Rebecca Porter Roll With The Punches Self Release
The short prelude to Rebecca Porter’s striking debut album opens with the chilling lines ‘God blessed the men who did me wrong/Too many times’. That might get your attention alright. What follows is an eleven song autobiographical concept album, loosely based on the spaghetti westerns that she watched as a child, with music that is steeped in the honky tonks of the South. Born in Guam (a Pacific Island and US Territory), Porter’s parents divorced when she was a child and she was raised in the Shenandoah Valley, West Virginia, mainly by her grandmother. Rightly proud of her Chamorro heritage, it wasn’t easy growing up brown in the Appalachians but, as well as racism, she also suffered domestic abuse and sexual abuse as a child.
The anger and pain of her formative years are explored here, and Porter doesn’t hold back. Opening with the slow, mournful ballad Memories, she is found searching endlessly for memories that were either ‘erased or never there at all’. Payday Loans was fuelled by the financial instability that she, and countless others, experienced growing up. The spiral of debt was never ending, and she found herself in the same position in adulthood, ‘into the ocean of debt/ you’re swimming against the tide’. The Laundry Pile is another honky tonk ballad on a related theme, the familiar never ending pile being an obvious metaphor for life’s perennial obstacles.
Recording in Harrisonburg with Danny Gibney in the producer’s chair (he also notably produced Palmyra’s debut album) was an inspired choice. As well as Porter herself on acoustic guitar throughout, she is accompanied by Ben Bailey (guitars), Perry Blosser (mandolin, fiddle), Ross Wright (keys) and the rhythm section of Ben Schlabach (bass), Joseph Harder (drums) and Jacob Briggs (percussion). The standout musical contribution (for this reviewer) is the presence of Jason Summer on pedal steel guitar, whose playing is to the fore on every song.
In The Devil, Porter comes to the conclusion that ‘the devil you know… ’, which isn’t really much of a choice. Shadow Of Doubt, opening with Ben Bailey’s searing electric guitar riffs, continues that theme, detailing the harrowing abuse she suffered, when ‘my bruises became my only armour/ sometimes one could save me from more’. Porter’s powerful vocals express her pain in no uncertain manner, there’s a rawness here which cannot be ignored. Then there’s the theme of abandonment which fuels the sad, mid-paced ballad Let Me Go, where she’s struggling to forgive the (unspecified) person who let her down badly in the past. Erin Lunsford’s banjo drives along the heavy rock backdrop of another chilling song, No Evil, where Porter reacts to the racial abuse that she experiences, even within her own family and network. At last, however, we’re starting to feel her perseverance and her resilience beginning to appear. In The Mountain, she calls out BS with ‘Don’t promise me the mountain/with no dirt on your hands’.
The closing track, which is also the title track, chillingly recounts all the abuses she suffered, ‘I rolled with the punches/and I almost died’. But she closes out defiantly with ‘but I never gave up the fight’.
Rebecca Porter has found the strength to come through her life experiences and acknowledges that it still isn’t easy and that therapy has been helpful. She wants this album to ‘help others to feel seen, to know that everything’s going to be ok, and for them to see their worth’. She has achieved that, and a lot more. ROLL WITH THE PUNCHES will be included in my Favourite Albums of 2025, and I’m looking forward to discovering what she does next.
Eilis Boland
Foggy Mountain Spaceship Galaxy Tracks Volume One Self Release
They look conventional enough at first glance ... three bearded and besuited men with instrument cases. What could possibly go wrong? Then the lights go down and you become aware that they are sporting cyberpunk illuminated LED glasses (and, worryingly, no neck ties). The music starts … and you are immediately transported to a galaxy far, far away. Your senses become overwhelmed by psychedelia, even though you could have sworn you didn’t partake of any substances …
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the cosmic kingdom of Colorado’s Foggy Mountain Spaceship. Formed only two years ago by the three Denver based musicians, their first album comprises seventeen tracks, at an average of five minutes each, and I guarantee you will never have heard anything quite like them. They each play banjo, but mostly not your average 5 string acoustic version. Kyle Ussery plays his own 2024 invention, the ‘Banjo Synth Model 1’, which he built as a means to play both bass and keyboard sounds without sitting at a keyboard. He also plays (though not at the same time) a Gold Tone Banjo Bass. Much earlier, in 2005, percussionist Chris Sheldon developed his ‘Banjotron Acoustikit 2000’. It uses a banjo head as a snare drum, but it still has a neck, and his armoury is completed by a castanet, a mini washboard, a kazoo, a mini cymbal and a foot operated bass drum. Chris Elliott, who is an award winning banjo player (winning Telluride and Rockgrass competitions) and teacher, plays a Gold Tone electric banjo as well as a conventional acoustic banjo, and is the lead vocalist.
The record kicks off with the funky groove of their own instrumental composition, Interstellar Blues. Things get even more cosmic with Kyle Ussery’s instrumental The Pleiades which is inspired by that open star cluster in the constellation Taurus (d’oh). Chris Elliott’s Space Mango features a percussion solo on his Banjothon Acoustikit, followed by another of his original intrumentals, Echoes Through The Void. More familiar is the first of the cover songs, an absolute stonker of a version of Riders on the Storm, complete with vocals. There’s a nod to their jazz influences with an unconventional rendering of Sweet Georgia Brown, featuring much percussion and bass banjo solos. Sands of Mystery Suite transports the listener to North African, with haunting, echoey vocals from guest Nabanita Sarkar. Polka on the Banjo is a not unexpected nod to Flatt & Scruggs, but you might not be prepared for JS Bach’s Two-Part Invention No 1. (but don’t worry, it’s only 1:31 mins long).
Just when you’re starting to think that they could never reproduce these tracks live, there follows four live tracks, recorded at various recent gigs. Firstly, there’s a cool version of Sting’s classic Walking on the Moon, followed by a Flatt & Scruggs standard Farewell Blues. Next up is the funkiest version of AP Carter’s I Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow you will ever hear, complete with mandolin from Sam Bush himself. By complete contrast, the fourth live track is an interstellar retelling of the Mario Brothers Medley, which will appeal to a certain demographic!
Then it’s back to more conventional space travel with Pink Floyd’s Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun (from their 1968 second album, A Saucerful Of Secrets), which is amazingly close to the original. There’s a short instrumental from Kyle Ussery, Sometimes It Rains, and a version of Linus and Lucy, which will be recognised by North American listeners as the theme song from the Peanuts franchise. They close out with yet another surprise, an otherworldly instrumental version of Billie Eilish’s theme song from the Barbie movie, What Was I Made For?
Check out the band’s website for video versions of all of the tracks here, and more, which should whet your appetite until you get to catch them live.
Oh, and in case you haven’t realised, this album is highly recommended.
Eilís Boland
Brinsley Schwartz Shouting At The Moon Fretsore
Brinsley Schwartz was a leading light of the 1970s pub rock scene and founding member of Graham Parker and The Rumour. His latest album is a continuation of his solo recordings, which began in 2016 with UNEXPECTED and continued with TANGLED in 2021. The material includes songs written back in the late 1990s and more recently penned compositions. The common denominator is the distinctive, soulful, rootsy sound that was at the heart of that burgeoning live pub rock scene that packed London venues like The Hope & Anchor, The Lord Nelson and The Nashville, before the punk rock explosion in 1976.
Schwartz played all guitars, bass guitar, together with vocals and harmonies on this album. He worked closely with another Graham Parker collaborator, James Hallawell (The Waterboys, Jackie Leven), who produced the album and played Hammond organ, bass, percussion and brass.
Recreating the signature sounds of the pub rock scene that spanned several genres, the highlights include the Van Morrison-style soul blues crossover, Falling Over Backwards, and the breezy Steely Dan-sounding Nothing Is What It Seems. The lively vibe in Hard To Change reproduces what Ian Dury’s band, The Blockheads, excelled at, and it includes one cover version, Schwartz's favourite Graham Parker's song, Watch The Moon Come Down.
Although the early to mid-1970s were plagued by rising unemployment and weak economic growth, life was somewhat simpler, and the live music scene flourished, particularly in the Greater London area. The album’s title reflects the present unsettling times, and tracks like the previously mentioned Nothing Is What It Seems and Hard To Change are commentaries on today’s darker social issues.
Two years short of his eightieth birthday, Schwartz has reached back to earlier times with this record and has done so with flying colours.
Declan Culliton
Jake Xerxes Fussell and Jim Elkington Rebuilding Fat Possum / Crowded Table
When approached by filmmaker Max Walker-Silverman to compose the soundtrack to the film Rebuilding (on the recommendation of its producer, Dan Janvey) Jake Xerxes Fussell’s first call was to long-time collaborator Jim Elkington. Most recently, the pair had worked together on Fussell’s 2024 album WHEN I’M CALLED, and they laboured remotely, Fussell from his home in North Carolina and Elkington from his studio in Chicago, to fashion this seventeen-track record. The result is sixteen atmospheric instrumentals, and one short a capella performed by actors Kathy Rose and Nancy Morlan.
Using Ry Cooder’s soundtrack for the 1984 road-drama Paris, Texas, as a reference point, Fussell and Elkington have recreated soundscapes that entirely suit the modern Western tale of loss, community and survival. The film follows the fortunes of a man whose home is destroyed by wildfire and takes refuge in Montana in a FEMA trailer, surrounded by others forced to live in similar conditions. Focusing on the protagonist's renewed relationship with his young daughter, the film centres on rebuilding that father-daughter bond, as much as on the property.
Acoustic guitars, pedal steel, strings, piano, and touches of brass in places, capture the film’s scenes superbly, with standout tracks like Things We Lost, Begin Again, and A Cowboy Without Cows, and the title track, being particularly striking.
In addition to its often-dramatic soundtrack, the album stands on its own as a fine collection of instrumental compositions. While capturing the intended cinematic backdrops, it’s also a calming, meditative listen, beautifully performed by Fussell and Elkington.
Declan Culliton
Colter Wall Memories And Empties La Honda / RCA
1800 Miles, the opening track and first single from Colter Wall’s latest album, could have been borrowed from Merle Haggard’s songbook. It’s also a pointer to what amounts to the Canadian artist’s most traditional country album to date. That Haggard association doesn’t end there either. MEMORIES AND EMPTIES was recorded at Nashville’s RCA Studio A, where Haggard and his outlaw brothers Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson recorded some of their finest cuts. Co-produced by Wall and his regular collaborator, Pat Lyons, the recordings featured his regular touring band, the Scary Prairie Boys. Those players are Pat Lyons on electric guitar, Russ Patterson on drums, Josh Shilling on piano and organ, Brady Henrie on pedal steel and Jack Groves on harmonica.
The album takes a sonic journey back to the early 1970s, exploring classic everyday country topics. The songwriting delves into the simplicity of country living, the pain of lost love, the melancholy of barstool blues, and the comfort of a good drink.
The title track is a gentle, honky tonk, George Jones-style ‘tears in your beer’ ballad, where the barstool has replaced the marital bed. Drinking to mask the unhappy memories of a broken marriage, the Jones connection may or may not have been the motive to use ‘swinging doors’ in the lyrics (‘Til I walk myself through swinging doors, replacing memories with empties again’). Less melancholic than that title track, It’s Getting So (That A Man Can’t Just Go Into Town Just To Have Him A Drink) is another ‘drinking’ song, but more playful than rueful.
Entirely more profound is 4/4 Time. Bordering on the spiritual, it ebbs and flows, sometimes hushed and other times full-bodied, with Wall’s baritone voice rejoicing in the beauty of the nature that surrounds us. The Ian Tyson-written Summer Wages is an ‘easy come, easy go’ affair, offering sage advice (‘Never leave your woman alone when your friends are out to steal her. She’ll be gambled and gone like summer wages’). Among other standout tracks are the gorgeous pining love song My Present Gets Past Me, featuring Nikki Lane on backing vocals, and the more honeyed, serenading Back To Me.
Although loaded with tender nods to a previous era, Wall is not simply paying homage to the classic country legends of yesteryear. Instead, he has recorded a robust effort here that is equal to many of those much-loved late 60s and early 70s country records. With songs that sound like they’ve been around forever, and not a minute wasted, MEMORIES AND EMPTIES is an unabashed country record with a capital C, from one of the leading standard bearers in the classic country revival of recent years.
Declan Culliton
Chris St John Never Where I Am Halo
Back in 2021 this songwriter decided to release a solo debut album, I’m Dreaming. Until this point he had been active as a practicing attorney for nearly 30 years, a former prosecutor, and an elected judge. He also was the founder of HALO Missions, and has brought medical care, surgeries, and education to orphans in Zambia, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and Argentina.
Since that debut, St John has gone on quite a creative streak, releasing a further four albums which included a recent 6-track EP in 2024. We are today looking at a talented musician who delivers his songs in a convincing and confident fashion. Assembling a group of studio players, the album was recoded at Dark Horse Studios in Franklin, Tennessee and St John looks at different topics in the songs. The break up of a relationship is addressed in The End Of the Road and the political strife of societies pulled apart is the subject of Differ We Must.
There is a tribute to his partner on Used To You, and to his mother on Heavy Lies the Crown. Other relationships are remembered on the songs, Maryanne and An Irish Goodbye, and the sense of fate in the random chances not taken, and the life decisions made. The joy of being in the moment is covered on A Flower Blooms and The Little Things, while on You’ve Got To Be Good To Be Great, a child born out of marriage is given the advice to stand strong and be proud of your place in the world.
Perhaps the abiding feeling is captured on Never Where I Am and the lyric ‘Not sure of tomorrow or how to make it through the day, You can’t change someone’s mind, When they’re already on their way’ with the twists and turns that life can throw in our direction perfectly captured. The road not taken, and the paths we choose to walk; somehow they converge and lead to the person we become through the experiences along the way. An enjoyable album and plenty to admire in the playing and the fine production.
Paul McGee
Nolan McKelvey How Small We Are Self Release
This artist grew up in Lansing, Michigan and he moved to Flagstaff, Arizona during the 1990’s. His musical career has seen McKelvey play in various bands, and his temporary sojourns in other American states were usually motivated by chasing his musical ambitions. He spent a number of years playing in the Boston area, but no matter where his travels have led him, McKelvey felt the urge to return to his home base in Flagstaff.
There have been many albums released over his career and this new offering is marked by the mature playing and songwriting throughout. The broad sound fits into an Americana and Roots arena but it seems too limiting to try and define what is a timeless sound that reverberates. The album opens with a testament to his upbringing, Raised By Love and the important bedrock that is established by being surrounded by the right environment. Jeff Lusby-Breault assisted in the recording process and he contributes with some nice fluent guitar lines on this, and other tracks.
The Valley Of the Sun celebrates nature and the joy of being in the presence of the source ‘Born and reborn we find our place among the stars, when night falls on the desert, you’ll know how small we are. ’ Again there is some subtle electric guitar, this time dovetailing with the lovely pedal steel playing of Jon Rauhouse. Anam Cara is an old Irish phrase that translates as “soul friend” and the song with this title is a love song that swears devotion to a deep love, with Mandy Fer sharing co-vocals. Same Conclusion looks at the broad issue of religion and our belief system. Trusting in something more and the fear that it’s all just illusion ‘Is it not the same if you find relief, if it gives you comfort, If you believe?’ We all walk through the valley of tears in search for solace, one way or another.
All of the songs have merit and the album is very much a personal affair with McKelvey not only co-producing but also writing all ten songs that are included. He plays upright and electric bass, acoustic guitar, and performs all lead and harmony vocals. His voice has a warmth and a pleasant tone, highlighted on the track In Front Of You which offers sage advice to a youngster as they grow into adulthood ‘Find you way, Nobody’s gonna give it to you.’
Resilience, and living with oneself, is the topic of Lonely, Not Alone shining a light on the fact that you can feel alienation while being in a relationship. The country feel of Preparations has Tim Kelly on dobro and Jesse Valenzuela on guitar, with Stephanie Groot on violin and PH Naffah on piano, taking the arrangement into a bluegrass direction, and echoing the need to rise up against oppression and not to be afraid of the consequences.
Seed Is In the Fruit is another celebration of nature and the seasons, with springtime bringing renewal and fresh beginnings. There is a nice blues swing to Mama, I’ve Been Trying ‘It’s not always black and white, There are shades of grey, I strive in my mind to keep doubt at bay, But since you’ve been gone, it’s just day by day.’
The album concludes with Moon and Stars To Give circling back to the notion that ‘small is all we are.’ It looks at the passing of a loved one and the grief and regret that follow. Pedal steel resonates and the slow tempo highlights the need to remember all the good times as an essential part of healing. This is a very strong statement of the talent behind the songwriting and the performance skills of Nolan McKelvey and certainly someone that you should investigate further.
Paul McGee
Katie Spencer What Love Is Lightship
Album number three in the ongoing rise of this very gifted musician. This time out Katie mixes things about, with new personnel bringing their varied skills to the recording studio, the one exception being Tom Mason on upright bass, who is retained from her last outing. That album, Edge Of The Land, was my pick of the year, back in 2022, and three years on, we are given ten new songs to compare and contrast with that timeless work.
Who was it that said “comparison is the thief of joy”? Theodore Roosevelt is linked to the quote and when it comes to music journalism, we may be culpable of resorting to such laziness, but when comparing work from the same artist, there is some validity in what is experienced. In this case Katie has swapped the gentle sounds of flugelhorn and piano, both prominent on the last record, and introduced a new dynamic of clarinet and pedal steel into the song arrangements. The writing still retains a very intimate quality and these songs reflect upon love in all its guises, be it celebratory or painful. The warm vocal tone with which Katie delivers these personal insights is as beguiling as ever.
The instrumental Back To the Brightness Above is beautifully constructed and reflects the soothing qualities that permeate this album. There is a tribute to the influence of the great John Martyn in the melody and the playing on Cold Stone, a song about valuing the moment and appreciating all that is given us ‘a golden light, arms out-stretched wide, breathe.‘ These ten songs are all so beautifully judged and delivered, in quiet contemplation of emotions and memory, whether past or present, the influence of others in our lives and the love that either departs or remains.
Katie has spoken openly about her experiences of adoption and there is a tribute to her adoptive parents on the song It Was Then That I Knew Love with the lines ‘at last, they found me a home, to my bed I was shown, hey it was then that I knew love, it existed beyond blood.’ In other songs there is a thread woven that highlights love as the one constant, the title track What Love Is a prime example in the words ‘When will we know what love is, Are you going to wait and see with me.’
Elsewhere the sense of being lost is evident in the need for reassurance and reconciliation with both Come Back and Find Me and Forget Me Not looking at the pain of separation and isolation. The free spirit who leaves in Goodbye was always destined to seek pastures new and the letting go can bring loss. However the loving awareness that is mixed into the fabric of Home shows an open vulnerability that strengthens the bond ‘When I’m travelling and I’m on my own, I think of you and I’m not alone, I think of you and I come home.’
The final song Carry It All speaks of the power to be found in the acceptance of the journey undertaken and the paths that it leads us towards, the passing of time and the perspectives gained. Indeed, love is enough to carry us home ‘Some things soften, with the passage of time, And this love will carry it all.’ The interplay between the four musicians is gently delivered and quietly superb. The understated pedal steel, the rich and mellow clarinet playing, the melodic upright bass, and the creative guitar prowess, mixed with gentle percussion and sweet synthesizer sounds. A very rewarding album in every sense and the entire project is delivered by Katie Spencer (vocals, guitars), Giacomo Smith (clarinet), Max Clilverd (pedal steel), Tom Mason (double bass), Matt Ingram(drums, juno). The production is courtesy of Matt Ingram and the album was recorded at Urchin Studios, Hackney Wick, London.
Paul McGee
Emily Hines These Days Keeled Scales
A debut album from Ohio singer songwriter Emily Hines and the seven songs included were all recorded straight to cassette in a small house located in Nashville. It harkens back to simpler times when music was played for the simple pleasure of creating something of value in the writing process, and that is what we are given here.
Opener, My Own Way, is a gentle song about finding a singular path and not being too hard on yourself, the easy melody and rhythm create a sweetly comforting sound. Next up is Cold Case and a song that muses over the possibilities that a relationship might bring too great a cost in the unfolding layers ‘Is love something that you choose, Or does it burn a hole right through you?.
Another relationship song is All Of Our Friends and the implied pressure brought to bear by friends’ expectations, whether to defy the issues or to bend to social mores, ‘Will you hate me if this doesn’t last forever? All of our friends can see us together.’
Cowgirl Suit has such a gently delivered vocal, strummed guitar and quiet percussion ‘Sorry if I wasted your time, I don’t think that I wasted mine’ and the sense that all is not well in love and the fallout. The song also reflects 'I saw you walk in and it changed my whole day, Is it by design when you’ve got nothing to say?’
On Callin Ya we are treated to internal musings of whether Emily should reach out to her significant other and try to melt the ice of a floating iceberg that drifts along their relationship tides ‘ I’ve thought about calling, But what good could it do? If you don’t love someone, You can’t pretend to.’ The lovely melody again highlights the unique qualities on this album, just so subtly balanced in all areas.
The list of musicians deserve all the credit here and blend so effortlessly. We have Emily Hines (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, nylon string guitar, harp, percussion), Heny Park (vocals, bass, baritone, electric guitar, 808, drum machine, mellotron, percussion, keyboards), Holden Bitner (cello), John-Ruben Medina(drums), Liv Greene and Madelyn Baier (background vocals) to thank for the atmospherics. The production is delivered by Henry Park and all songs are written by Emily including two co-writes with Olivia Ann Greene (Liv).
On UFO there is the suggestion that love cannot be ever truly known and might as well be represented as some alien space ship that comes to visit momentarily ‘I don’t know about you, But I’m holding out hope.’ Cedar On the River is a song that reflects upon the ease with which songs can be a vehicle for true emotions that are too difficult to negotiate in conversation with another ‘This whole time I’ve been trying to rip the skin off the snake.’ There are other songs that merit a mention and on the CD/Vinyl versions there is an additional track ‘ I’ll Never Know.’ This superbly crafted song is a real highlight and it is sadly reflective and hints at relationship challenges ‘I need a smile before we go to bed.’
Subsequent to the release of the album Emily recorded a killer version of the Jackson Browne classic These Days and she really does it justice in her vocal phrasing and emotion-filled take on the sense of disillusion with youthful love ‘Don’t confront me with my failures, I have not forgotten them.’ This debut album is very interesting and hints at so much more quality music to come from the songwriting craft of this impressive artist.
Paul McGee