Seth Mulder & Midnight Run Coming On Strong Rebel
For his first album on the legacy Rebel Records, and his fourth album to date, Seth Mulder chose Dudley Connell and Ken Irwin to co-produce and the result is simply sublime. Connell formed the hugely influential bluegrass band, the Johnson Mountain Boys, in the 70’s and later joined another huge act, The Seldom Scene, with whom he still plays. Irwin co-founded that essential roots music label, Rounder Records, in 1970 and therefore had his finger in many of the pies which went on to influence American folk music right up until the present day.
Seth Mulder’s musical development has always been about pushing boundaries, yet still being rooted in bluegrass tradition. He credits this partly to his upbringing in North Dakota, which isn’t exactly a hotbed of bluegrass, so the first bluegrass artists he discovered were Del McCoury and Punch Brothers! The diversity of sources and styles on this latest record are also down to the influences of the two producers, who brought a lot of song suggestions to Seth and the band and indeed it is a miracle that they were able to narrow those down to just twelve. Unlike his 2022 album IN DREAMS I GO BACK (a personal favourite that year), there is only one self-penned song on this latest recording, but it is outstanding. Looking Past The Pain (The Cowboy Song) expresses the regret and heartbreak of a cowboy who’s ‘crossing the last frontier’ and ’wondering if you’ll miss me as I wave goodbye from the train’, sung in Seth’s unmistakeable rich tenor, against a driving bluegrass rhythm. He explains that it was inspired by watching the Yellowstone series during Covid, and he himself identifies with the cowboy lifestyle having been immersed in raising horses in his upbringing in N Dakota. This cut, and many of the other album choices, reflect the emotional side of bluegrass music, something that Mulder feels is an essential component of his band’s connection with their audiences.
Traditional bluegrass songs covered include the opening train song Heartbreak Express (written by Speedy Krise, who incidentally is credited with introducing the dobro into bluegrass), Ray Price’s I’ll be There (If You Ever Want Me) and Don Stover’s Old Reuben No.1. But then there’s a grassed up version of Sierra Ferrell’s love song Bells Of Every Chapel, which works really well (by adding backing vocals and more fiddle) and an equally successful grassed up version of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings’ Rock Of Ages. Most unexpected of all is a version of Motörhead’s 1916 anti war song (which I will admit to not being previously familiar with).
Dudley Connell suggested JP Cormier’s Gilgarry’s Glen,which is another standout and another emotion-driven ballad, rooted in the collective sadness of emigration from Scotland to the New World, where ‘the folks in the cities have passed us by/they don’t know how they got there and don’t care why’. Throughout the recording, Mulder is supported by the outstanding crew of Tyler Griffith (upright bass), Colton Powers (banjo), Chevy Watson (guitar) and Max Silverstein (fiddle). It should be noted, though, that the new Midnight Run lineup includes only Griffith from that previous band. However, having seen the new guys on their extensive Irish tour this summer, I can confirm that they are bedding in nicely. Completing the package is the excellent art work with a retro radio theme, credited to Mark Larson.
Highly recommended and a definite inclusion in my 2025 favourites.
Eilís Boland
Grayson Jenkins Country Parables Self Release
For this new album the Kentucky born singer/songwriter brings to the fore his personal take on country music, taking it to a position that shows his growth and understanding of his own place, here and now. The production was shared between fellow artist Pony Bradshaw and Jenkins himself. They recorded in Little Rock, Arkansas, among other studios, and the end result is an assured and entertaining listen. A number of the team were local players, including Jesse Aycock on electric, acoustic and pedal steel guitars. They were joined by a name that should by now be well know to our readers in Fats Kaplan on fiddle, mandolin and accordion.
Opening with a song that sets you on a road by its immediate likability, Old Trails is about familiarity and a comfortable sense of locale. It has a strong guitar presence and warming vocal. There is a soulful element to the next track, Hard Heart To Hold, with some subtle keyboards adding to that atmosphere. Those keyboards are by Jason Weinheimer for this track, elsewhere Phillipe Bronchtein takes the credit for the ivories. We are again on the more gentle side of things with Scarecrow, a dreamscape that finds him being not so much lonely as, rather, being alone, waking up in a house that ain’t a home. Another look back at a past that surmises that there are two non-changing elements in life that are, as the song says, Taxes & Time. Aycock plays a dobro here that adds to the track’s sense of downhomeness.
Producer Bradshaw joins in vocally for the realisation that is central in Good Times Go, again the guitar motifs here are highly effective. Also not forgetting that throughout the album the rhythm section of Aaron Boehler and Paddy Ryan play their part as necessary for each track’s mood. Equally persuasive is From Now On, where again the guitar is forceful without being overplayed. Vocal guest Madelyn Baier adds some sweet harmonies on Calling Out Your Name, which is a sweet love song to his would be ‘river darling’. Country Parables. which is also the final track, has a somewhat more rural workingman feel, and some lyrics that reflect on parables on how to live, whether that is actually how one desires to live.
Nobody’s Stopping You Anyhow, featuring Brit Taylor in a duet that blends the two voices well, is a slow ballad with some subtle playing that is entirely a counterpoint to its message of making your mind up about what the next steps in a relationship should be. This was written by McLaughlin and Allen, as was the other song not solely written by Grayson, though he joined the other two on the writing credits for Grand Slam, which has a gentle border touch with accordion and fiddle.
Grayson Jenkins has undoubtedly honed his art with an album that shows him delivering a step up and a step forward, working with a set of studio players who have done him proud as he has, indeed, done for himself with his songs and vocal ability.
Stephen Rapid
Rodney Crowell Airline Highway New West
Five decades into his career, which has yielded twenty studio albums, Rodney Crowell’s appetite for writing and recording remains unabated. Always a champion of younger artists, whether that is adding his vocal to an emerging songwriter’s album, assisting with a co-write, or taking on complete production duties, his helping hand has been a stamp of his full commitment to his art.
That input from numerous younger artists continues in AIRLINE HIGHWAY. Starting with the production, Crowell handed these duties to a fellow Texan and member of the Nashville-based rock band Shakedown, Tyler Bryant. The recording process kicked off with demos recorded at both of their home studios and was completed when Crowell, Bryant and the selected players headed for the remote Dockside Studio, close to the swamps in Maurice, Louisiana, where the songs were recorded in two or three takes.
The album travels from the wicked and instantly catchy groove in Rainy Day In California, co-written with Lucas Nelson, who also adds his vocals to the song, to the reflective rolling country love ballad Simple (You Wouldn’t Call It Simple). Rebecca and Megan Lovell from Larkin Poe add vocals and lap steel on Louisiana Sunshine Feeling Okay and Ashley McBryde shares the vocals in her fine co-write with Crowell, Taking Flight.
Another standout and very much a song of these turbulent times is Heaven Can You Help Us (‘Beware the ones who speak with forked tongues that reek of hatred. Six in ten will most deplore, and of those six, there are two who blindly take their cue from cable news distorted to the core’). It features layered vocals by Crowell and Blackberry Smoke’s Charlie Starr.
The Twenty-One Song Salute (In Memory of GG Shinn and Cléoma Falcon) is a fun-filled rock and roller, and a tribute to two artists who hugely influenced a young Rodney Crowell. Shinn was a vocalist and trumpet player in the Boogie Kings, and Cléoma Falcon is credited as one of the first to record Cajun music. On a lighter note, Sometime Twang gives the ‘thumbs up’ to a high-spirited lover (‘She’s a wildwood flower in a red Corvette, Tanya Tucker meets Cate Blanchett, she’s stacked like dishes in the kitchen sink’) before the album closes on a more serious note with the gentle nostalgic ballad, Maybe Somewhere Down The Road, which recalls a fleeting relationship with a troubled and suicidal woman.
‘My ambition isn’t to be a household name anymore’, confesses Crowell, ‘My ambition is to be satisfied with the work that I do. I’m at a place where it really is all about having fun’. Modest words indeed, given the quality of the songwriting, Crowell’s vocals and the host of contributors on this warm and consoling collection of songs.
Declan Culliton
Hayes Carll We’re Only Human Hwy87/Thirty Tigers
Continuing in the tradition of his fellow Texan songwriters, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt and Terry Allen, but often with more emphasis on wicked humour, Hayes Carll's latest album tackles the emotional vulnerabilities and confusion brought about by simply existing in modern life. Co-produced by Carll and Gordi Quist, who also added guitars and vocals, the overriding message from the album’s ten tracks is ‘nobody is perfect, so please stop beating yourself up’, delivered with empathy and goodwill.
The opening lines from the piano-led title track sets that scene (‘Whether you give up or you give it your best, it’s hard not to feel like you’re failing the test… new lessons get learned, pages are turned, and then we forget’). Carll’s skillset to articulate tragedy and devastation with black humour is underlined in Progress of Man (Bitcoin & Cattle). A co-write with Aaron Raitiere, its biting lyrics truly pinpoint the current political landscape, not only in America but increasingly further afield (‘The man on the TV keeps makin’ strange faces, there’s folks flyin’ rockets to faraway places. The world’s gettin’ turned on by assholes and racists and it’s all for the progress of man’). There’s a ragtime feel to the punchy and sing-along Good People (Thank Me), which is also a co-write with Raitiere. Without being overly dewy-eyed, its simple message is ‘life is too short, chill out and love your neighbour.’
The confessional I Got Away With It should be recognisable to most. It addresses lessons learned in recalling bad decisions and behaviour that fortunately didn’t end in tears. Without coincidence, it’s followed by an admission of guilt and commitment to redress in Making Amends, it’s a beautiful ballad with tearful pedal steel by Geoff Queen, giving the song even more authenticity.
Bookending the album is the gospel-like May I Never, complete with choir-like harmonies from Carll’s like-minded friends Gordy Quist, Shovels & Rope, Darrell Scott, Nicole Atkins, Ed Jurdi, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Kelley Mickwee. It’s an appropriate final chapter to a deeply satisfying listen, which not only addresses its author’s journey, but also is directed towards ordinary folk who can, from time to time, feel unnecessarily weighed down by guilt and self-doubt.
A worthy companion to the impressive back catalogue of an artist who seldom wastes a word in his writing.
Declan Culliton
T. Hardy Morris Artificial Tears Normaltown
Founding member of the alt-country and now defunct Athens, Georgia band Dead Confederate, Nashville-based T. Hardy Morris is also a member of supergroup Diamond Rugs alongside John McCauley and Robbie Crowell of Deer Tick, Ian Saint Pe of Black Lips, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, and Bryan Dufresne of Six Finger Satellite. His solo career has previously yielded four solo albums, ARTIFICIAL TEARS being his fifth. This new record follows his 2021 album THE DIGITAL AGE OF ROME, written during COVID and exploring the condition of the modern world without rose-tinted glasses. ARTIFICIAL TEARS is a continuation of sorts but with a more personal and nostalgic slant, as Morris attempts to process the ups and downs of a twenty-year career as an artist in the contemporary world.
The final recording process was unconventional, but ideally suited to the content and messages within the songs. Carl Broemel of My Morning Jacket fame was engaged as co-producer with Morris; he also contributed the majority of the instrumentation, including guitars, bass, piano, pedal steel, saxophone and background vocals. Having commenced studio sessions in Nashville, Morris felt that the recordings did not fit the raw sound that he was striving for on many of the songs. In a brave move, they reconvened at Broemel’s house, revisited the original demos recorded on a Teac four-track machine, and finished the recording that way. The result is a suite of melodic rock tunes that can be filed under the Americana genre.
From down-to-earth and straightforward recollections to more streams of consciousness, the twelve tracks swing from optimism to scepticism. Opening brightly with a jaunty dose of power pop, Write It In The Sky recalls simpler times (‘When all the world was young, we held it like an egg. We never dropped a crumb… we swore we’d keep it safe’). Those carefree days also feature in Juvenile Years before the writer’s thoughts turn to less starry-eyed issues. Breakneck Speed is a reminder of the painful low that can follow a short-term high, and given that, Don’t Kill Your Time (To Shine) is a ‘live in the moment’ message, a sentiment that also plays out in Low Hopes. With chunky guitar and bathed in sweet pedal steel, Fight Forever (‘Rather fight forever than give up the ghost’) calls for belief in oneself regardless of oppression and distress. Morris signs off on an equally resolute note with the short but to-the-point, Trouble Will.
Morris has created something quite lovely and highly listenable here. Undoubtedly, it will strike a chord with many whose artistic career path can be unpredictable and unrewarding at times, but like Morris, they continue to forge ahead wholeheartedly.
Declan Culliton
TJ Rosenthal Self-Titled Self Release
Based in New York, this singer songwriter was inspired to follow a path into country music through his admiration for artists such as Tyler Childers, Charley Crockett and Red Clay Strays, all of whom are prepared to strike out for an independent approach in managing their respective careers. He was also influenced by some of the old traditionalists such as Merle Haggard and Dwight Yoakam and being prepared to mix tried and trusted traditions with new ways of thinking never did any harm.
TJ Rosenthal recorded this debut album across two separate recording studios, with both Brick and G Calz based in New Jersey. He mastered the songs in Sterling Sound, Nashville and the time spent has certainly proven worthwhile. Production, mixing and mastering can vary as links in an important chain, and too often there has been a disconnect between original intentions and the final product. As the old saying goes “There is many a slip, between cup and lip.” Happily, in this case, everything worked out to deliver a very engaging eleven songs and the variety included adds nicely to the final listening experience.
The musicians on the album are TJ Rosenthal (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, lap steel, bass), G Calz (bass, drums), McKenna Daley (lead vocal on “Don’t Wanna Fight Anymore,” and backing vocals), Jerry Mac (lead guitar), and Jon Lijoi (trumpet on Bad Habits). All songs on were written by TJ Rosenthal except for Ain’t That Lonely Yet, which was written by Kostas and James House and recorded by Yoakam.
These are songs about the everyday, and concern everyman, our routines and our strengths and weaknesses, as we negotiate the various challenges of modern life. Both Gonna Need You and I Saw Your Message are songs that cover the need to be aware of the increasing malaise of anger and frustration in our society, the impact of increasing taxes and a reduced empathy. The urge to retreat to simpler times is the topic in songs like Ain’t No Place Left and the attraction of living off the grid seems preferable to enduring the lack of real community. Living post-Covid is examined on songs like Sunday Morning and Clear Your Head where habits have changed and a positive mental attitude is the key to healthy living.
Younger times are revisited on songs Way Out In the Country and I Was Down In Virginia where the pursuit of innocent dreams and desires masked the reality of how life unfolds; with the premature passing of a friend the subject of the former song, while the latter song reflects upon two separate lives that were being lived independently before an initial connection down the line. Who knows what the future holds.
Bad Habits is a great song and plays out at quite a pace, the shuffle beat driving a song about the joy of partying, despite our troubled Covid times ‘Bad decisions are the only ones to make, I keep plenty on repeat, or so it seems.’ The message on Don’t Wanna Fight Anymore is one of looking for the family to hold sway and for any difficult times to be overcome along the path we all walk. The final song is a cover of the Dwight Yoakam hit Ain’t That Lonely Yet and a statement of resilience against the inevitable pain of heartbreak and what lies beyond.
The mood of the album is very much that of having a good time in the studio and letting the quality of the musicianship and the songs speak for themselves. A release that bodes very well for what will follow down the road for TJ Rosenthal.
Paul McGee
Barbara Lynch Where Did You Go Self Release
This is a new name to me and the songwriting of Barbara Lynch is quite a revelation. Her meditative vignettes of a variety characters paint portraits that are akin to short plays or creative flash fiction.
Barbara grew up on a small farm and her passion for music began from a very young age with the influence of her mother’s love for different musical genres, including blues and jazz. Her professional career took off back in 1992, and a few albums were released, before she stepped away in 2008 from increased activity. She now lives in Toronto and this new album was produced, recorded, and mixed by Michael Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) at The Hangar. It’s such a welcome return to the music spotlight for Barbara and her life experience gained over the time away brings a real maturity to these new songs.
All nine songs were written and arranged by Barbara Lynch and she contributes on lead vocals, acoustic guitar, and piano. She is joined by Shelley Coopersmith on both fiddle and viola, with Clela Errington providing harmonica and backing vocals, along with Brian Stillar. A small cast of players but how perfect for this intimate and timeless music. There is such a great atmosphere created in the arrangements and the interpretative playing.
Georgia Brown decides to escape her dutiful roles as mother and wife, leaving her difficult husband and the hard rural life that she had been reared to expect. The characters in We Go Back include a couple confined in a nursing home as old age descends, perhaps wishing they were being cared for by a close friend or family member. Tom Ryan leaves no doubt as to the story line, with the wife packing her suitcase and leaving the family farm for new beginnings. Dance With Me is a song that looks at the frustration of unrequited love as the guy leaves the girl behind, in search of his dreams.
Again, spurned love is the subject on Kate where the husband leaves for another woman ‘And the night is dark and lonely, And the rain is fallin' hard, But I saw him with his pretty girl, All dressed up and goin' downtown.’ The homeless woman on Rita Doyle is damaged from childhood challenges and incidents, with no hope of a normal life, wanting to leave this painful existence and waiting for the birds to come and fly her away.
My True Love reflects the simple attraction between kids growing up and making practical, rather than heart-driven decisions regarding life’s path ‘Well he failed grade ten, three times in a row, But he's still the smartest guy that I know, He can sing like an angel and dance like the devil, Cook in the kitchen better than my mother, Get everybody laughin' when there's nothin' to laugh about.’
Songs of regret, lost chances, embattled hope and grim, repetitive realities; but there are also glimmers of hope among the embers of expectation. Barbara Lynch stands in the space of a female Tom Waits in capturing insights into the poignancy of hard lives, and crosses borne with dignity and resolve. The Good Guys Might Not Win is played on piano and it’s a song that looks at our predilection towards greed and self-absorption to the detriment of others in society ‘It was like the man said, life is a crazy patchwork quilt, Well we took everything, there wasn't enough for you, He said I'm not a bettin' man but it sure seems to me, The good guys might not win.’
The final song is Worry No More with simple acoustic guitar and fiddle setting a plaintive atmosphere around a melody that echoes ‘ Well I look way down the river, And what do you think I see? I see a band of angels, And they're comin' after me.’ This album is really one that should find a place in every discerning music collectors home.
Paul McGee
The Bluest Sky Homegrown Self Release
This band is the brainchild of Chuck Melchin, previously the creative source behind The Bean Pickers Union, a collective that has been active since 2007. Their sound was taken straight from classic Americana, and Melchin, who is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, decided to form this new project The Bluest Sky, with a debut album release, back in 2023. A further album issued last year, titled RAINDANCER, and now this 6-song EP follows.
The assembled musicians are Dave Westner (bass, drums), Chuck Melchin (acoustic and electric guitars, vocals), Andy Santospago (lead guitar), Mike Giordano (electric guitar), Lynne Taylor (vocals). All songs are written by Chuck Melchin and he also handles all production, with mixing and mastering by Dave Westner.
Opening with Pretty Girl From Mobile, a song of distant admiration for a young girl expressing her freedom, the lead guitar attack of Santospago and the rhythm guitar of Melchin is very much along the lines of the Black Crows in the delivery. Pressure Drop follows and the upbeat rhythm wraps a song about survival and feeling blessed to have beaten the odds in a road accident. Giordano on lead guitar powers this song along with great finesse.
Cordelia is a song that hints at a troubled relationship and a past that is best forgotten ‘There ain’t no compromising on my family tree, We never substitute affection, For a chunk of green.’ Again, the tight band dynamic is excellent and the changes in tempo allow Santospago room to create some nice guitar lines. Interstate 84 is a song about a truck stop hooker turning tricks for the long distance lorry drivers who stop by.
Perhaps the standout is The Bridge with a slow rhythm line and some nice banjo and mandolin mixed into the guitar melodies, ‘Time keeps pulling all of us along, Every day’s a choice between right and wrong.’ The final song is Tears For Appalachia and Lynne Taylor takes the lead vocal to great effect on a sad tale of nature claiming lives in a local hurricane ‘She swore she’d rise out of it, Said she’s leave it all behind, Tears of Appalachia, It’s starting to unwind.’ This is a very enjoyable EP of well-produced songs and leaves you wanting the band to get back into the studio to deliver an extended album next time around.
Paul McGee
Blue Rose Blue Moon Self Release
This band is comprised of musical duo Marcus Gebauer and Jori Griffith, and they are based in Chicago. This debut album is the result of a chance meeting at a party that led to both musicians ultimately giving up their day jobs and focusing on their dream to follow a full time career in music. The duo describe their sound as “new country with an old soul” and the twelve songs here are quite varied in their reach.
The opening track If I Had A Rose has a big production sound, programmed handclaps and a commercial arrangement that is aimed at a broad appeal. There are enough elements in the mix to carry the song, with banjo, pedal steel and sweet harmony vocals, but somewhat compromised by the overly busy mastering. However, the next song makes better inroads with Let Me Love You showing a different side to the band, a more rootsy arrangement with some nice edge in the playing. Jori has a fine voice and carries the song with ease as the musicians kick into higher gear and the track builds.
The title song Blue Moon rocks along in a style that is reminiscent of Jewel or Sheryl Crow in the presentation, while the change in tempo on Let’s See A Band is welcome in the laid-back melody on a love song that highlights nice fiddle and understated keys, dovetailing with the easy vocal delivery. Another mid-tempo reflection is Remember When and the acoustic arrangement with guitars and pedal steel is very effective with the overall musing on lost love; one of the stronger songs included, along with the mellow arrangement on Dandelions.
Another song Slow is a nod to younger days and the thrill of exploring new relationship dynamics. Tracks like I’m So Tired, Somethin’ Good and Life Is Short point more in the direction of mass commercial reach which will certainly open the band’s sound up to wider markets. Equally Just Like Sheryl harks back to the influences on a young Jori Griffith growing up and getting inspired by her favourite female artists. The final song Sometimes is a slow melody on piano and acoustic guitar and a song that reflects upon the true essence of love. The build in the arrangement is well delivered with keyboard swells lifting the music and Jori delivering a very effective vocal.
Jori Griffith and Marcus Gebauer provide lead vocals and guitars, with Packy Lundholm (electric guitar, pedal steel), Jared Rabin (fiddle, electric guitar), Ben Johnson (piano, organ), Andrew Vogt and Nicholas Kapche (bass), and Reuben Garza and Eric Matteson (drums) contributing to the project. Production, mixing and mastering was handled by Noam Wallenburg at Rax Trax Studios in Chicago. All songs on the album were written by Jori Griffith and Marcus Gebauer apart from the opening If I Had a Rose, written by Adam Wright and previously performed by Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison.
As a debut album, this is a very positive statement of the talents on display and there is plenty here for Jori Griffith and Marcus Gebauer to build upon into the future.
Paul McGee