The Dandy Horses 'Self-Titled' - Self Release

What a joy to discover such vibrant and exciting new music. This Belfast based band is five musicians with multi-talented skills across a variety of acoustic instruments.  Initially comprised of Joanne Cassidy (vocals, guitar, tin whistle, flute, banjo, harp) Noeleen Cosgrove (vocals, guitar,  fiddle, banjo) and  Sean Quinn (vocals, bouzouki, mandolin, banjo) the Dandy Horses took the decision to expand in late 2013.

With the addition of Rodney McKinney on double bass and Marty Malone on drums and percussion, their melodic, acoustic sound was given greater colour and the song arrangements on this five track EP benefit greatly. Comparisons to bands such as The Dixie Chicks and The Corrs are inevitable with the strong vocals of Noeleen Cosgrove standing out on four of the songs.

The final song, My Heart Goes Boom, sung by Sean Quinn is a merry, up-tempo workout and Driving Towards Blue Skies is a fine track with a positive uplifting message to look forward with optimism. Fighting Fires is a gentle song that cautions against living with fear and frustration and reflects that "you can’t fight every little fire". The production is very strong with fiddle, flute, harp and whistle being mixed into an appealing blend of Irish folk and American country influences. Highly recommended.

Bruce Joseph 'Look Out' - Self Release

Bruce Joseph, the Belfast based singer songwriter, has been unknown to me until recently.  I was given his debut release, which dates back to 2011, with a view to expanding his listening audience and awareness factor. There has been a subsequent EP in 2012 and a more recent single, which features the talents of Ruth Trimble.

Joseph channels the feelings of everyman in his gentle songs. There are themes of commitment, regret, wistful longing and knowing remorse. The song arrangements are beautifully played by a small group of musicians who adopt an acoustic flavoured ‘less is more’ approach. The sensitive playing complements the songs perfectly and the overall feeling is one of sweet vignettes, sung with warmth and highlighting some lovely harmony singing from Una MCann.

There is a new release due later this year and the recent single Fallen Sun features a fine video on You Tube which is well worth checking out.

Whether singing about leaving or remaining in a relationship, there is no doubt that Bruce Joseph is a very talented song-writer and the title of the debut release, Look Out is very apt. He is certainly a rising talent to watch.

Hidden Highways 'Old Hearts Reborn' - Out On A Limb Records

Defined as a quiet, Americana influenced folk duo; this Dublin-based pairing of Carol Anne McGowan and Tim V Smyth make understated, gentle music. The song arrangements are reflective and hint of times gone by when the revivalist influences of porch songs were passed down from one rural generation to the next.

There is plenty to admire here and the sweet sound across all ten tracks is a very pleasant listening experience. Pedal steel, violin and double bass merge with various guitar strums to create an atmosphere that soothes and reassures the listener that all is OK in the world after all. Lullaby songs for the lost and the lonely

Paul Tully 'Lyric for the Lost' - Self Release

This debut EP from Strabane singer-songwriter Paul Tully highlights the fine talent that is alive and well in Northern Ireland these days.  Holding the torch for past greats is never easy but there is a rich well of talent recently springing forth, with the likes of Ruth Trimble, Bruce Joseph and The Dandy Horses.

Paul Tully is perhaps the best example of this new talent with a collection of mature, fully realised songs that are produced by Peter Doherty in a style that shows both insight and sensitivity to the artist. Whether writing about optimism for the future (Go Your Way) or penning a lullaby for adults (Ways of the World), Paul Tully hits it just right with fine arrangements and a sensitive sound.

Stop is a track that pleads for understanding in a relationship and highlights the fine vocals of Paul along with beautiful cello and harmony vocals from Bridgeen MacManus.I Will Wait For You speaks of a parting couple who try to secure their fragile relationship and contains the lines “Shouldn’t fall apart so easily; shouldn’t fall in love so easily.”

Paul Tully is truly fine stuff and a real talent to celebrate. 

Sara Crockett 'Better Be Gone' - Self Release

A very fine new singer song-writer from Belfast, Sara Crockett comes jumping out of the speakers with a Nashville groove in Better Be Gone and the warning of trouble ahead to a cheating lover.

This five track release is very impressive and the production by Tre Sheppard is right on the money. Some fine playing across a driving drum beat, pedal steel and fiddle; all topped off by a confident vocal performance from Sara who sings with attitude and power. With this promising debut Sara certainly deserves a seat at the table and is someone to look out for.

Jonny Two Bags 'Salvation Town' – Isotone

Jonny Wickersham is a member of the current incarnation of Social Distortion, and like founder and fellow guitarist Mike Ness, he shares a love of roots-rock music along with his punk sensibilities. Under his stage name of Jonny Two Bags, Wickersham has released this solo album which is full of captivating songwriting and thoughtful singing.

With co-producer David Kelish Wickersham has gathered a striking collection of musicians to join him on his journey to Salvation Town. Included are members of Social Distortion and luminaries such as Jackson Browne who adds harmony vocals on There You Stand Alone. Browne sideman, veteran guitarist David Lindley adds his guitar and fiddle skills to some tracks and Grez Leisz adds  steel and slide guitar. Also present is Elvis Costello’s drummer Pete Thomas with Joel Guzman who plays some atmospheric accordion, an instrument that sets the tone for a lot of the album and gives a heated border feel to songs like Clay Wheels and Avenues. Steve Berlin and David Hidalgo from Los Lobos bring their distinctive tone to the album which in many ways has its roots in the LA scene of the Eighties when bands like Los Lobos, X, The Blasters and Rank & File shared stages.

The album is not a replay of that era, but picks the spirit that saw bands absorb a lot of  influences and channel them into something new that had enormous vitality. This is what Jonny Two Bags has done here and done it in some style. His songs deal with the vernacular of relationships that can lead to being alone or just trying to find your way in the world or looking at the polar opposites that pull your life in different directions, as with album opener One Foot In The Gutter, a co-write with Pete Thomas.

There is a muscular mien to much of the music but there are moments that have a softer edge and show Wickersham’s versatility as a vocalist. Alone Tonight is one such evocative moment on what is a rewarding and rejuvenating record. Salvation Town should find favour with those who enjoyed Mike Ness’ two solo albums and who like their roots music to be played by someone who wants to deliver their best means of gaining some salvation - musically at least!

The Secret Sisters 'Put Your Needle Down' - Republic/Universal

Your response to this long delayed second album will depend on whether you’re a fan of the stripped down duo live with just their two voices and one guitar,  or if you’re a fan of the production work of T-Bone Burnett. Burnett was the executive producer of the sister’s debut album which was a relatively restrained affair of mostly covers songs that didn’t diverge a great deal from sources. Here the duo are surrounded by many different sonic layers, with lots of percussion and guitars behind a high quotient of self or co-written songs.

Rattle My Bones lives up to its title, but the music settles down for the next song Iuka, written by Laura and Lydia with Dan Wilson. Elsewhere they co-write with seasoned writers Gordie Sampson, Brandi Carlile and Angelo Petraglia , also adding additional lyrics to Dirty Lie, written by Bob Dylan , but unfinished until now. This has a real atmosphere pertaining to the telling of untruths, tarnished ones at that.

Some of Burnett’s usual crew are present such as guitarist Marc Ribot, who is joined on some down-home dirty guitar by Gurf Morlix. T-Bone hits the strings too on several songs over a robust rhythmic base from (though not exclusively) drummer Jay Bellerose and bassist Zachary Dawes. Once you acquaint yourself with this more complex musical setting, the sister’s harmonies slowly emerge from the backing to firmly establish themselves as a key factor in the overall sound. When the music is less forceful the girls deliver some great vocals, as on Let There be Lonely, one of their co-writes, as is the more 50s oriented sound of Black and Blue. That era is also referred to on Boudleaux Bryant’s Lonely Island which has a nice string arrangement in the background of its tropical-tinged scene setting.

The album overall is, in truth, a logical progression for the sisters as developing writers and with some living to take into account which brings their music to something new. Another co-write is the kiss-off karma of Good Luck, Good Night, Goodbye, which is a highlight here with their close harmonies perfectly delivering the punchline. The album closes with the up-tempo spiritual song River Jordan, which was part of their live set the last time they played here.

It is a good note on which to close a strong album which may please all their fans, but it is likely to bring some new ones to the fold. One can only hope there won’t be such a delay with the next record. It will be interesting to see where the sisters take their music if they are left to their own devices. But for now put the needle down anywhere on this album and enjoy.

Petunia 'Inside of You' - Trapline

A new album by Petunia, the charismatic Canadian country celebrant, is always something to look forward to. This time out he takes the sole album billing, though his band the Vipers are present among a sterling line-up of musicians. Vipers Jimmy Roy on lap steel and guitarist Stephen Nikleva are joined by some of Vancouver’s finest, including Paul Rigby (who played with Petunia on his debut album), JP Carter on trumpet, Kathleen Nisbet on violin and Frank Fairfield on a number of vintage styled instruments and  pump organ. All add much to the flavouring of these songs which incorporate elements of traditional country, rockabilly, swing, blues, folk and jazz to create something both original and special.

 

The album opens with the express rhythmic twang of Runaway Freight Train Heart. It begins a journey over twelve tracks that take in a wide variety of musical stops. All are centred around Petunia’s inventive writing and idiosyncratic vocal style. There’s  jazz trumpet on Forgotten Melody. The paean to two wheel travel Bicycle Song is a tight song with lap steel and guitar. More stripped back again is Holy Budge Winters which is just acoustic with steel, violin and pump organ on the strange tale of Budge. It is a perfect example of Petunia’s individual and idiosyncratic vocal delivery that makes him immediately identifiable and special.

Further down the line there is a love song in Lucille and the intimate title track that is just Petunia and his acoustic guitar which is more than enough to give the song its heart. Things kick up again with The One Thing with guitars and trumpet topping the focused rhythm section, which is solid throughout. Gunned Down is a sombre balled of imminent death delivered in a suitable musical setting. They Almost Had Me Believing is another song with attitude, while the album closes with Teardrops Rolling, a song that bookends the album with a twangy tone that relates back to the last album as well as to the opening track and to the idea of moving on. There is an additional unnamed track at the end of the album whose subject is difficult to define as it’s not sung in English but has a nice relaxed jazzy feel to it.

The songs are all credited to R. Fortugno, which is the name that can be found on Petunia’s legal documents, but his nom-de-plume Petunia suits him best. He certainly flowers on this album. He co-produced the album with Phil Sgriccia and it has a rich warm and diverse sound that is filled with quirky elements that are peculiar to Petunia. If you’re coming from the Rascal Flatts or even Garth Brooks perspective, then it’s likely that Petunia is not the one for you. But anyone who likes something a bit more intrinsically interesting, whose genesis is in the broad based music of earlier times, will find that  this music may take some time to get to know its inspirations and intentions, but then it will be inside of you too and have you coming back for more.

Bruce Robison/Kelly Willis 'Our Year' - Thirty Tigers

The Austin-based married couple are back with their second joint album. Both have released some excellent solo albums in the past,  but here combine their talents on an album that is warm and welcome. The opening song Departing Louisiana has some understated dobro under the voices on a song that talks of the draw that that particular state holds. Motor City Man is one that talks about the motor industry or lack of it and its effect on a working man. Carousel, written by Robison and Darden Smith, has a gentle touch with pedal steel and fiddle that is centred around the notion of impermanence of relationships on occasion. Willis wrote the next song Lonely For You with Paul Kennerley and it immediately takes you back to the early solo albums that Willis released With Kennerley’s Holly-esque overtones it’s an immediately likeable song. Robison takes the lead on the ballad Hanging On that features a nice string arrangement from producer Brad Jones, on a classic well sung song. 

T-Bone Burnett wrote Shake Yourself Loose on a heartbreak ballad, again underpinned by tear-filled steel guitar. Willis and Robison tackle the classic Tom T. Hall song Harper Valley PTA next, and while they don’t displace the original, Willis gives another vibrant vocal performance that makes this version fit the overall context of the album with a more down-home back porch feel than the original Jeannie C. Riley version of this small town melodrama about hypocrites. Waggoneer Monte Warden co-wrote Anywhere but Here with Robison, another song that talks of finding a better situation, a better place to live. I’ll go to My Grave Loving You is a harmony-laden duet that professes love at the highest level. The album closes with another cover; this time it sets the tone for a couple growing together and over coming adversity with This Will Be Our Year. 

Recorded in Nashville, the album features players of the calibre of Pete Finney and Geoff Queen on steel guitar, Eamon McLaughlin on strings,  John Ludwick on upright bass and Fred Eltringham on drums - but no lead guitar player,  something that gives the sound a softer edge overall. The acoustic guitar duties are handled by Robison, but as you’d expect, it is the two seasoned singers who are the spice here. This is a solidly old school, country style album. It not only serves as a solid album in its own right, but is a reminder of the great work that both artists have produced in the past and will continue to do in the future.

Massy Ferguson 'Victory & Ruins' - Spark and Shine

Naming themselves after the tractor producing company, albeit with a deliberate misspelling, seems to fit this down to earth hard working band. They’re a mix of heartland rock and roots music with touches of hard rock. All of which means there are no groundbreaking moves on display rather the music, like the band, works hard to be liked. It manages to do that with solid songwriting, singing and playing from the four-piece Washington-based band. The songs are all self-written and have echoes of a host of artists when you listen from Springsteen through the Drive-By Truckers - not a bad comparisons by any means.

On the country based number The Hard Way they are joined by fellow Washington artist Zoe Muth. Here singer and bassist Ethan Anderson shows his skill as a singer and the balance between the two make it a stand out song and album track. The track uses pedal steel, a sound which helps to emphasise its inherent country twang. The twang factor is also present on the up-tempo, harmonica fuelled Flexed-Arm Hang. Labour of Love is another up-tempo rock song that has some jangle to wave at you in Tom Petty fashion.

Massy Ferguson also show a more reflective side on Apartment Downtown, that has cello mixed with acoustic guitar and vocal harmonies to good effect. Yet it is undoubtedly their more energetic side that they are known for on this Johnny Sangster produced album. The pedal steel of Jason Kardong features again on the closing Bring Back Something, a song that has some sadness in the repeated chorus of a returning prodigal. But for some the most appropriate song may be the opening Hello!, a song that introduces you to the band’s energy and esprit.

This is the Seattle band’s fourth full-length album and they have settled into their solid groove and identity which has, doubtless, found them many fans in their home area. On the strength of this they will find fans much farther afield, as indeed that have already with gigs under their belt in such diverse places as Germany, Iceland and a couple of cities in Australia. What Massy Ferguson do is not about anything other than delivering their music to an appreciative audience - both recorded and in person. They are not likely to have dreams of international stardom, well maybe dreams, but they know the reality and what they do is make their best music. Victory & Ruins is testament that they have done just that.

John Fullbright 'Songs' - Blue Dirt

The latest album from Fullbright lives up to its title as the focus here is the writing, something at which he excels. As such, the overall feeling is of a singer/songwriter delivering the words in the most suitable way for each of the songs as Fullbright conceives them. He co-produced the album with Wes Sharon, so the way this album sound s is doubtless as was intended. I have heard comments that it reminded some listeners of Elton John and Billy Joel. These comments have some accuracy as you will not be thinking of Merle or Buck when you listen. 

What is immediately obvious is that John Fullbright knows how to craft a lyric and a melody. These are often played in simple guitar and voice, or voice and piano setting (Keeping Hope Alive, Write a Song and Very First Time). Other tracks, by way of contrast, When You’re Here and Never Cry Again have a full band. The latter is the most obviously roots oriented song musically. For the most part it is Fullbright and one or two players reaching the essence of the song. Songs is a likely source of material for other artists, who could expand on the arrangements here to good effect. However repeated play brings home the songs’ honesty and essential hopefulness. The accompanying lyric booklet gives easy access to the words, but Fullbright’s lyrics are clearly sung and leave you understanding what the songs are about.

Write a Song quietly tells the listener to “write a song about a song”. This is something that Fullbright knows well and his words and melodies are never too complex. The meanings are clear and for that reason you find an affinity with them and in many ways that is what the best sings do. One line that stuck with me was “I met love, love met me and we agreed to disagree”, from the song Going Home; it simply captured the fleeting nature of many a relationship. There is something of the poetic about his writing but that’s without the big “p”, rather he understates these songs with an economical sparseness that is lets the songs breathe.

Songs will however not make everyone’s playlist as it doesn’t exude falseness as many of the songs that reach the popular conscious these days do. But for others the voice, playing and writing on offer here offers a respite of thoughtfulness that gets down to the heart of what the songwriting craft is all about.

Missy Werner 'Turn This Heart Around' - Self Release

I first heard of Missy Werner when I signed up to present my radio show (Lonesome Highway: www.worldwidebluegrass.com) a few years back and have been a big fan of hers ever since. Turn This Heart Around is the third Missy album in my collection and it’s fully loaded and chock full of bluegrass beauties. Not the hard driving banjo driven barnstormers that the big boys get up to, but more your gentle easy listening kind that you reach for when you just want to listen and chill out. 

The CD includes songs from some of the best writers out there starting with Ashby Frank and drifting through a few of my favourite writers like Paula Breedlove, Eric Gibson, Larry Cordle before finishing with Carter Stanley. There’s a very  distinctive Randall Hylton song and producer Jon Weisberger gets a few mentions. In fact all the writers are top class and Missy manages to do them all more than justice.

Gretchen Peters’ Main Street is a perfect track to showcase Missy’s fine voice and Hylton’s Rough Edges is a great tribute to the late lamented songwriting superstar, Eric Gibsons Rocks In The River and Carter Stanley’s I Got Wise set the bluegrass bar as high as it needs to go.

Cahalen Morrison & Eli West 'I’ll Swing My Hammer With Both My Hands' - Self Release

Holding the familiar woodcut artwork of this album in my hands immediately let me know I was listening to the follow up to their excellent 2012 release Our Lady Of The Tall Trees and the also familiar clawhammer banjo opening on Fiddlehead Fern again welcomed me into one of the classier releases of the year to date. Fourteen tracks that weave a musical journey through old time, bluegrass, mountain, and pure country are a joy to listen to and to regularly reach for on my radio shows.

The first five tracks are clawhammer driven and set the pace until Natural Thing to Do at number six drags you straight in to the honky-tonk with as good a country song as I’ve ever heard. After that the styles twist and turn including Lorene by The Louvin Brothers, a gospel Green Pastures and Voices of the Evening by Alice Gerrard before  finishing with a fine fiddle reprise of Fiddlehead Fern.

Most of the rest of the songs are written by Morrison. Eli West and Cahalen Morrison are very accomplished musicians and singers capable of commanding the respect of the likes of Dirk Powell, Bruce Molsky and Tim O’Brien who produced this fine album, so who am I to argue. And I’ll keep this one close to the front of my record drawer for easy access.

Betty and The Boy 'The Wreckage' - Self Release

The strangely named Betty and The Boy are a quirky Eugene, Oregon based five piece that put me to the pin of my collar trying to define them. In the end, after a few listens to the album,  I saw them as a mountainy band that got lost in the corridors of a long-closed theatre and reopened with a sort of Bertolt Brecht/Marat Sade feel to all the tunes;  strange but gripping. All songs are written by original band members Bettreena Jaeger and Josh Harvey,  with the other three in the gang providing the arrangements.

The songs and melodies are deep and sometimes dark but always telling stories while the instrumentation is strongly classical strings with just enough of an old timey edge to keep you hooked. The songs are a little samey in their delivery but somehow The Waltz and September Eight reached out to me and dragged me back for the necessary few listens that this album needs to really understand it.

Their imagery and style will appeal to the edgier side of the new acoustic fans and could well see them sitting in the same seats as The Handsome Family or the Be Good Tanyas. I’ve grown to like it and I think it’s worth the effort of a few listens to make an informed decision.

True North 'Elsebound' - Self Release

Simple statement: I really like this album. It caught me totally by surprise. There are 13 tracks, each of which draws you back to listen again to their simplicity and melody. Each little gem seems to be hand picked and polished to perfection. The instrumentation supports and lifts the songs from their already high vocal standard to a place that just snuggles in your ear and dishes out crystal clear lyrics in a style seldom heard these days.

Eight of the thirteen songs are written by Kristen Grainger, who delivers most of the vocals, and the rest of the singing duties are shared equally by her partner Dan Wetzel and the other  couple making up the Salem, Oregon based quartet, Dale and Suzanne Pearse Adkins.

All of the songs have a rhyming simplicity that would have done Harlan Howard proud and their strong storytelling nails your foot to the floor till each one lets you loose. They are true to bluegrass when needed but drift into old timey or swing or even a tinge of Celticy folk. It’s hard to pick out a winner from all of Kristen’s songs but The Poet and the Carpenter and Shiny Black Shoes for me really show her ability to blend words and suitable melody to suit the mood and style. But the the life-story in Be Here Now is a real lump in the throat masterpiece. The addition of Ruth Moody’s One Voice and Rattlin’ Bones from Shane Nicholson and Kasey Chambers shows just how easily Kristen’s songwriting sits with the best of the best.

The boys provide stunning flat-picked guitar and a host of appropriate mountainy stringed instruments that are slipped in almost unnoticed, yet tick the box every time. This is a band that I would pay to sit front row and still holler for more at the end. ‘Nuff Said.

Red Herring 'Live at Volver' - Self Release

Arthur Deighton, Joram Peeters and Loes Van Schaijk are a Dutch band that tip their combined hats at bluegrass and trad in a way the only European string bands can. Unrestricted by the genre police they drift through all our favourite acoustic styles on this 13 track studio-recorded ‘live’ album. It’s a worthy addition to their previous album Mountain Valley Sessions.

The sets starts with a surprising Siul A Run and then continues in Irish mode with The Kinsale Set and Pretty Fair Maid. Then we get Dolly’s Jolene, The Band’s The Weight, Tim O’Brien’s When There’s No One Else Around and Paul Brady’s Marriage Made In Heaven. And the rest of the album is equally live and lively and a real hint at what a great evening would be spent, pint in hand, at a festival or intimate pub venue with these guys.

Vocals are shared across the trio,  as are their instrumental duties. But the solo vocals from Van Schaijk are just a little bit special; she has a sparkling voice that suggests that maybe our trad unaccompanied solo singing may have been imported from points a little north of here. To wrap up, get this live recording and then reach for the previous CD and you will be well rewarded with a few hours of most pleasurable European string band listening.

Doug Ingoldsby 'I’ve Got a Picture' - Self Release

The rather naff cover hides a little treasure trove of well written, pleasantly sung and played singe- songwriter tracks that reminded me of my transition from folk club Irish trad through country rock and hard core country to my present resting place in bluegrass.

Hints of the band America or Batdorf & Rodney and a host of easy listening west coast sounds are neatly packed in this nine track self release from the man who is also known as The Vitamin Professor. To call this a vanity publication would be an injustice to a really quite enjoyable visit to a lost decade of simple guitar driven harmonies that soothe the ear and relax the mind. Again I enjoyed the listen ... but the cover !!! Ouch, it will probably lose a few sales along the way.

The Hillbenders 'Can You Hear Me' - Compass Records

This 2012 release came my way as a reminder of the fact that this very edgy bluegrass band is heading our way in 2015. They first came to my attention with their first album, Down To My Last Dollar, a few years back and they have featured regularly on my Lonesome Highway radio shows since then.

The Hillbenders are young, energetic band from Springfield, MO, and for me, were one of the first of the recent group of highly talented tradition-bending bluegrass bands to give me faith in the future of Mr Monroe’s chosen musical brand. Keeping one and a half feet firmly planted in bluegrass tradition they dip their toes in the very risky tent emptying waters of modern acoustic music. With a strong backbone of dobro and banjo they take each track to a different level of their idea of what today’s young people expect from today’s young bands. Guitar, mandolin and bass all played to a ridiculously high standard make this a stand-out album for me. 

Ten vocal tracks and two instrumentals  and a new version for Mick Hanly to add to his brimming collection of Past The Point Rescue more than fits the bill for me. They have also developed a very catch graphic style which again lifts them above the most of new bands treading the tour circuit these days. Finally having written eight of the twelve tracks I reckon The Hillbenders’ album deserves support while you prepare yourself for an interesting visit in 2015.