Country Rock comin’ at ya - Big & Proud. Texas born Randy Rogers sings it like he means it and he has the perfect voice to carry off these down home n’ dirty tunes. He has been releasing music since 2002 and has a steady flow of recordings to his name. The band on this outing is very impressive and plays tight, rocking arrangements with much finesse and fun. The guitar and fiddle interplay is especially catching as the songs come and go – Fuzzy talks of the hangover from hell while Flash Flood speaks of sudden attraction & love like a tidal wave. Trouble Knows My Name is about living life on the edge and learning on the streets. There is a hoarse, yearning quality to the vocal of Randy Rogers, never more evident than on Don’t Deserve You, supported by a driving beat. Never Got Around To That is a commercial hit if ever there was one in Country music. Had to Give That up Too deals with the eternal dance of drink and women and the sad end when ‘you love it more than it loved me’ ... Shotgun is a salutary tale of crossing a cowboy and the likely consequences when you do. My copy of this new release carries no information concerning the players here or the production team but all involved do a fine job. Steady as you go, fine stompin’ country music and a solid release
Reviews by Stephen Rapid
Israel Nash Gripka 'Israel Nash's Rain Plans' - Loose
Everybody knows there is nowhere that those who hear Israel Nash Gripka can't escape his debt to the influence of a certain Canadian rocker; yet there is much to savour on Gripka's latest album that blends pedal steel with a wide open psychedelic quietly melancholic thoughtfulness. There is also an inviting glow to these songs that offer a suite of sounds that touches many bases while retaining a confident central theme.
The album has a gentler approach than the band in a live setting. There there is a sonic intensity that takes these songs to another place but on record the nine songs seem to flow seamlessly together, appearing as one long river of that has tributaries that could easily lead to other destinations.
Israel Nash Gripka songs are fairly opaque with phrases and couplets standing out but the overall context is less storyteller than stored memories and hopes expressed in song. The band throughout intertwine with Gripka and all soon submerge into the sound. They also had some strong vocal support to Gripka's passionate vocals.
Rain Plans always have to be made and Israel Nash Gripka has drawn and delivered one that will serve him and those who listen to it's execution well until the next instalment of his musical journey arrives.
Danny & The Champions of the World 'Stay True' - Loose
The latest album from Australian-born Danny George Wilson continues his exploration of Caledonian soul pop and Americana roots music on his fourth and finest album to date. Wilson and co-producer Chris Clarke have employed their champions well using London based bluegrass band Foghorn Leghorn on two tracks to add a different flavour to the sound. Elsewhere as on Let's Grab This With Both Hands they employ Melvin Duffy's pedal steel guitar and brass to fine country soul effect.
Overall there is a sense of place and time. The opening (Never Stop Building) That Old Space Rocket is an expression of remaining true to one's dreams and centres on a trip Wilson made with his Dad to see The Fabulous Thunderbirds play live. That kind insight gives the album it's real soul and it's need to stay true to it's intentions, to come in from the cold in what can be a cold, cold world. There is a warmth here that is central to it's charms.
Alongside such welcome recordings as those by My Darling Clementine Danny & The Champions of the World are underlining the fact that the cross-fertilisation of musical roots can grow to fruition pretty much anywhere in the world if the intentions of those making the music are honest and true to themselves.
Johnny Fritz 'Dad Country' - Loose
Formerly Johnny Corndawg who brought us Down On The Bikini Line an album that some thought was a send-up but Dad Country shows that Mr Fritz was in fact pointing us in the direction of the kind of old-school country that many a Dad would understand. Often that music had a cornball charm but it also had a pathos and true-to-life setting that reflected the lives of the people who listened to that music.
Things change though and those who have the final say have decided that country music now is perhaps more about something completely different. The life experiences of privileged teenagers perhaps?
Johnny Fritz however address such concerns as Have You Ever WantedDie?, Wrong Crowd, Suck In Your Gut or Trash Day - about forgetting to take the trash out. These Fritz written songs have a degree of humour inherent in their make-up but don't write a song about wanted to die without considering the darker side of life and living. Some like Holy Water are more wanting and wanton.
His concerns also look at society's inextricable layers and cliques on Wrong Crowd or Social Climbers. That all these songs are delivered in Fritz's slightly nasal country voice and backed by his on-form band make them sound good and bar-room ready. Taylor Goldsmith, who co-produced the album with Fritz, plays some fine guitar as does Spenser Cullum, Jr on pedal steel and Joshua Hedley adds fiddle to the tracks recorded in Nashville. The remaining tracks were recorded in California and overall they marry together well.
Jonny Kaplan & The Lazy Stars 'Sparkle And Shine' - Reckless Grace
A part of the Americana scene in California Jonny Kaplan's fourth album is a mix of rock (Rolling Stones, Tom Petty) and country (Gram Parsons). Kaplan has produced the album and assembled a strong crew of supportive guest musicians in such musicians as keyboardist Adam McDougall (Black Crowes), Brad Smith (Blind Melon), alongside actual Lazy Stars Rami Jaffee on keyboards and guitarist Dan Wistrom. Another guest on a number of tracks is pedal steel stalwart Chris Lawrence who brings that a touch more of a country flavour to a number of the songs. Actress Daryl Hannah is also on hand to add some backing vocals.
The album opens in rockin' style with the title track before taking a more bluesy route with Annalee Meets The Scorpion with B3 and resonator guitar and Kaplan's distorted vocal adding to the grit. That mood lights a little with Helena's Friend, a song that sounds a little like recent Elliot Murphy. There is a lot of diversity with the songs. The tempos change and Kaplan's song explore the emotions of relationships. Daryl Hannah joins Kaplan on the sage harbour offered in When Your Down. In more rootsy mode The Child Is Gone balances the acoustic guitar, B3 and pedal steel over the slow paced rhythm on a song of reaching a level of pain.
When he brings things down to the level of guitar and voice (with strings) Kaplan further extends the capabilities of his range with Sweet Magnolia Flower. Hannah's second stint at the vocal microphone is on Charlie Robison's Always. A good time romp with guitar and piano giving it a Faces' feel. He finishes the set with Pretty Little Nose, a song that starts with guitar and steel guitar and slowly builds to a mediative reflection on loving someone close who may at times cause you pause to consider the times that they might let you down.
Dave Van Ronk 'Down In Washington Square' - Smithsonian Folkways
With the Coen Brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis focusing on the 60's folk scene in New York's Greenwich Village this compilation is a timely release. Van Rock, for many, epitomises the generic folk singer and over the 54 tracks featured here legitimise that description to a degree though it was a label he himself didn't see. He felt he was using a traditional fingerpicking style to play a songs he heard from a variety of sources - mostly from the 20s and 30s. More often than not it is voice and guitar that draw you into the heart of these songs. Though on occasion he gathers voices around him to deliver a hearty sea-shanty such as Leave Her, Johnny or Santy Anno. Otherwise the songs are a mix of originals and traditional blues material like Willie Dixon's Hootchie Kootchie Man, or the gospel of his friend and mentor Rev. Gary Davis' Oh Lord, Search My Heart.
Other interpretations include Ain't No Grave Can Hold My Body Down, Stackalee, In The Pines and House Of The Rising Son (which was then "borrowed" by Bob Dylan whose recording was then covered by The Animals). The blues was something he understood and such original songs as Standing My My Window and If You Leave Me, Pretty Mama make that clear. Van Ronk never strayed far from his path. There was no electric conversion that may have brought him to a bigger audience. Instead he concentrated on his arrangements of a wide variety of source material that included everything from traditional tunes to Bob Dylan.
This collection includes 16 previously unreleased recordings and is annotated well giving details of the songs and their recording as well as sleeve notes from archivist Jeff Place and an essay by Andrea Vuocolo, his widow. All in all it is a worthy and well compiled and produced package to the man known as the Mayor of MacDougal Street who never had the mainstream recognition that many of his contemporaries achieved but who remained true to his vision and was a supreme singer, guitarist and writer and this 3 CD set makes he music readily available to many who may have only heard his name in passing. It is testament to a talent who, though he is no longer with us, left behind a legacy that will stand the test of any time.
Robbie Fulks 'Gone Away Backward' - Bloodshot
Back with the label he first worked with as an insurgent country artist Robbie Fulks latest album finds him in a relatively acoustic mode. Producer Steve Albini has kept the sound direct and raw. The songs straddle a country/bluegrass mode, although both styles of songs are delivered in a similar fashion and Fulks voice and delivery holds it all together. The songs are tales of those facing the struggles that life and love has thrown at them in this current century and in earlier times.
I'll Trade You Money For Wine, has a urgent bluegrass feel and the title sums up its overall theme. The realisation that how some of life's cards may fall and can dictate the way life pans out is expressed in the effective forthrightness of Where I Fell. That's Where I'm From is back to bluegrass and song that lauds the spirit of song (and other simple opportunites) over more monetary aspirations. It is the album's longest song at over 6 minuets but holds attention throughout. That theme is also echoed in That's Where I'm From, which details some of the values that have shaped him in his current outlook. When You Get To The Bottom has a more country feel though the delivery is still very much acoustic with a plaintive fiddle motif and some tight harmony singing.
There are a couple of instrumentals featured in Snake Charman's Tune, a melancholic fiddle lament, while Pacific Slope has a more some fast picked guitar that gives the song a more vibrant energy. The album closes with some songs that again reinforce the somewhat dark and foreboding image on the album's cover Sometimes The Grass Really Is Greener finds Fulks ruminating on the choices he made during his career and where he feels his heart truly lies. The more gentle understanding of Guess I Got It Wrong shows an writer maturing and learning from all that has occurred in his life to date. The final tracks The Many Disguises Of God and Rose Of The Summer have a more traditional folk song elements that makes them feel more timeless and indeed could well have been played at any folk festival in the 60s.
It is good to have Robbie Fulks back and with a label more sympathetic to his needs. However at this point he may well be playing to those who are aware of him and have followed him from his first album to this point, rather than being able to break through to a broader audience. He has not gone away even if he is looking backward which is something his fans can look forward to.
Reviews by Paul McGee
Billy Currington 'We Are Tonight' - Humphead
This country music artist has released four previous recordings and has had seven number one singles, including the song Hey Girl which is the first cut on this new release. Born in Savannah, Georgia, he has come a long way in a short space of time, witnessed here by the presence of Willie Nelson on the excellent Hard To Be A Hippie.
Wingman is a fun song about guys on the town and their plans to hit the jackpot. One Way Ticket is straight out of the Jimmy Buffet songbook and the easy groove of 23 Degrees and South is a well thought out arrangement that speaks of love and the dreams of youth.
Despite three different producers across the ten songs here and a host of different musicians, it is to his credit that the parts add up to a cohesive whole. Most of the songs slip easily into each other and the bright sound keeps the listener engaged at all times. Banana Pancakes and Hallelujah close the record in fine style and turn in a very steady performance from this country artist with a fast growing reputation. Dare I say Tim McGraw with a twist..? And no big hat either.
Alabama 'Alabama & Friends' - Humphead
Alabama are an American band who took their name from their home State who won a huge reputation in the arenas of country music and southern rock. The band was founded in 1969 by Randy Owen (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), and his cousin Teddy Gentry (bass guitar, background vocals), plus Jeff Cook (lead guitar, fiddle, keyboards).
Alabama is often credited with originally bringing country music bands into the mainstream and paving the way for the success of today's top country groups. This band has experienced unprecedented success and has over 30 number one country records on the Billboard Magazine charts.
They have also sold over 75 million albums, making them one of the world's best-selling bands of all time.
With a massive back catalogue, it is impossible to pick the ultimate song selection for a greatest hits collection. So, Alabama do the next best thing in asking nine different performers to interpret some of their most widely loved songs. We get to hear Rascal Flats, Kenny Chesney and Trisha Yearwood in quick order and many of the songs are kept close to the original arrangements. Some new country talent is also given free reign with the appearance of Jason Aldean and Florida Georgia Line.
Alabama also include two new songs in That’s How We Were Raised and All American both of which sit comfortably with the more famous tried and tested songs. The final song is a Jamey Johnson take on the hit My Home’s in Alabama and it proves to be a fitting conclusion to a record that celebrates everything that is good about country music and points an arrow at the past to realise just where country rock was born. A very timely and welcome release.
Melody Walker & Jacob Groopman 'We Made It Home'
Guitars, banjos and mandolin exclusively create the song arrangements on this release. Twelve songs played across a stripped down production, that highlights the fine playing and singing of both musicians.
This duo has been two short years in existence. This is their first release, although both musicians come from backgrounds that included various band and solo incarnations, in addition to playing together as part of the bluegrass band Front Country.
Produced by Laurie Lewis, country and bluegrass fuse together in a potent mix of harmony vocals and sensitive playing. Black Grace is a song that has won Melody Walker recognition and a first place in gospel song-writing circles. “Heaven is right here, if you’re doin’ it right” reflects the lyric and this could be taken as a guide for the confused and vulnerable in search of the celestial map.
We are given fine cover versions of Paul Simon’s Graceland and Peter Rowan’s Mississippi Moon and Melody writes a further six songs, including the excellent O Heartbreaker which is a plea to love ourselves first before we can hope to find the love of another.
Billy the Chimp is a true story about a circus boxing performer who ‘never moved back to Africa’ while Yellow Haired Girl, to quote the liner notes, is a meditation on the simultaneous worship and exploitation of pretty women around the world; an arresting song with body and hand percussion used to great effect.
This is a fine collection of songs and recommended to lovers of acoustic collaboration.
Ashleigh Flynn 'A Million Stars' - Home Perm
Originally from Kentucky, Ashleigh Flynn has released three previous records and I will wager that her name hints at a little Irish blood somewhere in the family line. This new release includes songs that were written in tribute to unnamed female heroes that history has overlooked. The playing is excellent throughout as we are treated to tales of pioneering women.
Chris Funk of the Decemberists is producer on the record, in addition to contributing as a musician across a fine array of musical instruments with banjos, trumpets, fiddles, clarinets and any other instrument you could name in the next 20 seconds. The song arrangements add to a feeling of celebration to the music and the twelve songs are very engaging.
Prohibition Rose is a real treat with its New Orleans swing and easy jazz feel. Dirty Hands and Dirty Feet is a dip into banjo and fiddle stomp music, while The West Was Won is a tribute to Calamity Jane.
There is some fine pedal steel guitar underpinning the song Runnin’ with the cautionary message; “Walk the line searching for the limit, watch for signs that won’t come unless you’re willing…”
Michael Mattice 'Comin’ Home'
In the liner notes, Michael Mattice dedicates this recording of ten songs to the purchaser and asks that we follow our dreams, listen to our hearts and never give up. This could well be a summary of the life of a musician who is trying to be heard above the endless parade of talent across many crowded stages.
This talented musician has a qualification in music from the Berklee College of Music in Boston and this collection represents his debut release as a guitarist and singer-songwriter. He has a pleasant voice and his musical virtuosity extends to playing all instruments across the ten songs.
With only acoustic guitar and bass accompaniment throughout, we are asked to ignore the inevitable feeling of repetition and focus on the playing quality to keeps matters from becoming somewhat predictable.
Songs of hope and words of encouragement abound and this young artist gives thanks to the World and his life journey thus far. ‘No I don’t ask why, ‘cause how could I deny, the workings of the great mother in the sky’.
Perhaps God is female after all?
Jim White 'Where It Hits You' - Loose
This is the seventh release from an independent, idividualistic song-smith from Pensacola in Florida. Mentored in his early musical days by David Byrne, his debut of country songs appeared in 1997 titled Wrong Eyed Jesus. This went on to spawn a movie of the same title and a soundtrack release that included a variety of different musical influences and styles. Having gained the reputation as an eclectic artist, his recordings include appearances of diverse guest artists such as Aimee Mann, Barenaked Ladies, Bill Frisell, to name a few.
His interests are wide and Jim collaborates with numerous other artists in projects of artistic, journalistic, media and musical direction and influence. He is a very literary writer and full of unique lyrical musings in his written word vignettes. He sings in a hushed and melodic voice that is both warm and welcoming. The playing on this recording is beautifully restrained and varied across the eleven songs with the Tom Waits influence of the Infinite Mind groove and the laid back alt-country feel of What Rocks Will Never Know adding to the sad reflective soundscape of Epilogue To A Marriage.
The joy of Sunday’s Refrain is replaced by the haunting arrangement of The Way Of Alone and we are taken into different mind-sets as Jim White reflects upon life and relationships. Both challenging and engaging, this recording is all that you could wish for in a set of songs that run smoothly together and call to you from a quiet space in your consciousness.
Kimmie Rhodes 'Covers' - Sunbird
When you can boast the company and respect of Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Townes van Zandt, Emmylou Harris, Wynonna Judd and Trisha Yearwood you don’t need to prove anything to anybody when it comes to penning a song. Kimmie has stood tall among her peers for numerous years now and Willie Nelson once dubbed her an ‘undiscovered superstar’.
Born in Lubbock Texas, this country music great moved to Austin in the late 1970’s and released her first recording in 1981. Jumping 32 years, we now find Kimmie releasing her 15th recording and for one as feted as her in terms of song-writing over the intervening years; we are given a record of cover versions.
This selection of 15 tracks has been the fulfilment of a career-long dream to record a complete collection of songs written by other artists. We get an interesting mix and an insight into the songs that have inspired Kimmie over the years.
The problem in recording a covers album is that everybody listens with the memory of the original song and compares the cover version against it. By this very process, an artist can fall a long way and lose the listener. Some of the songs are brave attempts to bring a new spin to an old favourite, while other selections could be said to be best left alone.
After all, how do you improve on what is already deemed to be perfection? The song interpretations here contain some are obvious fits, while others may take a little bit of time.
We get two Lennon/McCartney songs, two Bob Dylan songs, Jagger/Richards, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Mark Knopfler and Rodney Crowell songs; all added to the mix of what is undoubtedly a recording of high quality.
It is the unusual selections that stand out most for me. Georgia Lee, written by Tom Waits and his wife, Kathleen Brennan is a standout interpretation and brings new colour to the idiosyncratic style of the original artist. Stuck in a Moment by Bono is less successful and yet the slow tempo gives the simple arrangement an added depth on repeated listenings.
Kimmie lost her husband, Joe Gracey, in 2011 and this is her first recording following such a sad event. Joe was an instrumental figure in the development of the country music scene in Texas and was a collaborator, bass player and soul mate to Kimmie since the beginning of her journey. I cannot help but hear his memory in many of the vocal performances here and the Rodney Crowell Adam’s Song is particularly affecting and a standout moment.
The playing and song arrangements are excellent throughout and the stellar line up of musicians is ably guided by Gabriel Rhodes, both son and producer, in addition to playing guitar, keyboards, mandolin and accordion. A very gifted musician and a talented producer; I know that Joe would have been proud of the results on this fine collection.
Kimmie has indeed earned the right to record this guilty pleasure and to indulge herself a little. A worthy addition to her impressive catalogue of music and recommended to all country music lovers who enjoy real quality. Good on you girl.
Peter Bruntnell 'Retrospective' - Loose Music
This release is an essential purchase for any serious collector who values both insightful writing and melody laden song arrangements.
The creative talent on display across this impressive 17 song collection, both challenges and enthrals with songs of self- reflection, love lost, disillusionment, broken dreams, sympathy and understanding. Throw in some broken relationships, the vagaries of life, fate, circumstance; some blue skies, optimism and hedonism, plus much more in between.
Peter Bruntnell has been producing quality music for many years now and while never breaking through to commercial success, his reputation within the music industry is firmly established as a recognised and respected talent. The old ‘writer’s writer’ reputation does not pay the bills alas and I have often wondered why this exceptional talent has never seen his vignettes of real life picked up for film soundtracks – he is eminently qualified on all fronts.
We are treated to a beautiful vocal delivery, both fragile and sweet, on top of hooks and harmonies that compel you to stop and listen. The song arrangements, taken from eight separate releases & spanning sixteen years,, drive everything with a talent that echoes balance, experience, maturity, perspective and a wistful knowledge of the fragility in relationships between people.
Witness 25 Reasons and the lonely imagery of ‘There’s a deepening low, coming for me off the coast’. He also has the distinction of fitting in a refrain for the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in Shot from a spring, a song that unfolds with a lovely, languid arrangement and sweeping melody.
Peter Bruntnell has had a close connection with writing partner Bill Ritchie for some time and their song lyrics can be interpreted on different levels. Handful of Stars is a song about understanding the value of friendship and reaching out to a friend in need ‘Even if I gave you a handful of stars, you would still be here, deep at the bar’.
The yearning of I Want You visits a sense of isolation in matters of the heart while Here come the swells touches on the greed of developers and local politicians to turn a buck at every opportunity,
The gorgeous Played Out, featuring Rumer on vocals, ends the selection with a wistful look back in time at a previous relationship. With beautiful lines like ‘Always say that you are better for things that you go through; but I still have nothing to show for you’ showcasing the craft of song-writing in such subtle and worldly terms.
‘When you can’t tell that you are the key in the lock of an open door, you just need someone to walk through for’ – beautiful..! Peter Bruntnell has had his key in the lock for many years and I for one look forward to his eventual acceptance into the spotlight of premier song-writers. The best release of 2013 for me by some distance
Reviews by Stephen Rapid
D.B. Rielly 'Cross My Heart & Hope To Die' - Shut Up & Play
Now this is a cracker, a varied and powerful follow up to his debut release Love Potions & Snake Oil. The album opens with the Telecaster twang of Rielly's version of the Bob Seger song about the lonesome nature of the touring musician's life. Using a tight band that includes Hiromasa Suzuki on guitar, Bruce Gordon on bass and Rohin Khemani on drums. The second track Wrapped Around Your Little Finger finds Rielly uses his fingers on accordion and rubboard on a cajun-inspired song that is a direct reference to his last album. To show the diversity of the songs here Some Day, by way of contrast, is a Chris Isaac/Roy Orbison style ballad about getting over heartbreak.
It might surprise that D.B. Rielly is living in New York where there are not a great many roots artists at work. But where ever he chooses to base himself Rielly is deserving of praise from fans and respect from his peers. He possess a strong, dependable and adaptable voice that is ideally suited to the delivery of these songs.
On some like Come Hell Or High Water or Your Doggin' Fool the songs are stripped back to just Rielly's voice, and simple, effective instrumentation such as guitar, banjo or accordion. Then a song like Moving Mountains aims for a bigger sound and has the rhythm section laying down a beat under Rielly's guitar, banjo and B3 on a song of faith and determination.
It's Gonna Be Me has a dirty edge and some upfront electric slide guitar over Khemani's multiple percussion bedrock. Again another direction but one that sits well with the other songs. I sometimes read reviews that suggest and artist may be too diverse for their own good and should have maybe concentrated on a particular direction. Not so here, here it adds the spice that makes the album special. Rielly's music often deals with darker times but is not without humour or understanding of the how's and why's of any given situation and is therefore universal in its tone and language.
Offering yet another perspective is the closing song Fíorchroí (True Heart), it is a song of loss - a lament for a departed soul mate. It is given a Celtic heart by the use of accordion and penny whistle giving which gives it a reflective end to what is a largely up-beat and effective album that further underscores D. B. Reilly's worth as a compelling roots artist - cross my heart and hope to die (peacefully).
Rick Shea 'Sweet Bernardine' - Tres Pescadores
With a new Rick Shea album you always know you're in for some great music. Shea has a distinctive lived-in voice that immediately draws you with its sense of a man who has experience of life as it is lived from the bottom up. He is also a storyteller who takes you on a ride on the Mexicali Train on to stay at the Mariachi Hotel. He tells us about Gregory Ray DeFord and John Shea From Kenmare in his tales of times past. Recorded by Shea and Paul Du Gré at studios in California this is music that comes from a long tradition of roots music from that State. One maybe best know for such country/rock icons as Gram Parsons, but has a history that long predates, and indeed follows, Parsons involvement with his Cosmic American Music.
The band is a tight unit that allows the rhythm section to sit back and add a relaxed groove behind a predominantly acoustic lead and rhythm guitar setting. But as the occasion demands he brings his undoubted skill on electric and pedal steel to the fore. He also plays dobro and mandolin to add additional colour to the sound. He is joined by West Coast veterans Don Heffington on drums and Skip Edwards on accordion alongside a variety of companions on bass, keyboards and fiddle. In Nicole Gordon he has a excellent harmony vocalist especially on the tale of a man forced into outlaw territory by adverses circumstances Gregory Ray DeFord as well as on the funky Shake It Little Sugaree and other tracks. These two song alone would highlight the diverse nature of Shea's writing.
Then there's a version of Hank Williams Snr's Honky Tonk Blues - a stripped down and bluesy take on the song and one of the better version of the song apart from the original. Another cover is the live acoustic duet with Mary McCaslin on Roy Acuff's Streamline Cannonball. This closes the album with another song about a train, fittingly enough, as the aforementioned Mexicali Train opened the album. There is no doubting the subtle skill and sense of history that Rick Shea brings to his music. He understand the roots and branches of the music that has always found ways to grow in the environs of California and, indeed, still thrives there.
If you're not familiar with the music of Rick Shea then Sweet Bernardine is a good place to start and you can then discover his extensive back catalogue of finely honed music. Rick Shea has played with Dave Alvin and others and has also served as producer for an number of artists and thus understands what it takes to make good, lasting music. Exactly what he is doing here.