flynn will tell you he’s well-acquainted with electricity and other signs of modernity, he doesn’t let such awarenesses impinge on these old-fashioned and melodic tunes. Recorded over two years at different studios in London and New York, *Country Mile* continues on the promise of his idiosyncratic 2008 debut, *A Larum*. This rustic acoustic style is sure to resonate among Mumford & Sons fans, with whom he\'s often the shared a touring stage.
He's toured with Mumford & Sons and been namechecked by Alt-J, but Flynn's union of trad and modern English folk storytelling deserves its own wide audience.
Being a Marling disciple and -- despite the mega-church tendencies of my peers -- a Mumford one as well, I've always felt drawn to the music of Johnny...