Carla Gover and Friends Williams Branch Is Hard To Find Living Legacy
If you’re looking for an antidote to the slick pop country emanating from a certain Music City these days, you need this album. It is the brainchild of veteran folk singer-songwriter and activist in the field of trades unions and civil rights, Si Kahn, who wrote all the songs, and eighth generation East Kentucky musician and traditional dancer, Carla Gover, who produced and performed on it. Subtitled ‘Si Kahn’s Songs For Strong Kentucky Women’, Gover compiled the house band and assembled a collection of current female Kentucky musicians to create a seventeen song concept album. It is loosely based on the Walden-Johnson-Jones family who settled in East Kentucky at the turn of the 19th century, around a tiny settlement called Williams Branch. Each of the songs stand on their own merit, however, and musically they range from rootsy acoustic ballads to electric country songs, and all points in between.
The individual women featured range from farmers, dentists, moonshiners to teachers and prison guards, and they encounter love, heartbreak and domestic abuse. In other words, all human life is here. Maddie Rae Wells (whose father Jesse Wells contributes fiddle, guitar and banjo on several songs) makes a great job of the Southern Gothic infused ghostly ballad, Dancing With The Johnson Boys, which hints at murky goings ons. Award winning Appalachian dulcimer player and singer Sarah Kate Morgan takes on another murder ballad, HearThat Sound, conjuring up the same devil who appears in the former song, and J Tom Hnatow’s dobro playing dances around her dulcimer beautifully. Old time musician Karly Dawn Milner sings Generations, where great-grandmothers down to great-granddaughters ‘break and bend like the waves on the shore’. Gover herself sings lead on two numbers: Moonshiner’s Daughter recounts the tale of a hapless girl whose family are looked down upon because the mother had to resort to moonshining to survive, but said daughter eventually returns as a dentist and becomes the mayor; and the title track, which is a bluegrassy song about how city slickers can’t always follow directions. There are love songs, of course, like As I Grow Old With You beautifully rendered by veteran Sue Massek, and Cold Grey Morning delivered as a country blues affair by activist and singer Jeri Katherine Howell.
Domestic violence rears its ugly head a couple of times, most obviously in Ella Webster’s version of Queen of the Kitchen, King of the Road. One of the standout tracks is the edgy and risqué Preacher’s Daughter, featuring the vocals of Maizie Barrett, who I hope we’ll be hearing more of in the future.
This is a delightful collection which stands as a testament to the strong Kentucky women of the past and of the future.
Eilís Boland
Bill Scorzari Sidereal Days (Day 2) Self Release
There’s not a lot to add top the views expressed in my review of the previous album from Scorzari, which was subtitled Day 1. He is an artist who is ploughing his own furrow, with a sound that could be said to be the telling of a story in a rough-hewn voice more in the vein of Tom Waits than being listed as that of a former contestant of The Voice. That would be self evident to any follower of his work. Here, again, he co-produces with Neilson Hubbard. There are some eleven other musicians listed in the credits who bring their talents to these graceful arrangements, all of which add to the overall sense of timelessness that infuses the project from its cover art illustration of a train and station from a previous era. The booklet even lays out the lyrics in prose style that adds to a sense of a literary novel rather than a simple song collection, perhaps. Yet it is words that are the heart of the project. Those words are observational, illuminative, literate, sometimes lovelorn and lost, and mostly laced with affection. “The first one is forgiving / Then there’s the point to understand - We have this love here in the middle of the other things we knew / And this one rings true”. Or perhaps “I’m a middle-class middle child / I was the centre of attention for just a little while / Then I got stuck in the middle of the road in the middle of the night / I’ve spent half my life in the grey between the black and white”, two selections of this erudite writing, the first from Sweet Surrender and the second from Middle Class Middle Child. There are elven such compositions here that are all rendered with equal devotion.
This is an album I have listened to since its release in September. It’s not that it has gotten better since then, but it certainly hasn’t lost any of its attraction either. It’s an album that requires time to listen without distraction. This is not an album you are likely to encounter on mainstream radio, for no other reason than the tracks rarely shorter than the four minute mark. The songs were, judging from the credits, written over a period of time from 2004 to 2024 and likely recorded in a similar way. Although the cover might suggest a themed album, these songs are likely inspired by life in its big and small moments, ones that have occurred over that period of time and longer. They are part and parcel of an expression realised in a way that seems, at times, both dreamlike and real. We are the benefactors of these days and nights and are better for its sentience, its arrangements and thoughtful delivery.
Stephen Rapid
Grey DeLisle Don’t Turn Around Hummingbird/CRS
In another life DeLisle creates characters with her voice, something she also does here using that same versatile vocal ability, as well as her undoubted songwriting talent, to tell us tales of love and distraction from different perspectives and in a variety of musical settings. This is perhaps the most realised of her recordings to date, though that is not to diminish any of her previous work, all of which I have enjoyed since first encountering her and her many releases some years back. This collection sees her working with long-time studio comrade Marvin Etzioni, as well as with the late Andy Paley (an equally noted producer, songwriter and performer). Paley unfortunately died before the album was completed but Etzioni took over the rains to finish it. The album is tribute to the working relationship the three had, and remains as a testament to that.
The recording opens in full country mode, a predominant theme throughout, although several of the songs could also fall into the 60’s pop chanteuse category. The duet with Dave Alvin, You’re Driving Me Away, contrasts the two viewpoints perfectly in this tale of woe and realisation that the relationship is not what either would hope for. It is enveloped in a Mex/Cal trumpet and castanets arrangement that underscores that sense of separation perfectly. There’s The Door is the song of a strong woman who won’t take being ignored or unloved for too long. It is pure traditional country writing.
The title song has that sense of a mid 60’s ballad which the likes of Twinkle in the UK or Jackie DeShannon might well have recorded back in the day. There is a similar 60s feel but with a harder rock drive to Disneyland. Also rockin’ out is Open Mic At The Stumble Inn, a place where you can say what might be needed to be said. It has a nice electric sitar break that lifts the song at the right moment. Being cast as the unsuitable woman is told with a certain amount of wry humour in Your Mama Doesn’t Love Me Anymore. With the shoe on the foot, relationship wise, is the invective perspective of one person avoiding the other that is The Lights Are Off But Somebody’s Home. It has a cool harmonica break too. The album closes with the ballad Claire which is given a dramatic yet delicate setting of a tribute from one to another.
The cast of players contributing here include many friends and favourites including Deke Dickerson, Murry Hammond, Stephen McCarthy, Greg Leisz, Chris Scruggs, Tammy Rogers, Bernie Dresel, Mandy Barnett and Mickey Raphael. They create the soundtrack but the script is provided by the lyrics of DeLisle, who has shown that not only can she write in these different stylistic modes but she can also sing them effectively. Perhaps her best album to date, but that shouldn’t overshadow past releases or albums to come such as a newly recorded outing with her live accomplices, The Blue Rhythm Boys. There’s much on offer here and undoubtedly more to come. Stay tuned.
Stephen Rapid
Cara Luft My Heart Will Always Be Blue Case Tunes/Symphonic
The last album released featuring Canadian Cara Luft was Assiniboine & The Red by The Small Glories, the folk duo featuring Luft and JD Edwards, which earned them the International Folk Alliance’s 2020 Artists of the Year. This recording is Luft’s first solo album in fourteen years and stemmed from her motivation to celebrate the healing power of music and song.
Singer-songwriter, guitarist, and clawhammer banjo player, Luft was a founding member of The Wailin’ Jennings and the now-disbanded The Small Glories, and she faced several life-changing challenges when she turned fifty in 2024. Alongside the demise of The Small Glories, Luft was diagnosed with ADHD, and she was also in the process of buying her first home. With encouragement from several close friends, she responded by co-writing with Clayton Parsons and recording songs that guided her through those changing times and reflected positivity, friendship, and love. As a result, it’s little surprise that song titles like Find Love (a reminder that love and support are seldom far away), The Banjo Is A Gift (which features six banjos and a contribution from Grammy-winning banjo player Alison Brown), My Maureen (the tale of a chain-smoking and gambling-loving grandma) and the title track, which heralds recovery and rebirth.
Beyond Luft's co-writes with Parsons, the duo also played most of the instruments; two traditional songs feature, Lagan Love and The Snow They Melt The Soonest, the latter recalling Sandy Denny’s exquisite vocals. Another highlight is Doubt and Belief, laced with melodic hooks and harmonies. Garbage Hill is affectionately written about a former dump subsequently converted into a park in Luft’s adopted city, Winnipeg.
A potent mesh of folk and country, MY HEART WILL ALWAYS BE is simply Cara Luft delivering a collection of songs that contain honesty in large doses and, in doing so, is a hugely enjoyable listening experience.
Declan Culliton
Kaitlin Butts Hello, Honky Tonk Republic
Country artist Kaitlin Butts wears many more hats than the custom Western-style ones she dons at her live shows. Unlike your average country performer, she brings theatre and wit to her live performances and manages, not an easy task, to also transfer both those skills to her studio work.
Taking inspiration from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s 1950s musical Oklahoma! Butts’ 2024 album, ROADRUNNER, was a modern-day country concept album. Her latest album, and first on a major label, also taps into that storytelling approach, with each of the fourteen tracks interconnected and possibly more autobiographical than she might like to admit. It often plays out as Butts recounting her experiences, sometimes laced with humour and other times sassy as hell, in an often ruthless and exhausting music industry.
The opening spoken track introduces us to Katie B’s Honky Tonk Saloon, the type of joint where Butts spent endless hours plying her trade before the rooms and venues got larger. From there, the album unfolds into a collection of tales: episodes recounted, individuals observed, and her personal inner thoughts within the four walls of that establishment.
From the bartender that endures endless sad stories and drunken rants (“I'm your local therapist / With a zipper on my lips”) in The Bartender to the loner pouring his heart out to him in That Makes One of Us, Butts’ reference points are convincing, evoking scenes and characters to which the listener can relate.
The tracks are split between her customary, fast-fired compositions like I Wanna Be Bad and Crazy I Can Be and gorgeous country ballads like What More Could You Want, which drills into self-doubt and anxiety, and, on the flip side, Still Got It, with its theme of reassurance and support. Landing between a ballad and those up-tempo inclusions is Never Really Mine. A co-write with Maggie Antone and Lola Kirke, it’s a standout song detailing the end of a relationship.
While admitting she herself is not a born-and-bred country girl, she takes a poke at the city types that become overnight cowboys and cowgirls in Everybody Wants To Sing A Country Song (“It ain't just a trend / Or a bandwagon / But "y'all" means "all" / So jump on in”). Also in the line of fire are the less-than-relationship-committed type men still acting like teenagers in The Joker ("I'm tired of begging men to get sober / I'm tired of begging them to act older”) before turning out the bar lights with the album’s closing track, Midnight I’ll Always Be Yours.
There’s little doubt that Butts is one of the hardest-working artists in country music and equally comfortable being both melodramatic and playful. HELLO, HONKY TONK is another pointer towards an artist that has the voice, songs and personality to climb further up the music industry ladder and well deserved at that.
Declan Culliton
Wyatt McCubbin 650 Lucille/MCA
“It’s no different than stories being passed down from generation to generation. I feel like country music gets passed down the same way from grandpas to dads, from dads to sons, from sons to their sons,” says Wyatt McCubbin, whose introduction to country music as a boy was listening to his grandfather’s radio while working with him restoring an old pickup. The album takes its title from WSM 650AM, the station that promoted artists like Bill Monroe and Hank Williams and still broadcasts shows featuring country artists of yesteryear alongside the current breed.
The album, produced by Dave Cobb, is McCubbin’s debut recording, but his songwriting credentials are already well established, with his compositions having been recorded by Lainey Wilson, Riley Green, Luke Combs, Cody Johnson, Jon Pardi and Zach Top.
McCubbin wears his heart on his sleeve and his devotion to the origins of country music are articulated in the opening track Andy Griffith, named after the singer, actor and comedian who presence was large in most rural households in the 1960s, when life seemed simpler and less materialistic than in the decades that followed (“Supper cookin’ in the kitchen / Dusty porch guitar pickin’/ Youngins comin’ back from fishin’/ Dirty feet, Dixie whistlin’/ If the creek don’t rise and the good Lord’s willin’/ Baby we’ll find that simple livin”). That nostalgic theme is also at the fore in Gunsmoke, a tale of a grandfather spending his final years alone.
McCubbin’s wife, Holly, adds mellow harmony vocals throughout; their voices blend seamlessly, especially on the gorgeous breakup ballad All Outa You and the Marty Stuart co-write I Love You. Both songs recall the ‘Nashville Sound’ and the 1960s golden age of country music, when artists like Glen Campbell and Roger Miller charted with their laid-back, melodic sound. Turning up the heat a few notches, Breaker Breaker and Mr Neon are fuller-bodied inclusions that showcase McCubbin’s flair for rugged rockers alongside the quieter moments. Also included is Whiskey Coloured Crayona, co-written with Lainey Wilson and Josh Kear, which also features in Wilson’s CMA Album of the Year, WHIRLWIND.
There’s a fine line between a genuine country album and the mainstream crossover product currently masquerading as country. 650 falls into the former category, from an artist with the songs, the vocals, and the passion to record an album with tender nods to previous musical eras.
Declan Culliton
Jim Patton and Sherry Brokus Pattonville Berkalin
Pattonville is a local neighbourhood near the German city of Stuttgart, but without finding any direct connection to Jim Patton, I assume that this is purely random information. Perhaps the album title refers more to the internal township within which the creative muse of Jim Patton resides? These twelve songs are composed by Jim, with the assistance of five co-writes, and he continues the pattern of recent releases in both creation and delivery of this latest project.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic Jim has released an album every year, and the formula has remained pretty much the same. Producer Ron Flynt continues to be a big influence, and Jumping Dog Studios, Austin, Texas is where the songs were engineered and recorded. Sherry Brokus first met Jim Patton back in Maryland when she became a part of his band, Edge City. The couple relocated to Austin, which is now where they call home, and they have been releasing music together as a duo since 2008.
The songs cover familiar ground in looking to the human condition, the way we communicate with each other, broken relationships, dreams and aspirations, and everything else in between. The opening track really sets the standard and reflects upon Jim’s life to date ‘If I could have another time around the wheel / If I could live my life again / If I could be anyone who I wanted to be / I’d probably end up just the same / My life’s been good to me.’
Far from being accused of self-satisfied preening this reflection is balanced with songs like Hard Times where the ever-present spectre of poverty and struggle is repeated. Similarly, on the song Everyone Needs Someone (To Look Down To), Patton cleverly juxtaposes the aspiration to draw inspiration from others, with the urge to keep somebody down and to hurt others whenever possible. ‘A boss looks down on the people he bosses / Then one of those guys starts bossing you / So you take it out on some guy in a bar / With a weird accent or a strange tattoo.’
I Didn’t Stay Down could well be a personal reflection of a time when bullies hit on Jim Patton because he appeared to be different, or weaker. The secret was not staying down, but revolting against such misguided aggression. Story songs tell of local characters who left a mark, like on Goodbye Joe Williams a tale that recalls an old tour manager and venue booker who died prematurely; or Happy Family, which paints a picture that is quite the opposite to getting along as a collective and supporting each other as a watertight unit.
We’re Not So Different is a tribute to his father, and all the differences that once seemed huge, just shrink to superficialities in the end ‘You know, we're not so different / Though we thought we were for years / Sometimes our words were angry / Driven by our fears.’ A cheating partner and the fallout is the story in On A Hilltop By Old Country Road where infidelity breaks any trust and redemption is far off into the future. Another old relationship is remembered on Deep In My Heart, but this time the memories are positive and although priorities differed at the time, a flame still burns.
Mean Old Man sings of someone who pushed friendship away all his life and who abused others. He will end up alone and lonely in the final years as payback for his greed. Moving on and feeling changes happen is inevitable and My Friends Seemed Like Strangers reflects upon the realisation that people grow in different ways and take other directions.
Ghosts In This Room Tonight is a song that implies that the past is never really behind us and that old memories can haunt our waking hours ‘Even if I wanted to I couldn’t make him go away / He’s such a part of me/ After all these years / I look for his applause / And hold back my tears’ – perhaps a sense of his father being still a presence at the live shows?
As an experienced songwriter, Jim Patton has plenty of talent to share and his worldly wisdom shines through in these songs. There are no major shifts away from what has brought his career to this juncture; simply another example of excellent contemporary folk music. All played with great charm from the assembled entourage, that comprises Jim Patton (vocals, acoustic guitar), Sherry Brokus (vocal harmonies, percussion), Alice Hasen (violin), Scrappy Jud Newcomb (resonator, classical, acoustic guitar, mandolin, stella guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar), and Ron Flynt (bass, piano, harmonium, acoustic guitar, background vocals, accordion).
Paul McGee
Finn Control Self Release
Melbourne, Australia is home to siblings Mark and Luke Finn and this new album is their tenth outing together. Their surname is, of course, also linked to other more famous and respected individuals from New Zealand, that other set of brothers, Neil and Tim Finn. They have bragging rights in the “been there, done that” department, and yet the appearance of another set of siblings to this family name, continues the ride on the musical merry-go-round and is certainly welcomed.
This album contains a variety of styles with the overall roots leanings the main flavour at the heart of matters. One consistency is that Finn play assured, melodic music that is worthy of far greater media hype. With no official website, they rely on a social media presence via Facebook and Instagram, but it’s almost as if these siblings prefer a low profile as they go about their career climb.
With ten albums already to their credit, I would recommend a visit to their back catalogue, even if it necessitates a visit to the dreaded world of Spotify, that place where artists cannot get paid for their true worth.
The brothers are joined on this new album by Jeremy Staples (bass) and David Angelini (drums), who provide the rhythm section and there is an easy groove in their delivery. Terry Hart completes the line-up and he is a multi-instrumentalist who adds plenty of rich texture to the twin guitars of Luke and Mark Finn. Hart is also the engineer and producer on this album that was recorded at Woodstock studios in Melbourne.
The record starts out with two very bright and bouncy tracks, in the album title Control and It Seemed. The song arrangements have an emphasis on sweet melodic build, with harmony vocals adding nice texture. The abiding feeling is wanting to be at the centre of everything and looking to the future with optimism, feeling free and loose.
The next two songs slip into a similar groove and Last Love Song, and River Running Through are confidently delivered with rich keyboards and guitars colouring the overall sound. The atmospheric arrangement on Oh Mary gives the song a different edge and the restrained rhythm allows some nice guitar runs to tickle the groove. The bluesy Old Friend allows plenty of space in the delivery with the mix of piano, guitars, and a restrained rhythm section, delivering a quiet highlight.
Down By the Riverside and Missing You both feature reflections on relationship perspectives and focus on mood-altering dimensions in the delivery. The strings on Missing You add some nice layers that are complimented by the restrained piano parts.
Still Believe, Angel Eyes and Stay With Me Tonight close out the album in a very assured flow of rich and rewarding musicality. Past relationships give cause for nostalgic longing and some rueful yearning with the final track asking for some real connection.
The band remind me of their compatriots Paper Kites in part, and there is also a nice hint of early Dire Straits in some of the song arrangements and influences. The production is very clean and there is plenty of space in the playing, resulting in quietly reflective and insightful music that offers a pensive look at the things that really matter… self-reflection, loving awareness and a desire to grow. A very assured and impressive album.
Paul McGee
George Trouble and the Zealots Entanglement Self Release
George Terry McDonald performs as George Trouble and his band, the Zealots, have been supporting him over many years. A debut album appeared in 1998 and this North Carolina resident has now delivered his sixth release, a self-produced affair, with a little help from his friends. Long-time band member Aaron Price is credited with others as providing “production assistance” and he also contributes on keyboards and piano across several of the songs included here.
There is an eclectic mix of different influences with perhaps a more rock/pop orientated sound the more dominant. Songs like Love Still Matters, Youth In Asia and Supervision are very much in this camp and the studio players are given the freedom to impress. Other tracks such as Die In Your Smile and Reap What You Sow show a more country-oriented focus and add very much to the quality on display.
Everybody Is Crazy But Me is a jazzy groove that entertains, with Alex Bradley on trumpet and Zack Page on bass particularly prominent. The bluesy sound on Working For Love has Ed Jurdi on slide guitar, and Hidin’ From the Hippies is a fun slice of rock and roll with Ed Jordi again featured on slide and George Trouble delivering some mean guitar licks. Dirty Side Of Helene is a more serious song, written in the aftermath of the hurricane back in 2024 that devastated large parts of Carolina. It’s a stripped-down folk arrangement that highlights the lyrics, and George sings of ‘Water, water everywhere/but not a drop to drink.’ He plays acoustic guitar with Manio Fenton on harmonica.
Elsewhere, One Thing At A Time deals with the pressing concerns of our times and the urge is to simply hide away from all the upset with your loved one. Again, as we listen to In A Perfect World there is the frustration at the mess we are making of the planet, dreaming of some kind of unrealistic solution for our problems to somehow miraculously appear.
A very enjoyable set of songs that are well produced and delivered. This album will bring much joy to those who like variety and different colours in their rainbow of sounds.
Paul McGee