Reviews by Paul McGee

Sugar Brown 'Poor Lazarus' Self Release

The Blues is open to all styles of interpretation with different players bringing their own unique take on what is one of the oldest forms of human expression. Born in Ohio to a Japanese father and a Korean mother, Ken Chester Kawashima, stage name Sugar Brown, sounds like he just walked out of a southern cotton-field and sat, guitar in hand, on a front porch stoop to exorcise some personal demons.

These are fourteen tracks of wonderfully restrained playing, sparse accompaniment and a production that feels just timeless. All of the tracks were recorded live-off- the- floor using analog recording techniques and in addition to a number of striking original songs, this release contains a number of covers from RL Burnside (Goin’ Down South) to Willie Dixon (Weak Brain and Narrow Mind) and Tom Waits (Get Behind the Mule). There is also a Lewis Carroll poem interpretation, The Mad Gardener’s Song Parts 1 & 2, that is very special. 

This artist gathers some wonderfully gifted musicians to accompany his unique song arrangements and the harp playing of Bharath Rajakumar, rhythm guitarist/upright bassist Joolyah Narveson, drummer Art Maky, vibes/percussion Matt Phillips - all combine to give the recording an atmospheric, authentic, laid-back groove that stays long in the memory.

Po’ Lazarus was a folk song written in 1911 and revived in the early 1960’s by both Bob Dylan and Dave Van Ronk. Moved to revisit the song in the wake of the Missouri shooting of Michael Brown and give it a modern relevance, Sugar Brown has not only served the call for social equality but also involved us in a lasting testament to the reality of blues music from its roots to the way we live in society today. A superb work and well worth checking out. 

Kristina Stykos 'Horse Thief' Thunder Ridge

Living in Vermont and working from her Pepperbox studio, this talented artist is a music producer, recording engineer, songwriter, radio host and performer. Her recording studio is solar, wind and generator powered and fully off-grid. She is founder-owner of Thunder Ridge Records and has released upwards of 20 albums for her label. So when it comes to focusing her creative muse, Kristina Stykos has plenty of experience to call upon.

This is her sixth solo project and her American roots, folk influenced rural sensibilities are fully realised by her fine musicianship on various instruments such as acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, mandolin, keyboard and bass. Great words flow out of Kristina in a stream of consciousness way on songs like Me, Myself and Moi, Talk to Me and Let It Run, with its spoken word approach.

The 13 songs on Horse Thief examine love and aging together with the strength of living a singular life on the edge of questioning our human fragility. The isolation of rural living can be fuel to the fire for a sensitive artist and these songs, with titles such as It’s Over, Heart in the Wreckage, You’ll Never Love Me and point to the direction that challenges the desire for human connection .

Sounding like Lucinda Williams meets Patti Smith in her vocal delivery is no bad thing when it comes to the passion and conviction displayed in the vocal performance here. Mix in the groove of Ani DiFranco and you have a signpost as to what is on offer. The beautiful arrangement and solo playing on  As If Tears Could Say segues into the final track, Remembering, an instrumental that highlights the great musical talent on display here. This is music of depth and vision that comes highly recommended.

Caroline Aiken 'Broken Wings Heal' Self Release

Nietzsche said ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you strong’ and the true meaning of these words was never more evident on this 12 track release from Caroline Aiken. She has released 8 albums over a music career that has seen her develop into an artist of some renown in her home city of Atlanta, Georgia and beyond.

This new release examines the relationship between mother and daughter in close up, motivated by the sad tale of her own daughter, Sarah Page Dukes, who is currently serving 10 years in prison for armed robbery. Here is no holding back in the sentiment and honesty that is on display here and if there is to be a cathartic element to the artist bearing her soul to this extent, then it has been well earned.

Deeply personal songs such as Fragile, Razor Wire, Broken Wings Heal, Everything Can Change and Saving Grace give a sense of the anguish experienced by a parent who sees their child go astray but there is also a universal element to the songs that call out to everybody who has faced difficult challenges in life. The symbolism contained in the album’s artwork of a bird being released from a cage is key to the optimism that is at the heart of the project as the artist looks to the future.

Production duties are by John Keane, who has worked extensively with R.E.M., Indigo Girls and Widespread Panic among many others. He also plays a range of instruments quite superbly on this project and is the real glue that binds everything together. Joined by a list of excellent players, including Randall Bramblett on keys, piano and saxophone, Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls on vocals and acoustic guitar, Caroline Aiken delivers a powerful performance in her clear vocal and playing and places her talents among the best of contemporary folk singer-songwriters.

Reviews by Declan Culliton

The Whileaways ‘Saltwater Kisses’  Self Release

 The Whileaways comprises of Galway musicians Noriana Kennedy, Nicola Joyce and Noelie Mc Donnell. Kennedy and Mc Donnell had both previously recorded solo albums while Joyce sang and recorded with the folk group Grada. They combined their collective talents to record their critically acclaimed debut album Dear My Maker in 2013 to excellent reviews. Saltwater Kisses follows in a similar vein with eleven tracks, both Kennedy and Joyce have individually written four songs each and Mc Donnell three, all showcasing their exquisite three part harmonies.

By their own admission the songs are uncomplicated, delicate, intimate and easy listening with the lead vocal shared between the band members on the eleven tracks recorded on Saltwater Kisses. Very much a summer album, the breezy back porch Wake Up Sleepy Head works particularly well as does Family Well with hints towards Van Morrison in his more melodic moods. The albums strongest offering is possibly Fruit On The Vine sung by Nicola Joyce who also contributes Baritone Uke on this radio friendly song. 

The album was produced by Liam Caffrey and Eamon Brady in a lakeside house at Glencorrib near Headford Co.Galway. The listener may find the vocal sharing resulting in the album sounding a trifle disjointed but the quality of the vocals generally and the song writing should overcome any reservations.

The Blood Red Mountain Band ‘Far From Daylight’  Self Release

Delightful and refreshing debut album from Dublin five piece The Blood Red Mountain Band combining divine harmonies, fine musicianship and impressive song writing. The band consists of Mark Flynn (vocals and guitar), Sarah May Rogers (violin, strings and vocals), Alison Byrne (vocals), David Keegan on (drums and percussion) and Joeby Browne ( bass and vocals).

The album comprises twelve tracks, eleven written by band members together with a splendid cover of Maybelle Carter’s Fair and Tender Ladies. Their sound is a well-structured mix of folk, blues and country bringing to mind the dream like sound of Simone Felice’s Duke and The King on All The Times, I’ve Got You (On My Mind) and ‘Till The Wheels but also more than capable of moving up-tempo with the more rockier My Sweet Rose and Lucy Jackson (Don’t Break My Heart). The standout tracks are the haunting Trial and the beautiful cover of the aforementioned Fair and Tender Ladies.

The majority of the songs are delivered with duo or harmony vocals, not unsurprisingly as four of the band are credited as vocalists and enhanced throughout by some exquisite violin and strings by Sarah May Rogers. All in all a fine piece of work.

Hidden Treasures ‘Singer Songwriters From Home’ Hemifran 

The term singer songwriter originated from an album titled The Singer Songwriter Project released in 1965 and featuring the music of four obscure US artists, David Cohen, Dick Farina, Bruce Murdock and Patrick Sky. Prior to this recording solo artists who performed their own material were simply identified as folk singers or in some cases protest singers. 

Hidden Treasures commemorates the fiftieth anniversary since the release of The Singer Songwriter Project and aptly titled features four highly respected artists some of whom have been recording for decades but have remained somewhat under the radar. 

The artists in question are Greg Copeland, Keith Miles, Barry Oldman and Bob Cheevers and their varying styles contribute to what is a wonderful seventy minutes of roots music. Greg Copeland has been recording for many years and has co-written with Jackson Browne. Among the artists that have recorded Copeland’s songs are The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Peter, Paul and Mary. His 1982 release Revenge Will Come was produced by Jackson Browne and was followed over twenty five years later by the Greg Leisz produced Diana and James.

Nashville resident Keith Miles has recorded two albums, What It Was They Became (2006) and Beyond the Headlights (2009) both on the House of Trout label. His tracks for the Hidden Treasures album were recorded in Nashville by Poco member Jack Sundrud and Bill Halverson.

Barry Ollman recorded his debut album What’ll It Be in 2014 and features Graham Nash and E-Street Band bassist Garry W Tallent. Ollman recorded his contributions to Hidden Treasures in hometown Loveland, CO.

Austin resident since relocating from Nashville in 2008, Bob Cheevers was awarded the accolade of Singer Songwriter of The Year in 2011 for his album Tall Texas. Hardly an overnight success Tall Texas was Cheevers eleventh album but his first recorded in Austin whose music scene was more sympathetic to Cheevers style than that of Nashville.

The albums list of contributors is certainly impressive featuring Jackson Browne, John Fullbright, Bill Harverson, Greg Leisz, David Lindley, Spooner Oldham, Tim O’Brien, James Raymond, Patrick Sky, and Garry W Tallent among others.

The songs performed by Greg Copeland feature his relaxed spoken like singing style very much in keeping with that of Leonard Cohen, particularly of the song Mistaken for Dancing. Patrick Sky, one of the artists featured on the original 1965 album, plays uilleann pipes on the opening track by Copeland (Wait for Me).

Bob Cheevers contribution to the album include The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, possibly the stand out track on the album. Other Cheever’s songs Progress are delivered with his trademark vocal style, very much in the style of the Willie Nelson vibrato.

The inclusions by Barry Ollman, in particular Longtime Friend and Murmuration, are rooted in more commercial territory than the other artists work. Beautifully crafted with catchy hooks similar in sound to the work of Gary Louris.

Of all the four artists featured on the album Keith Miles is probably the most traditional in the singer songwriter genre. Uncomplicated songs such as Kerouac, Playing Your Guitar and a Cab Calloway sounding Ask Me Tomorrow are included. All have divergent styles yet a surprisingly coherent body of work that is well worth investigating.

Bettysoo ‘When We’re Gone’ Self Released

When We’re Gone is the seventh album released by Texas resident Korean-American Bettysoo. She has been recording for over a decade at this stage without unfortunately making the commercial break through that the quality of her output deserves. 

Similar to her earlier work, the album deals  primarily with tales of loss, desperation, loneliness, strive and break up. Very little of the upbeat for the listener but all beautifully crafted songs, often dominated by the silky cello playing of Brian Standefer who together with Bettyloo produced the album at his studio in Buda Texas. Other notable Texas musicians that appear on the album include Glenn Fukunage on bass, Dave Terry on drums, Will Sexton on guitar and Lloyd Maine’s who adds pedal steel on Last Night.

Bettysoo’s often fragile vocal is so well suited to her material. 100 Ways of Being Alone opens with lyrics that set the scene for much of what follows: It’s the brother that never writes anymore /The uncle you never heard mentioned before / The dad you didn’t know left when you were born / A mother who leaves her child behind the store. 

Much to enjoy on the album in particular standout tracks being 100 Ways Of Being Alone, The Things She Left Home With and Love Is Real, all of which bring to mind the work of Kathleen Edwards, hardly a bad thing.

The album signs off with the beautiful and haunting Lullaby which closes with a particularly striking cello and flute instrumental.

Reviews by Stephen Rapid

 

Rod Picott ‘Fortune’ - Welding Rod

At this point, some eight albums into his career, Rod Picott is something of a veteran of the trials and tribulations that face the independent working troubadour. A lifestyle that is often not conducive to steady relationships or a settled life. But what it does is to give Picott a personal insight into the lives he sees around him, as well as his own. Such events that occur are distilled into a set of songs that speak true to the turmoil and equal tenderness that we all can encounter along the way. 

The first song here, is Maybe That’s What It Takes, allows that the knocks received can often be a catalyst to something else. Equally This World Is a Dangerous Place sums up the caution required to navigate through an uneven path. I Was Not Worth Your Love admonishes a former partner for trying to make him something he wasn’t until the relationship turned him into something that ironically might have fit the requirements. 

Later in the album things get a little more positive in outlook with I’m On Your Side but overall the gaze is cast downward. Uncle John refers to a relative who was a charachter but with whom he no longer has any contact. Jeremiah is also about loss. Spare Change shows how a little money might have helped in certain situations. These are songs that on the surface might seem to be drawing down the darkness. Something perhaps summed up by a line in Drunken Barber’s Hand (“…this world has been shaved by a drunken barber’s hand” - something it is not hard to agree with). However Picott has enough inbuilt humanity in his music to make these songs a simple, life-affirming experience.

Produced by Picott and Neilson Hubbard it has a a selection of players will to make these songs work in a stripped back but effective way. Will Kimbrough is a player well used to using his talent to best find the emotion of the songs. He is joined by the rhythm section of Lex Price and Hubbard himself on drums. They create a suitably unsettled setting for these songs which are essentially built around Picott’s voice and nylon stringed guitar. The end result is one Picott can be justifiably be proud of and one that draws the listener in to, in turn, get much out of.

Johnny Selfish & The Worried Men ‘Calle Salvaje’ - Rivertale

This Italian band have made a joyous, uptempo fun album that they describe as a tribute to inspirations such as Hank Williams Sr, Ennio Morricone and Mano Negra as well as movie heroes like Clint Eastwood and Sam Peckinpah. This is the bands fourth album. A nine track mix of covers and what I assume are original songs (as there are no writing credits included). The covers include Williams’ Alone and Forsaken and the Bill Monroe associated A.P. Carter song Working On A Building. These songs are delivered in English while others such as Vaquerito and El Gringo are in Spanish.

There is a mix of instruments used from electric guitar, banjo, double bass through to kazoo and Mariachi-styled trumpets. The end result is varied enough to keep the whole thing moving along in a spirited, almost Pogues-like folk/punk take on their influences. There nothing particularly ground breaking going on here, rather it is the spirit and energy with which the songs are performed that makes it a diverting listen and one that should bring a smile to your face. Can’t ask for a lot more than that sometimes.

Malcolm Holcombe ‘Another Black Hole’ - Proper

Following hot on the heels of his RCA sessions album comes this new one from Mr. Holcombe. He seems very prolific of late with a whole bunch of new songs delivered in that battered, gritty and distinctive voice that is uniquely his. It is a folk/blues Americana mix that brings together his usual crew of Ken Coomer, Jared Tayler and Dave Roe alongside Drea Merritt on some vocal harmonies and Tony Joe White on some swampy guitar.

Those who know (and love) Holcombe’s work will be happy to get know these new songs. As in the past there are others who can’t get passed the voice. All has been brought together by Brian Brinkerhoff and Ray Kennedy’s sturdy production. The latter also engineered, mixed and mastered the album. The playing through is top notch and gives added depth and texture to these songs that look up to the sky and higher, from a position that is much closer to the street and those that live there. People who may just get by, who have few expectations but somehow manage to see some grace. This feeling may well be summed up in Siobhan Maher-Kennedy’s cover illustration.

The hard-scrabble blues on offer may not appeal to all but it has dignity and a purpose and the assembled players know how to bring the tales of woe to a sunnier side of the street even if Holcombe’s voice seems to sit on the grittier side of Tom Waits. He offers nothing here but his own truth and his hard held beliefs and some very credible music. Something that has always given Malcolm Holcombe his edge with his coterie of admirers and friends.

Jimmy Ruggiere ‘A Heartache Couldn’t Happen To A Nicer Guy’ - Blue Streak

A harmonica player who recorded a lot with Travis Tritt steps up the the centre mic for his debut album. The album is produced in Austin, Texas by Chris Gage. Gage is a multi-instrumentalist who is no stranger to the studio as artist, player or producer. He has gathered together some equally seasoned players such as Paul Percy on drums and percussion, Warren Hood on fiddle and Lloyd Maines on pedal steel to bring their individual talents to these self-written songs.

Ruggiere has a solid warm vocal style that may not be a totally distinctive one but is one well able to deliver his songs, which fall into an easy to like feel but also ones that have their fair share of heartbreak themes. As witnessed by songs like the title song, I Want To Wake Up Stoned and I Cried All The Way To Fort Worth. There are songs that find him wanting to get back to his lady (Ninety Miles From Nashville) as well a tribute to a man who was an important part of everyone’s life - not just Ruggiere’s (Going Home to Say Goodbye To Dad).

He is obviously a skilled harmonica player and the instrument features throughout the album to good effect as does his acoustic guitar. There are a mix of tempos over the album as well as some nice textures from Jimmy Shortell’s trumpet, c overing different moods in Sunday’s Broken, which has a late night feel, or the border overtones of There’s One Too Many Pretty Girls in Tucson.

A Heartache Couldn’t Happen To A Nicer Guy is an accessible and easy listen given its’ undemanding or non-edgy style of country music. In itself it is one that would please a wide audience with it’s solid production, playing and personality. Jimmy Ruggiere comes across as a man who enjoys making this music as much as many will enjoy hearing it. So any success his debut album might find likely couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

Reviews by Stephen Rapid

Gill Landry ‘Self-titled’ - ATO

For his third solo album the former Old Crow Medicine Show member explores some of the same ground that influenced that band but also further expands his horizons. He produced this album of largely self-written songs performed with a select group of players that include Jamie Dick on drums as well as Ross Holmes on fiddle and Skylar Wilson and Robert Ellis on guitar. Landry himself plays guitar, bass, pedal steel, harmonium and harmonica as required. But it is the songs that resonate with everyone involved serving those.

The album opens with the slightly ominous Funeral In My Heart a song that asks the question “why do good things have to die” in a tone that suits that sentiment. Just Like You which follows takes an opposite view given it considers in an uncertain time the thing that helps most is “knowing someone just like you is alive.” The songs are all essays on trying to figure life out in a way that makes sense and while they are at times opaque and poetic, the overall feel suggests that the heart wins out. Throughout Landry’s vocal is both powerful and poignant. He uses the experience he has gained to this point to illuminate the songs with a restrained and pained passion. Lost Love, Bad Love and Long Road are all songs that attest to the force and follies of love.

The music is infused with dust and faded light but manages to illuminate some of the darker corners that the songs suggest. Musically it is innovative and touches a variety of moods and incorporates with the mainly mid-paced songs of both the past and future. Particularly attractive is the sultry border feel of Fennario with its border brass, Spanish guitar and heavy percussion. Overall, an album that will establish Landry as being at the forefront of contemporary Americana.

Jane Kramer ‘Carnival Of Hopes’ - Self Release

Her debut album was rooted in folk music but for her second album has taken that music as a foundation to build on. At the heart, these songs come from that tradition but the textures and brushstrokes are broader. Producer Adam Johnson embellishes the songs with the sounds of brass, keyboards upright bass and drums as well as a selection of guitars, dobro, mandolin and banjo.

Kramer has a voice that has a number of tones within its range that give the songs their personality. No doubt an extension of Kramer herself. She is the author of all the songs here other than Down South which was written by Tom Petty. A good choice that fits well with her songs and is in itself a standout that highlights the strength of Petty’s melodic writing. A highlight of her own writing is the song Good Woman, outlining the negative qualities of the lady in question who herself understands the reasons, but who would still like to be a good woman.

In other songs she looks for Truth Tellin’ Eyes, for Truck Stop Stars and truth learned from Highways, Rivers & Scars but all with a need to explore the Carnival Of Hopes. Songs that build around such emotions, use that folk setting to create the heart of the songs while the acoustic instruments entwine with the rhythm section and effective use of occasional jazzy brass (Why’d I Do That Blues). All of which makes for an interesting album that rewards a closer listen and suggest that Kramer is an artist who will steadily grow.

The Nouveaux Honkies ‘Blues For Country’ - Self Release

The title track outlines the perceived dilemma for the band on the opening song. Deciding that they are too blues for county and too country for the blues. Not however that many listeners will have that problem with this accomplished band. Fiddle is well to the fore as are the voices of the band founding duo Tim O’Donnell and Rebecca Dawkins. They are rounded out by Pat Manse on percussion, Nate Rowe on double bass and guest Lloyd Maines on pedal steel for three songs.

The blues side of what they do however is not predominately evident and the honky tonk side is the one that largely holds sway. The blues is an influence in the way that jazz was a big part of western swing but that music still had its own individual identity. The duo’s voices blend well together and Dawkin’s violin is a mainstay of the sound of a band of very accomplished players. The songs are a mix of originals (largely by O’Connell) and some covers such as a straight up but evocative version of Townes van Zandt’s Pancho and Lefty.

The couple have been plying their trade for some time now and their extended life on the road is the subject of several songs from the title through Life Ain’t Easy and Two Doors Down From Paradise - a song which features twice at the end of the album with the reprise version being an extended instrumental coda that runs as one continuous piece. It’s a tale of recovering from the of work and unwinding  from a previous night and slowly getting one’s self back to a place where function and reason returns  - at least till that night.

The Nouveaux Honkies play around Florida and surely have built up a following in the region but on the strength of this, their latest album, could easily gain a wider following. They are not a retro recreation of the sound of an earlier era but rather have developed a sound that is grounded in a traditional sound but one that incorporates sounds from other genres and times to create something that is distinctive and a delight.

Lori Yates ‘Sweetheart Of The Valley’ - Self Release

This album finds Lori Yates at her best and in total control of her creative output after the experience of being signed to a major label (CBS) in the US back in 1989. Then the Steve Buckingham produced album had songs from interesting writers like Nick Lowe, Paul Kennerely alongside some co-writes from Yates herself. It was a fine debut but didn’t take her to stardom. Now it would seem she is continuing making traditional sounding country music and doing so with heart and soul and doing it her way.

For this album, which was produced by Yates and David Gavan Baxter, she teamed up with the members of Hey Stella. They were a band that Yates was a member of from the late 90s to the 2002. That included Baxter as well as Blue Rodeo bassist Bazil Donovan and drummer Michelle Josef who played with Prairie Oyster. Add to those players such guests as Steve Wood on pedal steel and guitarist Stephen Miller and you have a pretty ace unit to deliver Yates songs.

Here Yates particularly shines with her own songs with her measured, focused and thrilling voice. One that has matured into a distinctive and individual instrument. The songs range from Trouble in the Country which reflects on her time in Nashville and a less than welcoming meeting with Billy Sherill. Then aside from some effective ballads there are more up-tempo rockabilly tempered workouts. Much of which reflects the more open attitudes that prevailed in the mainstream as the 80s turned to the 90s and wider range of influences broadened the horizons of the genre with losing sight of its traditional base.

There are many highlights here from the effective guitar that underscores Call My Name to Corktown where Yates’ voice is joined by a chorus of Tequila lubricated throats recorded live in a hospitable tavern. There are songs that come from a very personal place such as Shiloh about meeting her father for the first time when she was 40. The atmospheric What The Heart Wants is another brooding ballad that conveys a desperate passion with conviction. 

Sweetheart of the Valley is an excellent album all round and just makes you wonder just how much such good music can pass you by. But don’t let this one do that as it is very easy to fall for this particular sweetheart.

Texas Martha and The House of Twang ‘Long Way From Home’ - Self Release

This Texas born singer songwriter now lives in Bordeaux in France. There she fronts her own band The House Of Twang and they play an intoxicating blend of country, country rock, blues and folk, a true amalgamation of American roots music. An acoustic sideline is to be found with Mountain High, a band she also fronts. She is planning a new release later this year but her current album Long Way From Home is a summation of her music to date.

Martha Fields Galloway has written all ten songs here and fronts the band playing acoustic guitar and delivering with a strong vocal presence found throughout the album. The album was recorded in France and the band provides bass, drums, guitar, pedal steel and keyboards. They open with the driving riff of Born To Boogie a strong statement of intent. There then follows a selection of songs that are all powered by a tight energy that musically covers all the bases mentioned.

The title track takes the foot off the throttle for the first part of the song before picking up the pace. Lover’s Lane is a ballad that looks at the journey love can take you on. Johanna has some nice Hammond and is a mid-paced reflection on a person’s life. That mood is continued on Streets Of Bordeaux an ode to her new home sung partly and appropriately in French. One of the best vocals on the albums is delivered in Where The Red Grass Grows, a song that is about place and purpose.

Of the final three songs Strike has a bluesy, bar-room feel while Do As You Are Told has some effective pedal steel guitar for a song that asks that the lady in question follows the dictate of the title. Like the opening song the closing title Gotta Move has a solid groove that’s suits the title and the traveling on nature of the lyric. Overall a very commendable album that hits all the right notes and sets Martha Fields up for her next Texas recorded album Southern White Lies. She is making music that keeps on movin’ on.

Eric Church ‘Mr. Misunderstood’ - EMI

One of the more engaging of the current crop of Music Row mavericks Eric Church has delivered an unheralded album which arrives with no credits at all in the booklet. The only clue to the content style may be the Les Paul guitar featured in one of the photographs. Those credits however can be found online. The production is by Jay Joyce a producer often noted for his more edgy productions. However it is only on checking the lyrics online on his website that you can confirm that Church has a hand in all these songs. The sound is more towards a more heartland rock feel than anything traditionally country. There are no hints of pedal steel or fiddle here. Banjo being the only obviously non rock instrument to feature.

Given all that it is a strong album that continues Church’s progress to a more mainstream, crossover rock orientated sound with a more roots related feel to some tracks. Nothing wrong with that of course and this is a place where his audience is happy to follow him to. He underlines this, to a degree, in the title track where he identifies with those who were “always left out, never fit in”. The song also makes reference to Elvis Costello, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Jeff Tweedy while stating a love for his daddy’s vinyl collection. In Record Year another song that makes reference to musical influences he pays tribute to some country legends Jones and Jennings, Hank and Willie Nelson as well as James Brown in a song where a bad relationship sees the protagonist turn to his records for some much needed sympathy and salvation.

It is only by track 6 with Round Here Buzz that the song takes on a more obvious roots/country feel. Holding My Own is another song that has a less intense feel and again makes reference to loving blues and soul music while holdin’ his own space and track position. The album closes with Three Year Old wherein he looks to the simple needs and wants of a three year old to learn something for his own life. Its understated delivery closes the album on a note that resonates more quietly rather than ringing the ears that some of rockier tracks might. Mr. Misunderstood may well help Eric Church to a wider understanding of his aims, views and musical outlook. Something that he seems to have taken control of. Which can be no bad thing overall.

Reviews by Declan Culliton

Bobby Gentry ‘Southern Gothic’ – Humphead

Not always given credit for her formidable influence in Country music, Bobby Gentry was the first female artist in the mid 60’s to write and produce much of her own material. Reported to have been writing songs before her teenage years, Gentry studied philosophy at U.C.L.A. California prior to transferring to study music at The Los Angeles Conservatory of Music in 1964 at the age of 20.

She signed to Capital Records Nashville in 1967 and recorded her debut single the bluesy Mississippi Delta. However it was the B side to that single Ode To Billie Joe that launched Gentry’s career practically overnight and eventually sold over three million copies, establishing her as a favourite both on country music radio and in the pop music stations. It actually knocked The Beatles’ All You Need Is Love off the Number 1 spot in the American charts. The song’s tale of Billy Joe Mc Allister’s suicide and the dark secret shared by him and his lover sounds as fresh and vital today as it did in 1967 and resulted in Gentry winning three Grammy Awards including Best New Artist and Best Female Vocalist.

In an attempt to capitalise on the success of the single Capital recorded the album of the same title in 1967. The following year saw the release of Local Gentry and The Delta Sweete to disappointing sales. A duo album with Glen Campbell was also released that year and entered to Top 20 album Charts after the somewhat disappointing earlier solo albums.

Touch ‘Em With Love, released in 1969 owed more to Memphis than Nashville with its R 'n' B feel and included a  Number 1 single in the UK with the Bacharach/David composition I’ll Never Fall In Love Again. The UK success earned Gentry a BBC television variety show before returning to perform at Los Vegas headlining a nightclub revue.

Three further albums were released by Capital, Fancy in 1970, Patchwork and Sittin’ Pretty/Tobacco Road in 1971 after which Gentry concentrated on her Los Vegas career.

Southern Gothic is a comprehensive musical overview of Gentry’s career and its fifty tracks capture many of her inspirational songs such as Ode To Bobby Joe, Okolona River Bottom Band, Mississippi Delta, I Saw An Angel Die, Courtyard and Morning Glory. Also included are some less appealing cover versions including The Beatle’s Here, There and Everywhere and Fool on The Hill and a cheesy cover of Scarborough Fair as a duo with Glen Campbell.

A compilation, at least, of Bobby Gentry’s work is an essential requirement for anyone with an interest in country music of the 60’s and this package is as good a place as any to start. 

Chris Laterzo ‘West Coast Sound’ – Yampa

On first play you could be forgiven for assuming you had just listened to a ‘lost’ Neil Young album, probably recorded in the late 70’s,possibly between Comes A Time and  Rust Never Sleeps. Whether it’s the driving west coast sound of the title track, the sleepy acoustic Something Blue, the pedal steel and harmonica drenched Echo Park or the tongue in cheek Subaru, there is so much to enjoy on this album.

The album features Laterzo on vocal, guitars and harmonica, Dan Wistrom and Bret Jensen on guitars, Jeff LeGore on bass, Ron Pak on drums and Rami Jaffee on organ with the tracks recorded in a number of studios in California.

West Coast Sound is the fifth album recorded by the Los Angeles resident. A recording artist since 1997, his debut album, American River, was produced by Danny Weston Jnr., who also added drums to the recording. Since then he  recorded a further three albums prior to this release including the self-produced and engineered Driftwood in 2004

"Hey Honey let’s sing our son Yellow Submarine and that tune by Neil Young for sweet cowboy dreams"-  Laterzo sings in Echo Park. So with the questionable quality of Neil Young’s recent recordings it’s interesting that  Laterzo, in a similar vein to artists such as Israel Nash and Rich Hopkins, continue to record albums of a quality that you’d love Young current output to equal.

A relentless touring artist, both solo and with his band The Buffalo Robe to support his career, Laterzo has recorded for me, one of the most satisfying alternative country albums of 2015.

Scott Krokoff ‘Realizations & Declarations Volume 2’ – Self Release

Scott Krokoff previously played in a New York 90’s band Equinox which basically consisted of Krokoff and college friends. They recorded four albums before disbanding. Krokoff proceeded to pursue a solo career and  recorded his debut album A Better Life released in 2007. This collection of songs Realizations & Declarations is a project featuring two EP’s released as Volume 1 & 2.

Realizations & Declarations Volume 1, released in 2012, featured four tracks and was followed earlier this year by Volume 2 which includes six new songs and a reworking of Sparrows, a song which appeared on his debut album.

Similar in style to his debut Volume 2, emphasises Krokoff’s ability to write radio friendly and well crafted songs probably best categorised in the power pop genre. Indeed opening tracks The Right Place and Because of You bring to mind the work of Fountains of Wayne with satisfying jangly guitar riffs dominating.

The recording was produced by Bob Stander who also played bass and features an impressive list of musicians including former Wings drummer Steve Holly, who has also worked with Dar Williams. Paul Errico, who plays keyboards and accordion, has worked with Steve Forbert. While Shawn Murray and Mark Newman, both members of the late Willy DeVille’s band, both contribute on drums and dobro.

All in all an impressive set of songs, catchy, immediate and very listenable by an artist quite capable of writing quality pop music. However, the seperate releases left the writer wondering whether the release of both EP’s as a full album might have had a greater impact.

The Midnight Union Band ‘Of Life and Lesser Evils’ – Self Release

The Midnight Union Band have earned a reputation as one of the hardest working and  promising  live Irish roots bands in recent years. Visitors to The annual Kilkenny Roots Festival in recent years would be familiar with them and their music. There they played to packed venues, their performances, with more than a nod to The Band and Little Feat, are lively, soulful and showcase their combined musical skills.

Would it be possible to translate their live performances to the studio? The answer is a resounding yes based on their debut album Old Life and Lesser Evils. The band consists of vocalist, acoustic guitar and harmonica player Shane Joyce, Peter Flynn on various keyboards, Brian Mc Grath on bass, Cian Doolan on electric guitar and mandolin and drummer John Wallace.

From the opening track Your Leader to the magnificent seven minute closing track and album highlight  But I Am The Night The Midnight Union band manage to recreate the sound so uplifting in their live shows. The album contains  an additional ten tracks are, other  standouts being the funky Stormy Thoughts, People Like You which are given a fuller sound in the studio with the addition of trumpet played by Aidan Kelly and Law Ain’t Justice expanded by some delightful pedal steel.

A more than satisfying debut album and a further indication of the wealth of talented young Irish acts with the potential to make a significant breakthrough in the music industry. 

Reviews by Paul McGee

The Burns Sisters 'Looking Back' - Self Release

The Burns Sisters are an American folk music group from Ithaca, New York who have released a number of albums over their many years in the music industry. The group currently comprises sisters Marie and Annie and their sibling harmonies are a joy to experience on this latest release of 12 thoughtful and gently arranged tunes.

This new collection is inspired by their Irish roots and influenced by American Folk song interpretations. With song arrangements that are restrained and full of excellent playing, Jim Kimball (Reba McEntire, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw,  Martina McBride, Dolly Parton, Wynonna Judd, Lee Ann Womack, Tricia Yearwood, Shelby Lynn, LeAnn Rimes, Carol King) oversees the project as engineer, mixing and mastering and also playing beautiful guitar parts across the tracks here.

The Irish influence of Uilean Pipes and flutes and whistles is provided with calm assurance by Blackie O’Connell, Joanie Madden and Seamus Egan. Violin and mandolin are played by Stuart Duncan and Don Kerse (bass) and Daryl Burgess (drums, percussion) provide a steady pulse to the arrangements.

Clare to Here (Ralph McTell) and Oh Danny Boy (Frederick Weatherly) are examples of the quality on display here with soaring performances and Kilkelly (Peter Jones) plus Free Born Man (Ewan McColl) touch on the forgotten history of people forced to compromise their local customs.

Both sisters are no slouches when it comes to song-writing and produce some impressive examples in Mothers’ Ode, Workhouse and To Live Again.

Far From My Home has a touch of the Corrs about the up-tempo arrangement and is the most commercial track here and the beautiful I Would, written by Daryl Burgess and Liz Hengher, is a real stand-out among what is a sublime collection of musical highlights. Recommended.

The Mulligan Brothers - 'Self-Titled' - Southern Roots

This is the debut album released in June 2013 by the Mulligan Brothers and one that created an instant market of enthusiastic fans across the country. The media exposure has led to greater opportunity for his four-piece who are neither related or indeed named ‘Mulligan’- a strange fact and one which leads to questions about how exactly they came up with such a band name ...?

Earlier this year they released their second album, Via Portland, which has been reviewed elsewhere on this site. It was produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos fame and has confirmed their growing status as real contenders.

Ross Newell (lead vocals, guitar and songwriter); Gram Rea (fiddle, mandolin, viola, harmonica and vocals); Ben Leininger (bass and vocals) and Greg DeLuca (drums and vocals) make up the band and their playing is really compelling with a blend of alt-country, blues, and folk that sounds wonderfully loose, yet tight and spontaneous at the same time.

Ross Newell has been blessed with a superb voice, with great tone and a languid quality that gives an added edge to the words that deal with stories of the rural towns across America and the lives that inhabit the farms, factories and streets. These songs evoke plenty of images of common folk just trying to get a foothold on life’s ladder.

Thrift Store Suitcase and Momma Gets My Soul and two wonderful examples of song-writing at its finest while Sensible Shoes is a reflection of city life and the alienation suffered in the effort to keep running the race. Kaleidoscope is a stand out song of heartbreak and self-doubt and Come To Me is a melancholic song of longing. Well worth a visit and a debut to enhance any music collection.   

Norma MacDonald 'Burn the Tapes'- Self Release

From the opening strains of Company and the easy pedal steel refrain the listener is invited into the magical world of Norma MacDonald. She has been blessed with a voice that is sweetly seductive and filled with restrained yearning. This is her fourth solo album and each release bears the mark of a developing artist of the highest quality.

This is the first time that Norma takes control as sole producer and the results are a testament to her insight and her keen ability to identify just the right balance in the song arrangements and the sparse feel of the production.  Her words explore relationships and the loneliness of lives lived on the edge (Blue as a Jay  & You Can’t Carry It Around).

Before We Say Goodnight is a song that visits a couple who stand at an uneasy  threshold while Lighten Up, a duet with Gabe Minnikin, speaks to a lover in terms of heavy hearts and the weight of experience. Daysleeper is a soft tempo shuffle with some lovely dobro parts and a failed  attempt to real commitment at the core of the song.

Springsteen is visited in the song To Nebraska which has a haunting quality and reflects on a night of quiet examination and a hope for the future. Accidental Guest has a slow groove and looks at living life with no expectations or ambition. The closing track Hard To Get Back sings of trying to return home - but perhaps the only way is forward into the light and it is the momentum that keeps us going.

Atmospheric, understated and quietly self-assured in all that it delivers, this is a release which deserves great praise and should help to bring Norma MacDonald to greater media attention

The Paperboys 'At Peace With One’s Ghosts' - Self Release

This is the seventh release from Canadian band the Paperboys who formed in 1991 and have had a very fluid history of members coming and going over the years. The current line- up includes original founding member Tom Landa (vocals, Guitar, Jarana, Bass, Percussion, Ukulele) who also co-produced the project with Bill Buckingham.

The other musicians in the band are Kareem Kandi (sax), Kalissa Landau (fiddle, vocals), Sam Esecson (drums, percussion) Geoffrey Kelly (flute, whistle) and Brad Gillard (bass, banjo). There are also a healthy number of guest musicians, 12 in all, who add greatly to the excellent song arrangements and give the overall production a compelling sound.

Credited with playing a Folk Rock influenced music they really defy any such category and slot more easily into  World Music with a blend of Celtic folk, bluegrass, Mexican, Eastern European, African, zydeco, soul and country influences. A truly eclectic ensemble and a musical sound that is celebratory and full of exemplary playing and performance.

Labels can be so constraining and the only barometer you need for a Paperboys record is a finely tuned set of ears and plenty of room in your listening area to dance in. Infectious and exhilarating, the band burst into life with Mexican Son Jarocho music blended with Irish jigs and reels and Ska, Reggae grooves and African rhythms mix with bluegrass and country.

The fiddle based groove of Back To You, a song of returning home to a child kicks things off in fine style and there is a joyful feel to Spanish songs Mismo Latido and Nunca Jamas, while the one cover song, Don’t Want to Know (John Martyn) is given a polished Latino groove that works really well.

Better Than the Last is a song which reflects on the New Year and hopes for a better future, while Rest of my Days is a moving tribute to a close relation who is close to death. Fake It sings about the need to be honest with yourself in a relationship and acknowledging real feelings and The Monarch Set (trad) mixes an Irish/Latino groove complete with driving Horn section. The set finishes with The Pugilist, an instrumental that has a real mini Riverdance groove.

The band describe it well when they say they are a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-generational, multi-lingual, multi-instrumental, genre bending, co-ed band. Long may his collective continue to make such wonderful sounds.

Mandolin’ Brothers 'Far Out' - Ultra Sound

This Italian band has been playing roots rock music since 1979 and has a number of previous releases in their portfolio. The six musicians integrate really well and play up a storm on tracks like Someone Else which has an Allman Brothers groove to it. 

Confident players across a range of instruments including guitars, slide & steel, organ, accordion, piano, double bass, drums, harp and mandolin; the easy pace of Circus is a fine song that highlights the talent on display. I don’t know what the local scene is like for country music in Italy but this band would not be out of place were they to relocate to the southern States and play a residency in a city that would take them to their hearts. 

Nightmare in Alamo is another fine tune that drives along to an acoustic/electric guitar riff that highlights the vocals of Jimmy Ragazzon. Thirteen songs including titles such as Bad Liver Blues, Black Oil and Ask the Devil – and they sound as good as their titles. Stirring stuff and a great listen.

Brad Absher & Swamp Royale 'Lucky Dog' - Montrose

This is the 5th release from Brad Absher, a singer- songwriter who dishes up a fine combo of blues, soul and gospel influenced music with his band, Swamp Royale, across the 12 tracks included here.

Some tasty slide guitar kicks off proceedings on Woman Who Loves Me and is followed by the excellent brass section playing on I Need a Drink. Hammond organ duels with electric guitar on several tracks and the musical expertise of the players can be heard to best effect on covers of Same Love (Bill Withers), Miss Your Water (William Bell) and Rather Be Blind (Leon Russell).

Over the course of 20 years this musician has gained a respect among his peers and his sound resembles the best of soulful, swamp blues with a groove that keeps the arrangements dynamic and heartfelt. With 6 covers I think that Brad would benefit by including more of his own songs; Wanna Be Your Man, Not Tonight and Memphis On the Way are great self-penned tracks, but this is a small gripe as the entire recording sits together effortlessly with gritty vocals augmented by sweet backing singers and the swell of organ, brass section and inventive backline playing all add up to an impressive release. 

Hardin Burns 'Down the Deep Well' - Ithica

This musical duo consists of guitarist Andrew Hardin and vocalist Jeannie Burns and this is their second release since they met in 2009. Self released debut, Lounge, appeared in 2012 and included nine original songs and a cover of George Harrison’s Beware of Darkness. This release is along similar tracks with ten songs all co- written with the exception of a cover of Richard Thompson’s Walking on a Wire. Co-produced by Gabe Rhodes, who also adds accordion, guitar and keyboards; the sound is acoustic based with fine vocal harmonies and excellent interplay among the musicians.

Andrew Hardin has had a long association with songwriter Tom Russell and has also recorded with artists Jimmy LaFave, Eliza Gilkyson and Malcolm Holcombe among others. He has also recorded a number of solo projects. 

Jeannie Burns performed as one of the Burns Sisters for over twenty years and they released eight albums in addition to touring as back- up singers for Arlo Guthrie. She released an excellent solo album Coming Up Close in 2000.Their traditional style combines folk and country with a blend that is easy on the ear with Jeannie’s bluesy vocals complimented by Andrew’s sensitive guitar playing.

Gentle Rain, Get Back Home and Wave of your Hand are all examples of the restrained playing on display and with an easy groove, the entire recording sails along on a wave of quiet calm.

Dave McGraw & Mandy Fer 'Martitime' - Self Release

This duo initially met in Flagstaff, Arizona during 2010 before relocating to the Pacific Northwest and released their debut, Seed of a Pine, in 2012. Dave McGraw had previously spent a decade as a wildlife biologist and has released a number of albums both solo and with band, Crow Wing. Mandy Fer travelled in Spain, where she studied music, language and local culture. Her first release was in 2010 after years of paying her dues. 

This collection of 12 songs has most credits going to McGraw with 6 tacks and 3 co-writes with Fer, who chips in with 3 songs of her own. The project was recorded over 8 days in North-West Washington in a quiet forest, located on an island. Maritime has a gentle folk lilt to the songs with restrained playing from the ensemble of 6 musicians and contains great vocal harmonies from Dave & Mandy. Just like a snapshot of rural life, you get a sense and feel of their surroundings where the recording took place. Hushed and simple, the arrangements are coloured with Fer’s soulful delivery adding character to the songs. 

How the Sea is a fine example of this with some nice electric guitar lines from this talented lady. Dark Dark Woods carries on a similar theme of enduring love and the passing of time. The lyrics are quite obscure but paint images of nature, both human and wild, where the invisible is just as important as what the eye can see and the heart feel. Silence and Conspiracy of Ravens are songs that feel like we have been given a peek into a secret world of lonely reflection. Lots of imagery with sea, rain, birds and the moon featuring and overall, an interesting listen.

Millpond Moon 'Time to Turn the Tide' -Tikopia

This duo from Norway has one previous release, Broke in Brooklyn, which was greeted with much critical acclaim in 2012. The talents of Kjersti  Misje, guitar & vocals, blend seamlessly with  Rune Hauge also on guitars and vocals and the supporting players are very expressive and inventive in the subtle sounds and colour they bring to the arrangements. The production is very warm and the music blends light jazz with country and folk leanings. 

Both vocalists are excellent as they trade lyric lines, never more so than on the salutary race tale of Lena Baker and the opening cover of Bob Dylan’s Forever Young.  There is also a great cover of Robbie Robertson’s All La Glory and a gentle working of the traditional song Wayfaring Stranger. 

In between, we have seven songs penned by singer/songwriter Rune Hauge and his words are very well crafted on songs like Wind of Plenty, in memory of a deceased friend, No Man’s Land, a tale of the restless wanderer and My Father Used to Say, a moving tribute to his father and his words of wisdom. 

The backing players add some wonderful touches on fiddle, mandolin, piano and the strings on selected tracks are really embracing and add character. A real joy from start to finish and a collection that is highly recommended.

Jack Tempchin 'Room to Run' - Blue Élan

This artist is a legend in US music circles having penned many hit songs for artists as wide ranging as the Eagles, Tom Rush, Emmylou Harris, George Jones, Glen Campbell and Patty Loveless among others. He has released eight solo records since the 1970’s and this is a four-song EP to promote the soon to be released Learning to Dance. With a pedigree over 40 years of working with the top artists in Country music you expect a high standard and that is what is delivered with the title track visiting the perspective of a parent giving his children room to become independent and discover themselves.

Jesus & Mohammad is a very clever lyric that visits the imagined conversation both deities might have concerning the deeds that are done in their respective names on today’s planet. High Cost of Hate comments on the state of marital breakdown and points a finger at the legal profession that makes a fortune from the misery of others. The final song, Summertime Bum is a wry look at ambition and the lack thereof.

Old Man Luedecke 'Domestic Eccentric' - True North

This is the seventh release from Canadian singer-songwriter and banjo player Chris Luedecke. His 2008 album, Proof of Love, won a 2009 Juno Award for traditional folk album of the year and in 2011, Luedecke won the same award for My Hands are on Fire and Other Love Songs. Tender is the Night, was released in 2012 and picked up a Juno nomination as well as “Folk Album of the Year” from Music Nova Scotia.

Domestic Eccentric contains fourteen songs, all written by Chris himself and he is joined by multi Grammy award winner Tim O’Brien, playing an array of instruments. They are supported by Jennah Barry on vocals and Samson Grisman on bass with Nick Halley adding percussion and vocals also.

 This is folk and roots music, played at a level that is quite simply enchanting. Old Man Luedecke’s songs of love (The Briar & the Rose, The Early Days, Now We Got a Kitchen) and life reflection (Chester Boat Song, Brightest on the Heart, Old Highway of Love) are delivered with compelling old-time banjo rhythm, with Tim O’Brien on guitars, mandolin, bouzouki, and fiddle, making for a heady mix.

This is a record about time, travel and the warm glow of a home fire. Early Days contains the wisdom of; “You got to hold on, it goes so fast, these early days they don’t last”. Contrast this advice with the lines in Now We Got a Kitchen; “Time goes so fast, I rested for a moment and it pulled out to pass”. Perspective and wisdom combined with wonderful musicianship – what’s not to like..?

Katie Garibaldi 'Follow Your Heart' - Living Dream

Thirteen tracks written by Katie Garibaldi, a singer-songwriter based in San Francisco and a talent to be taken seriously. With six albums to her credit already, this lady plays guitar and sings in a clear and compelling tone that is both emotional and soulful. 

Country based folk songs that are melodic and radio friendly must bode well for the future and the optimism of Follow Your Heart, Holding On and Make Them Go Away swing into gear in a confident style. There are a coterie of fine musicians used on the arrangements and the presence of violin and cello dovetail with pedal steel, mandolin, ukulele, flute, trumpet, trombone, clarinets and saxophones, to augment the electric guitars and solid backline to the songs. 

The recording is in memory of Melody and on White Roses her spirit is honoured with a beautiful reflection on the short time we are given on this magical journey; cello and acoustic guitar playing in unison and with understated grace against an emotional vocal.

Vegas charts the troubled path of a relationship and Wedding Day Song is one that captures the magic of new love and the promise of the future. This is an assured and confident statement from a talent that is worth a second look.

Broken Boat 'Small Defeats' - Self Release

Broken Boat are a contemporary English band that play and write music that is engaging, melodic and full of interesting lyrical reflections in the arrangements.

Songwriter Daniel Bahrami, multi-instrumentalists Brendan Kearney and Jess Hart and Jerome Maree on drums create a colourful sound that mixes strings, horns, accordions, keyboards and percussion. The songs bounce out of the speakers from the opening Small Defeats that reflects on the blows that life deals us and a somewhat cynical take on the enduring power of relationships.

Pencil Memories is a lament to old friends that slip away and the somewhat fatalistic conclusion that time teaches us nothing as we repeat ourselves from our early experiences of life. Water & Wine is a love song in tribute to a partner who is a saviour to the “bent and broken half of a better whole”.

There are some fine vocal harmonies, like on Morning Rain and the optimistic Two Balloons. Basement Days has a groove that reminds me of the Eels at their ironic best. This is Folk music for the 21st Century and very refreshing too.

Ben Reel '7th.' - B. Reel

This Northern Ireland artist has been releasing excellent music for the last 15 years and on this, his 7th record, he comes out of the gate on full throttle with the Springsteen influenced Lucky Streak. Followed by One of these Days, we swing into the territory of radio-friendly hitsville with Brad Paisley hooks and a melodic arrangement. Recorded and produced by Ben Reel in his home studio in Co. Armagh, Northern Ireland, the influences are varied across the 14 tracks here from rock, soul, blues and country. 

Say has a Johnny Cash inflection in the vocal and God’s World has a guest appearance from the great David Olney that lifts the song to a higher place. Reflection of the Blues has a lazy swing that highlights the fine vocal harmonies of Julieanne Black Reel and the excellent guitar of Sergio Webb. 

There are many musicians featured on this recording (15 in all) and the breath of the project is what will give it mass appeal. There is a track here for everyone, whether country or rock oriented, but perhaps the lack of a real central focus takes a little from the overall impression. Still, an experienced artist who keeps maturing and making entertaining music.    

Simon Murphy 'Let It Be' - Self Release

Belfast artist Simon Murphy delivers his debut record with 12 self-written songs and a pop/rock style that is a perfect fit for radio. Once Upon a Time is a fine example with a great sound and powerful chorus hook. Meet Me on the Other Side follows in a similar vein with a summer beat that lifts the song arrangement.

There are plenty of strong melodies across the songs and some fine acoustic highlights like My Baby, The Idiot and Not in my Name, one of the best moments here. The use of strings also works well and the production by Michael McCluskey, who also contributes guitar and vocals, is very bright and full.  

Lone Star Heart is country tinged and I Have a Voice is a shared vocal with Kaz Hawkins that works really well with plenty of attack and attitude. 2 Ghosts finishes the album with a slow strum and a fine backing vocal from Charlene Law to complement the violin and cello of Colin Elliott and Gwyneth Reid. This is contemporary Irish music of high quality and a very promising debut.

Reviews by Stephen Rapid

The Warden 'The East Dallas Warden' - Idol

Ward Richmond, a Texas native and long time part of the Dallas music community, has released a debut album under the name The Warden. Describing his music as "East Dallas honky tonk", he delivers a set of 12 self-written songs that loosely fit that definition. They are rough and ready roadhouse honky-tonk which feature Richmond’s his upfront life-worn voice. He is ably joined by a quartet of backing vocalists who both bolster and back up his punchy delivery.

Fellow Texas musician Robert Jason Vandygriff produced the album after pushing Richmond to take his semi-biographical songs into a studio. Vandygriff is also one of three guitarists while a solid robust rhythm section holds things down.  The sound is also embellished by pedal steel, keyboards and brass, all of which makes for diversity in the overall sound. At one point Richmond points that what is lacking in proficiency is made up in pure "moxie"; In other words, attitude and enjoyment count for a lot in The Warden's territory.

The songs give you a fair clue as to the lyric direction as they are tales of touring, drinking, fussing, fighting and fellowship with titles like Deny, Deny, Deny, County Line, Interstate, High Life and Dark Clouds. There is nothing unfamiliar to anyone with a penchant for punky, Southern styled, beer-stained, hardass country music, but you can't help but smile and enjoy this CD, especially on catchy tracks like Our Town and Bullets where Richmond duets with Madison King, one of his female guest vocalists.

Richmond wanted to express the highways and byways of his life with a degree of truth and a little added fiction to make them interesting. Texas is a big place and there's much going on outside Austin's city limits. This album is harder than the more traditional Heart of Texas styled releases, but it still draws from a Friday/ Saturday night having a good ethos, one that is both timeless and universal. 

Ted Z and the Wranglers 'Ghost Train'- Rip Cat

The Wranglers are a grassroots roots band from California fronted by the man named as Ted Z. He kids his Wranglers through a bunch of songs that are built around some serviceable melodies and hooks. There are elements of rock 'n' roll and outlaw country tempered with some lighter, folkier, storytelling. The title track evokes the spirits of lost musical souls featuring diverse icons such as Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix as well as Ricky Nelson and Buddy Holly  over a train rhythm beat, while Jackson Leverone’s atmospheric slide guitar evokes the essential spookiness of the song. 

Throughout, Monty Byrom's production brings out the best in these romantic, robust and rousing songs of love, lingering doubts and a liberalism that considers politics, people, places and the search for some truth and justice in the American way. Z is the writer and he has some skill in that department along with a dependable voice that has both warmth and grit.

Ghost Train probably has more in common with the insurgent county/cowpunk moments of decades past than with some of the more metalized rock that masquerades as country these days. There are strands of blues and Southern Rock neatly woven into their take on Americana. The songs are often hurtling down the tracks and building up a fair head of steam such as Joseph Ratcliff, Kansas, Bitter Hands and Postcard, which works particularly well with the rhythm section of Dan Mages and Mike Myers providing an insistent chugging base for Z's vocal and Leverone's guitar. 

On the other hand, this quartet are equally comfortable on ballads and slower tempos. The final track, Broken,  is just guitar and vocal and a heartfelt lyric of a "broken man waiting to bleed". Bitter Hands starts out slow but builds with baritone guitar and acoustic before the band kicks in. Producer Monty Byrom adds Bill Mason's keyboards on certain tracks to give a wider texture to songs like Go Find Your Heaven which tells the listener to go find the place that the singer never can. Ghost Train is an easy album to like if you like your Americana with some weight and songs that ring true. Z and the Wranglers have made a debut that will make them friends. 

Speedbuggy USA 'South of Bakersfield' - Wagon Wheel

As the title suggests,  Speedbuggy USA are an LA based-band who play what would have been termed 'cowpunk' a couple of decades ago; cowpunk being avibrant mix of classic country, rock 'n' roll with a punk attitude. This, their 8th release, is an 8 track collection of self-written songs that deal with blue collar lifestyles and some of life's rougher deals. Still Movin' On is a song about the travails of a trucker and is delivered at the speed of a high-rolling truck on a straight highway. Wrong Side is a duet with Bunny West that is about the battle with the bottle; a steel guitar infused poignant ballad it contrast with the more hi-octane nature of a couple of the other songs. The band’s lead singer, Timbo, having come through some pretty severe health issues, sings with the conviction of a survivor about these hard times. He sings with all the feel of someone who has lived through or been close to them and the rest of the band are right behind him and give these songs a solid and satisfying kick. 

There are enough changes of tempo and texture to keep it interesting throughout. The twanging Telecaster, steel guitar, strident rhythm section and, on occasion, as with Rusted Cars, an accordion adds to the overall feel. Git Yer Wagon Rollin' has the tongue in cheek feel of a speed driven hoedown with banjo prominent. Liars, Thieves and Ramblers sums up the types who live within some of these songs. It has a standout vocal from Timbo on a mid-paced stripped down song that doesn't so much judge the misfits as understand something of their plight. 1000 Miles from Nowhere is not the Dwight Yoakam song, but another song of a man who feels isolated on the road and from life at home. The road is a way out - or maybe not. Bakersfield closes the album with a song about being back on the road, broken down somewhere outside of that storied town.  

Speedbuggy USA sits outside the country mainstream, and always have done, but they play music that they want to play they way they want to play it, and for a small band that counts. It's also music I'm happy to listen to. 

Toby Keith '35 MPH Town' - Show Dog

Drink, the consumption of, taken to forget or just to unwind, has always been a fundamental part of country music but of late it seems to be Nashville’s solution to world peace. There's Beer on Clint Black’s most recent album and here Toby Keith opens his new album with another such salute to the leveling (pun intended) nature of alcohol in Drunk American,  a song written by Bob DiPiero, Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally. They are all seasoned writers, but this song will not be remembered as one of their best. Many of the other songs on the album are co-writes between Keith and Bobby Pinson, who made a fine solo album for RCA some time back. Pinson also co-produced the album excepting the Buffett-esque Rum Is The Reason which Mac MacAnally co-helmed. Buffett himself appears on Sailboat for Sale, although this is less related to his trademark sound than Rum is. Another song that has alcohol as its theme is Haggard, Hank And Her where the two named singers help with the pain induced by the latter. The final song Beautiful Stranger closes the album in a welter of strings on a power ballad inspired by the appearance of the woman of the title 

More to the point is that this album sounds a Hell of a lot more traditionally country than many of it's contemporaries. Russ Pahl’s steel is prominent throughout but having said that it is still not as edgy as it could be giving the fact that this is Keith's own label and he presumably records what he wants. He obviously still records with an ear for radio airplay. It is largely free from the political stance that some of his songs have taken in the past, concerning itself largely with the pursuit of a good time - albeit via lubrication amid an aura of lasciviousness.

Those who have enjoyed Toby Keith in the past will enjoy this album, as he plows his own furrow with a an identifiable voice that is at the centre of these songs and there is no doubting his prowess in that department. Like few of the other singer/songwriters who emerged when he did, Keith has followed his muse and while his music may not be for those who look to the rougher, more outlaw edges of country, he has remained true to his own vision and attitudes and for that his many fans will raise a glass (or two).

George Strait 'Cold Beer Conversation' - MCA Nashville

The latest album from George will hardly change opinions about his more recent output. It is solid, dependable, listenable and country. But there's not much different to consider and that maybe is exactly the point. Like Alan Jackson, Strait represents the forefront of traditional styled country in this day and age. We seem to be on a cusp of something a little broader in the American context without falling into the trap of bro-country or lame rock country, with artists like Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton selling albums in quantities large enough for the majors to take notice.

That is as may be, but George Strait isn't likely to change his game plan at this stage. More likely he will change some of the writers whose songs he chooses. So while there are a couple of co-writes with long time contributor Dean Dillon, the name s that come to fore here are Jamey Johnson (two co-writes, one with seasoned veterans Bill Anderson and Buddy Cannon). Four come from the pen of Keith Gattis, solo or co-writes. Gattis was an interesting solo artist with some good albums to his name as well as acting, for a time, as Dwight Yoakam's lead guitarist. 

The songs that stand out, for this writer are Cheaper than a Shrink, which is guess what?  Yep, it’s drink. That's also the key ingredient in Cold Beer Conversation. The musician credits include Paul Franklin on steel and Stuart Duncan on fiddle and mandolin alongside A-teamers like Glenn Worf, Brent Mason and Greg Morrow.  Top notch players all, though they rarely cut loose in the Chuck Ainlay/George Strait production. Take Me to Texas by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally is a song that is filled with longing for a Texas of the past and a wish to return there as a final resting place. This one has fiddle and steel at its heart, as would only be right given the subject. Strait now also writes regularly with his son Bubba and their co-write (with others) It Takes All Kinds is a fun song that swings western style. Stop and Drink is another strong number that has a little message beneath the light-hearted approach.

There is indeed little to dislike about this album, even if you have wished for the odd surprise. You can't fault Strait's smooth vocal integrity and delivery. He is a seasoned pro and knows what his fans want and, mostly, he delivers, but a man who has sustains a career as long as George Strait is bound to have his own signature sound and may not feel the need to step outside it the way that, say, Alan Jackson has on a couple of his albums. Even so, while not his best album in recent times, it is a lot more satisfying than the recent live album.

Duane Rutter 'Crazy Things' - Flat

Crazy Things is a solid third set of songs from the Ontario based singer/songwriter. Rutter has a suitably lived-in voice that has some grit to it. The are some memorable songs in the set from the opening Don't Forget through a soulful I Don't Ask to the stripped back understanding that in time We Find Ourselves at Last. He and producer/guitarist Andrew Aldridge have assembled a supportive band that includes (on one track Take That Water) Band keyboard player Garth Hudson and his wife Sister Maud. Other players include a defining contribution from Steve "Honeyboy" Wood on steel guitar and a tight rhythm section of Carrie Ashworth on bass and Nick Burson on drums.

The title track is a slow paced reflection of how people will do crazy things under certain conditions. The song has a strong contribution from JB Reed on duet vocals; she also sings on three other songs offering a nice contrast and counterpoint to Rutter's voice. The songs largely deal with affairs of the (often broken) heart, with titles like Will I Ever Learn?, I Ain't No Good and Number One. But there is a redemptive quality to these self written songs and an uplifting feel to their performance that makes Crazy Things an easy album to like and to revisit.

The final song, the aforementioned Take That Water has an understandably) Band-like feel with the contributions from the Hudsons being very much to the fore and a solid groove throughout. Rutter reminds me of no one and everyone at the same time, in that the music is generic in content but is elevated by the production and collective performances that make this an album that has the potential to appeal to a larger audience than just the one he enjoys in Hamilton, Ontario. Crazy Things just goes to prove that there's a lot of good music out there just waiting for a connection. 

Reviews by Paul McGee

Kevin Sekhani  'Day Ain’t Done' - Louisiana Red Hot

Country, rock and soul are mixed together into a heady concoction on this debut solo release from Kevin Sekhani, a 20 year veteran of the Austin, Texas music scene. Together with musicians that have played with Son Volt, Patty Griffin and John Mellencamp, Kevin Sekhani ‘s abundant talents deliver a really impressive album  with violin, mandolin, accordion and acoustic guitars blended  with superb musicianship giving a really serious swing to Day Ain’t Done’s twelve songs.

Co-producing with Mark Addison, Sekhani celebrates with both attitude and confidence on tracks like Wrong Direction and Oilfield Tan, a tribute to the Louisiana oilfield workers. Think Steve Earle backed by Old Crow Medicine Show and you will have some idea of the virtuoso playing on display. Jump Right Back is urgent, immediate and performed with swagger. The Ballad of Lonely Clown is a strummed waltz about the life of a social misfit and The Higher I Get is filled with passion and the urge to break free.

Burial Ground is another killer track that jumps right out of the traps and takes hold with a driving beat and great ensemble playing.  Sumner Street ends the album with a Springsteen-esque chorus of celebratory sound. This is wonderful stuff.

Ryan Davidson  'A Wick Burning High' - Self Release

Davidson hails from northern California. Educated in Ireland, his storytelling style shines brightly on these songs with a voice that is clear and strong and commands attention as it leads from the front. He is ably assisted by Miles Pack on cello, resonator, banjo, glockenspiel and percussion with Darius Koski on viola, accordion and organ and Jessie Nieves on fiddle and backing vocals.

Black Socks deals with Ryan’s personal story of being hit by a truck at 13, which left him bedridden for nearly year and facing multiple surgeries. This eventually led to him learning how to play guitar and the rest, as they say, is history. He sings of a friend who suffers from Huntington’s disease on Kay and it is a fine tribute to the fortitude displayed by human beings in the eye of seemingly insurmountable odds.

Whiskey with My Friends is a nod to times past with old friends and has a pleasing Irish feel to the melody. Silver Dagger is a traditional folk song that ends with a death pact and East Virginia Billy is an old time fiddle tune that hints of Appalachian influence in the playing. Catherine is written in memory of his great grandmother who emigrated from Northern Ireland to New York in the 19th century, the life that she experienced and the price she paid. The Haze is a fine tune that deals with getting clear and following your own inner direction and voice, while the title track tells of loss and the hope for a better tomorrow. 

This is modern folk music played with a confidence that bodes well for the future.

Dickie Lee Erwin 'Shadetree' - High Plains

Erwin is Austin Texas based and has been performing and releasing music for the last 33 years. This is his eighth release since starting on his spiritual journey and the songs are well produced by Rob Halverson, who also contributes a variety of parts on various instruments. There is one cover, Gentle on my Mind, which is given a slow tempo banjo and guitar strum. The rest of the songs are created by Dickie Lee Erwin and he delivers them in a laid-back style which brings to mind the easy groove of lazy afternoons spent on the back-porch.

Go Ahead and Rain is a fine song that features excellent mandolin playing from Chris Mietus and the steel guitar of Gary Newcomb. Johnny Said is a song that reflects on the breaks that life brings and the need to ‘walk that line.’   

Abra Moore appears on a number of tracks adding sweet harmony vocals and it is good to know that she is still active on the music circuit. Grindstone and River of Dreams are songs that sail along on gentle arrangements and melodies with some superb ensemble playing from the studio musicians. The final track, Seven Angels, boasts a Johnny Cash-influenced vocal that shows a gospel influence. This is a strong set of songs delivered with confidence.

Reverend Freakchild  'Hillbilly Zen-Punk Blues' - Self Release

This interesting artist plays a country blues style of music that is very engaging and bears many hidden treasures. Starting out with All I Got Is Now, a real stand-out song, the Reverend sings of a life philosophy that acknowledges ‘today is the tomorrow I worried about yesterday’ and concludes that ‘All I got is now’; simple and sage advice and a code to live by.

The music has an appeal in the melodic arrangements and the fine playing of the musicians. Angel of Mercy is an instrumental played with a restrained groove and great harmonica parts. Other instrumental tracks, Lullaby and Soul Transforming Realisation are equally strong and carry great presence. She Wants My Name is a great slice of swamp blues as is the final track I Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down while Tears of Fire is more of a rock groove.

Apparently the Reverend is studying Tibetan Buddhism and this influences his work. He plays resonator guitar and the simple backbeat laid down by Chris Parke and Tugboat Eustis gives the tracks a solid foundation over which the other players can add their parts.  Hugh Pool, who co-produces with award winning Sal Paradise, plays harmonica and lap steel and John Ragusa plays flute. 

3hattrio 'Dark Desert Night' - Okehdokee

The 3hattrio play in a traditional folk style that is defined as American Desert Music. The aim is to create a new music which responds to the natural world of their sacred homeland near Zion National Park in Utah.  They also strive to acknowledge the cultural traditions of generations of people who have worked and lived on the deserts of the American southwest. The subject matter of the songs is rooted in their natural habitat, drawing from the changing light over the distance or the way sound plays off the surrounding cliffs. The music is simple and sublime.

The song arrangements are beautifully understated and played with both reverence and subtlety by Eli Wrankle on violin, Hal Cannon on guitars, banjos, vocals and Greg Istock on acoustic bass, foot percussion and vocals. The interplay between the three musicians is stripped back and produces an acoustic minimalist treat.

Get Back Home tells the tale of a drowning tragedy while Nothing deals with the birth of the land in the great creation. Carry Me Away is a story of deceit, murder and revenge taken from a traditional arrangement. Get on the Bus is a slow blues with some fine violin parts while Sand Storm boasts some jazz-tinged bass playing of the highest order.

The banjo and violin parts on Tammy’s Sister and the soulful vocal of Greg Istock weave a haunting atmosphere and Off the Map follows in a similar vein with a dark study of a desert cowboy who allows jealousy to direct his actions and a future of guilt ridden emotions.

Hal Cannon sings in a weathered vocal style that adds character to songs like White Pressing Down, a song of seasonal reflection while Left Texas is reminiscent of the story telling style of Eric Taylor. An instrumental, Crippled Up Blues closes the record and brings to a conclusion a project that is beautifully delivered. 

Reviews by Paul McGee

My Quiet Companion 'Self-Titled' - MQC

This Swedish trio is Patrick Rydman on guitars, mandolin and vocals, Sofia Ekberg on guitar and vocals and Henrik Cederblom guitar, percussion and vocals. They formed in 2012 and perform original songs in a folk, roots, Americana style.  With their range of acoustic instruments and harmony singing there is an attractive groove to the arrangements. A number of the songs here appeared on an EP released by Sofia Ekberg and previously reviewed by this site.  

The sound is both intimate and light with fine interplay between the musicians. All the Small Details refers to Alzheimer’s disease and is written with a sensitivity that also informs the song Let It Slip Away, a reflection on single parenthood and the need to protect a questioning and vulnerable child.

Today I Woke Up and Circle of Stones are more up-tempo numbers and the closing Goodnight Sally is a quiet lullaby to soothe the uncertainties of life.

October Gold 'Self-Titled EP' - Self Release

This duo is based in Montreal and creates beautiful soundscapes which have been described as "painting your imagination with song."

Singer-songwriter/guitarist Kit Soden is joined by violinist/ pianist, Aliza Thibodeau and the mixture of folk and classical sensibilities merge to create a very pleasant listening experience.

This self-produced EP follows on from two previous full releases, Into the Silence and Bridge of the Sun, and the 5 tracks are performed with the assistance of Evan Stewart on Bass, Thomas Fortner on cello, Erin Schwabe-Fry on french horn, Will Bennet on percussion and Ben Ewing on shakers and tambourine.

The playing is gentle and understated with a mid-tempo pace that does not challenge the listener but rather sets a mood of quiet contemplation. The lyrics are based on poems by Thomas Moore (1779-1852) and Archibald Lampman (1861-1899). This works unexpectedly well with the words complimenting the fluid arrangements with a pastoral air of erudite musings on love’s great mystery. 

Bellstop 'Karma' - Self Release

Where to start with the music that reaches out from the fascinating and rich creative heritage of Iceland? The country has given the industry such musically diverse acts as Björk and The Sugarcubes, Sigur Rós, múm and Of Monsters and Men among many others. It is a dynamic hotbed of talent for a small population of some 300,000 people.

Bellstop are a folk orientated duo with Runar Sigurbjornsson on Guitar/vocals and Elin Ólafsdóttir on vocals. They are the creative source and have written all 12 songs featured here. They are joined by band members, Andri ólafsson on bass, Eysteinn Eysteinsson on drums/percussion and Halldór Bjornsson piano, organ and programming in addition to producer duties.

The tracks are a real mixture of styles, from the opening, Trouble, with its tribal chant and groove and tight harmonies to the acoustic strum of Moving On. The vocals of Elin Ólafsdóttir are particularly strong and a standout feature, sounding confident and full of rich texture; a cross between Bjork with her intensity and Natalie Marchant on the softer side. The song arrangements are melodic and tight with some nice guitar playing throughout.

Ravens has an interesting dynamic and Red is a brooding track that has human fragility at its core. Friends in High Places and Daylight follow a love theme.  The band describes their sound as folk 'n' roll and I cannot disagree with this - interesting and different.    

Reviews by Stephen Rapid

Don Henley 'Cass County' - Capitol 

The Eagles were never one of my favorite bands. I'd listen to both the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers  but my musical tastes were for something harder at that time. Now some 15 years after his last solo album, Don Henley has reverted to his country roots. While the Eagles edged listeners away from the traditional country sound in their heyday, here Henley revisits that sound. 

The album is named after where Henley grew up in East Texas. Cass Country is full of songs that echo the lives of people who grew up in the 50s and beyond. Henley co-produced the album with former Heartbreaker's drummer Stan Lynch and the duo selected players who bring these songs alive. Milo Deering's pedal steel guitar is both evocative and prominent, the guitarists are such as JT Corenflos and Steuart Smith who can both rock and twang as the song requires. Add to that the rock solid rhythm section of Glenn Worf and Greg Morrow and you have a mighty foundation to build on. Other instruments include mandolin, piano, organ, fiddle and Dobro, but it is the singers who give the album it's depth. 

The opening track (Tift Merritt's Bramble Rose) features Henley sharing verses with Miranda Lambert and Mick Jagger. The latter adds harmonica and makes one wonder when the Stones frontman might venture into similar territory, having touched on it both on previous solo albums and with the Stones. The next track, one of many songs co-written by Henley and Lynch, is called The Cost Of Living , something the songs tells us that everybody pays. It features a distinguished vocal from Merle Haggard who brings his usual majesty to the recording. Another highlight is Henley’s duet with Dolly Parton on the Louvin Brothers' When I Stop Dreaming. The other duet is with Martina McBride on That Old Flame. Throughout Henley is in fine voice and indeed, his voice has gained both grain and gravitas throughout the years.There are numerous others joining in on the vocal contributions including Jamey Johnson, Lee Ann Womack, Vince Gill, Alison Krauss, Lucinda Williams and Trisha Yearwood all on harmony. It sounds like one of those recording sessions where a lot of fun was had and a lot of respect felt. 

The range of themes are largely about relationships and regret for mistakes made, a viewpoint that most often comes with the wisdom of age and of lessons learnt. But there are stories of a single woman who waits tables while waiting for something better to come along (Waiting Tables) and the need of a farmer who knows a variety of things are prayed for but that his need is just for some rain in Praying for Rain.

That sense of hard fought understanding of where the truth lies can be found in the touching ballad Younger Man where the subject reflects that the person who seeks his attention should be looking for a younger man, not him. Henley delivers a very believable vocal that sums up the sentiment of the song with ease. On the final song Where I Am Now (there is a deluxe version with four extra tracks) he reflects with energy and attitude that he is at home and happy in his own skin.  The whole album is testament to that understanding and comes down to someone making music for its own sake, having little else to prove other than the music itself.   

Chris Stapleton 'Traveller' - Mercury 

This is the first solo release from the former SteelDrivers and Jompson Brothers singer who has been making a living in Nashville since 2001. He is cited alongside Sturgill Simpson and Jason Isbell in making inroads into the upper echelons of the Country charts without compromising his ideals or attitude. Stapleton, Simpson and Isbell all have producer Dave Cobb in common and Cobb seems to get the best out of these performers in a studio environment. Stapleton co-produced the album using a tight band that included his wife Morgane on vocals alongside bassist J.T. Cure and drummer Derek Mixon. Additonal players include Mickey Raphael on harmonica, Robby Turner on steel and Mike Webb on keyboards. Though Stapleton is signed to Mercury Nashville he has gone against the grain by using his own band with hand-picked guests and it wasthe most organic way to get the feel right. 

The central instrument is Stapleton's own powerful voice which is equal parts southern rock, blues, soul and country. His voice is as arresting on the guitar and vocal delivery of Whiskey And You as it is on the soul infused full band reading of the Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove song Tennessee Whiskey or Might As Well Get Stoned. You might see a theme developing here, but if so it is one expanded further with songs like The Devil Named Music, a song that highlights the way the need to make music can keep families apart. The subject of constant movement is also echoed in the title track. Of a deeper personal note is Daddy Doesn't Pray Anymore, a song inspired by his late father's later life when he didn't say grace before a meal. 

Overall many of these song take a mid to slow tempo that allows the songs a breathing space not dictated by simply making them uptempo workouts. More of You is a song that acknowledges the place his wife has in his life and music. Another cover is a song that was previously recorded by Charlie Daniels Was It 26. The final track, Sometimes I Cry, was recorded live in front of an invited audience; it is a slow blues meditation on finding no other means to express a depth of emotion; it features an impassioned vocal and some deft blues guitar. 

Stapleton's songwriting talents are to be reckoned with. He has already proved that his songs can find a place in the mainstream having had cuts by such major label artists as Thomas Rhett, Jason Eady, Little Big Town, Luke Byron, Trace Adkins, Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean and Kenny Chesney. Indeed the majority of the songs here are co-writes. Stapleton is also an accomplished guitarist, a skill he honed with the more rock orientated Jompson Brothers, who apparently fit somewhere between Led Zeppelin and AC/DC. It is easily to see how easily Stapleton's voice would fit into any of these genres (and more). 

With a running time of over an hour there is a lot to take in on Traveller, but the skill of all involved makes it an easy task. Those more interested in the mainstream or the traditional and retro side of things might not take to it as others will. Stapleton is being seen as part of a resurgence of a more believable and creative section of Nashville's musical output and it's easy to see why, but it remains to be seen just how much success he will have in the long term. However, one has the feeling that Stapleton will be around for quite a while yet as both a performer and songwriter.   

Joe King Carrasco 'Chiliandro' - Anaconda  

Perhaps best know this side of the Atlantic for his association with the Stiff Records single Buena,  but there is much more to the Austin based musician than that. A quick visit to his website will give you an idea of the number of albums he has released. He is an active working musician who leads his band in their delivery of energetic and effervescent Mexicana rock. This album sound s like a party and is relentlessly ‘up’ as witnessed by the wah-wah guitar-underpinned Tequila Revolution. But the point of entry is one of the best rave-ups here. My Ding Dong Daddy (Don't Daddy No Mo). Sung in English and Spanish it is full of songs built around catchy hooks and riffing guitars and percussive embellishments. 

The king is joined by his band Los Side FX who included Leanne Atherton, Rick Del Castillo, guitarist Albert Besteiro, bassist Chuggy Hernandez and Vince Mejia on drums among a bunch of special guests who help keep things interesting. They bring these songs to life in a way that we don't often get to hear over here. At it's heart is a understanding of the way that the culture of rock 'n' roll fitted the Latin sense of making a groove. 

Songs like Who Put The P In Pendejo and the slide guitar blues of Adios Terlingua or the full on power guitar jam of Oakaka are all songs that can't fail to set the foot tapping and make you appreciate the skill of all those involved here. Joe King Carrasco rules his kingdom with a trusty Telecaster, a nifty tune and an amiable attitude. Those who have enjoyed the recent From Dusk To Dawn film and TV series should find themselves right at home here. Carrasco has also made appearances with our own BP Fallon and is one of the featured guitarists on his Live From Texas CD.   

The Delta Jacks 'Trouble Ahead' - Self Release 

Another name to add to the list of credible roots bands in the UK. This quartet are from the same are of South Essex that spawned Dr. Feelgood, Kursaal Flyers and Eddie and the Hot Rods. In their DNA they have roots of these bands especially the latter two. The Rods for the energy and attitude and the Kursaals for the roots influence. Though a great many of the their influences would be more recent. They mention both the Legendary ShackShakers and Silm Cessna's Auto Club as bands whose fans may also like this crew. I don't find the quite the same Southern fervor that exist in both of those outfits, but I can see the point. 

This, their debut, features 11 original songs which feature lots of banjo upfront and centre over a solid uptempo rhythm section. The band are Dominic Bauers, Greg Beager, Trevor Reeves and Ryan Bradshaw. The latter takes the lead vocal duties and plays the harmonica. It is that in some ways which links them to the sound of JD Wilkes and the ShackShakers (as well as Dr Feelgood). But over the drum and bass platform they add touches of mandolin and keyboards into their sound. 

This is, perhaps, best exemplified by the likes of Blackened Heart Blues - a song with a strong vocal presence. The albums closer Go Go Go is a frantic piece of rockin' rhythm and blues that exhorts the listener to rock 'n' roll. There's a touch of Cash style to House of Sin though it is delivered at a pace that relates to Johnny's early kick-out-the-lights middle finger raising that to his latter days. The more sedate Alabama finds them coming up for air and deliver a songs that stands out for that and for Bradshaw's solid vocal. The song Trouble Ahead features more of the banjo and harmonica sound after their nicely balanced group vocals at the start.  

The Delta jacks are an enjoyable and uplifting romp through the roots swamp and make tribute to the music that inspires them without simply imitating those inspirations. They are never going to be tagged as ground breaking originals but rather are infused with a spirit that is engaging and energizing. If there's trouble ahead then it's time to step on the gas.   

Patrick Sweany 'Daytime Turned To Nighttime' – NMR 

Following a couple of albums produced by his friend Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys Sweany has this time decided to work with another guitarist/producer - this time out it's Joe Mahan and a tight group of players including Ron Eoff on bass, Bryan Owings on drums and Tyson Rogers on keyboards. On he cover there's a slightly menacing monochrome picture of Sweany but a happier looking man features on the inner sleeve. The music itself is not dissimilar. Drawing from wide range of musical influences that are essentially akin to some classic soul, roots rock and blues, it has also been described as soulful Southern Rock 70's style. However when you listen to the music it soon forms its own identity. 

There are moments of acoustic slide guitar over the solid rhythm section as in Tiger Pride. A song where he gets some vocal support from Laura Mayo and Alexis Saski. Things get a little more philosophical on Here To Stay (Rock n Roll) in which he reason though his time isn't going to be long that the ubiquitous music will be. More affecting in some ways are songs like Afraid Of You and Sweethearts Together both albums highlights. The latter a slow and subtle song with keyboards and guitar giving context to a captivating vocal. Somewhat rougher and readier is the more uptempo song Back Home which definitely shows his bluesier rocking' side - though the majority of the songs take a more temperate tempo. All which shows that Sweany is comfortable mixing things up a little but never allows his music get too polished or smooth. This is music with stubble. Music steeped in the blues underdogs, the soul survivors and roots pioneers that finds focus in Sweany's heartfelt delivery and songwriting.  

Patrick Sweany is a noteworthy exponent of authenticity and attitude. Both have to be right and they are here on Daytime Turned To Nighttime.   

Patty Loveless 'Honky Tonk Angel -The MCA Years' - Humphead 

This is another of Humphead’s handy career overviews which takes in Patty Loveless' years at MCA from the mid eighties to the early nineties. Although traditionally minded, these tracks show that her label and producers were keeping abreast of changes and trends in the country charts. Apparent throughout is just how good a singer and interpreter Loveless is. A glance at the writers’ credits reveals that songwriters - no matter how good or successful they might be at a particular time - fall out of favour. Names like Karen Staley, Karen Brooks, Harry Stinson and, especially, Kostas who has nine writing credits here. He is no longer a writer who feature much in Nashville songwriting credits - more's the pity. Of Loveless' own contributions  the still off-kilter sounding Sounds of Loneliness is an interesting highlight alongside the somewhat venomous God Will. 

Working with producers Tony Brown and husband Emory Gordy Jr (both alumni of Emmylou Harris's Hot Band) she released a series of albums with MCA before moving to greater commercial success at Epic. Never-the-less these 50 songs here are well worth revisiting for (if nothing else) Loveless' pure, twangy, mountain soul voice and obvious love of what she does. These albums also featured some excellent players including guitarists Richard Bennett, Ray Flacke, Albert Lee and Stuart Smith. Whilst others involved in the various sessions included Jerry Douglas, Mark O'Connor, John Jarvis and Paul Franklin. Numerous of her contemporary singers joining her in the studio were such luminaries as Dolly Parton, Russell Smith, Claire Lynch and Vince Gill. Loveless has appeared on Gill's breakthrough 1990 hit When I Call Your Name. 

With 50 songs to choose from you will have your own favorites, the ones that stand out for this writer include If My Heart Had Windows, the title track from her 1988 album - a pedal steel infused weeper. The more rockin' version of Steve Earle's A Little Bit In Love shows that Loveless was up to and could tackle a whole variety of moods. Her lively and swinging take on the Hank Williams song I Can't Get You Off My Mind is a further example of this. Add to that Blue Side Of Town and the aforementioned Kostas' Timber I'm Falling are all testament to a singer who had a level of success but who should be held in far greater esteem that she is now. This when a time when a song could have the drive and a rock sensibility while still sound steadfastly like it should belong in the country genre.  

A must have compilation for those who might have these albums on cassette or have missed them the first time out. A slightly more prepossessing cover would have helped though.

Reviews by Paul McGee

Krista Detor 'Barely' -Tightrope

Krista Detor is one of the great unheralded American songwriters of the last decade. If we look for a sense of grace in the world and a considered, reflective view of the human condition then there is much to recommend a secretive liaison with her wonderful, literary recordings.

Produced by David Weber and wrapped in understated song arrangements and melodies, Barely is a very brave record in its stripped bare beauty and gentle warmth. Hers is a voice that breathes a seductive, melancholic tone; worldly wise and always open to the possibility of enduring hope. Her ability to capture the appropriate mood is impressive and the insight and vulnerable nature of these songs quite haunting.

Can I Come Over tells of a repentant lover who wants to make up with her partner having broken a bond of trust. Box of Clouds speaks of a former lover who is left behind in the rush of living. Castle in Wales is a lovely memo to a partner to go back and relive a special memory. Barely is a knowing look at a broken relationship but yet a belief that love may endure. From the Pedestal is a song about regret and hurt caused to another while trying to look forward to the future and forget past memories.

For All I Know is a beautiful keepsake in time from a parent to a child and the hope of infinite possibility held in the future of a young life. Too Fast is a superb reflection of lives in motion and the decisions that shape us. The Coming Winter, a duet with Mary Dillon, boasts a beautiful duet that takes sides between two lovers in a fight to have their man return from the war to one or the other. 

Recorded with mainly piano and guitars with guest vocals from Amanda Biggs, Moira Smiley and Mary Dillon and cello from Anne Hurley; this is a quiet, reflective, poignant, personal and honest release. This one is a real keeper and highly recommended.

Joel Plaskett 'The Park Avenue Sobriety Test' - Self Release

Born in Nova Scotia, Joel Plaskett has been making quite a successful career in his native Canada and further afield for the last 15 years now, producing a succession of always interesting releases to mark his musical journey and maturity as a songwriter of note.

His sound is very much in the contemporary singer songwriter arena if we must pick a signpost, but his reach is more than just this with an eclectic array of genres, from blues and folk to rock and country.

This new release is his sixth solo outing, when not playing as part of the more rock orientated Joel Plaskett Emergency. The songs here cover a range of subjects from a nostalgic look at growing up (On a Dime) to a random thoughts scattergun (Song for Jersey) and on to more serious topics such as corporate control (Captains of Industry) and a plea to his nation (For Your Consideration).

The production is shared by Joel and Ian McGettigan and the musicians are drawn from a wide range of players that have worked with Plaskett over the years. Broke sings of not giving up and having fortitude and resolve to endure no matter what the obstacle – ‘I’m broke, but I’m not broken’.

Alright/OK and Credits Roll are relationship songs that discuss the relative health of staying together too long or exiting too early – ‘Don’t you hang around til the credits roll’.

When I Close My Eyes is a fine song of passion and yearning for that special someone and the title track (P.A.S.T.) is a fun romp through our daily lives and the randomness of it all.

The one cover version, Hard Times, (Stephen Foster) is a barometer in many ways for the rest of the project as it pauses among the pleasure of these songs to reflect upon the tears and sorrow of the disenfranchised. It is a terrific version of a timeless classic and shows the mark of the man. This is a really enjoyable listen and recommended to fans, new and old alike.

Kip Moore 'Wild Ones' - MCA

This second release by MCA artist Kip Moore has plenty of label weight behind it. Clocking in at almost 50 minutes however, it strikes me as nothing more than an overproduced, arena-oriented, hit factory approach to being a modern ‘real’ country boy. Is this the future direction of Nashville country music and should we be afraid?

Opening track Wild Ones has a production that includes programmed beats and a slow groove, topped off by chants and hand claps – it could be stadium rock – it could be chart pop – it could be a number of things, but it is not easily slotted into any definition of the traditional country genre. Sure, the vocal is authentic southern boy, influenced by many other artists and the gloss of Come and Get It has airwave hit written all over it; but that is not the point; am I listening to Bon Jovi lite or a Garth Brooks wannabe?

Commercial sound (Magic), upbeat tempos (Girl of the Summer), heart on sleeve lyrics (That was Us), pseudo-anthem chant (Lipstick), Radio Friendly (What Ya Got on Tonight), slow and sensitive (Running for You), on it goes...

The one song that feels truly authentic is final track Comeback Kid which shows what this song writer could achieve if he were to get back to the source of it all, honest songs delivered in a style that strips away all the fluff, programming and junk. 

Melanie Dekker 'Live in Europe' - Self Release

This Canadian artist began recording solo in the late 1990’s and has built a solid career over the years. Live in Europe clocks in at around 50 minutes and the 13 tracks were recorded at 4 concerts in Germany and Holland. Dekker is joined by a group of 4 players on guitars, bass and keyboards as she delivers folk oriented songs that visit a wide range of topics from matters of the heart (Blush, Boomerang) the price of commitment (The Price You Pay, Meant to Be), loss of innocence (Distant Star, At the Junkyard), communication breakdown (Flowers, Stare at the Rain) and philosophical musings (Maybe We’re the Angels).

David Sinclair plays guitars with some aplomb and his reputation as a member of Sarah McLachlan’s band gives him due respect and gravitas. The overall playing is both sensitive and subtle in service of these quiet vignettes of life, but the lack of any audience presence takes away from the fact that it is essentially a live recording. Muted applause and a few clipped song intros, do not add to the feel of the project. However, Melanie sings with a beautifully clear voice and the songs are worth repeated plays.

Jack Tempchin 'Learning To Dance' - Blue Elan Records

A Californian singer-songwriter, Tempchin is best known for his contributions to the Eagles songbook and has also written for a number of other bands and artists including Tom Rush, George Jones, Emmylou Harris and Glen Campbell. Learning to Dance is produced, recorded and mixed by Joel Piper, who does a fine job, and adds the majority of instruments and background vocals.

There is an easy tempo to these 12 songs, as if you were to mix a James Taylor vibe with a sleepy Tim McGraw. Tempchin sings with an effortless, sweet delivery and the production keeps things at a medium pace throughout.

The End of the Affair has a smooth jazz groove and the title track is tailor-made for country artists to cover. The songs are mainly about love and relationship matters, with the slow strum of Ain’t Nobody like You the perfect example. You Can Go Home is a song that visits the past and what gets left behind; it is one of the stronger songs with the reflection that ‘you can go home, but you can’t go back’. 

Finally Found Me is a quiet acoustic strum that speaks of finding an inner peace and Room to Run closes the set with a message to let your children develop their character and identity with only a gentle guiding hand.

This is a fine collection of songs that will appeal to a broad cross section of music listeners.

Reviews by Declan Culliton

 

Anna Mitchell ‘Down To the Bone’ - Self Release

2015 has been a very busy year for singer songwriter Anna Mitchell. Performing and recording as a member of John Blek and the Rats, touring in the States as a duo with Simone Felice, playing keyboards and backing vocals on Felice’s live album From the Violent Banks of The Kaaterskill and also recording her debut solo album and what a gem it is. Recorded at Monique Studios Cork it presents ten self-penned songs by the versatile Cork based musician.

The album features Mitchell on vocals, piano and harmonium, the album also includes contributions from the various members of John Blek and the Rats. As the album titled suggests many of the songs are stripped back allowing Mitchell’s beautifully fragile vocal and piano playing to dominate throughout. Melodic and radio friendly ballads such as When My Ship Comes In, Tennessee and Let’s Run Away have been deservedly enjoying national radio airplay. The richer sound of What’s A Fool To Do is a departure from the more country and folk orientated material on the album and brings to mind a young Tori Amos with its piano driven structure. Other highlights on the album are the opening track Paradise and the charming Long Time Gone.

Mitchell was named Irish Artist of the Month earlier in the year by Galway Bay FM and Highland Radio in Donegal and on the evidence of this debut certainly has the potential to make a commercial breakthrough whether it be in Ireland or overseas. It has been a number of decades since Irish female singer songwriters such as Mary Black, Mary Coughlan and Maura O’Connell were household names, regularly appearing on national television, radio and further afield. Of the current generation of talented female artists Mitchell appears to be the most likely to emulate them.

 John Blek and the Rats 'Borders' - Tonetoaster Records  

John Blek and the Rats follow on from their promising debut album Leave Your Love at The Door with Borders, an altogether more mature and cohesive album which combines lead singer John O’Connor’s imposing song writing ability with the collective musical talents of the Cork based six piece band. In contrast to the more folk and country leanings on their debut album, Borders finds the band successfully experimenting with a much fuller, lusher sound, complimented by the quality of the musicianship within the band. The end result is an excellent album which, if given the airplay it deserves, should introduce them to a much wider audience.

The stand out track on the album is the delightful, if somewhat dark, Funeral Home, where O’Connor tells of his encounter with a perceived but unfortunately deceased lover. The song would take pride of place on any Jason Isbell album."I met my love in the funeral home, she was pale as the sheets that adorned her, I could see in her eyes cold reflections of mine, as I pondered what ill wind had brought her”. Indeed much of the album, though sounding musically upbeat, is lyrically quite dark, with tales of death, illness and infidelity predominating on tracks Dead Friends, Infirmary and Wandering Child.  

 David Murphy, who recently toured with Willy Vlautin’s latest diversion The Delines, contributes delightfully on pedal steel guitar and equally impressive is Robbie Barron’s guitar work throughout. Worth nothing also is the piano and backing vocals of Anna Mitchell. One of Ireland’s superior live acts, John Blek and The Rats have recreated that energy and togetherness in the studio with this very impressive piece of work. 

O’Connell and Love ‘Minesweeping’ - Self Release

Minesweeping could not possibly be any further from the acid house country material normally associated with Alabama 3 lead vocalist and songwriter Larry Love. The album is a collaboration between Love and Brendan O’Connell, who co-wrote Love’s solo album Ghost Flight, recorded in 2006.

It is produced by Love and O’Donnell under the watchful eye of Greg Fleming, better known as Wizard, whose previous work includes The Chemical Brothers, X Press 2 and DJ Fresh. It boasts a most impressive list of guest vocalists including Rumor, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Aurora Dawn and June Miles-Kingston. The closing title track also includes a spoken rendition by Pete Doherty of the Wilfred Owen’s poem "Dulce et decorum est ." No less impressive is the quality and diversity of the musicians involved in the recording, including Segs Jennings (The Ruts), Seamus Beaghen (Madness)  and Jay Darlington (Madness).

Given the ingredients it’s surprising that the album is actually much closer to late night bedsit listening than the dancefloor, and saddens, stimulates and soothes in equal measures. A reference point would be the Mark Lanegan and Isobel Campbell trilogy of albums Sunday at Devil Dirt, Ballad of The Broken Seas and Hawk. Love and Lanegan could have been separated at birth given the similarities in style, content and delivery on this album. The beauty and the beast framework created by Lanegan and Campbell is equalled here by the melodic and gentle contributions, in particular by Rumor (Shake Off Your Shoes, Hangover Me) and Buffy Sainte-Marie (Call a Cab Cinderella), a contrast to the whiskey soaked, sixty a day sounding baritone drawl deployed by Love.

Country folk and blues has seldom sounded darker yet sweeter

Robert Chaney ‘Cracked Picture Frames’ - Self Release

Gothic tales in the rural swamp lands of South Florida dominate this impressive debut album by Florida born Robert Chaney, now residing in the UK.

In typical troubadour fashion, Cracked Picture Frames features only vocal and acoustic guitar as Chaney relates hard hitting tales of wife beating, infidelity, relationship breakdowns, filicide and unrequited love.

Carrying a torch for his predecessors Woodie Guthrie and Townes Van Zandt, the songs have a timeless quality and feel to them as the writer succeeds in condensing what sounds like a short story in to a few simple verses and choruses. Chaney’s lyrics even without music or melody would be formidable. We hear of the cowardly serial wife beater in Black Eyed Susan. "And they turned to her and she spoke not a word, and I was relieved when they turned to leave, I said one of these days I’ll quit this for good, but did I mean the woman, or did I mean the beatin’, or did I mean the seemingly cowardly being, crumblin’ under a burden of choosin.” While Cyclist speaks of rural infidelity and its inevitable consequences "I’ve only had one love in my life, and she and my brother were married, but her eyes they were mine and the same with her heart, and the same with the babies she carried.” 

 It is an album that could quite easily be dismissed on first hearing, reveals itself, with the lyric sheet in hand, to be the work of an extremely talented young songwriter and story teller. 

Reviews by Stephen Rapid

Tawny Ellis 'Ghosts of the Low Country' - Self Release 

Ghosts of the Low Country is a four track EP recorded in Muscle Shoals Fame Studios after Ellis met Rick Hall and was invited down to record. The result is a memorable 4 song EP. The most striking thing on first listen is Ellis’ evocative voice. She has five previous release to her name.The title track of her latest is the story of a Native American, Teh-La-Nay, and the enforced displacement of her tribe to an Oklahoma reservation. It is one of two original songs. The second track Evolve or Die has a tighter sound of voice, drums, guitar and bass pedals with Ellis adding lap steel guitar. It is a song that has a sense of warning tinged with hope;  “… hell’s a big place with an open gate, but heaven’s calling, for there I’m bound.”

Ellis’s partner Gio Lio co-produces with her, co-wrote Ghosts of the Low Country  and adds guitar, bass pedals and Hammond to the recording. The rhythm section is Peter Hamilton and Patrick Ferguson who are joined by guitarist Sean Dunn on a couple of tracks. Desperate Tonight is the third song, written by Mike Manitone from the band Five Eight - from which Ferguson and Dunn are both on loan.

The playing has that vibe that can be captured when the feel is just right. The final song is the well known Alan Block /Donn Hecht song Walking after Midnight. The Patsy Cline version is ingrained in the memory, but this version has an understated feeling, with a tender vocal from Ellis and the musicians delivering an understated performance with brushed drums, low bass pedals, guitar and Ellis’ lap steel. The latter is an instrument she took up from watching her friend Daniel Lanois play. The overall sound is also reflective of Lanois too. It is a rootsy and soulful sound that arguers well for the future of a talent artist. Ellis has also built a reputation as a sculptor and jewellery maker,  but it is her music that has the potential to createa wider impact, as witnessed by the strength these four songs.

Clint Black 'On Purpose' - Blacktop

Killing Time, Black's debut album, was a major success and positioned Black as a front runner in the neo-traditionalist movement of the late 80s. For whatever reason, Black was unable to sustain that high profile and the major label success of contemporaries Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson. He has had a number of charting albums and singles over the years and continues to perform and write.

On Purpose shows that he has not lost his skills as a singer or writer but seems, to these ears, to be missing the vital spark of the best of his previous work. Most artists with Black's track record are, to a degree, conscious of the requirements of getting on radio, having already been there in the past. On Purpose ‘s sound is more now than then and it opens in fine style with one of the best songs, Time For That which has mandolin and electric guitar over a solid beat that features a hard working man "on track for a heart attack" who is looking for some time to kick back. Elsewhere keys and guitar dominate over the judicious use of fiddle and steel and while the latter never leads it remains a distinct flavor. Summertime Song is about writing a song to fit the title, one that is "a real good, feel good" number that might get played a lot and would fit one of the current crop of ‘radio friendly’ boys to a T(and backward ball cap).

The stand-out song is another that could easily fit the bill for Black, or any number of younger artists, is Beer, a song about the universal language of the popular beverage. It has a simple, easily to assimilate message that will be a big crowd sing-along/ pleaser and it could be the song that gets Black back on radio. Again the drum beat is upfront and the guitar rocks and there’s some banjo in there to add a country element. It seems to be trying to be ‘now’. It's not ‘then’ either, but rather seems somewhere in the middle with Black trying to find out what will work for his fans and for radio as this is his first album in ten years.

The closing song, The Last Day, is a ballad with strings that encourages us to live each day as if it could be our last the same theme as Tim McGraw’s Live like you were Dying. This is an admiral sentiment that will find favor with those fans who have stuck with Clint Black throughout his career. It shows off Black's voice to good effect. There is also a duet with his wife Lisa Hartman (You Still Get to Me) that confirms a strong love that indicates that this album is full of songs which mean something personal to Black. He is making music which is positive and he, doubtless, has an audience. Whether he can bring new fans to the fold is yet to be seen.

Clint Black still has a strong and immediately recognizable voice; many would love to have him in these times of somewhat indistinguishable voices and that is a good thing. But in the end, those of us who were hoping for something a little more "country" may have to wait or look elsewhere.

The Malpass Brothers 'Self-Titled' - Organic

There is nothing of the new, neutered country about this retro-sounding brother duo. They are highly relevant to those who love classic country - something they themselves describe as "the real deal". The 12 track album has a broad range of styles that touches on the storytelling sound of Marty Robbins on Here In Alberta I'll Stay to Hank Sr on Baby, We're Really In Love and then to Jerry Lee Lewis on the piano throbbing It'll Be Me written by Jack Clement. Other established writers whom they have picked song from include the aforementioned Williams and Robbins as well as Willie Nelson (the perhaps over-familiar Hello Walls), Charlie and Ira Louvin and Bob McDill.

There nothing that isn't easy and enjoyable here and Doyle Lawson's production is warm and welcoming. The lead and harmony vocals by the brothers Christopher and Taylor are excellent and the band provides very sympathetic playing from David Johnson on steel guitar and fiddle and Jeff Collins on piano with a spot on rhythm section who let the songs and melodies sound as open and fresh as possible.

The Malpass Brothers have written two of the songs and they show that the lads have absorbed traditional songwriting styles. Learn to Love Me Too and I Found Someone to Love fit the relationship themes and don't sound out of place in company. One of the best is the opening take on Bill Anderson's A Death in the Family, a song that is not as morbid as the title might suggest, although it hasn’t an uplifting theme. It's the sort of song that country music does (or rather used to do) so well.

This is the third album from the duo and anyone with a penchant for traditional country will find themselves quite happy to spend time with the brothers. When people decry the current state of the country charts it is often because they haven't sought out such quality acts like the Malpass Brothers who have, and always will, play the music they love. 

Jason Boland and the Stragglers 'Squelch' - Proud Souls

I have been listening to this band since their 1999 album Pearl Snaps and the essential basic premise of the music hasn't changed a lot since then. The band has got better, as has Boland as a writer and singer. They have now reached the stage that they know who they are and who their audience is. Boland had a chapter in Neil Alexander Hamilton's book Outlaws Still at Large and up until then I had not really pegged him as an outlaw; alt-country, insurgent country or whatever the then current tag was, but not necessarily the current outsider tag of "outlaw".

When you butt this up against someone like Eric Church, who has the moves and the talk, Boland wins hands down. Can you imagine a major label sanctioning a track called Fuck, Fight and Rodeo? This is the closing track on the album and one which admonishes those "running the show”, those who control such things as radio. The title refers to the ability of old radios to have a function that kept out, to varying degrees, unwanted noise. This Squelch is a most welcome noise - a set of eleven songs that have energy, intent and substance. The band are tight and tenacious in their delivery of these mainly uptempo, songs that look inward, outward and upward.

The rhythm section of Grant Tracy and Brad Rice (bass and drums respectively) has been with Boland since the ban's inception and they are joined here by guitarist/steel player Cody Angel -a recent addition to the line-up replacing longtime member Roger Ray. The final band member is Nick Worley on fiddle. Boland provides vocals and guitars. The five make a might fine noise as witnessed by songs like I Guess It's Alright to be an Asshole, another song that ain't going to get radio play  soon. The ballad Do You Love Me Any Less? However, could easily fit in to a well-programmed show.

A part of what is know as the Red Dirt scene, Jason and the Stragglers came from Oklahoma and have steadily built a following around the US, especially in Texas and their home state. Their music is a mix of influences and has been honed in the honky-tonks, bars and festival that want to keep the music grounded in real people and places. Boland acknowledges Steve Earle as someone who could rock without compromising the country element. He might also include Merle Haggard and David Allan Coe as well as a singer like Ronnie Milsap which would show the range that most of us listened to early on. These were all singers Boland listened to growing up and with whom he found affinity for a variety of reasons.

The key thing though is being true to himself and those he associates with which gives rise to a song like Christmas in Huntsville which understands the underdog facing prison time. Likewise Fat and Merry allows for living life to the full while you can. Boland and many of his underground contemporaries are in music to make money, while understanding that it's money that keeps any band on the road or in studio recording. This is about an honesty and an integrity that seems to have been lost once you become a part of the record machine. Squelch is a highpoint for Jason Boland and the Stragglers, an album that should tale them to a higher level that will find them gaining new fans while pleasing those who first put on pearl snap shirts and liked what they heard.

The Turnpike Troubadours 'Turnpike Troubadours' - Bossier City 

With this fourth album the Troubadours have reached a highpoint, reaching number 3 in the Billboard Country charts which means they have a set of fans who believe in both them and their music. On the evidence here they are justified as it is a solid and steadfast piece of work. The songs, largely from frontman Evan Felker (either solo or with other band members), are good, honest and literate storytelling that understands how people are and how their lives can be unreal at times. Fiddle and steel are prominent in the mix. Guitarist Ryan Engleman also handles the steel duties with confidence and also sits in the producer's chair (along with engineer Matt Wright). Kyle Nix is the man with the fiddle. They play with guests such as fellow singer/songwriter and former member John Fullbright on keyboards, banjo and accordion. The rhythm section of RC Edwards and Gabe Pearson lay down the driving beat that this train runs on.

The band have re-recorded two songs from their debut album Bossier City (the name of their label) and also cover Doreen from the pens of Old 97 members Rhett Miller and Murry Hammond which is a high energy riff driven song of the unfaithful lady of the title’s name. This is followed by the slow, pain-infused tale of lost love Fall Out of Love that is, in it's delivery and passion, an album highlight. Ringing In the Year and A Little  Song both look inwards to consider how to salvage something from failed or failing relationships. Elsewhere the Troubadours play with a conviction and energy that is invigorating. I was reminded at times of two old favorites of mine as I listened to the album; The Backsliders and Bob Woodruff. Both those artists came from a time when there seemed to be a much broader horizon open to new artists and the emerging sounds of roots/Americana. 

But right now we have a band like The Turnpike Troubadours to believe in and their inroads into the charts, doing it their way - without compromise - is something to celebrate. They are not the sound of Texas dance halls or strict retro routes and as such will not please every taste, but they have easily done enough here and on their previous albums, to gain  respect and reward for sticking to the guns. Their Red Dirt roots music is intermingled with a lot of different influences, but understands where country music came from and where it might go and how it might grow. 

Tiffany Huggins Grant 'Jonquil Child' - Self Release

Huggins is a Nashville based artist who grew up in Georgia and this is her second album. She has a soulful voice that is clear and concise. Jonquil Child continues her exploration of Americana mores. Ain't Nobody Leaves This Place is full of Hammond B3 and finds her at her most soulful and channeling her influence from the great records released by Stax in the past. Throughout the album the balance shifts between the soul aspect and the country side. The confessional One Too Many (written by Pamela Jackson) is a more subtle admission of human failing with pedal steel underscoring a sense of lost opportunity, but is obviously a song whose sentiments Huggins Grant understands. The title song and If You Only Knew are slow burners that give full rein to her voice, a voice that is a subtle yet powerful instrument. There is often a temptation to over-emote when singing, but here she mainly falls on the right side of being diva-esque. Her voice may not yet be as instantly distinctive as some, but is one that will likely find its signature in time.

Producer and guitarist Mark Robinson had gathered together some fine players including drummer Paul Griffith, keyboardist Jen Gunderman and steel player John Heinrich. Huggins Grant also plays acoustic guitar and the assembled musicians do a fine job with her songs. Ten of the twelve are written or co-written by Huggins Grant and show a developing skill, one who is writing to tell her story and in that of others too. The opening song Some Days a Dollar was written by Walt Wilkins and Drew Womack and tells some days are a dollar and some days are only a dime. Life has its ups and downs, a theme that is further considered in other songs here. Many have a late night feel, best enjoyed where you can appreciate the different parts at work. In other words best, they are best listened to where one can hear the songs without distraction. Tiffany Huggins Grant is a talent who can only develop and Jonquil Child is a satisfying enough album of southern country soul.

Reviews by Paul McGee

 

Billy Hector 'Old School Thang' - Ghetto Surf

This New Jersey-born blues guitar player has been releasing records for over 20 years. Hector plays with a very dynamic and fluid style that is reminiscent of Stevie Ray Vaughan in the phrasing and touch (Short and Sweet Blues, Vitamin Big Daddy). With a brass section that really adds to the fine blues playing and tight backbeat rhythm, the eleven songs here are a great example of his talent at play and the sound that Hector has been perfecting for many years.

Sim Cain on drums is a real driving force on all tracks and whether joined by Winston Roye or Tim Tindall on bass, the pace never slackens as the tunes are given full throttle, topped off by Tommy Labella on Sax and Steve Jankowski on trumpet. It is the great guitar licks of Billy Hector that carry the day and really colour the songs with his fine guitar riffs and runs, from the down home dirty sound of Fake ID to the sweeter groove of Come On Home and the slow burn of Evil, Slick ‘N Sly.

This guitar player has taken the blues and stamped his own influence on a genre that pays dues to the greats of the past, but also carves out a unique place for his own impressive talent.

Scott Albert Johnson 'Going Somewhere' - Self Release

Johnson is resident of Jackson, Mississippi and has been honing his craft as a harmonica player for many years. This collection of nine songs is a follow up to his 2007 debut Umbrella Man. The self- produced project kicks off with a couple of tracks that are energising and Going Somewhere and If I Only Knew the Words leave a strong impression on the listener. The cover of I Don’t Remember (Peter Gabriel) is less convincing and it is hard to understand the decision to include it here.

Johnson is a strong singer and carries the songs well, from the funky groove of Haunt My Dreams to the honky-tonk workout of A Bigger Gun. The closing song Fragments is a gentle and thoughtful piano based arrangement with fine harmonica and the vocal delivery sounding like John Hiatt. This artist has delivered a solid record that should easily find an audience to enjoy his talents. 

Tom Freund 'Two Moons' - Surf Road 

New York-born Tom Freund has been releasing music since his debut album in 1998, and has also contributed to releases by the Silos and Graham Parker among many others. This self-produced record is on his own Surf Road Records and sees guest appearances from Ben Harper and Brett Dennen. The feel is mainly acoustic and the mood is predominantly laid-back with the slow tempo of Heavy Balloon a perfect example; pedal steel and electric guitar weaving fine lines through the melody.

These are songs of hope and of reflection with the stance of Lemme Be Who I Wanna Be a validation for living free and being true to oneself. Happy Days Lunch Box is a nod to the past and the full flush of youth; ‘when did I get so jaded’? Freund sings, and the string arrangement adds a melancholy feel to the song. The sunshine of California, where Tom currently resides and where this project was delivered, comes through in the upbeat playing on Next Time Around, an ode to love gone wrong. Weekend Guy is another love oriented song that questions relationship roles and the need to meet someone who is compatible. 

This is a solid set of songs and an enjoyable listening experience.

Danni Nicholls 'Mockingbird Lane' - Self Release

Born in Bedford, England, this talented singer-songwriter releases her second recording as a follow up to her 2013 debut, A Little Redemption. Again we have Chris Donohue at the production desk (Robert Plant, Emmylou Harris, and The Civil Wars) recorded in Nashville.

’The path is steep, hold somebody’s hand’ sings Danni on Let Somebody Love You, a plea to open up and trust in feelings and vulnerability. Leaving Tennessee reflects on the other side of that coin with the singer nursing a wounded heart, but more worldly wise after a failed relationship. Look Up at the Moon is a light jazz arrangement that shows the breadth of talent on display and Beautifully Broken has a sweet acoustic swing, while the slow blues groove of Back to Memphis has traces of a Sheryl Crow influence.

Danni sings in a beautifully clear voice that has a hint of melancholy in its’ wistful delivery. The musicians are all top drawer and serve the songs in such an understated way that the melodies just glide on by in an easy manner. Chris Donohue plays a range of instruments and the appearance of multi-instrumentalist Will Kimbrough adds plenty of range to the melodies.

All songs are written by Danni with co-write credits on seven tracks. Mockingbird Lane is very impressive, highlighting an accomplished artist fully in tune with her creative muse.

Canaan Smith 'Bronco' - Mercury

This is the debut release from country music artist Canaan Smith and it comes full of great songs with an honesty and style that bodes well for the future. Smith is working here with producers Brett Beavers, Jimmy Robbins and Ryan Tyndell, all of whom play on the album.

There are songs about dangerous women (Good Kinda Bad), returning to the old neighbourhood (Stomping Ground), drinking to forget (Hole In A Bottle) and lost love (Stuck). However, Smith displays a talent that rises above the usual country clichés contained in such songs. Great production and harmonies promote a tight country sound that can more than hold a place against the current crop of rivals in this genre.

The songs are performed by a group of very talented players who know when to hold back on the dynamics and give the tunes room to breathe. This is a welcome change from a lot of the full blooded assault tactics that stifle many of the current releases in country music.

Love You Like That has already brought Smith to the attention of country radio listeners and there a other numbers here that can also challenge the charts (One of Those, Mad Love) as they are so well delivered and produced. Love at First and Two Lane Road are two examples of what this artist can deliver and the use of synths and programming sounds are used here in a subtle but effective way that adds to the production qualities.

The title track is a tribute to Smith's older brother, Nathaniel, who died in a car crash and the song is a real standout with a heartfelt lyric and delivered with a classy elegance in such emotional context; ‘takes a life time of prayers on bended knee, trying to come to peace with your memory’. 

This new country artist is one to watch and he has delivered a fine collection of songs on his first outing.

Reviews by Paul McGee

Chuck Brodsky 'Tell Tale Heart' - Self Release

If folk music was to appoint an ambassador for the 21st Century, then the song-writing style of Chuck Brodsky would be its’ finest example and brightest star. For many years Brodsky has been releasing superbly crafted songs that champion the struggles of everyman and he has honed his craft in communicating a message of compassion, mixed with a keenly observant eye with both a wicked sense of humour and irony.

This is release number 11 in a career that began in 1998, and his ability to turn a telling phrase has never been sharper. Chuck often writes in a narrative style and this produces highly entertaining and perceptive songs, populated by colourful characters and references.

Brodsky muses on the joys of the internet and Facebook (2000 Friends), preferences in women (I Used to Fall), the loneliness of pride (What Good Did It Do?),the Irish Famine (New Shoes for Tom Guerin), and racism (The Handshake) about the first coloured player to play in baseball’s major leagues. He further deals with corporate greed and political hubris (Not a Single Shot), the Jewish migration from Denmark to Sweden in WW2 (A Dane Was a Dane), the passing of a life (Rachel’s Guitar), a forgotten baseball player (Splinter Cheeks Johnson) and the joys of SatNav (My British Emily). Brodsky is always right on point in his keen observations and plays with a melodic style that breathes real life into these songs. 

The musicians on the record include Doug Pettibone on guitars, Steve Wickham on fiddle, Chris Rosser on piano, organ and mandolin with Brandon Bush on drums. Chuck Brodsky deserves a higher profile and a seat at the great-songwriter table. Why not start here?  

Andrea Zonn 'Rise' - Compass Records

If support players were given due credit for their roles in shaping the careers of innumerable headline artists, then the world might be a place where fairness reigned. Many such talents go sadly unrecognised, none more so than Ms. Andrea Zonn.

Look for her name on numerous releases as a fiddle player par excellence and note that she has graced the music of artists such as James Taylor, Vince Gill, Mickey Newbury, Randy Travis, Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride, Alison Krauss, Lyle Lovett, Keb' Mo' and Neil Diamond.

On this self- produced collection she has very much stepped up and delivered a project of real quality. Andrea has a very expressive voice, both sweet and clear. Here taking the lead role, she performs with consummate ease. She moves gracefully from the light jazz swing of Another Swing and a Miss, into the gospel tinged blues of Rise and on to the gentle folk-tinged Ships. The production is really excellent with lovely harmonies and melodies populating the arrangements.

Whether dealing with true love (Another Side of Home / No Reason to Feel Good / You Make Me Whole), the fear of isolation and loneliness (Crazy If You Let It), nurturing children to grow and lead independent lives (Let Them Go), support through a personal crisis (I Can’t Talk About It Now), the ten songs are delivered with great compassion and vision, touching on the transience and vagaries of life but always within the knowledge that the morning brings renewed hope.

The musicians are top drawer, with a rhythm section of Willie Weeks on bass and Steve Gadd on drums. Guitarists Thomm Jutz, Bryan Sutton and Jim Oblon add colour on various tracks and John Jarvis on piano andorgan plays with great fluency. Zonn’s own beautiful fiddle lines are ever present, whether subtly supporting the song or leading from the front, always with a resonance that lingers.

James Taylor sings harmony on the excellent You Make Me Whole and Vince Gill, Keb Mo, Jerry Douglas, Alison Brown, Sam Bush and Mac McNally also make cameo appearances on various tracks. This is a very mature and fully realised project that delivers on all counts.

Pete Kennedy 'Gotham City' - Self Release

Metropolis is New York in the daytime and Gotham City is New York at night, if you are to believe the fiction writers. Some see Gotham City as "New York below 14th Street, from SoHo to Greenwich Village, the Bowery, Little Italy, Chinatown, and the sinister areas around the base of the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges”.

No matter how you view it, New York is a magical city that is steeped in myth and wonder. So, here we have New York resident and accomplished musician Pete Kennedy paying homage to the streets he walks and the influences that shape his life there.

As a band, The Kennedys, Pete and wife Maura, have forged a reputation as one of the best proponents of American folk music currently on the circuit. Since their debut release in 1995 they have consistently raised the bar of excellence in all that they do.

Pete Kennedy is a wonderful musician who usually plays acoustic & electric guitars, sitar, bass and ukulele. However, on this self- produced set of 13 songs, he plays everything to be heard and carries it all off with a real aplomb. There is plenty of jangling guitar work that is reminiscent of the Byrds (Harken) and there are arrangements that hint at Springsteen in both theme and tempo (The Bells Rang; Gotham Serenade).

New York, Union Square and Williamsburg Bridge are given their own tunes and Riot in Bushwick has a Dave Edmonds groove that slips and slides out of the speakers. The song Asphodel visits the mythical flower that is associated with the dead and the underworld and Unbreakable pays tribute to the Irish Emigrants who arrived to shape much of the city - “and they dug this city out of rock”.Never Stopped Believin’ appears to be an autobiographical look back through the mirror of Pete’s youth and the personal journey that has seen him arrive at his own Mecca.

As he sings on the song New York – “The city is one great soul that enfolds us and makes us whole”. This release is a fitting tribute to the pulse of an iconic city and a very fine solo effort from this talented artist.

Maura Kennedy 'Villanelle' - Self Release

Villanelle, he title of this collaboration between musician Maura Kennedy and author/poet  B.D. Love is defined as a highly structured nineteen-line poem with two repeating rhymes and two refrains. Hmm, sounds very high-brow indeed.

Maura asked B.D. Love to send her original poetry, anything from free verse to structured compositions. She then set about putting these words to music. So, rhythm and phrasing had to follow the poetic image, rather than the other way around making this a most interesting project and one that offered a great challenge.

The fifteen songs here run for almost an hour, so Maura cannot be accused of cutting back on her daunting task. However, the listening can be a little exhausting and perhaps a few of the tracks could have been saved for a further project, Villanelle Part II?

Singing the words of another writer is never easy and to put belief and passion into the vocal is essential if the songs are to come to life. Maura Kennedy’s beautiful voice and crystal clear tone win the day and the fact that these songs are not her own becomes a non-issue.

Standout tracks are Bicycles with Broken Spokes, which reflects on young love grown cold, I Cried to Dream Again which speaks of unrequited love, Be the One, which deals with the urge to protect a lover and Borrowed Dress, a memoir from an immigrant worker to her distant daughter.

Father to the Man is a family memoir of the role of a parent and I’ll Be Alone Tonight is an acoustic blues to the feeling of loneliness. Breathe Deeply Love will surely become a classic wedding song of the future with its unashamed paean to eternal union and deep commitment.

Engineered and mixed by Maura, with the assistance of her husband Pete Kennedy, the entire project is delivered with style. Pete plays guitars, bass, banjo, mandolin and drums  among other instruments,  while Maura  provides guitar, ukulele, glockenspiel, bass and percussion, in addition to all vocals.

The final track, Beneath the Mistletoe is a light jazz swing that heralds the Christmas season of goodwill to all men. So, a chocolate box full of goodies with something for everyone; a pioneering work with much to recommend it and full marks to the talented Maura Kennedy in pulling it all together. 

Reviews by Stephen Rapid

Dennis Ellsworth 'Romantic As It Gets' - Busted Flat 

Love is at the heart of Canadian singer/songwriter Dennis Ellsworth’s latest (fourth) album. Romantic as it Gets is produced by David Barbe and has a drifting sound carried by Matt Stoessel’s pedal steel over a solid rhythmic base supplied by Barbe and drummer Seth Hendershot. Add Thayer Sarrano on keyboards and Ellsworth himself on guitars and thoughtful vocals andf the album is complete. The mood is gentle, reflective and, indeed, romantic. Songs like Stay True and Full Moon Blues. Ghosts Of Love is a song with a melancholy mood and features an effective backing vocal from Sarrano who has released music in her own right.

This music is partly summed up by the alt-country label of some years back. The pedal steel helps that association, though Ellsworth is not honky-tonk singer. His music needs a gentler ear to take in it’s decided worth. Though in a song like Mercy Doll the band pick up the beat, but not in a way that raises sweat. Instead they bring a sense of energy which posits the truth that “no one is ready for loneliness”. Perhaps the overall mood can be summed up by the song Beauty is Sad from which the line for title comes.

The album finishes with Dancing All Alone where the singer wonders “do you still belong to me?”.  Romantic as It Gets is full of these questions and the answers may come from the music, but mainly from Ellsworth’s mostly self-written songs and his effective vocals. Throughout he is backed by a band and producer with whom he has worked before and who fully understand him and his songs. Recording in Athens, Georgia has given this music a sense of time and place that makes his Ellsworth’s latest album a understated gem.

Woody Pines 'Woody Pines' - Muddy Roots

Mr. Pines appears on the cover of the latest album to bear his name. His music is a continued exploration of the acoustic hillbilly, country blues, vaudeville and jugband that has long been associated with his work. This time there is the mix of covers and originals that he integrates to a point where they fit seamlessly together. Here Pines surrounds himself with a cutting crew who add to the music’s wide range and includes some fine guitar picking, upright bass, fiddle, harmonica, piano, electric autoharp and percussion.

As befits the man with his name on the cover, a lot of these are played by Woody himself. His two main accomplices are Skip Frontz Jr on upright bass and Brad Tucker on guitar and vocals. But what really matters is that the eleven tracks entertain, enthuse and enrich in their delivery from the foot tapping Nashville Boogie and the jazzy take on Irving Berlin’s My Walking Stick. The Mississippi  Sheiks’ number Make it to The Woods has a sense of latent criminality, while Little Stella Blue is a quite song for a lady friend. The closing Worth the Game is stripped back to just Pines’ voice, guitar and atmospherics on a song that considers that “life’s a gamble, but it worth the game”.

There is an old soul in Woody Pines who, with his commanding voice and overriding sensibilities, breathes life into the music which has it’s roots at the beginning of the last century but is well presented for this one. Those already acquainted with the music of Woody Pines will very much enjoy this new collection of song, while newcomers could well find themselves enthralled of his effusive Americana.

The Rosellys  'The Granary Sessions'- Clubhouse

This is another band to add to the list of those who add creditability to those making original roots-orientated music in the UK and Ireland. The band is led by Dr Rebecca and Simon Rosellys. They are accompanied by fellow members Drew Bridges on drums, Bob Lane and bass and Allan Kelly on pedal steel and resonator. The latter ups the country music quotient overall and what is, at times, a blend of folk rock, indie and roots influences, or ‘British Americana’ as they label it on their website.

Rebecca and Simon Rosellys are the songwriters and they have turned out some well crafted stories of travel, travail and temptation. Although from Bristol, many of the songs appear to come from observations made during their wide ranging touring. A Thousand Miles, Maryland, Asheville 1784 are all songs of people and  places a long way from Bristol. They actually address the subject in Red, White and Blue where the question “why don’t you sing about your country” is one they seemed to have been asked, and to which they reply that the “streets of grey might show you where I was born, but to the black tops of Texas I belong.” Whatever the inspiration or the location, the end result is well executed and easy to like.

Label mates and major influence the Redlands Palomino Company have been a source of encouragement and more, with members Hannah and Alex Elton-Wall appearing as guest players, with the latter also serving as co-producer with the Rosellys. The additional guests add piano, double bass and cello to a couple of tracks. This gives the sound a rounded and diverse feel topped by the shared vocals of the Rosellys,  both of whom take the lead on certain songs and also harmonise together. They handle both tasks with clarity and conviction. The Granary Sessions is the band’s third album and it is evident that they can only get better, but that this is a good place to get acquainted.

Mark Brown 'Skin & Bone' - Self Release

Mark Brown has a  sound that kinda reminds me of those Texas albums that bring a lot of strands together under one roof. This is the type of thing that Gurf Morlix might be involved in. Brown’s new album is a diverse and distinguished set of songs from a voice that commands attention with its rough and tumble tone, a tone that suggest that Brown has seen and experienced a thing or two and is happy to divulge his thoughts and emotions. There are 14 songs on Skin & Bone and they are full of hard rhythm and extramural sounds that weave in and out of the overall backing track.

The album opens with Brown’s voice sitting on top of a strident banjo motif, some distorted guitar and hard percussion. It set the listener up for something a little out of the ordinary and a long way from the honky-tonks. From then on Dean Jones (credited with recording the album along with Ken McGloin) is featured on keyboards, trombone and “other noise making devices”. The guests include Mike Merenda on banjo. Pooch Fishcetti on pedal steel with vocal contributions from Eli McNamara, Kendall Jane Meade and Wayne Montecalvo. Montecalvo also adds fiddle and musical saw on a couple of tracks.

There are occasions like Smashed and Hatchet Man where Brown conjures the jukebox ghost of Johnny Cash - during a bar-room fight in the former case, but the end result is more pleasing than that might sound. Other songs capture different moods like the confessional, pedal steel enhanced Cried in Your Bed, the processed pain of Hurt or Spaceship which takes a futuristic view of the man traveling far afield to establish himself before sending the fare the bring his partner to him. However, as the title suggests, the destination in the song is the moon. The music is an understated mix of trombone and upright bass. Granny, the song that ends the album is a memory of a departed close, influential and much loved relative. The words, as they do throughout, have a directness that underscores their effectiveness, especially when delivered in Brown’s hard scrabble and road-worn voice of the ages.

Shelby Lynne 'I Can’t Imagine' - Rounder/UMG 

The well respected Shelby Lynne continues to follow her muse in a direction she has followed since she left the tight control imposed on her by the major label deals she has had in the past. Lynne has released on her own label in the past, but is now working with Rounder. She produced the album with assistance from her guitar player Ben Peeler, a former member The Mavericks. Recorded in a live setting in Louisiana, these soulful songs are never over-sung or produced, but rather use the assembled musicians in a way that enhances the overall delivery. 

Back Door, Front Porch uses the backing vocals of Clarence Greenwood as counterpoint to Lynne’s vocal and the other players show restraint and taste in their playing. It is Lynne’s powerful vocal that is at the centre of her work. There are moments of pure pop-soul that underlines the comparison that has been made in the past to Dusty Springfield. However, the overall feeling is sparse and laid-back. There is a loose grooved southern-ness that pervades much of the work, though when it comes to a song like Down Here there is a kick from the driving lead guitar and swelling keyboards.

While Lynne has co-written some of the songs here with Ben Peller, NRBQs Pete Donnelly and Ron Sexmith (two each) the majority are solo compositions. Over the length of I Can’t Imagine there tend to be moments where the pace does lag, but once you’re in the mood that may not matter and certainly long-time fans will not complain.

There is a nod to her Nashville days on the title song with a compelling melody that places the pedal steel guitar to the fore. It also forms a part of the atmospheric and intriguing Following You which opens with Leni Stern’s n’goni before become a largely acoustic delivery. This is a song that points to the diverse nature of Lynne’s muse and the wide range of options open to her that finds her looking to not repeat the sounds of previous albums. That wish however doesn’t change the confidence and conviction of Lynne’s work. This may be something that is not for outright country music fans, but for those in the know.

David Massey 'Until the Day is Done' - Self Release

With a couple of previous albums under his belt, Massey blends folk, bluegrass, country and rock together. He is in the troubadour tradition, telling stories over a musical backing that is easy to assimilate and to like. Massey, as with many similar artists, is traveling on a well worn path,  but one that can still lead you to a place where you would like to find yourself. A huge asset to the songs is the tasteful guitar of Jay Byrd who is a focus throughout behind Massey’s vocal assuredness. The other assembled players also do their job well. They rock the songs, giving them a toe-tapping energy that makes them work within the confines they have set themselves. Some of the songs like Sweet Marie have a simple but memorable chorus that works and imbeds itself in the memory.

The use of mandolin and cello on the Song for Olen give it a broader, more reflective feel to a departed friend. Producer Jim Robeson brings in additional instruments as the song requires so with the bass, drums, guitar core you get Dobro, harmonica, keyboards, pedal steel, accordion and washboard which add different tones to the songs. Massey’s songs, mostly self-written, all have a sense of craft that shows a writer working to better tell the tales he wants to. One, Holden Caulfield is a tribute to the fictional hero which given the simple voice, guitar and violin rendition an effective sparseness. Equally stripped to its core is the closing Until The Day Is Done, a song recorded at home that could have been worked up, but is allowed to sit in its rawest form 

It finishes a likeable and easy listening collection of songs that won’t change your life, but may well make it a little more enjoyable. David Massey and his team have done a good job of getting these songs across. They could easily be enjoyed by a wider audience if they were placed before them and Massey with his third album will undoubtedly enhance his local reputation and please those who have encountered his previous work live or in recording.

Reviews by Declan Culliton

Georgia Jessup ‘Philosopher Dogs’ - Self Release

This the latest album from musician, writer, philosopher and Native American activist Georgia Jessup is her first studio release since Working Class Hero in 2007. Transgender Jessup is best known for her soundtrack to the Woman in a Mans Suit the 2013 documentary about her life. Philosopher Dogs is perhaps her strongest work to date. Heavily influenced by her country music and folk leaning, it also reinforces her love of Memphis blues.

No fewer than twenty musicians contribute to the album and the quality of the playing is evident on the album in particular Jessop’s keyboard skills throughout and John Heinrich’s pedal steel guitar on Lost Paradise and You’re The One.

The opening title track and Geronimo’s Bones are both full on country blues with strong lead vocal and instrumental arrangements augmented by soulful backing vocal harmonies. Jessup’s vocal is impressive throughout the album both on the blues fuelled tracks and equally on the tender ballads. A particular vocal highlight is the albums standout track Reluctant Phoenix which also includes a brass arrangement that gives the song depth and fullness.

The eleven tracks on the album feature two covers. Geronimo written by Dirk Hamilton suits the general mood of the album but the closing track, an upbeat version of June Carter Cash and Merle Kilgore classic Ring of Fire does little to enhance what is a well crafted and produced album.

Rob Lytle 'A Hypocrite Of Heart And Hope - Self Release

The adage of never judging a book by its cover rang true with this album. The fairly nondescript and bland packaging certainly did not prepare me for the quality Of a hypocrite of heart and hope recorded by Rob Lytle after a 14 year musical career break.

A mix of ballads, country and well crafted pop songs, the album displays Lytle’s wide ranging song writing talent. The laid back, country rock sound of Come South opens the album bringing the listener back to a mid 70’s West Coast territory. Lytle repeats this style on Little Loser and The Way We Used To Love. In contrast Drunk Girl and Trouble are no frills classic country, the latter’s arrangement influenced no doubt by late 60’s Johnny Cash.

 The quality of the musicianship on the album is top drawer. Thomm Jutz (Guitars), Mark Fain (Bass), Lynn Williams (Drums), Barry Walsh (Keyboards) and Terry Crisp (Pedal Steel Guitar) support Rob Lytle’s strong vocals with backing vocals by Britt Savage and Peter Cronin.

Lytle possesses unquestionable talent as a songwriter. Concentrating on one particular genre, whether it is country or folk might result in much greater exposure. 

Joel Rafael 'Baladista' - Inside 

Contemporary American songwriter Joel Rafael’s latest album Baladista is a collection of ten songs, very much embedded in traditional American folk music, in the tradition of Rafael’s hero Woody Guthrie. Rafael is recognised as a celebrated modern interpreter of  Woody Guthrie and his previous recordings include the albums Woodeye: Songs of Woody Guthrie (2003) and Woodboye:Songs of Woody Guthrie and Tales Worth Telling Volume 2, recorded two years later. It is evident from Baladista that Rafael’s talents as a songwriter are equal to those as an interpreter.

In traditional troubadour style  Baladista tells intimate tales of lost love, abused migrant workers, history, life and death. The album also  contains a cover of  Hedy West’s song 500 Miles which featured on the soundtrack Inside Llewyn Davis and Love’s First Lesson, co-written with Eagles’ songwriter Jack Tempchin.

Baladista’s  standout track is El Bracero, which laments the abuse of Mexican immigrant workers in the 1940s, when they were employed for little or no payment, while the local men were at war: "Paid by the sack or the bushel, never paid by the hour, and never got that shower, at the end of a long hot day." Rafael’s weathered vocal delivery, often semi spoken, brings to mind late-career Warren Zevon, battle weary but not beaten and continuing to fight for worthy causes.

The album was recorded in Rafael’s home studio in California on the independent Inside Recordings label. The musical arrangements are quite sparse with Rafael’s acoustic guitar, piano and harmonica accompanied by renowned steel guitar player Greg Leisz and James ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson on bass.

Steve Wariner 'Heart Trouble: The Best of the MCA Years' - HumpHead

Steve Wariner’s musical career began as a 17 year old playing bass and singing vocalist in Dottie West’s band. Warner’s real passion was for playing lead guitar, fuelled by his interest in Chet Atkins’ playing. After touring with West, Wariner joined rockabilly singer Bob Luman’s band. RCA signed Wariner as a solo artist in 1977 igniting a career which has seen him release over twenty albums and fifty five singles, with fourteen becomhg number ones.

Heart Trouble features material he recorded for MCA between 1985 and 1990. This period was a career highlight for Wariner as is made evident by the consistent quality of the material on offer. Apart from the self penned material the MCA albums included material co-written with Guy Clark, Mac McNally, Randy Hart and Arnold Newton as well as songs written by Rodney Crowell and Dave Loggins.

His first hit single for MCA What I Didn’t Do was a top five country chart hit and was followed by eighteen consecutive Top Ten hits including  I Got Dreams, Life’s Highway, Small Town Girl, Lynda and The Weekend, all featured here.

Interestingly the track sequencing on the album is not in chronological order. However, this is hardly noticed on listening given the consistency and quality of the material.

Heart Trouble is a welcome journey through some of the best country song writing and playing of its time. It features many of the top Nashville session players including Jerry Douglas (Dobro), Mark O’Connor (fiddle), and John Jarvis (piano) George Grantham (tambourine) and indeed Wariner’s great guitar work. 

Reviews by Stephen Rapid

Legendary Shack Shakers 'The Southern Surreal' - Alternative Tentacles

They’re back and they mean business. Following two albums with the Dirt Daubers and the last Shack Shakers album Agri-dustrial (which was released in 2010) the J.D. Wilkes led band return to the fray on a new label. They are now working with Jello Biafra’s Alternative Tentacles label (also home to Slim Cessna’s Auto Club). On the last album guitar duties were handled by Jesus Lizard guitarist Duane Denison. He guests here, but the main guitarist is now Rod Hamdallah who played and toured previously with the Dirt Daubers. Powerhouse drummer Brett Whitacre returns, as does longtime member, co-founder and the album’s co-producer, upright bassist Mark Robertson. Other guests include Fats Kaplin on violin and Ralph Carney on sax and horns.

The Southern Surreal continues the band’s exploration of the cultural mores and eccentricities of the region that is their home country. It is somewhat more considered than the music played in their early days. There are also some tangents to the sound like The Dog was Dead, a distinctly very un-Old Shep tale of the demise of an injured dog delivered with the distinctive vocal tone of its writer, Billy Bob Thornton. Aside from that it’s the Colonel on the microphone. The album opens with a thirty second snippet of ambient guitar and drum noise before starting properly with Mud, which takes a similar stance but immediately lets you know you’re in familiar territory with an original song. From then on you are taken on a rollercoaster ride with songs likeMisAmerica, Dead Bury The Dead and The One that Got Away that show how well this band has gelled and how their music has grown  and been honed and sharpened like a primal pitchfork. The latter song one of the most overtly catchy songs they have so far produced. The Wilkes/Robertson production team has delivered a powerful sound that is full of subtlety and solid ability.

The other diversions on the musical menu include The Grinning Man, a short found vocal, while Fool’s Tooth is another concise, at under a minute, harmonica-fronted instrumental. From then on the band explores various roots elements that have been incorporated into their sound from the start, especially their individual take on the blues. To underline this, the album closes with Born under a Bad Sign, a song that explores the lyrical theme of hard times and bad luck over a fragmented sound collage underpinned by abstract percussion and rumbling bass. It is a fitting close to a welcome return that finds the band celebrating its twentieth year with renewed energy and a readiness to look to the next twenty years where their legendaryness can be assured.

Barrence Whitfield & the Savages 'Under The Savage Sky' - Bloodshot

This is the second album on Chicago’s Bloodshot label for rockin’ soul man Barrence Whitfield and his band, and it is every bit as explosive and high energy as his previous one. There’s little here that could be classed as country, but it fits loosely under the wide Americana umbrella. Whitfield has a demented but soulful voice and he is a dynamo backed by a rhythmically tight and forceful rock band. They sound as if the inmates have taken over the asylum and decided to throw a punk party and it follows on from where 2012 Dig My Savage Soul left off. Guitarist and writer Peter Greenberg again produces and he knows exactly the perfect sound for these 12 songs; this time out he has tightened the bolts and hardened the exterior to keep the core intensity intact.

There are moments where the bands sounds like Little Richard fronting The Stooges of  the Fun House era. The band is Greenberg, long time bassist Phil Lenker, drummer Andy Jody, Tom Quartulli on raging saxophone and keyboard player Ricky Nye and they do a sterling job of delivering some controlled mayhem. Upfront it is Whitfield leading the charge on a bunch of fast paced original songs and covers like the ‘70s soul song I’m a Full Grown Man which declares manhood as a method of madness, a subject returned to again in I’m A Good Man. This is a very specific sound that is a continuation of what Barrence Whitfield has done in the past and as such will doubtless please the faithful, while others may need oven gloves to handle the heat.

The songs like The Claw and Rock and Roll Baby declares a new dance of derangement and delight. But on occasion they take things a little slower at his declaration that he is a simple man but also a cursed one on Adjunct Street. Full Moon tn The Daylight Sky rounds off the album at less frantic pace and asks the unanswerable question “why must I lie?” about a man who is unsure of his intentions maybe, but one who takes action none-the-less. It has the unsettling quality of a Hitchcock film, something that is reflected in Katherine Coffey’s The Birds and Vertigo inspired cover.  

Peter Berwick 'The Legend of Tyler Doohan' - Little Class 

Peter Berwick is rough-voiced singer/songwriter who is more mid-period Steve Earle than Bruce Springsteen. He is happy to be called a ‘cowpunk’ pioneer. That may be where he is best placed on this thirteen track album of unsophisticated rough and ready roots rock. His lived-in voice tears up these self-written songs with an abandonment and menace, but he also takes a more relaxed approach on songs like Cried my Last Tear and the acoustic Check-Out Time and Wait. Ain’t Goin’ Back to Memphis and See You in Hell are pure cowpunk in attitude. Between those two points you get a bunch of stories that deal with life in the raw.

The title track is a song based on the true story of a nine year old youngster who lost his life rescuing his family in a trailer park fire. The Legend of Tyler Doohan is not pretty or polite as befits the nature of such a harrowing tale. Small Town Blues is a self-explanatory slice of reality that is delivered with sadness in Berwick’s sandpaper voice of the ages. Everything’s Waiting takes a more hopeful view while listing the nature of empty dreams, but implore that everything is waiting for those who can hang on to those dreams. The album is subtitled Other Tales of Victory and Defeat and seems full of the latter, with a little of the former to keep thinks hopeful.

Producer Drew Burasco has given the album a live feel that allows the band free rein to give the songs some energy that is a far cry from the polished sounds emanating from Nashville. In a live situation Berwick is the kind of performer who is likely to give his all and he does so here. The result is not going to be for everyone, but for many who yearn for the early days of insurgent country, then this is an album that should be on your horizon. 

Mike Barth 'Dance This!' - Self Release

Barth is a member of the bands The Polkats and The Stone Hill Allstars. Barth’s solo album is, as it title suggests, something that aims to get the feet moving. A mix of roots, pop, folk, reggae and more, it is a pretty uplifting affair. Members of the Allstars join him on this outing of original songs, bar his version of Buddy Holly’s Words of Love and one other song, A Thousand Times written by Polecats member John Shock.

One of the songs is an ode to cooked chicken called, not unsurprisingly, Big Piece Of Chicken which features guest vocals from Linda Nelson. This song kind of gives you an idea of the over all brightness of the album. Barth delivers a nice version of Words of Love that sits somewhere between the Holly version and that of the Beatles who could be said to be an influence here in their period up to Revolver. Energy called Love has the feel of commercial reggae. But there are moments when the subject gets a little darker, when our man has women troubles and is wrapped up tight in a Blanket of Misery. But if you didn’t listen too closely the overall tone is still quite chirpy.

Drink it All Day is a fast paced train-rhythm song that has a rootsy feel. The OWS and Me is about a man working at the railroad yard and has a fact effective guitar break. Grease Step, takes a different approach, but still has a smile on its face. The album closes with the aforementioned A Thousand Times which is about reaching the end of your tether with someone you care for but still find yourself reaching break point with. It is effective in its simple guitar and voice delivery, which contrasts nicely with the more arranged and produced songs that precede it. This is Barth’s baby - with his songs, his production and his direction and its versatility reminds of an album that a band like 10cc might have done, not so much in actual sound but more in overall feel. Dance This! Is clever, but not overly so, and an album that somewhere along its course will set your toes tapping and maybe put a smile on your face.