new album!! MGT!

Our new album Manifest Good Things is OUT! We are so excited to bring you this album - our first on vinyl - and the response has been truly humbling. Grab limited edition neon pink and orange splatter or classic black on Bandcamp HERE.

Reviews for Manifest Good Things

Kris Wilkinson Hughes declares this aptly titled collection with its songs celebrating connection, through music, storytelling and shared experiences, her best album yet. Not underselling her previous seven as MGTR, Cicero Buck and For Kate’s Sake, she’s not wrong. 

They say good things come to those who wait. With this album you don’t have to.

- Folking

Melody and heartfelt ruminations on family, life and love combine to winning effect on a timeless album.

It sounds effortless, but there is no doubt that a huge amount of craft and musical nous is required to produce something which fits together so well.

This is a fine, largely home-grown album with plenty of depth in its lyrics, contemplating family life, great tunes and lovely, well-judged accompaniment.

- AmericanaUK 8/10

Five Stars * * * * *

A new album from Kris aka My Girl The River and collaborators always feels like something of an event, and Manifest Good Things is no exception.

What you have here is an excellent set of songs, strong on hooks and beautifully delivered, shimmering with texture, light, and shade. 

This is an album full of clearly autobiographical songs full of self awareness and adult emotion, all carried by that beautifully smoky, soulful voice. Sublime

- RnR Magazine

5 Stars * * * * *

‘Manifest Good Things’ is a warm, soulful record that’s packed with beautifully observational songwriting.

- Folk and tumble 

It is joyful, grounded and full of the kind of perspective that only really arrives after you have climbed a few mountains of your own.

Under the My Girl the River moniker, Wilkinson Hughes moves comfortably between folk, Americana, blues, psychedelic pop and singer-songwriter introspection, with shades of Joni Mitchell, k.d. lang, Stevie Nicks and even the occasional Beatles or Procol Harum influence colouring the journey. Yet the record’s strongest quality is its emotional consistency. Every stylistic detour still serves the same central purpose: understanding life a little better and encouraging us to make the most of it.

- Entertainment Focus

Manifest Good Things is, as Hughes herself says, her strongest collection yet: a record about connection, resilience and the quiet magic of making something meaningful.

- Fatea 

My Girl The River delivers a warm, emotionally rich collection of Americana, country and folk that celebrates resilience, family and beautifully crafted songwriting.

a strong and passionate album - check out their album release tour dates this autumn!

- Folk and Honey

THE LONG VIEW OF HOPE ON MY GIRL THE RIVER’S MANIFEST GOOD THINGS

This early listen reveals an album concerned with resilience, hope and connection, though its real subject may be authority: who gets to make records, who gets to shape them, and who decides when an artist’s most vital period has arrived.

“Career-defining” is an overworked phrase in a press release. It tends to make my red pen twitch. Here, it carries factual weight. This is the fourth My Girl The River album, and Hughes produced it herself, hearing the arrangements, harmonies and overall shape before guiding them into finished form.

- Indie Boulevard 

2026 seems to be becoming an exemplary year for the classic pop country single, and with My Girl The River's "Up The Mountain", you can chalk up another one.

A crackin’ little single.

- W21 

With gorgeous vocals, heavenly backing and a beautiful melody, the new single ‘Heavy’ from My Girl The River is a fabulously tuneful anthem for resilience.

Both inspiring and uplifting, this is genuine, heartfelt music, written with sensitivity and style.

- AmericanaUK

What a lovely, lovely song (Without You).

- Baylen Leonard, ‘Front Porch’ on Absolute Country

We are bringing the band on the road in November for a handful of tour dates up north. Our full band features Steve Lee on guitar, Andy Phillips on drums and Alan Young on piano. You might even see Rue and Harry at a show or two adding their gorgeous harmonies. Come see us in Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Liverpool! We are so honoured to be taking part in the AmericanaUK 25th Anniversary charity festival on the 28th of November. Only a few tickets remain so don’t delay. Go to EVENTS

no more i love yous!

Did you know we released a beautiful acoustic version of the massive hit ‘No More I Love Yous’ co-written by Joe? It’s so lovely and got a lot of love on radio… AmericanaUK had THIS to say about it. See our sweet video below.

Reviews in on Songs About Space:

‘Conjuring thoughts of widescreen Laurel Canyon layered harmonies of Crowded House, America and World Party’

‘These Songs About Space deserve room in your heart’ = Mike Davies, FATEA

‘My jaw fell open after barely a minute of opening track The Galaxy Room. It’s Gonna Be Alright and Information Highway both have hints of early Elton John. Stunned by the way she uses her voice on these particular songs…and the way that the production somehow smooths it down, but still gives it a dangerously cutting edge…somewhere between Allison Russell, Stevie Nicks and Joni Mitchell…’ - Alan, Rocking Magpie

‘A fine album’ - Ralph McLean, BBC Radio Ulster

‘Gorgeous album…her voice reminds me of Karen Carpenter’ - Robs Raw Music

‘Reminds me of Aimee Mann’ - Andy Phillips, drummer

‘There will be a natural gravitation for many to ‘The Breakdown of John Joe’, the album’s Brandi Carlile moment - 3 Chords and the Truth

‘Wild Ride has a west coast feel, with a full band arrangement and glorious harmonies. This is a well-crafted collection of songs from Wilkinson-Hughes, with her fine vocals shining through.’ - Americana-UK 7/10

‘Spacewalking is my favourite’ - Katie May, Real World Studios Head Engineer

The Rocking Magpie ‘Songs About Space’ full REVIEW

Reviews for Cardinal in the Snow:

Nashville meets Southern Gothic with fine vocals -
AmericanaUK 8/10

The songs of My Girl The River, come and immerse yourself in their waters - FolkRadio

A masterpiece of listening pleasure. You Do Not Deserve My Tears is on my list of top songs for 2020. -
8/10 Robsrawmusic

Like Lucinda Williams, folk legend Joni Mitchell or kd Lang, we are so impressed with this record -
Rootstime

Possibly my album of the year -
Trekwest, Twitter, Phoenix Radio, Australia 

Guitar led songs, stunning lap steel, string accompaniments and thought provoking lyrics delivered from the heart by Kris’s smooth, soulful voice. -
Belles and Gals

Get it wherever you get music, you won’t be disappointed. -
Ralph McLean, BBC Radio Ulster

This is a persuasive album that grows with every listen. It’s been a very welcome inclusion to my collection and one that deserves to be given time to get to know better. -
For Folk’s Sake

‘Cardinal in the Snow’ is a tonic and comfort, one you will return to again and again. -
Folk and Tumble

‘Wilkinson has a voice that ebbs and flows to fill all those pools of emotion. Cardinal in the Snow is perfect lockdown therapy.’ -
Your life in a song 

you will discover the similarities between the vocal work of this Kris Wilkinson and someone like Americana star Lucinda Williams, folk legend Joni Mitchell or the unsurpassed k.d.lang. 
-Rootstime