I Draw Slow 'Redhills' Self-Release

Sometimes I think there is a whole I Draw Slow world existing in a parallel universe. It is inhabited by rounders, bounders, charming outlaws and has a colourful history which includes, of course, the lady of the night with a gilded heart who features in Goldmine. By the by, the band have made a stunning video for Goldmine – take a look on YouTube and be delighted.

Fancy aside, I Draw Slow are one tight string band. Each member is a an integral part of the whole, so it would be unfair to single out any one as they all play superbly. Louise Holden’s sensual, insinuating voice takes most lead vocals and the harmony/duet singing with her is perfection.

The songs are all by Louise and brother/guitar player Dave excepting the gospel (Satan Your) Kingdom (Must Come Down) and the instrumental Buffalo Hunt and their songwriting has got even better. Their style is still their own – acoustic, rooted in string band, Americana with a wash of colour which comes from their being an Irish band. As well the album is a visual delight with Colin Derham’s cover art intriguing and mystifying the eye. 

Redhills is an album anyone would enjoy and the more you listen the more you not only like the music, the narratives of the songs and the profusion of moods they convey, the more you might be drawn into I Draw Slow’s uniques gorgeous world.

Carrie Rodriguez and Ben Kyle 'We Still Love Our Country' Ninth Street Opus

While she has made more interesting and inventive recordings this duet album, this is one that will undoubtably make its way onto my player more often, at least for the time being. This mini album of six covers and two originals is delivered in a classic way with fiddle and steel prominent. But like all the classic country duet albums it's the voices that make it so special. Although starting as a fiddle player Rodriguez found her voice when she played with Chip Taylor. Since then it has developed into a striking instrument as forceful as her fiddle playing. In Ben Kyle she has found a perfect foil vocally. The Romantica singer and Rodriguez combine their voices in a way that is every bit as powerful as the Gram and Emmylou or George and Tammy combinations were. The two songs Your Lonely Heart and Fire Alarm, especially the former fit well with the more well know songs. What also stands out is the ensemble playing which is done with a light touch that Nashville has long forgotten how to do. If I Needed You, My Baby's Gone, Unwed Fathers and Love Hurts are such great songs anyway that it may be hard to do a bad version but they, most certainly, don't. These versions stand up well even against the most renowned versions. Big Kiss is a Chip Taylor song and a nod to her mentor and how confident Rodriguez has become as a singer.  But that's not to underestimate Kyle equally important contribution. The duo co-produced the album with Lee Townsend who produced Love and Circumstance. One can only hope that they will, at some point, carry the partnership on. Rodriguez's next album will be original songs so we will have to wait and see how that turns out. This, as the album title states, is about a love of genuine country music that she (they) would have heard growing up. It's hard not to love this album if you are captivated by passionate vocals, great songwriting and perceptive playing.

Rita Hosking 'Burn' Self-Released

Americana music that combines elements of folk storytelling and country music instrumentation. For her fourth solo album Hosking continues from where her last acclaimed album left off. Using producer Rich Brotherton again with several members of Robert Earl Keane's band that includes Marty Muse on steel and Glen Fukunaga on bass alongside members of her own band ensures that the musical bedrock is top notch and these guys know how to support a song. Hosking also knows how to write a good song. She draws us into the lives of ordinary people and their, maybe, not-so-ordinary life and times. There are the fisherman and people who had to contend with the oil spill in the Gulf Of Mexico (Ballad For The Gulf Of Mexico), the woman who throughout her live has had to deal with Dishes, as a metaphor for life (Dishes). Elsewhere there are miners, demolition derby drivers, departed lovers and Indian givers. Then there's Hosking's striking voice that has been mention alongside those of Gillian Welch and Emmylou Harris and without wishing to burden here with such comparisons it would be fair to say that it does fall somewhere between the two. Hosking also plays with a more bluegrass orientated trio Cousin Jack but here the sound is more amped with electric guitar bass and drums. While many of the songs are delivered with a more acoustic and sparse lilt the band can get a little more loud when required as on My Golden Bull, a song with some religious references to real love which builds from its voice and guitar intro to something more powerful and menacing, wherein the guitar and banjo intertwine. How Many Fires builds up that sense of tension again from a simple start to something more powerful and driven. Rita Hosking has an understanding of human nature which she conveys with her songs and voice. She burns with a controlled intensity that makes this well-packaged album something special. 

Ernest Troost 'Live At McCabes' Travelin' Shoes

As the title suggest this is a live recording of this Kerrville Folk Festival winner. He is therefore foremost a songwriter and the fifteen songs here are from his pen. The album opens with three songs that feature his guitar and voice solo, which are both well capable of giving these song life and breath. He is an accomplished guitarist and has written numerous film sores as well as acting as a producer for Judy Collins. For By And By he brings out harmony singer Nicole Gordon to add to the vocal power for his literate and likable songs. Switchblade Heart is one of the songs that won him the Kerrville award while Bitter Wind tells of drug addiction. As a writer Troost would fit well with the Texas troubadour tradition.his song bring to live the characters he writes about. Each of the song is introduced and gives some explanation of their why and wherefores. Nicole Gordon sings lead on the work song This Field, as she does on Doubtin' Blues. Having brought bassist Mark Goldberg to the stage for several songs he expands the line up for the remainder of the set with Debra Dobkin on drums and Dave Fraser on harmonica. This again underscores the blues roots of the songs that without ever becoming pure blues stand at a crossroads of folk, blues and country blues. All genres where storytelling is a key function of the writing. The Last Lullaby is a heartfelt and affecting lament for friends who have passed on, Fraser's accordion adding to the atmosphere. "Real music got a mind of it of it's own" is the theme for the truth told in Real Music. His love of Piedmont blues is expressed in the afore mentioned Disturbin' Blues. He closes the set with The Last To Leave though those who were there and anyone who hears this album won't want to leave Troost's music behind. Discerning fans of lasting songwriting and real music should head to Troost's songs, he will take you on a journey in his travelin' shoes. 

Anna Coogan 'The Wasted Ocean' Self-Released

This album draws from Coogan's past experience as a fisheries biologist and as a kayaker on the whitewaters of New  England. This is evident also in the cover design and from her sleeve note. But what concerns us here is the music which has Coogan soft voice at it's centre along with her songs, some of which pick up on the sea theme. The Sons Will Join Their Fathers and follow them to sea where the salt in their veins is a strong pull. Love Without Strings alludes to distance and belief. Life In A Peaceful World showcases Coogan's distinctive high-register voice and the simple ensemble playing of the band led by producer Evan Brubaker. The music is a mix of folk and indie rock with subtle textures of banjo, mandolin, dobro, viola, violin and Hammond organ. Very much the tools of the roots music trade these days. Water, wind and waves with movement and the parting of people are themes woven into the tapestry of these songs. To the point where in A Little Less Each Day that the subject misses their love in that way. Many of these songs are plaintive and full of longing. Come Ashore, Love feel like an age old song but its timelessness is what makes it special. One of the few outside songs is Phil Ochs' The Crucifixion given an extended pure-voiced reading that makes it sit easily alongside her own songs. The Wasted Ocean is full of the tides that rule many lives and is to be applauded for the way that Coogan has been able to use the overall concept as the heart of these songs and in her individual, fragile voice.

Blame Sally 'Speeding Ticket And A Valentine' Ninth Street Opus

This San Francisco quartet come from diverse musical backgrounds, something that allows the band a wide scope for their collective efforts. They have found common ground and present a united front, but one that allows various members to contribute songs and lead vocals to the album. Musically they offer a diverse range of styles all delivered with skill, as all four form the core of the band playing a host of instruments between them and bringing in guests to cover the rest - bass guitar being one. Bird In The Hand opens their account with an immediately attractive song delivered with a light touch of harmony and twanging guitar. Next up Big Big Bed has a more claustrophobic sound later Mona Lisa With A Smile has a lighter touch that is airy and almost jazzy. Contrasting that the Spanish/English ensemble vocals of Pajaros Sin Alas, laced with accordion, suggest a heat and passion. Something that carries through the other songs were there is a maturity to the songwriters that suggest this quartet have gone through a fair amount of life's trials to get to where they are right now. Back In The Saddle is a collective effort in terms of writing by all four - Monica Pasqual, Jane Selkye, Rénee Harcourt and Jeri Jones - a song about picking up the pieces and getting on with life. The uptempo Countdown has a strong keyboard base for some strong vocal interplay to hit home. Wide Open Spaces lives up to its title with Hammond B3 to the fore and another strong vocal interaction. Take Me There is more reflective and closes an album that leaves you in no doubt about the individual and collective talents of Blame Sally. The only question is their diversity something that may confuse. It's hard to say, as the variety in the different vocalist and musical styles is very much a part of who they are and may be part of the oxymoron that the title suggests. The best way is to go and check their music out yourselves. 

Reviews by Stephen Rapid

Humphead Records deserves credit for making these mainstream country records available in the UK and Ireland. They may not suit everyone's taste, but that's a subjective issue anyway and as I've never read a top list that exactly matched my own ... each to his own, enjoy.

Ronnie Dunn Humphead/Arista

The debut release from the Brooks & Dunn stalwart after the break-up of that highly successful duo starts in fine style with the rockin' Singer In A Cowboy Band, one of many co-writes that Dunn has chosen for the album. He is also sitting in the producer's chair which gives him the control of how this album has come out. The end result highlights his recognizable, authoritative and emotive voice. Making as much of the ballads like Your Kind Of Love and Cost Of Livin' (a song about an hard-working ex military man looking at his life and how difficult it is to survive economically, something that Dunn may be a long way with his current lifestyle but a lyric he delivers with conviction) as he does on the uptempo tracks. How Far To Waco is one of the more catchy and attractive of the album's twelve songs. It has mariachi horns and the kind of bounce once associated with the early Mavericks. Let The Cowboy Rock opens with the line "Ol' boy At the bar" and you know your about to witness some high-octane rockin'  country. The sound, however, is aimed squarely at mainstream radio and so the rougher edges never get too ragged as it might if it where an independent release. The ballads out weigh the rockers here and one of the best is the Dunn/Terry McBride song I Can't Help Myself where again proves his worth as a singer with some life experience in his voice. That duo with the help of Bobby Pinson also wrote the final song which closes the album in similar style. It's a piano led-lament that will appeal to his many Brooks & Dunn fans. The album is then a fine first step with just enough change to establish his singular talent without in any way alienating his existing fan base.

Ashton Shepherd 'Where Country Goes' Humphead/MCA

A vocalist who was hailed as something of a traditionalist after her previous debut album continues in that vein, with the caution that this is from Music Row and not on the Heart Of Texas label. Given that and with Shepherd's pronounced twang she portrays a sassy woman prepared to make herself heard. Songs like Look It Up offer a lesson in semantics to a errant partner. Where Country Grows is as much about accepting Jesus as it is about the musical form as heard on the radio. I'm Just A Woman is a common enough if cliched view from the female perspective that men are ...   well, not women. Buddy Cannon's production is robust with enough fiddle, banjo and steel to let you know that you're not just listening to pop music in disguise. Beer On A Boat is kind of de rigueur for most country album these days listing as does a way for good ol' boys and girls to their down time. Religion is again the subject of Tryin' To Go to Church, one of those Saturday Night, Sunday Morning type of songs but one where Shepherd's tongue is firmly in her cheek. That All Leads To One Thing again admonishes her man and figures the place that all the things listed in the song lead to a ring on the kitchen table and a relationship left behind. The closing track Rory's Radio is about how the songs heard on a transistor were the soundtrack to growing up and those songs and times are not forgotten. Whether these songs will have the same effect in years to come remains to be seen but for now Ashton Shepherd second album gives here a pretty good stab at getting to that place.

Terri Clark 'Roots And Wings' Humphead

This cowboy hatted Canadian songstress has just released her eight album since her 1995 debut. As producer and co-writer of many of the songs she delivers an album that fits in with contemporary Nashville notions. It's a bright sound full of enough steel, fiddle and twang guitar to let you know it's country but it has enough polish to let it pass by the gatekeepers at radio. Several tracks are co-written with Kristen Hall who was a founder member of Sugarland but who left the band. It has a balance between her early work and a more cosmopolitan sound that may appeal to a broader selection of listeners attuned to today's radio regimes. But as on Lonesome's Last Call she shows you she can deliver a fiddle and steel based pure country song. Written with veteran writer Jim Rushing it, is for this reviewer an album highlight. But having said that there is much here that has a wide appeal and Clark has a soaring voice that is mature and malleable enough to take on the different demands of the songs featured. There is a clear emotion in Smile, a song written for her late mother which features Alison Krauss who duets on the chorus. She cranks it up on We're Here For A Good Time, a non-original that posits the theory that "we're here for a good time, not a long time". So enjoy it while you kind a credo that Clark seems to agree with. The closing track again changes tack with an understated mandolin and fiddle lament that love can wither much as planting flowers in the snow can. It's good to have Clark back on an assessable label as her previous efforts tended to be limited to her native Canada. Something Clark fans will be happy with as would newcomers to her rounded singing and songwriting. 

Trace Adkins 'Proud to Be Here' Humphead/Showdog

A big man with a big voice who's well capable of singing country (and being an apprentice - he was a recent contestant on the US Donald Trump Apprentice show). He's not a writer per se but a singer of songs and on this album the songs are full of rock drums and guitar and swirling keyboards that update a southern rock template and thrust. There are a lot of mid-tempo songs that touch on life from Million Dollar View (his lady) to the song about a father and daughter relationship in Just Fishin'. It's A Woman Thing is a discussion of foibles of the opposite sex as stated by the opposite sex. All these song have a sound that mixes several strands together, a little southern rock, a little soul, a little country so your ears perk up when you hit track 9 and Poor Folks and you hear the twang and the steel and the words fit the music and Adkins voice is warm and real and you again wonder why he did make a whole album like this, though in fact you know that someone is making the decision that that wouldn't go down as well as this crossover blend. Always Gonna Be That Way is a song about working men and again all the better for losing the "big" sound. The drums are further back and the music more understated, the organ this time is more subtle and the steel more noticeable. In truth these last two songs are just more country. The deluxe edition has four additional tracks Damn You Bubba and More Of Us back to the sound of the earlier tracks. If I Was A Woman which features Blake Shelton, is a bluesy duet that contemplates the songs title with lots of asides and the conclusion that "If I was a woman I'd love a man like me". The closing song Semper Fi is a military themed song with a more restrained an effective vocal. Adkins fans will lap this up and if he did a few more of those straight country songs so might I. 

Blake Shelton 'Red River Blues' Humphead/Warner Bros.

Currently making waves in Music City Shelton consolidates his position with this new album. He's not a writer and so relies on his voice to deliver these songs which often make reference to Conway and Lorreta, to beer, to good ole boys and to laid back country tunes whilst sounding like country music tends to sound these days. In other words crafted songs, big sounds and solid vocals that are perfect for these cross-over styled songs. Shelton is managed by Starstruck Management and his career has gone from strength to strength. He's married to Miranda Lambert so life is good for this good ole boy right now. Scott Hendricks is spot on for the market they're aiming for and you can see the appeal of these friendly songs. As each new wave of singers emerges on a major label the sound moves away from what many knew and loved as country music. This is country music for a different time and age and Blake Shelton does what he does very well and it will doubtless hit the spot for many but for others they'll wonder where the steel and fiddle is in the mix. This is a well produced and played, positive album that, on occasion, like on Good Ole Boys shows that when Shelton get that bit closer to the source and you can hear the guitar twang you see that Shelton could one day deliver something closer to a Conway Twitty classic. But then, in truth, it could well be that Blake Shelton is the Conway Twitty of the future as Conway certainly changed his style to suit the times, so maybe he already has and I'm just missing the point.

Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion 'Bright Examples' Ninth Street Opus

The latest album from the husband and wife partnership features a full band, two lead vocals, some delightful harmonies and bunch of new, self written songs. Production by Andy Cabic and Thom Monahan is warm and atmospheric. Both are involved with San Francisco band Vetiver and some of that town blend of soft wind psychedelica and country rock undertones can be traced here. Guests here include Neal Casal, who has cover similar territory in his own work, and Gary Louris (who co-wrote one of the songs) on backing vocals, he's joined by fellow band member Mark Olsen on the song the dreamy Seven Sisters with a lead vocal from Sarah Lee and has some pleasant pedal steel on which to float away. The duo vocals of Hurry Up And Wait feels timeless. Butterflies is as delicate as its subject matter. First Snow has California country rock harmonies and hauntidness. Their voices blend together in a most perfect way throughout the album and the music never attempts to displace them from the centre of these songs which have the ability to gain ground with each hearing and slowly reveal some subtle aspect of their construction. This duo have made several albums together and each album moves in a slightly different direction. This one should find them much favour. 

Beth Wimmer 'Ghosts & Men' Radiosky

This American singer/songwriter now lives, tours and records in Europe. She has co-produced this, her third album, with her multi-instrumentalist band member Della Torre. Her previous albums found her working with members of Mojo Monkeys and she managed to persuade drummer David Raven to join them for a few tracks. The overall sound is Americana-ish with touches of eclectic electric folk. There are swells of Hammond B3, forceful guitars and strident rhythms at the heart of these heartfelt songs. The focal point of which is Wimmer's voice, a strong instrument that coneys the emotion of the songs whether the more laid back lines about looking for the right man in Easier Life, a theme that she also takes up with My Babe, but here she seems to have found that person. It features some textured touches of accordion that give the song added musical depth. In Makin' War the subject misses her man while he's off doing what a man has to do. These songs are about life, love and relationships. Subjects common to most singer/songwriters but when in the right hands convey common experience. Her take on Bad Moon Rising (the only cover song) is done by adding some sense of disturbance that enhances the mood of the song which helps make it a stand out, as otherwise many of the songs are taken at similar tempos. Damn Angel seems to deal with tragedy and features some atmospheric saxophone from the late Max Gini that underscores that mood of loss. By way of contrast the closing For The Living is a celebration for a universal peace taken at in positive uptempo attitude with a strong vocal chorus and the accordion again adding to the ambience along side the prominent bass line. This ends the album on the up side of the spirit a place where  ghosts, men (and women) can celebrate and appreciate the positive, the moment where music brings us together.

Betty Soo and Doug Cox 'Across The Borderline/Lie To Me' Self-release

This duo consists for Austin based solo artist Betty Soo and Canadian dobro player Doug Cox. They met in Alaska and began to collaborate together and the result is Across The Borderline a clear bell like voice a guitar and a resophonic guitar are at the heart of these songs. Song the duo have selected form writers they both admire including Loudon Wainwright 111 (Be Careful There's A Baby In The House), Jane Siberry's You Don't Need as well as Butch Hancock (Boxcars). Both sing lead and harmony and give these lesser know songs a simple, subtle and seductive reading that makes you re-hear the songs. Big Cheeseburgers (And Good French Fries) is a duet on one of the late Blazey Foley's lauded songs. Louis Reil is a Doug Sham song is a song about the little known Canadian folk hero and it is a fine tribute to both the subject and the author of the song. It is an album highlight with it's memorable melody, chorus and guitar. Perhaps the best know song to many would be either Wainwrights or the album closer their poignant version of Guy Clark's Dublin Blues that provides what is arguably Soo's most affecting vocal on the album. This is an example of music close to it's purest form and because of that it relies on a human reaction to it's basic humanity which will cross many borderlines.

Annabelle Chvostek 'Live From Folk Alley' MOGV

The album open with a song Devil's Paintbrush Road which immediately demands attention with her venturous vocal and rhythmic violin playing. As the title suggest this is a life album so it features Chvostek her songs and her playing in this direct setting. She is also adept on guitar and mandolin as well as the aforementioned violin and she attacks each with energy. The songs are her own other than a couple of covers including taking the sentiments of Pete Tosh's reggae song Equal Rights and making it as potent in this format as it was in its original setting. Madonna Loves Me is introduced by her noting how pop culture and religion intertwine and then plays on the two most notable holders of that name. The second cover is of Lou Reed's Some Kinda Love and again she make it work for herself in this stark setting. Half way through she asks for requests and complies with The Sioux, another songs she switches to violin, an instrument which suits the songs sense of desolation. Hartland Quay was written in England, an inspiring place for her and features her on mandolin. Wait For It is a uptempo mandolin excursion with a kind of Gasoline Alley riff. She closes the album with an audience singalong of I Left My Brain,"I didn't need it anymore". This is the kind of album you'll either want as a souvenir of a live performance or if you're familiar with the artist as a former member of the Wailin' Jennys or if you like a strong singer/songwriter delivering her work stripped down and raw but righteous.

Audrey Auld 'Come Find Me' Reckless

The title track is a plea to seek out the real person that is Audrey Auld an individual and intense voice who conveys so much in her vocal perspicuousness. Auld has never failed to impress over the many albums and approaches she has taken with her music. The end results have always been true to her belief in her ability and to the people and places she loves. The later is the subject of the song written to her homeland as if it were a loved one. Tasmania is simple and effective with guitar and voice but her voice conveys so much melody and emotion that you are not aware of the simplicity of the setting. Another highlight delivered starkly is her song for Mary Gauthier Orphan Song which shows a lot of understanding for the pain and search that Gauthier has been through. That is key to Audrey Auld, she has an innate understanding for the feelings of others and for those in similar situations. One suspects that the song Forty would find much favour with many other ladies in of the same age if it were to gain some wider radio exposure. The production by multi-instrumentalist Mark Hallman is subtle, simple and satisfyingly direct. Though on occasion such as You Wish bristles with anger (and a rude word) that shows Auld is no easy target. Overall nature takes it course and she sings of the analogy of nature as a metaphor for family and friends and of the place where she now resides. On the other side of things is the jaunty twang of the realism of Nails -"Buy me some nails for my coffin, order the roses for my grave" - reflects the harder and darker side of living and aging. She also sings of racism and of personal pride and sacrifice in The Butterfly Effect that considers the journeys and humanity of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King. Bread and Roses is for the inmates of San Quentin and shows sympathy that many wouldn't necessarily feel for prison inmates. But that's Audrey Auld, open and opinionated but never in a harsh judgmental way. She does this in an affecting way with voice and guitar and a set of songs that say come find me.