Zoé Basha Gamble Self Release
It’s been a long time coming and this impressive début album from French-American artist Zoé Basha is as interesting and eclectic as her back story. Basha hails from Florida, but has spent much of her adult life to date wandering between France and Ireland, where she now calls Dublin home. Most of that time has been spent living out of a van, busking and working on environmental projects. Her musical influences range from folk, jazz, ragtime, blues and nouvelle chanson, making her sound impossible to pin down, and it’s all the more refreshing for that.
Opening and closing the album are chilling a capella renditions of Appalachian/English folk ballads, Love Is Teasin’ and One Morning in May, and she is joined on the latter by Anna Mieke, a fellow member of Rufous Nightjar, an acclaimed Dublin-based a capella trio. Gamble, the title track, written during a sojourn in a wintry Galway when she was tentatively hoping to meet someone with a similar level of emotional baggage, introduces the heavy slice of jazz styling that permeates Basha’s work. Her versatile vocals can range from sweet whisperings to deep powerful renditions, and she plays a mean guitar (an arch top vintage Gibson and an acoustic guitar). The recording band includes Ultan Lavery on keys, fiddle & guitar, Hannah Hiemstra on drums, Johnny Pickett on upright bass & banjo and Anthony Mannion on dobro & lapsteel. Worried, dominated by Lavery’s keys and Hammond, with its frequent disconcerting key changes, explores insecurity in a relationship, ‘I’m worried that I’ll lose my temper/so I lose my rage/and I lose myself’.
Basha is a master of imagery (though sometimes it can be maddeningly cryptic), as demonstrated in Same Swallows Swooping, where she identifies with the ‘south-seeking swallow’ but she is ‘now settled in these hills’, and admits that ‘I can feel my heart lingering where I ripped it from my breast’, as she scats over her fingerpicked guitar accompaniment. Come Find Me Lonesome draws from a similar jazz palette, more bluesy this time, with some particularly fine dobro playing from Mannion, and piano from Lavery. Lavery adds clarinet to the gently swinging Traveling Shoes, a warning to potential suitors that ‘don’t expect me to be there in the morning… my traveling shoes will have already left with my feet’.
Amazingly, Zoe Basha also produced the record single-handedly, in Black Mountain Studios in Dundalk. Many artists and producers have had a bash at creating the effect of a dreamscape musically, and many have failed, yet Basha realises it superbly on What Dream Is This, with subtle use of synths, guitars, layered and echoed vocals and a soupcon of magic. Conversely, she covers Jimmie Rodgers’ 1932 hit, Sweet Papa Hurry Home (substituting the original Mama for Papa) as its original jazzy New Orleans two step. Dublin Street Corners, far from being an homage to her adopted city, is a reaction to a badly ending love affair, replete with bitter regret. This is an album that took some time to germinate and it was worth the wait.
Eilís Boland
The Paris Rogues Live and Learn Melt Shop
This musical duo is comprised of Michael C Parris and Peter Rogan and they came together back in 2021 in order to blend their respective talents into a cohesive whole. Both artists have independently released solo projects, with Rogan having two fine albums (2019 and 2021), and Parris one release (2022).
They met at Phil Madeira’s Mercyland Songwriters Workshop in North Carolina and instantly found a rapport together. Peter is from Pennsylvania and Michael resides in North Carolina and both of the musicians recorded and mixed the album at Beacon Hill Sound studios with all songs co-written by both songwriters, together with three collaborators in Vicky Smith (three songs), plus Max Berueffy and Jesse Jones with one apiece.
Michael C Parris plays guitar and shares vocal duties, with Peter Rogan providing guitars, bass, mandolin, harmonica and synthesizers, plus vocals. There are a number of studio players who join the duo and Phil Madeira is very influential on piano, organ, Wurlitzer, lap steel, and accordion (five tracks). Rob Strabinsky also guests on piano, and synth (two tracks), with Cliff Starkey sharing piano, organ, synth, Rhodes (four tracks). The rhythm section is ably provided by Josh Kanusky (drums, percussion) and Steve Varner (three tracks), with Parris also playing bass on a number of songs too.
Hold the Light is a standout song with the duo taking a poem by Vicky Smith and interpreting it. The image of a daughter helping her Daddy service his truck is enduring ‘Points and plugs and oil change, keep her running smooth he'd say, Father's truck the front jacked up, beneath the wheels some boards stacked up, Hold the light little girl, just hold the light little girl.’
Another highlight is the final song The Gift and written in the wake of Rogan’s mother passing away. It’s a song of deep reflection with the words resonating ‘If we lost it all today, would it matter anyway, who we are is the choices that we make.’
Elsewhere, the album title, and opening song, Live and Learn with its bluesy groove is a fine introduction to the excellent musicianship that is assembled here. Another Day In Paradise is something of a departure with a reggae beat and some wise words about how your attitude shapes the way in which you view the world. The rocking sound of 16th and Haak is really enjoyable and sees the band stretch out in the playing, while Wake Me Up, Mama has a nice blues groove to highlight the quality on display. A very enjoyable album.
Paul McGee
Michael Lane Our Love Greywood
This 5-song EP is the latest offering from an artist who is presently based in Germany. He has lived in the USA previously and served in the American army on active duty. These days, Lane is entirely focused on his music career and dealing in matters of the heart, rather than affairs of the military world.
These songs highlight Lane’s angelic voice that has magnified previous releases and I recall his last album from 2022, titled TAKE IT SLOW which was very memorable. Kicking off with the title track Our Love, the simple acoustic guitar is augmented by subtle keyboard sounds as Lane sings of the joys of being in love ‘One walk, we talk, sometimes we sing, This child, his smile means everything.’
The next song Run Away is quite the opposite and looks at the emotions involved when love breaks down ‘ You took the key, You shut the door, You left me here on the floor.’ The vagaries of love, drawn to the flame but always at risk of being burned. Following on is Live Free and the engaging melody encompasses feelings of conflict between being lucky and grateful for so much and yet recognising the urge to leave it all behind for a new start.
This dichotomy is explored further on Don’t Hold Back as themes of death and grief are highlighted as reasons to just embrace the present moment and give everything to the absolute ‘The universe will align and set you free.’ It’s a message of loving awareness wrapped in gorgeous vocal harmonies that build to a fine crescendo. The final song is Blind and an acoustic track that balances shadows against the light of love. Pain of the past and moments of sorrow leave their mark, but the heart can surmount any challenge and shine brightly. This is contemporary songwriting and is all very therapeutic, even if the scars of love can run deep. Michael Lane is an example of the superb songwriting talents that remain generally undiscovered, and I look forward to his next project with anticipation.
Paul McGee
Joe Stamm Band Little Crosses Den Tree
This is roots rock with a broad appeal that has a lyrical depth to match its robust disposition. The band, on this latest album, are joined by a number of additional players who help to round the arrangements to something that adds a layer, taking it further than being just a studio representation of a live show. There are the rockin’ songs sitting beside the more contemplative arrangements. As you would expect, it is Joe Stamm who is the primary songwriter and singer and frontperson here. The production is handled convincingly by Al Torrence, a player in his own right and owner of Music Garden Studios in Pennsylvania, where the album was recorded. Torrence has also worked with Charles Wesley Godwin in the past and brings an equal quality to the sound here. He adds acoustic and slide guitar, Wurlitzer and a bunch of other keyboards throughout the album. However, it is Stamm’s band who all make their own solid contributions to the bedrock of the sound. There are also some string arrangements and Amico DeMuzio’s pedal steel to that add a layer of different textures to the various tracks.
Stamm is the main songwriter here and he sets the tone with those songs and with his believable, down to earth vocals. The songs tend to focus on observation and personal occurrences, like this couplet for the title song “I got two hands on the wheel, I try to focus on the road / But I pass them little crosses and I shiver in those souls.” There are also a number of comments relating to living life under small town, small minded attitudes. In Territory Town, the things to do in summertime are somewhat limited. Trying to arrange some private time is not as easy as it might seem “Meet me down at the high school track / Watch the sun comin’ up from the pole vault mat / Groundsman shoutin’, “What’cha doin’ down there?” / Runnin’ to the car in our underwear.” This track opens the album in an able-bodied, rockin’ mode. But there are also tracks that are arranged in a more pensive style, involving personal friction, such as Forward, the perspective of a man with a daughter, hoping that every time there may be an opportunity to move on “Darlin, won’t ya wait out in the car / Me and mama gotta talk a little heart to heart / How’d I ever let it fall apart? / Every time I fall, Lord, I find a way forward.” These show Stamm as a writer who is a cut above the average, who imbues his material with some personal input, mainly from an uplifting and hopeful perspective.
The title track is equally musing, the song equates the small white crosses that are often placed beside roadways to an equally, perhaps soulless, relationship. “I pass them little crosses and I shiver in those souls / And I wonder if I’ll have the time to tell the Lord I’m sorry / And I wonder if she’ll wait to cash the check until I’m buried.” These words are full of the doubt and self discrimination that many who are away from home and family may regularly feel. In a similar set of circumstances, How To Quit looks inward to the life of a small time musician who is also wondering if it might be time to quit in the most final way - whichever way the story might end, the track rocks. The aftermath of that lifestyle is again talked about in the slower Foldin’ Cash that is about looking for “Just a little foldin’ cash, to keep the cold off my back / And a little self-respect”. Something not to lose sight of is how well the band and assembled players perform here, whether the songs veer towards the introspective ballad or the more heart pumping heartland rockers. It is a sound with a lot of appeal and attitude that has a potential to be picked up and achieve a lot more. The Joe Stamm band will, doubtless, gain ground on their journey here and deservedly so.
Stephen Rapid
Murry Hammond Trail Songs Of The Deep Fluff & Gravy
The founding member of the Old 97s and the current touring bassist with The Long Ryders has already staked his place in the alt-country world. This may give certain expectations in terms of his solo releases, but Murry Hammond has instead travelled in another direction with this and his previous (debut) album. This time out the songs are all original and he has added an unusual instrument to the mix, not often heard these days,which is his skill as a whistler. He utilises it over several of the tracks and it is not only individual but also highly effective. Being a band person, and although this is released under his name, he is not alone here. He is joined by Annie Crawford on piano and Richard Hewett on drums and tambourine and by Faith Shippey on upright bowed bass. The sound is perhaps rooted in an acoustic delivery and therefore with a certain nod to old school folk songs, but that is not to recognise how fresh and inviting this album actually is.
Not only melancholic but quite alluring is The Wedding Plates, a song full of sad thoughts that shows Hammond as a writer who tells a story without being a storyteller in a poetic, rather than objectively literal, way. “She stayed at home and that's all she wrote / So do hang up your hat and coat / The single room and the mess inside / Compliments, your nervous bride.” A sense of leaving rather than arriving can be gleaned from Praise The Road and Long American Highway, wherein he asks “Bus stop, truck stop / Make a new man of me.” This combination of subtle, simple, yet satisfying melodies complement these words of the need to wander and to wonder. Another strong example is the clear statement and continuing search contained in When A Fella Needs A Friend.
That sense of place and the need to continue on down a long road is deep seated and apparent in Trinity River Bridge that sees “the sight of a grey water tower made / The sound of a Rock Island train at grade / A bridge where my important thinking is done / Then I'm gone”, a further emphasis of a human tumbleweed in motion. The essential feel is of man, acoustic guitar and vocal, yet the additional accompaniment of piano, bass and percussion add much to the overall ambience.
Produced by Hammond and Todd Burke, it has built upon his debut album I DON’T KNOW WHERE I’M GOING BUT I’M ON MY WAY. That title offers a hint to the transience that is portrayed here lyrically, although released seventeen years apart, and there is a continuity and progression here. It is apparent that Hammond’s singing has gone from strength to strength, on a release that while it will sit well outside of the mainstream, offers something deserving of attention, not least for his existing fans but also in the context of this seeking something that has, in itself, a certain uniqueness.
Although not quite certain what to expect this time around, I was taken in from the first track onwards and more than happy to amble along it trails that have both depth and a sense of airy disposition overall, despite a slight feeling of dislocation. The first song, even as an instrumental, has from its title 3-10 To Liverpool given you a clue to Hammond’s rambling mind. One can only hope that this team will deliver another set of songs in less time than lay between these two releases. It will be welcome, whatever the time frame and frame of mind.
Stephen Rapid
Tami Neilson Neon Cowgirl Outside
There’s quite a backstory to this album, with the title and cover image representing Neilson’s deep love of country in its myriad forms and aspects. The original neon cowgirl sits down above a boot store in Broadway in Nashville and has become something of a mythical figure for Neilson (while the cover is in fact a painted representation by Kellie Talbot). The familiar image overlooked her various visits to the city as tourist, songwriter, performer, parent and above all fan of the genre she has chosen.
The album was produced by Steven Schram (bar You’re Gonna Fall which Neilson helmed herself) with a musical team capable of delivering their collective vision, which included Brett Adams (lead guitar), Chet O'Connell (acoustic and rhythm guitar), Neil Watson (pedal steel guitar and banjo), Chip Matthews (bass), Steph Brown (keyboards), Tom Broome (drums and percussion), Nick Atkinson (saxophone) and Ashley Brown (cello). This allows for the different arrangements over the eleven tracks to be achieved with a sonic realism. The most immediate aspect of the album, not unlike the neon cowgirl herself, is the towering voice of Neilson, which is readily apparent from the open song Foolish Heart, though she is joined by backing singer and guests such as Neil Finn on the title track, Ashley McBryde, Shelly Fairchild, Grace Bowers (Borrow My Boots) and JD McPherson (You're Gonna Fall). Neilson’s aim was to capture the spirit of Elvis, Willie, Patsy, k.d. and also of the inspirational Roy Orbison. As she notes herself “the blues of Memphis, the twang of Texas, the cinematic torch of Judy Garland on a Hollywood soundstage”, which pretty much sums up the overall ambience of the album.
The aforementioned Foolish Heart is laden with stings and may well conjure memories of a number of great singers from Dusty Springfield, k.d. Lang or Patsy Cline - you may easily have your own set of references - but all are likely to be great singers. Salvation Mountain finds us out on the highway with soulful organ and a driving beat. The title song sums up the mood with a piano-led ballad that becomes a big sounding production, featuring Neil Finn on a soaring harmonic chorus. The trio of female singers mentioned above join in on the banjo faceted sisterhood of Borrow My Boots. The vicissitudes of love also take the stage at times in various guises in Love Someone and Loneliness Of Love, while elsewhere there is a personal strength in Keep On. Another highly effective duet is the standout track You’re Gonna Fall, with JD McPherson, that has cinematic guitar and a shimmering vocal choral.
More twangy naturally is Heartbreak City, USA, mixing that with another old school vocal backing that highlights the effective contributions of Bella Kalolo-Suraj, Anna Coddington, and Vanessa Abernethy. This is a not unfamiliar theme, that the town is not always going to be a place to realise your dreams. Similarly, given the title, U-Hall Blues draws on that format’s mores to tell of the complications of hauling one’s life around with them. The final track, again featuring a twanging cinematic feel, is One Less Heart, another ode to a forlorn love. It ends as it began, then, with the overriding sense of being in the presence of a powerful, emotive, stylistic singer at the top of her game. It is a nuanced album that may not suit the more hard-core honky-tonk enthusiasts but, as a summation of some of the more mainstream aspects of that past that are still valid today, is as big and bright as its titular edifice.
Stephen Rapid
Kristen Grainger & Dan Wetzel / True North Duo Time and Materials Self Release
This twelve-track album was written and recorded by the Oregon-based couple, Kristen Grainger and Dan Wetzel. Members of West Coast string band Kristen Grainger & True North, the project is very much a team effort by the duo. They share vocals and harmonies and play five instruments: two guitars, a banjo, a baritone ukulele, and a tenor ukulele, all of which were hand-built by Wetzel. The cottage industry project also included input from their daughter, who designed the artwork on the record.
Taking a leaf out of the Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings template, the material is laid-back and 'front porch' in approach. Grainger's unrushed vocal deliveries take the lead on ten of the twelve songs, and the harmonious vocals and supporting instrumentation emphasise the relaxed chemistry between them.
Lost love and regret raise their heads in Sound Of Losing You ('It's the clock in the kitchen tick-tocking my life away too, It's the sound of losing you'). Lonesome For You treads a similar path of aloneness and wanting, but the sweeter-themed 'Til I Have You paints a brighter picture of appreciation of stability and companionship. For me, the standout tracks are Doris Dean and Still Life Café. The former tells the tale of a ninety-year-old woman named by her mother after a Wild West trick rider . The latter is very much in the present day, reflecting the plight of immigrants barely surviving against an increasingly volatile background ('Most of us here at the Still Life café learned to smile to cover the pain. The hostess escaped from the Taliban, the cook is from Senegal me from Ukraine, the busboys are brothers from Guadalajara'). The prayer-like Richard Shindell cover, Next Best Western, pleads for safe passage for those whose livelihoods are dependent on pumping gas and spending hours on the highways.
TIME and MATERIALS was self-produced by Grainger and Wetzel and recorded by Dale Adkins at his Big Owl Studios in Oregon. The songs, often stripped to the bare bones, showcase the couple's flair for easy-to-access melody in a highly listenable collection of songs that acknowledge both the past and the present.
Declan Culliton
Bonnie Dobson & The Hanging Stars Dreams Loose
A collaboration between an acclaimed Canadian folk singer from the 1960s and a cosmic roots band from London of recent years may, on the face of it, seem a strange fusion. The composer of time-honoured folk songs Morning Dew and I’m Your Woman, Bonnie Dobson’s six-decade varied career has seen her perform alongside Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Robert Plant, MC5 and Phil Ochs, appear on the Val Donnican show in 1972, and at the invitation of Jarvis Cocker, headlining the Lost Ladies of Folk festival at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in 2007. Her latest venture finds her collaborating with The Hanging Stars to record this eight-track album, comprising six new compositions and two previously recorded tracks, and the union works spectacularly well.
Dobson’s vocals are excellent throughout. Sixty-five years after she first stood in front of a microphone, she effortlessly hits notes that defy that timescale. Evidence of this is the inclusion of two songs previously recorded by Dobson, given similar treatment as the original recording, You Don’t Know from GOOD MORNING RAIN (1970) and the Chet Powers written Get Together, which featured on her self-titled album from 1969. Somewhat more experimental, and highlighting how her marriage with The Hanging Stars works so well, is the opener, Baby’s Got The Blues. Its sound harks back to the mid-60s but is closer in texture to what Julie Driscoll was recording at that time than Dobson’s more traditional folk output. That Julie Driscoll / Brian Auger vibe also surfaces in On A Morning Like This, which features backing vocals by Hanging Stars frontman Richard Olson, and comes across as what might have been a contender for a James Bond movie soundtrack back in that era. That cinematic landscape is repeated in Trouble, but in this case, the sound is closer to Ennio Morricone’s orchestral desert arrangements.
The title track finds Dobson digging deeply into her memory vaults. Living in the U.K. since 1969, she dreams of a return to her native Canada to visit family and friends. The song acknowledges that the passage of time, as well as life events, both positive and challenging, cannot be reversed. It’s a fitting closing statement by an artist who, at the age of eighty-four, is still prepared to expand her musical universe and, in this collaboration with The Hanging Stars, continues to record essential music.
Declan Culliton
The Legends of Surf Guitar Various Artists Oglio
Recorded live at the Lighthouse Café in Hermosa Beach, California, in 1995, THE LEGENDS OF SURF GUITAR brought together some of the original players of the instrumental surf guitar genre from the 1960s and 1980s. The recordings were the work of Grammy winner Mark Linett (The Beach Boys, Los Lobos, Red Hot Chilli Peppers) and The Cars’ lead guitarist Elliot Easton, the twenty-five-track album is finally available, thirty years later, on vinyl and CD. Linett and surf guitarist extraordinaire John Blair are credited with producing the album, and they successfully recreate the electric atmosphere created at the event.
The concert was held twelve months after the movie Pulp Fiction introduced surf guitar to a whole new generation with the inclusion of The Lively Ones’ Surf Rider and The Centurians’ Bullwinkle Pt. II.
A member of The Bel-Airs and Cat Mother & The All Night Newsboys, Paul Johnson and his backing band, The Pacards, feature on ten of the tracks, with Apache and Mr. Moto being particular highlights. Davie Allan (of Davie Allan & The Arrows fame) features twice with note-perfect renditions of the time-honoured Peter Gunn and also his own composition, Blues Theme. Allan was the go-to artist to design soundtracks for teen and biker movies in the 1960s, and the latter was used in the opening scene of the film, The Wild Angels. Other notable inclusions are Bob Demmon with Baja and Movin’ and John Blair’s brace, Geronimo and Rumble at Waikiki.
An often-underappreciated musical genre, surf guitar is well overdue for another revival. Hopefully, this gem of twangy instrumentals will correct that and once more trigger interest in this timeless classification.
Declan Culliton