Slackeyed-Slim 'El Santo Grial: La Pistola Piadosa' Farmageddon

Concept albums are a little thin on the ground in country or alt.country for that matter. This album in some ways is not unlike the Louisiana Stripes the second long-form disc on Hank 111's Straight To Hell album. The title loosely translates as The Holy Grail: The Pious Pistol and it tells the story of Drake Savage - one man and one gun. It opens with sounds and voice. What sound like an American Indian flute leads us in to a sparse and jagged musical landscape. Come One, Come All like a traveling fairground barker invites us into this world of weirdness and widescreen wanderings. Slackeye Slim is Joe Frankland who has worked in collaboration with singer/songwriter Graham Lindsey to realize this ambitious project. Across the 14 tracks which make up the whole story we encounter a musical collage and barrage that has whopping trail hands and barking dogs blended with fuzz guitar and a very English voice alongside Frankland's worn baritone that is both narrator and distorted ghost traveller. There are visions of peyote-induced peaks and lonely valleys. An American landscape that is inhabited by men from every continent and from every creed. Indeed the final song A Song Called Love at times sounds, to these ears, like a bunch of Russian sailors out for a good time in Mexico. Which means like any good novel each listener will conjure up there own visual accompaniment for the sounds on offer. The previous album from Wisconsin-based Slackeyed-Slim Texas Whore Pleaser was a more straight forward affair by all accounts compared to this multi-textured concept. It is hard to single out individual tracks, though Vengeance Gonna Be My Name is available on YouTube to hear, it may give you a detail but it won't give you the full picture of this compelling recording. Fans of Hank 111, of Tom Waits, of Jim White, Clexico or Johhny Cash's The Rambler and any forward thinking roots artists should investigate this album. For there is much to savour and hear on repeated listens on what is one of the more outstanding albums released this year. 

Ry Cooder 'Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down' Nonsuch

Outside the mainstream Ry Cooder can make the music he wants to and he can also express his deeply held views. Ones that have run through his musical career since it began. There's no mistaking the mood of the album its right there from the opening track No Banker Left Behind. El Corrido de Jesse James follows and it Flaco Jimenez on accordion with a band of brass players to give a border sound to the track in which Jesse James tells his friends in heaven that he wants his trusty 44 revolver back so that he can "put that bonus money back where it belongs." Quicksand is about those refugees that come to cross the border into the USA getting caught in the quicksand of the title. After that he targets "rabble rousing politicians on the TV screen" (Humpty Dumpty World), scarred and mutilated soldiers (Christmas Time This Year), dead-end situations (Baby Joined The Army), the working man (Lord Tell Me Why) and the Republican party (If There's A God) amongst other topics and targets. All of this is done with integrity and compassion as well as truth and passion. Much of the music draws from a time when the various forms of roots music, American music were unsegregated. Cooder moves from simple but stately voice and guitar of Baby Joined The Army to the Tom Waits-like rough and tumble of I Want My Crown to the channeled blues of John Lee Hooker for President, a song that is as powerful as it is primal. Cooder is joined in this musical adventure by his son Joachim on drums as well as associates like the aforementioned Jimenez, Jim Keltner, and vocalist Terry Evans as well as other comrades to deliver these tales of a land as morally impoverished now as it was in the Twenties. There is much to admire here on Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down as there has been on his last three albums and in his work through the years. It is heartening to hear and feel the anger in these beautifully played songs that will find a place in the heart of any Ry Cooder fan.

Nell Robinson 'On The Brooklyn Road' Red Level

A twangy singer who didn't start her singing career in public until the age of 45. This is her second album and it highlights her clear spring of a voice in an acoustic setting. One that seems perfect for her.  She has produced this album with Jim Nunally and mixes a selection of her own songs with some covers. Those covers are in good company as here own songs either co-written or written solo are strong. Her interpretation of I'm A Honky Tonk Girl for instance pitches her impassioned voice against a simple guitar and dobro backing. She gives a straight bluegrass style run through of I Saw The Light that has strong vocal harmonies around her soulful lead. Equally convincing is her take on the Elvis classic Can't Help Falling In Love With You, a subtle and effective evocation of love. Darker issues are the subject of Wahatchee, a song written by Robinson and Laurie Lewis, its based on a historical figure who hummed "Yankee Doodle Dandy" while hanging red coat soldiers. I'm Brilliant considers the blight of alcoholism. So the road she travels covers quite a bit of ground but does so with a certain style. The album hits a slightly different place for the final two 'bonus' tracks which are billed as The Henriettas who take an earlier act the DeZurik Sisters as an inspiration. The two tracks are just voice and guitar with Robinson and Cary Sheldon joined by Jim Nunally and they deliver the songs with a sense of fun and some vocal twists. All this makes for a very enjoyable listening experience and shows Robinson a budding writer who will no doubt explore this aspect of here career further. Between some of the tracks there are vocal recordings of her relatives telling stories of their lives from different times, all of which sets a tone that still resonates from earlier times.

Andy Vaughan & The Driveline 'Long Gone' Self-Release

There are out there still a number of bands true to the spirit of Bakersfield, bar-room ballads, beleaguered honk-tonk and big Texas shuffles. One such band is Andy Vaughan and The Driveline, a five piece band who play like they mean it. The play a selection of song that are written by Vaughan (other than one co-write with guitarist Jerry Renshaw) and they are songs that are in line with expectations, songs of leaving, loving, drinking and regretting. The production doesn't have that Music Row gloss and polish but that doesn't deter from the fun that can be had listening to the album and tracks like Honky Tonk Devil, Too Much Thinkin', Long Gone and the obligatory pop at the current state of country radio in So Help Me Hank. The album closes with a more restrained version of the Utah Philips' song Rock Salt and Nails that brings (what I assume are family members) Jennifer Vaughan and Buzzy Vaughan on board on harmony vocals and mandolin respectively for a more acoustic version that shows a somewhat wider scope that they are capable of delivering should they want to. Throughout the five players who also include Tim Stanton on pedal steel, Chip Farnsworth on drums and bassist Erik Kutzler put their heart into this music they obviously love and inhabit. There's nothing new here, no great innovation but then how could there be? This is about honouring and preserving a musical style while at the same time keeping it alive with new songs, committed playing and singing that not only remind the listener of earlier times but of (hopefully) better times to come. If you liked early Derailers or many of those bands like Red Meat that emerged over the last twenty years or so then this Richmond, Virginia band is well worth checking out.

Jon Byrd 'Down At The Well Of Wishes' Longleaf Pine

The Nashville-based singer/songwrites follows up his last album Byrd's Auto Parts with this R. S. Field (and Byrd) co-produced collection of nine new songs. These are in a more reflective and contemplative mode. There are some striking and melancholic songs like I Once Knew A Woman with its subtle twang guitar from Milan Miller, steel guitar by Pat Severs and help from (recording duo) the Wrights, Adam on keyboards and Shannon on backing vocals alongside Sara Beck. Byrd delivers a perfectly judged vocal that is tinged with sadness without getting morose. Throughout the players and producers continue this thoughtful approach to these songs that find all delivering performances that integral to the overall subtle sobriety of the relationships espoused here. The beat picks up with Easy To Be Free to better express the songs changing sense of commitment, something that is shown to work both ways. The title track again highlights a strong vocal delivery from Byrd with Adam Wright on Wurlitzer and Alex McCollough on steel guitar again setting the song's tone, My Days To Come Along closes the album in that overall direction.These songs are not the usual mainstream patented positivity that seems to be the norm, rather these are mature songs that detail life, not some much in the fast line but in the quiet backwaters where emotions ebb and flow. Jon Byrd has made a rewarding and reconciled recording that is can be justly proud of.

Billy Yates 'Just Be You' MOD

One of those artists whose straight down the line country music has been considered "too country" for the current definitions of the genre for some time now. So he now releases his music himself and those who haven't come across his country and who enjoyed the new traditionalist of the 80s and 90s will feel right at home with music of Billy Yeats. He's not alternative, on the fringes or pushing barriers, rather he's writing, producing and singing his take on classic country. He records in Nashville with some of the same players you'll find on major label releases like J.T. Corenflos, Larry Franklin, Mike Johnson and Michael Rojas. His writing picks up on the down home values of love (Our House Of Love, A Mother's Love), home cooking (MFC -Mama's Fried Chicken) and travel - in this case to Norway where Yates has built a healthy following (On My Way - Norway Song). It all sung in a warm, pure voice that is ideal for the music he's making. There are ten songs here, with one bonus track a dance mix of What Goes Around, all are delivered with a sense of fun that has an infectious charm. Just like the man on the cover in fact. Billy Yeates is at ease with himself and knows who he is and wants you to be the same. 

Kenny Vaughan 'V' Sugar Hill

For his debut solo album Mr Vaughan takes on a journey across the country music map and he makes no stop at Muisc Row. Drawing from a range of musical styles this album, as you would expect from a Tele-master has great playing at it's heart. Using, essentially, his band mates from the Superlatives including Marty Stuart this is not unlike the albums that have come from that fine outfit. Along the way Kenny Vaughan has absorbed a lot of musical influences which inform his country playing. Everything from country pickers Luther Perkins, Don Rich and Roy Nichols to touches of blues, jazz and rock. Whatever the source the songs are a joy to hear, they sound vibrant and full of the verve you get from players who are making the music for the right reasons. Hot Like That is cut from the same cloth as BR5-49 and features Chris Scruggs on steel, while the other steel-like sounds were provided by Marty Stuart using Clarence White's B-Bender guitar. The opening Country Music Got A Hold On Me is a statement of authenticity and absolution. A companion piece to Mike Henderson's Country Music Made Me Do It from some years back. There are crafted instrumentals like Minuit Sur La Place. Another side to Mr. Vaughan's talent is shown in his writing as he has penned all the songs here, including two co-written with Stuart. Production is handled in a clear, concise and captivating way by Brendan Bell, Carmella Ramsey and Vaughan himself. While not know as a vocalist Vaughan holds is own on these songs and when joined by The Oak Ridge Boys on Okolona, Tennessee is a distinctive vocal presence on the songs. The late night feel of Mysterium with his twanging guitar over the jazz keyboards of Charles Treadway sounds like theme for a undiscovered film noir narrative. The closing track, the high-spirited gospel Don't Leave Home Without Jesus affirms the spirited support of his superlative band mates and V confirms Kenny Vaughan not only as a renowned player but also as writer and singer who can only develop these skills alongside his guitar mastery. One can hope that V will soon be followed by V1. Country music, in all it's forms will survive as long as people like Marty Stuart and Kenny Vaughan love and breathe life into the music that still inspires them, as their music does this listener.

Jace Everett 'Mr. Good Times' Humphead

Since the success of Bad Things and subsequently working with Chuck Prophet a more confident and independent Jace Everett has emerged. This one owes more to the White Album than to the whitewash of country radio. There is little here that that format will find favour with and equally many who listened to his major label debut could foresee where he has come to now. There is much sonic experimentation here, guitars slip and slide over a solid rock beat. While Moog, synth bass, B3, Wurlitzer and other keyboards all add atmosphere. The focus here is the voice which has developed on from the darker tone of Bad Things. He has now refined, developed and delivered a more individual vocal presence that has menace as well as measure. The production by Everett and Greg Droman and, on some tracks, by Brad Jones is robust, rocking and rich in texture. Likewise the songs have dirt still attached and tell of modern times and morales. With titles like Business Is Booming, The Drugs Aren't Getting It Done, Angry Hostile Ugly and God Made You Mean tell of a real and harsh world. But Everett is also able to deliver a more reflective view as in the gentler Don't Look Down. The songs all but one solo are co-writes and several are with his very able guitarist Dan Cohen. The overall tone though is of a tougher stance with some distorted vocals, some distanced viewpoints and some undoubted attitude. On first listen I wasn't so sure but subsequent listens have revealed much and allowed the songs to breath and for them to insinuate themselves. The end result is arguably his best album to date but one that takes him a long way from the portals of Music Row and the comfortable costumes of contemporary country. So be aware that he may now be Mr. Good Times but he is still a bad thing and that's a good thing.

Robert Earl Keen 'Ready For Confetti' Humphead/Lost Highway

Through the years Robert Earl Keen has cover all aspects of Texas Roots music from the frat-boy singalongs, fevered road songs to songs of the working man and more. On this latest offering Keen touches on many of those bases. From the Spanish guitar intro to the opening Baldy Baldy Station, through the uptempo joyessness of the title song with it sunny disposition and sing along chorus. The Road Goes On And On is a put down of a person who has high regard for himself. Waves Of The Ocean a song co-wriitten by Keen and Dean Dillon has a interesting rhythmic structure that makes stands out from the other songs and points to the assembled musicians versatility and, again, to that of Keen. And this a very fine set of players which includes Keen regulars Rich Brotherton, Bill Whitbeck and Marty Muse. Add to that Mickey Raphael, Bukka Allen and Lloyd Maines - who also produced the album, amongst others, but there all there to work the songs and they do so with style. Atop of that is another distinctive vocal performance from a very recognizable singer who conveys the humour, pathos and breath of these songs. Play A Train Song, written by Todd Snider, is a plea for a song that runs on rails when when one's like may have run off them for a final time. Life passing is also the theme of Paint The Town Beige. Coming to terms with life's vicissitudes is something that runs through many of the songs here, which is perhaps fitting for a man who has been around the music industry for a long time but who has made an album that is a strong as anything he has done. The album closes with the hymn like Soul Of Man a song arranged by, though not written by, Keen which has a lovely vocal presence, with several voices in harmony and making a fitting and telling album closer. May the road go on and on.

Paladino Self-Release

This Los Angeles band is front by Jonathan Harkham who is the band lead vocalist and songwriter but is ably backed up by his fellow band members who deliver an energetic mix of country and the numerous influences that the players varied background bring to bear on the songs. The songs on the album are a mix of Harkham originals and covers. The covers included a starker Green Green Grass Of Home than many may be used to. Harkham is joined by other band members who back up his dead-pan vocals add range to the vocal array. Another classic song given the Paladino treatment is Have You Ever Been Lonely which has some melodic guitar to help it along. Here I Lie and Dim & Gutless JIg have a tempo and attitude that suggest a punk rock lineage somewhere along the way. This gives them a sound that may be a little rough edged for those more used to the polished fake-pearls of mainstream radio but will equally find them favour with others who like their country music in a rawer state. The album closed with Harlan Howard's Too Many Rivers To Cross and it sets a standard of simplicity and clarity in the writing that Harkham may have not yet achieved but for which he is no doubt reaching. In Paladino he has assembled a quartet of fellow players with whom he can explore the possibilities of the amalgam of such a traditional format melded with less traditional influences. The end result here is full of energy and exhilaration that makes their music something that many will find favour with and will, doubtless, return to. 

Tokyo Rosenthal 'Who Was That Man?' Rock & Socks

For his latest album this singer/songwriter has assembled and illustrious crew together who include Chris Stamey and Will Rigby on bass and drums respectively to back him. The opening title track has some appealing mariachi horns to bolster its question. Mention need to be made of the pedal steel of Allyn Love, the fiddle of Bobby Britt and Charlie Chamberlin's contribution. After that the songs run true with Rosenthal's world view and the album is dedicated to the wildlife affected by the BP oil spill in the Gulf showing pretty much where Rosenthal sees himself in the scheme of things. This is country/Americana storytelling, delivered with some passion and presence.  Your 3rd Score has an almost English folk rock feel while The Librarian returns south of the border again with the horns again adding punch. San Antone's fiddle and steel adding to this uptempo tale of not quittin' but facing up to the past to find a future. A theme also running through Fresh Start. An air of destruction stalks Ann Marie or so it would seem, for the lyrics are sometimes not always the easiest to decipher, but they succeed in being the central focus of these songs and their strong roots settings. All of which gives you the answer to the question that the title poses. That man, making the music real, is Tokyo Rosental and this latest album will please many who like their Americana with grit and grace. 

Ginger St. James Spank, Sparkle & Growl Self-Release

A powerful torch singer with a burlesque background and a sound that touches on blues, rockabilly, country and jazz. All elements that came together in the 50s (and earlier) to create rock 'n' roll and what we now call roots music. This self produced ep of 6 tracks, 5 written by St. James gives the world a chance to listen to this Canadian performer's dynamic delivery. With her band The Grinders she lays out a soild beat behind their singers force of nature naughtiness. Boom Boom Room is a raunchy riot of upfront love and licentiousness. There's plenty of YouTube evidence of her live libido but here her recorded renditions stand up too. Her vaudevillian vantage point may be taken from a different era but sounds right up to date and one cannot escape the similarity in her approach to that of Imelda May's own. They draw from similar sources and attitudes but each has their own audience and, no doubt, developed with awareness of the other but both have a sense of direction and devotion to their chosen path that makes them equally rewarding. Spank, Sparkle & Growl is the first step that will hopefully see St. James develop and expand on her elemental essence and bring it to a wider audience. 

Randy Travis 'Anniversary Celebration' Humphead/WB

One criticism that one often hears about todays bunch of country singers is that you just can't recognize them. So in that light I listened to this album, the first time, without reference to the credits to see just who stood out. It was true I couldn't identify that many other than a couple of standouts. A Few Ole Country Boys the second track in features Jamie Johnson who seems to have found his voice from the off. Others definitely benefit from singing with Randy Travis still powerful and distinctive voice but few overshadow his tempered voice and delivery. When I did look a couple of the duet partners names were new to me. Kristin Chenoweth is an actress and singer who joins Travis on Love Looks Good On You a song that is more Broadway than Bakersfield but delivered well. Better Class Of Losers/She Got The Rhythm is a nicely uptempo medley from Travis and Alan Jackson and highlights each distinctive stylings. Shelby Lynne gives a typically strong performance on Promises. One of the most powerful and affecting songs here is Road To Surrender a song that only makes sense when sung by people with years under their belt, its spiritual message is sung by Travis, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson is as powerful as it gets. It's one of the more recent songs included in the collection and it's followed by a classic Diggin 'Up Bones with John Anderson who is another name from the past who is good to hear again. It's 25 years since Randy Travis magnificent Storms Of Life was a part of a wave of what was called New Traditionalists appeared (along with Steve Earle, Dwight Yoakam and Lyle Lovett) and many of these new younger vocalist owe as much to Travis, in their vocal nuances, as they do to earlier singers who influenced Randy Travis. Some of these earlier influences appear on Didn't We Shine and include George Jones, Ray Price, Connie Smith, Lorrie Morgan, Gene Watson and Joe Stampley all still vocally powerful. Produced by his long time producer Kyle Lehning it is a fitting tribute to Travis achievements and aptitude, and for sticking to a genre he clearly loves and has more to give to.

Rosi Golan 'Lead Ballon' Family

A well packaged, played, performed and produced album that crosses genres and styles with ease. A balance of folk, pop and light touches of Americana that makes Golan's music a very easy on the ear experience that is full of a playfullness and atmosphere that makes it ideal as a soundtrack, something borne out by the number of film and tv placements listed on the press release attest to. These include One Tree Hill, Private Practice and Brothers & Sisters. But here it's the music that counts and Golin flexible voice is married to a nuanced and textured production form Tony Berg that places her voice with a series of arranged musical settings that show off Golin's co-written songs to their best advantage. There are a large number of players listen and a wide range of instruments which include harmonium, banjo, pedal steel, strings, horns alongside bass, drums and guitars. All of which never overwhelm her vocal prowess. Those involved here include David Rawlings and Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody. The twelve songs all fit well together to create an album that has much that will find favour with a wider audience that we would normally aim at here. But one can't diminish the attractiveness of songs like Seeing Ghosts or Flicker. Rosi Golan is one of those artists who could with a small adjustment here and there deliver her songs in a number of different genre settings but, here, offers a fairly broad-based platform for the listener to appreciate. Her co-writers include Iain Archer, himself an acclaimed artist, who joins her here on those songs. In the end, however, it is the songs, one's as striking as Can't Go Back, sung with Natalie Hemby one of it's co-writers that make their own statement and shows that with this, her second album, that Rosi Golan will not sink like a lead ballon but rather will float upwards and find her own level.

The Noise Revival 'Orchestra Songs Of Forgiveness' Self-Release

This Austin based band use some orchestral instrumentation to give them a unique sweeping sound that recalls a number of reference points without ever straying into a place where they lose their identity. The music here may not be classed as the kind we normally review but as the area of alt.country has expanded to the point where cello and violin are frequent elements in the music this is a step that is not that far from the path. The band are now are more manageable 8 piece where before they had numbered 13. The use a number of quests including vocalists Dana Falconberry and Danny Malone who join Orchestra leader and songwriter Nathan Felix and Heather Coleman to provide a layered vocal sound that is underscored by the melodic musical arrangements which give depth and texture to the overall sound. Though there are only 5 tracks they manage to convey a varied sound-scape that is memorable and persuasive.The title track has a ambient aura of Africa. Sapphire features some elegant playing from guest Warren Hood and Daniela Nunez's flute on a song that laments lost love. The music they make has been featured in film and has been performed live at a number of venues in Europe as well as in their home base of Austin they are adaptable and adventurous and considering the relative success of bands like Calexico and Alejandro Escovedo bring elements of a broader brush stroke in the mainstream the Noise Revival Orchestra could well do the same with some wider exposure foe their intelligent music.

Ciara Sidine 'Shadow Road Shining' Self-Release

Ciara Sidine is a singer/songwriter and unlike many people who write their own material she is an intriguing and gifted singer with a supple, wonderful voice. The album’s song are all Ciara’s own with the exception of opening track, the traditional Riding Home. This and the album’s closer, the acoustic Sleepy Eyes are produced by Ciara and guitarist Conor Byrne whose playing shines throughout the album. Otherwise production is well-handled by Martin Clancy.

The moods of the songs varies from the intense and atmospheric Mercy Moon through the more traditional Constellations High, a duet with Jack L to the nostalgic feel of The Arms of Summer. Ciara is exceptionally able to convey emotion and tension with her voice, while always remaining pitch perfect – something many singers simply cannot do.

Although it is a first album Shadow Road Shining is a fully developed mature work which is engaging, incredibly musical (there are a lot of albums out there that aren’t, believe me) and one which becomes better and better the more you listen.

My only reservations are with the running order, but this is totally personal. Ciara Sidine has made a really good album and I can only hope it is the first of many.