Reviews by Declan Culliton

SUSTO & I’m Fine Today Acid Boys/Missing Piece 

The most satisfying aspect of reviewing albums is coming across a particular gem that otherwise would have remained unknown to the reviewer. This is very much the case with SUSTO, whose album & I’m Fine Today sounded interesting on first play, very impressive on second spin and one of my albums of the year on further listens.

Translated from Spanish as ‘when your soul is separated from your body’, SUSTO is the brainchild of South Carolina’s Justin Osborne who, together with guitarist Johnny Delaware, have created a stunning body of work that compares favourably with the early work of John Mc Cauley’s Deertick and more recent recordings by War on Drugs.

From small town America and a particularly strict religious childhood (Methodist father and Pentecostal mother), Osbourne’s conservative upbringing turned upside down when he began experimenting with narcotics while attending military college leaving him confused, questioning his identity and vulnerable. 

Osborne closed the door on his previous band Sequoyah Prep School and relocated from South Carolina to Cuba putting his musical career on hiatus or possibly putting it to bed entirely. Rather than dampen his creative output the move had the opposite effect and ignited a purple patch of inspiration that rekindled his passion for song writing. The move to Cuba therefore became short lived with Osbourne returning home to record the bands self-titled debut album. 

& I’m Fine Today is far from easy listening, much of the song writing is searchingly painful, bordering on disturbing, yet in a perverse way the end result is both uplifting and satisfying. The songs unfold intimate tales of battles with alcohol, drugs and sexuality with Osborne’s lyrics drenched in a downpour of spacey guitars, keyboards, orchestras, harmonicas and layer upon layer of additional vocals. His vocals are nicotine raspy and leathery as he confronts personal issues such as substance abuse (Far Out Feeling, Wasted Mind), sexuality (Gay In The South) and relationships (Hard Drugs) in a confessional and truthful manner.  

Kicking off with self-deprecating lyrics ‘I could be comatose in a parking lot, I could be sleeping on your floor, You might check yourself into rehab in California, while I’m pulling into New Mexico’, the opening track Far Out Feeling is simply spectacular, blanket upon blanket of vocals, strings, synths. Hard Drugs and Wasted Mind could take pride of place on late 90’s Wilco albums. Cosmic Cowboy is autobiographical, questioning the authenticity of the Southern religious ethos (‘My great granddaddy Cook was an itinerant preacher, always preaching about the liquor he’d been drinking the night before’). 

Equally impressive, and consistent with the whole psychedelic feel to the project, is the stunning artwork on the album cover, a multicoloured depiction by Peruvian artist Pablo Amaringo renowned for his work while under the influence of the psychoactive substance entheogen. 

Classic albums are more than often conceived from deep dark places and this album most certainly ticks that box. It’s also a magical psychedelic treasure that should appear on your best of 2017 listings, I know it will be on mine.

The Remedy Club Lovers, Legends & Lost Causes Self Release 

With two albums recorded in a previous life as B and The Honeyboy, Wexford husband and wife duo Aileen Mythen and Kj Mc Evoy have rebranded, reformed and recorded a most impressive eleven track album of country and roots styled music, further evidence that Americana is very much alive and kicking locally and not confined to artists across the pond. 

Taking the album as a whole, you get the impression that they have certainly pulled out all the stops in all areas. The production and mixing are excellent, as is the selection of instrumentation featured on the album, with the inclusion of strings (courtesy of Eleanor Mc Evoy), trumpet (Aidan Kelly) and pedal steel guitar (David Murphy), all combining to enhance Mythen’s gorgeous vocal range and Mc Evoy’s equally notable guitar work. Naturally all of the foregoing would be fruitless if they did not have the material to match and again they have come up trumps in this department. Of the eleven tracks featured five are written by Mc Evoy with the remaining six co-writes with Mythen. The Lovers (I Miss You, Last Song, This Is Love), the Legends (When Tom Waits Up, Listening To Hank Williams, Django) and the Losers (Bottom Of The Hill, Sweet White Lies) all get their day in the sun with the Legends possibly winning by a short head courtesy of Mythen’s jazzy blues vocals on Django and Mc Evoy’s twangy guitar work and woozy vocals on Listening to Hank Williams.

Gorgeous harmonies and aching pedal steel combine on the weepy opener I Miss You, Big Ol’ Fancy enters Hayes Caryll territory with Mc Evoy taking lead vocal.  When Tom Waits Up (complete with daughter Layla Kay McEvoy’s heartbeat ‘from another world’) is a pointer towards how The Handsome Family might sound if they attempted to lighten up, lots of twangy guitar strings and tingling piano keys. This Is Love closes the album in style, a slow dreamy ballad beautifully vocally delivered with Murphy’s dreamy pedal steel again taking pride of place.

Recorded at Asta Kalapa Studios in Gorey Co. Wexford and co-produced by the duo, the album was mixed in Nashville by Engineer Mark Petaccia who has worked previously with Kacy Musgraves, Jason Isbell, Lindi Ortega and Nora Jane Struthers.  The album was also mastered in Nashville at Room and Board Studio by Five Time Grammy Award Winner Ray Kennedy whose clients include Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris and Lucinda Williams. 

Most impressive album that ticks so many boxes and the ideal Christmas stocking filler for your loved one!

John Blek Catharsis Vol.1 Self Release

Inspiration for John Blek's latest solo album came from a most unusual source. Struck down and hospitalised with a mysterious illness that totally drained him of energy and led to considerable weight loss, he dealt with the condition and uncertainty by articulating his fears, pain and hopes through words and music that resulted in the demos for the album being recorded in his hospital bed. 

Similar to his 2016 release Cut The Light the emphasis again is always on the lyric with Blek's rich yet gentle and controlled vocal presenting tales of reflection, defiance, confusion and concern that visit the past, accept the present and question the future. The personal and often stark material blends folk with nods in the direction of traditional, leaving his more bombastic writing for his other project as lead man with John Blek & The Rats. 

Freedom and the nomadic existence are beautifully depicted in Salt In The Water, lived through the eyes of the sailor, the consummate traveller.’ I'd rather die a sailor than in the infirmary, on crisp white sheets of cotton no stars above me’. Needle and Thread is old worldly folk, stripped to the bare bone and featuring only echoing vocal and mellotron.

No Surrender is a candid, in the moment reflection on his illness, a limbo like existence but a spirited resolution to continue and is followed by the equally stark Hospital Bed, dealing with the anguish of loved ones as they helplessly observe the sufferer.

Thankfully John Blek has returned to full health and remains one of our outstanding young song writers of recent years, be it his solo work or with his band John Blek & The Rats. This album may have been conceived unwittingly but it’s a victory of mind over matter and a delightful body of work that he can be justifiably proud of. 

Jim White Waffles, Triangles & Jesus Loose Music

For two decades since the release of his debut album Wrong Eyed Jesus, Jim White has continued to record dark gothic, tortured and personal soul-searching music. At 60 years of age and seven albums later his exploration continues, coming to terms with childhood oppression and rejection, bouts of mental illness and a change of identity from the child born in to the world as Michael Davis Pratt to who we now know as Jim White. It’s been a fascinating journey for the listener, songs and tales that often demand repeated listens but reward the time invested handsomely. Waffles, Triangles & Jesus recommences the quest last visited in 2012’s Where It Hits You Hit and in some ways suggests a degree of personal acceptance and contentment with his predicament, a sentiment not often recognisable in White’s previous work.   

The familiar territories of religious hypocrisy, contradiction and confusion are called on in Reason To Cry and Prisoners Dilemma. Wash Away A World revisits his troubled and confused childhood days, recalling family dysfunctionality in a similar manner that Warren Zevon sang about in Play It All Night Long, though you don’t detect the same degree of playfulness in White’s recollections.

 However, it’s not all brimstone and fire and as usual White’s album contains its fair share of comicality, in particular the throw away ditty Playing Guitars and even more so on E.T.Bass At Last Finds The Woman Of His Dreams. The latter recalls the sheriff dodging T.V. sitcom character Ernest T. Bass who starred in The Andy Griffiths Show in the 60’s. Obviously a personal throwback to White’s growing up years, the track is a duet with U.K. singer songwriter Holly Golightly and it’s delivered in whimsical hillbilly fashion complete with guitar pickin’ and exaggerated country accents.

Not renowned for recording material that might be considered remotely commercial, Silver Treads breaks that mould and is possibly the most ‘radio friendly’ song in White’s wide catalogue. It’s an entrancing seven-minute-long song which brings to mind Gene Clark in his mid-70’s post Byrds days.  Gorgeously overlaid with backing vocals, strings and horns and complete with trumpet solo, it’s an unforgettable track and one of my favourite of this year. Here I Am dreams of freedom and release from the past but eventually gives up pursuing that lost chord and settles for recognition and possibly acceptance of the present. Sweet Bird Of Mystery, the closing track, is a beautiful father/ daughter love song, stripped back and clutter free, the final chapter in another Jim White classic.  

One of the most fascinating musical minds of his time with an extraordinary talent with the written  word, I’ve often considered Jim White and Howe Gelb’s back catalogues as my desert island listening and Waffles, Triangles and Jesus is a welcomed addition.

Chris Blevins Better Than Alone Horton 

There must be something in the Oklahoma air in recent years. Chris Blevins is yet another Okie in a stream of impressive roots break out artists to emerge from that musical hotbed. Following in the footsteps of John Mooreland, John Fullbright (who plays Wurlitzer on the album), Carter Sampson, Samantha Crain and Levi Parham, the ten track album is the debut recording by a young man mature way beyond his years with a gravely unadulterated vocal and a bunch of tales to tell. The mono chrome album front cover in no way prepares the listener for the onslaught of stellar music contained within. Mixing country with full on blues, Blevins vocals together with the stunning guitar work of Chris Combs (who also produced the album), combine to deliver ten tracks that has the foot firmly on the pedal from the word go. 

Out of the blocks in full tilt, Big Man opens the album, the rockiest track of the ten before Blevins changes direction with the bluesy soul number Clean. Abilene heads south to Texas recalling Hayes Caryll’s Drunken Poets Dream, Jezebel has a more Bob Segar feel to it. Wildfire and Way Down are slow burning ballads with Bevin’s bluesy drawl centre stage, bass player Aaron Boehler adding backing vocals and Combs contributing sleepy pedal steel on the former and a slick guitar break on the latter. The title track bookends the album, stripped to the bone, a reflection on ageing, mortality and acceptance.

A very impressive first offering indeed and hopefully the launching pad for further albums from this talented young man.

Darius Rucker When Was The Last Time Capital

Since signing for Capital Records in 2008 and launching his career as a country artist Darius Rucker has had no fewer than eight Billboard Country No.1 singles and four hugely successful album releases. This, from his second album Learn To Live, was the first No.1 single in the country charts by an African America since Night Games by Charley Pride in 1983. Lead singer and guitarist in Hootie and The Blowfish in his earlier career, Rucker was invited to sing at Frank Sinatra’s 80th birthday party and has sung the national anthem at the World Series and is currently a partner in MGM Sports an agency that represents professional golfers. 

‘You say you never danced to a dashboard, singing R.E.M. under summer stars’ is the opening lyrics of For The First Time, the first track on When Was The Last Time. Nonetheless, I doubt if many R.E.M. lovers are the target market for the album given it follows the tried and trusted Nashville winning formula, with twelve tracks that qualify for what is marketed today as country music.

The album contains only four tracks that Rucker is credited as a co-writer, the remainder include no fewer than twenty one other writers, big hitters such as Ross Copperman (who also produced the album), Shane Mc Anally, Jon Nite and Josh Thompson featuring. Even more musicians than writers are credited as contributing to the album, twenty six to be exact.  Undoubtedly Rucker possesses an incredible vocal and the album will sell by the cart load but personally I found the material to be soulless, repetitive and over produced. The inclusion of a cover version of Drivn’N’Cryin’s Straight To Hell will no doubt have the smartphone torches waving in the air and lighting up packed out arenas on his next tour, it’s a powerhouse version and tailor made for the live setting.

 For The First Time and If I Told You So were already released earlier in 2017 to huge exposure on country music radio and there is no doubt that the album will also generate equally impressive airplay and sales. Bring It On and Don’t are typical Rucker anthem ( both worryingly similar it has to be said), Twenty Something is a catchy pop sound reflecting on the passing years and the soft rocker Story To Tell closes the album out in a similar style to opening track For The First Time.

With Music Row’s marketing machine firmly behind them, Darius Rucker together with artists such as Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town and others will continue to dominate country music radio and sell albums and tours in exceptional numbers. However, I’m reminded of a recent interview with John Prine where he described what is been marketed as country music today as basically ‘poor pop music’. Unfortunately, When Was The Last Time ticks that box for me.

Reviews by Stephen Rapid

The Sweet Sorrows Celticana Self Release

The opening song of this album (The Angel’s Share) immediately reminded me of the late great Greg Trooper who co-incidentally was also produced by Phil Maderia. This album was recorded in Ireland at Big Feet Studio in Wexford and also in Nashville. The Sweet Sorrows are essentially a husband/wife duo of Sammy and Kylie Horner. They are joined by multi-instrumentalist Maderia, percussionist Dennis Holt, bassist Chris Donohue and fiddle and mandolin player Tim Cottrell. The songs written largely by Horner solo (with three co-writes - two with Kylie) show that the duo and have a strong Celtic influence mixed with roots/Americana - hence the title of this their fourth Sweet Sorrows album. Their website lists over 30 other releases; some solo outings, others are from Sammy Horner’s band The Electrics. So these guys are no stranger to the studio or writing process. 

The songs are largely delivered with both vocalists working together either as lead and harmony singers or as duets together. Madeira’s production is perfectly suited to the sound which is both full and satisfying. The music rocks with the rhythm section solidly there and the contribution from Madeira providing much of the texture and trajectory to the sound. The songs are also themed with a certain Irishness with titles like An Gorta Mor, Wexford In The Morning as well as in a certain musical ambience. All of which means that Celticana is an enjoyable listen and The Sweet Sorrows are continuing down their chosen path. A path which stems from a base in Ireland from where they tour throughout the world. The only thing that I wasn’t too sure about was the actual cover artwork which would have suggested something more in the Irish traditional vein that it actually is. Aside from that The Sweet Sorrows Celticana offers a perspective, while it may not be unique is potentially universal.

Paul Dougherty Spankin’ Hankin’ Bake It Black

The songs of Hank Williams Snr have received many and varied interpretations that range from those who stay firmly within the traditional parameters of his music to more left-field excursions such as The The’s Hanky Panky. This album is far closer to the latter than to the former. Paul Dougherty an American musician who grew up playing in Nashville and now lives in Berlin. although he has played both Americana and punk in the past this album is an electric and eclectic take on the blues.

Dougherty has chosen a mix of some lesser know songs from Williams’ repertoire such as My Sweet Love Ain’t Around, Rockin’ Chair Money and Low And Lonely alongside such classics as Move It On Over, Weary Blues From Waiting and I Saw The Light. The songs are all fronted by Dougherty’s life hardened vocal and backed by his playing. All the instruments here are played by Dougherty who also produced. So you get a lot of organ and piano over the often somewhat discordant rhythm base with jagged guitar and often loose structures that all highlight the bluster aspects of William’s lyrics which undoubtably are imbedded with the darker side of relationships that easily fit the blues as a format.

This is very much an album that will divide opinion and can offend some of Hank’s more literally-minded fans. That it is entirely produced, recorded and played by Dougherty could be cited as a somewhat indulgent process, especially at a near hour running time. Equally there are those who will find within these songs a sound that reflects the undoubted pain that lurked within their underlying heartbreak and (often self-induced) misery. 

Tom Russell Folk Hotel Frontera/Proper

This will immediately be familiar to anyone acquainted with the voice and songs of Tom Russell. His latest album takes as its title from some memories of the inhabitants of NewYork’s famed Chelsea Hotel such as the song about Dylan Thomas, one of its one time occupants, The Sparrow Of Swansea as well as the opening track Up In The Old Hotel. Otherwise there are songs about people (Rise Again Handsome Johnny - about meeting JFK, Harlan Cancy or Scars On His Ankles) and place (The Dram House Down in Gutter Lane, Leaving El Paso, The Rooftops Of Copenhagen). All are delivered in the eminently listenable grade, life roughened voice. Shown most prominently on the songs The Day The Drained The Liffey/The Banks of Montauk/ The Road To Santa Fe-O. It is one of those voices that has left an indelible mark on those who have encountered over his many and varied albums. There is also a cover that fits with the overall format in Bob Dylan’s Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues. Here with guest vocalist Joe Ely - another great storyteller. Elsewhere Eliza Gilkyson also adds her vocals and reknowed guitarist Redd Volkert adds his individual skills number of the tracks too.

Not that Russell needs guests as his live shows attest, however they are there to give some additional depth to the success of the songs. I have listened to Tom Russell’s music through the years and this counts among his best and is delivered with a simple clarity and a focus that is centred around this distinctive voice and guitar. Add to that some occasional harmonica and additional instrumentation from other guests like renowned players Augie Myers piano and voice and Joel Guzman’s subtle and atmospheric accordion. Russell produced the album with Mark Hallman and it shows that as a storyteller he still has many a tale left to spin. The album clocks in at a very generous 70 minuets plus of his troubadour tales that encompass his heroes, inspirations and hotel inhabitants.

Jeffrey Martin One Go Around Fluff & Gravy

It would be frivolous to suggest that Jeffrey Martin has made a party album. Akin to saying that a book like Donald Ray Pollock’s debut collection of short stories Knockemstiff was a feel good read. It may be in that against the dead-end lives of those people who populate his short stories you should feel good that you’re not in their place. It is however compelling reading. One Go Around offers a similar experience with its tales of hard-worn, deflated and sometimes desperate living. However for all that this is an album that draws you in and offers hope in its consideration of the strength of the human spirit in dealing with adversity. Titles like Poor Man (“I’m not a bad man I’m a poor man”), Sad Blue Eyes, Lone Gone Now and Thrift Store Dress address lifestyles and hard times, longings and lost dreams.

The words evoke these emotions with clarity and understanding. The music similarly underlines these tales in a direct and subtle way that seems almost like it is just voice and guitar. Those two are central to the sound but around that are some telling textures of guitar, bass, drums, violin, banjo, pedal steel and keyboards. All give these musical tales an added depth that never overwhelms the central theme and delivery. All of which marks Martin as a man for these times. A songwriter not chasing a career that relies purely on sales but rather one based on doing something that has meaning for both Martin and for his listenership. Tyler Fortier’s production is open and full of subtle textures that reveal themselves on repeated plays. 

All of the songs bar one are written by Martin, that song Surprise AZ, was written by Richard Buckner - an fellow artist who could be considered something of a soul mate. They are striking low key songs that allow individual interpretation and introspection. In Thrift Store Dress Martin express a wish to settle down in a house “that can’t be moved”, to open oneself to another to allow someone else to see the “faraway sadness” in one’s eyes. That kind of rootlessness is a part of the make-up of the troubadour and their travels. There is a need to hear these songs to gain an insight into people and places that exist everywhere. In life you only get one go around, make the most of it and include albums like this in your life.

Petunia And The Vipers Lonesome, Heavy and Lonesome Self Release

Songwriter and singer Petunia is back, after his last album, with his band the Vipers to further explore his personal take on roots music that takes into account today’s requirements  as much as having an earlier era of inspiration at its heart. petunia produced this varied set of songs with Steve Loree. The songs are a tribute to an earlier time when there were less attempts to pigeonhole genres. A song like Lonesome swings in a way that not to many do these days. It uses his crack band to good effect especially long time members Stephen Nikleva and Jimmy Roy on guitar and lap steel respectively. Jack Carton adds trumpet keyboards and accordion as required. While the rhythm section hold it all together for their take on old-time, swing, jazz and country.

Petunia has a distinctive nasal voice that recalls the like of Hank Williams Snr amongst others. A voice that may not suit everyone’s tastes but is a perfect vehicle for his music. He can yodel, croon and rock. The songs range from the uptempo undulations of the dark Urban Landscape through to the slow heart-searching of Heavy & Lonesome, the title gives you the sense of the overall mood of the song. Blindly Wander again has a sound that is deep and slowly dramatic. Blues In My Heart, while it covers similar territory has a casual uplifting mood with the trumpet giving it a late night sense of introspection. 

Alongside the original songs there a 3 public domain songs in the aforementioned Blues In My Heart, Too Long and the intriguing The Dying Crapshooter Blues which shows that Petunia understands the music roots and knows where to find the songs to cover. You might think of this as akin to Damon Runyon set to music. There is a timelessness to the music and its appropriation of earlier musical forms to create something new. There are a handful of artist around who cover such ground. There may be a number of bands covering something similar , especially those more attuned to old time string band mores, but the range of sound here makes Petunia and The Vipers something more diverse and delighting. All of which makes Lonesome, Heavy and Lonesome an album that will never be mainstream but will be mandatory for those who appreciate something a little more individual.

Marty Stuart Now That’s Country -The Definite Collection Vol. 1 Humphead

This collection fairly lives ups to it’s title. While not his first greatest hits collection it is the best to date (with maybe more to come with the Volume 1 suffix in the title). It opens with a duet with his friend, former band leader and onetime father-in-law Johnny Cash on Doin’ My Time. Over the 44 tracks there are number of other much-missed icons who share the microphone with him in George Jones, Earl Scruggs, Uncle Josh Graves and Merle Haggard. Other duet partner include Steve Earle, Travis Tritt and (his wife) Connie Smith. Not that Stuart needs a lot help in the vocal department. His distinctive vocal ability has maintained it’s vibrance through his career as evidenced here.

The set has been paced nicely to allow material from all parts of his career to sit together sonically rather than chronologically. There’s not credit for whoever compiled the tracks but I suspect that Stuart would have had to approve the running order and it works so well balancing the better know tracks and singles against some deserving choice of album tracks. The result is over two hours of music that is full of variety, pace and mood without ever straying too far from the country music corral. This reviewer has a particular fondness for the songs he wrote with Paul Kennerley  - a series of songs that seems to combine the spirit of Buck Owens and Buddy Holly. Hey Baby, Tempted and Little Things all have that feel. Indeed Holly’s own Crying, Waiting, Hoping is included here too. The duet with Steve Earle features a stylistic sound that is rarely heard today as it was back in the 90s. But with tracks that run from his late 80s album Hillbilly Rock to his most recent Way Out West album it is worth noting that there is no filler here. Obviously some track will appeal more than others but as a body of work this is outstanding. 

While Stuart the Fabulous Superlatives are a band that more than live up to their name there is never a moment when you don’t appreciate the ensemble playing of the various bands featured throughout the collection. Players who have included such talents as guitarist Ray Flacke and bassist Larry Marrs. However, in the end, it is Stuart who is front and centre as the country music renaissance man. A man who has kept many of the traditions of the music alive both sonically and in appearance. He understands its history and future as these songs attest. Now’s that country - long may it and (Stuart) remain so.

Reviews by Paul McGee

JD & The Straight Shot Good Luck & Good Night Self Release

This is the sixth release from a band that has been active since 2005 and they play a mix of Americana and Country Roots music. Fronted by James (Jim) Dolan, a wealthy business executive, this could be seen as nothing more than a guilty pleasure for someone who can afford the indulgence. However, despite his obvious connections in the world of corporate conglomerates and the music industry, the abiding sense is that Jim Dolan is in this project for the pure love of playing music and performing it in a live setting.

JD & The Straight Shot are comprised of a troupe of excellent players with the beautiful violin and background vocals of Erin Slaver a real highlight throughout the ten songs featured here. Chris Carmack, of TV show Nashville, co-writes two songs and is a partner of Erin Slaver. The rest of the band is Michael Rojas on Accordion, Shawn Pelton on percussion, Byron House on upright bass, banjo & vocals with Jim Dolan on vocals and co-writes on seven of the songs.

The production is by Marc Copely who also plays guitar, mandolin and sings background vocals. The arrangements and melodies are very pleasant with a cover of the Glen Frey/Jack Tempchin song, It’s Your World Now, and the closing Never Alone; based on the poem Alone by Maya Angelou.

Romantica Shadowlands At The Helm

It has been a number of years since this Minnesota band last released an album. Over this period, family commitments, personal illness and record label disputes have conspired to keep their creative muse from finding an outlet.

Irish-born, Ben Kyle is both singer-songwriter and frontman for the band that also includes Tony Zaccardi (bass), Danger Dave Strahan (guitar), Ryan Lovan (drums), Aaron Fabbrini (pedal steel guitar, dobro), Jayanthi Kyle (backing vocals), and Peter Schimke-McCabe (piano).

There are many excellent songs on this 14-track release that spans an hour of listening time. The intimate feel of the project and the plaintive quality and reflective singing remind me of early Lambchop at times and there are also echoes of The Band.

As reviewers, we sometimes run the risk of either being too gushing in our praise or too critical of honest effort; however, in this case I can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised and very taken with the sheer quality of the talent on display.

Songs like Get Back In Love, After The War, Buffalo Bill and Harder To Hear contain a yearning tone that is more than balanced by the easy groove of tracks like Shandy Bass, Cecil Ingram Conor, Lonely Star and St Paul City Lights.

Full marks to all involved and a real contender for undiscovered artist of the year.

Mark Ripp & The Confessors Under The Circumstances Hanbury Park

Releasing music since the early 1990’s this talented musician has been a front man and writer for Canadian roots rockers The Bel-Vistas.  The last couple of decades have been spent raising a family and pursuing music as a solo artist. Think John Hiatt and then JJ Cale and Tom Petty; meeting on a ledge where the Rolling Stones hang loose. You get the idea … organic and rootsy.

Mark plays acoustic and electric 6 & 12 string guitars, bass and harmonica. John Toffoli plays drums and percussion and co-produces the project with Mark. Bob Hamlyn is the other core member and plays electric 6 & 12 string guitars – the trio being joined by guest Confessors Bruce Hemmings on keyboards, Tim Rutledge on saxes, David Stokaluk on bass and Madalen Tojicic on background vocals.

I’m 99 is a very strong opening track and leads into the gospel/blues groove of Lose My Way; a really strong track that adds to the momentum of the album.

Everything Is Made In China is such a clever commentary on Globalisation and corporate hegemony. The message in Hey Little Guy walks a similar path with a paean to the ‘common man’ and the aspiration to throw off the yolk imposed by authority … "where the hell is Woody Guthrie to sing a song and make them realise that this land is our land." What can you do but agree…

Wishin’ is Hiatt meets Jagger in a fast food restaurant, as is Shitty Little Cavalier, while Twilight is pure JJ Cale. Stay The Night sums it all up with the lines "nothing’s black and white, I just need you to stay the night." Great stuff and a recommended purchase for any self-respecting music collector. 

TG Swampbusters Swamp Rock Country Blues Booze 

The blues has come to town. Tim Gibbons, after years of playing the banjo, has moved to the guitar and delivers a down n’ dirty country blues record. Opening up with Honky Tonk Song and supported by Patch on drums and Swampy Jo Klienfiltr on bass; Tim Gibbons (TG) drums up quite a groove with his guitar and harp playing very much to the fore. Five Minutes Past Midnight is Stevie Ray Vaughan territory and the slow tempo of the song allows for some sweet soloing around the beat.

A follow-up to his debut 2015 release, Swamp Tooth Comb, this album is a real treat for those who like their blues stripped down and raw… All songs are written by Gibbons and were recorded at Blue Tilt Studio in Hamilton, Ontario. There is a touch of early ZZ Top in the slow burn arrangements and distorted guitar on the track Pitching A Tent, while Cranberry Corners and She Gave Me The Blues finish off the project in fine style.

Thunder and Rain Start Believing Self Release

Thunder and Rain is a country/roots band from Golden, Colorado. They released their debut album, Holler Out, in 2015 and a follow-up EP in 2016, Run With You. They are a 4-piece, with Erinn Peet-Lukes (vocals/guitar), Pete Weber (mandolin), Ian Haegele (bass) and Chris Herbst (Dobro/lap steel) being joined for this project by a further four musicians and three back-up vocalists to deliver a full studio sound.

The melodies are very strong throughout and all songs are written by Erinn Peet-Lukes and RP Oates. Production is by John Mcvey and the thirteen tracks here are bright and breezy. Peet-Lukes is a fine singer and her vocals carry the arrangements along with a swing and a tempo that highlights the excellent playing on tracks like Tennessee Is Burning, Start Believing, Cut The Wire and Wyoming is For Miles. I am reminded of I Draw Slow on repeated listens and that is no bad thing. For all lovers of country music that borders on bluegrass but with a modern twist. 

June Star Sleeping With The Lights On Self Release

June Star started up in 1998 and this is their seventh studio release. Andrew Grimm is the frontman, songwriter, and plays guitars, banjo, harmonica in addition to providing lead vocals. He is joined by Andy Bopp on guitars, bass and backing vocals with Kurt Celtnieks on drums and backing vocals.

The songs attack with real attitude and are somewhat reminiscent of Son Volt with jangling guitars and a loose feel to the song arrangements. Backing vocals are supplied by Ellen Cherry and J Robbins plays organ to provide a full sound to the twelve tracks. Grimm co-produced with Andy Bopp and J Robbins and the results are very upbeat and engaging.

Telegraph, Hum & Buzz and Cinnamon are fine band workouts with Smoke & Diesel, Faithless and You’re Still Here showing a different side to the band dynamic.  Closing tracks My Sugar and Already Saved show a possible shift in direction towards traditional Country but the band are perfectly capable of delivering on whatever stage they want to. The title track is certainly worthy of commercial air play, but here’s wishing.

If you like a guitar driven; let’s get dressed for Friday night feel; then this is going to really light you up!

Reviews by Declan Culliton

Malojian Let Your Weirdness Carry You Home Rollercoaster

Malojian's Stevie Scullion turned quite a number of heads with his 2016 release This Is Nowhere, a blend of alt-folk with sufficient radio friendly pop sounds to earn it daytime playing on our national broadcasting station, not a mean achievement in its own right. A little over twelve months later and what kicked off as an experimental project for Scullion resulted in this full-blown album after he was offered the opportunity by The British Film Institute and Northern Ireland Screen to compose material and deliver it at a coastal location using visuals from their archives as a backdrop. 

The style is more relaxed than This Is Nowhere with the songs taken at a less frenetic pace and it’s a mirror image of the creators’ personality - understated, thoughtful, reflective, and experimental yet always structured. It also benefits from the material been written and created over quite a short period of time, resulting in a collection of songs that work well as a unit, more cohesive and consistent than his previous work. Scullion sought out Steve Albini to produce This Is Nowhere and rather than being overawed by the legendary producer, he ensured that he had a strong input into the final mix on the album. Anyone in doubt should view Colm Laverty’s excellent feature length documentary entitle Document: a film about Malojian.  This time around Scullion has taken the production reins himself and the choice of instrumentation (violins, cello, lap steel, trumpet and flugelhorn all feature) and the positioning of his gentle vocal in the mix is a triumph. Not surprisingly, given Scullions love of all things Lennon & McCartney, the mastering of the album was carried out by Sean Magee at Abbey Studios.

So, what about the songs themselves. Some New Bones opens the album, written for Rollercoaster Records owner Willie Meighan, bravely fighting an illness at this time. Battery kicks in with a pacey hypnotic drum beat, soon joined by Scullions muffled vocals harmonising with Fiona O’Neill. 

Adding some humour, or possibly deadly serious, Beard Song questions the coolness of excessive facial hair – at last someone has written a song about it! Vocals and piano on the track are enriched by a wonderful flugelhorn solo by jazzman Linley Hamilton, an indication of the discreet things that can elevate a great song to another level entirely.  Chet Baker’s trumpet solo on Elvis Costello’s Shipbuilding comes to mind by way of comparison. Ambulance Song is dark, devious and instantly catchy, with Scullion’s vocal hoovering alongside muzzy cello, percussion and synths. The Purity Of Your Smile, at six minutes the longest track on the album by some way, is a simple love ballad pointed in the direction of his daughter, imploring that she follows in the direction of her mother rather than him. The title track and closing song’s entrance recalls ELO before morphing beautifully mid track into an orchestral chorus that brings to mind the Caledonia Soul Orchestra. 

Alt-Folk, Psych, experimental pop - label it as you will. The album certainly tips its hat in the direction of the Beatles more experimental journeys and also those of early career Syd Barrett. The bottom line is that Scullion has produced a body of work that will stand the test of time and more. A fantastic album and a further reminder of the exceptional musical talent on this island.

Dovecote Self-Titled Self Release

Niall Colfer’s previous musical output includes two albums and an EP with Wexford indie band Salthouse and a solo album entitled Finds, recorded in 2009. A career as an archaeologist together with domestic responsibility has kept him more than fully occupied in the intervening years but fortunately his song writing vocation never quite deserted him and to quote Colfer himself ‘the itch came back’.

Enter Dovecote the band and Dovecote the album. The band consists of Colfer, who is credited with all the song writing together with vocals and a range of instruments, jack of all trades Sean Coleman (Eels, Mark Eitzel) who produced the album together with playing guitars, piano, Fender Rhodes, synths and lap steel guitar, Mark Kelly on bass and Barry Smullen on drums. With such a formidable collection of musicians it’s not surprising that the arrangements on the album enrich and enhance Colfer’s selection of song themes and topics, many of which are strikingly personal, honest and questioning.

Recorded at Gavin Glass’s Orphan Recording Studios in Dublin, it’s an album that has an unhurried, relaxed feel to it, no doubt aided by the absence of deadlines, time limits and associated pressures. It’s also quite experimental instrumentally with the opening track For The Best awash with a glorious mix of horns, synths and woozy backing vocals. Easy Mind, the rockiest track on the album, lands somewhere between Tom Petty and Tom Walsh (Pugwash) and includes an addictive riff from start to finish that will remain with you for some time. Before The Night Goes closes the album stylishly, a simple yet contemplative and searching ballad. Wheres and Whys ambles gently along but instead of winding up at the four-minute mark drifts impressively into Neil Young territory with a further two minutes of guitar, strings and drum heaven, all stylishly distorted. Mean Time (Lisa says) is a tale of love, understanding, endurance and continuance and Indrifting follows a similarly personal and contemplative theme, inspired and written in the memory of Colfer’s father, who passed away four years ago.

An album full of delightful songs, stellar playing with a particularly impressive mix. What more could you ask for?

Levi Parham An Okie Opera CRS

This is a re-issue of the debut album by Oklahoma born and bred Levi Parham. Originally recorded in 2013, Parham similar to his fellow Okie musicians John Mooreland, Samantha Crain, Carter Sampson and John Fulbright, has been making inroads into the European market and An Okie Opera gives listeners the opportunity to check out his back catalogue.

Introduced by his father at an early age to bluesman Muddy Waters obviously made its mark but Parham cites Van Morrison as the artist whose output encouraged him mostly to pursue a musical career. Not surprisingly therefore that the self-produced and recorded album has both blues and soul leanings, all dispatched with Parham’s gravely, raw, raspy vocals.

Recorded and produced by Parham, its ten tracks are primarily acoustic with leanings more in the direction of blues than country soul. Hand claps and mouth organ introduce Two Cookies, a no nonsense bluesy opener. Staring At The End Of The World is more laid back with hints of JJ Cale.  I Want To Be With You is a simple love ballad and Devil’s Got A Sweet Tooth ramps up the tempo a few notches.

An Okie Opera is a welcomed introduction to an artist exploring his musical roots and will most likely point the listener in the direction of his more recent releases Avalon Drive (EP) and American Blues recorded in 2016. Like his fellow aforementioned Okies Parham is an artist that I expect we will be hearing a lot more about this side of the pond.

Birds of Chicago Real Midnight Five Head 

Apologies for arriving a bit late to the party with this review but such is the quality of the album that I felt duty bound to post a review, notwithstanding that it was released in 2016. Produced by Joe Henry and recorded at his Garfield House Studio in Los Angeles, Real Midnight is the second studio recording by the group who are essentially Allison Russell, formally of Canadian band Po’Girl and her husband JT Nero, of JT and The Clouds fame. The selection of Henry as producer, given his previous work with Carolina Chocolate Drops, was inspired, there are so many admiral similarities between both acts and Henry succeeds hands down in combining heavenly layered vocals with instrumentation that compliments without dominating. Aside from her striking vocals Russell plays banjo, clarinet and ukulele on the album with JT Nero contributing equally impressive vocals and guitars. Chris Merrill plays bass, Drew Lindsay plays piano and Dan Abu-Absi also plays guitars.

Setting aside the wonderful playing on the album, the listeners attention is swiftly drawn to the beautiful vocals from start to finish, be that Russell’s solo deliveries, her harmonies with Nero or indeed the esteemed guests that also add vocals which include Rhiannon Giddens who contributes to a couple of the tracks and Michelle Mc Grath whose vocal appear on all but one of the eleven tracks.

Nine of the songs are written by Nero and consider themes such as nostalgia in Remember Wild Horses, raw passion in the title track and impermanence in Sparrow, one of two songs written by Russell.  Particularly impressive is the upbeat Estrella Goodbye with Nero taking the opening lead vocals before being joined by Russell’s soaring voice on a song that sounds like it’s been knocking around forever.  Barley, also written by Russell, is acapella gospel at its finest, only aided by minimal percussion. Pelicans is a beautifully simple ballad, sung in duet by Nero and Russell and considering love and the afterlife.  It’s the perfect closer to an album that really does impress from start to finish.

Caroline Spence Spades & Roses Tone Tree

Originally from Charlottesville Virginia but currently part of the burgeoning underground Nashville scene, Caroline Spence is an artist that had been making quite an impression among her peers even before the recording of Spades & Roses. Her song writing has been acknowledged by awards in American Songwriter Magazine and the Kerryville Folk Festival and being name checked by an established household name like Miranda Lambert has to point towards something quite special. That promise was confirmed within the body of her 2015 album Somehow but Spades and Roses finds Spence raising the bar to altogether different heights.

The album contains eleven songs, visiting personal issues such as her parents’ divorce in Southern Accent (It’s not that there was yelling, but the silence was thick, That’s why when I get angry, you’d never know it), the loneliness and hardship of the touring artist in Hotel Amarillo (I’ve been playing shows out west with no guarantee, That anybody’s ever gonna give a damn about me), drug abuse in You Don’t Look So Good, On Cocaine (You get so high, you can’t come down, Can’t see what you lose except a couple of pounds) and relationship commitment in Slow Dancer (Found that part of my heart won’t take no for an answer, You turned me into a slow dancer). So many highlights other than the tracks previously mentioned but the closing track Goodbye Bygones deserves particular mention. Featuring only piano, cello and Spence’s exquisite vocal, it’s magical.

Comparison can most certainly be made with Patty Griffin at her best, so many similarities both in the quality of the song writing and her gorgeous vocal. Production duties were carried out by Neilson Hubbard, an accomplished artists in his own right, at Mr. Lemon’s Studio in East Nashville.

It’s an album that has you reaching for the lyric sheets on first listen, snippets of lines connect with the listener instantly, drawing you inquisitively to investigate the story lines more closely.  It also that demands that you stop whatever you’re doing, take a seat, get that lyric sheet out, read, listen and enjoy. Dreamy stuff. 

Michaela Anne Bright Lights & The Fame Kingswood

Michaela Anne’s last album release Ease My Mind (2014), was mellow in style with the songs taken at a leisurely pace. This time around she’s gone for broke with the foot firmly on the accelerator, delivering a body of work that offers thoughtful ballads and plenty of full on honky tonk, showcasing her fine country voice with songs to match.  The eleven songs on the album visit themes not unfamiliar to traditional country music with self-doubt, anxiety, regret and grieving abundant in cleverly written tales, brought to life by Anne’s exquisite vocals and the killer band of musicians that she assembled to perform on the album. Those musicians include Rodney Crowell who adds backing vocals on the track Luisa, producer Dan Knobler (Rosanne Cash, Tift Merritt, Rodney Crowell, Cory Chisel) on guitars, banjo, organ and vibes, Philip Sterk on pedal steel and dobro, Aaron Shafer-Haiss on drums and mandolin, and Michael Rinne on bass. Lonesome Highway favourite Erin Rae’s harmony vocals also adorn many of the tracks.

Relocating from Brooklyn to Nashville offered Anne the opportunity for co-writes with compatible peers, together with the inspiration to complete a number of previously written but unfinished songs and the change of address most certainly paid dividends. Dave Brainard, who worked with Brandy Clark on the universally lauded album Twelve Stories, was an inspired choice and both Everything I Couldn’t Be and Won’t Go Down co-written with him, are stand out tracks, each thankfully avoiding crossing over the fence into pop country land. Easier Than Leaving, written with Mary Bragg, laments the strain and trappings of a one-sided marriage and the unfortunate choices it offers. The previously mentioned Everything I Couldn’t Be reminds me of Ashley Munroe at the top of her game and Liquor Up recalls Elizabeth Cook at her sauciest.

Michaela Anne, who previously studied jazz at Manhattans New School before a musically career diversion towards country, is a young lady with the ability to bring every day run of the mill situations to life in a similar manner to Miranda Lambert and Kacey Musgraves. She’s on record noting how she’d love to record a collection of her favourite country songs by way of a covers album, my advice would be to concentrate on her most considerable writing ability and allow others to consider recording her material. If you haven’t yet come across Michaela Anne I recommend you correct that without delay. 

Reviews by Paul McGee

Janie Barnett & Blue Room You See This River Minor Regrets

This is the second release from a singer-songwriter who has gathered together an impressive line-up of musicians across the 14 tracks included. There is a hint of Rickie Lee Jones in the vocal delivery and it is no surprise, given that Janie developed her career, partly singing backup, for iconic stars like Linda Ronstadt, Celine Dion, and ... Rickie Lee Jones.

Produced by Janie and mixed by Michael Golub, who also provides ‘programming’ on several tracks; the gentle arrangements are full of restrained playing that serve the songs so well and the excellent musicianship is a joy throughout. Witness the trio of love songs, Wrap Me Up; Good Crazy Thing and Sweet Thursday and the lyrical timelessness of the melodies.

The subject of gun purchase is part of Buy That Thing and the fractured state of love gone wrong is touchingly illustrated in Walk It Out To You; with poignant and wistful vocal delivery and minimal guitar/piano accompaniment. Face The Voodoo is wonderfully quirky and reminds me of a Jane Siberry song.

This Small World and Another Round Before It’s Time both question the true meaning of love and the communication that should be an essential part of it. You See This River speaks of taking the jump and experiencing life, with all its risks and rewards. Beginner explores opening up to new love and being vulnerable, as does the sweetly supportive How You Are, in reaching out to a sensitive soul.

A very impressive body of songs that just get better with repeated listening. Recommended for all who like to dwell in the magical universe of the ethereal. 

Peter Gallway Feels Like Religion Self Release

Yes, he is most definitely at it again. Eleven new songs with the same high quality, as always, in both the musicianship and the writing. Over 36 minutes this prolific song-writer, musician and producer paints a vista that shows just how versatile an artist he truly is. Dedicated to, and inspired by, the work of Laura Nyro and her unique vision and whether or not you have listened to this now legendary female artist who died in 1997, you can feel her come alive again in the writing of Peter Gallway.

He has released more than twenty albums across a varied career and last year’s critically acclaimed solo release, Muscle And Bone, was his most politically impassioned work to date. In addition to his solo and band recordings, Peter Gallway has produced over fifty albums and special projects, so you can trust yourself to the tools of the master.

Playing guitars, fretted and fretless bass & keyboards, it is the world-weary quality and the wistfulness in the vocal delivery that captures the imagination as he spins tales of scenarios, both imagined and remembered, around New York City and memories of Greenwich Village and the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

R&B influences are never far away as the jazz tinged sound of Shorty Moves On conjures thoughts of a Steely Dan arrangement, following so seamlessly after the smooth sentiment of Just Lucky. Longing Lasts Longer is inspired by the work of performance artist Penny Arcade, an actress and playwright based in NYC and his ode to the City is further brought to life with songs like Tonight At The Fair and Roller Coaster.

Joined by Jerry Marotta on drums and percussion and long-time collaborator Annie Gallup, who appears on two songs, Peter Gallway is always worth a place in any music collection and this new release is highly recommended.

Tokyo Rosenthal This Minstrel Life Rock and Sock

Ten years of recorded output that has seen six previous releases and a growing reputation as an artist of some depth and quality. This release is broken into six studio recorded songs and four live songs, recorded at different venues across a 4-year period. The ten tracks hint at old spontaneous sessions that the best of Country/Folk music used to conjure up. Tokyo co-produced with Chris Stamey (Alex Chilton, The dB’s) and the mix of accordion, mandolin, flute, dobro and fiddle across the songs adds to a very open and warm production style that allows plenty of room for the fine musicianship to emerge.

There is a Tex-Mex groove on The Immigrant Revisited where the cantina sounds of mandolin and accordion transport you off to another world. Now I Believe There’s A Devil is a song that takes aim at the current President of the U.S.A. with a bi-lingual verse to add to the dynamic. Wiregrass highlights the fine talents of John Teer on fiddle while live tracks, Mama Tried (a Merle Haggard cover) and Love Won Out, show the ability to turn out performances that lift the spirit and deliver real quality. Impressive.

Daisy Chapman Good Luck Songs Songs & Whispers

Good Luck Songs is Daisy's third full length studio album. If you include a number of EP’s and a career that has been steadily growing since 2006, then you can understand the interest and respect that her beautiful melodies and voice have been gathering. This release is quite hypnotic and the nine songs that span 45 minutes just sail by in a warm reverie. Her vocal range and tone is really impressive and the song arrangements use piano, violin, cello and viola to dramatic effect. Add in the impact of oboe on a few tracks and even baritone sax and trombone; the results are highly arresting.

Daisy's unique voice soars and her wistful delivery on certain tracks is beautifully heart-wrenching. Throw in a gentle version of the Tom Waits song Tom Traubert’s Blues and the sassy groove of There’s A Storm Coming and you get a broad palette on which she paints.

However, it is the great emotion of songs like The Decalogue, Good Luck Song and Home Fires that really cast their spell and enchant the listener. How to define this music?  Perhaps it is Chamber Folk; maybe Pastoral Country? Does it need a box? No, because it is quite simply a joy to discover and that should be enough!

Her albums have all been recorded by renowned producer Ali Chant at Toybox Studios (PJ Harvey, Gruff Rhys, Giant Sand, Seasick Steve) and The Green Eyed (2009) won an Independent Music Award. Just check out this great talent.

Richard Schroder Drive Self Release

This is a slice of country-pop in all the best traditions of modern radio-friendly tunes. In an industry that has expanded the definition of what exactly qualifies as country these days, the message has become so diluted and confused that artists such as Richard Schroder don’t quite know what focus they need to bring to a rebooted career in the music business. So, why not tick ALL the boxes and hope for the best?

The production is perfectly fine with well-arranged melodies to underpin the eleven songs included here. Nothing wrong with any of it and the stories of trying to make it in the business (Drivin’) are coupled with chasing down desires (Nashville Girl), memories of youthful passion (Backseat Love) sit with advice to live life bigger (Wildest Dreams).

The standout song here is Someone Else, with its simple acoustic arrangement, a nice cello part and an authenticity that points towards the direction that Schroder should look to for any future projects.

Ryne Doughty Date Night Self Release

This musician lives in Des Moines, Iowa and on his fourth release he has written all nine songs and also produced with Jon Locker, who plays bass guitar on the tracks. They are joined by a fine group of musicians in the studio, including Justin Appel (piano), James Biehn (electric guitar), Nathan Emerson (pedal steel), Will Locker (drums, percussion), Alex Ramsey (accordion), Neil Stoffregen (keyboards) and Matt Woods (electric guitar).

Jordi Doughty adds harmony vocals, as well as providing album art, so you could truly define this as a DIY project. The music is very organic and rootsy with Ryne singing and playing acoustic guitar & banjo in a style that has real grit and stripped- down honesty. His finger-style guitar picking is impressive and the songs tell simple tales of everyday scenarios; like the title track and the rural feel of Pickled Peaches; living the simple life.

Crossing The River has a folksy blues groove and echoes the old blues players of past generations; "the Devil close behind me and Jesus up ahead on the bank’ – a metaphor for hard drinkin’ and hard livin"… Sway is a highlight with its laid-back tempo and fine guitar playing and Some Good, Some Bad has a slow groove that is both taut and razor sharp in delivery. Leaf ends the album in a gentle strum that leaves you with a smile.

A fine example of the quality music that is out there waiting to be discovered, just around the bend and down by the ’Please Stop Here’ sign.    

Humphrey-McKeown Tapestry Of Shadows HM

Songwriters Tom McKeown (vocals, banjo, guitar, harmonica, mandola and mandolin) and Heather Humphrey (vocals, flute, piano) release their fifth album and are joined by Jim Livas (drums), Tony Meadors (4 and 5 string upright and electric bass) and Gary Jacklin (violin). They produce a blend of folk/roots music that is highlighted by the harmony vocals and an organic sound that showcases the inventive musicianship.

All songs are written by Humphrey and McKeown and they also engineered, produced and mixed the entire project. You Don’t Know Me unfolds with a slow tempo and the arrangement highlights some fine piano, violin and flute interplay with the upright bass of Tony Meadows anchoring everything so well.

The co-vocal on Better Day is underlined by a gentle beat and some nice guitar and violin lines while You & I is a very atmospheric song with impassioned lead vocals.  Someday is a plea to keep going even when the waves of life seem to be crashing around you and Our Beautiful Sad Dance is a song of regret and an unwanted goodbye. It all comes together on Madness with the five musicians really coming together in unison as the song builds to a climax; stirring stuff. A very enjoyable 50 minutes spent in the company of superb musicians and an urge to enjoy more of their back catalogue.

Sands & Hearne Time Is A Line Self Release

Quinn Sands and Richard Hearn are a recently married couple and are planning their summer road tour to serve as their honeymoon. Talk about taking your love for a road trip! They actually grew up a few miles from each other but never met until many years later at a local venue called the Barking Spider Tavern. Well, what can you do but make beautiful music together?

The couple began performing and writing together in 2015 and their style is a blend of traditional folk and country blues. The two combine perfectly on the wonderfully dark tale of Crazy Carl, with harmonica atmospherics from Colin Dussault and some mean resonator guitar painting atmospheric colours. Bouncing Ball of Jesus councils on the twists and turns of cruel fate and on the title track they sing that "time is a line, but it's not always straight; it curves and it bends, by choice and by fate."

Well, fate threw this couple together and they certainly make some excellent music as they take lead- vocal turns across the eleven songs that are enriched by the superb players assembled for the studio recording in Cleveland, Ohio - Joey Hanna on drums & percussion; Kevin Johnson on electric & upright bass; Chris Hanna on organ & piano; Al Moss on lap steel, pedal steel and dobro; Nick Stipanovich on accordion; Sam Kristoff on cello and Colin Dussault on harmonica.

Sands plays acoustic guitars, glockenspiel and sings with a lovely warm tone to her voice. Hearn plays acoustic guitars, resonator/bottleneck slide guitar and sings equally well, sharing harmonies to great effect on many of the tracks.

Matt Troja produced, recorded and mixed the project in addition to playing various guitars, keyboards, percussion and singing duties. There are no fillers here and the tracks Angel With Dusty Boots, American Mind and Sugar In The Morning hold an instant appeal. However, all the songs blend seamlessly together and this duo have made a very impressive debut that comes highly recommended and points towards a bright future, both professionally and romantically speaking!!

Delta Wires Born In Oakland Mud Slide

The Delta Wires is a high-energy, harmonica and horns, 7-piece blues band from the Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area and this is their 7th album. Their sound is big and funky with Ernie Pinata in the role of bandleader, harmonica player and vocalist. He is credited with forming the band almost 30 years ago, so you know that these musicians form part of an enduring legacy in playing a combination of Chicago and Mississippi Delta blues, in addition to their own modern take on the genre.

Of the ten tracks included here, 7 are originals, penned by the collective which includes a wonderful horn section of Gerry Jonutz on tenor, alto and baritone sax; David Bowman on Trombone and John Christensen on trumpet. Tony Huszar also contributes on drums, congas and tambourine with Tom Gerrits on bass and vocals and the exciting Richard Healy who really makes his guitar sing throughout. The arrangements are bright and sassy with plenty to enjoy across the seven players.

Your Eyes slows the pace down and allows the musicianship to stretch out as does Devil’s In My Headset with some lovely lead lines played by Healy. In The Middle is the chance for an extended workout with individual solos highlighting the great quality on offer. Pinata Ieads a very tight unit and the groove of Fun Time, I Don’t Care and the final track, All I Have To Give, makes this an essential purchase for any lover of all that is great about a big band blues sound.

Reviews by Eilis Boland

Janet Martin Eve Sessions Self Release 

Janet Martin has been working away building a steady fanbase in her native US and raising her profile in Europe over the course of seven studio albums. After going through a life crisis, the Virginian multi-instrumentalist and songwriter decided she need to take back control in the studio. Crowdfunded by her fans, she wrote, performed and produced this album alone, and what an impressive musical document it is!

Recognised as a particularly accomplished guitarist, here she plays acoustic, electric, bass and slide. Thrown into the mix are drums, other forms of percussion, mandolin, accordion and I could swear I hear trumpet on one track. Her rich voice reminds me of that of Anne McCue, although Janet’s overall sound leans more towards blues and rock than Anne’s.

Yesterday I Dreamt a Journey Wide opens the album with unusually a sample of a Bulgarian folk choir, and this motif is cleverly woven throughout this song of searching. In Without Your Love her ferocious bluesy slide guitar expresses so well the visceral pain of heartache. First Bite is another standout song, with its insistent bass line, acoustic guitar and another powerful slide guitar hook. But it’s not just the instrumentation that stands out here - the lyrics are heartfelt and real. Would you do things differently if you could go back and relive your life again? This universal theme is explored in Turn Back Time. Deceit and learning to trust again are the catalysts for another standout track Smoke and Mirrors, which has a distinctly klezmer feel with its accordion and mandolin. The closing track I’ll Still Wait celebrates contentment in love - an appropriate way to sign off.

This album is a real grower - it’s definitely worth seeking it out and here’s hoping that Janet comes to play in Ireland soon.

Pierce Edens Stripped Down Gussied Up Self Release 

Here’s another artist from the vibrant music scene in Asheville, NC - but this time we’re talking more grungy rock and roll than folky stringband. Based on the evidence of this his fifth independent release, the small town North Carolina that Pierce Edens inhabits is one of devils and fires and murder and gothic horror … you get the picture. 

Throughout the ten original songs (and one Tom Waits cover - Mr. Seigal) Pierce snarls and growls and howls and hollers his way through the depressing mire of psychedelic horror. His passion is admirable.

The dark tales are accompanied by a relentless soundtrack of driving acoustic guitars, punctuated by searing and soaring electric guitars. Most of the guitar work is performed by Eden himself, accompanied by his long time side man Kevin Reese, who also contributes mandolin and banjo. Matthew Neilson adds percussion, vocals and piano.

Body, a murder ballad of sorts, tells the story of a body found floating in a flooded river. Clocking in at a full six minutes, The Bonfire is a celebration of pyromania and Eden really lets rip as this one builds up intensity to its climax. Further Down gives a brief respite from the intensity of most of the album, but even here, the theme is one of despair at lost love. We return to the hammering acoustic guitars with I Can’t Sleep and the closer It’s Alright, It’s All Wrong.

Hillfolk Noir Junkerpunch Self Release

 Another delicious slice of acoustic hillbilly blues has been released on the world from the Boise, Idaho home of this singularly unique trio. Travis Ward, the main songwriter, along with his wife Alison and their compadre Mike Waite are regular visitors to Ireland and Europe, where their blend of old time, punk, rock and roll, folk and country continues to go down a bomb.

They describe their music as ‘junkerdash’, hence the name of this latest collection. And punch you in the head and the heart this music sure does- in a good way. Sparse though the instrumentation is, the album never bores, even though there are seventeen songs here - seventeen vignettes of life. They sing of the outlaws, the inlaws, the pirates and the hobos. They celebrate murder in Billy Got Popped and Crow Jane. Seafarers and pirates also get a look in, in Shanty Blues and Pirate Song.

Travis Ward’s rich baritone voice is mirrored to great effect on most of the songs by Alison’s harmony vocals, while the rhythm is held down by Mike Waite’s steady upright bass playing. Alison also augments the percussion of the bass with her washboard playing. Travis plays a mean resonator guitar on most of the songs. Alison also gets to shine with her clawhammer banjo playing on Might As Well Live Like A Hobo and the instrumental Brushy Fork Of John’s Creek. The most effective instrument of all, however, is Alison’s saw playing - it lends an appropriately eerie quality to Dead Maud (with its ghost called Sally O’Malley!) and to the bluesy Forgive Me Please.

Notwithstanding the tongue-in-cheek and whimsical celebration of noir throughout most of the album, the closing song brings you up short. Leave A Light On is a touching and hauntingly beautiful plea to its mama from a little child who is afraid of the dark.

Buy this and go see them when they get back to Europe in 2018.

Scroggins & Rose Grana Self Release

If you’ve ever had the privilege of seeing Justin Scroggins play mandolin live, you will not be surprised that he has just been awarded the IBMA 2017 Instrumental Momentum Award. At 22 he has already reached heights with his playing that most players can only dream of. He tours regularly with his equally talented and legendary banjo playing father, Jeff. They thrilled Irish audiences recently with a short duo tour, before their full bluegrass band toured Europe. 

Alisa Rose is another prodigy, this time on violin and baritone violin. As well as being classically trained, Alisa is equally at home playing American traditional music. She has played and taught all over the world in various combinations and in many styles including classical, folk, bluegrass and pop. This is a musical match made in heaven.

On this collection of six original tunes and seven improvisations the duo push the boundaries of instrumental ‘new acoustic’ music further than anyone has before. From the first track to the last, they attack the tunes like their lives depend on it. The passion and the pace of the playing is truly exhilarating. Each time I listen, I hear something new. 

Justin’s Eagle’s Nest and its companion piece Argonaut’s Armada are a case in point - he and Alisa trade musical phrases at breakneck speed and it’s hard to comprehend that there are only two of them playing here. Alisa’a compositions are equally memorable and accomplished. The improvisations are mainly on well-known bluegrass instrumentals like Bill Monroe’s Wheel Hoss - but the purists needn’t fear - they pay homage to these standards rather than destroy them.

Get this album - and play it LOUD.

Reviews by Stephen Rapid

Hannah Johnson Shaken Wood Ville

This is a solo album from a member of the UK roots/bluegrass band The Toy Hearts which was recorded in Austin at the Amerpolitan Studios. Hannah,  her sister Sophia and Cris Burns produced this collection of original songs and covers and they were in the right place to pick up some excellent players to realise their vision. These include drummer Tom Lewis with Johnson’s father Stewart on electric and pedal steel guitars and a number of others. Throughout the playing is top notch and it is all topped by Hannah Johnson’s versatile and expressive voice.

The album opens with two original songs, Nowhere Train, a song that takes the notion of a train as that of a relationship and is followed by the more reflective bluesy Morning Cocktail which contrasts nicely and shows that her future as a writer is getting off to a good start. The other original is a co-write and has a humour in its tale of adverse relationships between woman. There’s some jazzy, swing playing with nice piano to enhance the mood. Your Girlfriend Hates Me completes that trio and the remaining covers come from a number of sources. 

Gotta Get You From That Crowd is a Skeets McDonald song with some effective vocal harmonies and fiddle. Three Days is the well know Willie Nelson song which has a slick 60’s feel that Johnson delivers with gusto. Never No More is a song recorded by Patsy Cline and her influence is here both musically and vocally. Sooner Or Later was a Bob Wills co-write and again has that period touch that is satisfying and shows that Johnson has a love and appreciation of some of the best names and musical directions in classic country. Not In Birmingham was written by Roger Miller, although he write it as Nottingham in the original (Johnson is from Birmingham so that explains the location change to make it more personal). It also has a nice guitar break in it. Gail Owen wrote West Texas Lullaby and it is a more recent song having first been recorded in the late 90s. Charlie Patton, the Delta blues singer wrote Shake It & Break It the song that close out this impressive album as a short uptempo song with a stripped back skiffle feel. An assured album from a musician who has a understanding of how to bring the past forward and give it a shake or two.

Ciara Sidine Unbroken Line Self Release

After a much praised debut album, the Dublin-based singer/songwriter returns with her second album. The standard has been kept up here too. Produced by noted guitarist Conor Brady and Sidine herself, it is a considered approach to her take on Americana, filtered back through an underlying Irish sensibility. The album opens in style with Finest Flower a brooding song with lots of atmosphere and an emotive vocal. The song’s harrowing lyric is based on the testimony of survivors of institutional abuse. Indeed the vocals throughout are impressive. Next is a take on a well know traditional song, Woman Of Constant Sorrow which features a new lyric and a Sidine arrangement. This is followed by 2 Hard 2 Get 2 Heaven which has a more soulful feel with keyboards a main feature. 

After that opening trio Sidine further explores a number of musical options like the late night jazz tinged Watching The Dark, and a rockabilly-fuelled Wooden Bridge. The sensual River Road complements the subtly of Take Me With You which tells of roads travelled together. The languid, longing of Lemme Drive Your Train is measured against the female perspective of Trouble Come Find Me. The title track and Let The Rain Fall again show the skill of the musicians creating a setting for Sidine’s often cautionary but crucial writing. The album ends with the more acoustic based Little Bird Song that has the sibling harmonies of Sidine and Michelle Considine.

That song closes the album as strongly as it began and places Sidine at the top of her game. It is no easy feat to produce an album these days. There is, more often than not, no well-oiled team pushing an independent artist’s release. It takes a belief and conviction in what one is producing, but when the end result proves itself worth of the effort than that is reward in itself. Unbroken Line should find  wider acceptance, a large audience and acclaim for its articulate and alluring music.

Kate Ellis Carve Me Out River Rose

This is the debut album from Louisiana born and now London based singer/songwriter.  Ellis’ smooth blend of country and folk pays off and heralds a new and rewarding talent. The thing about the broad based roots/Americana scene is that a lot of people are in and around the same formats. So in the end, it comes down, as it nearly always does in the genre, to the song and how it is delivered. Ellis has a number of songs that immediately hit home especially Ones You Love The Most which muses on how we always seems to hurt them. But the opening song Don’t Lie To Me tells of a heart-felt truth at the core of establishing a wild relationship. I Believe is a hopeful expression of belief in another person while in contrast Night Before Dawn looks at the darkest hours. Going Against The Grain has a male duet vocal from Bryan Miller which is effective and eloquent. 

There is a compassion for her fellow man (and woman) that is delivered with a melodic gentleness that is compelling and easy to like. The songs are never over sung or over produced, rather the playing is totally in sympathy with the nature of the sings. There are four producers credited as well as different set of players yet the vision set by the songs and Ellis’ voice has made the overall delivery consistent. One of the producers is Andy Hobsbawn who wrote Don’t Lie To Me and co-wrote two others with Ellis. The assembled players mix an understated rhythm section with violin, pedal steel, Dobro, melodica and piano on various tracks. All contribute to the warmth that the album exudes.

Like many similar artists Ellis has the potential to go on to surpass this initial statement of intent and one can only hope that the reaction she get here will help her sustain her music in order to progress and further reach to a wider audience so that it will become a ladder to greater heights. All the elements are here and Kate Ellis wants to carve herself a long lasting career. You can help with that by listening and purchasing.

Heather Lynne Horton Don’t Mess With Mrs.Murphy At The Helm

A member of The Westies with her husband Michael McDermott, this is Heather’s second solo album (following Postcard Saturdays) and it offers a wider sonic template than might be expected from her membership of The Westies. There is a certain ethereal feel and diffusion in her voice that is matched by the atmospherics in the music. The man in charge of pulling the whole thing together was Lex Price, a multi-instrumentalist who has worked as bassist with such artists as Miranda Lambert and Rodney Crowell. One track that sums the multi-layered approach is the immediately arresting Did You Feel That? Save The Rain express the wish to protect her daughter (Rain) from the darker forces that life tends to place in a person’s path. It also understands the vulnerability that that often engenders. 

As a writer, observer and advocate Horton looks at disability issues in the song Wheelchair Man. Elsewhere she looks at other issues but she does so in a way that is not the least preachy. It takes several listens before you get past the pure sound on a song, the layered use of voice, the reverb saturated instrumentation. But these can be no doubting her strength of character and her forthright opinions with a song like F.U., the lyrics of which contain some highly amusing but strategically melodic put-downs for a woman who seemed intent on making a move on her man! However there is also a strong sense of femininity throughout which is viewed from different angles from the person in Murphy’s Law who falls for the wrong man but, though knowing it, wants to be with that person. 

The album closes (almost) with a song that is a reflection of a fairly universal wish. It is a seven minute plus summation of all aspect of life, from love and longing to an overall statement of how a life is and what it might entail in the long-term. I Wanna Die In My Sleep signs off an album that reveals much as you get acquainted with its subtle intricacies and nuances. By way of contrast there is an unlisted track that follows, a duet between husband and wife, You’re The One That I Want, that is powerful in its simplicity and directness. Mrs Horton doesn’t mess about when it comes to her music. Neither should you. 

Lynn Jackson Follow That Fire Busted Flat

This is the ninth album released by Canadian singer/songwriter Jackson. For this collection of her songs she decided to hand over the reins to an outside person and choose Michael Timmins of Cowboy Junkies fame to produce. It was recorded in Timmins’ Hanger Studio in Toronto. The group of players includes drummer (and fellow Cowboy Junkie) Peter Timmins, steel player Aaron Goldstein and Aaron Comeau on lead guitar and keyboard who set about recording these dark and, at times, dreamy songs. These is a strong element of keyboards (both organ and piano) that are central to the sound, a layered folk-referencing sound that sits discreetly (for the most part) behind Jackson’s distinctive vocals.

The fourth song Alice is a scripted evocation of hard times and harder choices in a small town environment where there are “strength in numbers, and everyone knows everyone” and “everything that you do.” It is also a tale with a grim and fateful twist that has an unexpected end. It is largely sung over a sparse acoustic setting that reinforces the directness of the song. Meet Me In The City features a harmony vocal from Andy Maize (of The Skydiggers) on a song dedicated to Paul McLeod a friend and inspiration who had passed away. She tells him she will “hold you for all my days.” The delivery is compassionate and nuanced and there is some delicate guitar and keyboard playing that helps set the tone for the heartfelt tribute. Random Breakdowns, False Starts & New Beginnings is also for McLeod. 

Timming’ production bears something of his own band in its approach. Nothing is overplayed but the effect overall is peaceful. The album closes with a song that sums up an approach to life that sums up her attitude; No Regrets looks at divesting oneself of anything that helps to tie you down before you head out on “that long highway” while finding herself “finally free.” There are ten original songs featured that offer something of a new direction and sonic palette for Jackson. Perhaps a good place to start, if like me, this is your first encounter with her music. It will be an interesting journey from this point onward for her fans to follow.

Lesley Kernochan A Calm Sun Maple Syrup

Another exponent of roots music from Los Angeles Lesley Kernochan has just released her latest album of original songs. This time out however she has taken a less eclectic approach and delivered an album that balances her folk and country sides. The cover image may suggest the former but there is also plenty of the latter to be found in the songs. Songs like Tumbleweed and Old Fisherman’s Song are immediately memorable and genre variable. The pedal steel and guitar in Country In The City sees Kernochan at her closest to an overall country sound though a sense of Americana is prevalent throughout the album.

There is a sunny West Coast feel on many of the tracks which translates into a relaxed feel to  these songs. However there is also Dobro, lap and pedal steel guitar and mandolin all provided by one time Mavericks guitarist Ben Peeler who shares this task with another noted player in Dean Parks. Suffice it to say that this album is an easy and impressive listen. There are at times a jazzy/bluesy feel to some of Kernochan’s vocal delivery. She has a clear and concise voice that is able to be commanding in the context of the songs. Country In The City simply enthuses that there is nothing better than dancing with abandon to a zydeco band. While The Chocolate Tree notes that “life is bittersweet” which contrasts with the feeling that family is key and how her Mama “gave me a great start in the world.” Lyrically it is more folk than country; so less of the story-songwriting of the latter, rather more lyrical observation and allegory overall.

There have been some comparisons to other, mainly, West Coast female artists that show that Kernochan is being considered as being on similar ground vocally. All of which suggest that this album will be well received overall and that it may well be her best release to date. Kernochan has co-produced the album with John Scimpf and Scott Jacoby in a couple of studios in California and certainly A Calm Sun lives up to its title being both warm and peaceful. Who wouldn’t want to bask in some of that?

Reviews by Declan Culliton

Mark Olson Spokeswoman Of The Bright Sun 

The Jayhawks finest moments were captured when both Mark Olson and Gary Louris were on board, most particularly on the albums Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow The Green Grass which remain classic albums to this day. As forefathers of alternative country alongside Uncle Tupelo, their ability as both song writers and harmonisers to create an inimitable wistful sound was unparalleled back in the early to mid-90’s.

It may have been the disciplined band structure or possibly one too many song writers that resulted in Olson abandoning ship in 1996 to form The Original Harmony Ridge Crippledippers with his first wife Victoria Williams. Living in Joshua Tree in California, the band recorded a number of impressive, if somewhat disjointed albums that mirrored their carefree hippie like existence but failed to make anything like the industry impact of his previous work with The Jayhawks.

Fast forward to 2005 and Olson was to be found in a different place entirely - divorced, without a record label, homeless and suffering from depression. While recovering in Cardiff he wrote and recorded his first solo album, the excellent The Salvation Blues, reflective of his state of mind at that time. Equally impressive was his follow up album in 2010 Many Coloured Kites following a similar path, stripped down songs of love, loss and grief. Olson reunited with Louris and the rest of the original Jayhawks to record Mockingbird Time and tour the album before, surprisingly, leaving again in 2012. 

2014 saw the release of Good-bye Lizelle, recorded while he toured Europe and South Africa with his Danish wife Ingunn Ringvold, who has performed on his earlier solo albums. Recorded on portable equipment while touring, the album echoed his new-found love, happiness and fulfilment. More experimental than his previous work, it found Olson dabbling in world music, sometimes successfully other times less so. The album featured Ringvold on harmonium and backing vocals and was the stepping stone for another chapter in Olson’s nomadic musical lifestyle. 

Spokeswoman Of The Bright Side is in many ways a natural progression from Good-bye Lizelle, taking its lead yet offering a more organised package of songs that avoids much of the world music influences of its predecessor. Recorded at their home in Joshua Tree, Olson’s typical reflections on life, love and the passage of time result in a collection of songs that often present the innocence and simplicity found in his strongest work. As is often the case in Olson’s song writing the lyrics are whimsical and imaginative without being over challenging but are brought to life by his ability to create beautiful melodies. His vocals and shared harmonies with Ringvolt are delightfully easy on the ear with much of the content falling between folk and country with a nod in the direction of psychedelic pop at times. Seminole Valley Tea Sippers Society and Death Valley Soda Pop Cool Down Dream recall David Bowie late 60’s work while opener Dear Elisabeth, You Are All, All My Days and the superb Time Of Love are closer to Olson’s Jayhawks work, all immediately catchy and joyful.

It’s probably fair to say that Olson has never quite fully reached the enormous potential his early career suggested but for all that, in my opinion, he has not released an album that did not contain many magical moments. The new album's magical moments are plentiful suggesting his strongest work since The Salvation Blues and a return to form for Olson who seems emotionally and creatively to be in as good a place as he’s been at any stage of his career. Long may it last. 

Emi Sunshine Ragged Dreams Little Blackbird

Emily Sunshine Hamilton, at the tender age of 13, has already attracted over 14 million You Tube visits and can boast over half a million Facebook followers. Having started her career playing churches, community halls and local festivals Emi, supported by family members, has become a child prodigy in musical terms. With over a dozen appearances to date at The Grand Old Opry and endorsements from Loretta Lynn, Emmylou Harris and Marty Stuart her career continues to blossom four years after performing professionally for the first time at the age of nine.

Not merely a vocalist, she also plays guitar, mandolin and ukulele, but her most striking talent is her song writing ability which finds her tackling thorny and dark subjects such as murder (Tennessee Killing Song, KatieBelle), redemption (Sinners Serenade), environmental issues (As The Waters Rise, Resting Place) and autism (Ninety Miles). It can be somewhat unsettling yet perversely refreshing that someone of her age would visit such topics when most aspiring child musicians would be more likely to experiment with pop country and less challenging issues. All 15 tracks on Ragged Dreams, her fourth release, are written or co-written by Sunshine who also produced the album with the assistance of family members Randall Hamilton (father), Johnathon Hamilton (brother) and Bobby Hill (uncle).

With an exceptional vocal capacity to hit notes Iris De Ment wouldn’t even attempt she is accompanied musically on the album by her family members together with cameo contributions by Tim Crouch (mandolin, fiddle, guitar), Justin Moses (fiddle, guitar, dobro, banjo), Randy Kohrs (resonator guitar), Ben Probus (fiddle) and Hitoshi Yamaguchi (cello).

It will be interesting to follow her career going forward. Many artists recording old timey and bluegrass seek out traditional material to cover so it’s to Sunshine’s credit that the self-penned material throughout is of the highest standard with Little Blackbird, Strong Armed Robbery, Ninety Miles and  As The Waters Rise particularly impressive.

A single indication of her enormous potential is the stunning KatieBell, a murder ballad as good as it gets, it also features Sunshine’s vocal pitched a few octaves lower than much of the material on the album and with Randall Hamilton adding backing vocals it’s an instant classic.

Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver Life Is A Story Mountain Music

Native Tennessean and mandolin virtuoso Doyle Lawson together with his band Quicksilver have been a leading light in bluegrass circles for over 35 years since the release of the bluegrass gospel project Rock My Soul (1981), an album still considered to be ground-breaking by genre enthusiasts to this day. Up to forty musicians have played their part in Quicksilver in the intervening period but the core sound and quality output remains consistent with Lawson’s stunning mandolin playing, lead and baritone vocals still reaching dizzy heights. The current line-up includes Josh Swift (Guitars & Percussion), Joe Dean (Banjo & Guitar), Dustin Pyrtle (Vocals & Guitar), Eli Johnston (Vocals & Bass) and Stephen Burwell (Fiddles).

The awards won by Lawson and Quicksilver are endless including seven International Bluegrass Association Vocal Group of the Year Awards and Lawson himself was inducted into the Bluegrass Hall Of Fame in 2012.

Like Is A Story is the latest in over forty recording by them and it manages to both recreate trademark old timey sounds with more recent and poignant storylines. Opening track Kids These Days could relate to any era with it’s  ‘ wasn’t like that in our day sentiment’ followed by Little Girl (penned by Harley Allen) with it’s theme of innocence and redemption, telling  the tale of a child born into a troubled family and finding emancipation  and sanctity when adopted into a loving family environment. Other highlights range from the Doyle Lawson written I See A Heartbreak Comin’ to the Fred Jay classic What Am I Living For first released by Bob Willis in 1958 and subsequently also recorded by Van Morrison and Ray Charles.

It goes without saying that the playing throughout is top drawer complimented by delightful harmonies and often soothing lead vocals from Lawson himself. A must have  album for lovers of bluegrass and a recommended place to start for any newcomers to the genre.

Mike Cullison Front Porch Philosophy Self Release

Mike Cullison’s roadmap into the recording industry may be somewhat unorthodox yet in many ways suggests a quite sensible approach given the meagre pickings and competition in an industry that suffers from increasingly over saturation levels. His debut album, recorded in 2004, coincided with his retirement after 32 years continuous employment with The Bell Telephone Company. Originally from Oklahoma he combined his nine to five job with song writing and performances and with music running through his veins even relocated to Atlanta during his career to be closer to Nashville. He finally made the final leg of his journey to the Music City in 1995 and currently enjoys the good life with the mundane forty hour a week career a distant memory and his current status as a performing and recording artist the ideal (semi) retirement.

Front Porch Philosophy is his fifth recording and follows the same template as his previous albums, telescopic observations of people, their actions and mannerisms considered, studied and moulded into stories that eventually become songs.

Kicking off the album with West Texas State Of Mind one could be forgiven for drawing comparisons with another elder statesman and Nashville resident Mr. John Prine.  Ain’t Enough Whiskey heads in an old timey Hank Williams lost highway direction. Front porch music would not sit comfortably with the absence of lost love and is represented solidly by  I Can’t Throw Stones while To God and Back, a delightful love song, characterises the flip side of that coin. If you’re going to include a tender love song and a love lost song on an album there has to be room for something in between and Big Legged Woman ticks that box famously. The title suggested a blues number before I even played the track and blues it is – closing the album in style. The blues is also well represented by Dorothy’s Shoes with its rootsy bluesy jam intro.

The album was recorded live at the Art Institute of Tennessee – Nashville Recording Studio with the design and photography on the album created by students at Ai TN. The playing throughout is top drawer with the wonderful guitar work by Mark Robinson particularly impressive.  It’s a cosy and charming album and we can thank the stars that Cullison chose a musically creative retirement rather than investing all his hours tending to the back garden and other somewhat less creative pastimes.

The Grascals Before Breakfast Mountain Home

Three-time Grammy nominated Bluegrass band The Grascals are a six-piece group founded in 2004 who can claim over one hundred and fifty appearances at The Grand Olde Opry to date and can also boast performing twice for President George W. Bush and at President Barack Obama’s inaugural ball. Before Breakfast is another solid collection of songs from founding member Terry Eldredge and their second album featuring the present line up of John Bryan (Guitar, Banjo, Vocals), Adam Haynes (Fiddle), Danny Roberts (Mandolin), Kristin Scott Benson (Banjo, Guitar) and Tony Creasman (Drums, Percussion). 

The twelve track album includes the frisky toe tapping instrumental Lynchburg Chicken Run, composed by Danny Roberts and Adam Haynes, the gorgeous country ballad Lonesome, written by Terry Smith and his brother Billy and the Lester Flatt/ Earl Scruggs classic He Took Your Place. Christian themes are visited in both Sleepin’ With The Reaper and  I’ve Been Redeemed with Pathway Of Teardrops ambling  along delightfully with an exquisite three way harmony from Eldredge, Smith and newest band member John Bryan. 

Self-produced and recorded at Crossroads Studios in Arden North Carolina Before Breakfast, easy on the ear as it is, will no doubt excite The Grascals large fan base and with their ability to mix old timey and modern day bluegrass will continue to win them new followers.

The Wynntown Marshals After All These Years Wynntown Recordings

My initial introduction to The Wynntown Marshalls was in 2009 when they played a Saturday afternoon gig in a local pub in Kilkenny on a stage the size of a postage stamp. They made an immediate impact on me – and many others at the gig – with their rootsy sound, slick hooks and clever harmonies.  Regarded as the leading purveyors in Europe of Americana music over the past ten years, both as a live act and over three studio albums, After All These Years offers the perfect introduction to them for those unfamiliar with their music and an equally impressive collection of their work for their fanbase.  With a sound that incorporates many of the precious  elements of Americana while leaving lots of room for power pop noticeable comparisons to The Jayhawks emerge, possibly with a touch of Teenage Fanclub on the side.  Hailing from Edinburgh rather than some romantic sounding townland such as Greenville or Archer County may be an unfortunate contributor to them not making the industry impact they deserve, we Europeans have an annoying habit of often underestimating and even dismissing acts close to home rather than embracing and supporting them. Ironically the recognition they have achieved locally was boosted when a record label in New Jersey gave them the opportunity of contributing a song to a Hair Metal tribute album. The Marshals chose to give the L.A. Guns glam rocker Ballad of Jayne a rootsy make over which came to the attention of Bob Harris who featured it on his show and subsequently interview live on the show. 

The album celebrates the tenth anniversary of the band and over its sixteen tracks revisits material from their three studio albums together with the inclusions of three previously unreleased offerings. Those ten years have seen a number of personnel changes but their core sound remains the same and the tracks work snugly together as a unit from opener Low Country Comedown to closer Different Drug, the latter being a recently written song and one of the many highlights on the album. Red Clay Hill recalls The Jayhawks while Being Lazy tips it’s hat in the direction of Jeff Tweedy and the previously unrecorded Odessa and both 11.15 and Thunder In The Valley (each checking in at over six minutes) have a characteristic Marshal’s sound.

 Keith Benzie and Iain Sloan continue to handle vocals, guitars and pedal steel and the current rhythm section sees Richie Noble on keyboards, David Mc Kee on bass and Simon Walker on drums. On the evidence of the aforementioned closer Different Drug, recorded by the current line up, there is still lots more gas in the Marshals tank.

Reviews by Paul McGee

West Of Eden No Time Like The Past – A Collection West Of Music

West of Eden is a band from Gothenburg, Sweden and for the past 20 years they have been releasing music of enduring quality. This retrospective spans 8 albums, with 2 unreleased songs also included; together with a single and a new song written especially for the collection, Twenty Years Of Travelling.

The band was formed in 1995 and the main songwriters are Jenny and Martin Schaub. They are joined in the current line-up by Lars Broman on fiddle, Ola Karlevo on drums and percussion, Henning Sernhede on electric and acoustic guitars, plus mandolin and Martin Holmlund on bass. Their folk oriented sound has been inspired by Celtic music and tribute is paid to all the previous musicians who played in the band at different junctures and who all helped shape the career arc that has seen West Of Eden arrive at a point where their collective is mush respected and given due gravitas among fellow artists.

Martin Schaub plays acoustic guitars, piano, cittern and also sings, in addition to having quite a hand in most of the song production. Jenny sings in a beautiful clear voice that lifts all the songs and also plays accordion and tin whistle.

Well worth investigating further, West Of Eden are a multi-talented group who take the roots of traditional music and marry a sound that is both old and new with a focus on contemporary arrangements and a dynamic vision. There are love songs, songs of the sea, songs of leaving for new beginnings and there is even a tribute to their local football club, Glenntown. 

There are songs of longing and wishing for more. New World warnings mix with nostalgic memories of youth and the past. All along we are regaled by heady combinations of mandolin, whistle, fiddle, accordion and guitars. Many of the arrangements are bright and up-tempo with a sense of hope and belief in the future running through the atmospheric melodies.

There are 25 songs over 2 discs and a total playing time of 100 minutes. I can honestly say that at no stage did I feel bored or tempted to quit and this brave attempt to capture the essence of the band in all its different stages and guises is to be admired. The concept involved is sometimes fraught with difficulties and there can be an uneven quality to retrospectives at the best of times. This happily steers clear of all such traps and produces a beautifully packaged celebration of a band that began with a love of traditional Celtic folk music.

Eric Congdon Into The Woods Self Release

This is the fifth release from musician and fund raiser Eric Congdon. He plays guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, bass, percussion and drones across the ten tracks featured here and also produced the entire project.

He lives in Asheville, North Carolina and has created a video series called Hiking Jams which features the natural beauty of the region as you are taken on a musical journey to some of the most scenic spots in his locality. Eric has helped raise over $100,000 for Autism and supports the Autism Science Foundation and other organizations. He is committed to spreading hope through his music and the songs included here certainly highlight his terrific guitar playing skills to maximum effect. 

Cool Mountain Morning is a laid-back sense of summer with Lisa Taylor on co-vocal with his dextrous finger picking guitar style really impressing. Five instrumentals, Huckleberry, Enter In Silence, Requiem For John Fahey, Carolina Stroll and Becka’s Train add to the realisation that this artist is someone to be celebrated and his stripped back groove in Smokey Mountain Medicine Man is perfectly augmented by the fine lap steel playing of Billy Cardine. Acoustic blues and roots music of some quality and well worth investigation.

Thunderbolt & Lightfoot Songs For Mixed Company Vesper

Sarah Fuerst and Phil Barry are the duo behind the ten songs on this full album debut. Phil plays guitar and Sarah adds a combination of keys, mellotron, whistle, marimba and bass. Both share close vocal harmonies that really impress within the gentle acoustic structures of the melodies and stripped back arrangements.

Recorded at a studio in Kalamazoo, these songs of love and loss are quietly addictive on repeated play and the guest musicians add subtle touches on accordion, strings, organ, piano and drums. The playful nature of Can’t Be Trusted runs against the pleasure of watching a past lover rueing a break-up on Miss Me. Sad Song cautions the person to ‘take care, choices have consequences’. The light jazz feel of Goodbye Is Not The End sits against the acoustic strum of instrumental, Vesper.

A cover of the Bruce Springsteen song I’m On Fire is a strange inclusion and is just too clean; missing all the coiled desire of the original. The naïve optimism of Sweetest Baby is grounded by the clever Dearly Beloved which looks at the realism of relationships in lines like ‘I promise to always leave the seat down and no backseat driving on the way into town’. An interesting collection of songs and worth investigation. 

Robbie Cavanagh To Leave/To Be Left At The Helm

Labelled as Country/Folk this UK artist releases his second album of songs that were recorded at Eve Studios near Manchester and explore “leaving and being left. What’s taken away and what’s left behind.”

To these ears, the sound is quite commercial, with a number of radio friendly tracks highlighting Cavanagh’s sweet voice that could easily slot into any of the recent young singer-songwriter crop of talent.

My promo copy has no information so I cannot tell who plays what apart from the fact that Roo Walker produced the 11 songs. The soulful groove of Still Talkin’ stands out and the acoustic Let You Down highlights the expressive tone in Cavanagh’s voice. Fool is a bluesy stroll through the back catalogues of older artists complimented by a warm keyboard swell and back-up vocals. Roles Reversed is a rueful look back at a relationship now gone while He’s Alone brings things to a close with a further reflective musing on love lost.

Rob Jungklas Blackbirds Madjack

Rob Jungklas is an experienced musician who is based in Memphis, Tennessee. In the 1980’s he released a number of commercial records but left the music business and became a teacher in the search for something new. However, Jungklas began playing music again in 2001 and released two albums, in 2003 and 2007, that were blues-based in sound and led to opening for Lucinda Williams. In 2010 he released another album, Mapping The Wreckage and this was followed by The Spirit And The Spine in 2013. And so, to this new release, a mixture of blues meets folk at a crossroads where shadows lurk and a sense of foreboding hangs in the air. The song arrangements are sparse and possess a menace that seeps out in lines like "And I will stay here in this mortal coil, til I’m redeemed, blessed are the broken ones."

The ten songs are the work of a seasoned player who is confident in the sound he seeks and the overall experience is very compelling as the brooding tracks play out like a catharsis against all the wounds of the world. These are songs of loss and regret, moody and atmospheric. Low Hanging Fruit is a beautiful piece that reflects on relationships lost ‘The love we had becomes a wish and the wish becomes a star’ – a gentle arrangement with strings and a bare guitar sound.  Hymn is a prayer for the hopeful while The Spiritual Beauty Of Material Things plays out like a movie in looking at the life of a poor farmer.

Such good songs and Blackbirds, Shine, Gone, Diggers and Vitriol all warrant special mention but the complete work is worthy of the highest praise. Closing with Carry Me Home, the lines that best sum up the persona that runs through these songs are captured by "My angels ain’t got no halos, my angels ain’t got wings, they got on too much mascara, they’re wearing diamond rings" A special artist with either a skewed view of the universe or just pure originality in the song-writing. I choose the latter. A very impressive release and highly recommended. 

Susan Cattaneo The Hammer & the Heart Jerseygirl

Two CD’s, each with nine songs; one called The Hammer and the other called The Heart. Forty musicians were involved in the making of the album and some of the guests include The Bottle Rockets, Mark Erelli, Bill Kirchen, Jennifer Kimball and Todd Thibaud.

Anyone who does not know of Susan Cattaneo is missing out on one of Boston’s most respected songwriters. She blends rock, folk and blues with a healthy dose of country. If you are looking for a signpost then it would read Mary Chapin Carpenter meets Sheryl Crow but then you would not explore the road that leads to the unique talents of Susan in her own right. Four covers are included in the tracks and the others are all written by the lady herself or co-written in the case of five more songs. The atmospheric Dry, sung with Dennis Brennan, is a real stand-out moment on a hugely enjoyable listen. Does My Ring Burn Your Finger is another special moment with guitar shredding courtesy of Mark Erelli. Country blues at its finest on disc one.

Work Hard, Love Harder spans both CD’s as the opening track, on the second it is played with the Boxcar Lilies and the sweet folk/bluegrass arrangement kicks off a set of songs that are gentle and acoustic after the electric blues of CD one. Country colourings run throughout these nine songs and the playing is more restrained and laid back. Bitter Moon and Smoke are a duo of songs that deal with the frustration of relationships. A very cool version of the Mose Allison song Everybody Cryin’ Mercy is followed by David Bowie’s Space Oddity which is a strange way to end the project but should not take away from what is a terrific release filled with real treasures.

Reviews by Stephen Rapid

Moot Davis Hierarchy Of Crows Self Release

This is the fifth Moot Davis album release since his Pete Anderson produced debut in 2004 (not counting an album he put out prior to that to sell at gigs). It is another link in the chain of work from an artist who always delivers something special through his work. At least it is special to me. His combination of traditional country influences blended with the better moments of hard rock and vintage rockabilly always manages to entertain and excite. Doing so in a way that the majority of mainstream country doesn’t. Even when he rocks out the music never loses sight of the roots from which it sprung. Like any artist who’s been around awhile Moot Davis is constantly adapting and realising his overall sound.

This album was recorded in California over a period of time and was produced by Davis with Jody Sappington and Blake Oswald. His previous albums were produced by renowned guitarist/producers Kenny Vaughan and the aforementioned Pete Anderson. This time out Storm Rhodes IV is the noted string bender who can deliver some tight twang as easily as some telling tones of distortion - as the songs and mood requires. Other players here include Ted Russell Kamp on bass, Skip Edwards on keyboards and guitar, Gary Morse on dobro and pedal steel and co-producer Blake Oswald on drums, so there’s no doubting the talent involved.

Moot Davis has always been an interesting writer taking what are the universal themes of love and its manifestations as the subject matter of many of these songs. The album opens in a hard rock mode with hard guitar and heavy drums and a distorted vocal. Here Comes The Destroyer is centered on a man who is out to wreak havoc. This is followed by a song with a strong incisive guitar riff. Quite As Well As You Lie takes a similar hard man attitude. While Shot Down In Flames has a loose Stones-ish Exile groove.

What’s The Matter With Me and You’re Gonna Win (I’m Gonna Cry) are a link back to the Davis of yore with pedal steel guitar and twang guitar reminiscent of Dwight Yoakam's early output and these diverse moods are all held together by a strong vocal presence and attitude. The title track takes a moodier path with dobro and an oblique lyric. Another stand-out is the closing Hemophiliac Of Love. Is back to where we came in with a hard rocking Zeppelin-style riff and intense vocal refrain of “blood clots, love stops.”

It is natural that an artist will grow and change their music. Sometimes this is welcome other times not. With this artist I’m on board as the core of the music is coming from a similar place and seems a natural diversity that works in the hierarchy of things.

Jeremy Pinnell Ties Of Blood And Affection Sofaburn

There has been a lot of anticipation for this new album from Jeremy Pinnell following on from the much acclaimed debut OH/KY. The Cincinnati singer has seen a fair amount of blood on the floor while looking to find the kind of affection that everyone needs and seeks. This album affirms Pinnell as a genuine contender, and in truth, more honest to goodness traditional country music minded that either Chris Stapleton or Jason Isbell. Nothing against those two gentlemen who are producing great music themselves.

These songs ring with truth and a sense that they come from within. Feel This Right is a testament to how way that love sometimes sneaks up on us and brings us to a place that just feels right. Different Kind Of Love is a reaffirmation of finding that there is a deeper, different kind of love that has the potential to be worth the fight to keep holding onto. These songs are not superficial love songs but ones that feel true. 

Best I Could Do is about being true to oneself and when standing before one’s maker declaring that the way you lived was honestly the best you could do. However Ain’t Nothing Wrong considers a lifestyle that might possibly point you in the opposite direction. Contemplation of afterlife and the consequences of the way one took life’s paths is the also the theme of the closing song The Way We See Heaven. It includes the telling line that in “19 hundred and seventy seven my Mama thought I came from Heaven … later in life she knew I came from Hell.” Affirmation of a life that has taken Pinnell through many situations that have informed these songs with no little grit and gravel.

What is central to the whole album is Pinnell’s contribution as songwriter, singer and co-producer - all of which are excellent. Mention also must be made of the players involved from steel player Cameron Cochran’s vital input alongside Brad Myers guitar and bass and Adam Nurre drumming and Bob Nave’s keyboards. Mike Montgomery co-produced the album which was recorded in Dayton, Kentucky. Far away from the prying eyes of any music executives who might have been present if the album was a major label project. Though it would be great to see Pinnell receive the kind of promotion that that position would bring. No doubt a contender for one of the albums of the year.

Amber Cross Savage On The Downhill Self Release

The title of the album is not an Irish opinion of one’s ability to ride a bike down a steep slope but rather a reference to how you would hold a rifle, Savage is a brand of hunting rifle, so as not to drag the barrel in the dirt. It is an indication of Cross’ affinity with land and lifestyle (as well as hunting). Something that informs the album’s songs as well as its title. Cross lives in Northern California but grew up in Maine so place and landscape inevitably seep in the songs. Those songs are a mix of folk and country. Storytelling that encompasses a direct form as well as, at times, a more poetic vision. Looking at the lives of those who may have drifted apart as in Leaving Again or the lifestyle of Tracy Joe in the windblown song of that name.

At the Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko Nevada she met Chuck Hawthorne who in turn introduced her to Ray Bonneville who ended up producing this album in Austin. That location gave her access to a number of notable players such as Tim O’Brien, Gurf Morlix, Mike Hardwick and Dave Carroll. Seasoned and expressive players who do much to add a texture that has enhanced the songs greatly. But it is Cross’s voice (and songs) that are the heart of the album. She has a distinctive raw-boned voice that has distinctive phrasing and clear diction. There have been references to Iris DeMent as a vocal comparison and that is valid though Cross’ is less dividing in terms of liking and disliking her vocal presence.

There are a number of story songs on the album which opens with Pack Of Lies. A song that has a strong melody and a hardened sense of living “… I pray life is going to get easier” but qualifying that view with something more open “wish I could heal your broken heart.” The sense of troubled relationship is again highlighted in the line “did you think I’d stay here in your nightmare dream” from the title song. In Echoes that despair is central to the relationship of the couple who had raised two kids to find “Tell me again just why are we still together. Lying next to you I never felt so alone.” These snippets of the songs may suggest an album that is unrelentingly dark but overall though the lyrics are taken from some hard places the music has a sense of life and is upbeat overall. Cross has written these songs mainly solo. The title was co-written with her producer who also provided Lone Freighter’s Wall 

This is Cross’ third album and places her among the best independent women making roots music today. Making real music for real people. 

Rick Shea & The Losin’ End The Town Where I Live Tres Pescadores

It is good to hear a new release from Rick Shea. He is a distinctive singer, solid songwriter as a well as talented producer and skilled player. He is joined by his band of multi-instrumentalist Stephen Patt on guitars and keyboards, Bassist Dave Hall and drummer Steve Mugalian as well as some other guests. The songs have the feel of traditional storytelling. For instance, The Road To Jericho, The Starkville Blues or The Angel Mary and The Rounder Jim feel like they are the synopsis of some gritty, low-life B movie.

As with most of Shea’s albums there is a mix of blues, roots and country on offer. It is Shea’s warm, life-experienced vocal that provides much of the album’s individuality. The songs are all originals bar a Holleyesque/Bo Diddley rhythm underpinned upbeat version of Cowboy Jack Clement’s Guess Things Happen That Way which also features Shea’s pedal steel playing. He also plays dobro, mandolin, baritone as well as acoustic and electric guitars. Instruments he has played with a range of artists including the likes of Dave Alvin. Further showing, along with the rest of the band, an understanding of the music and traditions used in the creation of their own music.

Shea has been a part of the California country scene for some years where he continues to reside and perform. He does so with an ease that belies his talent as a conceptual all rounder. This is an understand master class in how to play roots music that, while it conforms to set parameters, manages to entertain and enlighten you in a way that feels good. Something that shows you the ethos and value of the music you’re listening to.  

My Darling Clementine Still Testifying CRS

Still testifying to the power of the music made by husband and wife duo Michael Weston King and Lou Dalgleish under the My Darling Clementine banner. This time out they have added a soupçon of soul to the classic country stylings. What immediately stands out is the subtlety and certainty of their vocals. Better here arguably than on any previous albums. They have now reached a place where the male/female interaction could easily be listed with the best duos of the past. 

They have co-produced this album with Neil Brockbank, who worked closely with Nick Lowe and recently with Jim Lauderdale on his London Southern album. He sadly passed away recently and will be greatly missed by both the musicians who he worked with as well as those who were the beneficiaries of the music he produced. They gathered together a fine crew of players to give, excuse the pun, it’s soul.  They included guitarist Martin Belmont, Alan Cook on pedal steel, Kevin Foster on bass, Bob Loveday on violin and Geraint Watkins on keyboards among a host of brass players as well as being joined by their daughter Mabel Dalgleish-King. 

The songs, which again mix humour and pathos, deal with fictional relationships of married and unmarried couples. These are written with a skill and sensitivity that gives them a lasting and meaningful resonance. Indeed those who have followed King’s solo career will know he is a seasoned writer who has made some outstanding albums in the past (as has Dalgleish). There are songs here from both, including Dalgleish’s Eugene - a song that is about the town in Oregon as well as a person. She also penned a song that lyrically relates to another point of view to that of the central figure in Dolly Parton’s classic in Jolene’s Story. Another stand-out that takes a hard look from a feminine perspective is Just A Woman. Friday Night, Tulip Hotel is a King song that was previously featured in their collaboration with Mark Billingham. The Other Half is a great example of the cheating song that used to be a big part of the county music cannon way back.  Tear Stained Smile has an underlying darkness about a dying relationship. “A heart of marble, a face of stone, That’s what I’ve come to own” are lines that could have come from any renowned real country songwriter in the past. 

That this album was produced and played in the UK is, in itself, a testament to the fact that world class roots music is being made in these Isles and so should not be simply seen as a good album from this side of the pond but a great album period.

Mo Pitney Behind This Guitar Curb

Something of a throwback to the new traditionalist country movement of the late 80s and early 90s Mo Pitney is no outlaw. Rather he is a fairly clean-cut straight-up country singer and songwriter who writes largely about love. Love of place (Come Do A Little Life), of a special girl (Clean Up On Aisle Five), of country music and its sensibilities (Country)and of Merle Haggard (I Met Merle Haggard Today). This album was a long time waiting to come out but was finally released last year and is getting a push gain now as Pitney is playing dates in the UK. Although the has been no news of a new product if you go to his site it lists the album as sold out!

But back to the music, this is undoubtedly country music and as solid as pretty much anyone would recognise. The production by veteran Tony Brown (for the most part) is entirely in sympathy with the overall mood of the album. The songwriting is a selection of co-writes between Pitney and such notable scribes as Bill Anderson, Dean Dillon, David Lee Murphy and Don Sampson. There are two tracks that Pitney had no hand in. The closing Give Me Jesus - which has an obvious sentiment from its totally non-ironic title and Behind This Guitar which is a story of many a seeker looking for his chance to get behind a microphone and make the music they might love.

The musicians involved are equally well chosen to emulate a sound that is part early George Strait with a little Randy Travis thrown in. Chris Leuzunger, Richard Bennett, Glenn Worf, Aubrey Haynie and Gary Morse (among others) fully understand what is required and deliver. It is not though something that will surprise or excite in the way that some may. But I feel that’s not quite the point of the process. It was an album made to remind people of what country music should sound like from an artist who also loved his influences and the music he grew up with. It is solid, safe and satisfying. The real question is where Pitney will go from here. Unfortunately he didn’t make the impact that some hoped but in doing what he does he has made some fans who would be more than happy for him to repeat the process - to stand behind his guitar again and sing.

Reviews by Paul McGee

Hat Check Girl Two Sides to Every Story Gallway Bay

This release is described as a collection of ten songs, written in pairs, collected in five chapters, with interludes and an epilogue. Each pair is written from both a female and male perspective and each pair seems unrelated to the next … This is contemplative and reflective and set in an atmosphere of simple arrangements and understated musicianship. Contemporary Folk music taken to a new level.

The first chapter deals with a brother & sister relationship and the yearning that comes from loss. He drives away looking for a new beginning and she rues the day that ‘time stood still’ – hints of a fatality on this journey taken.

Chapter two debates beauty as its own currency in the world. He looks at external beauty as a ticket to open any door versus her reality that ‘not hiding behind the beauty I wore as a disguise’ is true freedom, as she seeks to discover her internal self and the simple beauty visible in all of nature – ‘beauty is free’.

Chapter three is a study on the price of fame ... The search for approval and ego-driven greed. Balanced against this is the nostalgia of being drawn to a life on the Big Screen in emulation of childhood heroes; innocence turned sour. A relationship formed in the glare of relentless media attention and star attraction.

Chapter Four sees the end of a relationship where forbidden fruit attracts and lures one party to look for something more. Cheating with your lovers’ best friend and living to regret the mistake.

Chapter five is a lament where one partner is stuck in a relationship with a drunk and resigned to her fate. ‘What I liked best about loving a drunk, was the lonely part of the day’. He responds with the lines ‘Someone like me will find some dignity when my thirst begins to fade’. It’s broken and fragile; it’s a challenge and a gift to be opened and explored for whatever meaning you may find.

Peter Gallway and Annie Gallup have been painting challenging, complex and unique musical vistas for many years now and their song-writing craft just gets better and better as they hone down to the true essence of their creative muse.

They share vocals and instrumentation and are joined by Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel, Indigo Girls, Elvis Costello), on drums and percussion. This is their sixth release and a clever concept. Perhaps I have missed a key link between the chapters but that doesn’t really matter as each of the five stories stands quite well on its own. 

Bill & Joel Plaskett Solidarity Pheromone

The album is a father and son creation and the eleven tracks chosen make for a powerful collection of both original and traditional songs. Joel Plaskett is a multiple JUNO Award winning songwriter based in Halifax, Canada and he has visited a number of genres, from blues and folk to hard rock, country, and pop across a career that has seen the release of an impressive body of work spanning his varied projects.

This outing reflects the individual journey and personal politics of both Joel and his father Bill; cited as his earliest musical influence. Socially aware songs like We Have Fed You For 1000 Years and Jim Jones, sit alongside protest songs like Blank Cheque and Solidarity.

Songs of hope, The New California, take a place next to No Sight Compares, a celebration of this Universe, and there is a reflective look at the past with On Down The River. All played in an intimate setting on guitars, bouzouki, mandola, bass Wurlitzer and (very occasional) drums. An excellent idea and a fine release.

Lynne Hanson Uneven Ground Song Shop

This is the fifth album from Canadian artist Lynn Hanson who has been recording music since 2006. The 13 tracks on this release include 7 co-writes with Linda McRae Lynn Miles (who produced 2 previous releases), Mark Elliot and MJ Dandeneau.

The remaining 6 songs were written by Lynne herself and there is a nice equilibrium between collaborative and solitary writing that dovetails nicely together across the project.

Carry Me Home starts the record with a serious groove, drum shuffles, bottle neck guitar and some jazzy piano runs. It is a spin on being left behind by a lover and in this case it is a call to the grim reaper to "lay me down, next to my love." Swallow Me Up is similar in theme but speaks of giving up on life when you can find no meaning to the big questions.

Counting Heartbeats and Dead Weight deal with living with disappointment and the hurt of loneliness, frustrated love and the restless yearning for something more. On Swallow Me, Hanson hits a new stride with a nasty groove that has echoes of a Bonnie Raitt work-out; a song of hurt and resignation. Devil Said So follows in a similar vein with a tussle between doing the proper thing and striking out for a wild time. Her word weary view is summed up on Stronger where she muses that "it’s living with the pain that shapes and makes us stronger" – the good guys don’t always win in this reality check.

The studio musicians do justice to these dark songs and play with plenty of understated energy. The tension in the arrangements is held perfectly by the rueful vocal delivery of Hanson in what can only be described as a work of some real highs; even when dealing with so many lows.

Jesse Waldman Mansion Full of Ghosts Self Release

This debut release boasts 16 tracks which is quite a statement in itself. Clocking in at over one hour of listening time, there is a serious amount of music to be digested here. An easy playing style does help and when you couple this with gentle Folk arrangements and a sweet vocal then the time does seem well spent.

The studio musicians are all very accomplished and adopt a ‘less is more’ approach to the music, leaving plenty of space for the songs to breathe. Living in Vancouver, Waldman has based the songs here around an exploration of the city's duality, the backdrop of beauty mirrored against its’ dark underbelly. Lonesome City, Raincity Blues and Another Lost Soul reference one image of the city while the lightness of love songs like Hummingbird, The Rest Of My Days, Ashes and Small Talk hold a guarded optimism.

Hope In Shadows is countered against songs of broken lives such as Lorraine, Other Side Of Town or Hard Livin’; while the excellent Good Company is very strong on advice to another about how to live well. Wild Balloon is a reflection for a lover who has moved on and Keep A Light On In The Dark reminds us to give thanks for the simple pleasures in each day.

Beth Southwell and Megan Alford sing beautifully on various tracks to compliment the melodies and Marc L’Esperance plays an array of instruments, sings and co-produces with impressive style and great perspective. Waldman has a keen eye for arrangements and displays an astute writing talent. A really impressive debut and highly recommended.

Kenny White Long List Of Priors MVP/CRS

The latest collection of original songs from Kenny White really hits the spot here. There is gravitas in these grooves and the effortless melodies and rhythm conjured up by Duke Levine on guitars, Shawn Pelton on drums, and Marty Ballou on bass are subtle and seductive.

As on his past recordings, there is a guest list of real quality with invites to the likes of David Crosby, Peter Wolf, Larry Campbell, Amy Helm, Ada Dyer and Catherine Russell to share the studio magic, alongside his sterling band.  Add horns and a string quartet across seven of the tracks here and the impressive arrangements take off into a place of quiet reflection and easy grooves.

White is a seasoned wordsmith and uses his lyrical gifts to great effect. The beautiful Another Bell Unanswered is a love song to unrequited relationships that just don’t get the timing right. Equally, The Other Shore is a love song to a deceased partner and the pain of separation; ‘soon the car will come and take you; and I will have to let you go’… Heart-breaking and beautifully delivered.

Lights Over Broadway is a slow jazz tribute to the past and the splendour of another era while Charleston brings the atrocity of the 2015 mass-shooting front and centre when an attack happened on one of the United States' oldest black churches, which has long been the site for community organization around civil rights. Ada Dyer duets on vocals and the song is both angry and uplifting with the lines ‘now each and every bullet hole shall be filled with grace and sealed with love’. Amen.

A Road Less Travelled is another look at love and the sadness felt when ‘only one can feel the distance’. Cyberspace tears down our reliance for online communications and vapid opinions based on social fluff and superficiality; "Contagious insanity, as goes the human touch, so goes humanity." Such terrific words and this song is stuffed with wry observation and sage wisdom. Long List Of Priors is a refreshingly original and multi-layered recording. Highly recommended.

Chris Murphy Hard Bargain Teahouse

On his website, Chris Murphy describes himself as a violinist, composer and band leader. In addition, he is an innovator and a music teacher, a revered violinist, mandolinist and guitarist who has released 13 albums of original music in many styles including rock, bluegrass, swing, electronic, classical, blues, Irish and ethnic music.

So, here we have a Live record to add to the already ballooning reputation and why not; when you can play with the dexterity and lyricism that Chris Murphy unleashes here, then it is an obvious step to take. Recorded solo and live in Boise, Idaho in a small theatre, the 10 tracks fly by in a storm of rhythm, aided by his amplified foot stomp and creative violin runs that lift the various tunes into the sweet spot reserved for special nights of live and vibrant music.

There are no real stand-out tunes among the 10 new & original songs unveiled as the entire set stands in testament to the talent of this artist. Atmospheric and exciting, it must have been a joy to be present in the room on what we are told was a rainy night – don’t know if this adds anything but the audience were certainly warmed up and shouting for more by evening’s end.

Reviews by Declan Culliton

Jason Wilber Reaction Time Wilber Tone

Jason Wilber is best known as John Prine’s trusted side kick and guitarist of the past two decades which often overshadows his impressive solo musical output. Reaction Time is his tenth album despite spending much of the past twenty years on the road touring with Prine or in the studio recording with him and the many collaborators that have featured on Prine’s albums over the years.

It’s also Wilber’s first full studio album of self-penned songs in eight years, following his covers album Echoes (2016) and Live And Otherwise Volume recorded seven years ago.

When considering Wilber’s music I’m reminded of both Rodney Crowell and Nick Lowe for a number of reasons. His output, and no more so than here, is a blend of both these artists mixing Americana with British Roots and Soul music to perfection. Equally similar to Lowe and to a lesser degree Crowell, his back catalogue includes many top-notch albums that should have and probably would have been better recognised had he concentrated on a solo career without the diversions as a band member and session player. His 1998 debut album Lost In Your Hometown was Americana before the term was conceived and Behind The Midway released two years later was equally impressive. 

The title and opening track of Reaction Time sets the benchmark for what is to follow, a slick breezy guitar intro, pounding drums and controlled vocals combining to give the song an early REM feel. Love Me Now heads down a slightly funkier path, Jealousy and Envy kicks in with a Rolling Stones’ Miss You riff, perfectly paced and infectious. Something Somewhere and Shame On You bring to mind much of what his fellow Nashville resident Jason Isbell is writing these days, both artists possibly inspired to some degree by John Prine, the latter song a flowing piece of music that connects on first listen. I’d Love Another Saturday Night, is the liveliest song on the album and possibly a good choice for "the single". It’s a topic that has been written about by endless of musicians over the decades yet Wilber’s effort sounds refreshingly crisp and original. Heaven, the most traditional country track on the album finds Iris DeMent adding harmony vocals and Allie Summers on violin. A gorgeous song conjuring up heavenly scenes and images of old farm houses, dusty paths, country cooking and simple living, it closes the album in style.

As can be expected the playing is elegant and faultless throughout with Wilber joined by bass player Glenn Myers, percussionists Ben Lumsdaine and Devon Ashley, Chris Erbacher adds pedal steel.

This latest album is another welcomed diversion from the day job by Wilber and one that will undoubtedly continue to be revisited by me in the coming months. 

Rachel Baiman Shame Freedirt

When considering current female singer songwriters who also excel as fiddle and banjo players the names Gillian Welch, Rhiannon Giddens, Abigail Washburn, Alison Brown and more recently Kaia Kater immediately spring to mind. Well it’s time to add Rachel Baiman to the list and near the top at that. The 27-year-old Nashville resident and multi-instrumentalist has most certainly hit the ground running with her debut solo album Shame.

Baiman  is a member of 10 String Symphony, a duo with Christian Sedelmyer, both five string banjo players whose 2015 album Weight Of The World featured on NPR’s listings of newest and most promising voices in Americana on it’s release. For her debut solo album Baiman engaged Andrew Marlin of Mandolin Orange as producer resulting in a less stripped down and fuller sound than that of 10 String Symphony. It hardly needs noting that the quality of the playing is dazzling, from Baimans banjo and fiddle to the guitar and keyboard input by singer songwriter and session player Josh Oliver and bass player by Marlin. 

Raised in Chicago, both her parents were political activists, her father a radical economist and her mother a social worker, she is the co-founder of Folk Fights Back, a political organisation who perform benefit concerts and events in response to the current political administration in the States. Not surprisingly a number of the tracks visit and question social issues, religion, politics, racism, inequality and abusive relationships. 

Getting straight down to business by questioning religion on the opener and title track Baiman probes "Well old white men write books about faith and healing love, And old white men look happily onto others from above, In the name of sweet religion they would lay their claims on me, And ask me to be grateful for triumphant jubilee." Acknowledging both the joy and responsibility of love and relationships Something To Lose simply drifts along with Baimans banjo perfectly placed in the background. 

Echoes of Gillian Welch surface particularly on I Could Have Been Your Lover Too and Wicked Spell, written by Michael Bowman alongside eight self-written songs by Baiman. Fittingly the other song covered on the album is Never Tire Of The Road written by Andy Irvine, chronicling the struggles of the underprivileged and left behind. 

The greatest accolade I can suggest in respect of Shame is that much of the material is everything you would hope for in a Gillian Welch album and praise hardly comes higher than that. 

Carter Sampson Queen Of Oklahoma and Other Songs CRS

Carter Sampson’s 2016 album Wilder Side was hailed as one of the finest releases of that year at Lonesome Highway and her performances at The Kilkenny Roots Festival earlier this year confirmed her status as yet another outstanding artist that had remained under our radar despite having released four previous albums.

It’s also fair to say that despite Wilder Side deservedly receiving rave reviews in Europe her back catalogue equals the high standard of that album as evidenced by Queen Of Oklahoma and Other Songs which gathers material from all four earlier albums. Released to coincide with her European tour earlier this year its sixty minutes feature fourteen tracks in total.

Mockingbird Song, released in 2011, is represented by five tracks including the zappy opener Be My Wildwood Flower followed by her signature tune Queen Of Oklahoma. Jesse James, Sanctuary and Better Ways also feature from this album which truthfully should take pride of place in any serious collectors’ catalogue. Much fuller, rockier, rousing and less country than Wilder Side, think Kathleen Edwards and you’re on the right page.

I Am Yours and Wild Bird are included from her acoustic EP Thirty Three recorded in 2014, both delightfully melodic country folk.  A fuller version of Wild Bird features on Wilder Side. Six tracks are presented from Good For The Meantime, released in 2009, the aching love song Let’s Get Back and the snappy Payne County Line are particularly impressive. Annie is the only inclusion from her debut acoustic album Fly Over The Moon recorded in 2004.

The album is a welcomed roadmap of Sampson’s career as a young songwriter to the present day. Weaving seamlessly between folk and country it’s indicative of a self-assured and extremely talented artist who without doubt will have lots more to offer going forward.

Chris Jamison Mindless Heart Self Release

The cover of Mindless Heart features a non-descript hand drawn red heart depicting I Love You which, not being familiar with Jamison’s previous albums, drew expectations of an acoustic based album of love songs and the like. However, this assumption transpired to be miles off the mark. Currently based in Ashville North Carolina, this the sixth studio album recorded by the Texan and it’s a cracker. A splendid mixture of country, soul and blues across eleven tracks it features an impeccable group of Texan players who joined Jamison at Whiteroom Studios in Austin Texas for the recording which was co-produced by Jamison and Sebastian Cure.

The title track showcases Jamison’s exquisite vocal, intoxicatingly soulful on a track that is thankfully uncluttered, a feature that repeats on All In Good Time and Lovers Lane both also benefiting from a less is more approach. Wanderin’ adds some funk bordering on reggae to the mix and Blue Cadillac laments the passing of Hank Williams.

The pedal steel guitar playing by Simon Page on Wanderin’ and Blue Highway manages to exquisitely enhance Jamison’s self-assured vocal delivery. Deadstring Brothers and Israel Nash spring to mind as references on both tracks whereas on some of the lighter moments on the album comparisons could be made with Josh Rouse.

Prinz Grizzley Come On In Shedmusic

Honky Tonk, pedal steel guitar and country waltzes are not exactly what you might expect from an Austrian artist but Prinz Grizzley, the brainchild of Chris Comper, manages to combine all three as if they were in his bloodstream in his debut album Come On In. 

Comper made a considerable impression with his live shows to packed houses at The Kilkenny Roots Festival early this year and Come On In (to be released in Europe this September) is further testimony that Americana and Country Music of the highest quality exists and survives beyond the U.S.A.

Comper formed the Indie Rock band Golden Reef in 2001, recorded two mini-albums and four full albums but despite positive recognition in the Austrian music press they failed to light a fire. A further diversion saw Comper form Grizzley & The Kids who released an album titled Temporizer in 2014, aimed more at the commercial pop market. 

However this album recorded between November 2015 and February 2016, finally found Comper hitting his sweet spot, writing and performing music from the heart, eleven self-composed and cohesive songs that work remarkably well together.

There’s so much to love about the album, not least the absolutely stunning Walls, the standout track on the album. Think Ryan Adam’s Jacksonville City Nights period, gorgeous layers of vocal, harmonies, searing guitar and wicked pedal steel combining to create a sound that you do not want to end. Tell Me Why, a stripped back heartbreaker closes the album, a lament to love slipping away, melodic country folk, its recipe out of the Neil Young cookbook.

The opening track Wide Open Country sets the scene for much of what is to follow, harmonica joined within twenty seconds by weeping pedal steel and Comper’s vocals dipping and soaring between chorus and verse. I May Be Late is no nonsense honky tonk featuring the standards – bars, wasted relationship, and unrequited love- all brought to life by lashings of twangy guitar and pedal steel.

Produced by Comper and Oliver Varga at Green Hill Studios in Rohrbach Austria, Come On is a joy from start to finish, nothing new or ground breaking, simply good lived in music that hits the spot from an unexpected source. High praise also for the wonderful no frills yet striking artwork and packaging. Well worth checking out.

Front Country Other Love Songs Organic

Front Country made quite an impression on the writer when they performed a rousing set at The Station Inn in Nashville last September on the opening night of The Americana Music Association Festival. The quality of the playing, energy, vocal harmonies and full on performance brought the house down, even though they played the graveyard shift from 12am to 1am after a long day of music and festivities. Difficult to categorise, contemporary Bluegrass or more accurately Soulgrass might best describe their sound, a direction that many young bands have travelled to get a foot in the door of an extremely crowded market. What raises Front Country above the parapet is the input of lead singer Melody Walker whose gutsy soulful vocals take centre stage much like that of Brittany Howard as part of Alabama Shakes. On receiving the album I wondered how the high quality of their live act would transfer to my living room via the studio and it’s fair to say that it does capture their dynamics particularly well.

Brought together as a professional outfit having won open mic contests at both The Rockygrass and Telluride Festival in Colorados  the band consist of Adam Roszkiewicz  ( mandolin, banjo, vocals), Jacob Groopman (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Jeremy Darrow (bass), Leif Karlstrom ( five string violin) and Melody Walker (vocals, guitar and percussion).

Of the twelve tracks on the album eight are written by Walker, two instrumentals composed by Roszkiewicz with the two remaining songs being covers of David Olney’s Millionaire, a song they felt compelled to include given the political climate when the album was being recorded and The Carter Family’s Storms Are On The Ocean. The playing from start to finish is flawless, particularly on the instrumentals T.H.A.T.S and Sometimes It Does where Karlstrom’s violin work simply soars above Roszkiewicz‘s clever banjo picking. Good Side is performed a Capella with Roszkiewicz and Groopman resplendently accompanying Walker opening vocals.

Front Country have managed to cherry pick old timey and  soul with a dusting of FM rock to present a body of work that is sure to appeal to a wide audience and deservedly so. 

Reviews by Eilis Boland

Furnace Mountain Shadow Of Plenty Self Release

An absolute joy from start to finish, this sixth album from well established Virginian old time string band Furnace Mountain cements their reputation as one of the foremost exponents of the music, bar none.

Superbly produced by their own Danny Nicely, who also plays mandolin and guitar throughout, the vocal duties are ably shared by the other three members. 

Rooted in the traditional Appalachian folk tradition, the timeless quality of the music is exemplified by the title track, Shadow Of Plenty. The pure harmony vocals of Morgan Morrison and Aimee Curl evoke the vision of a pastoral idyll, but by the end of the song, one is left with a foreboding that the bounteous façade is overhung by a dark cloud.

David Van Deventer ain’t called Fiddlin’ Dave for nothing – he’s a demon on his instrument! He also writes much of the music and sometimes the lyrics. His vocal style and indeed his playing is reminiscent of the late fiddle maestro John Hartford – particularly evident on his songs Ramblin’ Jack and The Last Song. The ironically named Inchworm Set showcases the skills of the whole band, where Dave’s fiddling interweaves with bouzouki (unusually) and mandolin, backed up by bass, and all at breakneck speed.

While most of the album relies on original material, there are a few covers, the most memorable of which is the oft-covered love song, Ewan McColl’s First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. Here Aimee and Morgan blend their voices in a delicate near-perfect rendition of this beautiful song- a version I would like to think Peggy Seeger herself would approve of.

The sleeve is beautifully illustrated and there’s no need for a lyric sheet here - the well honed vocals are true and clear.

Red Herring Here To Distract You Self Release

This is the third offering (and second studio recording) from the Dutch folk roots string band, who are regulars on the folk club and festival scene in mainland Europe. The standard of musicianship throughout this self-produced recording is superb, and each of the four band members is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist. Their influences are wide – there are obvious bluegrass, folk, jazz and celtic elements to many of their songs and instrumentals.

The fiddle chops of Joram Peeters and his versatility of tune writing is showcased in the instrumental set of three tunes Pigs Upon A Ninja. It moves from a Scandinavian influenced tune into a gypsy jazz number, and then, in the uplifting final funky tune, one is deliciously blasted by the uileann pipes (yes, you heard me correctly) of guest Michael Boere. 

The Beaten Track was co-written by Arthur Deighton in the aftermath of the loss of his sister, and he sings it sensitively, with sweet banjo contributed by guest Floris De Vries.

Dougie MacLean’s ballad on the pain of emigration, Garden Valley (familiar to Irish audiences from the singing of Cara Dillon) is still topical and the lead vocals are taken by bassist Loes van Schaijk, with Floris de Vries on dobro.

Loes also writes and sings the opening song, No Hearts Won – its beautiful tune is a winner, but as on many of the songs here, it is let down by clumsy lyrics. Joram Peeters’ talent in composing tunes is again overshadowed by the lyrics in the sublime country blues of A Loved Man’s Lonely Blues, and the less said about the attempt at humour in his Rather Die Alone, the better!

Joram redeems himself  though on the delightful jazz-inflected instrumental WhatsApp Doc which he cowrote with Arthur Deighton, featuring both of them on duelling mandolins and more tasty banjo from Floris De Vries. There are also covers of two bluegrass standards – Uphill Climb from the pen of Chris Jones and Don Reno’s Barefoot Nellie.

This release is accompanied by a beautifully produced booklet, with notes on each track and quirky, attractive artwork. An interesting album, though probably not for the bluegrass purist. The services of an independent producer could help to iron out the blips next time around.

Martin Harley & Daniel Kimbro Static In The Wires Del Mundo 

From the opening chords of this album, one is thrown straight into the country blues of the Deep South … but the surprise is that Martin Harley is an Englishman! He has previously fallen under my radar– but I am very pleased to make his acquaintance now.

A phenomenal guitarist, particularly an exponent of lap slide, Martin is also a talented songwriter with a strong distinctive voice. Martin’s musical compadre may be familiar to you already – Daniel Kimbro has been the bass player with the Jerry Douglas Band for the past four years. A Tennessean with a bluegrass background, Daniel has collaborated with many well regarded fellow Americana musicians, and just recently played on the Transatlantic Sessions first American tour.

Although regarded as a bassist, Daniel also contributes piano and guitar here, as well as coproducing with Martin Harley on this Nashville studio recording. The two have been friends and collaborators since they were introduced by mutual friend Sam Lewis a few years ago, and this is their second recording together.

In a recording of superb songs, it’s almost impossible to highlight one above the others. Gold is a particularly delicious slice of sultry down home folky blues, that of a contented man who has found the peace he’s been searching for.

There are jazz and soul inflections throughout, and Daniel’s sometime boss, Flux himself, guests on dobro on Feet Don’t Fail Me. The lyrics are never clichéd – themes range from escaping from ‘one horse towns’ and ‘mean old cities’, and thankfully there aren’t many broken hearts to contend with.

This is a match made in heaven, with Martin Harley’s guitar work and songwriting matched by the musical innovation of Daniel Kimbro. Not to be missed.

Cormac O Caoimh Shiny Silvery Things Self Release

Corkman Cormac O Caoimh releases his fourth album, well produced and recorded in his native city, with a host of local musicians aiding and abetting. All twelve songs are originals, with O Caoimh taking the lead vocals, and Aoife Regan contributing backing vocals on all songs.

Almost all of the songs have a predominantly 80s pop rock feel – think Paul Heaton/Prefab Sprout meets Paddy McAloon, but without the latter’s cynical insight, perhaps. There’s lots of melodic guitar work from O Caoimh, and pleasant piano and keyboard contributions from Cormac O’Connor.

Deviation from the 80s sound is really only hinted at in a few of the songs – In The Hollow Of An Old Oak surprises with it’s swamp rock feel; there’s a welcome funky bass backbeat and saxophone let loose in A Parked Car; and the title track itself strays into jazz pop territory.

The lyrics stand up well on their own. At times cryptic, any of them could be read aloud as works of spoken word. The cover is complemented with photos of – yes, shiny silvery things.

Reviews by Declan Culliton

David Corley Zero Moon Wolfe Island

Less than three years ago David Corley was virtually unknown in the music world. Zero Moon is his second full album following a whirlwind two-year period which saw his debut album Available Light make a considerable industry impact, particularly in Europe, and a tour that almost ended tragically when a heart attack on stage in Groningen, Netherlands resulted in a long period of hospitalisation and subsequent recuperation. While recovering Corley recorded the seven-track mini album Lights Out, much of the material a reflection on his near-death experience. Having not entered a recording studio until he reached his early fifties Zero Moon is a continuation of the creative purple patch that Corley is currently enjoying.

Much of his latest album is bleak, desolate, searching and questioning, and all the better for it. The striking artwork (created by Kevin and Cynthia Kehoe) is monochromatic and stark, as are the barely legible hand-written lyrics by Corley himself, the only hint of colour featuring in the track listing and emblem on the rear cover. Equally dark, cold and edgy are many of the lyrics that feature on the eleven tracks.

I often wonder if the classic Rolling Stones album Exile On Main Street were to be released today which of the numerous sub-categories would it be pigeon holed in, alt-country/Americana/indie rock or possibly country rock. Back in the day it was simply a ‘rock’ album, no more no less. David Corley’s music, for me, fits hand in glove into that simple one word categorisation and particularly on this new album. 

It’s a long player in the true sense, you’ll need to set aside the best part of an hour to play it start to finish and three of the tracks (Zero Moon, Desert Moon and Burning Chrome), each one memorable, contribute to about a third of the album.

Recorded at The Post Office Studio, Wolfe Island, Ontario and produced by Corley’s right-hand man Hugh Christopher Brown, the sound throughout is beautifully loose, flowing and sounding very much like a live recording.  The aforementioned Zero Moon and Desert Mission (inspired by Cormac Mc McCarthy’s novel Blood Meridian) thankfully were not edited to the too often customary four minutes but instead were allowed to drift, ebb and flow giving the impression that things were going so well in the studio that the only direction was – keep on playing and see where we end up. His studio band are the same musicians that featured on Available Light and Lights Out. Chris Brown playing keyboards as well as production duties, Gregor Beresford (Barenaked Ladies, Suzanne Jarvie) on drums and Tony Scherr (Norah Jones, B.B.King, Al Di Meola, Ani DiFranco) playing bass. Sarah McDermott and Kate Fenner contribute backing vocals. Notwithstanding the quality of the musicians employed the most potent instrument is Corley’s voice, broken, whiskey torn, raspy and growling, perfectly suited to the subject matter that often concerns dark and painful landscapes. As with his previous recordings we are given a glimpse of Corley’s personal life, trials, suffering, frustration and distress. A door opened momentarily but never left open for too long, leaving the listener with only a brief opportunity to observe the contents.  His lyrics continue to be beautifully abstract at times "Then pirates arrive, knives in their teeth, and dancing girls are filling the streets"(Zero Moon). "Mean beings wring their hands and hang their heads in darkness while our imagination founders on the rocks"(Vision Pilgrim). Whirl recalls his recent health issues in no uncertain terms "I’ll just whirl and hope that the wind don’t die, just in case – you know who to notify, my next of kin."

Down With The Universe which featured on Lights Out is given a second outing and Take Me Down Some and Splendid Now both echo early 70’s Stones. A Lifetime Of Mornings tips its hat in the direction of Leonard Cohen, delivered semi-spoken.

Given the stature  of Corley’s output on this album and his previous work, one is left wondering where his industry standing would be had his career kicked off a few decades ago, though possibly it was the life and near death experiences that were the catalyst, inspiration and motivation for the wonderful body of work he has delivered in the past few years.

An album of the year contender for this writer, hands down.

Emily Barker Sweet Kind of Blue Self Release

Having developed a quite British sound from her work with The Red Halo Band spanning nine years  and with over fifty unrecorded songs of varying  styles already in the slow burner, Australian born Emily Barker decided to experiment with a change of producer for her next project. While recording The Applewood Road (2016) album in Nashville -with Amy Speace and Amber Rubarth- she struck gold when a recommendation by sound engineer Chris Mara resulted in an introduction to Matt Ross-Sprang. Having produced a couple of the finest albums released in the past two years in Margo Price’s Midwest Farmers Daughter and Jason Isbell’s Something More, together with having worked at Sun Studios for eleven years, Ross-Sprang could not have been a better pair of ears to consider Barker's war chest of material.

On hearing a selection of Barkers songs Ross-Sprang wisely identified a core soul and blues tread in many of them and recommended Barker went on a musical diet of Ann Peebles, Dan Penn, music to her ears having grown up as a lover of Aretha Franklin and all things soul.

Never one to do things in half measures, fast forward to June of that year and Barker found herself at the hallowed ground of Sam Phillips Recording Service in Memphis surrounded by the tightest bunch of local session players you could imagine in David Cousar on guitar (Al Green), Rick Steff on keyboards (Lucero, Dexy Midnight Runners), Dave Smith on bass (Norah Jones, John Mayall) and Steve Potts on drums (Neil Young). Susan Marshall and Barker herself were on hand to contribute backing vocals. Recorded and mixed in seven days the resulting album is a collection of ten songs soaked in emotion and melody that work wonderfully together ranging from hard boiled soul and blues but also leaving plenty of room for the melodic ballads that Barker has a particular gift for penning.

Three of the songs included are co-writes with UK singer-songwriter Boo Hewerdine, the heart wrenching and quite beautiful ballad – a tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Sister Goodbye, the equally moving Over My Shoulder and the upbeat Motown sounding More!, featuring saxophone and trumpet by Jim Spake and Marc Franklin.  No.5 Hurricane, co-written with Eric Palmqwist sees Barker visiting a style closer to her previous work with The Red Halo Band, an achingly gorgeous new love/old love song. 

 A hugely talented and focused artist, never standing on her laurels and always stretching her musical parameters, Sweet Kind of Blue is indeed a triumph and a delightful diversion for Barker.

John Murry A Short History Of Decay TV 

Much as I dislike rolling out the ‘difficult second album’ cliché, it could hardly hold more relevance than A Short History Of Decay, the sophomore album by John Murry. His debut The Graceless Age was considered by many in the industry as a masterpiece, a road map detailing a lifetime of emotional, physical and mental turmoil. Autism, mental health issues, institutionalism, rejection and drug addiction all contributed to an album that appeared to play out as cold turkey, exorcism and closure. 

Murry’s state of mind and health seemed to be in a good place and even if sales of The Graceless Age did not necessarily provide a retirement fund it presented him with a touring platform, a regular though possibly cult following, the confidence, motivation and platform to further his career.  His well-documented loathing at the prospect of residing in California resulted in a relocation to Kilkenny, where he was welcomed with open arms by the art appreciative community, and he appeared to be in a good place mentally, physically and emotionally. 

However, stability was short lived and over a few turbulent years further challenges presented themselves including the sudden death of Murry’s mentor and guiding light Tim Mooney, who had produced the previous album, and an acrimonious marriage break-up, both of which threatened to re-open scars barely healed and seriously challenge the vulnerable artist. Left without a regular touring band, no record label and limited income Murry continued to his perform raw, emotional live gigs sometimes with guest musicians, more often solo. He released the EP John Murry Is Dead in 2016 but the prospect of a second full album seemed to be drifting away.  

An encounter with Michael Timmons of Cowboy Junkies fame followed, (Murry opened for them at a show in Glasgow), a friendship developed and Timmons greatly encouraged Murry to consider recreating, in the studio, the raw passion, emotion and honesty that pours from every inch of his body during his live performances. After a few false starts a recording session lasting five days was lined up at Timmon’s studio in Toronto with Peter Timmons (brother of Michael) on drums, Josh Finlayson (Lee Harvey Osmond) on bass and Cait O’ Riordan contributing backing vocals and most likely also moral support - having performed on stage previously with Murry. All guitar and keyboards were handled by Murry with Timmons, always the master of atmosphere, providing the structure, guidance and most importantly the discipline necessary to get the album down over the short period with the emphasis always on Murry’s vocal and his parables. The sound is more often than not paired to the bone, toned down, forthright and at times delightfully shambolic. Gone are the layering, multi instrumentation and sound effects that adorned The Graceless Age, Timmons simply and cleverly provided Murry with a blank canvas to express himself and set about creating an unobtrusive musical backdrop that never gets in the way of the vocals.

Most importantly Murry, with more than a helping hand from Timmons, did not attempt to create The Graceless Age Act 2, what would be the point and ironically the only track on the album that might have fitted snuggly on his debut is a remodelling of the Afghan Whigs What Jail Is Like.

The album is named after a book title by French philosopher Emil Cioran and the tracks One Day (You’ll Die) and Countess Lola’s Blues (All In This Together) both consider mortality - a subject which Murry appears enthralled by – though it’s difficult to decipher whether irony outpoints rancour, which can sometimes the case with Murry’s song writing.

"All I Do Is Fix Whatever I Broke the Day Before" admits Murry on Under A Darker Moon, testament to his chaotic behaviour. It’s a driving song with layered, echoed vocals and screeching guitars with more than a nod in the direction of Velvet Underground. As with much of the album it takes on another dimension when heard on headphones where the production and mix really hit home. Defacing Sunday Bulletins is equally turbulent, fuzzy guitar glancing over the shoulder of Finlayson’s thumping bass lines. 

In many ways it should be celebrated that this release has seen the light of day given Murry’s wayfaring existence. A slow burner without doubt and one that even the most astute ear may require a number of visits to get fully on board but a more than laudable successor to The Graceless Age. Highly recommended. 

Sophia Marshall Bye Bye Self Release

Due for release in late August Bye Bye follows Sophia Marshall’s five track EP The Paper Thin, released in 2015 and is further testimony to the vocal and song writing talents of the former member of boy/girl duet The HaveNots.

Marshall’s industry internship has included support act to Peter Bruntnell, Frazey Ford, Tift Merritt, Be Good Tanya’s, The Sadies and Sam Outlaw and it’s not difficult to identify certain influences gathered along that journey, most particularly in her capacity to fashion uncomplicated compositions using the basic tools, simple language and abundant hooks. 

Boasting a beautifully unadulterated and natural voice, which sounds all the better for Marshall’s tendency, unlike many UK Americana artists, not to adopt a West Coast accent but to use her own natural pronunciation to full effect. 

The album brings to mind the work of fellow UK artist Thea Gilmore in many ways, mixing powerful hard edged catchy songs like the title track and Losing You (co-written with Liam Dullaghan) with the more acoustic Sarah’s Room and surreal Beauty Sleep.

Catch Me shifts in the direction of Jesse Sykes with lots of twang and boldness, Hey Al, Woah! (great title!) is equally edgy while the atmospheric two-minute closer Drunken Sailor is delivered vocals only with Marshall given a helping hand by Jay Hardy (Hardy Band) and some cleverly plotted over dubbed vocals.

While titles such as Bye Bye, Losing You and Missing Pieces suggest looming despair and hardship, the subjects are dealt with in a positive, upbeat and assured manner suggesting an artist that is marching forward ready to embrace anything that comes her way. Most impressive and perhaps a door opener for Miss Marshall.

Suzanne Jarvie One Take Only Dirt Road

I have to admit arriving a bit late to the party when it comes to Suzanne Jarvie. She played Ireland in September 2016 in support of her album Spiral Road album but I was abroad at the time and did not get to see her show. Having been really impressed by her performance in Kilkenny recently supporting David Corley, I welcomed the opportunity to review her mini album One Take Only released in 2016 as a stop gap between her debut album and it’s successor In The Clear, due to be completed later this year.

Jarvie is yet another impressive female singer songwriter to emerge from Canada in recent years following the path taken by Sarah Harmer, Oh Susanna and Lindi Ortega. Born in Honk Kong and raised in Toronto, a lawyer by profession and the mother of four children, music was primarily a hobby for her from a very young age. However, a near tragic accident whereby one of her sons fell down a spiral staircase and his subsequent recovery was the trigger for her debut album Spiral Road. The album made a favourable impression particularly in Europe where it reached No.7 in the Euro/Americana charts.

This mini-album includes six tracks in total, two originals and four cover versions. Produced by Hugh Christopher Brown, Jarvie is joined by her daughter Sara Jarvie Clark on backing vocals and violin on Believing, a track which featured on the TV series Nashville. The covers versions included are Dylan’s Senor, Sweet Carolina from Ryan Adams and Hills of Home written by Ralph Stanley. However, it’s the two original songs that shine most brightly, the stripped to the bones opener You Shall Not Pass  and closer Shadow of the Sultan both of which feature  angelic vocals that above all seem to be delivered by an artists that actually loves what she is doing.

Jean Shephard Country Music: Pure and Simple HumpHead

Jean Shepard, who passed away in September 2016, was a member of the Grand Ole Opry for sixty years and one of the most iconic female honky tonk singers in the history of country music. Often overshadowed by artists such as Kitty Wells and Loretta Lynn she made her debut in the country music charts as a teenager in 1953 with A Dear John Letter. Released as a duet with Ferlin Husky it charted at No.1 in the country charts and remained there for six weeks. Totally uncompromising, Shephard was an unapologetic champion of traditional country music, a principal that in many ways may have limited her career opportunities at certain times. Uniquely and unlike the majority of female country singers, she launched her career as a solo artist whereas her peers generally performed as family groups, band members or duets. For ever a risk taker many of her early releases were quite daring for the times with titles such as Then He Touched Me, Many Happy Hangovers To You, Don’t Fall In Love With A Married Man and My Arms Stay Open Late. Her debut album Songs Of A Love Affair, considered to be the first concept country album to be recorded, was released in 1956 when she was only 23 years old. The album featured some of the industry’s finest including Buck Owens, Tommy Collins, Bill Woods and Clarence Lee and consisted of twelve original songs with Shepard having an input into the song writing.

Shepard signed to Capital Records in 1952 and this double album collects no fewer than fifty songs released on that label between 1964 and 1978. Interestingly the tracking is not in any chronological order kicking off with A Real Good Women (1968) and closing with I’ll Take The Dog (1966). The real winner is the consistency of her incredible voice throughout and her staunch insistence in ‘keeping it country’ and avoiding any pop crossover regardless of the pressures from Music Row.  Shepard survived many industry and personal difficulties, most particularly the tragic death of her husband Hawkshaw Hawkins, who perished in the plane crash that also claimed the life of Patsy Cline yet she continued to perform until twelve months prior to her death from Parkinson’s Disease.

 This delightful collection of songs is an absolute vindication of Shepard’s insistence of keeping country music simple, pure, and unadulterated and far outshines the majority  the hybrid product currently masquerading as country on Country Music Radio.   

Erin McLendon Making It Up As We Go Self Release

Ticking all the boxes for what passes today as radio friendly pop country this is the second release from Music City resident Erin Mc Lendon following her 2015 recording Fire & Wine which was nominated as an album of the year by IMEA (International Music and Entertainment Association). 

Originally hailing from Durham North Carolina, Mc Lendon graduated with A Bachelor of Music degree in Commercial Voice, a qualification that involved particular emphasis on the business side of the music industry. Her musical inspirations include a diverse range of artists from The Beatles to Tina Turner in the more popular genre but also soul queen Aretha Franklin and country icons Brad Paisley and Reba McEntire.

Opener When God Made a Woman is particularly radio friendly, densely layered, lots of hooks and a gospel like closing chorus. Don’t Believe My Eyes Anymore takes a swipe at the insincerity of dating sites and Honolulu Love is a stripped back ukulele lead song dealing with young love.

The title track suggests a random care free artist taking things as they come. However, the album gives the impression of an artist with her finger firmly on the pulse and more than aware of her market and the type of product that opens doors. McLendon is one of so many young female artists that are products of the America’s Got Talent formula sound but to her credit Making It Up As We Go has the songs, the sound and the self assured vocal delivery to position her ahead of a lot of her contemporaries.

Jeffrey Halford and The Healers Lo Fi Dreams Floating

The title of the album is a reflection on Jeffrey Halford’s efforts to make a recording with a particularly warm sound reminiscent of some of the classic recordings of the 1950’s and 60’s. Co-produced by Adam Rossi and Halford and using vintage equipment including Sears Silvertone, Danelectro and Harmony guitars, the album without doubt does succeed in nailing the intended stripped-down sound. 

Texas-born but spending much of his childhood in various parts of California, Halfords childhood was never conventional as his nomadic parents moved from location to location, sometimes by choice and other times by necessity. Heavy exposure to classic AM Radio and artists such as The Doors, Marvin Gaye and Howlin’ Wolf sowed the seeds for a musical career that kicked off by playing street corners in San Francisco, forming rockabilly band The Snappers and for the past two and a half decades touring and recording with his current outfit The Healers.

Lo Fi Dreams is his eight release and represents everything roots music stands for, mixing blues, country, soul, rock and roll and most particularly attitude in abundance.

Elvis Shot The Television is a funky recollection of a bored and wired Elvis misbehaving, opener Two Jacksons is a slick, smooth tale of an encounter with an attractive sales assistant. Halford lets loose and cranks it up a notch or two on Bird of Youth before slowing things down with the atmospheric and amusing Sweet Annette which recollects a visit to a remote diner.

Reviews by Paul McGee

Eileen Kozloff Just Words MoosiCowlia

The sleeve says to file under Americana/Country and who am I to argue? However, on listening to these songs the sound has more in common with traditional Folk music to these ears.

The opening track, Always Wrong From The Start, sounds like a Mark Knopfler riff with John Kelly playing very fluid electric guitar melody.  The pedal steel on Coming Back To You has Rob Pastore turning in some fine backing runs. Guitar Man sounds like a Neil Young tribute complete with harmonica part from Hank Woji, who also produced the album and chipped in with acoustic guitar parts on a number of tracks. The violin of Jeff Duncan comes to the fore on 5,775 to dramatic effect in setting an atmosphere for the acoustic guitar work of Eileen Kozloff .

And so, the rest of the project unfolds across the 11 songs included here. Autoharp dominates the arrangement on To The River I’ll Go and there is a distinctly Folky feel to the traditional sound of No More War Anymore and the sweet strum of Asunder and Take Me Back. 

Eileen Kozloff is a multi-instrumentalist who has been actively involved in the autoharp world for many years. She is best known for her unique "pick-less" style of diatonic autoharp and for her clear vocals.

She has released two critically acclaimed CD’s with her former band, Well Tempered String Band and is now performing as a solo artist having released Solitary Rider (2006) and Hearts And Souls Entwined (2007). Both recordings were released under the Moosicowlia Label and this third release builds on the positive critical reaction she has been receiving. 

The Furious Seasons Look West Stone Garden

This band is based in L.A. and has released four previous albums as a 5-piece. This project is an acoustic affair with David Steinhart and Paul Nelson on acoustic guitar and vocals and Jeff Steinhart on stand-up bass. 

The vocal harmonies are beautifully mixed with some excellent playing and the understated nature of the production leaves plenty of room for the talents of these players. Lyrically the songs address relationship issues in all their different guises. 

Long Shot speaks of working through difficult times and What’s Coming Next laments over a past relationship now ended. Best Plans deals with the loss of a business while The Tape charts the life of an older family member who lived through hard times. Summer Flame is a memory of young days and innocent beginnings.

The final song is superbly crafted and tells of 4 friends who shared close birthdays but sadly only one now remains alive. There is the suggestion of a drink problem in the lines; “Just this one”; Became early hours, I put another day to waste, I wish I’d never got the taste, You can believe that you’re not to blame? and Hey denial - have you met shame?"

Excellent stuff indeed and there is a nice warmth to the production, with the easy, fluid playing an understated joy. A gentle record to suit the mood on a lazy Sunday morning over a hot coffee and the hint of Spring in the air. 

Harrow Fair Call To Arms Roaring Girl

This duo is Miranda Mulholland (Great Lake Swimmers, Belle Starr) and Andrew Penner (Sunparlour Players). Miranda has built a strong reputation as a sought-after session musician and has played and toured with many top-line acts over the years, while Andrew Penner has been involved in Canadian Country music for many years now.

This release slots into the interesting & quirky world of the Handsome Family or the Civil Wars as a reference point. The playing and the production is innovative and edgy with songs like Call To Arms, Bite The Way and Hangnail challenging the listener with a dynamic that excites.

Recorded in Toronto and produced by Andrew Penner, the superb arrangements highlight the many talents of these two musicians who impress greatly. How Cold has a traditional folk feel with a modern treatment while Emmaline highlights the fine vocal of Miranda and the haunting, understated violin parts. It all comes together on the final track, Been There Ways with a haunting delivery from both musicians and an arrangement that leaves you wanting just one more song.

Well worth checking this one out and it just gets better and better with repeated plays.

The Fretless Bird’s Nest Self Release

The Fretless is a Canadian group of four musicians who play instrumental music on string instruments. They are made up of Karrnnel Sawitsky on Fiddle & Viola; Trent Freeman on Fiddle & Viola; Ivonne Hernandez on Fiddle & Viola and Eric Wright on Cello.

In 2012 they released their debut album, Waterbound, which was awarded Instrumental Album of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards. The Canadian Folk Music Awards saw the group win both Ensemble of the year and Instrumental Group of the Year. 

This new release sees the group take the traditional airs of past compositions and apply a current interpretation which keeps the music alive and vibrant. There are nine songs across 36 minutes and the dynamic in the playing is constantly shifting in order to hold the attention of the listener. Ronim Road/Bella Coola are two original pieces that sound steeped in the Irish tradition of jigs and reels, while Maybe Molly is an infectious jaunt across the sunny fields of a summer’s day. Hidden View is a more reflective arrangement, as is the closing track 38 & Gone.

Musically, the goals of the group are to expand the many folk genres they visit. All four members have come from very different traditional and contemporary backgrounds but are influenced to push traditional music as far as possible.

Jon and Roy The Road Ahead Is Golden Self Release

There is a nice groove and a low-fi appeal to this release from duo Jon Middleton and Roy Vizer who have released this new album – their 7th in a career that has seen them develop from an initial meeting at University. Hailing from Victoria, BC the vocals/guitar/harmonica of Middleton are perfectly in synch with the understated drums/percussion playing of Vizer. In the gentle song arrangements lie a hidden depth where on repeated listens the melody lines come through and the play Louis Sadava on bass is supported by co-producer Stephen Franke who plays Wurlitzer and piano. Roots/Folk music to calm the soul and tracks like Breakdown, How The Story Goes, Nothing But Everything, Every Night and Windowlinger in the mind and boast of a fine release that is worth checking out.

Annie Gallup Lucy Remembers Her Father Gallway Bay

Annie’s website describes this latest release as twelve new songs that are meditations on fragility, mortality, family, survival, and love. Who am I to disagree? Along with her close collaborator Peter Gallway, Annie Gallup has been releasing music of real depth and quality for many years now and she deserves due recognition for the musical vision and scope that is brought to the table. Visceral and challenging but never trite, her muse is worth the surfboard ride across the waves to a quiet destination. This release feels deeply personal, like eavesdropping on a conversation that you should not be listening to, but all the more compelling for the experience.  Hers’ is a singular talent, reflective and yearning for something just beyond our reach. Songs that deal with the past and the fragility of relationships are laid bare. Being Her Child, Lucy Remembers Her Father andBluebird explore the complexities of the family dynamic. Other tracks look into relationships, devious and needy; Loyalty, Strange Boy, He Will Never Love Me. Luminary looks at estrangement and unresolved love with a curiosity while Story is a spoken word reflection on the pointless search for meaning in all the grief we encounter. Very impressive and rewarding but not for the faint-hearted.  

Rachel Sage The Tide MPRESS

This 4-track EP adds to the impressive catalogue of music created by Rachel Sage over a career that has seen her release a body of work that stands tall against many of her peers. Her accomplished and comprehensive catalogue captures a voice and music that hints at greatness and this current project sees the proceeds donated to one of the world's leading international refugee assistance organizations. Songwriters come & go but this lady is a real keeper – sublime composition and melody combine to create a powerful result. These are protest songs and reflect on the need for both empathy and acceptance in the World right now. The title track speaks about compassion and the need for everyman on our various journeys. Disarm Distrust is written for the victims of the recent Orlando shootings and Tomorrow speaks of euphemisms and hope.

Oh Susanna A Girl in Teen City Stella

This is a paean to the past from an artist who has taken a look through life’s infinite telescope to chart the path that she negotiated in order to arrive at a signpost that reads ‘What Next’? Produced by the talented Jim Bryson who contributes on guitar, keyboards & vocals, the 12 songs that cover almost 50 minutes read like a ‘dear diary’ exercise in exhuming a past that sits very much in the present tense. My Boyfriend, Getting Ready, Walked All the Way Home, Tickets On The Weekend and My Old Vancouver give a sense of what is at play here. Quality playing and production, allied with a strong song-writing talent make this as strong as her past releases and an artist well worth exploring further. 

Ted Russell Kamp Flying Solo PoMo

This accomplished artist has been a favourite of Lonesome Highway across his seven critically-acclaimed albums that nail the country / roots / Americana flag firmly to his mast. For this release, he has taken 12 songs and played them in a largely acoustic setting with six songs recorded at shows or radio stations and six as brand new songs recorded at his home studio, The Den. From the mandolin rhythm of Old Folks Blues to the soulful groove of If I Had A Dollar; the reflective acoustic strum of When She Flies and the bluesy beat and feel of Lookin’ For Someone, it is evident that all is well in the world of this talented artist and he has produced another work of creative depth as a solo performer.    

Worry Dolls Go Get Gone Self Release

After two EP releases (2011 & 2015) this duo decided to change their focus and relocated to Nashville in order to record this debut album. The ten tracks are a mixture of gentle, stripped back acoustic Folk and some up-tempo arrangements played with a quiet confidence and a focus to deliver work of an enduring quality.

Duo Zoe Nicol and Rosie Jones team up with producer Neilson Hubbard who has worked with artists such as Gretchen Peters, Kim Richey, Ben Glover and Amy Speace. Together they create some fine moments and the uncluttered arrangements allow the sweet melodies and hypnotic harmonies to flourish. She Don’t Live Here, Things Always Work Out and Someday Soon are three highlights and the experienced studio musicians add greatly to a relaxed feel and a gentle mood that soothes across the listening experience.  

Son of the Velvet Rat Dorado Fluff & Gravy

Don’t be put off by the very strange band name. Son of the Velvet Rat is the project of Austrian Songwriter Georg Altziebler and his wife Heike Binder. He plays a variety of instruments and she adds organ and accordion. They live in Joshua Tree and the California desert runs through the sparse mood of the ten songs shared here. Victoria Williams is among the notable musicians who add their talents to this project and the impression is one of ragged savoir-faire or, as producer Joe Henry says on the liner notes; songs that hint at bankable redemption. Fragile vocals counter the sweet melody lines of songs like Love’s the Devil’s Foe, Starlite Motel and Sweet Angela, while the loose feel of the recording, completed over a few days, is always to the fore. Moody and magnetic. 

Reviews by Stephen Rapid

Dan Stevens Runnin’ The Backroads Gatorbone

This is a man who sounds comfortable in his own skin. By his own admission an old hippie who takes the values that accompanied that profession and has moderated them as time goes by. Stevens does this with a modicum of humour and happiness with lines like “I still love my darling wife, but now it takes a pill” (Another Sad Country Tale). The opening song Crush Hour Traffic is about a working man getting home through traffic - traffic often miss-referred to as “rush hour” which he felt need a new, more apt descriptor. 

What Stevens does is not particularly new, musically outstanding or littered with contemporary clutter; rather it is a solid, satisfying, rounded take on one person’s life perspective that covers environmental issues (Blair Mountain), how a 60’s radical was reduced to selling cookies (Jerry Rubin);his drinking habits of yore (I Drink Gin) or the way established religious groups spend more time to destroy each other rather than saving souls (When Jesus Sang His Songs For Us).

Stevens has written all the 13 songs on the album which includes a fold out poster with the packaging that has an explanatory note on each of the songs and why they were written. Stevens co-produced the album and had a bunch of musicians around him who round out the songs to give them added depth and texture. The instruments involved include Irish Flute, Pedal Steel, Concertina, Clawhammer banjo, fiddle, accordion, harmonica and guitar, which makes for variety in both overall sound and tempo. Runnin’ The Backroads is roots music that takes on the view, goes for the scenic route with very little thought of ever getting to a big city Music Row. It’s all the better for that.

Bill Booth Some Distant Shore Wheeling

Born in Maine but now residing in Norway Bill Booth has a long musical and recording history that goes back to the mid-Eighties. He has been compared to Tom Russell and Tom Pacheco with a touch of Mark Knopfler and those comparisons are fair enough as far as they may help to delineate the overall territory that Booth inhabits musically. The music has a Celtic influence in both lyric and musical content. It is folk in form but with other influences, like roots rock, around the edges.

The opening song is a tale of Dublin born Arthur O’Neill who led a group of the Irish Brigade know colloquially as Wild Geese (as is the song). Booth notes that these songs were inspired by tales of Ireland, Scotland and England that he had heard back in his home state of Maine. So, Cliffs Of Dover is about emigration with a loved one from Aberdeen to Nova Scotia. This slow-paced ballad has an appealing setting based around Uilleann pipes which emphasize the melodic structure and Booth’s warm singing voice and interesting lyrics. Not all songs deal with purely times gone by and City Of Rubble is a powerful lament against war. Wars which turn cities and lives to rubble; from Berlin in 1945 to recent destruction in places like Fallujah. 

Several of the albums songs hit a similar melodic mark that soon finds them rewarding repeated listening. No doubt that his experience and years give his voice some grit and gravitas. Booth has produced the album with an even hand and the music is largely understated but effective in allowing Booth to tell these tales. Musicians include Bill Troiani who was a member of the Tom Russell Band in the past alongside Paul McKernan’sdistinctive pipe playing and drummer Alexander Pettesen and Eddy Lyshaug accordion contributions. All can be heard on the driving instrumental Skerry Reel. Molly McKeen salutes a fiddle playing colleen with a foot tapping momentum. 

Bill Booth is a new name to me but an artist deserving of some wider recognition and a performer who would likely do well on these shores with some decent exposure. Booth is a craftsman who has learned his trade through the years.

Mark Sinnis One Red Rose Among The Dying Leaves 9th Recordings

Sunnis, somewhat demonstratively calls his music “Cemetery & Western.” A mix of roots-rock country fusion that has hints of Johnny Cash, Elvis, rockabilly and on the title track a Celtic influence, with tin whistle and pipes, which offers something of a graveside sliver of hope on some dark days. Sinnis’ has a big voice and a big band behind it. The 825 has some eight players, several who are multi-instrumentalists. This gives the songs a wide range of sounds from the aforementioned Celtic tone to a more south of the border touches like on the guitar tango twang of Why Should I Cry Over You.  While In Tupelo is a tribute to the Memphis King. Sitting At The Heartbreak Saloon is a throwback to some classic 50’s country and tear-stained beers. He changes his vocal delivery to match the mood and the era in which the song’s structure is sonically set.

That theme of rejection and dejection is further explored on the vibrant, horn and twang guitar laced Tough Love (Is All She’s Got) - an explanation of the reasons behind a failed marriage. In truth, a fondness for some classic country and country rock pervades many of the tracks. Something that Sinnis and George Grant’s production emphasises while also remaining on the right side of these influences and not outweighing the need to make the music relevant to who they are now. Even though the closing song is about listening to a radio station 1050 WHN back in the day. 

Sinnis has a wide vocal range that serves his self-written songs well, giving these songs the kind of gravity that they need to make them reflect the way that his life took a down turn that ended with a divorce, but never sounds maudlin when it doesn’t want to. As the title suggests this music looks for the positive, for the rose among the dying leaves. In the end Sinnis has found that flower and hope.

Tim Grimm and the Family Band A Stranger In This Time Cavalier

Singer/songwriter Tim Grimm has been around for some time delivering his folk songs to live and listening audiences around the world. With more than 10 albums to his name he has been refining his music to bring it to the point where it is now. Grimm has been compared to such classic inspirations as John Prine and Guy Clark and on this album, I’d suggest that with songs like Gonna Be Great there is something of a passing resemblance in the direction of Lenoard Cohen’s delivery too. Not that in the long term it does much for an artist to be saddled with comparisons to artists of such stature without it sounding that they are somehow in their shadow.

Tim Grimm is following his own path and on this release, he is joined by three members of his family. Jan Lucas on vocals and harmonica, Connor on bass and Jackson Grimm on all things stringed. Additional guests include Hannah Linn on percussion and Diderik Van Wassenaer on fiddle. All in all, an accomplished team who bring life to the songs and their performance. But it is Grimm’s voice and songs that are the focus of the album and songs like Thirteen Years fit the classic storytelling mode of folk and country. It is a clearly observed tale of local family history that brings in logging and the use of the wood to create a guitar from a fallen tree.

The apple didn’t fall far from that deeply rooted tree it seems with a number of songs here being written by Jan Lucas and Jackson Grimm. Black Snake is a dark tale that is at times reminiscent of some of Sam Baker’s song writing. A song that looks at how progress has again infringed upon a small community’s lifestyle “the beast they call progress eats money and gasoline.” The songs have some hard electric guitar tones to underscore this sense of anger. Their Finding Home is a gentler evocation of trying to follow your heart and the road home.

Darlin’ Cory is traditional song done with an old-time expression of the ages. Banjo and fiddle are central to giving the song its off kilter sense of foreboding. As the title suggest these are songs of people looking at a changing world and trying to make sense of it in song. It can safely be said that Grimm and his family have given food for thought in something of a feast of words and music.

Sam Baker Land Of Doubt Self Release

Anyone who has followed Baker’s progress across his albums will have an idea of what to expect from a new album. Knowing his personal story and how he, at times, struggles with the making of his music following the injuries he received in a terrorist attack on a train he was travelling in. However, at this point that is water under his bridge as Sam Baker knows how to get the best out of Sam Baker. This is slow and nuanced reflection of a man looking at a land riddled with doubt and distrust.

For this album Baker has called in renowned producer Neilson Hubbard to helm the production and they have also brought in Will Kimbrough and Dan Mitchell along with string players David Henry and Eamon McLoughlin to add much to these restrained sonic landscapes. The album is a mix of Baker’s poetic songs and a number of instrumental interludes. These are songs put on a musical canvas in an abstracted way but with a subtle sense of beauty.

A song like Margaret is a gentle observation of how love can change a person and in turn those around them. The Feast Of St. Valentine also ponders a day when love is celebrated. The lines take a soft focus look at how a particular day may slowly evolve - “what is not to like, this kind of day, first it snows, then it rains like hell.” By way of contrast Leave asks one who has squandered a trust to go. For those who do not know Bakershis soft, almost spoken delivery may be disconcerting  to listeners used to more overblown delivery that would do nothing for the delicacy of these songs. It is however Baker’s distinctive voice that is essential to making these songs what they are.

Land Of Doubt stands with Baker’s best and emphasises his singular vision for his musical endeavours and the musical team around him have further enhanced the placement of these songs in a (not) popular (enough) consciousness. It is an album that can leave little doubt about its worth for those who understand its underlying message of love and beauty.

Pete Sinjin The Heart And The Compass Hootenanny Arts

The title refers to Sinjin’s combining the two together to guide him through his life. Allowing that his heart is his moral compass and it leads him to explore the direction that his life and music may take him. His music is a combination of solid singer/songwriter observation that translates into melodic and multifarious views of everyday existence. Songs like Radio Tears and Stolen Afternoon, 1951 are reflections of some intimate moments that however fleeting have made an impression. Both feature notable vocal contributions from fellow singer/songwriter Michaela Anne. While another couple of tracks Breathing The Same Air and Goodbye Knoxville kick things up a notch with a solid beat and add to the overall mix of moods on the album. The Letters, sounds like it would fit right in with the science that developed on Lower Broadway back in the 90s.

Sinjin started his musical journey playing some more robust punk rock before he evolved his muse and reaches back to some of the classic rock and soul music he listened to growing up in Pennsylvania. To help him realise where he is currently, he brought Bryce Goggin in to co-produce the album with him. Then he put together a set of players that included bass, drums, violin, mandolin, pedal steel and electric guitar along with some harmony vocalists to deliver a sound that has warmth, space and spontaneity.

The essence of the songs is a wry look at love in all its aspects from Desperate Kind Of Love to That’s My Heart. Songs that are sometimes explicit in their thought process while others are more veiled. Overall though Sinjin delivers them with a committed and centred vocal that makes the album a very listenable and likeable experience. This is Americana with a strong country/folk-rock overtone that has enough among it’s 11 tracks to warrant placing Sinjin on the radar and wondering where his compass will take him next.

Michael Hearne Red River Dreams Howling

Hearne is a native of Dallas, Texas who now lives in New Mexico. He has been involved in the music business since the 70s and is both a writer/performer and promoter. He delivers what is essentially a gentle, genuine take on country, folk and Americana. He takes his classic influences and delivers them through a velvet voice and some introspective songs. This album mixes a number of co-writes (often with his friend Shake Russell) with some well know material like Gram Parsons’ Return Of The Grievous Angel, Michael Martin Murphy’s Drunken Lady Of The Morning and Gordon Lightfoot’s Early Morning Rain.

Hearne is credited as co-producer also (with Don Richards) and they also form the core of the band. Both playing multiple instruments throughout the album where they are joined by a number of local players who add drums, piano and pedal steel to fill out the songs. Hearne’s own songs fit easily beside the aforementioned songs with titles like Blue Enough, The Highway Is A Friend Of Mine - a song that is directly related to a life travelling and playing. The nostalgic Back In The Day and the reflective and instructive Lesson To Be Learned From Love.

All of these songs are not far from the template of the early Eagles with a strong country undercurrent and warm harmonies. The have a pleasant, undemanding demeanour that sits comfortably - a peaceful easy feeling perhaps might best sum them up. It is the music of a man who is at peace with himself and his music and wishes only to find an audience who are equally at home with music that reflects on a wilder past but one that has settled down and fits like a well-worn pair of jeans.

While Hearne’s take on the better-known songs may not replace them in most people’s memories they still work in their own right and as reminders of when you first became acquainted with the original versions. Hearne’s music ability should not be overlooked either as his playing throughout contributes much to the album’s completeness. This is old school and proud of it and there are many who will applauded it sentiments.

Gerry Spehar I Hold Gravity Self Release

The inner sleeve of this album contains a sleeve note that is a dedication to his lost long-time love, his wife - Susan Nancy Miller. As a result, the songs have an edge, a sense of loss and longing. The opening song Dirt (co-written with Susan and Bobby Allison) refers to “it all comes down to dirt” and has an edge that suits that sentiment. There are other co-writes here with Susan as well as several written by Spehar solo. He employs the band I See Hawks in L.A. throughout the album along with a number of other guests who between them, play a wide range of instruments.

The title track is a pure and direct love song that is sung with obvious emotion. Holy Moses Doughboy tells of a World War 1 veteran who returned from the conflict to deal with the inner conflicts of isolation. The music uses martial drumming and trumpet to add to the overall soundscape. Closer to (everyone’s) home is Mr & Mrs Jones, about the need to compete with the titular couple idea of perfection. It has a groove with Hammond organ that somewhat lessens the pithy observations. How To Get To Heaven From L.A. has a Guy Clark feel (and Spehar has a similar vocal approach with sounding like the great man). The closing song, a Spehar original again, is Into The Mystic, a song that is about the open range and an open heart that asks “where are you going, why would you leave.”

Gary Spehar was a member of the Spehar Brothers Band who quit the live circuit when he had a family to raise. This is his return to the fray - even if the mood is more considered by personal loss. It is a labour of love in more senses than one but one delivered with conviction. Spehar is a songwriter who makes his points with some skill and produces an album that is musically rewarding for the listener as it must have been for him to make it.

Reviews By Stephen Rapid

Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters Self-Titled Organic

After four albums, as front person with the Honeycutters Amanda Anne Platt has taken the step to release this latest album under her own name. The Honeycutters are still there adding the kind of musical support that only a band that has shared stages, studios and small vans can. There is no doubting Platt’s central role here as lead vocalist, songwriter and producer (along with Tim Surrett). She does all three with skill and a steadfast vision. The thirteen songs here are Platt’s observations on life and the many tribulations faced getting through it. These are real and recognisable relationships observed with the eye of a writer who understand the balances of the good and the bad and is well capable of putting them in a succinct voice that is sympathetic yet unyielding. Perhaps summed up by the line “If you have a heart, now and then you’re gonna have a little heartache.” 

The music is framed in a way that shows its roots in traditional country storytelling yet is aware of many other musical tangents that fit easily into the overall picture. The Honeycutters; Matthew Smith, Rick Cooper, Josh Milligan and recent addition Evan Martin are satisfying throughout, playing with an understanding and awareness of what makes the song work. This is a band who have found their place and now need a wider audience to understand that too. Platt may not have the recognition (or sales) of some of her contemporaries but that in no way takes away from strength of the music that is on this album.

The quality of the songs here is obvious but Birthday Song, Late Summer’s Child, The Good Guys and The Things We Call Home all have an immediacy that picks them out on first listen. The other songs soon also make their presence felt and underscore what a talent Platt is. She has proven herself to be in this for the long haul and an artist who is gaining in craft and ability with each release. Strongly making the point in moving from the band name, to putting hers out front, is may seem a risk after working under the band name until now, but it is a necessary step for the future.

Slaid Cleaves Ghost On The Car Radio Candy House

By now Slaid Cleaves has earned his place in the pantheon of songwriters who have proved their skill and craftsmanship as storytellers par excellence. This is thoroughly emphasised by this latest album which is among, if not, his best album to date. There’s no reason to expect that he won’t continue to equal and surpass this too. Production and guitar duties are handled by Scrappy Jud Newcomb who seems an ideal choice to bring these folk-rock songs to life. It is simply a case of everything working together in a way that makes it hard to single out any particular song, although there are some obvious choices to recommend, which are mentioned below.

The ringing 12 string electric guitar, for instance, signals the openness of the musical direction. One that rings true and has a certain weight and texture that allows the songs to breath in their own space. Cleaves has an immediately identifiable vocal presence; a perfect vehicle to tell this tales of makers, misfits, miscreants and the misunderstood.

Drunken Barber’s Hand a co-write with his friend and fellow songwriter Rod Picot (whose own version appeared on his most recent album Fortune) is an observation that the world going to hell in a handcart. Picott also wrote three other songs here with Cleaves. There are other co-conspirators too with four other co-writes sitting alongside his four solo credits. This makes for a varied lyrical overview from the straight-up country saw-dusted memories of The Old Guard through to the tenderness of To Be Held. There are number of different moods and tempos that give the album a listenability that holds the attention from opening track to last.

Kudos also to Cleaves’ fellow players who, under Newcomb’s seasoned guidance, deliver an understated but statuesque performance that is solid and supportive. All of Cleaves albums have been good and this one is no exception and undoubtably one of tyhe best. Slaid Cleaves music works very musc in the nowand as such as it can illuminate the human condition with insight and a soupçon of humour. Long may he haunt the airwaves and the ear canals.

Jade Jackson Gilded Anti-

The debut album from Jackson is a reflection of her no-bullshit nature. She worked in her parent’s small-town California restaurant and there fostered the beginnings of her song writing experience. She has teamed up with Social Distortion’s frontman Mike Ness to produce the album. A perfect pairing as Ness' two country-orientated solo albums are a themsleves a perfect blend of both his punk and country sensibilities. Here the music has a little less of the harder edged punk sound but is still imbedded with its attitude. Jackson had seen Social Distortion headline a show she had attended on her own and was immediately taken with their performance to the point she then knew what she wanted to do in a life-shifting experience.

But that doesn’t exclude any tenderness or more reflective moments like Finish Line (“My skin’s a lot thicker than you’d think it’d be”). There is some up-tempo twang too with songs like Troubled End, detailing a dangerous relationship. On the other side of embrace is Motorcycle wherein our protagonist rides off alone in the sunset on her motorcycle noting “my motorcycle only seats one.” Over the eleven songs Jackson shows a present-day notion of what relationships can offer a person in a society as it exists now rather than 10, 20 or 50 years ago.

Jackson wrote all the songs, one with Ness and two others with her band members. Mention should be made of their contribution and Ness’ decision to use her road band of Andrew Rebel, Jake Vukovich and Tyler Miller in the studio. There they are joined by Sara Watkins on fiddle for several tracks alongside, on one track, Greg Leisz on pedal steel and a guitar solo from Ness on another. Focal point though is her telling vocal delivery that conveys a number of hard fought emotions. The end result is immediately satisfying blending the likes of Lucinda Williams and Rosie Flores with some harder left field rock/blues influences in something that is both familiar and yet distinctive in its execution. While many of her Nashville contemporaries proclaim a “rebel attitude” it is more often than not tempered by a certain need to achieve, or at least aim for, wider radio exposure. Here Jade Jackson makes the album she wants to and the end result is raw and ready; indeed, gilded and gratifying.

The Whiskey Charmers The Valley Sweet Apple Pie

In truth, something of a vehicle for Carrie Shepard who is the singer and chief songwriter with this band. Her partner in this musical venture is guitarist Lawrence Daversa. Together with a selection of players they deliver a solid slice of Americana. From their base in Detroit they dispense their desert tones that sounds like they might orientate closer to the Mexican rather than the Canadian border. Indeed, the opening song is called Desert. They produced the album themselves (their second) and it a concise, clear sound that is centred around Daversa’s guitar and Shepard’s voice, both of which are compelling elements of the Whiskey Charmers appeal. Daversa bring different guitar sounds to the songs as appropriate but in each case, underlines his importance to defining their music. Equally Shepard has a vocal dexterity that allows her voice a certain enduring smokey whiskey charm.

The album credits the orchestra pit with a selection of additional instruments from Flugelhorn to bagpipes however none of these are distracting or to the fore in the mix. Songs like Melody (with soft pedal steel) contrast with the more percussion driven tracks like the title track or Dirty Little Blues which in turn give way to the twangier guitar-toned somas like Meet Me There. Overall there is an air of brooding restraint and darkness to the songs that set an overall mood to the album that is suitable to some late night noir listening. As with a lot of Americana albums the overall direction here provides nothing that is outside of the parameters of such a wide-ranging form. Rather its appeal is in its execution and the strength of the songs themselves. All the elements here are blended to produce an album of lasting quality. One to be shared.

Shoot Lucy The Soothing Sounds Of Smack Me

Second outing from this Minnesota based power poppy/roots inclined six piece. Formed in 1996 this is their second album release. It is a lot of fun. The band is led by Dave Bernston who is their song writer and lead singer. He can write songs with the humorous consideration of another’s partner on the opening Disproportionately Hot Girlfriend, to the more serious consideration of how a domestic fallout can have an effect, often unintentional, on those around the bickering and belligerence in Not Their War.

I’m Blind features some nice pedal steel from guest Adam Ollendorff. Elsewhere guitarist David Nahan plays some lap steel to add that roots feel. They appear to have two drummers which gives a strong rhythmic foundation. They are Scott Skaja and Steve Schultz. The line-up is completed by Chris Berg on bass and Jennifer Urbach on Hammond organ and backing vocals. All bring these songs to life. There is a little of the Rembrandts about them but with a perhaps broader sound base.

The album features 8 songs and all are underpinned by a strong melodic sensibility and Bernston’s vibrant vocal. Lost considers the advice of other, most likely, unwanted with lines like “you should really go to church” and “you should really quit that horrible band.” While Won’t Go That Far is the response of a potential girlfriend to his abilities in terms of his mode of transport or guitar playing ability leading her to put limits on their intimacy potential.

The soothing sounds on offer here may not send you to sleep but they will have you tapping your feet, (occasionally) singing along and enjoying this collection of songs that sound like they came from another time and place and the more welcome for it.

Mike Younger Little Folks Like You And Me Self Release

This Canadian singer/songwriter cut his teeth travelling around his native country and busking before he got the attention of a music publisher which led to his 1999 debut album Somethin’ In The Air. The album was produced by Rodney Crowell. For his next album, he worked with noted producer Jim Dickinson. That album has never seen the light of day but may yet emerge. From that you can surmise that Younger has some noted talent.

For this album, he has worked with producer Bob Britt. The album was recorded in 2013 and released last year. It is never-the-less timeless roots music that has a Band-ish overall feel in a soulful, rhythm and blues and country feel. Recording with a keyboard, bass, drums, guitar and backing vocal line up he has made a rich and rewarding album. However, as with a number of albums, it is initially one song that immediately draws you in and back to the album. That is true with this album and that song is Poisoned Rivers which has an impassioned vocal over a simple backing of percussion, harmonica and dobro. It is a rejection of ill-considered industry fracking and deregulation. A stripped back song that stands with the little folks who seem to count for less and less these days. He offers a similar worldview in the self-explanatory What Kind Of World. Elsewhere the songs have a full sound that has its antecedents in late 60s rock.

All songs are enhanced by Younger’s voice which is one that has character and clarity. The direction of the music is not something that the listener will not have encountered before by several artists but in effect originality is not really what is on offer here, rather it is the work of an honest craftsman. There is a vibe in the groove of the songs that often clocks in above the 4 minutes with a couple passing the 5 minute mark. This all sets the tone for the type of album that it is. One that will appeal to the listener who appreciates the looseness of spirit and the tightness of the playing.

Jamie Wyatt Felony Blues Forty Below

We are told that the title is a nod to those country artists who have spent time incarcerated and have used the experience in their musical endeavours. The LA based singer is a part of the revitalised California country contingent. A singer with an attitude that belies her age Wyatt had a record deal when she was 17 but for a variety of reasons developed a drug problem that resulted in her robbing her dealer and the serving an eight month jail sentence. All of which makes for a good background story but counts for little if the music falls short. Thankfully this 7-track mini-album delivers much and promises more. It seems that the jail time has given her a need to get back to the music; free of rehab and confinement. She had family roots in California with a distant relative playing in Bakersfield. Her own music veers more towards that location than the Music Row affiliations of Nashville. Even with the production values being polished and persuasive bryond their budget.

The songs draw from experience and Drew Allsbrook’s production gives them a clean and concise musical setting that is contemporary country with steel and fiddle prominent on the mix alongside the harmony vocals and solid rhythm. Wishing Well looks at the possibilities open to improve your life situation. Stone Hotel and Wasco are both prison experience inspired songs. While From Outer Space breaks that confinement and features some otherworldly steel guitar from John Schreffler Jr. (who has also played with Shooter Jennings). Ted Russell Kamp and Gabe Wincher also add their undoubted talents. Another rising star California country scene, Sam Outlaw sings a tender love ballad with Wyatt on Your Loving Saves Me, which itself offers another shot at redemption. Misery And Gin (which was produced by Mike Clink) was written by John Durrill and recorded by a performer who Wyatt had an obvious affinity with - Merle Haggard.

She has a smooth, crystal clear voice that is reminiscent of some traditional singers of the past and has also has been compared to Linda Ronstadt, which has some truth, but shouldn’t take away from her own approach and assiduousness. Felony Blues stands in good company with a wide range of outstanding female artists emerging from the fringes who are making their mark.

The Brother Brothers Tugboats Self Release

Brothers Adam and David Moss have covered a lot of ground prior to working together; the former has played and toured with Session Americana as well as Ana Egge amongst others. David Moss has previously released solo albums Bag of Bones and Songs For Willoughby after a spell playing with a number of artists like The Broken Stars and Satellite Ballet. Here together, the Brooklyn based twin brothers, explore their folk roots and exquisite sibling harmonies. They bring together not only a shared history but also the experiences they gained playing in a variety of different musical settings.

The EP has six tracks and the production was handled by Andrew Sarlo and it is simple direct and highly effective. Although there is no mention on the packaging I’m assuming that these are all original songs from the Moss brothers, other than Columbus Stockade Blues, a song that was written in the late ’20s. Some of the songs take a more melancholy timbre like Come Back Darling, while Notary Public is more upbeat and humorous if still dealing with a failing relationship. The closing Cairo, Illinois is also a gentle evocation of having to find one’s way in this life and look towards something that one can call home. The instrumentation is often just cello and fiddle, sometimes guitar but always enhanced by the brother’s vocal harmonies and interaction. You can place these brothers alongside many of the greats. A folk equivalent of the Cactus Blossoms more country take but equally as attractive.

Reviews by Paul McGee

Hometown Marie Wild Side Self Release

Authentic Country Rock from this Swedish band who really impress on this 4-track EP. They sound like the real deal and come out of the traps with the driving Like We Used To, which features a laid-back groove and some fine vocals. Unfortunately, there are very few details available about the band, although Facebook tells me that the four band members are named; Oskar, Simon, Gabriel and Accel. 

Cannot say who plays what, but the sound is really tight and could be any of the current crop of American Country bands that are breaking through Stateside. A previous EP in 2014 was called The Wanderer and they have a few more tracks on You Tube that are worth checking out.  

To add to my confusion, they are clearly a 4-piece but on the cover of the EP they are pictured as a 5-piece? Self sabotage – I would doubt it, but they could do with a decent media team working on their behalf.

Yours Tonight is a fine example of the band in full flight, while Run To You pears things back to a slow burn with some tasty guitar parts. The final song, Wild Side, is just made for Country FM and has hit record written all over it. More please.

Winter Mountain I Swear I Flew Astral Fox

Winter Mountain is the stage name of singer songwriter Joseph Francis (Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Piano, Harmonica). He is based in Cornwall, UK and his folk-rock sound impressed Cara Dillon and her husband/producer Sam Lakeman who decided to sign Francis to their Charcoal Records label after watching a performance in Donegal, Ireland. 

Winter Mountain released a debut album in 2013 as a duo, with Martin Smyth, an Irish musician who introduced Francis to Donegal and that meeting with Dillon and Lakeman. Smyth left in 2015 and now Winter Mountain is carried on the impressive talents of Francis. His is a sweet vocal and a gentle playing style, perfectly complimented by the coterie of studio musicians who contribute to this project. 

Produced by Joe Francis who also wrote all the ten songs featured here; tracks like Sunlight, Good Roads, Things That I’ve Done Wrong, Dragonfly and Before The Flood highlight an emerging talent that is deserving of great praise for this confident release.

Eric Ambel Lakeside At The Helm

I was first introduced to the music of Eric Ambel back in 1989 when he released a cracking solo record called Roscoe’s Gang (still have it on vinyl). As a one-time member of the Del Lords, he went on to greater fame as a producer and worked with artists like Nils Lofgren, The Brandos, Steve Earle, The Bottle Rockets, Joan Jett, Blue Mountain, Freedy Johnston and many others. 

He has spent recent years in various roles, either as a producer, sideman or sought-after collaborator. Lakeside is his latest song collection and follows on from Knucklehead (2004) and Loud n’ Lonesome (1994). The title of the new release is in honour of the Lakeside Lounge, the bar and music venue which Ambel co-owned and operated in New York’s East Village from 1996 until 2012.  

There are a number of different styles running through the 10 tracks here with a nod back to the days of Cash and Orbison on Let’s Play With Fire while Massive Confusion channels a Rockpile sound.  Don’t Make Me Break You Down has a slow brooding beat that places a mean guitar on top of a languid drum shuffle.  A cover of Look At Miss Ohio (Welch/Rawlings) is very well placed here with a slow pace that highlights an arresting guitar break to great effect. 

There is no doubting the wonderful paying talents of Eric Ambel and with the sweet melody of Buyback Blues followed by the instrumental, Crying In My Sleep, this collection draws to a very satisfactory close. Welcome back to an experienced and expansive artist.  

Hat Fitz Cara After the Rain Self Release

Nine songs over 32 minutes from this Australia-based duo that is made up of Hat Fitz; a wild man of the blues scene and Cara Robinson, who has a background in soul music having worked with artists such as Jamiroquai and Corinne Bailey-Rae. This is Roots music with a Bonnie Raitt meets Little Feat groove running through songs like Going Home and Doing It Again.

Cara sings with a clear, confident and sassy delivery and also contributes on vintage drums and washboard. There is a loose, ramshackle feel to tracks like After the Rain and Tank Man and the guitar & mandolin playing of Hat Fitz is very much to the fore. The album was inspired by true events in their lives, past and present and this is release number four in a career that has seen Beauty And The Beast (2010), Wiley Ways (2012) and Do Tell (2014) precede this current collection. Worth checking out.

Stephen Fearing Every Soul’s a Sailor Self Release

Stephen Fearing was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and grew up in Dublin, Ireland where his schoolmates included future members of U2. In the years since, he has developed into one of the finest songwriters in Canada and has built an international audience for his music.

This is his 10th release, including a live record, and all songs are written by Stephen Fearing with two co-writes. The studio musicians include John Dymond on bass, Gary Craig on drums & percussion, David Travers on horns and Rose Cousins on harmony vocals for 2 tracks. It all works like a charm with songs of real colour and personality. 

Lyrically there is a diverse mix of subjects from the know yourself message in the opening Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, to the loneliness of constant life in motion, Red Lights In The Rain. The message in Blowhard Nation is one of cynical electioneering and the boulevard of broken dreams for the electorate.  Throughout, Fearing comes across as an accomplished artist who is in command of every aspect of this project. Love The Deal speaks of embracing the challenges of life and forgiving our imperfections and Carousel deals with facing disappointment and counsels to "get back on that horse and ride again."

Another strong release from this talented singer-songwriter and one that adds to his reputation as a contemporary artist worthy of greater attention.

Lowri Evans & Lee Mason A Little Bit Of Everything Shimi

Six albums and Four EP’s into a career that has seen Lowri Evans and Lee Mason arrive at a juncture where they celebrate ten years of playing together. This is a live studio recording with no other musicians present to assist with the sound; a brave move but one that bears much fruit. This duo is really talented with Lowri singing like an angel and playing acoustic guitar while Lee Mason also sings and plays acoustic and electric guitars, plus bass. 

The 12 songs featured here include three Welsh language folk songs and a version of Nobody Knows You When You’re Down & Out (Jimmie Cox). The other songs are all written by Lowri and selected from her back catalogue, apart from one Welch song (Can Walter), written by Meic Stevens. 

The songs are gentle vignettes of life with relationships examined, feelings explored and love lost & found. The harmony vocals are a joy throughout and the lovely understated playing on tracks like Seventeen, Corner Of My Eye, Maria’s and Everyone Is From Somewhere Else stand as fine examples of the artistic craft on display. Warmly recommended.  

The Buffalo Skinners Cease Your Dreaming Self Release

The Buffalo Skinners are a song-writing collective based in Sheffield. This release contains 13 songs across almost 50 minutes and includes the talents of Kieran Thorpe on Fender Rhodes Keyboard, piano & mandolin; James Nicholls on Violin; Peter Seccombe on various Guitars; Miles Stapleton on Drums and Robbie Thompson on Bass, acoustic & electric guitars. 

Over the past six years their first two albums, a self-titled debut in 2011 and The Other Nine To Five in 2014, have established them as a band to watch and they have gained much media attention.

This third album is produced by the critically acclaimed Colin Elliot (Richard Hawley, Kylie Minogue) and contains a bright airy feel to the arrangements. The band are a mix of many styles with a folk/roots feel to the arrangements and their shared vocal harmonies certainly impress. A touchstone would be early skiffle or the loose sound of jug band ensembles, with violin featuring high up in the mix. 

The celebratory swing to songs like We Get Along, Shoes, Monkey On Your Back, Sam’s Chop House and If You Won’t Love Me, Somebody Else Will, display plenty of talent and serve up tunes that make the listening experience worthwhile.

Lowlands and Friends Play Townes Van Zandt’s Last Set Harbour Song 

In December 1996 the late, great Townes Van Zandt played his last gig and this 14-track tribute to the talents of this singer-songwriter recreates that last set list, played at the Borderline in London. The project took the best part of a year to complete, recorded at various venues, and involving quite a list of musicians who all wanted to contribute.

Italian band, Lowlands are a Roots band who were formed in Pavia, by British born singer-songwriter Edward Abbiati and they have released 5 albums and 4 EPs since their debut in 2008. They anchor this project, along with other Italian musicians from their extended musical family and they are also joined by the likes of Sid Griffin, Chris Cacavas, Rod Picott, Antonio Gramentieri, The Lucky Strikes, Cheap Wine, Kevin Russell and Stiv Cantarelli just some of the artists involved. The liner notes name check a further fourteen players so you get the clear message that this was indeed a labour of love.

If you are a collector who must have everything in the catalogue of such great artists then the completionist in you will just have to purchase this release as a necessity. As with any such project the relative worth of the different tracks is entirely the subjective experience of the listener. Some of the songs fare better than others and the arrangements veer into new territory as the different artists decide to place their own individual stamp on the versions recorded here.

There are also a few cover versions included with two Lightning Hopkins numbers (My Starter Won’t Start, Short Haired Woman Blues), the Rolling Stones (Dead Flowers) and Elvis Presley (Ballad Of The Three Shrimps).

All the old favourites are here with Pancho & Lefty, Waiting Around To Die, Sanitarium Blues, Loretta and Tecumseh Valley all given strong workouts. There is narration by Barry Marshall-Everitt before each track and the idea to recreate this event has to be applauded. Some may wish to approach with caution while others may prefer to purchase some of the original material and hear it straight from the artist’s lips.

I Draw Slow Turn Your Face To The Sun Compass

This is their fourth release and I Draw Slow go largely unnoticed in their homeland, despite the fact that this album was entirely crowd funded from their loyal fan base. Much of their activity is focused on the American market and they are about to embark on their 14th tour of the United States, where they are very well received and revered. We should embrace their success in the Irish media wholeheartedly, as they carry a flag for all that is good in Irish Roots music.

The album was written by Louise and Dave Holden and features wonderful vocals by this brother and sister duo, with Dave also playing guitar/mandolin, Konrad Liddy on double bass, Adrian Hart on fiddle and Colin Derham on clawhammer banjo. 

The harmony vocals of Dave and Louise are a key component to the signature sound of this very fine band and with the interplay of banjo/fiddle and mandolin, rooted by the double bass pulse; the music merges with the sense of their Irish background and the best of Appalachian/Bluegrass music. 

 Recorded in a live setting, which helps the organic spontaneity of the ensemble, the sibling harmonies can be quite addictive and the singing here is so beautifully realised that the seamless rhythm folds around the melody in a very compelling fashion.

My Portion, Garage Flowers and Apocalypso are immediately entertaining with relationship stories of a very different hue – from addictive dependency, through the vain attempts to keep a relationship fresh and into an enduring love affair that lasts beyond time. 

The reflective Don’t Wake The Children, to a simple and sweet acoustic strum and gentle fiddle, pleads for time between a couple outside of family duties that weigh heavily on any relationship. Carolina is a similar acoustic arrangement that deals with leaving home fields for the promise of far-off adventures. Twin Sisters is an infectious tune that brings a distinctly Irish arrangement to what is a barn dance jig.

I Draw Slow seem to possess a strong work ethic and spend quite a bit of their time out on the road, quietly building their support base. They play with an energy and spontaneity that is infectious and clearly enjoy the creative compulsion to make music that lifts the spirit and lingers in the memory. Timeless.

Reviews by Declan Culliton

Andrew Combs Canyons Of My Mind Loose 

Nashville can often be a contradiction in musical terms. The home of what is marketed today as "country music" is essentially controlled by Music Row and its influence on country music radio, dictating a style of music that could not be further from what many of us consider to be traditional country music. However, take the short trip over the Cumberland River and out to East Nashville and you will find a cooperative of musicians who for the past number of years have been representing and playing a different brand of music altogether, mixing country with folk and fortunately also making industry breakthroughs in recent years. Often influenced by hoovering up their parents record collections their impact has been gradual but noteworthy. Caitlin Rose unlocked the door a few years back with her 2013 album The Stand In, Sturgill Simpson and Margo Price simply kicked the door in with their 2016 recordings which both deservedly made inroads in the Billboard Charts. 

Andrew Combs is probably the next most likely candidate from the East Nashville musical community to follow in their footsteps. His second album All These Dreams (2015) established him as an intelligent, reflective singer songwriter with obvious comparisons being made to Nilsson and Glen Campbell. Canyons of My Mind finds the Nashville resident taking a large leap into areas not often visited by country artists. The song writing is equally impressive as his earlier work, visiting lost love (Hazel, Lauralee, What It Means To You), environmental (Dirty Rain) and political issues (Bourgeois King, Blood Hunters) but with arrangements that are much more adventurous, aggressive and in some cases mind-blowing. The swashbuckling anti-Trump anthem Bourgeois King ("feed us fiction, fabrication, make this country great again") introduces strings into a wonderful mix that you simply do not want to end. Heart Of Wonder, which opens the album, features screeching guitars, incessant piano and even a woozy sax finale. Dirty Rain, showcasing his incredibly gentle vocal range, finds Combs deeply concerned environmentally about our children’s future "nothing shines like it did before."

Combs writing has always been inspired, thoughtful and confessional and having recently wed his long-term girlfriend a number of the songs catalogue previous relationships and what might have been, possibly by way of exorcism as he enters this new phase of his life.

If there is any justice Combs should expand his fan base considerably with Canyons Of My Mind which represents the best of both worlds with beautiful Nilsson like ballads and more experimental material entering Tim Buckley territory. He certainly has the potential to be one of the standout Americana artists of his generation. Here’s hoping.

Jason Eady Self Titled Old Guitar 

An artist releasing a self-titled album mid-career is often making a statement or revealing a body of work more personal and reflective than their previous output. The sixth release from Texas resident Jason Eady is a departure from his previous recordings in that it is acoustic in total with the exception of pedal steel guitar.  It’s also a body of work that in a just world should further the reputation of an artist whose recordings to date are up there with the finest outputs of country music in the true sense over the past decade. Sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton may be hoovering up the awards and accolades, and more power to them, but Eady’s music is truer to the tradition of country music of outlaws Haggard, Jennings and Nelson than most other singer songwriters of his generation.

His latest album is so much more personal and reflective than his previous work. Exit the drinking, womanising and honky tonking and enter the concerned parent, loving husband and possibly reformed hell raiser as Eady pours his heart out over the twelve tracks on the album. Always an intelligent wordsmith, Eady has reached the age of forty and the album reflects midlife reconciliation rather than midlife crisis. More suited to the back porch than the barroom and clocking in just over thirty minutes the album includes what could be described as three spiritual tracks, the opener Barabbas, Rain and a cover of the Channing Wilson/Patrick Davis song Black Jesus. No Genie in This Bottle enters George Jones territory with its anti-drinking sentiment. Not Too Loud is a beautiful song written for his daughter as he considers the passing years from her childhood to womanhood. 40 Years closes the album with Eady delivering a semi spoken reflection of his arrival at middle age. Waiting To Shine (the longest track on the album at 4.21, coincidentally or not five of the other tracks are between 3.11 and 3.13 long) finds the writer on the road again and searching for the elusive words to pen another song ("Words are like diamonds, the best ones are the hardest to find, buried in the bottom on a hole, waiting to shine"). 

Eady once again employed Kevin Welch to produce the album which was recorded at The Blueroom Studio in Nashville, a venue used previously by Welch to record acoustic albums. Vince Gill, Tammy Rogers of The Steeldrivers both joined Eady in the studio with Courtney Patton (Eady's wife) contributing, beautifully it has to be said, backing vocals. Fellow Texan and pedal steel supremo Lloyd Maines input is telling on pedal steel, dobro and slide guitar. 

Eady already has a back catalogue behind him that sets him apart as a writer and story teller and which to date has not rewarded him with the recognition he deserves. It may require a song or two of his to be recorded by a ‘name’ in Nashville to introduce him to a wider audience. The sooner that happens the better.

Steve Gardner Bathed in Comfort Self Released

The story behind Yorkshire born Steve Gardiner’s debut album is worthy to be written about in its own right. A totally amateur musician, Gardner had written a few songs over the years without ever having performed them in a live setting with a backing band. He attended a Chuck Prophet show in London and having been blown away by the performance he started to contemplate how his handful of songs would sound rocked up with professional help.

Being aware that Chuck Prophet took on production duties together with recording and touring killer albums he audaciously e-mailed Prophet to ask if he would be prepared to give his four songs the kiss of life. To his surprise the challenge was accepted and in 2015 he found himself in San Francisco with Prophet and his backing band The Mission Express having booked a week in the studio to record a four track EP. To maximise the use of the studio time the four tracks ended up been increased to six with two late additions (in fact two versions of the same song), a country and a rocked up offering of The Day The Aliens Saved The World.  Encouraged by Prophet to consider writing  some more material to record a complete album Gardner did just that and returned to the same studio some months later with the balance of the album. Strongest tracks on the album are the instantly catchy What Would I Do, the opener Rosalie with slick banjo picking by James Deprato and both versions of the aforementioned Aliens, the ‘rock’ version recalling Jona Lewie’s You’ll Always Find Me In The Kitchen at Parties.

The packaging and artwork are particularly impressive and wouldn’t  any artist, whether amateur or professional, just love to credit his band as including Chuck Prophet, Stephanie Finch, Vicente Rodriquez

Lauren Alaina Road Less Travelled Humphead

Voted American Country’s New Artist of The Year in 2012, Georgia born Lauren Alaina is a product of the American Idol TV series having achieved runner up spot in the tenth season. Road Less Travelled is her second album following the release of her debut album Wildflower in 2011 which entered the Billboard 200 Charts at number 5 selling 70,000 copies on the first week of its release.

Sticking very much to the roadmap of the commercial pop/country crossover genre,  Alaina’s output compares favourably with her peers Rae Lynn, Little Big Town and Lady Antebellum.With a career very much in the ascendancy Alaina is currently on tour with Martina Mc Bride having supported Alan Jackson on his 2016 Still Keeping It Country tour. The twelve tracks featured are co-writes with Alaina working with some of the strongest songwriters in Nashville including fellow female country singer songwriters Emily Weisband, Emily Shackleton and Lindsey Lee.

The album is typical of what is been marketed in Nashville as country even though many of the tracks are devoid of any elements which qualify as country in the traditional sense. That said as a pop album it is undeniably strong if a tad over produced. Alaina possess a powerful and heavenly vocal and songs such as Doin’ Fine, Think Outside The Boy, Crashin’ The Boys Club, Queen of Hearts and the title track   are a clear indication of her ability to pen catchy radio friendly storytelling songs while  dealing with personal issues honestly such as parental break ups, growing up pains and  peer pressures.

Don’t expect to hear much pedal steel guitar or country fiddles and purist country fans will hardly embrace Road Less Travelled whereas lovers of radio friendly country pop will lap it up. A very talented young lady doing what she does remarkably well.

Urban Desert Cabaret Shadow of a Ghost Pumpkin

Urban Desert Cabaret is the vehicle used by  Joe City Garcia to produce and record his take on music and stories inspired by a life time of experiences in New Mexico, Los Angeles and California. His earlier career had included indulgences in psychedelia rock, Tex-Mex and punk rock having played in a number of bands in California including Joe City and The Nightcrawlers, The Crawlers and Dream Army. Having side stepped the music industry for a number of years Garcia was reinvigorated by his involvement in the Joshua Tree Music and Art scene and relaunched his career playing open mic nights in pubs and coffee houses in Los Angeles. 

The name of the project originates from a monthly event in 2013 organised by Garcia and his wife Joanna Fodczuk, a Polish abstract artist, which essentially was a meeting group for singers, songwriters, poets, artists and painters. Garcia vocal delivery is reminiscent of late career Guy Clark and indeed Terry Allen, his gravely delivery more often than not semi spoken.

Stand out tracks Go Away and Delta Bar both feature some delightful violin playing by Bobby Furgo, whose claim to fame includes being part of Leonard Cohens touring band in the early 90’s. UK famed folk singer songwriter Kirsty Mc Gee contributes backing vocals on Wouldn’t You Agree and the particularly impressive title track Shadow of a Ghost. Gar Robertson, who co-produced the album with Garcia, plays pedal and lap steel, electric and bass guitar. Danny Frankel plays drums and percussion.

Kelly’s Lot Bittersweet Self Release

Kelly’s Lot have been playing and recording (Bittersweet is their eleventh release) in Los Angeles since the mid 90’s. They consist of singer songwriter Kelly Zirbes and her band Perry Robertson and Rob Zucca on guitars, Matt McFadden on bass, Sebastian Sheehan on drums, Bill Johnston on sax, Dave Welch on trumpet, Bobby Orgel on keyboards and Frank Hinojosa on harp. 

Bittersweet, containing a hefty fourteen tracks, finds Zirbes stretching her musical parameters to deliver folky ballads, funky country, rocking blues and some full on, in fact very full on, rockers. Consistent throughout all the genres represented is the wonderful vocal delivery by Zirbes who also delivers a moving a capella on the hymn like Proud.

Come Home is a stripped back love ballad, featuring only Zirbes vocal and acoustic guitar courtesy of Perry Robertson. Mr.Chairman turns the heat up, a bluesy detour with a nice sax break by Johnston. Thorn, a dreamy country ballad, features aching pedal steel throughout by guest player Doug Pettibone (Lucinda Williams, Tift Merritt, and Tim Easton). Sleep explores darker territories, very effectively it has to be said. 

The title track Bittersweet is a heartfelt recognition for many Vietnam War veterans, lamenting their often lack of recognition and acknowledgement when returning from the frontline. Opening and closing with acoustic guitar and a whistling intro by Zirbes of ‘When Johnny Comes Marching Home’ it also features neat harmonica playing by Hinojosa.

Love Is Hard To Catch, with its sultry almost spoken delivery and kicking in at over six minutes, enters Marianne Faithfull territory as does the equally impressive On Fire with its thundering chorus.

Rick Monroe Gypsy Soul MRG

First things first. Rick Monroe ticks all the boxes for inclusion  in what is currently defined as country music in Nashville. Big arena sound, formula ballads, heavy production and slick guitar riffs. Think Eric Church, Zac Brown etc. Don’t expect any pedal steel or banjo. The Florida born Nashville resident six track mini album Gypsy Soul should without doubt  introduce Monroe to a wider audience given that it’s likely to be well received by Country Music Radio and credit to the young man as it is very good indeed in this genre.  Twelve years have passed since the release of his debut EP Against the Grain in 2005 and in that period Monroe has gained a reputation as a relentless touring artist visiting every US State except Oregon and playing support to Eric Church, Dierks Bently, Dwight Yoakam and The Charlie Daniels Band. His 2016 schedule included 120 shows and 100,000 miles of travelling.

The opening track This Side of You is a slick, sultry, come on song and is typical of what is to follow. The title Track Gypsy Soul, possibly autobiographical, follows a similar path, neat riffs, backing vocals and solo guitar breaks. Production duties were undertaken by Sean Giovanni on five of the tracks with JD Shuff credited with the remaining song.

Monroe has the songs, the image and the work ethic to join the elite modern country artists that play to large stadiums of fans on tours like Country 2 Country. Gypsy Soul could very well be his passport.

Norrie McCulloch Bare Along The Branches Self Release 

It only seems like yesterday when I put pen to paper to review Norrie McCulloch’s second album, These Mountain Blues, recorded less than twelve months ago. Not one to let the grass grow under his feet Bare Among The Branches is the third album in three years for the prolific songwriter from Glasgow. 

The Son Volt influences so evident on These Mountain Blues remain but this outing is possibly more adventurous with the two opening tracks Shutter and Little Boat giving the thumbs up to early Van Morrison and Frozen River offering a more traditional country leanings with the inclusion of some slick mandolin playing by Iain Thompson. Around The Bend is an impressive ballad and very much true to form for McCulloch and the album closes with Beggars Wood a seven-minute journey through the passage of time beautifully articulated and enhanced by some distinctive guitar playing throughout.

Studio colleagues are his regulars, Dave McGowan (Teenage Fanclub, Belle & Sebastian), Stuart Rea and Marco Rea (The Wellgreen) together with Iain Thompson of The Bella Hardy Band on mandolin and Iain Sloan of Wynntown Marshals adding pedal and backing vocals. 

McCulloch’s work sits comfortably at the crossroads between folk and country and Bare Among The Branches is further evidence of a proficient and maturing artist, very much part of the wealth of UK talent currently representing the Americana genre. 

Cory Goodrich Wildwood Flower Self Release

Cory Goodrich is certainly no stranger to country music having won Jeff Awards for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in the Johnny Cash Revue Ring of Fire and her role as Mother in Ragtime. Together with her acting career she is also a singer songwriter and children’s music composer with two award winning albums, Hush and Wiggly Toes to her credit.

Wildwood Flower, her latest work, is a collection of folk and country songs, covers and originals, all featuring Goodrich playing autoharp, an instrument she was introduced to while researching for her role as June Carter for the stage play. The cover versions chosen are standards and include Ring of Fire, Shenandoah, Will The Circle Be Unbroken and all work comfortably together with a number of self-penned additions by Goodrich of which C’est Plus Facile Sans Toi (It’s Easier Without You) and Home To You particularly impress.  

Goodrich, together with being an accomplished musician, is blessed with a controlled vocal range which captures the intended old timey atmosphere throughout the recordings.

The title of the album is a Maud Irving poem, immortalised in song by The Carter Family and given an interesting makeover by Goodrich.

Production duties were undertaken by musician, actor and former musical director at Goodman Theatre Malcolm Ruhl, who together with Goodrich also contributes autoharp and backing vocals.

Reviews by Paul McGee

 

Ordinary Elephant Before I Go Berkalin

This acoustic folk duo is Crystal Hariu-Damore on guitar and vocals with husband Peter Damore on banjo, guitar and vocals. They have been performing together since 2011 and their debut release, Dusty Words & Cardboard Boxes appeared in 2013 and was well received at the time, This follow-up is a very strong statement of intent for the future. The harmony vocals are sweetly compelling in the 13 tracks and there is a hint of Natalie Merchant in Crystal’s phrasing.

Songs like Another Day and Can I Count on You? refer to the trials and tribulations of commitment and the routine of married life. Railroad Man is a fine tribute to a father and the values with which he was raised. Best of You speaks of not letting life get on top of our hopes and dreams and of turning hard times into positive experiences. Leaving Kerrville and Lady in the Elevator are two songs written from personal experience, one a near-fatal and life-changing road accident; the other a conversation in a hospital lift with a woman who was saying goodbye to her departing husband: ‘Too many machines sing their song around his bed; Too many words that she never said…’ . The Things He Saw is a powerful song that deals with Alzheimer’s in a moving and poignant lyric and highlights Ordinary Elephant’s great song craft and playing abilities.

Today Crystal and Peter call the road home, living full-time in a van and travel trailer with their dogs, exploring the country and creating music of real depth and dignity. Someone mentioned Rawlings and Welch in a review as a comparison and this is not wide of the mark when it comes to authentic, honest and heart-felt stories and character songs. This is a highly recommended release and the duo are ably supported by the subtle and understated playing of Jon Gaga on upright bass, Jason Crosby, fiddle & piano, Sharon Gilchrist on mandolin with Jono Manson, tenor guitar, David Berkeley, backing vocals and Mark Clark, brushes. 

Jennifer Cutting’s Ocean Orchestra Waves Sun Sign

Ocean Orchestra is a Celtic fusion band that reside on the American East Coast and comprise mostly of Jennifer Cutting on electronic keyboard and accordion, Lisa Moscatiello on vocals and whistle, Andrew Dodds on fiddle, Zan McLeod on bouzouki, mandolin, and electric guitar, Tim Carey on highland bagpipes, Steve Winick on vocals, Rico Petruccelli on electric bass and Robbie Magruder on drums. 

They are quite a fluid troupe and play in different ensembles and formats. Indeed, there is an impressive array of guest musicians and performers on this new release and all bring a rich tapestry to the overall results. The key inspiration comes from the creative talents of Cutting who is composer/arranger of considerable depth. She holds both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in music and is the artistic director behind this project, her third release.

I am reminded of Steeleye Span when listening to the 12 tracks here, nine written by Cutting, with the inclusion of three traditional airs. The eclectic mix of accordion, fiddle, bouzouki, flute, whistle, piccolo and highland bagpipes lead a celebratory sound that is vibrant and pleasant on the ear. Lark in the Clear Air is particularly striking with the strong vocals of Polly Bolton subtly supported by Troy Donockley on whistle and Jennifer Cutting on an antique pedal-powered reed organ. Crane and Tower is another stand-out, with a damning lyric against unchecked urban development at the expense of the countryside: “Build for Jesus, build for glory/Dwarf the acre where we stand/Profits in the sky, Hosanna/Build it anywhere you can”. Powerful.

Leaves of Autumn is a gentle ballad with the Celtic harp of Sue Richards adding a poignant mood to the wistful vocal of Lisa Moscatiello. Everything Glows is a really terrific example of fusing music from India with the unique sound of the bagpipes. It is a great workout, fuelled by Bollywood Shouters, the fine drum/bass combo of Steve Loecher and Rio Petruccelli and layered with tablas, bansuri, flute, fiddle and rich guitar/keyboard lines. She is a fine song which sees a welcome appearance of the great Clive Gregson on guitar, slide and harmony vocals to complement the lead vocal of Lisa Moscatiello.  

The sleeve notes say: File under ‘Folk-Rock/Celtic/World’, so not really in our usual or sought remit but a perfect description for this global mix of traditional tunes and musical influences.

Dave Vargo Burning Through Self Release

This excellent musician graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston and went on to forge a very successful career as a touring artist and session player. He has worked with a number headline artists including Whitney Houston, Phoebe Snow and Vonda Shepard, but his talents as a songwriter have only been given the spotlight on this, his debut release as a solo performer. 

The eleven songs are written by Dave and co-produced with drummer Tim Pannella. Erik Romero plays bass and keys with Kim Boyko on backing vocas. The arrangements are all very impressive with fluid playing and a bright feel to the melody and rhythm. The commercial sound is perfectly captured on the opening song Come Take Me Home and the fluid guitar playing of Finding My Way to You, which captures a Hootie & the Blowfish vibe. 

Too Young To Be Broken slows things down with gentle acoustic guitar and a lyric about broken dreams and disillusionment. Waiting runs along similar reflective lines with a wistful look back at the past and regrets over choices made. The expressive vocals of Varo are perfectly complimented by the support cast and Don’t Think Twice is a fine example of the band in full unison and playing with a relaxed and loose tempo. Final track, Pieces of my Heart, is an up-tempo ending to what is a very strong debut release and one that comes highly recommended.  

Bill Jackson The Wayside Ballads Vol. 2 Laughing Outlaw

This release follows on from Volume 1, which was launched in 2015 and was an electric record, due to the group of songs chosen. This follow-up is a more acoustic approach with production by Thomm Jutz (Mary Gauthier, Nanci Griffith, Otis Gibbs etc.) in Nashville. 

The 11 new songs are mainly co-written by brothers Bill and Ross Jackson and the band is comprised of Pete Fidler on Dobro, Sierra Hull on mandolin, Justin Moses on banjo and fiddle, Daniel Kimbro on upright bass and Lynn Williams on drums and percussion. Bill Jackson plays acoustic guitar and sings, while producer Thomm Jutz contributes acoustic guitar, keyboards and backing vocals. Recorded ‘live’ in the studio and benefiting from an organic acoustic sound, the playing is understated, warm and welcoming. 

Songwriters occupy a crowded marketplace, but what can set them apart is a fine line between originality and simply being a copyist. The songs on this release are very authentic and have a feel of being around before. 

Story songs such as Gippsland Boy, Three China Ducks, Rollin’ Into Rosine, Time Will Judge and Pink Jesus ring true to life and carry the experiences and interpretations of everyman. Halfway House of the Broken and Every Day’s Drinkin’ Day  are two poignant songs that conjure up the  lives of the marginalised.The interplay between the musicians is a real joy and the entire project is dotted with little surprises and gentle grooves. This is roots music that will appeal to fans of folk and country ballads.

Bill Jackson’s previous releases include Diggin’ the Roots (2006), Steel & Bone (2008), Jerilderie (2011) which have been all well received in the media. He is a talented artist who is well worth checking out. 

Jeff Plankenhorn Soul Slide Lounge Side

Plank is a versatile musician who has been playing a variety of guitars for many years in Nashville and Austin, appearing on numerous records and releasing a batch of solo albums that have gained him an impressive reputation. This new release sees Brannen Temple on drums, Yoggie on bass, Dave Scher on guitar, piano, organ, Rami Jaffe on mellotron & Hammond organ, Peter Adams on clavichord, Hammond organ and Wurlitzer.  Ruthie Foster and Malford Milligan share both lead and background vocals and Miles Zuniga plays electric and acoustic guitars, piano and also sings backing vocals, completing an impressive line-up of players. There are other guests involved, namely his band associates in The Resentments and the overall impression is one of admiration for the musical depth and the range of skills on display.

Plank marries soulful vocals, with a touch of southern soul, a touch of funk coupled with country which all blend into an intoxicating sound.  However, it is the extraordinary guitar sound that carries the tunes from the opening Lose My Mind, through the slow blues of Trouble Find Me and on into the full throttle work-out of Like Flowers which sees Ruthie Foster singing her heart out.

Plank has played on records by Joe Ely, Ray Wylie, Slaid Cleaves, Eliza Gilkyson, Jimmy Lafave and many more.  All his experiences have led to standing dates with collaborative Austin bands, The Apostles of Manchaca, The Purgatory Players, and The Resentments. His Plank guitar is a creation that is stand-up lap steel guitar, which he picks with one hand and uses a slide with the other. The sound is down n’ dirty with plenty of emotive force and edge to the solos and riffs that he produces. Think Bonnie Raitt meets John Hiatt and Sonny Landreth and you have an idea of the quality and groove on offer here.

Dirty Floor is a stand-out with some really tasty guitar parts on top of a driving rhythm and Vagabond Moonlight is a slow country strum, while Mockingbird Blues is an acoustic blues. Headstrong is like a workout from the heady days of The Band and Live Today talks of making the most of the moment and forgetting the worries of tomorrow. This is a very fine release, most worthy of your attention.