A longtime fan of Johnny Cash's Bob Wootton had perfected Luther Perkins signature guitar sound and after standing in for Perkins on occasion he finally joined Cash on a full time basis after Perkins' death in a fire. So Bob Wootton has the credentials and the right to play these songs. Vocally he does a pretty passable imitation of the man in black's iconic vocal. The only thing is, as is the case in some tribute albums, you wonder why you might want to purchase this collection over one of the many cost-effective Cash compilation albums currently available. It might have been more effective to do like Scottish band Union Avenue to select songs that Cash had not covered and do versions of them in the this Tennessee Three style. As it is all the songs here are competently delivered by the four piece Six Mile Groove and Wootton fulfills his part well enough but outside of a gig purchase, and I'm sure they are great fun to catch live, I'm not entirely sure what the point of this, admittedly well presented album, is. However good luck to Wootton and his band in their endeavours.
Mark Wayne Glasmire 'MWG' Traceway
This seven tracks ep highlights Glasmire's songwriting and singing skills. Touches of Jimmy Buffett are found in the light-hearted uptempo I Like You. The songs reflect Glasmire reflections on life and love from the perspective of someone who knows a little about it. Going Home looks over the career of a retiring serving soldier. The Last Goodbye is about a break up while She's Got It All looks at the other end of an attraction. Now I Believe is set somewhere in the middle of those two emotions. The ep was co-produced by Glasmire in Nashville with a set of studio musicians well up to the task. This is mainstream music existing outside of the mainstream - which may be due to Glasmire not exactly fitting the profile of what's expected to sell for the majors these days. But that shouldn't reflect on what Glasmire does or belives in. He is one of many out there who is trying to get his music across to a wider audience. The one that he has will, doubtless, enjoy these songs.
Reviews by Stephen Rapid
The Wiyos 'Twist' - Self-release
This album sees the band expand their line up and deliverer their most accomplished album to date. Here they have loosely based the album on L. Frank Baums' Wizard of Oz tale alongside Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey and deliver an original song cycle that allows their eclectic musical mix full-scope and invention. The songs are written by Michael Franks and Teddy Webber and played with aplomb by the band and associate and vocal percussionist Adam Metta. Beneath the strong vocal presence and genre mix are the layered sounds of steel guitar, alto horn, accordion, organ and harmonica cutting up rough with the guitars, bass and drums that give these songs their kicks and twists. As with the Wizard tale itself you are brought on a musical journey that has its soul in the music of earlier times and its heart beating to the rhythms of today. Mary opens with a harmonica riff that sound not unlike the theme for the Old Grey Whistle Test while this is followed by Mama, an equally skewed tale that, as it says itself, is "very strange". Strange, true, but equally compelling. It is something of a surreal set-piece that has melody and mayhem side by side but never looses sight of entertaining the alert listener to its concept and convictions. The Wyios have been making many fans with their live show and now they have released an album that tries to match that multi-layered experience that moves them from any hint of pastiche or period drama to something much more tangibly Wiyos. They may not be everyones cup of tea or whatever brew you may choose but many will enjoy this energetic and enlightening conception.
Amanda Shires 'Carrying Lightning' - Self-release
Each of us may carry some lightening within us. Something that may spark when we are in love. Amanda Shires desires to get wrecked in love and releases her own lightening over these 12 songs. 11 of which are self-written and one Detroit Or Buffalo comes from the pen of Barbara Keith. Shires also is an accomplished musician having played fiddle with the band Thrift Store Cowboys before launching her solo career. She is also a strong lead vocalist who sings these songs with a energy and a little touch of vibrato and twang. She also co-produced the album with her oft-times touring partner Rod Picott and with True Tone Studio's David Henry. It's a generous sound with strong contributions form Picott and Henry as well as Chris Scruggs, Neal Casal, Will Kimbrough all part of a talented crew who serve these songs well. The range from the intense She Let Go Of Her Kite, the intriguing Ghostbird to carrying on the flight theme with a more reflective Live Be A Bird with Scrugg's steel guitar adding atmosphere to the wistful mood. Many of the songs have an emotional core that occasionally erupts with a intensity that hits home. The stings on Kudzu add another layer to the weave of the musical cloth that can be warm, on occasion, or colourful at others. They songs speak of love and its twist, turns and tempestuousness. The subject of Lovesick I Remain doesn't have the courage to contact the object of her desire but Amanda Shires allows you to touch some of hers and her sometimes opaque songs that together make an adventurous and alluring album that showcases her many talents on this collection of folkish, alt.country fine blend of Americana that has both darkness and light running through it.
Twilight Hotel 'When The Wolves Go Blind' - Cavalier
A transplanted duo from Winnipeg now making Austin their home. This is their third album under the Twilight Hotel brand and it has already received two Canadian Folk Music Awards. That one of those was in the Pushing The Boundaries category is unsurprising after first listen. Further listening reveals and album that draws sounds from many sources and styles. The key element is the vocal interplay between Brandy Zdan and Dave Quanbury which is at the heart of these songs either together or with one or the other taking the lead. Many of the songs have a powerful rhythm pushing them along and some take a more contemplative approach all infused with a sense of place and of getting there. There is, at times, a cinematic sensibility to songs like Dream Of Letting Go or Mahogany Veneer. The latter songs describes their meeting and a subsequent journey together. The lyrics, written together or solo, have a a story to tell even if, at times, the full meaning behind then remains elusive. The music has a hard-edged rock element over a more contemporary folk basis, but you would never mistake it for a folk album as such. There is an obvious chemistry between Zdan and Quanbury that allows each to explore the limits and progress of their music. There are times when the music takes a more twisted route as with The Darkness, a song that has a descriptive sax and fuzzed guitar that is Lynch-ian in attitude. The Zdan written Golden Eagle comes as the full five minute plus version and a shorter radio edit. It has an intensity and internal logic that draws from personal experience more that an external sense of observation. In the end though this is an album that defies easy categorization of rock, folk or roots but contains elements of each that will appeal to more adventurous listeners but is no less appealing for that.
Reviews by Stephen Rapid
Moot Davis 'Man About Town' - Highway Kind
After two albums on Pete Anderson's Little Dog label, which Anderson produced and arranged as well as playing on, Moot Davis has relocated back to New Jersey and has recorded his new album in Nashville with guitarist Kenny Vaughan as producer. Davis is a distinctive singer who has just the right amount of twang in his voice to define him as a country singer as well as a fine writer of classic heartbreak and lovelorn songs. Here all the songs are written by Davis and they cover a range of country and contemporary sounds that make it fresh and relevant to today. Looking as cool and collected on the cover as a fashion model or from the set of Mad Men, Davis' one giveaway to the music within is the left-handed Telecaster he strums. Kenny Vaughan has gathered a crack team that includes his Superlative band mates along with Chris Scruggs, Hank Singer and George Bradfute. There is a duet with Elizabeth Cook on Crazy In Love With You. It's one of many standout songs which also includes the opening Rags To Rhinestones, the 12 string guitar intro'd Fade To Gold, or the extended desperate mood of Black & White Picture which clocks in at over 7 minuets but never looses it's momentum with textures of steel and spanish guitars on what is a tale of death and devastation wrought by a jealous husband which updates the Marty Robbins format with style and verve. Davis is a writer who understands country music's heart and soul and can bring it into the 21st century in a way that acknowledges its past while being aware of its future. There are some other artists who are pushing its boundaries in ways that are innovative and interesting but there is also a need for an artist like Davis who makes his music true to himself and to those who love country music that has not become a pop pastiche or an alt.country offshoot. Man About Town finds Moot Davis in good shape and building on his solid reputation for being the real deal. A triumph to these ears at the very least.
Matt Anderson 'Coal Mining Blues' - Busted Flat
This Canadian singer-songwriter wound his way back from Eric Clapton to B.B. King and the origins of the blues in general and from an early age he developed his skills as a guitar player which found him receiving accolades as "Canada's greatest guitarist". However this album takes a very broad (and enjoyable) interpretation of the genre. Nor should one discount his expressive and exact vocals which at times had this listener reminded of Tony Joe White and Ray Lamontagne amongst other, this though was more in recognizing his strengths in the vocal department than as a direct comparison. In other words, his music is a broad palate, as mentioned, but one further emphasized by Colin Linden's knowing and absorbing production. Linden joins a select array of players who bring these songs to the space that does them more than justice. These players include Jim Horn and Garth Hudson - whose accordion on the rootsy Anderson/Linden co-write Home Sweet Home makes it an album highlight. As is the equally engaging title track Coal Mining Blues. Elsewhere there are some more uptempo tracks that highlight the ensemble skills of the collective team. and they give the album depth and variety. The songs are a mix of Anderson's songs, many written with Linden but some also from Willie P. Bennett (Willie's Diamond Joe), Charlie Rich (Feel Like Going Home). The later underscores the crossover soul content of this musical journey that should find favour with fans of good music of any persuasion. She Comes Down has backing vocals from Amy Helm which offer perfect counterpoint to Anderson lead vocal and it is again something special and marks Anderson as someone to catch live and on album. It's also a well-packaged album with a lyric booklet that is an added bonus to the music.
Pharis & Jason Romero 'A Passing Glimpse' - Lula
This is a duo who write and play a stripped down take on old-time music. The mix a blend of public domain, older and self-written songs that shows off the duo's vocal and instrumental skills - which are noteworthy. The talent duo not only play and sing everything but they also designed the well-layed out sleeve - it details the songs and where they learned the version they play from. Jason Romero also makes the banjos he plays. The fifteen songs are direct and forceful relying on erudite banjo picking and eternal vocals. They sound somewhere between the contemporary music of a Gillian Welch and old time Appalachain front porch picking and singing. There's directness and authenticity to their music and singing that makes it compelling. Their voices blend as one to give the overall sound an organic sounds that springs from a deep well of understanding for the source of the music and the way they deliver it. The originals like Forsaken Love, Lay Down In Sorrow and Only Gold sit easily alongside public domain songs like Out On The Western Plains and Cumberland Gap (an instrumental) and Hillbilly Blues from Uncle Dave Macon or Engine 143 from the Carter Family. It takes something special to make such a well worn formula stand-out from a host of other similar minded but often less talented performers and Pharis and Jason Romero have it. The gospel plea of It's Me Again Lord, a song written by Dottie Rambo, is a song that conveys human emotion, desperation and hope. Something that many will relate to and my have even more relevance in difficult time. Both, individually, have strong voices that are only enhanced when they intertwine to express timeless emotions and needs. Life may be a passing glimpse but the human voice in song is one of it's joy, a joy that many will find in this album - even some who may not be particularly receptive to old-time music.
Reviews by Stephen Rapid
Randy Thompson 'Collected' - Jackpot
Back in 2004 Randy Thompson released his album That's Not Me. The title track was a most powerful song of denial. It is also included on this collection of previously recorded songs with a trio of new songs. One of those is the aforementioned That's Not Me, still a powerful statement in its new incarnation. But Thompson is more than just one song as this collection testifies. This is robust roots rock, delivered with heart and muscle. Thompson has distinctive and compelling voice that is tinged with experience and regret. Behind that voice these songs are delivered with a conviction and forcefullness that belies the fact that they span some thirteen years. Produced by Thompson and his lead guitarist Garrick Alden the sound is one that cuts through and stays in the mind. Thompson is also a good writer writing and co-writing the majority of the songs here. This is not cutting edge alt-country rather it is well-performed music that sits left of the mainstream and in earlier times should have made more impression than it actually did. The Sound Of The Rain actually hit the Top 40 as a single. Other memorable songs include the opening track Songbird, his adaption of Goin' Down To Lynchburg Town, which is a bluesy slide-guitar workout or Heart Of Stone, a more countryfied songs with steel guitar and twanging guitar. His version of Utah Philips' Rock, Salt and Nails features the legendary Don Helms on steel on an slow, atmospheric and evocative take of the song. Wearin' Blue sounds musically like a Guitar Town-era Steve Earle song but instead topped by Thompson's familiar vocal tones. Another cover is Molly & Tenbrooks a tale of horses racing to destiny, recorded by Bill Monroe in the past, but not like this. The album closes with a new song Bring On Down The Rain another tale of frustrated love delivered with brooding fuzz-tone guitar that captures the song's sense cautious hope. Collected is an ideal way to get introduced to the music of Randy Thompson, it's not clever or media cool rather it's appeal is to those who loved roots-rock in the late 80s and early 90s, or who just like their Americana delivered with a rockin' punch that still has it's place today.
The Wiyos 'Broken Land Bell -' Self-Release
This band offer a new take on some spirited jug band music and other muiscs popular long before their time. This Brooklyn based quartet deliver a new album of original songs that owe as much to Tom Waits' sound collages as they do to dusty 78rpm records. One of their quest is Adam Matta a human beat-box who add a strictly contemporary edge to the mix which is about using the instruments and sound of previous eras to create something that has resonance for today's listening audience. That writer Parrish Ellis calles his publishing company Piedmont Blues Music should give you another clue as early blues plays it's part here too. The other members Michael Farkas, Joebass Dejarnette and Teddy Weber are all multi-instrumentalist who bring a range of acoustic instruments into contention alongside such elements as tape delay and sound effects to create their eclectic mix. Drum is rooted in the words of Macbeth's witches. This music is mainly upbeat and uptempo but moments like Redbird are less frantic and show their vocal presence as well as the use of retrained ambient sound. Elsewhere there's double bass, steel, archtop and banjo guitars blend with mouth trumpet and alto horn to give the music it's smorgasbord of now and then. While the album works as a whole there are standouts for this listener like Uncork The Whiskey, All Aboard and Valentina. Good as they are on record it's live were the Wiyos will really come alive but Broken Land Bell well prepares you in its own right fro that experience.
Homespun Remedies 'Great Depression' - Self-Release
Describing the genre they play in as Americana, Rock, Alt-Country, Singer-songwriter, Folk and Bluegrass gives you a clue as to the wide ranging nature of this band's music. However that can lead to a situation where you please someone one one track but lose them with another. The six piece band (and friends - judging by the list of names on the sleeve) are relitatively focused on what they deliver. The focus, however, may change depending on which songs you heard. The album opens with Leave This Town a short voice and guitar into with steel guitar and atmospherics leading to the first song proper What's Goin' Round which features prominent banjo and subtle steel over an otherwise more indie rock arrangement. However if you were to listen first to Make Believe or especially the uptempo jaunty, twangy Good To Hear Your Voice or the traditional Two Dollar Bill you may thing you were in for a different album. But along side these songs you also get the piano ballad Empty Pockets with a parisienne style accordion or the laid back Elegent Lie. Vocalist Mike Saunders is the most consistent element here as a central figure in terms of song writing and singing but the collective unit has many possibilities that may need to be more defined in the future for the casual listener and those who have not seen them live were all the strands are likely brought together. Homespun Remedies are a Dallas, Texas based band who will doubtless entertain in a live setting and have on CD show their talent but whether that's a little diverse for the average listener remains to be seen. There's nothing that's depressing here but you may also find your own favourite remedy.
Madison Violet 'The Good In Goodbye' - True North
This Canadian duo have gained not just fans but awards with their folk-pop, dream-country blend that is focused around their close vocal harmonies and song-writing skills. Producer and multi-instrumentalist Les Cooper has upped the stakes on this fuller sounding album that layers subtle musical textures together to create something that easily rewards repeated listening. Fallen By The Wayside opens with some familiar lyrics before revealing a song of a love lost in transit, it is a song they co-wrote with Ron Sexsmith and marks a meeting of kindred spirits and an album highpoint. The title track sets out to fathom the silver lining in a break-up. The one non-original song is the traditional Cindy Cindy and they give a uptempo fiddle and banjo led take on which takes them closer to the wellspring of the music that has played an influence on their musical make-up. Christy Ellen Francis also takes a more stripped down approach with the two voice guitar and harmonica being its only constituent parts. Madison Violet are team players too playing a range of instruments on the album themselves alongside the talented players featured. Lisa MacIsaac and Brenley Mac Eachern have the sound of siblings though they are just siblings in musical spirit and are making music that makes them out as something special. Come As You Are with it's harmonica motif and strong overall harmonies is an album highlight on this their fourth album. The sound may in fact be a tad to soft for some and the songs that stand-out the most are the ones that have a little more edge lyrically or musically. But overall Madison Violet are exploring their musical parameters and giving their fans something to savour as they do so.
Reviews by Stephen Rapid
The Lost Brothers 'So Long John Fante' - Bird Dog
There has always been a rich tradition of familial harmonies in music, especially that of brothers in reality or in spirit. From the Louvin Brothers to the Everly Brothers to Peter and Gordan through to Simon and Garfunkel and on to The Lost Brothers. This duo of Mark McCausland and Oisin Leech fit easily into the established pattern of tight vocal harmonies that complement each other. In the end the key factor is the songs and the duo writing perfectly suits the occasion. On record they deliver a full sound that is played by themselves and three other key players that included producer Colin Elliot and Shez Sheridan. They also, on occasion, use strings and brass to further complement the sound. Recorded in Sheffield last year they appear to have a bright future in front of them that can only grow in time. So Long John Fante is an easy and enjoyable listening experience that compliments their more simplistic two voices, two guitar live set -up.
The nature of what they do means there is a certain overall mood and tone to the songs, with each track following easily from the previous song that sometimes makes you want to hear one or other voice take the lead rather than always being sung in unison. But that may be beside the point, as their sound is what it is and So Long John Fante should be evaluated on it's strengths and it's songs. The highlights at this time include The Goodbye Kid, Golden Dawn and the more uptempo lap-steel and stringed Bells They Wont Ring. All of which The Lost Brothers a great find for those who haven't discovered then before.
Cam Penner 'Gypsy Summer' - Self-Release
This new album form Cam Penner builds on his past more stripped back recording and features a full band behind Penner's strong, life-fueled vocal. Driftwood which opens the album has the refrain that "it's going to get worse before it gets better" but then musically throws some spiritually uplifting music our way. Gypsy Woman is a powerful mix of guitar and keyboards. Ghost Car is immediately a striking road song that pulses along like America's forgotten highways to a higher place. But equally Penner can deliver a simple stripped back song like Cool Cool Nights with equal integrity. There is no doubt that Penner is believable, at times intense but always uncompromising in it's truth.This album is accomplished and diverse and opens many a new road fro Penner and his fans to travel along. Penner produced this album at Cloudy Ridge Ranch a rural location that allowed the players to concentrate on the music and its meaning. A relaxed non-studio set up that allows the songs space to give life to the emotions and excursions that these songs evoke. Divided into Side A and Side B the songs on the second section open with the funkier groove of My Lover & I before giving way to the Hey My My My where the repeated refrain forms the backbone of a song of strayed love.Throw Your Hands Up has a programmed rhythm base that gives it it's drive and shows again the diversity of the music here. Driftwood (Reprise) has a more widescreen vista while the closing Come As You Are drifts on a more string based reflection that suggests an open-minded approach to a relationship. There may be a times a sense of displacement and weariness to these songs but in the end they give hope not defeat and the gypsy summer of Penner's journey has warmth at it's heart and it's journey.
Amelia White 'Beautiful and Wild' - Self-Release
There are times when the world seems awash with singer-songwriters all trying to find an audience for their music. That isn't necessarily a reflection on the quality of the music rather that it's difficult to get attention in a crowded and fragmented market. If someone has came across an artist's music live, on radio or through a good review they may be tempted to check the artists out and with the internet it is now easier that ever to find out through a YouTube live video or song samples on sites like MySpace. Amelia White recorded this album in Nashville with producer Marco Giovino. He also the drummer here with a set of musicians that includes Doug Lancio and a selection of other fine players who do justice to the songs. Other than a laid back cover of Roxy Music's More Than This the songs are all written or co-written by White who has a raw, expressive, confident voice. The title track is a lament for he late friend, the guitarist Duane Jarvis, other songs deal with various kinds of torment that find the subject of Saint Christopher pleading with the Saint for a safe return. Sidewalks talks of how the sidewalks seem to melt in the melt in the heat of both the summer and in the cold emotion of family loss. The closing Rider Ghost was written at a time when White was contemplating give up music, something that in the end proved to be an essential part of her make-up, and like most true and committed writers, something that completes her life. There have been comparisons to Lucinda Williams and that may give you a clue as to a starting point but to hear White and here own take on life check her out on MySpace where you can judge the wildness and beauty of her music yourselves.
Joe Nichols 'It's All Good' - Humphead/ShowDog
One of Music Row's more traditional singers Joe Nichols never-the-less isn't going to rock radio's boat here. Production by Buddy Cannon and Mark Wright (five tracks each) keeps the instrumentation country with steel, banjo, fiddle and accordion all in the mix along side the upfront rhythm section and the massed guitars. The songs come from some of the current crop of approved writers with names like Mark Nesler, Gary Burr, Georgia Middleman, David Lee Murphy, Jim Bevers and Kelly Lovelace - amongst the others - in the writer credits. Songs like Somebody's Mama is a reflection an old flame. It's All Good is another songs that talks of the seemingly de rigueur song check list that these days includes "that old truck" a cold beer, a good woman and a much written about lifestyle. This Ole Boy is a similar 'life is good', laid-back tale of uplifting utopia. No Truck, No Boat, No Girl is the other side of the coin but delivered with equal evocation for better times. The rest of the songs follow a similar direction which may be the message radio wants to spread in troubled times but seems to lack some depth and balance overall. Aside from that Nichols sings these songs with some conviction and possesses a pleasing and purposeful voice and the music has enough of the elements of contemporary country infused in the production that it will please Nichols fans and those who have been reared on what represents mainstream country to a wider audience than you might find on some more traditionally minded independent releases that exist on the fringes. For all that many will enjoy this album that's all good for those that do.