The Steeldrivers Outrun Rounder
Hands up time: I admit to being one of those who predicted that The Steeldrivers would fall apart after the departure of lead singer, Chris Stapleton, just after the release of their second album in 2010. I am happy that I was totally wrong and here they are, celebrating their 20th anniversary, and releasing their seventh self-produced bluegrass/Americana album, and with a Grammy under their belt. Founding member Tammy Rogers, who is the main songwriter as well as playing fiddle and singing harmony vocals, puts down their success to their ‘unique sound, where everyone is encouraged to have their own voice’. They’ve also toured relentlessly and that tightness, that only evolves after years on the road together, is a hallmark of their sound. Each member is a standout on their respective instrument, like the other founding members, Mike Fleming on bass and vocals, and Richard Bailey on banjo. Guitarist Matt Dame also takes lead vocals (his gritty and bluesy vocals are not unlike those of Chris Stapleton, indeed) and he also contributes two songs. Brent Truitt completes the lineup on mandolin.
Comprised of twelve strong cuts, there are no fewer than five murder ballads on this record, believe it or not, and all of them have unexpected twists. Emma Lee, cowritten by Matt Dame, is a female protagonist, who almost escaped justice but, thanks to a wily sheriff, ‘now she’s doin’ time in a 10 x 10 cell / and she’s holdin’ on to stories that she’ never gonna tell’. The rocking title track is a Tammy Rogers and Leslie Satcher composition, where the subject learns that he ‘can’t outrun the Grim Reaper, once the deed is done’ and Rosanna tells the sad tale of the outcome of forbidden love between a Hatfield and a McCoy. Thomm Jutz has co-written three strong songs with Rogers, including the murder ballad Cut You Down, and the catchy You Should see The Other Guy, wherein a misogynist gets his comeuppance.
Band co-founder, and indeed the lynchpin who got them all together initially, Mike Henderson, died in 2023 and there are two inclusions in his honour: his quintessential country ballad, Prisoner’s Tears, and Painted and Poison, his cowrite with Ronnie McCoury, which the band had often performed but never recorded until now.
Verlon Thompson cowrote Booze and Cigarettes with Rogers, the tale of a barfly and his excuses, and the album closes appropriately, after all the murder and mayhem, with Mike Dames’ redemption song, On My Way.
The Steeldrivers are itching to get back on the road again and, if you’re fortunate enough to catch them live, please tell them that Europe is waiting patiently.
Review by Eilís Boland
The Shootouts Switchback Transoceanic
There are a couple of very telling clues that The Shootouts have made a change to their music. Not least is the fact that they have moved away from the previous western dime novel graphic look of their previous albums. They are still using an illustration but,rather than the previous fun graphics on the cover, this time it is an abstract landscape. Also, the band pictures now only feature the three principal members. Once you listen to the new recordings you hear that they have made a decision to concentrate on a slightly different sound, one that, while still rooted in country, is derived less from the sound of classic honky tonk and Bakersfield this time out. The Ohio-based trio are now working with producer Dan Knobler in Nashville studios. They have augmented their contributions with a host of additional session players, such as Sam Bush, Russ Pahl, Mickey Raphael and Jen Gunderman, with Knobler also contributing on guitars and keyboards. There are numerous additional vocal guests, from noted names like Vince Gill, Rodney Crowell, Logan Ledger and Lindsay Lou, as well as band founding member, Emily Bates. But the central figures are lead vocalist and chief songwriter, Ryan Humbert, and lead guitarist Brian Postern, who shows off his skills on the instrumental title track, wherein he trades licks with Sam Bush’s mandolin here and elsewhere on the album.
The Shootouts made this move to try to develop more of their own sound and to, simply, move on to something a little different from what they had done over the past three releases. This can both have the effect of giving a band a new energy, but also risks alienating those fans who really loved their interpretation of those classic country motifs. The end result is more of a move towards a roots rock sound, something that works in the context of the new material, but still featuring the welcome sound of the pedal steel alongside the mandolin and harmonica contributions, making a solid connection to the previous albums. However, it is the upfront guitars and keyboards that underpin the majority of the sound.
Humbert delivers some matured vocals throughout, on the original songs and also he goes toe to toe with Vince Gill on I’ll Be Damned, a Gill written song from earlier in his career that is one of the more twang-centric outings on the album. The other is a reinterpretation of the Yazoo/Vince Clarke written hit, Only You. It features a nuanced vocal from Humbert, while guest Lindsay Lou adds harmonies, and the song shows how well it is open to another elucidation. The harmonica, mandolin and steel are effective in underscoring the overall sense of the theme of finding an individual need as close to true love as is possible.
The album opens with a mid-paced ballad, Trampoline, with the vocal shared again with Lindsay Lou’s harmonies on a song that looks at life’s ups and downs using the title as something of a metaphor. It clearly sets out the comprehensive new direction that The Shootsouts are pursuing. The overall use of lead and harmony vocals seems much more prominent this time out than previously, or maybe that is how the production has placed the emphasis. Crowell’s harmony sits behind Humbert’s own voice on the pensive Half A World Away. It is another tale of introspection and love seeking sentiments, and is something of a continuous theme with songs like Blue Eyes, or Only Good At Goodbye.
A standout that feels pure country, in terms of its lyrical content, is A Few Old Memories, wherein there is a wish to make a few more of those ‘old memories’. Your Love (I’m Afraid Of) is another uptempo guitar-driven tale of doubt that features a strong chorus. The closing track, Dancing With A Distance, begins with some ambient sound, looking at a past and things that used to be part of a lifestyle that seems lost. Raphael is again featured effectively while Postern then takes the song in a harder rockin’ direction that allows the harmonica to stake its claim in the sound. “Where I am to where I want to be” is the sensibility here, something that is also echoed in the overall context of this album. It opens another chapter for The Shootsouts to write their own future, one that seems open now to move away from a hardcore country attitude to something broader, with a wider potential. However, they have demonstrated their ability to make such a move with panache, and a platform to develop without losing the genre-based feel of their earlier work. Such is the trampoline of music.
Stephen Rapid
S.G.Goodman Planting By The Signs Slough Water/Thirty Tigers
The title and theme of S.G. Goodman's latest project were constructed around details of her rural Kentucky childhood, when planting seeds, or indeed, basic planning, were often timed by the cycle of the moon.Satellite, the third single from the album, particularly explores this phenomenon, it’s an intoxicating song featuring Goodman's semi-spoken vocals set against a hypnotic backbeat.
Currently living in Murray, Kentucky, Goodman was born and raised fifty miles west on a farm in Hickman, Kentucky. Her writing has consistently focused on the people and the lands in her rural and small-town homeland, and PLANTING BY THE SIGNS follows that pattern. Though a country artist at heart, she marries her quite unique vocals with pounding drums, screeching guitars and thumping bass lines. A champion of the underprivileged (the quite excellent "Work Until I Die" from her 2022 record TEETH MARKS is a case in point), her latest album recalls upsetting childhood memories as well as more recent events and setbacks. Snapping Turtle looks back on an encounter, during her youth, with a group of kids she caught trashing a turtle in the street and the evasive action she took in rescuing the situation. The song also speaks of a less fortunate childhood friend who was unable to survive ('Not after seeing LeAnna's face, A life beat down like that snapping turtle day').
The self-questioning and introspective Fire Sign broaches the self-doubt that two years of constant touring, and the expectation of that sacrifice, can initiate. Michael Told Me pays homage to her close friend Mike Harmon ('Love You from Los Angeles, even with the pain'), who often acted as a roadie and van driver, and who died tragically in a tree-felling accident while Goodman was on tour. Elsewhere, she is joined by fellow Kentuckian Bonny Prince Billy on Nature's Child, and co-producer Mat Rowan on the title track, before closing the album with Heaven's Song, which, at nine minutes long, fondly remembers road trips with her beloved dog, Howard, who died in 2024.
Born out of setbacks and personal pain, the extent of which is emphasised by her near-broken vocals on occasion, PLANTING BY THE SIGNS is a tour de force. Few can connect country and post-punk in the electrifying manner that S.G. Goodman has over her four-album career to date, and this effort is, without doubt, the cream of that crop.
Declan Culliton
Anne McCue & The Cubists Wholly Roller Coaster Flying Machine
East Nashville-based treasure, singer, songwriter, ace guitar player and multi-instrumentalist, producer, video director and music show host Anne McCue has been recording and releasing her eclectic mix of roots, power pop, blues and psychedelia for nearly three decades. The Australian-born artist confesses that the lack of a studio release over the best part of a decade was down to writer's block. However, in recent years, primarily fuelled by a full-on diet of psychedelic pop, she got her writing mojo back in full swing, and WHOLLY ROLLER COASTER is the result of that rebirth.
Described by McCue as 'a pop album with psychedelic folk-rock tendencies,' it transports the listener back to the classic left-wing pop/folk crossover that blossomed in the U.K. during the heady mid-1960s, when the industry allowed artists to dictate their output rather than the A&R suits who eventually took control. The resulting ten tracks recall the work of Syd Barrett and early David Bowie, while also paying homage to the movement from traditional folk music into folk rock in the late 1960s by crossover bands like Fairport Convention.
Co-produced by McCue and Jane Nightshade, and recorded at Flying Machine Studio in Nashville, the album features a diverse range of instrumentation, including the standard instrumentation employed, as well as the Wurlitzer organ, tambourine, bouzouki, banjo, harpsichord, flutes, horns, and trumpet, all of which contribute to the hallucinogenic and experimental sound.
Typical of the record's folk-rock cocktail, and making an instant connection on first play, is the breezy and cheerful opener, Fly or Fall. A contemporary folky vibe also surfaces on the mellow Gone. Closer to the work of Ray Davies, Shadow Lane harks back to simpler and more innocent times, evoking a delightful sense of nostalgia ('And Mr Finnegan is in his chair acting like he doesn't care, perhaps he's a millionaire'). From a comparable musical era Leaping On The Moon could have been plucked from David Bowie's 1967 self-titled and often underappreciated album. Feelin' Alright Now is a seriously catchy and upbeat affair, possibly rejoicing in the passing of the pandemic and the return to normality ('Feelin' alright now, 'cause our eyes can finally see the way'). Layered and semi-spoken vocals, along with a steady drum beat, contribute to the cheerful final track, The Years.
Explaining the long pause since her last recording, McCue explains, 'I've been waiting patiently for the song gods and goddesses to once again grace me with their splendour.' The gods and goddesses certainly made their presence well and truly felt with this delightful and mystical collection.
Anne McCue has never reached as broad an audience as her talents merit. Perhaps she is quite happy to operate slightly under the radar. But with a back catalogue that includes gems such as ROLL, EAST OF ELECTRIC, BLUE SKY THINKIN' and now this delight, WHOLLY ROLLER COASTER, she is an artist that, if you don't already know, you're well advised to investigate.
Declan Culliton
North Mississippi Allstars Still Shakin' New West
Twenty-five years after the release of their Grammy-nominated debut album SHAKE HANDS WITH SHORTY, and thirty years after the band’s formation, North Mississippi Allstars celebrate those landmarks with an eleven-track album. Like that debut album and close on twenty others that followed, brothers and founding members Luther and Cody Dickinson were joined by guest players to contribute to STILL SHAKIN.'
The album was recorded at their family studio, Zebra Ranch, near Coldwater, Mississippi, which was established by their late father, Jim Dickinson, who, as well as releasing his own numerous solo albums and work as a producer, played piano on recordings by The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, The Flamin' Groovies, Ry Cooder and The Cramps.
Luther Dickinson describes their output precisely as 'We don't fit in anywhere. We're not Americana, we're not blues, we're not country or rock, we're just what I call modern Mississippi music.' In that vein, their latest project is a celebration of the traditional music of their home state, alongside their passion for improvised jams, which crisscross between blues, folk, southern rock, and psychedelia. The current line-up is Cody and Luther Dickinson, Rayfield ‘Ray-Ray' Holloman (The Origin Band), and Joey Williams (Blind Boys of Alabama, Peter Gabriel) along with a host of guests (Jojo Hermann, Duwayne Burnside, Robert Kimbrough, Kashiah Hunter, Trae Pierce, Grahame Lesh, Sharisse Norman, Shontelle Norma) who also feature on STILL SHAKIN'.
Effortlessly weaving between blues (Don't Let the Devil Ride and Stay All Night), jazzy rap-like jam (Still Shakin'), a woozy instrumental (Monomyth- Folk Hero's Last Ride) and funk (Poor Boy), the songs play out like an encyclopaedia of songs gathered from the Dickinson brothers' numerous influences. An acknowledgement of both the past and the present is the order of the day here, from a band with their feet firmly on the cosmic pedal of the sonic landscape of Mississippi. Groove-laden and infectious, it's a crescendo reaching and highly engaging listen.
Declan Culliton
Drew and Ellie Holcomb Memory Bank Magnolia
Can there be any greater buzz than making music with your wife and enjoying the creative process together? This Tennessee-based couple formed a band in 2005 as Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, with Ellie remaining as a member until 2012, when she left to raise their children and to pursue a solo career. They now come together again in song to release their first album as a duo, and it’s packed with great tunes.
You Drive Me Crazy hits the nail with a sultry groove, dripping in sweet rhythm as the co-vocal parts come together in a real tour de force. The couple collaborated on nine of the thirteen songs included here and they recorded at the Sound Emporium Studios in Nashville. There is a fine cover of the song Shut Up and Dance (Walk the Moon), and Ellie includes a collaboration with Taylor Leonhardt on Brick By Brick. There are two songs written by Drew with Bones and We Can Go Dancing both hitting the high bar set in the writing, and on a number of other songs the talents of both Cason Cooley and KS Rhoads are highlighted.
All of the above simply goes to show what is involved in the process of collaboration, both in the writing and in the ensemble performance in the studio. The sessions were recorded live in the studio and production was handled by Cason Cooley who also contributed on drums, percussion, programming, synthesizers, mellotron and acoustic guitar.
Regular members of Drew’s band The Neighbors also play on the songs with both Rich Brinsfield (upright and electric bass) and Nathan Dugger (acoustic and electric guitar, piano, Wurlitzer, mellotron, pedal steel) bringing their magic touch. Ian Miller also stars on B3, accordion, piano, along with other guests who provide great colour in the song arrangements. You Drive Me Crazy is a fun look at the relationship dynamic between spouses and Rain Or Shine is a strong statement of the love that endures between them. The lovely Silver Thread is a fine example of the mature songwriting at play here and throughout the album we are treated to many highlights across the vocal prowess of both artists as they dove-tail around the melody and come together in a celebration of music. A very enjoyable album and definitely a keeper.
Paul McGee
Gordie Tentrees and Jaxon Haldane Double Takes Self Release
A very satisfying album from a duo that have been recording and touring together, on an ad-hoc basis since they met in 2014. Both musicians had already forged their independent careers in Canada, with Tentrees hailing from Whitehorse in the Yukon, and Haldane growing up in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They released a live album in 2018, titled GRIT, and now this new project has arrived to represent their first studio collaboration. Included are ten self-penned songs and the production is by Nash Chambers (Paul Kelly), the brother of Kasey Chambers. The musicians include Shawn Fichter (percussion), Steve Mackey (bass), Charlie McCoy (harmonica), Tania Elizabeth (fiddle), Bill Chambers (lap steel), Lucky Oceans (pedal steel), Joanna Rodriguez (harmony vocals), and Nash Chambers (percussion, melodica).
The entire album was completed in just a few days at Troubadour Studios in Nashville, and there is a great live ‘on the floor’ feel to the songs in an attempt to replicate the typical performances that the duo are renowned for when on tour together. The easy blues of Drive Or Push is reminiscent of the early Elvis sound with the harmonica of Charlie McCoy and the electric guitar of Haldane high in the mix. Bygone Days is another step back in time and the exceptional fiddle playing of Tania Elizabeth is a real highlight on this light bar-room jazzy groove.
Haldane delivers a tribute to his grandparents on Bobbi and Gus, with harmonica and resonator guitar superbly delivered by Tentrees. A highlight is the song Time and a look at how our lives are shaped by the decisions we make and the ways in which we choose to spend our days. Crystal is another strong song and it references a tale of addiction and trying to control that urge to keep chasing that high. The final song, Gratitude, has a slow tempo and gives thanks for good fortune in life, with some fine harmonica and harmony vocals. It all feels very loose and lively in the delivery, with plenty of tight playing, and the right attitude to letting the music speak for itself.
Paul McGee
Nelson Wright Ghosts On the Water Self Release
This singer songwriter grew up in New York and his music is very much in the genre of folk and roots in the content and delivery. Having released a debut album back in 2012 titled STILL BURNING, Wright followed this up with a second record in 2014, ORPHANS AND RELICS. It has taken the distance in between for Wright to present this new music and the nine songs included are very much worth the wait.
Like any seasoned musician the years bring their own reward in terms of experience and insight into the ways in which we all try to negotiate our separate lives. Now based in Seattle, Wright has a keen eye when it comes to observing the human condition and these songs cover quite a lot of ground. The opening song Alcatraz looks at the 1960s escape from the island which was orchestrated by Frank Morris and joined by brothers Clarence and John Anglin. None of the escapees were ever captured and were reputed to be living all these years in South America.
Mobile Bay is another song that references prison, this time from the perspective of an inmate in an Alabama prison who is thinking of the freedom that lies just a few hundred miles across the Gulf of Mexico. The Natchez Trace tells the story of dislocated people who are looking to get back home to their origins. Both a young girl and an old soldier are featured in their attempts to get beyond their grown experience and return to simpler times. The Old Natchez Trace is a historic forest trail which spans over 450 miles from Nashville, Tennessee, to Natchez, Mississippi, and links the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi rivers.
Kindred Spirits is a tale of an old uncle that impressed a young nephew with his earned wisdom and simple ability in playing a musical instrument. Learning from the old ways and the true path of living ‘the things I learned from a kindred spirit’s hand.’ There are love songs included and the easy groove of My Favourite Brunette is a real tonic, together with the sentiment expressed for a loved one on My Heart’s Best Tattoo.
The story on The Night Love Ran Out is one that sees female partner taking the hard decision to leave behind the frustrations of trying to keep the flame of love burning ‘Dreams can take a lot of abuse, they hold on fast when there’s no excuse, But they don’t come back once you cut them lose, when love runs out. ’ There is a list of musicians who play on the album but sadly no detail as to individual credits. The ensemble deliver some striking moments throughout and perhaps more care should have been given to give recognition where it is due.
Stony Ground looks at trying to escape your roots and trying to recall youthful memories of the days left behind. The accordion on the song builds a sense of nostalgia with the guitar motif echoing this sense of needing to escape. Elsewhere mandolin, dobro, fiddle and guitars mix together and the female lead vocal on My Heart’s Best Tattoo could be any of the three female names that appear in the musicians list … The final song is about letting go and the words in Let Me Down Slow say ‘There’s a chill wind running through me now, like something I don’t know, let me down, let me down slow.’ If you wanted to slip off this mortal coil then this is perhaps a song that would be played as your mortal remains are taken to their final resting place.
Paul McGee
Charles Ellsworth Cosmic Cannon Fodder Burro Borrachos
Raised in Arizona and based now in NYC this is the fifth album release from a singer songwriter who has established a career that brings much to the listener. Frustration at being stuck in an airport makes up the opener, LAX Song. Up next is Avenue Of the Giants and a rocker that swings along at a pace, looking at the challenge of life passages. Elsewhere, the country sound of Ripped To Ribbons is a strong track calling for a chance to make a relationship work; ‘I’ll do my best to open up, if you promise not to run,’ with some nice pedal steel playing courtesy of Mike Brenner, to give the mid-tempo melody a gentle lift.
If They Let Me Choose Forever is a rocker that plays out with plenty of attitude and a song about teenage rites of passage, getting high and making out. Another Fucking Tuesday is a song about the normalising of mass shootings in American schools, and the media reports that increasingly see such tragedies and killings as just a part of our daily reality. Politicians doing nothing to effect change in any real way. The Gates has a slow melody with sweet pedal steel sounds and a song about earning just enough to pay the bills and get by, victims of a corrupt system that rewards greed and takes the common-man for granted.
The title song Cosmic Cannon Fodder has a reflective theme and examines the way in which we try to find meaning in the chaos of daily routine; basically, in adulthood, how we are left to ponder our own place in the universe. Time passing is also a theme in Crazy Kelly and the heady abandon in the freedoms of youth, and the following song Swimming In the Shades Of Grey is a tender contemplation on past relationships, old memories, a restless spirit and the need to keep moving. The anger felt by Ellsworth at the political state of the nation pours forth on Build A Bigger Table and his aspiration to ‘Get to know that kid, who I once was.’ Wanting to feel he can believe in that ubiquitous American dream and not just passively watching all the pain and upset that permeates.
The final track If I Could Talk To God is another angry look at the state of play on the planet and the frustrations felt in trying to get used to living with compromise. Doubts in a higher power, jobs that don’t inspire, the death of old friends, all lie heavily on a life that just wants to break away and live freely. The album has plenty to offer and the production of Blake Tallent (Sarah Shook and the Disarmers) is superb in bringing a vibrancy to these songs. Tallent also contributes on drums, percussion, bass and keyboards, with Ellsworth playing guitar and writing all the songs.
Paul McGee