New Album Reviews

Colter Wall Little Songs La Honda/RCA

Although still in his late twenties, this is the fourth studio album from Saskatchewan-born singer songwriter Colter Wall. With a deep baritone voice and real-life tales of rural life in his prairie homelands, Wall has established himself as one of if not the most distinguished authors writing about present-day cowboy and ranch lifestyle.

LITTLE SONGS finds Wall sticking close to the template of his previous three albums, and why leave his comfort zone given their quality and distinctiveness? The recording occurred at Yellowdog Studios in Wimberly, Texas, where he also recorded his 2020 album, WESTERN SWING & WALTZES and OTHER PUNCHY SONGS. Wall co-produced with Patrick Lyons, who also played pedal steel, mandolin, bass and dobro. The ten tracks on the album include eight original songs and two covers very much in keeping with the album’s narrative, one written by his fellow countryman Ian Tyson, The Coyote and The Cowboy and the other is a Hoyt Axton and Kenneth Higginbotham co-write, Evangelina.

Wall has seldom had to look beyond his native Western Canada for inspiration and his stories at no time attempt to glamorise its subject matter. The title track speaks of isolation and remoteness (‘You might not see a soul for days on them high and lonesome plains, you got to fill the big empty with little songs’) and that sense of loneliness also surfaces on Corralling The Blues. The perilous adventure of yesteryear’s cattle drives is evoked in The Last Loving Words (‘Two thousand longhorn cattle, some eighteen good men in the saddle. We knew of the dangers, me and that old ranger’). The closest Wall gets to breaking into full song is on the upbeat barroom blues of Honky Tonk Nighthawk and he parades his yodeling skills on the jocular Cow Calf Yodel. The opening track, Prairie Evening / Sage Brush Waltz, reminisces about plucking up the courage to woo his sweetheart at the local prairie dance.

A dynamic storyteller, Walls’s proficiency in giving the listener a tour of his beloved native soil is unparalleled among songwriters of his generation. His sober tales hark back to both previous eras and to the modern-day cowboy and rancher. Unsurprisingly, three of his songs have been featured in the Paramount TV series, Yellowstone, another project that highlights the growing interest and current attraction in the ranching and cowboy way of life.

LITTLE SONGS is another excellent effort from Wall and one that has ’career best’ stamped all over it, which is some feat given the merit of his previous work. Don’t take my word for it, check it out yourself, I’m sure you’ll concur.

Review by Declan Culliton

Milly Raccoon Frankincense and Myrrh Self Release

Drawn to classic violin playing as a young girl, Milly Raccoon’s musical adventure since then has been a rollercoaster ride.  From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and currently living in Nashville, her passions over the years have found her engrossed in 90s rock, Irish trad music and zydeco, fronting a Grateful Dead cover band in high school, absorbed in bluegrass after college and spending eighteen months on the road, busking for the bus fare to her next destination. With that chequered background, you’d expect this album to genre-swing from one place to another, and that’s exactly what it does, most impressively it has to be said.

It’s her fourth full-length album and although the press release that accompanied it makes comparisons to Norah Jones and Iris DeMent, neither of those references particularly struck me. What did come across on my first play was a charming patchwork collection that oscillates between traditional instrumentals, country-tinged jazz and alt-folk songs.

At the tender heart of the album is the opener The Fine Art of Takin’ it Slow.  It’s a laid-back affair that finds Milly in fine voice and all the better for some cool layered vocals and a slick guitar break mid-song. Her Irish trad influences rise to the surface on Persephone la Rousse and the instrumental Fiddler’s Prayer. That Celtic mood also pops up on the gorgeous ballad and album highlight Offering To The Fae and she lays bare her bashfulness in the playful That Girl I Left Behind. The second instrumental, Las Abuelitas del Arcoíris, is a Latin-shaped cosmopolitan affair, showcasing Milly’s fiddle skills and her vocals shine on the romantic ballad This Ancient Love.

Grammy-winning producer and previously former bandmate of Kacy Musgraves, Misa Arriaga, was brought on board as producer and he succeeds in joining all the dots and capturing the mood on the, often, fun-filled and carefree tracks.

Beauty is often born out of chaos and that’s certainly the case with this charming record. Unlike anything else I’ve heard this year, FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH is not going to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts, but if you’re around Nashville and Milly is playing Dee’s Cocktail Lounge or any other local establishment, you’re well advised to pop along. I’ll certainly be doing that on my next trip to Nashville.

Review by Declan Culliton

Erin Enderlin Barroom Mirrors Black Crow

Hugely admired by her peers - Roseanne Cash and Terri Clark both feature on this album - Arkansas-born Erin Enderlin ticks all the boxes as a classic modern country artist. A singer, songwriter, and performer, she also possesses an image that should warrant much more media attention and radio play than she currently enjoys. Her songs have been recorded by Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Lee Ann Womack and Reba McEntire and, given her talent, you would expect that her profile would be at a much more elevated level.

BARROOM MIRRORS is her latest self-produced record and it doesn’t stray too far from the sound of her first-rate 2017 album, FAULKNER COUNTY. Readers familiar with her music will have already heard five of these tracks on her self-released EP of the same name from 2021.The majority of the eleven songs on the new album take their lead from the album’s title with their drinking and bar references, no doubt fuelled by Enderlin’s observations in bars and honky tonks on her tireless touring schedules.

Terri Clark joins her on the perky If There Weren’t So Many Dawn Songs, co-written by Enderlin and Kayla Ray. As previously mentioned, there are plenty of ‘tears in your beer’ songs, or something stronger in the case of When I’M Drinking Whiskey. A tale of heartache enriched by fine pedal steel from Justin Schipper, it’s one that’s bound to be picked up and covered by others. It also features, along with other tracks, a contribution from the ‘go-to’ backing vocalist in Nashville, Melonie Cannon. Enderlin is also ‘counting bubbles in her beer’ on the equally sorrowful title track. It’s not all doom and gloom either, Somebody’s Shot Of Whiskey is a defiant upbeat toe-tapper featuring some fine fiddle playing by Jenee Fleenor and White Wine Fever (yes, another booze reference!) is a clever and chirpy album opener. She signs off with the confessional and autobiographical Livin’ For Today. It’s a candid and realistic reflection on the often-taxing existence of her chosen career path (‘It will be all right to be just ok, not worry about tomorrow, I’m livin’ for today’).

The tide is turning slowly again in the direction of traditional country music. Hopefully, artists like Erin Enderlin, Brennen Leigh, and Sunny Sweeney, all of whom have been working tirelessly for many years, will get the industry recognition that they richly deserve. On the strength of this delightfully accessible listen, it’s the least that Enderlin deserves.

Review by Declan Culliton

Dallas Burrow Blood Brothers Soundly

Very much an artist that writes from the heart and personal experience, Texan Dallas Burrow’s two previous albums, SOUTHERN WIND from 2019, and his self-titled record that followed two years later, reflected moments in time in his often turbulent and evolving existence. If the former addressed the emergence from a self-inflicted emotional wilderness and his path toward sobriety, the latter found Burrow in an altogether better place, underpinned by abstinence and fatherhood.

Music has been in Burrow’s veins from a young age. His father, Mike Burrow, hosted shows at a pub he managed in Elliston Place, close to the Exit /In in midtown Nashville, whose patrons included Richard Dobson and Townes Van Zandt. The adulation of Townes has been handed down from father to son and has been hugely inspirational in Burrow’s songwriting. His latest album includes a cover of Townes’ Mr. Mud and Mr. Gold and also features a song written by his father, X Old Flames, the layered vocals on the song performed by both father and son. 

While not straying too far from the direction of the two previous albums, the thirteen songs on BLOOD BROTHERS have a more polished sound production-wise, no doubt aided by the input of Jonathan Tyler (Nikki Lane, Jeremy Pinnell, Lana Del Ray), who took control, alongside Burrow, of the production duties. Personal plights are once again visited in the songs but the canvas is also spread wider with environmental, political and social issues confronted. He opens with the upbeat River Town. It’s a statement by the writer of his contentment with family life and is followed by the equally spirited Starry Eyes, which is probably the most melodic, radio-friendly song Burrow has written. It’s also one that’s likely to stick in your memory bank for some time after a couple of spins, it most certainly did with me. It features Taylor Rae on backing vocals, who also lends a hand on several other tracks including the raging full-on album closer, True Believer. The recurring theme of solo touring, often fulfilling, sometimes not, is told on Motel 6. Also impressive is Only Game In Town, a co-write with Charley Crockett that was included on Crockett’s MUSIC CITY USA album. That song may be closer in sound to New Orleans than Austin, but the gloriously rowdy Wild Bill is full-on Texas country.

A dynamic storyteller, Burrow has turned the heat up many notches with BLOOD BROTHERS, which should further his growing reputation as a worthy disciple of the classic Texan songwriters of previous generations.

Review by Declan Culliton

Melonie Cannon A Tribute To Vern Gosdin BFD

Nashville-based singer Melonie Cannon is a member of a family steeped in country music. Her songwriter and producer father, Buddy Cannon, has written songs for George Strait and Mel Tillis, as well as producing albums by George Jones, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson and Reba McEntire. Also following a career in music is her sister, singer songwriter, Marla Cannon-Goodman.

Although Melonie has only recorded two solo albums, MELONIE CANNON (2004) and AND THE WHEELS TURN (2008), her crystalline vocals appear on albums recorded by Jamey Johnson, Willie Nelson, Billy Ray Cyrus and Alison Krauss, to name but a few. She was an inspired choice to celebrate the music of the celebrated country singer Vern Gosdin, who passed away in 2009, leaving an extensive songbook of classic country songs.

An early-career member of The Hillmen, alongside Chris Hillman, Gosdin also went on to record, with his brother Rex, the excellent GENE CLARK WITH THE GOSDIN BROTHERS in 1967. His commercial impact as a solo country artist yielded nineteen top ten hits between 1977 and 1990 and the high regard that he was held in by his peers - they nicknamed him ‘The Voice - is recognised by the number of high-profile contributors on this recording. It’s fitting that Melonie Cannon should be chosen to acknowledge the often-overlooked talent of Gosdin, given that he can take credit for mentoring and encouraging her to sing solo and harmonies, and develop her musical vocation.

A pointer to the character of Gosdin’s songwriting is how well-suited the songs are delivered from a female perspective, and even more so on the duets unveiled on this recording. Jim Lauderdale and Cannon do a cracking ‘George and Tammy’ on the full-on honky tonk Dim Lights Thick Smoke (And Loud, Loud Music) and Cody Jinks’ husky vocals are the perfect fit alongside Cannon’s on Set Em’ Up Joe. Vince Gill, Jamey Johnson, Doyle Lawson, Alison Krauss and Willie Nelson also participate, with Nelson in splendid voice on Till The End. Cannon is equally impressive and in fine voice on her solo runs, both tearjerkers, Is It Rainin’ At Your House and Dream Of Me are impeccably executed, and she says her goodbyes with the well-chosen jazzy closing track, Is It That Time Again. The album showcases impeccable instrumentation by a host of players from start to finish. Those artists include Willie Nelson and Vince Gill, who played acoustic guitar and dobro respectively as well as their vocal contributions. Also credited are the late Bucky Baxter on steel guitar, co-producers Buddy Cannon (bass, acoustic guitar) and Butch Carr (percussion).

Be warned, Gosdin didn’t write ‘happy ending’ songs and the thirteen selected are route-one country heartbreakers.  So, if you’re feeling low, it may be wise to have the hankies close by. In summary, the album is a worthy reminder of Vern Gosdin’s significant contribution as a songwriter and one that should encourage listeners to investigate his back catalogue. It’s also heartwarming to hear Melonie Cannon in such great voice, and hopefully it’s also the re-birth of her career as a solo recording artist.

Review by Declan Culliton

Dave Desmelik There And Then (July 1992-December 1994) Self-Release

Two and a half decades into his career and eighteen albums later, THERE AND THEN (JULY 1992-DECEMBER 1994) is most likely the most soul-searching and subjective album that the Brevard, North Carolina resident Dave Desmelik has recorded. It may consist of only five tracks and run for slightly over thirty minutes, but the tales within the songs reflect on an intense, taxing, and ultimately character-building period for the writer as he sets out on what was to become his vocation.

Desmelik’s writing and vocals bring to mind Bright Eyes, Jim White and former Richmond Fontaine’s frontman, Willy Vlautin. He rarely wastes words with repeated choruses, and if asked to simply characterise this album I’d probably make reference to those three artists, but also quote the experimental and alternative sound of Radiohead and early Pink Floyd in snatches.

The album covers the entire range of emotions and sensitivities of a young person seeking independence and freedom, and the experiences, both demeaning and uplifting, on that journey. The opener, Me And Bob Marley, sets the scene for what follows over the subsequent chapters which are arranged in chronological order. That first track tells of the writer’s dreams of a new life and new horizons (‘I thought I might try growing a beard, that would be something a little bit different for me’), moving out of town accompanied by little but his treasured music collection of Bob Marley, Grateful Dead, Duane Allman, Pink Floyd (no surprise there) and many more. It’s presented in a folky manner with Desmelik’s vocals in front of a heavily strummed acoustic guitar. Rand McNally, which follows, is the most mainstream song in the collection. Its melody is a reflection of the enthusiasm of a planned journey being choreographed using Rand McNally maps – remember this is some years before the birth of Google Maps! – and includes some slick banjo playing by Bow Thayer.

If those two tracks are somewhat musically conventional, what follows enters a more enthralling universe, possibly reflecting the odyssey into the unknown. Risking blends together elements of alt-folk and musical virtuosity bordering on prog rock. That track may be eight minutes in length, but the album’s tour da force, Crazy Life, qualifies as the longest track at close to ten minutes. Brim-full of texture and detail, it serves as a ‘catch up’ for the listener by recapping the author’s mournful story, warts and all (‘I discovered this town with my guitar on my back, I slept in the cemetery behind campus where I felt safest when it got dark’). The final instalment, New Chapter, is an altogether more positive affair that heralds the final leg, however temporarily, in the journey.

Attentive listening is the key to maximum return with THERE AND THEN.  Preferably listened to with headphones, the time invested is well rewarded on an album where its author dug deeply into his memory vaults to capture the mood of those often daunting and occasionally carefree two years with some aplomb. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Teddy Thompson My Love Of Country Chalky

Back in 2007 Teddy Thompson released an album of country music covers on the Verve label titled UPFRONT & DOWN LOW. It was one of my albums of the year and it still sounds great. When I interviewed him around its release he told me his label had said that it was effectively “career suicide” and they wouldn’t release its like again. Well, Thompson is no longer on Verve and he has just released another album of country music covers. And folks, I can tell you it’s well up to that previous album and it is another triumph.

One of the players back then was David Mansfield who played on three tracks. This time out Mansfield is the producer and he brings a touch that could have easily seen him behind the desk several decades ago. As the title suggests, Thompson has a deep love of classic era 60s country stylings and Mansfield taps into that, not only behind the desk but also by bringing his multi-instrumentalist talents along. He is joined by a tight combo of Charlie Drayton on drums, bassist Byron Isaacs and Jon Cowherd on piano. Thompson stands before the microphone and delivers a nuanced and emotionally passionate vocal performance. But he is not alone, with such notables as Vince Gill, Rodney Crowell, Aoife O’Donnell, Krystle Warren and Logan Ledger joining him on harmonies, alongside some additional background singers, that makes this a vocal rich album.

The song choices are a mix of the familiar and the less so, but all chosen as they have a distinct resonance for Thompson and are equally well suited to what seems like an effortless vocal. But that is likely far from the actuality, as he undoubtedly wanted to do justice both to the original singers but also to the lyrics and their sense of regret and unresolved romance. Even though the songs are from what may be considered a golden age of country, the arrangement and delivery of each song changes to give both variety and vibrancy to each of these carefully chosen pieces.

So A Picture Of Me Without You, written by Norro Wilson and George Richey and recorded by George Jones, opens the album and sets the tone for what follows. Bill Anderson is then credited with the conundrum that is I Don’t Love You Anymore, Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard together wrote the tower of pity that is I Fall To Pieces. Love And Learn is a lesser know Dolly Parton song written by Bill Owens, while Crying Time was penned by Buck Owens. The often recorded tale of realising what is really true and worthwhile in life, Joe ‘Red’ Hayes and Jack Rhodes’ Satisfied Mind, it is given as convincing a take as any of the previously equally worthy versions. Is It Still Over has some clever wordplay on a song recorded by Randy Travis. I’ll Regret It All In The Morning may be from a slightly different era than many of the others, as it was written by his father, Richard Thompson. And so it goes, with ten deliberately chosen songs that, in the context of this excellent album, did not entice me to make direct comparisons to earlier versions, but instead allowed me to simply enjoy the album inspired by Thompson’s passion for the sentiments and sensuality of a musical style so obviously loved. Even though this is something of a stop gap recording before he moves on to another album of original material, it in no way should be regarded as anything but a central part of his own rich musical legacy.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Christian Parker Sweethearts Edgewater

First thoughts: with the release of the Legacy edition of the original album that restored Gram Parsons’ vocal on a set of bonus tracks, and taking in to account the fact that is is considered such a iconic and inspirational album, it begs the question do we need a tribute album to the entire album? However, once you start to listen you can’t help but be reminded of the original album, an album that was largely a source of confusion for many hard-core Byrds fans at the time, despite the fact that previous albums had contained tracks that were clear antecedents for the style. It was largely Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons who championed this move toward a more full-blown country influenced recording. Indeed, that duo later formed The Flying Burritos Brothers to further explore that direction. Not that the continuing Roger McGuinn version of The Byrds abandoned the form themselves, especially when Clarence White joined the band.

So this tribute is fronted by Christian Parker, alongside co-producer (and pianist of the original album) Earl Poole Ball. Also appearing on a couple of tracks is one the album’s steel guitar players, Jay Dee Maness. The other steel player on that album was Lloyd Green. Incidentally, they both released their own tribute album back in 2018, titled JOURNEY TO THE BEGINING. That recording also featured the piano of Earl Poole Ball. All showing that these veterans and their fellow musicians here are no strangers to the album. There are in fact 16 players listed in the credits, with no less than 3 pedal steel players included. Parker is lead vocalist and plays acoustic and B Bender electric guitar. 

Parker was born in 1968, the year of the album’s release, and first heard the album when he was 16 and it obviously made a deep impact. And as you play through the album you become aware of the differences that this album brings to the choice of songs. They largely follow the order of the earlier version. They have interestingly also added three additional, equally well know songs in I Still Miss Someone, Satisfied Mind and Drugstore Truck Driving Man. These are delivered as if they were recorded back in the late 60s, as in truth, are all the tracks.

Parker is not an artist I recall coming across previously, though he has had a long career and has released some 6 previous albums under his own name. Coming from upstate New York, he was a member of Waydown Wailers. This is perhaps his first full on country rock album, something he has an affinity for and a path he may logically explore in the future.

As regards standout tracks, you are immediately feeling the overall vibe from You Ain’t Going Nowhere, from Tracer James’ affecting pedal steel that summons Lloyd Green’s own on the original, alongside Poole’s ebullient piano work. Maness is also repeating his performance here on The Christian Life. Parker is particularly poignant in his vocal performance on You Don’t Miss Your Water. Perhaps the finest song from the original album is Parson’s ballad Hickory Wind, here Jennifer Kessler’s violin and harmony vocal are a perfect balance to Parker’s, very much in the mould of eternal duo of Gram and Emmylou and again James’ steel is paramount. The inclusion of Satisfied Mind is effective, bringing it into line with the tracks that were part of the initial album, though the song was written by Joe ‘Red’ Hayes and Jack Rhodes rather than Porter Wagoner as listed in the sleeve note. Similarly his version of Drugstore Truck Driving Man was taken from a later Byrds album, but becomes a fitting closing track here.

I may have had certain doubts, as noted above, which may be valid to many devotees of the original recordings but, either as a reminder of The Byrds version or as a piece of country-rock in its own right, this outing this is worth more than a passing listen and hopefully Parker will be in a position to play this album live too. I know also that both McGuinn and Hillman have been playing some of these songs accompanied by Marty Stuart and The Fabulous Superlatives to positive reviews. That both entities are bringing a seminal album before a younger audience, who may not have heard them before, is positive and rewarding and may open a door to some more cosmic country stylings, as there are already a number of bands now delving into that particular Pandora’s box of 12 string guitar and pedal steel delights.

Review by Stephen Rapid

L CON The Isolator Idée Fixe

Progressive Folk is a genre defined as a style of contemporary Folk that adds new layers of musical and lyrical complexity, often incorporating various ethnic influences. A very appropriate description when it comes to the music of L CON, or Lisa Conway. She defines herself as a songwriter, producer and sonic adventurer and the experimental nature of these ten tracks certainly moves close to that description. There are layers of synthesiser and looped sounds among the instruments that include a variety of percussive sounds, piano, woodwinds and alphorns, traditional wooden horns from her native Switzerland, together with strings mixed into the lush soundscapes.

Conway has a sweetly soothing voice that has an ethereal quality and is placed high in the self-production of the project that took shape in an Ontario recording studio and at her home. The lyrics are very obtuse but there is a sense of isolation, as the title of the album suggests. It was written during the Covid lockdown so that alone gives a strong sense of the influences that were at play. There is a theme of looking for connection also that runs through the songs, searching for meaning in a time when no real direction or certainty can be given.

Song titles such as Big Pile Of Nothing, Appear, Hold and Ordinary Girl don’t really convey the different musical sounds on the album. The title track is the lushest as regards an arrangement with swirling strings filling the space. Too Much on the other hand has dissonant sounds mixing with violin and ‘found sounds’ that give a feeling of alienation. What If Heidi Likes the City is a song that reflects on the isolation of rural life after leaving a city culture.

My information includes no musician credits apart from the fact that contributions were made by, among others, Drew Jurecka, Cedric Noel, Karen Ng, Victoria Cheong, Isla Crain, and Morgan Doctor. Alphorn, Tape Loop One opens the album and Alphorn Tape Loop Two closes it with instrumental soundscapes that are both haunting and somewhat sonorous in the delivery. It is a challenging album, with some lovely pastoral qualities but also some jumps into the realm of avant garde experimentation. Folk music by another name perhaps?     

Review by Paul McGee

New Album Reviews

Simeon Hammond Dallas Make It Romantic Self Release

This 5 track EP from Londoner Simeon Hammond Dallas is my introduction to her music (she has an earlier EP from 2019) and what an introduction! The sassy, diminutive Camden native will not be under the radar for much longer. Her music, which is impossible to pigeonhole, is a mix of blues, soul, jazz and country - and her powerful vocals, songwriting and musicianship are notable.

Opening with a searing critique of the very recognisable cliché of a white man singing the blues in The Blues Is A Game, she doesn’t hold back in telling him in no uncertain terms that he has no idea what it is to ‘wake up in fear of your life’. Pete Fraser on sax and Max O’Hara on piano help create the swinging, jazzy, musical palette, while SHD herself impresses on lead electric guitar. The tongue in cheek A Hundred Lovers is soaked in Hammond organ (O’Hara again) and driven by Wesley Joseph’s drumming as we hear that Dallas ‘has a hundred lovers and none of them stay’. She shows her vulnerable side on the gentler Betting On You, but the fury of a woman scorned is unleashed in full rock mode in F***ing Her, which unfortunately is too explicit for our radio show! Never fear though, she really is a romantic at heart, confirmed by the simply beautiful, piano-heavy title track, where she declares she ‘dances to her own tune’ and that she’s ‘always running/trying to find some truth’. I wish her luck on that journey.

Review by Eilís Boland

Logan Halstead Dark Black Coal Thirty Tigers

Like John Prine and Hazel Dickens two generations ago, followed by Kathy Mattea, and more recently Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers and Billy Strings, Logan Halstead was moved to make music by the legacy of ill health, environmental destruction and, latterly, the rise of opioid addiction in the coal mining regions of his native Appalachia. Still only 19 years of age, Halstead had the wisdom to chose producer Lawrence Rothman (Margo Price, Amanda Shires) to record this debut record in Nashville’s Sound Emporium studios last year.

Dark Black Coal is a song that astonishingly he wrote at 15, and it became a viral YouTube hit when he released the simple video (just him and his guitar, standing in front of a river in his native Boone town, W Virginia) in 2020. Rothman has used a ‘barely there’ style of production, allowing Halstead’s songs to stand on their own two feet, resulting in a raw and somewhat visceral sound, that is almost relentlessly bleak. ‘Take my soul/I owe it to you anyways’, is the message from a coal miner to his company on the title track, sung simply here again by Halstead, accompanied by just his acoustic Martin guitar. Elsewhere, he is accompanied by Dennis Crouch (bass), Kristin Weber (fiddle) and Ethan Ballinger (mandolin), all experienced session musicians who know when to hold back, as much as when to soar. On the short opening song, Good Ol’ Boys with Bad Names, Weber’s scratchy fiddle tone and Crouch’s ominous bass stylings help to create a gothic darkness appropriate to the theme of drug addiction, with its ‘snorting and stealing/drinking and dealing’. Indeed, that theme and it’s inextricable link with coal mining is the fuel for seven of the nine originals, including Uneven Ground (Arlo McKinley guests on vocals), Man’s Gotta Eat, and Coal River. Even his choice of cover songs, The Flood from the pen of his friend Cole Chaney, and the much covered Richard Thompson classic 1952 Vincent Black Lightning, are ballads recounting tragedies of epic proportions. Relief, at last, comes in the form of two deceptively simple love songs, Kentucky Sky and Mountain Queen.

Logan Halstead is one to watch, as his horizons expand beyond his tiny hometown in Boone County, W. Virginia. Let’s hope he manages to fulfil his early promise.

Review by Eilís Boland

The Kentucky Colonels 1966 Proper

Los Angeles bluegrass band The Kentucky Colonels’ original lineup featured brothers Clarence, Roland and Eric White, together with LeRoy McNees and Billy Ray Latham. Credited in most circles as the leading light in the revival of bluegrass music in the early to mid-60s, they recorded two albums at that time, THE NEW SOUND OF BLUEGRASS AMERICA (1963) and APPALACHIAN SWING (1964). Unfortunately, their success was short-lived, the import of Brit-pop and more locally, country rock, rendered their sound outdated by the younger record-buying public of that time. They disbanded in 1967 and reunited for a brief period in 1973 as The New Kentucky Colonels, with the three brothers augmented by Herb Pedersen on guitar and Alan Munde on banjo.

The album, 1966, was originally released in 1978 and this reissue is an expanded edition that also includes a number of their early and most popular recordings. In many ways, they can take credit for transporting bluegrass into a more present-day sound at that time. Plugging in electric instruments and hiring a drummer would have been considered sacrilege by bluegrass purists, but the brothers, influenced by artists and bands like Bob Dylan and The Byrds, took both of these on board. Clarence White, tragically killed by a drunk driver at the age of twenty-nine in 1973, is often credited as the pioneer of country rock, following his spell as a member of The Byrds. He was also the ‘go-to’ session guitarist for several household names including the Everly Brothers, Joe Cocker, The Monkees, Jackson Browne, and Linda Ronstadt. Brother Roland, after the band broke up, moved to Nashville to join Bill Monroe’s band The Bluegrass Boys.

With twenty-one tracks on offer, 1966 includes original songs, traditional songs and instrumentals. Technically the playing of Clarence (guitar), Roland (mandolin) and Eric (bass), is outstanding and although it is chiefly traditional bluegrass on tracks like Soldier Joy, One Tear, Shady Grove, Cotton Eyed Joe, and Shuckin’ The Corn, their awareness of a more progressive sound is evident on The Fugitive and Old Country Church.  Also included are a number of interesting live radio and tv performances from 1959-1961, when the brothers performed as the Country Boys.

This album will be considered a ‘must have’ for scholars of the bluegrass genre, but it should also appeal to a wider audience, particularly to those who followed Clarence White’s short career post The Kentucky Colonels. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Lester Flatt Pickin’ Time CMH Records

PICKIN’ TIME is the final studio recording by Lester Flatt and The Nashville Grass, released in 1978, one year before Flatt’s death. Best known as guitarist and mandolin player, alongside banjo supremo Earl Scruggs, in the duo Flatt and Scruggs, Flatt hooked up with The Nashville Grass after the break-up of Flatts and Scruggs. A seasoned player from a young age, Flatt’s apprenticeship included supporting Bill Monroe in the mid-1940s.

Released on the CMH Records label, it’s the first digital recording of the album. The Nashville Grass was made up of masterly players of that era including Clarence Tate on fiddle, Kenny Ingram on banjo, and a very young Marty Stuart on guitar and banjo. Packed with racing instrumentals (Goin’ Up On Black Mountain, Bluegrass Shuffle), old-time standards (We Don’t Care What Mama Allow, Cabin On The Hill, If You Ain’t Tried It, Don’t Knock It) and country blues (I’ll Be All Smiles Tonight), it was a fitting swansong for one of the most revered artists in bluegrass circles.

Credit goes to CHM Records for continuing to release essential recordings of bluegrass, old-time, and traditional country music and ensuring that the music recorded and performed by artists such as Flatt can be enjoyed by new generations of traditional music lovers and historians of that genre.

‘Walking into the Opry with him was like walking into the Vatican with the Pope,’ says Marty Stuart, when recalling his experience of playing with Flatt’s band. Deserved praise indeed for Flatts, who was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985.

Review by Declan Culliton

The Pink Stones You Know Who Normaltown/New West

Athens, Georgia six-piece The Pink Stones continue on the spacey cosmic country tenor of their debut album INTRODUCING……. THE PINK STONES, released in 2021, with this twelve-track sophomore record. YOU KNOW WHO follows a similar music template, marrying honky tonk, psychedelia, blues and rock ‘n’ roll, and giving the impression that none of the band have heard anything recorded post-1970. Indeed, the pioneers of genre-blending, The Grateful Dead, come to mind listening to this very impressive album.

Unlike their debut record, which was recorded at Chase Park Transduction in Athens, they opted for a looser direction this time around. They tracked the material live at the home of Hernies frontman, Henry Barbe (Deertick, Drive By Truckers), who also co-produced the album with The Pink Stones frontman and songwriter, Hunter Pinkston.

Guests include Nikki Lane, who duets with Pinkston on the country shuffle, Baby, I’m Still Right Here (With You) and Teddy and The Rough Riders, who add their collective backing vocals on the racy Who’s Laughing Now? Gram Parsons comes to mind on both Roses & Poppies and Moving On (Without You), the former is a classic Texan waltz, the latter a pedal steel drenched jewel. You Know Who, in J.J. Cale style, reaches a sweet spot between country and soul.

An album often infused with a sense of dry humour transports the listener to a playful place on many of the tunes. The Pink Stones don’t attempt to reinvent the wheel with YOU KNOW WHO, they simply sound like high-spirited friends inviting you into their musical world. It’s an invitation that you’re well advised to accept. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Ed Snodderly Chimney Smoke Majestic

A songwriter, musician, teacher and sometime actor (he had a cameo part in O Brother, Where Art Thou) who is steeped in the world of Southern influenced old-time and bluegrass music. He released his first album back in 1977. After that he released others under his own name and three albums as a member of The Brother Boys, which was where I first encountered him. 

Now comes this new album and, in truth, my first attraction was in the Shoestring Seven, a combo that includes such names as Shawn Camp, Steve Hinson, Chris Scruggs and Kenny Vaughan - though the latter duo have stepped outside their more traditional twang-filled mode as part of The Fabulous Superlatives. Expect something that may be said to approach more of a folk/country/acoustic roots sound; one which has some mighty fine ensemble playing assembled.

Snodderly proves his versatility as a writer, penning all of the songs here, of which there are immediate standouts that include Gone With Gone And Long Time, a tale of drifters and their travels “caught that freight last night / that was coming down the line … hear a lonesome whistle / see a lowly ghost coming out of the alley”, featuring some deft picking. The title track has more homespun human sympathy and observation, with lines like “A broken handle off a bucket pale / makes a good hook hung off a nail” and “see an old man coming up the road / something on his back going to lighten his load.” There You Are has Hinson’s trusty pedal steel and Steve Conn’s piano adding some sense of time and space to the song. Rockin’ out a bit more is Barn, driven by John Gardner’s equally strong percussion. The wah-wah guitar that features in Crow’s Fever sits nicely with Chris Carmichael’s orchestration, which brings something of a Southern symphonic soul funk to the overall variety that is apparent on the recordings. Another uptempo outing is equally upbeat, the positive note of Walking In The Sunshine Again summed up by its opening lines “it feels easy to be with you / kinda breezy and not so blue.”  More poetic and bucolic perhaps is the understated Before School, which again has the steel and piano fundamental to its mood. The final track is listed as a bonus track and is the very buoyant pickin’ of The Diamond Stream.

Throughout it should be noted that Snodderly is vocally on the money and is joined on several of the tracks by the harmony and background singing of Amethyst Kiah, Eugene Wolf, Maura O’Connell, Gretchen Peters, Malcolm Holcombe, Shawn Camp and the album’s producer (a man with his own track record), R.S. Field. The recording engineer was the late Bill VornDick, his last project prior to his passing. So a wealth of talent is present here and it can easily be seen (and heard) as would the titular smoke which might well do before it disperses up into the atmosphere. It captures much of Snodderly’s deep roots in Appalachia as well as his Southern upbringing, which makes it both personal and universal, but never less than a really good listen.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Alice Howe Circumstance Self Release

A second outing from the talented Alice Howe and this new album was recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Co-produced with her musical partner Freebo (Bonnie Raitt, Maria Muldaur, Crosby Stills & Nash, Ringo Starr) the new record displays her vocal prowess and soulful delivery in abundance. If her debut album, Visions (2019), suffered just a little by the inclusion of four cover songs, this time around Howe delivers ten of her own songs, including six co-writes with Freebo, and just one cover song inclusion. It leads to a stronger statement and a greater focus.

Opening song You’ve Been Away So Long delivers a positive first impression, and the lyrics reflect on relationship challenges, ‘When you’re in the moment it’s so hard to read the signs, You just need that perspective that you only gain in time.’ The second track Somebody’s New Lover Now continues the theme and showcases a  warm and rich sound with some nice lead guitar lines and organ swells in a song about moving on from an old romance.

Let Go slows everything down and delivers a realisation that a relationship is not giving you everything that you wanted, some nice piano and guitar adding to the melody. Love Has No Rules continues the theme of moving away from a relationship and it’s almost like Alice is looking at songs as therapy, in working out life’s romantic twists and turns. Things I’m Not Saying is yet another song about looking into what was broken, ‘I heard you been travelin’ heard you’re doin’ all right, That you got some new girlfriend, moving on with your life.’ Definitely harbouring feelings of regret with how the relationship worked out. ‘No, I haven’t forgot all the things that I’m not saying to you.’

What About You is putting out a message of new beginnings and is a very up-tempo song with the lines, ‘I’m looking for somebody who, Is looking for somebody too.’ There is a strong sense of wanderlust that runs through these songs, almost as a theme. The guitar driven Something Calls To Me is very atmospheric with Freebo (acoustic), Jeff Fielder (slide) and Will McFarlane (electric) delivering great interplay in a track that looks at the urge to take a chance and to heed the call from the horizon beyond. With You By My Side is a love song to the joys of being with the right person, the confidence and strength gained by trusting in another and all the positive energy it channels. The use of horns and soulful backing singers really lift the soulful arrangement.

Line By Line is another relationship song about using someone up and moving on, ‘Well it’s hard to face I let it get so bad, I stuck a knife into the life I had.’ Travelin’ Soul is a highlight with some funky playing, inspired slide guitar and a look into the heart of present day USA.  ‘It’s a bitter pill to swallow, The country that you love, Has a history of violence, That is written out in blood, I am a travelin’ soul, Seekin’ truth along this road.’

Final song It’s How You Hold Me (Dayna Kurtz) is a gentle acoustic arrangement which encapsulates all the yearning and learning on this album; the heartache and the hope; the pleasure and the pain that relationships bring; the connection and the need to be loved. Circumstance is something that dominates any relationship and the direction that it may take. On this album, Alice Howe covers all the angles and still comes up with the need to keep pushing through. An excellent slice of Americana for those who enjoy superb musicianship and engaging playing.

Review by Paul McGee

Michael Jerome Browne Gettin’ Together Borealis/Stony Plain

Ever since 1998 this gifted artist has been recording music of very high quality. A dedicated performer in the genres of mainly acoustic blues and folk, Browne is a multi-instrumentalist and a torch bearer for all that is good in roots music. This is his ninth solo album and the fourteen tracks include seven songs with the word ‘blues’ in their title. The blues were born out of hardship, in the conditions of slavery and unspeakable crimes against humanity. The music is at the root of everything that has followed on, from the cottonfields of the southern American states to the factories of the big cities and the establishment of ghettos, to the reality of rural and social depravation. Through it all the blues has reflected and captured the times and the acoustic music on this album stands as a living testament.

The players on the record came together for a number of sessions and performed in a live setting for spontaneity and a sense of getting to the source of the music. The vibe is probably best captured on the superb Please Help, where Browne invites both Stephen Barry (string bass) and John McColgan (drums) to join him on a compelling groove with the live feel of the playing completely addictive. Contrast this with the wonderful Fixin’ To Die with Browne on gourd banjo and Teilhard Frost on fiddle in a duet that brings Appalachian traditional tunes to mind. Reverend Strut is one of just three instrumentals on the album and features Browne playing 6-string banjo par excellence.

Shake ‘Em On Down features Eric Bibb on 9-string guitar and J.J. Milteau on harmonica with Browne delivering on tenor guitar and vocals. John Sebastian pops up on a few songs playing harmonica  while Mary Flower adds her talents on guitars and vocals,  with Colin Linden dropping by to play guitar on Hound Dog Crave also. It’s all connected, this great big gumbo of roots, gospel, blues, old-time, country, soul and cajun music. There is no better proponent than Michael Jerome Browne to keep the spirit alive.

Review by Paul McGee

Bob Bradshaw The Art Of Feeling Blue Fluke

The wanderlust that takes hold of many young men could well be summed up in the life story of Bob Bradshaw. This Irish expatriate first moved abroad in the 1980s, working at various jobs as he made his way via Portugal, Spain, Germany and Sweden, to the shores of America. Bradshaw has now settled in the Boston area, having travelled across the States and played in numerous locations along the journey that has taken him to the release of his tenth album.

It is a very impressive collection of ten tracks across forty plus minutes of superbly captured Americana sounds. The production is shared by Bradshaw and his band of regular Boston musicians, many of which appeared on his last outing, the superb GHOST LIGHT (2021). Once again, Bradshaw is joined by Andrew Stern and Andy Santospago (acoustic, electric, lap steel, keyboards), John Sheeran (bass), and Mike Connors (drums), James Rohr (keyboards), Chad Manning (fiddle), and other invited  guests on individual tracks. Kris Delmhorst sings seven of the songs, her vocals adding interesting layers and tones in the overall sound.

All of the songs are collaborations between Bradshaw and other writers, with five of the tracks involving Andy Santospago, a further three with Scoop McGuire, and two with Andrew Stern. They were all written during Covid lockdown before recording could take place and the power unleashed by these players more than hints at the collective frustrations they must have endured while waiting to play as a collective again.

Opening track Waiting is a great example of the dynamic sound that awaits the listener and Bradshaw also released a recent video that captures the essence of the song so well. It has a driving beat and reminds me of a Tom Petty inspired groove in the performance. Hot In the Kitchen is another rocking song that channels the thoughts of a short-order chef and the waitress that keeps flirting with him. Elsewhere we are treated to the Tejano inspired sound of Rosa, an immigrant song about trying to start a new life away from your homeland in a strange city. The inclusion of Jacob Valenzuela (Calexico) on trumpet is a masterstroke as he infuses the track with great colour and personality.

Things get more serious on the slow burn sound of I Keep It Hid, a song that references the instinct to keep all internal problems bottled up and supressed, ‘Far inside is where I hide myself, And at the core’s a bolted door.’ Similarly, the track Stepping Stones refers to attempts at plotting a set path through the troubles that may come your way. There is always some autobiographical element in any song, even if channelled through some third party character and Bradshaw is a very skilled songwriter who knows how to balance the sweet with the sour across this album.

Somebody Told a Lie is a song about female deception and the atmospheric sound of Chris Isaak is lurking under the covers.  Two highlights are The Silk Road Caravan and Let Sleeping Gods Lie. Both songs are strong in the dynamic and arrangement, with the powerful message of dark outside forces as a constant threat driving the first song, also hinting at the “migratory” lifestyle of traveling that Bradshaw has experienced. While the official video for Let Sleeping Gods Lie shows the futility of war with battle scenes from the front-line trenches, it strikes me that the song could equally apply to the inner turmoil of having lost his wife in 2022. Bob Bradshaw is still in the process of coming to terms with such a devastating loss and it would not be unreasonable to think that the belief in any higher power is something that is being questioned a lot.

This album is full of great moments, sharply written songs, excellent musicianship and dynamic production. What more could you ask for and THE ART OF FEELING BLUE is another strong addition to this artist’s impressive body of work.

Review by Paul McGee

Simeon Hammond Dallas, Logan Halstead, The Pink Stones, edsnodderlymusic.com Alice Howe, Michael Jerome Browne, and Bob Bradshaw Music

New Album Reviews

Meredith Moon Constellations True North

Travel is the overriding theme of the second album from Canadian, Meredith Moon, her first on a major label. It’s hardly a surprise, as she spent the last decade (pre-Covid) on self-booked solo tours of both North and South America and Europe, describing herself simply as a ‘singer-songwriter’. This is also understandable when you realise that she felt she had to prove herself, until she felt ready to ‘come out’ more recently as a daughter of the late Gordon Lightfoot.

Moon is a self-taught clawhammer banjo player, as well as an accomplished acoustic guitar picker, and this self-produced album has a stripped back sound overall, with an old time/Appalachian feel.

Both the opening track Starcrossed and the closing Slow Moving Train are melancholic in tone, describing the end of a love relationship. Tony Allen contributes old time style fiddle to many of the songs, adding to the laidback and downbeat feel. By contrast, That Town is an affectionate look at a remote Northern Ontario town where Moon (and many fellow backpackers) have often found themselves stranded for a few days. The title track harks back wistfully to those earlier travelling days, and here Moon accompanies herself on banjo, acoustic guitar and glockenspiel, perfectly evoking a starry winter night sky. Brokenwing Bird, one of two instrumentals lets Moon stretch out on frailing banjo, starting slowly and building up to a frenzy, with the curious combination of drums (Will Fisher) and bowed bass (Alex Merchand) accompanying. Lighthouse County and Mark Twain have a nautical theme, while her interpretation of Soldier’s Joy (the only cover) is empathetic and affecting.

Worth checking out and, if you like what you hear, see her website for upcoming Irish and British tour dates in August.

Review by Eilís Boland

William Prince Stand In The Joy Six Shooter

Already well established in his native Canada, this fourth record from Manitoban William Prince should help to propel him into the mainstream of Americana and increase his reach further afield. With his gorgeous blend of country and folk, he has already proven that he can write the songs, having worked hard at crafting those skills over the past few years, and he has a Juno award, a Tiny Desk (npr) concert and many collaborations under his belt. He’s had his troubles in the past decade too but here he is, in his happy place, yet still producing wonderful work in STAND IN THE JOY.

Across ten self-penned songs, complemented by the production skills of Dave Cobb, the listener is drawn into the welcome intimacy of Prince’s rich, deep baritone and into his current world, where he has learned to find positivity in the face of adversity. He’s open about the fact that his songs are not totally autobiographical, but freely shares the fact that Tanqueray was inspired by his first meeting with his now fiancée, Alyshia Grace, who also sings dreamy backup vocals on several songs. Deceptively simple lyrics are the hallmark of a master songwriter and one can feel the rush of a ‘brand new love’ instantly here - ‘Tanqueray on your lips then mine/ Tattoo of cheap red wine/Tracing the smile on your face’. (Tanqueray is a traditional London dry gin, by the way, in case, like me, you didn’t know). Goldie Hawn is another love song, where female icons of the 20th century like Goldie Hawn, Joni Mitchell and Georgia O’Keefe are used to encapsulate ‘the sweet surrender of love’. He still remembers what it’s like to have a broken heart, though, and Broken Heart of Mine is given an out and out country treatment, complete with pedal steel courtesy of veteran Nashville player, Paul Franklin. On Young, he reminisces on the aspirations of youth, ‘shoulda had it all by now/according to my younger self’ but still finds the positive, ‘we can start over again/nothing is out of our reach’.

It’s not just the voice though, but it’s William Prince’s phrasing that can just stop me in my tracks. Sinatra has nothing on him. And the way he can just end a song by leaving it hanging …

Cobb’s production serves the songs and Prince’s soothing and reassuring vocals so well, keeping them front and centre at all times. He’s also aided and abetted by Chris Powell (drums), Brian Allen (bass) and Lee Pardini (keys).

The untimely passing of John Prine prompted Easier And Harder All The Time, a musing on the ‘truth about love’ and Prince’s homage to that much missed icon of Americana, featuring a catchy electric guitar riff from Mike T Kenny.

The closing two songs, Peace Of Mind and Take A Look Around could not have been written by a younger man. In the former, Prince speculates on the essence of life, and quotes his aspiration to ‘stand in the joy’, which gives the album its title. In the latter, he references those closest to him, including his young son who ‘he hopes grows into someone that he loves … I hope he feels me when I’m gone’.

A definite contender for my album of the year.

Eilís Boland

Son Volt Day Of The Doug Transmit

Opening and closing with voicemails from the late Texan Doug Sahm to Jay Farrar, that the Son Volt frontman had saved, DAY OF THE DOUG is a tribute to an artist that remains somewhat under the radar but was hugely influential on numerous emerging alt-country bands, and in particular Son Volt and The Bottle Rockets.

Sahm was a member of both the Sir Douglas Quintet and the Texas Tornadoes and Farrar’s relationship with the San Antonio-born artist goes back to the early 90s. A cover of Sahm’s Give Back The Key To My Heart was included on Uncle Tupelo’s album ANODYNE, with Sahm adding vocals to that recording on the band’s final album. 

Best known for his love of Tex Mex and two-step Cajun music, Sahm formed the supergroup the Texas Tornados in 1989, alongside Augie Meyers (organ, vocals), Freddy Fender (guitar, vocals) and Flaco Jimenez (accordion, vocals) to promote that sound. Their self-titled debut album earned them a Grammy Award for Best Mexican/American Album and they were invited to perform, together with Willie Nelson, at Bill Clinton’s first inauguration.

DAY OF THE DOUG came about following Farrar’s trawl through Sahm’s back catalogue during the pandemic and the resulting songs selected are a reflection of Sahm’s recordings that travelled some distance from his much-loved Tex-mex sound. Keep Your Soul and Huggin’ Thin Air are full-on barroom honky tonkers and both It’s Gonna Be Easy and Seguin have an early Uncle Tupelo sound. Indeed, while paying tribute to his much-revered friend, Farrar also reminds the listener of the impact that Sahm had on Son Volt. This mainly comes to light on Float Away, which is closely related to the band’s classic song Drown, from their debut album, TRACE. Other standout inclusions are the poppy ode to Sahm’s home state, Beautiful Texas Sunshine and Poison Love, the latter being an accordion-driven border gem. With Farrar’s trademark nasally vocal deliveries floating on top of some crisp guitar playing and a driving rhythm section, they collectively breathe new life into a well- selected collection of songs.

Covers albums can be hit-and-miss affairs but Farrar and his band have hit the bullseye here. Son Volt lovers will lap this up and those unfamiliar with the music of Doug Sahm are well advised to do a bit of revision on the extensive back catalogue of this treasured Texas outlaw. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Riders Of The Canyon Self-Titled Great Canyon

Formed in 2017, Riders Of The Canyon is a side project of Catalan Joana Serrat, her fellow countrymen Roger Usart and Victor Partido, and Northern Irish singer song writer Matthew Mc Daid. This self-titled full-length album follows on from their 2022 EP of the same name.

With the recordings taking place in London, Barcelona, Girona, Texas, Nashville and Oregon and with three producers (John Morgan Askew, Joey McClellan, McKenzie Smith), it’s little surprise that the ten tracks’ themes display a sense of dislocation and motion, with both rural and urban matters addressed. The writing credits name all four band members and, in a similarly democratic fashion, the lead vocals are also shared. Numerous guests were invited to partake in the recordings including B.J.Cole, Cory Gray, Jesse Chandler and Joey McClellan. Would that non-partisanship result in a disconnected end product or would the whole be more than the sum of the parts? The answer is certainly the latter.

Joana Serrat takes the lead vocal on opener, Master Of My Lonely Time and it’s very much a mirror of the energy and direction of her highly regarded 2021 album, HARDCORE FROM THE HEART. Serrat also takes the lead on the gentle title track, her whispered vocal bolstered by mellow backing vocals, pedal steel guitar and a well-placed horn section towards the end of the song. There’s a Calexico-type vibe to Dirty Water and Downtown harks back to the experimental path of Gene Clark’s classic NO OTHER.

Sorrow Song, with its delicate piano-led intro, bookends the album. With the vocal taken by Usart, it once more conjures up Calexico-styled desert landscapes. It’s also a fitting finale to an album whose sonic terrain lands it in the folk-rock genre, bringing together the creative fire of four ambitious and skilled songwriters and musicians.

Review by Declan Culliton

Adam Klein Holidays In United States Cowboy Angel

More often than not, socially-conscious, politically-charged music comes at you in the suitably aggressive format of punk rock or in a strident folk-fervour. So when you listen to this album’s delivery of seemingly understated melodies, it is as unexpected as it is effective when you begin to be taken into Klein’s lyrical dismay at a corrupt and divided political polarisation of attitudes that can’t seem to accept, let alone understand, another viewpoint or opinion. 

The album was produced, engineered and mixed by Bronson Tew, based on some earlier recordings done by band member Will Robertson. He played bass alongside Colin Agnew on drums, electric and lap steel player Bret Hartley and Klein himself. Later a further nine players added contributions that enhanced the textures of the songs. The instruments weaving into the sound were keyboards, pedal steel, horns and additional guitars, bass and drums. There was also the effective use throughout of harmony vocals, which add to the overall sound of the material.

What also stands out is the lyrical quality of the songs, which is both effective and important. 1-20 deals with heading to Atlanta to protest about the deaths by brutal police activities in that city and beyond. It was something that despite being in the midst of the Covid pandemic, Klein felt the need to be physically present when the time came to show solidarity with those in the community equally shocked by the attitude of many law enforcement agencies.

This song, in the first section, details deep concerns about what may happen as the man and his daughter join the “march toward a just tomorrow righteously” before the song then goes on to list the many names of those who have died in racially motivated confrontations. It is powerful and effective in its restrained but soulful delivery. That many of the songs take a similar tack should be no surprise with titles like People Are Callin’  (“don’t want to carry this anger, don’t want to wanna feel this danger”) or When Will We Go Marching?, a song that starts with a man at home cooking a meal and putting on a Neil Young record before he realises that a person may be faced with a situation that allows that “a man stands before you but he’s never seen, your boot on his back, his neck against your knee.” How a situation can be so volatile in such a short time. Another Neil Young reference occurs in Ohio Revisted, where “four dead in Ohio” is incorporated into the new lyric. Young has been a longtime influence it appears. Quite where the old rail lines may have lead is considered in Bright Rails Shine and that “on the sweat of the men who did labor, White and Black and Chinese laid bright rails shine.” These rails brought a nation together but at a price, one that was particular high for some. Wait Til They Come Knockin’ warns that “justice is just a word that lives in a smokey backroom.”

The overall lyrical stance though, which shows a writer who has translated some of the pain of these times into a poetic penmanship, should be balanced against what is a striking musical encounter, that if one was not to concentrate on the words and simply listen would be enjoying it for its own grace.

I’m not sure what Klein outlines would fit the description of anything approaching a holiday atmosphere, but it is never-the-less one to enjoy. Adam Klein has added to a body of work with this new album (there have been seven previous albums since 2006), the first I have encountered, but one that will no doubt enhance his reputation and continuing development as a writer, storyteller and singer.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors Strangers No More Magnolia

Although the press release states that this represents the ninth studio album, I reckon that Drew Holcomb sits closer to double that total, with occasional EPs, Christmas and Live releases, thrown into the mix. As a solo act, dating back to 2003, Holcomb cut his teeth by performing in venues around his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. He formed the band in 2005 and the members, who all lived in the same zip code area (hence the name), began to earn a reputation for their hard work ethic and touring schedule.

At this stage in their career, the band play arena shows to enthusiastic crowds who delight in their big sound and catchy choruses. Drew Holcomb is a songwriter of real quality and his ability to create  positive affirmations and a feeling of real community has drawn many admirers to his celebratory themes of life and love. This album is focused very much on our place in the universe as a species and the passing of time. Covid lockdown clearly had an impact on everyone, in different ways, and Holcomb has been taking stock of the wonder in the world and perhaps, all that we take for granted.

A number of these eleven songs are focused around gratitude and embracing what we have, as opposed to always wishing for new and shiny things that don’t necessarily enhance our lives. By looking within, Holcomb liberates a part of his persona that seeks a sense of peace and acceptance. Find Your People is a perfect example in which Holcomb states ‘You got to find your people, the ones that you feel equal, they pick you up and don’t put you down, help you find your way in the lost and found.’

Gratitude sings of all the little things that bring joy, whether it’s just a walk in the rain or a smile from a child. Troubles looks at the anxieties that can develop in our lives and blind us to the calm that rests within. Holcomb wants to ‘dance away the heartache in the moonlight.’ There are six co-writes on the album and one song is penned by Nathan Dugger, who has been in the band for twenty years now.

The musicians play with a real sense of freedom and the entire album was recorded in just eight days. The band performed live in the studio and the playing is impressively captured by producer Cason Cooley. He also contributes on multiple instruments throughout, along with regular band members, Rich Brinsfield (bass), Will Sayles (drums, percussion), Nathan Dugger (guitars, keyboards) and Ian Miller (piano, synths, accordion, keyboards). There are additional appearances from a horn section on a few songs and from Holcomb’s wife, the talented Ellie, who used to be a regular band member.

On A Roll is a song that will become a big favourite in concert, with the harmonica of Holcomb playing on top of a strident rhythm that builds into an anthem of Springsteen proportions. Possibility is another song that instils a similar dynamic and the joy of Dance With Everybody is yet another song written for the live arena with an obvious encore appeal. Holcomb also has the ability to strip everything down to more acoustic-based arrangements and songs like the opening Fly and the closing Free (Not Afraid To Die) leave the listener in no doubt that we are in the presence of a leading light in the current overcrowded realm of Americana.   

Review by Paul McGee

Ellis Paul 55 Rosella

Sounding like a throwback to the 60s sound of Cat Stevens, the vocal tone of Ellis Paul comes calling across a career that commenced in New England during the 1980s. He self-produced this new album during the Covid lockdown and it is focused around the fact that, as he turned 55 years of age, he was diagnosed with a musician’s worst nightmare, a condition that constricts hand movement and forces the fingers to become a tight fist. With the prospect of no income lying ahead into the future, Paul decided to throw himself into work while he was still able to create music that would reflect the uncertainty of the times and also provide some succour from his diagnosis.

The songs that comprise this album are filled not with negative emotions and feelings; more with an optimism for what each day can bring as a gift. And speaking of gifts, there is a heartwarming story that surrounds the song, The Gift. On hearing of his diagnosis, musical friend Patty Griffin reached out to give Paul  some motivation to carry on the good fight, and she gave him a box filled with various items, ‘She put a ribbon on an old shoe box, I could hear the tick of a pocket watch, She said “All the time you need is in your hands,” There was a matchbox to burn away all the ghosts, And sage for the ones that haunt you most.’

Holy is a great song about a fictitious character who emigrates from Ireland on the doomed Titanic, looking for new beginnings in America. Everyone Knows It Now is a love song that features Laurie MacAllister (Red Molly), who is also a partner to Paul. She adds backing vocals on five songs in total and her fellow Red Molly bandmate Abbie Gardner provides dobro and vocals on Who You Are, a song that reveals a quiet need to be in nature and to try and commune with the great forces that surround us all.

Opening song The Cosmos gives thanks for all the benefits that life puts our way, while the title track, 55, is a look back at a life lived and the chances taken. Surviving the twists and turns on the road is what it all comes down to, with the Covid lockdown dealing yet another unexpected twist, ‘The virus don’t care if you’ve got mouths to feed, Or about songs you’re singing, While the whole world’s bleeding, But you get to stay and John Prine’s leaving, Who’s in charge of the order?’

In a career that has seen the release of over twenty albums, the name of Ellis Paul has become synonymous with the Boston Folk movement in the 1980/90s and his intelligent and mature songs are filled with perspective and a keen ear for melody. The good news is that a recent surgery has provided some optimism for his future as a performer and some respite from his advancing condition. The songs on this album will bring a sense of place and time to those who like to explore quality songwriting.

Review by Paul McGee

Anna Elizabeth Laube Wild Outside Pockets!

This contemporary Folk singer releases her fifth album, and includes elements of pop and catchy choruses into something of a new direction for her music. In recent years she has been gathering a lot of new admirers to her bright and breezy take on melody and rhythmic arrangements.  A perfect example is her cover version of the Bob Dylan song, Buckets Of Rain, which is very up-tempo with a calypso style beat and a sassy vocal delivery. This is one of five cover songs on an album that has great personality and charm.

Quite why Laube decided to include so many cover songs is something that will bring comment and it’s not as if she comes up short on her own creative muse. Her own songs are full of great moments, like the lovely Jardim Da Estrela which captures the joy and mystery of a visit to a garden in Lisbon, with an accordion played beautifully by Chris Joyner. This song appeared on a compilation album the Laube released in 2021. Equally, By Your Side is a message of optimism and an urge to see a friend living their best life in the choices that present themselves.

Other cover songs included are Crying (Orbison/Melson), I Will (Lennon/McCartney), How Could We Not Believe (Ben Harper) and It’s Nice To Be Alive (Swift/Bell/Feeney). It’s certainly a departure from the last studio album, TREE (2016), which was less commercially focused. The big production of songs Warrior and Beautiful Day seem to be aimed at a popular mass audience and this is a decision that may bring increasing media exposure to Laube.

More interesting is the stripped back version of I Will  with restrained piano and reflective vocal. Similarly the Ben Harper cover is a gentle arrangement with Bob Reich on accordion and Laube playing guitar, bass and delivering the sweet vocal. The Roy Orbison cover is delivered in instrumental form with just Laube and her piano in a very different take on the classic hit. She certainly likes to take chances and to push her unique vision of what song and melody can do.

Laube opens the album with the title song, Wild Outside, and an urge to escape city life in favour of the oceanside. The final song revisits this theme, Welcome Back To the Wild Outside, and the spoken word lyrics seem to reflect upon a broken relationship and memories that harbour regret. However, the restful calm can return with mother nature calling ‘Don’t forget, it’s okay, We’re all still here, We’re still happy, Welcome back to the Wild Outside.’ All in all, something of an uneven album but with enough great moments to engage.

Review by Paul McGee

Jono Manson Stars Enough To Guide Me Blue Rose

Born and raised in New York, and now relocated to Sante Fe, New Mexico, this album represents the eleventh release in a career that has seen Manson’s talents as a singer-songwriter, producer, and sideman recognised by many across the music industry. Indeed, a number of named artists are involved in the recording of this new album, which follows on from the excellent SILVER MOON (2020).

The project was produced by Manson at his own recording studio, The Kitchen Sink, with all songs written by him, including six co-writes. Two of the songs were written with his wife, Caline Welles and a further three with Kevin Trainor who plays electric guitar on a couple of tracks. Eliza Gilkyson adds her lovely vocals to two songs and Eric Ambel appears also on guitar, together with John Popper (Blues Traveller).

The album is an eclectic mix of many different styles but the dominant sound is based in the Americana/Roots genres. The RnB groove of Before We Get Stupid and The Further Adventures Of Goat Boy and the Clown are balanced against the beautiful country arrangements on Late Bloomer and Alone. Timberline is a fine ballad that would fit nicely into the songbook of James Taylor while No New Kind Of Blue is a dip into acoustic country blues territory with John Popper taking lead vocal and playing some very tasty harmonica, along with dobro and mandolin played by John Egnes.

Jason Crosby plays a range of instruments on all but one track and his prowess on organ, electric piano, and violin is a highlight, always fluent and fluid. Mark Clark and Paul Pearcy share drumming duties and Ronnie Johnson plays a pulsing bass on all eleven songs. Manson is a fine lead singer, his vocal full of character, and his excellent acoustic and electric guitar sounds are a real joy to experience. John Graboff turns up on four songs playing acoustic and electric guitars, 12-string and pedal steel, and mandolin; plus a host of other players cameo on different tracks. Lead/ harmony vocal is shared on other songs by Trevor Bahnson, Myrrhine Faller, David Berkeley, and Crystal Bowersox. The playing on the album is really superb and the song arrangements hold the attention and are very engaging. Jono Manson has delivered another yet another impressive example of his undoubted talents.

Review by Paul McGee

Meredith Moon, William Prince, Son Volt, Riders of The Canyon (Joana Serrat), Adam Klein, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, Ellis Paul Music and More, Anna Elizabeth Laube and Jono Manson.

New Album Reviews

Buddy Mondlock Filament Self Release

This seventh album from singer songwriter Buddy Mondlock had an official release back in February but somehow slipped through our net at Lonesome Highway. It can be hard to sometimes to get to every review in a timely fashion. Let’s just call it a case of excess demands on limited resources. Either way, this is a timely reminder to check out a fine talent that may be unknown to some who like to seek out real quality in their music. Sprinkle a little bit of magic dust into the writing and you have the full package here.

This time around we are treated to eleven songs from Buddy’s creative muse.  The musicians called upon are all experienced players and in Mike Lindauer (fretless electric bass), Josh Hunt (drums/percussion), Jim Hoke (pedal steel), Avery Bright (violin/viola), Austin Hoke (cello), Evan Cobb (flute/oboe), Melissa Greener and Carey Kotsionis (harmony vocals), we have a really talented ensemble to assist in breathing real life into these words of wisdom, longing, regret, optimism and much more besides.

Buddy himself is no mean player and contributes on an array of instruments (acoustic, electric and baritone guitar, 12-string guitar, resonator & high string guitar, banjo and electric bass). All songs are from the cultured pen of Buddy, including four co-writes. The producer is Brad Jones, who has worked with quite an elite list of artists, including Patty Griffin, Kim Richey, Allison Moorer, Shelby Lynne, Hayes Carll, Over the Rhine and Chuck Prophet. He also extends his talents to playing and contributes on upright and electric bass, harmonium, mellotron, Hammond B3, harmonica, electric guitar and xylophone. The album was recorded at Alex the Great in Nashville, a studio owned by Brad Jones.

Buddy is often referred to as a songwriter’s songwriter, having written for other artists over many years, before releasing his debut album in 1987. His songs have been recorded by Janis Ian, Guy Clark and Nanci Griffith, among others. He has a light touch and a gentle style that fits nicely into the hushed delivery in his vocal tone. The songs included here continue in the rich vein of intelligent craftmanship that Buddy brings to every project. The album opens with Filament and a tale of a girl who burned brightly but was ultimately consumed by the music system –  it could be a fictious female or it could be Britney, not that such detail matters. It is a nicely judged entry into what lies ahead.

Perfect  follows and is a love song that captures the moment when you see true beauty in another. It is a simple love song dedicated to his wife. The sorry tale of Jackson Petty  follows and he was a Great Grandfather of Buddy who, in 1864, hid from the raiding parties of civil war soldiers, only for his memories to return and haunt him in the face of possible conscription for his own son in WW1. If You Will is another fine song and captures that youthful innocence and trust when love is new. Sunlight In My Pocket follows in a similar vein and is an expression of celebrating love and happiness. It has an easy melody and a positive message to cling to in these troubled times.

The Woman In the Window changes things up a bit with a mellow, reflective tune that recognises feelings of loneliness, chances lost, a life remembered, memories that bite. Perhaps a life wasted as the very clever twist in the song conclusion dawns? It is a real standout song among so many other great tunes. Come Back First is very funny and another highlight, looking at a complex relationship that is volatile and unpredictable. The lyrics are so well crafted and an example being, ‘You been here and you been gone, Then here again and so on, Sorrow and relief – I don’t know which is worse. But if you want to leave again you gotta come back first.’

Ticket Taker Blues looks at the life of a ticket office worker at a bus or a railway station, stuck in a rut, and watching his life go by while wishing for dreams to come true and lead to a different reality. Weak is another standout song and a look at the life of a soldier. Buddy writes songs with military veterans through a program sponsored by an organization called Music Therapy of the Rockies and he includes this track as acknowledgement of the difficulties faced. It is a co-write with Nick Tibbs and the lyrics are quite hard hitting, ‘But the VA’s gonna fix you up, Just swallow these pills in this little cup, Back from the land of us and them, Giving Oxy out like M&Ms’. The reference to prescription drug abuse and addictive patients being all too clear.

Problem Solved is another song that is focused on addiction and love lost. ‘The future waited uninvolved, Then finally left, problem solved.’ The final track is The Dark which was co-written with Guy Clark. Perhaps we are all ultimately alone in this life, trying to connect with others and holding on for a lifeline. Our existence can be so fragile but we certainly have the capacity to endure. It is yet another superbly subtle song. If you have yet to discover the music of Buddy Mondlock then this is good a place to start, and then work backwards into his fine catalogue of excellent releases.

Review by Paul McGee

Bruce Cockburn O Sun O Moon True North

Another masterclass from the king of conscience. Since the 60s first announced this consummate singer songwriter into our lives, Bruce Cockburn has been releasing music of great intensity and stunning insight. This represents album number thirty-eight and it may well be one of his most powerful across a career of fighting to banish the darkness and illuminate the unyielding spirit that exists within us all.

Recorded in Nashville with his long-time producer, Colin Linden, O Sun O Moon exudes a profound simplicity and clarity. It’s almost as if Cockburn is looking back down the road travelled and reflecting upon the moments that have left an indelible mark. The focus is more on spiritual issues than the topical concerns that usually find prominence in his work. This time around, he is taking personal stock and balancing the books.

The quality of musicianship is of the highest level, and reflects the respect in which other musicians hold Cockburn’s body of work. Producer Colin Linden delivers a light and sensitive touch throughout and the various talents that feature across the twelve tracks include Janice Powers (keyboards), Gary Craig and Chris Brown (drums), Viktor Krauss (Bass), Jeff Taylor (accordion), Jenny Scheinman (violin) and multi-instrumentalist Jim Hoke. Linden appears on selected tracks also, and guest vocalists include Shawn Colvin and Buddy Miller in addition to Allison Russell, Sarah Jarosz, who also plays mandolin, Susan Aglukark and sisters Ann and Regina McCrary.

On A Roll opens the album and has Bruce declaring that he’s back and feeling as fit as ever for the fight. Orders follows next and is an atmospheric, slow melody with subtle playing. A song about acceptance and understanding. The milk of human kindness.

Push Come To Shove features Shawn Colvin and delivers a light jazz tone with violin, percussion, and acoustic guitar setting the atmosphere. Bruce finally realising the ‘when push comes to shove, it’s all about love.’

Colin Went Down To the Water is about a friend who drowned in Maui and features marimba and a resonant bass line. Allison Russell and Budy Miller contribute on harmony vocals. Into the Now features Sarah Jarosz on mandolin and is a song the captures the joy of being in the moment. The subtle differences between us all and our varied perceptions. It has a lovely melody with accordion playing so sweetly. Just let go and feel the love that surrounds us all. Heaven on earth. Day at a time.

Us All is a prayer for the human race. Is it too late to drop the barriers and just communicate? ‘Here we are faced with choice, Shutters and walls or open embrace, Like it or not the human race, Is us all.’ A Bruce Cockburn album would not be complete without touching on environmental issues. To Keep the World We Know features dulcimer and the sweet harmonies of Susan Aglukark, with whom he co-wrote the song, in a message about global warming. How do we survive if we don’t wake up and act. King Of Bolero takes a completely different direction with sax, clarinet, and marimba delivering a slow, sultry swing.

When the Spirit Walks In the Room is an acoustic tune, simple in structure and quite beautiful. The power outside our knowing, reduction of everything into proportion. The great presence of the infinite. Haiku  is the only instrumental on the album and highlights the wonderful guitar prowess of Cockburn, with marimba, bass, accordion, as accompaniment. Title track, O Sun By Day O Moon By Night features the McCrary sisters, harmonising to sax, clarinet, and marimba on a song that has Bruce looking to make some kind of peace with the ways of the world. When You Arrive ends the album on a light jazz/blues note with a song about ageing and acceptance. Bruce Cockburn has always fought against injustice, and espoused human rights for all. His great enemy has always been the corruption of power and the plight of the disadvantaged. On this album he has  given himself a reminder that the gentle call of nature is sometimes all we need to press the reset button – the ocean whisper, the sea undulating and mother nature shining with both magnificence and majesty, mystery and succour. A wonderful album and an essential purchase for any music collection.

Review by Paul McGee

Eliza Gilkyson Home Realiza

Eliza Gilkyson is a national treasure within the Folk Roots community and is held very dear. An artist that brings insight and joy to where music lovers gather to enjoy sentient song writing. By my count, this album places her number of releases in the mid-twenties, over a career that started back in the 1960s, and gathered pace into the decades that followed. Hers is the crown of gentle strength for others in the face of abusive power and the fear that spreads among the communities that feel vulnerable and unprotected.

This is a sublime record and right up there with Eliza’s greatest works. She continues to grow as an artist and the recent run of albums has seen Eliza at the peak of her powers. Her soothing vocal is just perfectly suited to these songs, many of which spread a healing balm over any cares or worries that the listener may have. Songs like Witness, with her brother Tony on sensitive and sublime guitar is a perfect example, and perhaps the ultimate love song, ‘The way you pull the veil, From the man behind the curtain, Cry from the heart for the lonely ones, The way you hear me out when you know I’m hurting, You’re the compassionate one.’

World Keeps On Singing and Sunflowers are two songs that wrap themselves around you and settle into the memory for different reasons. The former is a song about how the earth will endure and the spirit of hope that lingers. The latter is a song that rises above the urge in humans to destroy, and to take away the simple pleasures in life. Within Eliza, there has always been a fire that burned for redemption, coupled with the instinct to rebuild and to create new beginnings. This is the space where her empathy and grace come together in sweet harmony. .

Here Comes the Night has a country influence in the arrangement with brother Tony again providing the guitar parts. Man In the Bottle is a tribute to her father, Terry Gilkyson renowned singer and songwriter and Eliza calls upon some musicians that played with him, including Van Dyke Parks (piano, accordion), and John Egenes (Weissenborn guitar), with Rod Taylor (lead and harmony vocals).  The song is beautifully sculpted and includes references to three of his songs; Solitary Singer, With the Sad Eyes and Blue Mountain. It is a fitting and touching tribute.

Mary Chapin Carpenter shares vocals on Sparrow, a lovely song that features Jimmy Stadler on piano and celebrates both community and a recognition of the connection between music fans in their dedication in supporting artists such as Eliza and Chapin. Another song How Deep features the vocals of Robert Earl Keen and looks at what constitute real values and the way that we choose to live our lives. Safety Zone rails against the use of religion as a sticking plaster to all the inequality in the world, ‘Well the poor man lives for tomorrow, Tryin’ to run from his troubled mind, And the rich man lives off a poor man’s sorrow, Stands on his back to get one more dime.’

The final song, and title track, Home is the one cover on the album and originally written by Karla Bonoff back in 1977. It sees the circle completed and the journey of the restless wanderer resolved on the return to the safety of home. Eliza makes it her own with co-producer Don Richmond on vocal harmonies and some lovely pedal steel guitar. He plays an essential role throughout, with contributions on many instruments, including acoustic, 12-string, baritone, resonator and electric guitars, weissenborn guitar, mandolin, hammered dulcimer, upright and electric bass, pedal steel, harmony vocals.

An essential purchase and destined to feature in many top album lists for 2023. If you are looking for positive life affirmations then this is the album for you. It is essentially hopeful with a guarded optimism in looking for the better side of our collective consciousness, our deep human nature that seeks to nurture and not destroy all that is beautiful. Sweet redemption, indeed.

Review by Paul McGee

Annie Keating Hard Frost Self Release

Yet another strong statement from the very gifted songwriting talent that is Annie Keating. Her list of excellent releases stretches back to a debut in 2004 and this is her tenth album to date. On this record Annie delivers eleven songs that revolve around the vagaries of love. Her last release was BRISTOL COUNTRY TIDES (2021) and she was wrestling with bigger questions thrown up by the Covid crisis such as family, home and a sense of having a purpose in life. Producer Teddy Kumpel worked with Annie on that last album and he takes the reins again here.  The sound is excellent and very energising, whether listening to the more rock oriented numbers of the more mellow roots tracks.

Annie wrote nine of the songs herself and collaborated with Lynne Hanson on another, titled Lies and Dynamite. There is also a very credible cover of So Lonely (Sting) where she strips everything back to a bluesy treatment, infused with real intensity on the vocals. Annie takes the lead on vocals and acoustic guitar with the other players on the album comprising Steve Williams (drums, percussion), Richard Hammond (electric, acoustic bass, backing vocals), Todd Caldwell (piano, organ, mellotron, organ, Rhodes and Wurlitzer), Teddy Kumpel (acoustic guitar, electric and slide guitar, 12 string guitar, bass, background vocals), Lynne Hanson (backing vocals), and Kate Steinberg (backing vocals).

Looking For Trouble has the lines ‘No I wasn’t looking for trouble, but it found me in the nick of time, You were nothing I would have expected, But just what I needed to find.’   It’s a slow melody on an album that has as many up-tempo arrangements, played with plenty of attitude by Annie and her studio musicians. Sunshine Parade has the lines; ‘Trouble can find me, I don’t mind, Trouble is just a friend of mine.’  It’s a song with a great driving dynamic. Equally Lovesick Blues is all swagger and attitude. Lies and Dynamite has superb guitar and keyboard interplay and tells of love gone wrong while the Country influence on Keepsakes and Heartaches talks of new beginnings and time to move on.

Annie varies the tempo with slower songs like Witness and Wrong Guy’s Girl, both of which include some fine guitar highlights in the overall arrangements. Witness is about being there for another and  providing a shoulder of support to rest upon. Wrong Guy’s Girl is a like a musician-on-tour travel document but with a message of needing to return back to something that was left behind. Equally, Feels Like Home is another slow melody that remembers a past love and questions whether the lonely feeling can be turned around.

Belly Of the Beast is about coming back from the sucker punches that love can throw. With the lines ‘I was falling like a stone, and then you were the parachute holding me, Suddenly weightless and not alone,’ we have the sense that Annie is still standing and coming out fighting. This is a very enjoyable album and the songs are both engaging and rewarding. Definitely a keeper.

Review by Paul McGee

Half Moon Run Salt BMG

Half Moon Run formed in 2009 in Montreal, Canada and they have been making increasingly compelling music ever since their debut appeared in 2012. This is their fourth album and the band is comprised of Devon Portielje, Conner Molander and Dylan Phillips. The Americana genre has a very broad definition these days and we sometimes forget the depth of the original parts that went to make up the whole. Back to indie-folk and alt-country beginnings a movement emerged that was embraced as being all about owning your own sound. That stance for independence has taken many different forms and one of these has been the celebratory sound of Half Moon Run.

The deep groove of Hotel In Memphis is augmented by string arrangements and keyboard experimentation. It is as compelling as the gorgeous melody of Everyone’s Moving Out East with gentle acoustic guitar and cello balanced by the sense of dislocation and isolation in the overall arrangement. The vocal harmonies have a haunting quality in these songs and 9beat offers cause to reflect on that sense of being always in that moment of trying to catch up with yourself, ‘miss the southern sky, miss those bedroom eyes, miss that liar’s tongue, miss the warm goodbye.’

You Can Let Go is a big production sound and a song about laying down the burden in order to feel free and unencumbered, ‘you can let go, that weight you carry with ya, Once and for all.’ Heartbeat is another lovely arrangement with piano and acoustic guitars playing around the brushed percussion in a song about relationships and trying to hold on to something real. All three band members are multi-instrumentalists and the scale of their musical panorama is very compelling. The lyrics can be somewhat obscure, as with the song Alco, and trying to find meaning is left open to interpretation. Probably no bad thing. As the lovely melody of Gigafire builds around the words, the string arrangement and the swirling keyboards, you get the feeling of regret in something that is lost, ‘ this could be your very last chance, before it’s gone forever.’

The more rock oriented groove of Goodbye To Cali is perhaps as close to commercial pop as this trio want to get, but then it contains this classic piano part that just takes the song somewhere else. The title track is a brooding love piece that washes with spectral keyboard sounds and hints at vulnerability in relationships and opening up to someone special. Final track Crawl Back In is another glorious melody with simple acoustic guitar on top and it has that haunted quality again, perhaps a song about being unable to emote and of keeping things locked down inside. No doubt about the obvious talent these musicians have, guaranteed listening pleasure and a definite move towards a new kind of Americana that holds both elements of psychedelic folk and dream pop in equal measure.

Review by Paul McGee

Afton Wolfe Twenty Three Self Release

This 5-track EP is a follow up to the very successful debut album, Kings For Sale, released back in 2021. Wolfe has an engaging vocal, a cross between Tom Waits and Dr John, and his delivery is very much filled with character and personality. He highlights a sense of sad regret on Cry, the horn section creating a soulful atmosphere and the backing vocals of Regina McCrary and Melanie Dewey adding a sweetly appropriate gospel flavour.

A slow melody delivers The Moon Is Going Down, and a reflective tune that covers the hope romance can bring, while the atmospheric Truck Drivin’ Man is a menacing slow burn with violin by Rebecca Weiner Tomkins highlighting the mystery of never really knowing what motivates another person.  So Purple is a track that could be dedicated to the legacy of Prince, with the deep bass lines of Daniel Seymour leading a rhythm that delivers another soulful workout, augmented by some excellent flute playing courtesy of Seth Fox.

The final song, Late Nite Radio, is a standout with an emotive vocal and a building rhythm in celebration of a distant companion for many across the airwaves when you’re perhaps out driving or at home feeling lonely. Chad Stuibe on keyboards and Seth Fox on saxophone provide the dramatics and a sense of longing hangs in the air. Production courtesy of Brett Ryan Stewart is very big and bright with an impressive list of musicians featuring across the tracks. Wolfe has his roots in Mississippi and it shows through in the mix of soulful blues, country noir, and gospel leanings. He now resides in Nashville and is a regular at venues like The Five Spot, Dee’s Country Lounge, Grimey’s, and Basement East. Mixing among the variety of talent in East Nashville leads to an eclectic mix and a dynamic that continues to push Wolfe in the ongoing search for musical excellence.

Review by Paul McGee

Summer Dean The Biggest Life The Next Waltz

A schoolteacher and rancher in a former life and very much a free spirit, at forty years of age Texan Summer Dean bravely abandoned the security of those occupations to follow her dream and launch her career as a professional touring and recording artist. Her 2021 self-released debut full- length album, BAD ROMANTIC, was a straight-talking suite of classic country songs delivered with a swagger and confidence that marked her out as yet another artist inspired by 60s and 70s country.

She has teamed up with Bruce Robison as producer this time around, recording the album at his Bunker studio in Lockhart, Texas. Recorded entirely in analog, without the bells and whistles that could have overproduced the songs, there’s very much a ‘live’ feel to the recording. The thirteen tracks are also evidence of the huge strides Dean has made over the past few years, both as a songwriter and vocalist, the icing on the cake being her winning the 2023 Ameripolitan Music Award for Honky Tonk Female.

To be honest, I had expected the album to be loaded with full-on traditional country barroom ballads. Nothing could be further from the truth. The majority of the tracks are mid-paced country ballads, beautifully delivered vocally and with splashes of pedal steel, fiddles, piano and backing vocals, all in the right places. The songs also reveal a maturity in Dean’s songwriting, with first-hand tales many of which dwell on loneliness, isolation and solitude.

She may be looking in the mirror or directing the lyrics at another on Lonely Girls Lament, as she ponders, ‘I can’t believe you’re forty-one now, you’d think you’d be divorced and done by now….if I ever get my chance, I’d bet I’d still run.’ There’s also no sign of a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow on Other Women. This is the type of songwriting that Brandy Clark excels in, examining the lives and struggles of the average person, hoping to escape mundane and hopeless existences. She returns to the Texan border sound of the title track of BAD ROMANTIC with She’s In His Arms and I’m In The Palm Of His Hand and She Ain’t Me has Tammy Wynette written all over it. Other highlights include the rousing toe tapper Might Be Getting Over You and Clean Up Your Act If You Wanna Talk Dirty To Me, the latter no doubt aiming a wink in the direction of Loretta Lynn.

Summer Dean has crafted an album that salutes both vintage Nashville and contemporary country with THE BIGGEST LIFE.  2023 continues to be a bumper year for country albums, in the main recorded by women, that buck the trend and are retro without simply being carbon copies of the past. Alongside recent albums from her musical sisters, Brennen Leigh, Amanda Fields, Whitney Rose, and Michelle Billingsley, to name but a few, Dean has hit the jackpot with this gem.

Review by Declan Culliton 

Ags Connolly Siempre Self Release

It may seem a lonesome road at times for Ags Connolly as he leads the charge as one of the few ambassadors for traditional country music in the U.K. However, he’s not entirely on his own. His fellow countryman Spencer Cullum, though residing in Nashville, has established himself as one of the most sought-after pedal steel players in Nashville, and Albert Lee, Hank Wangford and Wes McGhee’s careers have found them immersed in roots music for many years.

SIEMPRE translates from Spanish as ‘always’ or ‘forever’ and may be a reference to Connolly’s unapologetic devotion to country music, whether that is the more vintage honky tonk direction of his 2019 album WRONG AGAIN or this latest album which leans slightly more towards a border Texas sound. That’s no surprise, given Connolly’s devotion to the Lone Star State’s music and in particular the output of the late James Hand.

SIEMPRE was recorded at Woodworm Studios in Connolly’s home county of Oxfordshire. Self-produced, local contributions came from Rob Updegraff (guitar), Anna Robison (bass), Chris ‘CJ’ Jones (drums), and premiere British pedal steel player for many decades, B.J. Cole. With the Tex-Mex flavour of the recording requiring a specific style of accordion playing, Connolly called on San Antonia-based Michael Guerra. A regular contributor to The Mavericks, Guerra also featured on WRONG AGAIN. Nashville resident and session player Billy Contreras was brought on board for the fiddle parts. Connolly added banjo contributions himself, having learned to play the instrument prior to the recording. However, the most impressive instrument on display here is Connolly’s voice, which is as rich in emotion as it is in expression. 

The ten-track album - nine originals and a cover of Wes McGhee’s, the Guy Clark sounding, Half Forgotten Tunes - kicks off in fine style with the possibly autobiographical Headed South For A While. Alongside the traditional Tex-Mex tracks, Change My Mind, I Trust My Heart These Days and Senora (Whatever Comes First), are the Joe Ely-flavoured ballad Tell Me What and the trademark Connolly slow-burner Overwhelmed. He signs off with the slow-paced Texan waltz I’d Be Good For You.

Conscious of his British heritage and aware that the album would be aimed as much at his followers in The U.S. as it would at those fans in Europe, Connolly made every effort to ensure that the album authentically represents classic Texan music. He has more than achieved that with SIEMPRE which, no doubt, will expand his fan base further both in The U.S. and closer to home. Often, greatness is closer to home than you realise. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Slackeye Slim Scorched Earth - Black Heart Self Release

On his fourth album Mr Slim (Joe Frankland) continues to explore his individual take on the American West, its landscapes, myths, mortals and music. It is filtered through a sun-drained vision, which is part comic book characters and partly based on the harsh reality of the physical and mental state that living in such a mindset envisions. In some ways, the video for the opening track (Everything Follows This) will tell you as much about his perception as any review might. It is, however, an artistic vision and a musical one that is equally metaphysical and open to interpretation and inquisition. 

There might be a brief relationship with the likes of The Legendary Shackshakers, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, Calexico, Tom Waits and others who have explored their own path in creating music, even if he sounds like none of these. More kindred spirits than flesh and blood influences. This is an honest and personal account that is often bleak but always engaging, and bears taking the time for its subtleties to be revealed and appreciated. To many it will appear off-kilter and off the beaten track often trodden by less inspired performers. 

Over the eleven tracks there are beaten rhythms, twanging guitars, vintage Farfisa organ, piano, banjo, accordion, Spanish guitar and a probably a hell of a lot more, all allowing Slim’s voice to breath the humanity into the body of the music. His may not be the prettiest voice you will hear, but it is the one that understands and articulates the emotions that the stories envision. It is a real voice detailing a person looking to understand his life and find his ways to grow, as he comes to terms with issues and gives them understanding and the space to turn them into a way to achieve growth. This is as true for the listener as it is for the artist.

Like Slackeyed Slim’s previous output, this album will doubtless be received again with glowing terms in certain quarters, whilst being dismissed in others. It was recorded in the way it lived with the basic tracks being cut in a house in Colorado accompanied by Trevor Richards and Jered Davis who recorded it, with drummer Mario Garcia along for the ride. Then Slim took what was an off road solar studio in a camper van out to the desert and canyons to add his vocal, giving them an inspirational and idiosyncratic sound that was purely himself and what was contained in the moment. Davis and Frankland then mixed the album.

The tracks that standout after a number of listens are: Crooked Teeth - with its anvil-like percussion, the barbed wire guitar of Somebody Else’s Name, Mama’s Favourite, that has a deep throat vocal and some Twin Peaks guitar and The Worst Of Me, which has an atypical lyrical stance that runs through much of the album.  This is not an album that dwells on the sunny side of life -  “my father was a joyless piece of shit, and so am I”, through to Godamnit It’s Christmas, equally not one for those enthralled by the spirit of the season. The album closes with the sparse piano and vocal of the equally morose Black Heart.

But in the end this is Slim’s world and the music creates its own territory that many may not want to enter, however those who do will be rewarded with  memorable glimpses of a scorched earth that has its own beauty to behold.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Bruce Cockburn, Eliza Gilkyson, annie.keating, Half Moon Run, Afton Wolfe, Summer Dean Music, Ags Connolly, and Slackeye Slim.

New Album Reviews

Hibsen The Stern Cost Of Living Self Release

This album is the result of a particularly rewarding song writing collaboration between Irish artists Gráinne Hunt and Jim Murphy. Both have been separately nurturing successful careers despite the obvious interruptions of Covid and over the years each has developed a musical maturity and richness in their output that, if somewhat undiscovered, is to be very much admired.

The project name of HIBSEN is a reference to Henrik Ibsen, the Norwegian playwright, whose work influenced a young James Joyce and no doubt inspired him in his own fledgling writings. Taking the short story collection, Dubliners, published back in 1914, Hibsen take on the challenging task of interpreting the fifteen Joyce tales that describe and reflect  the rich variety of Dublin life and the characters that reflected the times.

If Ulysses captures the activities across a single day of Leopold Bloom, the series of short stories in Dubliners highlight the vagaries of daily existence for a range of characters, a number of which were to reappear in the pages of Ulysses when it was eventually published in its entirety in 1922.

The integration of music and words is always a risk in such projects, whether the true essence of the stories can be captured and reflected back in terms of their nuance and their interpretation. Happily no such fears exist in this case and the entire project is an unqualified success and the level of talent on display is hugely impressive. Using a string quartet is an inspired decision and the arrangements benefit from the fluid interplay between Lynda O’Connor (first violin), Paul O’Hanlon (second violin), Beth McNinch (viola) and Gerald Peregrine (cello) across the various songs on which they feature.

Producer Alex Borwick does a stellar job in bringing everything together and Black Mountain Studios in Jenkinstown, Dundalk provided the creative space for the magic to take shape. Borwick also contributes bass, mandolin and backing vocals on the album, in addition to Shay Sweeney (drums, percussion), Alan Doherty (whistle), and Laura Ryder (piano).

The songs involve social, political and religious issues and the scenarios outlined include the frisson between the sexes, drinking, and lives filled with disappointment and regret. Perhaps the most famous of these Joyce stories is The Dead and this track is one of the high points on the album with Hunt’s vocal particularly memorable. Another fine song is Clay, with the traditional Irish arrangement complimenting another fine vocal display, whistle and violin duetting around the melody.

The Boarding House captures the tale of a lodger who seduces the daughter of the landlady, and Counterparts tells of the alcoholic, Farrington, and his journey to satisfy a thirst in various pubs such as O’Neill’s, Davy Byrne’s and the Scotch House. The sensitive delivery of the melancholic A Painful Case is beautifully observed and the sense of isolation in a life not really lived is captured with a poignancy.

Ivy Day In the Committee Room channels the memory of Charles Stewart Parnell, the Irish nationalist politician, who campaigned for Home Rule. After the Race tells the sorry tale of Jimmy Doyle who squanders his inheritance on drinking and gambling, while Two Gallants covers the tale of two scheming fops who steal in order to maintain their brittle and crumbling pursuit of wealth. The album title is used in the chorus of this song as the miscreants live a life of daily self-delusion.

Grace is another tale of descent into drunken ways and the proposed salvation offered by a religious retreat among friends . Throughout the project, the sweetly subtle vocals of Gráinne Hunt are very engaging and co-writer Jim Murphy shines on both guitar and backing vocals, with the shared vocal on The Boundary House a real stand-out. It captures the female perspective of the pain caused by a moment of weakness in falling for the charms of a stranger who debates whether he should now do the honourable thing and marry.

Final word goes to the lyric in The Dead and the lines “If we were young again, if life replayed, We could have been a great affair, if I had stayed.”  A lot of Joyce’s life could be construed as a series of ‘what ifs’ and ‘if onlys’; had he become pursued a career as a singer instead of a writer; his self-imposed exile from Ireland for twenty nine years; his lack of a regular income; his death in Zurich at the young age of 58… However, it is his abiding love affair with both the people and the land of Ireland that provides the legacy to his life and his influence today is as strong as at any point in his life.

The ability to capture the stories contained within Dubliners is no mean feat and the lyrics that have emerged from the co-writing talents of Gráinne Hunt and Jim Murphy are to be greatly admired. No doubt the great man himself would have approved!    

Roots music is a term coined to capture and celebrate the enduring talents of local musicians, no matter the particular region. Ireland boasts a proud tradition of artists, musicians, poets and writers, and there is nothing more fitting than to honour the creativity of one of our greatest literary exports. Hibsen is a wonderful concept and delivered with impressive scale. It is an album that will endure and grow in status as time unfolds and, all things considered should become something of an inspiration for future generations.

Review by Paul McGee

The Remedy Club Back To You Self Release

Starting off their third album with a positive affirmation to parenthood, Aileen Mythen and KJ McEvoy make a strong statement in celebration of life. Dedicated to their daughter, the title track sees this talented couple come out of the traps with all guns blazing in a big production arrangement complete with a driving beat, and fulsome strings building the song dynamic.

The self-reflection of Would You Be So Sure is a statement of enduring love and looking back down the road of a relationship that has matured “The old ghosts of the past, they were never made to last, we laid them down to rest.” The guitars and string arrangement sounding bright and bold. Roll With It is a really excellent r ‘n’ b track with a great horn arrangement and a sassy vocal delivery that urges a robust response to the slings and arrows that life throws our way. The song builds nicely to a climax with the excellent guitar of KJ to the fore.

And so it continues, with the songs alternating between up-tempo buoyant arrangements and more stripped down melodies. There is a heartfelt tribute to Gavin Ralston, musician and producer, who died back in 2019. Gavin was a close friend of the Remedy Cub, and a much loved member of the Irish music community. The sentiment expressed in It’s Alright is just perfect in celebrating the life that he lived and the memories that endure.

Texas Sky is a tip of the hat to the roots music that Remedy Club explored on earlier albums and the country sound of pedal steel (Dave Murphy), adds great atmospherics to the big sky arrangement and a song about living free and easy on the range.

The warm keyboards of producer Gavin Glass are prominent on the soulful track Say A Prayer with nice guitar parts and a fine vocal delivery from Aileen, full of passion and pleading. Backing vocals are provided by Rachel Grace and KJ pops up as a strident preacher with spoken word vocals delivered through a megaphone in the mix. Excellent stuff.

“Time ain’t nothing but a clock on the wall” sings Aileen on the track Write Me A Letter and the wish to just live for the moment and enjoy the days we are given comes through strongly in the impressive production. Co-Producer Gavin Glass really brings his A-game to the mixing console and delivers a really cohesive an impressive album, in tandem with the Remedy Club.

Complicated is another slow burn track, with lovely strings and acoustic guitar reflecting the emotions of the song, referencing the apparent lack of empathy in the world – our journey as a race having taken us to a version of humanity that can be seen as a dichotomy at best.

The excellent Boleyn’s Blues is a highlight with Aileen taking the groove back to younger days when she strutted the boards as B and the Honeyboy, a blues band that released some fine music. On this song the slow tempo is perfectly suited to her vocal phrasing and the atmospheric slide guitar of Gavin Glass joins with the horns and keyboards to add real depth and menace to the arrangement; “Take my head, I don’t need it anyway.”    

Your Light Shines is another country tinged ballad that has musings on our place in the grand plan, wondering where it may all be leading. Worthwhile has a great Dixieland horn arrangement to set the atmosphere with some fine guitar picking and piano parts that complement the easy groove. Final song I’m Coming Home features another great vocal performance from Aileen as the cycle comes full circle and the journey we all face comes around to its natural conclusion. What awaits is a warm and safe place. Again, the arrangement builds and the great production leaves a cathartic feeling.

Throughout this impressive album there are fine performances from Aongus Ralston (bass), Binzer Brennan and Mark Colbert (drums on selected tracks), Dave Murphy (pedal steel), Gavin Glass (keyboards, acoustic and slide guitar, backing vocals), Rachel Grace (glockenspiel and backing vocals), Ellie Greene (backing vocals), Kyshona Armstrong (backing vocals) and brass provided by Michael Buckley and Ronan Dooley. The string section is the Orphan Strings of Gerard Peregrine, Beth McNinch, Jenny Dowdall, Linda O’Connor and Paul O’Hanlon with Liam Bates writing and arranging all the parts.

KJ McEvoy contributes acoustic and electric guitar, in addition to lead and harmony vocals. Aileen Mythen provides lead and harmony vocals and the twelve songs are all written by the couple. The album is a really great listen and a credit to all concerned with the impressive playing and production a testament to these talented musicians. As the liner notes on the album confirm “Fair play to ourselves for hanging in there against all the odds.” It’s a fragile career at best, this music business rollercoaster ride, but Aileen and KJ have stuck at it through all the twists and turns. They deserve to see this album take its place among the best releases of 2023.

Review by Paul McGee

Rodney Crowell The Chicago Sessions New West

This is a welcome step back in time. When it comes to prolific song writers then Rodney Crowell ticks pretty much every box you can think of over his stellar career. In this case it’s very much an approach of ‘less is more’ where we get ten songs written in the classic old traditions of country music. No frills, just simple song structures with understated playing that serve the overall sound in creating lovely melodies.

Crowell came to our attention in the 1970s and his gradual rise to fame and recognition has been a steady path forged through writing for other artists before building a solo career that has taken him to the very top of his game. Over an impressive catalogue of releases, Crowell has established himself as one of the real icons in country music. His writing is deceptively simple with arrangements that are immediate and communicate very straight forward messages. The new album was recorded in a live setting by Jeff Tweedy and  by Tom Schick at Wilco’s Loft in Chicago and there is a real intimacy to the entire project.

Crowell brought three players with him to The Loft — guitarist Jedd Hughes, pianist Catherine Marx, and bassist Zachariah Hickman — while also calling upon John Perrine and Spencer Tweedy (Jeff’s son) to split drumming duties. Jeff Tweedy also appears on vocals, guitars, and banjo throughout.

Across ten tracks and some thirty eight minutes, Crowell delivers a master class on how its supposed to be done. Epitomised by the opener Lucky with a real funky rhythm and a message of love to his wife, Crowell leaves plenty of room for these terrific musicians to stretch and display their many talents. Somebody Loves You follows in a similar vein with a message to keep a grip when life is hard. Lots of groove to the guitars and the piano in the mix here.

Loving You Is the Only Way To Fly is a gentle arrangement and a love song with an uncredited female co-vocal, presumably Catherine Marx, although the video to the single showcases the great vocal talent of Audrey Spillman?  The song, You’re Supposed To Be Feeling Good is another love song but this time out the strains of misunderstanding are in the air, ‘Soulmate, the blues are deceiving, They keep us believing we've been dealt the wrong hand, Last night you told me to wise up, Give the disguise up and walk like a man.’

No Place To Fall follows with a heartfelt plea to accept the frailties in another and show both forgiveness and understanding. This is a suitably reverential version of the Townes van Zandt song that originally appeared on his Flyin’ Shoes album in 1978. Oh Miss Claudia is hugely atmospheric and a swamp blues boat rise through the Mississippi delta in terms of feel and groove. The band excel on this one, with piano and acoustic guitars augmenting the double bass and percussive rhythm.

Everything At Once has Jeff Tweedy on co-vocal and it’s a song that both wrote for the album, ‘Everything at once, ah you lose and you live some, The world on a kite string thread, famine and flood, code red, Just don't let it mess with your head.’ It’s a wry observation on our propensity for immediate gratification in an overstimulated world and the need for us to wake up to bigger issues.

Ever the Dark is a song that looks at negative thoughts and days that seem an endless fight against depression. Fuzz guitar driving the beat and the angst contained in the song ‘Now and then we let a little light in, and then we're back again, drawing the blinds, Ever the dark come calling, ever the sun don't shine.’

Making Lovers Out Of Friends is a classic country song and a tribute to the old style arrangements of days past. It’s a song that looks at the fragile line that exists in a friendship and the risk of crossing over into an ill advised relationship ‘So please don't throw "forever after" at me, If you want to keep me close, then don't be mine, The way to live each day in love and laughter, Is if we never ever cross that line.’

Final song Ready To Move On is a look back down the road travelled and the spoken lyric compliments the lovely playing and the understated melody. Crowell looks at the world that surrounds him and muses on the meaning of it all ‘You know there'll come a day when none of this will matter, It will all be so much mindless chatter.’

This album is a real beauty and a testament to the abiding talent of Rodney Crowell. There is an old saying the “form is temporary, but class is permanent.” It was never in doubt that Crowell remains a beacon in the restless seas of singer songwriters and this album proves that he continues at the very top of his game.

Review by Paul McGee

Brennen Leigh Ain’t Through Honky Tonkin’ Yet Signature Sounds

The majority of artists who are two decades into their recording career, will have taken a swerve in the road along the way and recorded material slightly distanced from their comfort zone. That’s not the case with Brennen Leigh, whose back catalogue is strictly and unapologetically country, whether that be bluegrass, western swing or traditional country. The Fargo, North Dakota-born artist has been most certainly on a roll in recent years and her latest recording follows swiftly in the footsteps of her 2022 collaboration with Asleep at the Wheel, OBSESSED WITH THE WEST and PRAIRIE LOVE LETTER, which was an album of the year at Lonesome Highway in 2020. 

A prolific writer and composer, when the idea landed to create a full-on honky tonk album, Leigh already had a treasure chest of suitable songs written, a number of which were co-written with others following her relocation to Nashville in 2017.To complete the process she sought out the assistance of her close friend Chris Scruggs, who helped to flesh out the songs and also produce the recordings. Their criterion was simply to replicate the sound that came out of Nashville in 1967/ 1968, the era when some of Leigh’s favourite albums were recorded by artists such as George Jones and Melba Montgomery. Scruggs also played electric and acoustic guitar and the other musicians, all Music Row royalty, included Tommy Hannum (pedal steel), Micah Hulscher (piano), Alec Newnam (upright bass), Nate Felty (drums), Aaron Till (fiddle, acoustic guitar) and Marty Stuart (mandolin).

Backed by these exceptionally talented players and with Leigh’s smooth vocals, the final product is a resounding success. Across twelve tracks she more than achieves her objective with an album that has ‘career finest’ stamped all over it. The opener, Running Out Of Hope, Arkansas, written with Silas Lowe, gets the show on the road in fine style and gets my vote as the song of the year so far. Although written ‘tongue in cheek’, it’s hardly going to feature as ‘song of the week’ on KNWA Radio in Arkansas. Next up is a co-write with Tessy Lou Williams, Someone’s Drinking About You, which also featured on Williams’ splendid self-titled album from 2020. The Bar Should Say Thanks and Every Time I Do have George Jones and Melba Montgomery written all over them. Carole With An E - check out the YouTube video - was written with Mallory Eagle, who bookends the track with some CB radio trucker talk. It’s a fun-filled, cleverly written song, but one that also emphasizes the quality of the players that contributed to the live recordings in the studio, with only backing vocals added at a later stage. The title track, heavy on fiddle and pedal steel, is classic country with a capital C. Romance and heartbreak emerge on the mid-paced Every Time I Do, written with Noel McKay and Erin Enderlin, and on the tear-jerker Mississippi Rendezvous.

A free-flowing stream of clever lyrics, beautifully articulated, stellar playing, and awash with melody, Brennen Leigh’s goal may have been to pay homage to some of her cherished albums and artists from that late 60s golden era in Nashville. With songs that sound as if they were cherry picked from classic country standards, she has achieved much more than that. AIN’T THROUGH HONKY TONKIN’ YET can stand proudly alongside many of those treasures, so dear to Leigh’s heart, that emerged from Nashville during that period. Country music has evolved mainly towards mainstream pop since then, but in recent years the pendulum is certainly swinging back to a traditional sound, so the timing is spot on for this superb album.

Review by Declan Culliton

Roseanne Reid Lawside Last Man Standing

Although you’re likely to find Roseanne Reid’s albums in the ever-expanding Americana section at your favourite Independent Record Store, the Edinburgh-born artist’s output should more accurately be classified as folk music. LAWSIDE is her second full album and if the title sounds like it was inspired by a hard-boiled crime novel, nothing could be further from the truth. It is in fact a reference to a suburb in Dundee, Scotland, which Roseanne now calls home and where she happily resides with her wife and baby son. That title is a statement of contentment and happiness and those sentiments very much ring through on this thirteen-track album.

The most refreshing aspect of Roseanne’s albums, both this one and her debut record TRAILS, is the honesty and placidness in her music. She sings confidently and passionately in her own brogue, navigating across a variety of emotions, mainly heartening in essence. The album also finds her promoting her Celtic heritage, and why not? The introduction of fiddle and banjo on tracks like Daisy Chain, Mona Lisa and What Constitutes A Sin adds an elegant dimension to both songs, without ever distracting from her vocals and the tales she delivers. Although laid back and low-key in the main, the song selected as the first single from the album, Call It Love, is a bustling affair. With a heavy brass section, it recalls Van Morrison’s Celtic soul output period, which once more suggests Reid’s ‘close to home’ influences.

The focus on contentment and optimism are very much to the fore on the love songs Couldn’t Wish More For You and Made Just For You, the latter written in anticipation of the arrival of Reid’s son. Shine On - a particular favourite of mine - recalls early career Joan Armatrading and she closes with the gentle ballad Take Your Time.

Unlike TRAILS, which was recorded in Brooklyn over a five-day period, the recording this time around took place over multiple visits to the studio and was produced by multi-instrumentalist, Dave Macfarlane. That relaxed arrangement suited Reid’s lifestyle and is evident in the final product. While sticking to the template that has worked particularly well in her career to date, her vocals are more confident, assured and very much in the front of the mix.

Joining Steve Earle on his upcoming solo tour and booked to perform at numerous festivals this summer, will no doubt, attract many more devotees to the literate songwriting and novel vocals of an artist mastering her skills as a writer and singer.

If TRAILS was a welcome introduction to the musical world of Roseanne Reid, this polished set of songs raises the bar by many notches.

Review by Declan Culliton

Michelle Billingsley Both Sides of Lonely Western Myth

“At times perturbing, seldom polite, more often than not irreverent and frequently amusing,” is how we described Chicago-based Michelle Billingsley’s debut album, NOT THE MARRYING KIND, back in 2019. It also offered the listener an introduction to an artist embracing traditional country music and giving a wide berth to the dreaded mainstream pop/country crossover music so popular with country music radio stations in America.

With copious amounts of searing pedal steel, thumping bass lines, slick guitar breaks and quivering vocals, this latest self-produced album finds Billingsley travelling even deeper into honky tonk territory. The eleven tracks - ten self-penned and a cover of Tennessee Waltz - were recorded at JamDeck Studios in Chicago and mixed by Doug Malone. The players are in vintage form throughout, complementing Billingsley’s sweet vocals. They are her trusted rhythm section of Brian Westfall on bass and Jordan Snow on drums, alongside guest player Brian Wilkie on guitar and pedal steel.

As was the case with her debut album, Billingsley’s straight-talking lyrics are as clever as they are caustic, covering familiar themes of jilted love, hangovers, random one-night stands, and lots of regrets. She recalls a two-timing charmer on the opener, I Love The Way He Says He’s Sorry and the same ‘unlucky in love’ storyline unfolds in the two-stepper Bad Case Of The Blues, complete with yodelling and slick guitar playing. The price of a passionate, albeit loveless fling, arises in Trouble Walkin’ and Tammy Wynette’s Stand By Your Man sentiment is questioned in Him, Her and Me. Neither are there happy endings on both Sense Of Smell (‘Funny what he left behind, dirty clothes, lie after lie. But it’s worse what he took, he took your hope’) or the casual one-night stand in Wichita.

It's not all lonesome, regret and heartache, well nearly not all. The acoustic closing track, Joshua, which features vocal, acoustic guitar and cello, is an altogether darker and post-apocalypse affair.  As two individuals come to terms with, what could be, the end of the world, (‘Word is from the top, there wasn’t even a war, just someone fell asleep on the button’), it’s a pointer towards Billingsley’s capability of also writing outside her comfort zone.

BOTH SIDES LONELY, in addition to being a noble effort by Billingsley in keeping real country music alive, has turned the heat up a couple of notches from her debut album. And if anyone is wondering about her state of mind given the misery and anguish in many of the songs, I’ll leave the last words to Michelle. ‘I’ve got a whole new sound, a new record. My voice is stronger than ever. I’ve got a ring on my finger. I’ve got a dog now. And my band and I have really grown with this album.’

Review by Declan Culliton

Laura Cantrell Just Like A Rose: The Anniversary Sessions Propellor

Nine years after the release of her last album, NO WAY THERE FROM HERE, and three years after its intended release, JUST LIKE A ROSE: THE ANNIVERSARY SESSIONS, has finally seen the light of day. What was to be a 20th-year celebration of Cantrell’s debut album, NOT THE TREMBLIN’ KIND, fell foul of the pandemic and led to a piecemeal recording of the eleven tracks on the new album. With five producers listed, as many co-writers and contributions from a host of players, many being household names, the end product could very well have been a misfired and disconnected album. Remarkably, nothing could be further from the truth, and despite the ‘all hands-on deck’ approach, the final mix hangs together extremely well.

Recorded in studios both in Cantrell’s birth city, Nashville and in New York where she currently resides, she wears a coat of many colours, fusing full-on roots rockers in the company of more laid-back tunes. She kicks off with two co-writes with founding member of Nashville's Planet Rockers and former bass player with Emmylou Harris’ Nash Ramblers, Mark Winchester. Both written on the same afternoon, the opener Push The Swing is a crunching rocker, followed by a pedal steel-washed country ballad, Bide My Time. Her long-time guitar sideman, Mark Spencer, co-wrote the album’s standout track, Like A Rose. Written in deference to Rosie Flores, an artist much admired by Cantrell since her college days, it’s one that had me hitting the repeat button. Flores was also invited on board to produce that track and the Amy Rigby composition, Brand New Eyes.

A reconstructed version of When The Roses Bloom Again features shared vocals with Steve Earle, Buddy Miller on guitar, and the inclusion of uilleann pipes by Ivan Goff is in recognition of the support Cantrell has enjoyed in the U.K. and Europe. She reminisces on the New York of her college days in I’m Going To Miss This Town and friends and family distanced during the dark days of lockdown fuelled the melodic ballad Holding You In My Heart. The Paul Burch produced Secret Language is a stunning inclusion and all the better for Fats Kaplin’s dreamy pedal steel.  

JUST LIKE A ROSE is the essence of what Laura Cantrell is all about. Looking over her shoulder and journeying through a wide canvas of personal plights, it’s a delightfully accessible album of roots songs that both console and delight. It’s also a heart-warming addition from an artist that never appears to put a foot wrong. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Tanya Tucker Sweet Western Sound Fantasy

With two Grammy Awards under her belt for her 2019 album, WHILE I’M LIVIN’, it’s no surprise that Tanya Tucker worked with the same production team, Brandi Carlisle and Shooter Jennings, for SWEET WESTERN SOUND. The template also remains faithful to its predecessor, with Tucker’s husky vocals delivering ten slickly produced tracks, one of which, Breakfast In Birmingham, was co-written with Carlisle and also features her vocal contribution.

The album opens with a short ‘voice mail generated’ intro titled Tanya, from her close friend, the late Billy Joe Shaver (‘the glow from the light all around her shows off her beauty so well, she looks like a heavenly angel but Tanya’s meaner than hell’) and merges into Kindness, written by Carlisle’s sidemen, the Hanseroth twins, and the first single taken from the album.

The piano-led Ready As I’ll Never Be and Waltz Across A Ballad are thoughtful mid-tempo ballads and she goes full-on country with the toe-tapping, tongue-in-cheek, and pedal steel-driven, The List. The gorgeous Letter to Linda is a kind hearted ode to Linda Ronstadt, whose influence on Tucker’s career as a young teen artist was significant.

It’s remarkable that after such a successful five-decade career Tucker was only this year inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame alongside Patty Loveless, the first time in history that two women were inducted in one year. The success of WHILE I’M LIVIN’ was instrumental in that overdue recognition and SWEET WESTERN SOUND is likely to mirror the success of that record. She’s in fine voice throughout and with  smooth production and co-writes with Bernie Taupin, JT Nero, Billy Don Burns and Craig Dillingham, together with self-written material, she doesn’t put a foot wrong. She’s not going anywhere either and I suspect that her ingrained outlaw spirit will continue to shine going forward.

Review by Declan Culliton

Cowboy Junkies Such Ferocious Beauty Cooking Vinyl

The last studio album from lo-fi Canadians Cowboy Junkies, SONGS FROM THE RECOLLECTION released last year, was a trawl through earlier much-loved songs that cemented their musical direction as a band. Siblings Michael, Peter and Margo Timmons, alongside Alan Anton, have been releasing music since their debut album WHITES OFF EARTH NOW in 1986, which was followed two years later by their breakthrough album, THE TRINITY SESSIONS. Remarkably, the personnel in the band remains unchanged, as does their unique experimental lo-fi, alt-country sound.

Their modus operandi has also changed little over the decades. Michael Timmons, the eldest sibling, is the main songwriter and on this album much of the material considers mortality, ageing and survival. The opening track, What I Lost, (‘I woke up this morning, I didn’t know who I was’) is a passionate recollection of the last months of their father’s life as he struggled with dementia and memories of his full and adventurous life slipped away. Shadows 2, inspired by the D.H. Lawrence poem Shadows, also reflects on their father’s death and the bedside visits at those times.

David Bowie’s Five Years was the opening track on SFTR, and his influence can be heard on the stand-out track, Flood. With mortality and continuing survival as the recurring theme, it’s awash with gloriously distorted guitar alongside Margo’s crystal clear vocal. In contrast, the relative calmness of Circe And Penelope speaks of loss and remorse, amplified by aching violin. Its darkness and rawness are matched by the stripped-back and acoustic Hell Is Real. Hard to Make, Easy to Break, is driven by a thumping bass line and Hendrix-style guitar breaks and they close the album on a ruminative note with Blue Skies, a reminder that our dreams and ambitions are not always achievable and living in the moment is often a less challenging option.

With over twenty albums in their armoury, Cowboy Junkies’ elegant songwriting, classy arrangements, and Margo’s prime enunciation remain as striking and vital as ever. They have once more crystallised that signature sound on SUCH FEROCIOUS BEAUTY, with a thought-provoking collection of songs that touch on the grinding reality of life and the passage of time.

Declan Culliton

Hibsen, The Remedy Club, Rodney Crowell, Brennen Leigh, Roseanne Reid, Michelle Billingsley Music, Laura Cantrell, Tanya Tucker and Cowboy Junkies.

New Album Reviews

Caleb Elliott Weed, Wine & Time Single Lock

My introduction to the music of the Muscle Shoals classically trained cellist, Caleb Elliott, was his 2019 album FOREVER TO FADE. Described as ‘swamp art rock’, its blend of soulful summery tunes, bordering on prog at times, was a breath of fresh air and it was an album that I found myself returning to quite regularly that year.

WEED, WINE & TIME follows a similar musical template. Recorded at the Florence, AL studio Sun Drop Sound, Elliott teamed up once more with Ben Tanner (Alabama Shakes, John Paul White, Lera Lynn) to co-produce the eleven tracks. They work their magic throughout, incorporating strings, keys and gentle harmony vocals in all the right places and also creating some dreamy radio-friendly gems. The opener Sweeter Paradigm and Sister, which follows, are cases in point. The former is an exceptionally well-constructed instantly catchy nugget and the latter, motivated by his sister’s struggle with cancer, is simply beautiful and the album’s standout track.

Echoes of Neil Young and Dylan Le Blanc were close to the surface on Elliott’s debut album and appear again here on the grungy No Telling. He’s equally at home dishing out more laid-back ballads Warships and Union Of Strangers or foraying into soulful prog on the duet Isolation with AJ Haynes of Seratones.  

Maybe it’s the weed or the wine, but WW&T is every bit as trippy and funky as its predecessors and is an equally impressive and easy on the ear creation from one very laid-back dude.

Review by Declan Culliton

Dean Owens El Tiradito (the curse of sinner’s shrine) CRS

Recorded at WaveLab Studios in Tuscon, Arizona, and released in 2022, SINNER’S SHRINE evolved from Dean Owens’ sessions with Joey Burns, John Convertino and a host of their Calexico collaborators and players. Following on from that delightful suite of desert border sun-drenched songs, Owens has released EL TIRADITO. It’s a double album, one disc featuring instrumentals that did not make the cut for SINNERS SHRINE and another disc that gathers together the material that appeared on Owens’ three-disc release, THE DESERT TRILOGY EPs. Reworkings of two tracks, La Lomita and The Hopeless Ghosts, are also included as bonus tracks.

The legend behind the title EL TIRADITO is one of passion, lost love and tragedy and is marked by a ‘sinners’ shrine’ to the present day. The location marks the spot in Tucson, Arizona, where a ranch hand, following a passionate affair with the wife of his boss, was murdered by the rancher, who in turn is scalped by Apaches while on the run. The eight instrumental tracks that feature were written by Owen as a soundtrack of an imagined ‘spaghetti western’ movie telling the tale of those ill-fated events of unbridled passion, danger and chaos.

Standout tracks previously recorded on THE DESERT TRILOGY EPs and featured are the haunting Dolina, adorned by Jacob Valenzuela’s booming trumpet, and the quite stunning Riverline, with Owens’ by now trademark whistling working alongside slick guitar playing by Naim Amor. Others that make their mark are the eerie murder ballad The End and the evocative Ashes & Dust.

The quality of the material aside, credit goes to James Morrison and Luisa Carmela Casasanta for the striking artwork for this and, indeed, for all the previous album covers from the project. This is most likely the final chapter in what has been a purple patch in the Leith, Edinburgh, singer songwriter’s musical career to date. Having said that, I suspect that the lure of the burning deserts, the Morricone-themed western soundtracks, and those mariachi horns, may raise their heads once more in future Dean Owens projects.

Review by Declan Culliton

Leftover Salmon Grass Roots Compass

Credited as one of the principal forefathers of the burgeoning newgrass/jamgrass scene, Colorado-based Leftover Salmon have dipped their toes into every sub-genre of acoustic bluegrass over the band’s three-decade existence. The current line-up of the band is made up of founding members Vince Herman (guitar) and Drew Emmitt (mandolin), Greg Garrison, Andy Thorn (banjo), Alwyn Robinson (drums) and recent recruit Jay Starling (dobro, keyboards).

Joined by wonder kid Billy Strings founding member of The David Grisman Quintet, Darol Anger and the frontman of The Wood Brothers, Oliver Wood, the band reconstruct bluegrass standards on the album and put their individual stamp on songs by Bob Dylan (Simple Twist Of Fate), The Grateful Dead (Black Peter), Link Wray (Fire and Brimstone), Tony Rice (Blue Railroad Train), and David Bromberg (The New Lee Highway Blues). Much of this featured material is songs and tunes that Herman and Emmitt originally performed in The Salmon Heads and The Left Hand String Band prior to forming Leftover Salmon.

As you would expect, the playing is exemplary throughout and no more so than on the racy instrumental Nashville Skyline Rag, with Billy Strings adding additional guitar firepower, and the raging Riding On The L&M.

Readers already familiar with the back catalogue of Left Over Salmon won’t need any convincing to get on board GRASS ROOTS and with the ever-growing interest in the genre from a younger audience, the album is likely to spread their word much farther afield.

Review by Declan Culliton

Kassi Valazza Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing Loose

HIGHWAY SOUNDS, a four-track EP from 2022, was my initial introduction to the musical world of Portland-based singer songwriter, Kassi Valazza. That encounter, impressive as it was, led me back to her 2019 album DEAR DEAD DAYS. Both recordings were a gateway into the sonic leanings of an artist who seemed every bit at home pouring her heart out with a country ballad as she was executing a sophisticated and often cosmic-leaning folk song.

Splendid as those recordings are, her latest album, KASSI VALAZZA KNOWS NOTHING, raises the bar a considerable number of notches. There is a consistency and noticeable common ground across the ten tracks on the album that suggests an artist that knows exactly what she’s doing. The overall mood of the album is a trawll through the intimate space in the creator’s personality. Relationships are recalled, possibly with as much regret as fondness, leaving the listener to interpret the song’s often romantic inner meanings. 

An anxious live performer by admission, Valazza cut her teeth on the live circuit as a backing vocalist with the late Patrick Haggerty’s country band, Lavender Country before concentrating on a solo career. Despite her stage unease, intense and spellbinding live performances and the quality of her writing have created a growing audience and interest in her work. This latest suite of songs perfectly captures what she’s about. The album’s title is taken from the name of Valazza’s studio band, TK & The Know Nothings, and their low-key arrangements are the perfect foil for Valazza’s calculated and gently delivered tales.

The isolation and loneliness of life on the road emerge in the postcard-type lyrics of Room In The City and matching apprehension and self-doubt populate Long Way From Home (‘I’d rather be lonely than be on my own’). Darkness also seeps through on the hauntingly lonesome sound of Smile. While much of the album maintains a consistent sonically-muted ambience throughout, the stand-out track, Watching Planes Go By, allows her band to drift off into a trippy meander mid-song, stretching the song to the six-minute mark. She closes the album with a cover of Michael Hurley’s Wildgeeses. It’s a fitting tribute to the free-spirited artist and poet who was an integral part of the Greenwich folk scene in the 60s and 70s and is revered by Valazza. It also mirrors the decades where the album finds its closest links, whether that is the classic folk sounds of the East and West of America or those of English folk at that time.

Far from a Saturday night listen, KASSI VALAZZA KNOWS NOTHING is an enthralling portal into the music and compositions of an imaginative mind. Backed by some very talented players and with a silver-voiced vocalist, it’s both fiercely intensive and deeply absorbing. 

Review by Declan Culliton

GracieHorse L.A.Shit Wharf Cat

After an eight-year hiatus, Los Angeles-based GracieHorse’s return to the recording studio has been well worth the wait. Previously a member of Boston-duo Fat Creeps, Gracie (Jackson) has constructed a nine-track album with twang, edginess, and psychedelia in all the right places, bringing to mind the many experimental acts that earned the alt-country tag in the late- 20th century.

Rather than pre-meditated, the writing and recording process came about by happenchance. A nurse by profession, Gracie was recovering from a work-related injury and that misfortune, alongside the pandemic, found her revisiting previously written songs and also creating newer material. Calling on a number of L.A. players, including members of Cairo Gang, Ty Segal and Bonnie Prince Billy, she recorded the album at Jonny Kosmo’s Slime House Recordings.

Reinvigorated and with quite a lot to say, Gracie’s gritty vocal deliveries and sharp lyrics, alongside that crew of players, deal with multiple issues, from the grinding reality of survival in both L.A. and an unforgiving music industry. The gilt-edged opener, Hollow Head, laced with pedal steel and razor-sharp guitar breaks, is a defiant statement of setting free and taking control. Equally gorgeous are the country noir What I’m Missing and the banjo-led and even darker, Northwind.  It’s not all totally avant-garde either, Backup Slowly is a witty barroom country affair and If You’re Gonna Walk That Way Son, It’s Only Gonna Hurt - great title – doffs its cap in the direction of Neil Young. Bookending the album, with the expressiveness of a movie score, is the twangy and galloping Words Of The New West.  

The highest compliment I can pay this album is that I found myself revisiting it regularly after a few initial plays and enjoying it more on each listen. It epitomises what is so appealing about like-minded acts like Jim White, Freakwater, Blue Mountain, and others who, ignoring the mainstream, step into unchartered territories to create arrangements packed with left-of-centre diversions.

Review by Declan Culliton

Tapestri Tell Me World Shimi

Tapestri formed after the chance meeting in 2019 of two already well established Welsh bilingual folk artists, Sarah Zyborska (aka SERA) and Lowri Evans. Judging by this, their debut album, this was a creative match made in heaven. From the Everly-esque harmonies (so good that they could be mistaken for siblings), the sensitive intelligent songwriting, the memorable tunes, and the Americana flavoured production, it’s not a surprise that they are classed firmly within the newly coined Cymrucana genre.

Anyone who has had any involvement with the tyranny of domestic violence, either as a victim or supporting those victims (as I have), will quickly recognise that the upbeat title track is actually written from the viewpoint of the unfortunate victim. It expresses the conflicted feelings she experiences as she attempts to gather the courage to leave, wavering between staying or going, in this case spurred on by the love for her child - ‘you raise your hand/I raise a child/she deserves better than this’. Female empowerment is again celebrated in Waiting In the Background, an exploration of the changing role of women from the 50’s through to the present day.

As well as sharing vocals throughout, both women play keyboards and Lowri Evans also plays acoustic guitar. Evans co-produces with Lee Mason, who contributes guitars and organ. They are bolstered by Dave Walsh on drums, Jake Newman on bass, and Henry Priestman on Hammond. We’re introduced to the sweet pedal steel of David Hartley on the outstanding Save Your Love, a bittersweet song of unrequited love, with the protagonist attempting to let her lover down gently, ‘I will be your lover/but I won’t be your wife’. She’s A Lover, with its gentle acoustic guitar, upright bass and piano, celebrates the sassy older woman that we all recognise - she ‘doesn’t always believe your stories/ doesn’t always believe her own’ but ‘she’ll never leave you lonely’ and ‘she’ll have one more ride on the rodeo’. Hartley’s pedal steel also adds magic on several other tracks, including Genes, prompted by the birth of Zyborska’s daughter and on Atgofian/Sweet Memories (sung in Welsh) which was inspired by the emigration of Evan’s great aunt to the US in the 40’s, never to see her family or Wales again. Come Alive appears to return to the character we first met in Tell Me World, but this time she is beginning to blossom in the morning sun after a long period in the darkness, her release celebrated in the swelling and cascading harmonies. Mention must also be made of the other Welsh language track, Y Fflam/Open Flame, where the powerful feeling of being in love also carries inherent risk, like the moth to the proverbial flame.

Completed by a nature and music inspired cover art, this is an album I urge you to seek out and enjoy.

Review by Eilís Boland

JD Darling Looking Forward Thinking Back Self Release

Another hard-working farmer, JD Darling takes care of his acres and during that time he also thinks about the music he makes. He is living in Tennessee currently, though he was previously based in Texas and was born in Alabama, and as a result, has been listening to country music most of his life. He has a special love for the artists who released albums that came out in the 90s. The opening song on this lengthy sixteen-track debut album focuses on that era, as do some of the sounds on this album, though he is not strictly trying to mimic what made the charts then - and perhaps those albums would not do so now. Though that may be something of a debate, given that there is a growing interest in what now seems more of a golden age for music that, good or bad, was identifiably country.

We get into the heart of the album early on with tracks like Some Are Lonely Nights. A tale of possibilities which is given a suitable slow paced reading that highlights its poignancy. Much of these themes are based on personal feelings and observations. You Can Feel It references “the boys of summer out west” and their hopes and fears. One Way Or Another appears to be about a sense of duty out on the range or in other circumstances. Hell No (All The Time) is about saying no to change, no matter how well it is being sold or even, perhaps, needed. Other immediate standouts include I’ll Swing By Sometime and Hold On To Me in which Darling’s vocal delivery is notable. There are also times when the band rock out, which gives the album another direction that fits the overall scheme.

The album was recorded over a period of time in Nashville and from the fifteen musicians listed it appears to have taken place over a period of time, allowing Darling and co-producer John Kennedy the space for the sound and vision to find itself. One of the things that was important to integrate into the sound was the pedal steel. It appears throughout the album’s tracks and allows four different musicians to be credited with the instrument. 

All the material was written by Darling, who has been true to himself, his surroundings, and to his music. With sixteen tracks there are naturally going to be favourites for all listeners but that doesn’t mean it can’t be taken in sequence either. These are solid performances from all involved who give life to the songs and make for a satisfactory listen. That allows for looking forward to a better time while retaining some of the real values of the past history of country music, especially for those in thrall to the sound of 90s radio.

An artist like J.D. Darling is unlikely to be looking to see his future entirely in the music business, but at the same time, it offers a balance to a grounded farm working existence, which in turn has informed his music and outlook. Like some other similar artists, he has put his heart and soul into making this album. That in itself makes it worth a listen or two at least. 

Review by Stephen Rapid

Whitney Rose Rosie MCG

Canadian songwriter Whitney Rose grew up listening to, and singing songs from, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton and Kitty Wells, which were the touchstones alongside Hank Williams, George Jones and Keith Whitley on the male side. It was from these she developed her own traditionally influenced sound. This new album is her fifth since 2012, and carries on her path to hone her songwriting craft. On this album, all but one track are self-penned originals, touching on the concerns of womanhood, relationships and locations that are steeped in meaning for the characters.

Rose co-produced the album with husband Michael McKeown and they brought in some familiar names to bring the right feel to the album with the Lisa Pankratz and Brad Fordham rhythm section, and Dave Leroy Biller and Rich Brotherton on guitars (and stringed instruments of different varieties). Warren Hood was the fiddle and strings man, while Michael Guerra added accordion on occasion. Trevor Nealon played keyboards and Bonnie Montgomery sang backing vocals. A top class team who excels througout.

Rose opens the album with soft, sultry vocals on the alluring Tell Me A Story, Babe. The only song not written by Rose but by Joanne Mackell follows and that is Can’t Remember Happiness, a song steeped in regret, as are many of her own songs as they come in the wake of a serious illness that forced her to return to Canada to recover. The songs Built My Own Jail and Minding My Own Pain relate directly to the idea of confinement both physically and mentally. The former is about a deliberate isolation from possible harm and the latter about the casual conversation that happens in bars while she listens but sits quietly trying to look after her own thoughts and worries. Vocally she excels and the band supports her sense of isolation.

By way of contrast she alleviates that to a degree by thinking of a Honky Tonk In Mexico. She wishes to be there to let off steam a little. More of a groove underpins Memphis In My Mind, which takes a similar mental journey to that particular place of memories. The sliding sensuous steel guitar that features alongside the piano and fiddle make You’re Gonna Get Lonely a statement of intent for country music lovers. Then, she takes on the need to feel some hurt in order to say I Need A Little Shame, with the organ adding some soul to that pain. 

The album finishes with Barb Wire Blossom and the idea of something not seeming what it might be on the surface. A touch lighter and more whimsical is the final track. Again both highlight the strength and diversity of Rose’s strong writing and a reinvigorated vocal delivery. Mermaid In A Pantsuit is a gentle and aquatic sound that use the vocal and backing vocal to illuminate an atmospheric mood that has some less country, but equally effective, guitar lines.

Overall, this is a welcome return for Whitney Rose and quite possibly her best to date. Given the times that went into its making, it is that much more remarkable for what she has achieved, in the wake of what was undoubtably a difficult time. However this is an album that isn’t. 

Review by Stephen Rapid

Joey Frendo Bound For Heartache Horton

From the get-go, this album from the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based artist draws you in, with this debut full-length album that has echoes of some mid to late 90s alt-country. A mix of country rock edges and red-dirt twang that is grounded with some organ and piano pedal steel, some of that provided by fellow artist of that parish, one Jesse Aycock, one of eight players who grace these story-laden grooves. Others include Paul Griffith on drums and Fats Kaplin on fiddle.The essentials of this are, again, a strong vocal delivery and some strong writing craft. 

Witness the song (and single) Old Fashioned Country Singer which mentions Hank Williams in its evocation of the world weary subject’s life and times which, though hard, wouldn’t be changed. It has a sense of acceptance, that in despite of everything, this is the only way to go (out) and it is enhanced by some edgy playing. It is an immediate keeper. Sad State of Affairs is more straight up country and both tracks are stand-outs that let you know that this a serious set of songs played out for you.

Following on from pandemic restrictions and personal loss, Frendo channeled these events into some career making songwriting. The story of the accused outlaw in Leaving’ Eden knowing that “the sherrif’s on my track” fits the pattern of some of those tales that the best town might be the one you just left - for a myriad of reasons. There are ballads too that are rooted in specific places, such as Nebraska Rain, a harmonica featuring rumination on being down and out and wondering what might be life’s solution to this.  

In a more considered take on one’s fortunes, he reasons that there’s Nothing Wrong With Silver, especially when gold is hard to find. The risky business of trying to find one’s place is laid out in Building On Quicksand, something that is always open to deeper consideration, but one often needs to start laying down foundations somewhere.

These are the everyday stories of everyday people delivered in a way that country music has done, when it’s done with a sense of honesty, since it first was recognised as a form. Frendo is not rooted in the past, nor trying to recreate a different decade. Rather, he has taken its truths as his own and made them a part of his journey to finding his own path, and BOUND FOR HEARTACHE is full of the human touches that make that journey special.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Caleb Elliott, Dean Owens, Leftover Salmon, Kassi Valazza, GracieHorse, Tapestri Music, JD Darling, Whitney Rose and Joey Frendo

New Album Reviews

Marty Stuart & The Fabulous Superlatives Altitude Snakefarm

There are elements to this new album from Stuart and his band that go back to their last release WAY OUT WEST, as well as to time spent working with surviving Byrds members Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman. But they also go back further in time to the late 60s and an exploration of that cosmic psychedelic influence that began to appear in many forms and genres of music, in some subtle and some not quite so subtle ways. That Stuart is a stalwart of traditional country and its values is apparent in his music, photography and curation of the artefacts of a form that for a time was being eroded. Many can be seen at his recently opened museum, Congress Of Country Music in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Here, with this new album, he and the band and guests create a vision that includes the expansion and exploration of the traditional forms.

Few who have followed his career will be surprised at this and the different twist and turns he has taken musically since he played with The Sullivans at the age of 12 and through over 20 plus albums since 1982. These have taken in rockabilly, gospel, bluegrass, country, surf sounds,  rock and soundtrack music along the away. Many of these can be found in the tracks here.

The album opens with the instrumental Lost Byrd Space Train (Scene 1) which to these ears has a relationship with the music played by The Byrds themselves in their Clarence White incarnation. It also has hints of Mali as well as the Mojave. Then the twang springs into action with the resumé of a life on the road that is Country Star. The chiming Rickenbacker that is central to Sitting Alone is a sound further emphasised by its 60s rock harmonies. There is perhaps in the song A Friend Of Mine something of a nod to the similarly titled but differently intentioned Byrds song, He Was A Friend Of Mine. It again completely accentuates just how good a band this is, with its musical interaction and energy. 

Much more atmospheric is Space, with Stuart’s sitar providing a link to that instrument’s very specific tone and place in rock music, either with the established Indian original form or with its, more common, electric approximation. The title track follows and it is a summation of an attitude and vision that is everything you would expect from Stuart. There is more of that sparkle in Vegas, which is a hymn to that fabled town’s reputation for riches but equally also for ruin.

The Sun Is Quietly Sleeping takes a more considered approach, featuring an effective string arrangement under the gentle reflection of the night. Lost Byrd Space Train (Scene 2) is another short instrumental interlude that offers an effective cleanser before Night Riding takes a trip down the highway of life. Next they turn up the tempo, with some Luther Perkins licks and more dexterous guitar runs, for the story of Tomahawk, which tells us that there is “absolutely nothing new underneath the sun.” The plight of the Native American people forms part of its story and journey. Time To Dance is just that, as it extols some of the better moments in having time to dance, love and live. It features more of the band’s great guitar interactions. By way of contrast The Angels Came Down strips things back to something more spiritually enhancing, with Marty’s rich vocal delivery and some strong vocal harmony blending over the acoustic guitar’s reflection. Lost Byrd Space Train (Scene 3) is a very short instrumental coda that finishes what is a captivating listen that should be take in context, from start to finish, to reveal all its lasting allure.

Produced with conviction and clarity by Stuart and his superlative band of Kenny Vaughan, Harry Stinson and Chris Scruggs and the indispensable Mick Conley, this is a tour de force that will be welcomed by fans of the band. It is a demonstration of how to take country music down new channels, ones that fit with its deep history but also aware of optional routes that seem right. 

Review by Stephen Rapid

Luke Daniel Rock 'n' Roll Americana Edgewater

The title of Texan Luke Daniels’ debut album is simple and to the point. With a core sound ranging from Southern Rock to what was once known as Cowpunk, he pours his heart and soul out on the nine-track record.

He’s out of the blocks with a full-throttle on the opener Lost In The Gap and only occasionally takes his foot off the gas. He does allow time for reflection on the acoustic slow burner, Dig In, and Saturday travels from mid-tempo to a rap-like vibe, but he’s at his best spitting fire on the toe-tapping barroom rocker Get My Shit Together and the funky Bad Gas Travels Fast. Dusty Rhodes is a tongue-in-cheek serenade to an imaginary suitor and he’s just about happy with his lot on Doing Pretty Good.

Produced by Derek Hames at his Edgewater Studio in Sugar Land, Texas, the former member of Three-Car Garage and Red Scare recreates a sound that crackles with energy and no doubt replicates what can be expected from Daniel in a live setting.

There is a lot of groove and understated humour on Daniel’s debut album. His lyrics fit the songs like a hand in a glove and without attempting to reinvent the wheel, he has delivered an impressive album of hard-edged heartland Americana. Go and see him live if he’s in your neck of the woods, I can only imagine that he puts on a more than lively show.

Review by Declan Culliton

Angelica Rockne The Rose Society Loose

 Voted Best Country Singer by LA Weekly back in 2019, that accolade, though richly deserved, might suggest that Californian Angelica Rockne’s music output is restricted to one single genre. In reality her music branches far and wide beyond country and if her debut album, QUEEN OF SAN ANTONIO from 2017, was a tour de force in cosmic country, her latest record travels far beyond that genre. THE ROSE SOCIETY also brings on board Rockne’s classical, jazz and folk influences, and they merge beautifully across the album’s ten tracks.

A number of issues in Rockne’s life in the six years between her debut album and this record are visited in the songwriting. Following a less than fulfilling move from Oakland  to Los Angeles, Rockne departed that city and its hectic culture to return to a more relaxed environment, met her fiancé and celebrated the birth of her daughter. THE ROSE SOCIETY addresses its author’s personal journey over that period, navigating its way across a variety of emotions, from remorse to fulfillment.

Recorded in Nevada City, California and self-produced, the opening two songs, Age of the Voyeur and the title track, immediately give the listener a flavour of the multi-influences in the writer’s cannon. Parallel to her Laurel Canyon influences, echoes of British folk also emerge, the title track, in particular, has shades of Sandy Denny-era Fairport Convention but with a West Coast overhaul. Relationships and friendships struggling to survive emerge on White Cadillac and that theme of lovelorn despair is close to the surface on The Distance Is High and also the tender and confessional album closer The Night Dreams of You. The prayer-like Protection, Prayers and Vigilance brings to mind the novel soulful sound of Canadian, Frazey Ford, and closer to home, Crystalline recalls early career Joni Mitchell.

Showcasing both Rockne’s vocal ability and the dexterity of the musicians around her, THE ROSE SOCIETY captures everything that is so exciting when an artist can integrate numerous musical styles and produce a body of work that is impossible to brand or pigeonhole. Five years in the making and fiercely intense and first-hand, let’s hope that it is an introduction to an artist with more strings to her bow rather than a one-off classic. Intoxicating.  

Review by Declan Culliton

Cian Nugent She Brings Me Back To The Land Of The Living No Quarter

 The first album in seven years from singer songwriter and acclaimed guitarist Cian Nugent was born out of ill-fated circumstances. Moving back to his family home in Dublin to care for his mother, Kathy Nugent, who was rehabilitating from a stroke, Nugent’s latest album not only confronts the challenges presented to him but also allowed him the time out for personal reflection. The album’s title is derived from a phrase randomly repeated by Nugent’s mother while she recovered her speech during that period and the cover artwork was a canvas she painted while in hospital.

 Beauty is often born out of crisis and this eight-track album most certainly bears that out. Giving the listener a tour of where he was at that time brings about Nugent’s most unashamedly frank work to date.  Pass The Time Away and the closing track, How The Time Passes, with a combined length of over twelve and a half minutes, are wonderfully brooding. The former displays echoes of Nick Drake, giving the listener an inkling of what lay in the writer’s head at the time. The latter, an instrumental, is a six-string guitar-driven cosmic journey. However, the album’s tender heart lies in the gorgeous steel guitar drenched opener Empress and the equally melodic The Sound of Rain, which follows. Radically shifting style, High Up Airplane, chock-full of intricate guitar work, transports the listener on a nearly seven-minute jam-like astral trip. 

 A body of work that captures the mood of the writer and his personal journey at a particular time, it touches on the grinding reality of the unexpected and unknown. An open-ended collection of songs, often unalike but somehow managing to sit comfortably alongside each other, it’s not necessarily an album that hits home on the first spin. However, it is one that richly rewards and opens new doors on repeated visits. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Joost Dijkema After Thunder Sun  Twin Dimension

Probably best to know that this musician pronounces his name "Yowst Dykuh-ma." The Dutch language can certainly throw you a curve ball and it is best to get this name right in order to mention his talent to your musical friends. Believe me, you will want to spread the word.

With two previous albums to his name, Dijkema has delivered a superbly crafted third release and you know the old saying about lucky three… well, with a fair wind, this should be the one to reach a much wider audience. The fingerstyle guitar playing is quite brilliant across the ten tracks that are mainly instrumental, with only four songs containing lyrical content. The instrumentals are all played with such effortless ease that the temptation is to simply hit the repeat button when the album comes to an end – something that I am happy to admit to doing.

The artist was inspired by Leo Kottke and Michael Chapman in honing his musical prowess and there are many other artists that have shaped the beautiful acoustic sound along the path. I’m reminded of John Martyn at times, and elsewhere, Bert Jansch. Dijkema is a multi-instrumentalist and showcases his talents on lead vocals, guitars, banjo, pedal steel, drums, bass, percussion, and is joined on single tracks by vocalists Bram Menninga (Beautiful Ride) and Flora Karsemeijer (Buddy).

The joy of motion and an open road is highlighted on the song Beautiful Ride and the metaphor of driving your life like a beautiful car is well delivered. The guitar showcase Vic’s Raga is a real tour de force and a superbly crafted instrumental. The blues feel on Train Of Doomsday is also a stand-out track that highlights the dexterity of this musician on the fretboard. Shards Of Love is just as the title indicates, a cul-de-sac for relationships, where love is double parked.

The gentle playing on Anne’s Island is a counterpoint, with the reflective mood illustrated by some wonderful acoustic guitar playing. Similarly, the playing on Buddy is restrained and fluid, a tribute to a loyal dog who passed away, yet who still lives in the memory of the owner.  Final tracks Let It Rain (like it used to rain), and the Chap From Wrytree (written for Michael Chapman) are beautifully delivered instrumentals with lots of ‘wow’ moments in the playing. A very impressive album and one that will bring many moments of musical pleasure. Definitely a keeper.

Review by Paul McGee

Imelda Kehoe Leave Your Light On Self Release

Such a pleasure to be able to review this special album. Imelda Kehoe has released two previous records on her journey towards her musical awakening and identity. With this release, she has reached her destination. The sense of right place and right time, together with the magic of the moment have conspired to deliver a set of songs that enrich the listener and invite you into the world of this interesting singer songwriter.

The passage of time is viewed in these musings as something akin to a slow motion replay of many life memories and the freeze frames along the way are beautifully captured. Whether it’s that moment in a relationship where you feel true connection; that sense of when things are falling out of symmetry; the decision to blow up the past and press the reset button  -  it’s all captured in these mature reflections on life and everything after. There is sadness, hope and joy in the reflections, coupled with insightful memory and  wistful longing. There is questioning and wanting to know our place in all the vagaries of life. When will the curtain open and the true meaning of it all reveal itself?

Imelda displays a sense of timing and vocal phrasing that is quite superb, and her innate gift celebrates that road we all walk in the direction of our desires. There are many stand out moments on the album and Where To Now, the opening track questions the randomness of life and the things that fall outside of our control. The abiding feeling is one of having to carry on in memory of those who have gone before. It’s a deeply personal song that references the death of her father.

Ohio is a sensitive look at the futility of war and the bond that can form between two friends who experience the worst traits of humanity in trying to survive. The song was inspired by the wonderful writing of Sebastian Barry and his book, Days Without End.

Leave Your Light On is a tribute to Imelda’s brother, who died from melanoma during covid lockdown. The song reflects on memories shared and the heart-breaking lines ‘Leave your light on, then I will know if you are home; Leave your light on, then I don’t feel so quite alone,’ capture the loneliness of grief and the sense of loss.

House Of Flowers deals with the need to have a safe place to escape to. The fragility of life and the sense of wanting time to just slow down in order to catch our breath; ‘Take me to the House of Flowers, Maybe we could pass the hours, Maybe we run out of our dreams, Take me there, I need some healing, Take me there, I need that feeling.’

The song 404 is that moment when you realise that the thing you held precious is actually what is hurting you and causing you pain. The term 404 is an error message displayed by a browser indicating that an internet address cannot be found. Such a clever analogy to draw upon in the wages of love and loss.

In a previous life Imelda trained as a nurse and practiced in the north of England. Her experiences of the people she helped and those who left enduring impressions are captured in the song Invisible. It looks at the spirit displayed by those who are sick and the resilience that often is the very thing that keeps their quality of life intact.

Seventy Five Beats refers to the resting heart rate of a person that is considered normal, although some research has appeared that shows this could also have long-term health risks. The song references the fact that passing beyond is something that we all have to face eventually.

Final song, Send In the Angel, examines the conflicting urges within all of us, the drive to be something we are not and the hope that we develop into decent human beings with a generosity of spirit. The challenge is not to get lost in the search for ego driven satisfactions in life.

Piano is the instrument of choice for Imelda and she surrounds herself with some talented players to augment her musical vision. Michael Egan (guitar), Horacio Valdivieso (guitar), Peter Eades (keyboards), Yoed Nir (cello), among others, join together in the creation of the album and the overriding sense of reflection is captured so perfectly in the eight songs that exude a gentle knowing and acceptance.

This is contemporary folk music that brings a gentle calm and a rewarding listening experience. An early contender for Irish album of the year?  Never bet against a woman who is stepping into the full range of her power.

Review by Paul McGee

Hiss Golden Messenger A Loner Alive Heaven and Earth Magic

This live album is subtitled “Songs from the Western Part of the United States of America.” It was recorded at gigs in Mill Valley, Mariposa and Healdsburg in California and Tacoma, Walla Walla and Spokane in Washington State earlier this year. MC Taylor performs under the stage title of Hiss Golden Messenger and his creative output has been consistently strong since his debut album arrived in 2009. His output includes as many live albums as it does studio recordings and Taylor is often joined by Scott Hirsch, his long-time ally and multi-instrumentalist.

Whether performing as a solo artist or part of a musical collective, Taylor delivers his folk and country soul musings with great resonance, reflecting both his internal and external anxieties, fears, hopes and dreams for a better world than the reality of what he sees around him.

On this outing, Taylor plays in a solo capacity and the twenty one songs feature eight of his studio albums with four songs included from each of BAD DEBT(2010), LATENESS OF DANCERS (2014), and QUIETLY BLOWING IT (2021). Taylor keeps the in-song chat to a minimum preferring to let the stripped down, acoustic arrangements speak for themselves. His guitar technique is quietly hypnotic and the subtle chord progressions and rhythmic strumming lull the listener into a place of peaceful reverie. Admittedly the dynamic doesn’t change much across the songs and the downside of live recordings often point to the reality that being in the room was so much more immersive an experience than hearing the intimacy partially captured on any subsequent recorded output.

“ I’ve got that ‘acoustic guitar voice’ adrenalin pumping through my veins” comments Taylor as he begins the superb Heart Like A Levee. Taylor indeed wears his heart on his sleeve and although the songs can be open to personal interpretation, he delivers with a sense of tired acceptance while at the same time, remaining optimistic for a brighter tomorrow. Other songs Sanctuary and Lateness Of Dancers are complimented by Hardlytown and Highland Grace in their naked delivery and honest fragility. The inclusion of both Caledonia, My Love and Saturday’s Song is an inspired couplet and the closing Black Dog Wind (Rose Of Roses) is a song about leaving family ties behind and branching out on your own. An appropriate sentiment upon which to bring this solo concert to a conclusion..      

There is no real sense of the different venues used across the recordings and the set could just as easily have been delivered in a single location, such is the seamless quality and flow of the songs. If you are already an admirer of MC Taylor then this will confirm everything that you already hold as special. For those of you who come to his music for the first time, this is a fine introduction and something of a high water mark among the rest of his output.

Review by Paul McGee

Trapper Schoepp Siren Songs Self Release

This Minnesota born artist has a number of prior releases, including PRIMETIME ILLUSION(2016), an album that included a co-write with none other than Bob Dylan. The story goes that Schoepp came upon a lost song of Dylan’s titled On, Wisconsin that was never finished or released. Schoepp decided to add some additional words and melody.  It’s a similar story to that of the Old Crow Medicine Show who took an old Dylan chorus and wrote the verses to the song Wagon Wheel that turned it into such a big hit. Fortune favours the brave and Schoepp sent his song version to Dylan’s management and received positive feedback and an agreement to release the song.

This sixth solo release follows in the same confident mood with Schoepp including twelve new songs that inspire and leave their mark. Produced by John Jackson (The Jayhawks, Ray Davies) and Patrick Sansone (Wilco), the recording sessions happened at the Cash Cabin in Hendersonville, Tennessee where Schoepp and his collaborators recorded with borrowed instruments – ranging from Johnny Cash's 1930s Martin guitar and June Carter Cash’s Steinway piano. The studio band included Jon Radford (drums), John Jackson (mandolin, violin), Patrick Sansone (keyboards), Quinn Scharber (guitar), and Jim Hoke (tin whistle, accordion). Schoepp’s brother makes an appearance on bass, and this allows Trapper to join with Tanner for sibling harmonies.

Queen Of the Mist captures the mood of the album perfectly with the tale of  Annie Edson Taylor, an American schoolteacher who became the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel. There are songs that reference nature and imagery of rivers, storms, wind, sea, flatlands and the moon. The song In Returning tells the tale of a sailor who is comfortable with a life on the ocean wave, only to fear what awaits on his return to land. The lyrics include the siren songs of mermaids and an albatross guiding ship journeys, portents of doom to a mariner.

Both Secrets Of the Breeze and The Fool have traces of an Irish melody in the arrangements and both speak of different lives, the road not taken and the path you’re on. Silk and Satin is an interesting song about a drag queen on the local scene in Brooklyn and has gentle acoustic guitar and violin to spin out the tale of attraction. There are some nice mandolin and piano parts on Diocese, a song that sees a young girl moving out of her local community and heading for the bright lights of Boston.

Good Graces gives advice from bitter experience to not hold back on love and to just go for it. It is a very bright and catchy tune. Eliza contrasts with a bluesy arrangement including a nice organ solo and a song of warning that danger lurks ahead. The twelve songs play out over forty five minutes and there is plenty to enjoy among the different colours and shapes in the music.

Review by Paul McGee

Mike Tod Self-Titled Self Release

Based in Alberta, Canada, Mike Tod has a Masters in Ethnomusicology and has just released this debut album that takes a reverential look back at old-time music. Tod wants to honour the great traditions and the unknown artists of a time long gone and he certainly achieves his goal in breathing new life into traditional songs through a modern lens.

These ten songs are a mix of traditional tunes that Tod researched and recorded with new arrangements, and some covers of songs from artists as diverse as Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ola Belle Reid, Tim Spencer and the Romaniuk Family – a country music vocal and instrumental group from Edson, Alberta. Members Ed Romaniuk and his sisters Elsie and Ann were known for performing in the style of the Carter Family.

Tod co-produced the album with Pat Palardy at Public Lunch Studios in Calgary. The musicians who produced the subtly inventive music are Mike Tod (acoustic guitar, harmonium, vocals), Keith Rodger (bass), Nathan M Godfrey (resonator guitar, mandolin, banjo), Laura Reid (violin), Wayne Garrett (pedal steel), Jeremy Gignoux (violin, viola), Travis Miller (percussion), Melodie Ayoungman and Opal Ritzer on vocals.

Flowers Of Edinburgh has a very strong Irish melody as does Cold Frosty Morn, both instrumentals, and featuring some delightful ensemble playing. One can but imagine the history of immigrant music across all of these old-time tunes that developed as cities grew up with different ethnic groups interacting with new tunes. The stand out song is Little Wheel Spin and Spin (Buffy Sainte-Marie) and the sense of foreboding is palpable as the song builds. Wait For Me has a soft lilt, akin to an old lullaby, as two lovers declare their love for each other, and final song My Alberta Rose is a fitting tribute to the Romaniuk Family and their old-time harmonies and understated playing.

This is an excellent album and it will delight the music historians who like to study the original melodies and tunes upon which so much of today’s music is based. Admirers of Jake Xerxes Fussell, and his traditional folk and blues music of the south will also find much here to inspire. A very engaging album.

Review by Paul McGee

New Album Reviews

Rose City Band Garden Party Thrill Jockey

Singer songwriter and ace guitarist, Ripley Johnston, wears a number of different hats. A member of rock bands Wooden Shyips and Moon Duo, his solo project Rose City Band is a vehicle for Johnston to explore and create music in the style of the classic cosmic country rock that blossomed in the late 60s, prior to it being commercialised and cannibalised a few short years later. The Byrds, The Burrito Brothers and Grateful Dead influences are all over GARDEN PARTY, the fourth album released by Rose City Band.

Johnston recruited Barry Walker (pedal steel), Paul Hasenberg (keyboards), Dewey Mahood (bass) and Dustin Dybvig (drums) to record the eight tracks at Center for Sound, Light, and Color Therapy in Portland. ‘I was trying to capture that feeling when you take psychedelics and they just start coming on – objects start buzzing in the edges of your visions’ explains Johnston. That trippy sensibility certainly works throughout and no more so than on Porch Boogie with its gripping backbeat and slick guitar and piano breaks. Walker’s weeping pedal steel underscores a similar sonic terrain on the ghostly Saturday’s Gone and the funky Moonlight Highway tips its hat in the direction of Steve Hillage. Slow Burn interprets the signature sound that The Byrds might have followed after SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO, had Gram Parsons not jumped ship.  

As we anticipate the approach of warmer days, the unhurried, unrestrained and summery vibe of GARDEN PARTY is a welcome addition to the back catalogue of Rose City Band. Continuing on his mission as one of the premier architects of a timeless and vital sound, Johnston has come up trumps once more with this five-star record.

Review by Declan Culliton

One Night in Texas: The Next Waltz’s Tribute to the Red Headed Stranger The Next Waltz

Released one day before Willie Nelson’s ninetieth birthday, this tribute album was recorded by a host of household names with one common characteristic; careers hugely influenced by both the songs and fearlessness of the original and quintessential outlaw, Willie Nelson.

Nelson’s output in the 1970s was possibly the most inspirational for many aspiring artists and features prominently in the fourteen tracks on the album. The brainchild of the project was singer songwriter, producer, and the owner of The Next Waltz label, Bruce Robison. As a long time disciple of Nelson, Robison had little difficulty gathering together the more than willing artists that contributed to the recording at Nelson’s Luck Ranch in Spicewood, Texas.

With Robison allocated the duties of band leader, a large backing band of players was gathered with one pre-condition; they had to be familiar with all the selected songs, which wasn’t an issue as most of the musicians has been either listening to or playing all the songs for decades. The result is a party-like atmosphere and a delivery of some of Nelson’s best-known compositions, alongside a few covers that he put his stamp on. It’s a difficult task to identify the stand-out performances, as there’s merit in them all. However, the ongoing influence of Nelson on newer and emerging artists shines brightly on the opener by Vincent Neil Emerson, Bloody Mary Morning and Texas legend Robert Earl Keen’s version of Pick Up The Tempo is memorable. Margo Price, whose 2017 album, ALL AMERICAN MADE, featured a duet with Nelson, is in fine form on a funked-up Shotgun Willie and Sheryl Crowe’s jazzy and swinging Night Life works a treat. The album’s final inclusion is The Party’s Over by Phosphorescent (Matthew Huck), whose wonderful 2009 Nelson tribute album, FOR WILLIE, also closed with that song.

The recorded performances were followed by Nelson taking centre stage with his trusted guitar Trigger in hand and willingly closing the party.

The track listing is as follows:

Vincent Neil Emerson – Bloody Mary Morning; Margo Price – Shotgun Willie; Robert Earl Keen – Pick Up The Tempo; Shinyribs – I Gotta Get Drunk; Nathaniel Rateliff – Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain; Steve Earle – Pancho and Lefty; Emily Gimble – Down Yonder; Sheryl Crow – Nightlife; Bruce Robison – Last Thing I Needed First Thing In The Morning; Ray Wylie Hubbard – Whiskey River; Shinyribs  - My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys; Nathanial Rateliff – Crazy; Bruce Robison – How Will I Know I’m Falling In Love Again; Phosphorescent – The Party’s Over.

Review by Declan Culliton

Esther Rose Safe To Run New West

There is something comforting about Michigan-born Esther Rose’s music. It may be her somewhat whispered, almost childlike vocals, or her plainly spoken and to-the-point lyrics that draw you into her songs, but listening to her albums is like comfort food, highly soothing to the senses.

SAFE TO RUN is Rose’s fourth album and follows the release of HOW MANY TIMES back in 2021. Listening to both of these albums back-to-back reveals an artist that has grown vastly in confidence over those few short years. A songwriter of emotional depth, her core subject matter remains similar on both albums, but her latest offering finds her in an entirely more buoyant and assured mood. Both albums are also heavily influenced by Rose’s decade-plus years residing in New Orleans and the idiosyncratic musical styles of that city. As a result, SAFE TO RUN gifts the listener with an album that is far from strictly a country album and is more like a cosmic journey that also embraces elements of folk and indie pop.

As in her previous albums, much of the writing is self-directed. She could be sitting on a physiotherapist’s couch on certain tracks but elsewhere she also raises issues of sexism, climate change and her own nomadic travels. Whatever the genesis of the eleven tracks, it’s fair to say that there is not anything approaching a weak moment on the album. She is joined by a similarly free-spirit Alynda Segarra (Hurray For The Riff Raff) on the gorgeous title track. Other previous NOLA neighbours of Rose also contribute, including the band Silver Synthetic who feature on a number of the songs and Cameron Snyder of The Deslondes who also contributed. The production duties were handled by another close friend and regular collaborator, Ross Farbe.

Standout tracks are the gorgeous Insecure and the jangly power pop gem Levee Song. She puts closure to a bad relationship with Spider (‘Remember when you used to be mine and every day started with a fight. Scaring the neighbours, scream at the night’) and bookends the album with Arm’s Length, which points towards a new beginning.

Currently residing in Taos, New Mexico, Rose has hit the bullseye with SAFE TO RUN. An artist never afraid to lay bare her mental vulnerabilities, but also more than capable of injecting gentle humour into her writing, Rose may not yet have arrived at her final destination. Having said that, her latest album, both deeply melodic and assured, suggests an artist just about ready to fly high.

Review by Declan Culliton

Eilen Jewell Get Behind The Wheel Signature Sounds

With over a dozen acclaimed albums under her belt, Idaho-born Eilen Jewell’s latest album may well have been the most challenging group of songs she has written over her nearly two-decade career. With her income stream on hold during the pandemic and dealing with the breakup of her marriage to her husband, band manager and drummer, Jason Beek, she faced a worrying and uncertain future.  Rather than licking her wounds and writing a maudlin album reflecting her woes, Jewell has come out fighting and with a positive mindset. The sureness and optimism kick in on the booming opener Alive, and she gives the listener a tour of her journey from separation to revival on the ten tracks that follow.

Trademark distinct vocals, a tight rhythm section, and the exquisite guitar skills of Jerry Miller have been the foundation of Jewell’s impressive back catalogue and those factors are still to the fore on this recording. That rhythm section consisted of Jason Beek – who remains part of Jewell’s band – on drums and percussion, Steve Fulton on keys, Matt Murphy on upright bass and the aforementioned Jerry Miller on electric guitars. Adding to that talented crew was Fats Kaplin on pedal steel, and Will Kimbrough - who co-produced the album with Jewell - on guitars, percussion and keys.

Kaplin’s contributions are particularly noteworthy on the tracks Crooked River and Winnemucca. The former compliments the healing powers of the location which gave Jewell comfort during the solitude days of the pandemic and the latter, some three hundred miles south in the desert lands of Nevada, was a source of serenity and meditation for her. Departed family and friends are graciously remembered on You Were a Friend of Mine and the troubled times endured and overcome are acknowledged on the scintillating album closer, The Bitter End. Elsewhere the bluesy Outsiders stemmed from Jewell revisiting the movie The Outsiders, having been fascinated by its characters as a young child and the dark side of attraction and infatuation raises its head on Lethal Love. 

Few artists can blend country, blues, swing and rockabilly in a fashion that Jewell has perfected over her career. She more than achieves that with GET BEHIND THE WHEEL. Rather than being just another album under the ‘pandemic blues umbrella,’ the album is a personal and masterly coup and Jewell’s bravest effort to date.

Review by Declan Culliton

Ben Bostick The Rascal Is Back Simply Fantastic

From the opening title track onwards, this album will get your feet tapping, make you smile and perhaps tell you a few things about yourself that you recognise in Bostick’s characters. “How y’all, did you miss me?” are the opening words on this album before revealing that, yes, the rascal is back. After several albums that have been well received, he’s back with perhaps one that will please those who love their roots music full of twang and tongue-in-cheek writing. Bostick wrote all the songs featured and he produced and arranged the album in a studio in Atlanta, with some additional recording in Lilburn, both studios in his home state of Georgia. So this is exactly the music he wants to release right now. It is not going to go about changing the perceptions of this wide genre but rather is a prodigious listen with some memorable and melodically effective material that, while it has humour as a key ingredient, is neither novelty nor nonsense. 

There’s a plaintiveness to You Can Leave In The Morning, a plea for some time together but without being too pushy about it. Big Sister And Me has an almost 60s power-pop feel that works well. Big Train has a great deep set back vocal over a stop/start rhythm. Po No Mo has a walking bass line and twanging guitar that reasons that he doesn’t want a great deal but equally doesn’t want to be poor no more. I Don’t Care is a good for nothing’s no need to work raison d'être that would, with a few extras turns on the volume dial, make a something of a punk anthem. Strange Duck is an acceptance of being different with, naturally, a duck call featuring. 

Bostick worked with seven additional players on the album with the pedal steel, keyboards and guitar players all giving their best to enhance the songs over the rock solid rhythm section. With four previous full album releases on his side, Bostick has built a solid following that will doubtless be welcome to his existing fan base. This album is a perfect introduction to his music for those who want to check out some rewarding roots music, that highlights Bostick’s talent as writer, player, producer and his embodiment, musically, of a rascal with a heart. He also demonstrates a solid vocal style to match the material on offer.

The eleven songs on THE RASCAL IS BACK are going to make those in the know want to have him stay around and continue making his music for a while longer. Like many he continues to record and release his albums with the commitment of someone offering an antidote to difficult times, but in a way that is rewarding and worthwhile.

Review by Stephen Rapid

The Malpass Brothers Lonely Street Billy Jam

For a long time now there has been a general outcry among those who listen to (and review) hardcore country  and that is that the music has been taken over by industry demands for greater exposure, and therefore profit, at the expense of the traditional sounds and themes that were once inherent in the genre. However I always found reasons to feel that not all was lost - there have always been acts who adhered to the music’s roots in terms of attitude, performance and (often) in they way they dressed. Often a “country” act is heralded in a post as a country act and from first look and listen it is so obvious that that word has again been misused and misappropriated.

One act that has always been an oasis for the “three chords and the truth” is the Malpass Brothers, Chris and Taylor. They may not be that well know in wider circles, even in the roots community, but they are exactly what many would look for in a real country act. They have strong vocals and sibling harmonies and choose their material wisely, mixing co-written original songs as well as a perfect choice of lesser know covers by artists they admire. One such artist was Merle Haggard, who they toured with and recorded in his studio as well as covering his songs. There is more than a passing nod to Merle in some of the material here and on their previous four album releases. 

They come from Goldsboro, North Carolina, where they grew up nurtured by their Grandpa’s record collection. They are relatively young performers but steeped in the kind of music that I think they won’t be changing from any time soon. They also use humour in their stage show and have a good repartee with each other, showing no signs of the sometimes apparent sibling rivalry that brothers within the music industry are known to exhibit. There are hints of those exchanges in the album’s opening song, penned by Chris, Paying For The Dream.

This new album LONELY STREET was produced by Ben Isaacs and Doyle Lawson (the noted bluegrass stalwart who performs with his band Quicksilver). Isaacs also plays bass here (and is also a member of the bluegrass family band, The Isaacs). This might suggest that the album would be more inclined to head in that direction, as the brothers have also played bluegrass in the past themselves. In fact they performed at the Omagh Bluegrass Festival in Northern Ireland in both 2009 and 2011 (the first time as a duo and the second with a bassist and drummer).

This record, however, is as country as it comes. Alongside the brothers (vocals, guitars and mandolin) and Isaacs on bass, they are ably accompanied by Mike Johnson on steel guitar, Stu French on lead guitar, drummer Tony Creasman and Gordon Mote on piano. A pretty lean and mean(ingful) team. The Man I Aint (another Chris written track) tells of a man coming to terms with his demise thanks to a woman who can “freeze the the ground in mid July.” It kind of goes without saying that relationships are at the heart of the songs here. We Don’t, from the pen of Jeannie Seely, is an album highlight, a tale mired in the sadness of a couple facing divorce and the inclusion of Brennen Leigh makes it even more special. 

The next two songs, Love Is A Lonely Street and We Can’t Still Be Friends, further explore the emotions of pain and lost passion.The former is fairly self evident from its title, while the latter written by Chris Malpass, Shawn Camp and Taylor Dunn (as are two other tracks) reasons that friendship is unlikely to be an option after a parting of the ways. It would please any fan of Merle’s and the lead vocals are a delight. Out Of Sight And Out Of Mind finds the two brothers singing together in perfect harmony, in more than one sense. It may seem on the surface that an album full of break-up and heartache might be too much, but that is not the case for anyone who loves what is the staple of real country, the sad songs are a central crux of this musical form. Merle Haggard and Ronnie Reno wrote Love Slips Away and it’s performed with reverence while being as much theirs as it might be considered his. That’ll Be The Day is a great song too, one of those about never getting over someone so special in your life. By way of contrast Sleep When The Party’s Over is all about having a good time and hoping it won’t end.

Two songs that may underscore some of the country music critics’ appraisal of the sentimentality involved might find that both Daddy Don’t Cry and Road Of Memories do just that. But for many others, the sincerity of the material delivered with understated passion will be memorable moments here. The former,  written by Mac Davis and recorded by Elvis Presley, takes the joint perspective of a child and a father dealing with the loss of a mother. The latter, the final track of the album, is a co-write by Chris Malpass which recalls the influence that his family including his Grandpa, parents and his uncle had and how those memories remain as a potent force.

This release immediately finds itself placed among contenders for the album of the year and as fine an example of what county music should be and should remain. While others in this category have added something new that is explorative to the form, while still being undeniably country, Chris and Taylor Malpass’ music is both timely and timeless.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Apple and Setser Self-Titled  Bell Buckle

The decision taken by Brad Apple and Pam Sester to join their talents and create this debut album is an inspired one. Their combined musical expertise is very impressive and both artists blend perfectly together to make music that is both memorable and packed with personality. The ten songs are firmly rooted in the best traditional music experience and the delivery is quite addictive. The opener Hand Me Down My Walking Cane is a traditional song, given a fresh arrangement by Apple and the bluegrass playing is a real joy from the ensemble of musicians that includes Tim Crouch, David Johnson, and both Apple and Setser.

Grandma Danced With the Arkansas Traveller is a standout with the hint of a traditional Irish air woven into the song arrangement, capturing the innocence of time past and the love of simple pleasures. Apple also provided arrangements to a number of other traditional songs, featuring Rake and the Rambling Blade, When You and I Were Young, Maggie (beautiful instrumental version) and a fine collaboration with Setser on the superb When the Wagon Was New.

Two other songs written by Setser more than find their place with Too Far Gone and Hayes’ Hoedown setting the performance standards even higher. Piano from Danny Crawford on the former is perfectly judged along with the mandolin of Sam Cobb, and the latter is a rollicking instrumental that celebrates just being alive – rousing acoustic guitars, fiddles, banjo and dulcimer adding to the fun.

The Paul Anka song, It Doesn’t Matter Anymore is given a great reworking in a traditional country style with Setser shining on lead vocal. I’ll Love Nobody But You is a cover of the Jim and Jesse McReynolds song  and another example of the wickedly good bluegrass chops that these musicians possess. Apple produced the album and plays guitars, mandolin and bass in addition to lead and harmony vocals. Setser plays dulcimer and provides lead and harmony vocals, with Tim Crouch (guitar, fiddle, banjo, bowed bass, djembe) and David Johnson (fiddles, viola, clawhammer banjo, dobro, acoustic guitar) providing stellar musicianship throughout.

This is a fine example of all that is best in country music these days and I highly recommend that you add this album to your collection. You will not be disappointed.

Review by Paul McGee

Taj Mahal  Savoy Stony Plain

The term ‘living legend’ is one that gets used too loosely these days and often the subject of the hype is not worthy of all the media fuss that is made. A false praise that rings hollow.

In the case of Taj Mahal the term does not get used enough in my view. An artist that has defied narrow categorisation all his career, Taj Mahal has always been genre fluid and open to taking chances in expanding his musical palette. Since his seminal debut album in 1967, Taj Mahal has been prolific in his search for the next project, the next opportunity to explore another new direction and to collaborate with some of the finest artists in the music industry. His discography runs to some thirty studio albums, with as many live and compilation recordings to match.

Growing up in Harlem and influenced at an early age by his musician parents tastes in jazz, gospel, Caribbean and African roots, swing and bebop; also led Taj Mahal to absorb the roots of R&B and early country blues. His music has always incorporated these and many other styles, including elements of reggae, calypso, zydeco, and gospel music. From his early collaborations with Ry Cooder as part of the Rising Sons group that mixed blues and folk influences, to his recording with Toumani Diabaté, the Malian kora player, and onward to the more recent project with Ry Cooder, Get On Board (2022), Taj Mahal has always pushed the boundaries and refused to be pigeonholed.

This latest offering is the perfect case in point with a sentimental look back to his roots and the wonderful music of his parents era. They actually met in the famous Savoy ballroom in Harlem and the fourteen tracks included here are all treated with tender loving care in their recording and delivery. Co-produced by long-time friend and associate John Simon (The Band, Leonard Cohen, Janis Joplin), the big band sound is a delight and the playing is of the highest quality. These standards include tunes from Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Louis Jordan and George Gershwin among others. The instantly recognisable vocal of Taj Mahal lends complete authenticity to the tunes and his occasional scat vocals are very impressively delivered also. Among the favourites here are versions of Sweet Georgia Brown, Baby, It’s Cold Outside (with Maria Muldaur), Do Notin’ Till You Hear From Me, Stompin’ At the Savoy and Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby.

As a strident proponent of American roots origins there could be no better tribute than to look at the era that spawned so much new music after the war years and the development of RnB, rockabilly, western swing and country genres. 

Having played with many top line artists and bands over his career, including the Rolling Stones and Van Morrison, the reputation of Taj Mahal has continued to grow and he has been honoured with three Grammys and the Americana Music Association's Lifetime Achievement award. This new album is a real treat and packed with great moments that highlight the talents of the great man. Put some Taj Mahal into your life.

Niall Summerton  What Am I Made Of?  Tiny Library

This debut album from English artist Niall Summerton is a gentle affair and a dreamy stroll down some backroads of his creative muse. The ten songs hardly break sweat as they unfurl and the ethereal sway of synths and understated guitar take hold in their delivery. The entire album has the feel of a less-is-more approach to the recording process and Summerton used a number of his musical friends from the Yorkshire area to play on the tracks. There are contributions from Jacob Andrews (guitar), Tom Kettleton (sax), and various synth sounds provided by Joel Johnston, Megan Lama and Jacob Cracknell.

There are songs of introspection and self-reflection. They hint at lost relationships and feeling of isolation.  The lyrics are somewhat cryptic in places and reference dogs, riding bikes, dusty places, and slowing life down. The song Playing Dumbcontains the lines ‘All the cruel words that I said, that I play back in my head, They linger in the air, Nothing real is ever fair.’

Other song titles such as When You’re Not There, Wish You Could Speak, Human Dying and Need You point to personal relationships woven into the fabric of these vignettes and the atmospheric feel of the production by multi-instrumentalist Summerton has an easy-going style that is both heartfelt and quietly plaintive. Handle with care and file under pastoral folk.

Review by Paul McGee

Rose City Band, Esther Rose, Eilen Jewell, Ben Bostick, The Malpass Brothers, Apple & Setser, Taj Mahal, and Niall Summerton.

New Album Reviews

Jaelee Roberts Something You Didn’t Count On Mountain Home

Just because your father is a member of The Grascals (Danny Roberts) and your mother is a bass player and a bluegrass booking agent (The Andrea Roberts Agency) doesn’t necessarily imply that you have any musical talent. However, the release of this most impressive debut album, from a young woman barely out of her teens, hints that perhaps all those days backstage at The Grand Ole Opry weren’t wasted on the young Jaelee. Of course, she had the benefit of fiddle lessons at four years old, followed by piano, mandolin and guitar, and she willingly embraced all musical opportunities from the start. She also shows that she is developing as a songwriter, with four of the twelve songs here being written or co-written by her. However, outstanding above all of these attributes is Jaelee Roberts’ simply stunning voice.

The title and opening track is a barnstorming kickstart and also introduces her hot band of bluegrass players: Kristin Scott Benson on banjo (The Grascals), Alan Bibey on mandolin (Grasstowne), Jimmy Mattingly on fiddle (Dolly Parton, Reba McIntyre) and Tony Wray on guitar (Dan Tyminski). It’s all consummately produced by Tim Surrett, who also contributes the tasty dobro and bass. Roberts can slow it down on heartbreak songs like Think Again or the moving gospel song I Owe Him Everything. She’s equally at home burning it up on Sad Songs or on Molly Tuttle’s You Can’t Stop Me From Staying. There’s a gorgeous cover of Stevie Nicks’ classic Landslide, where she’s joined by the unmistakeable vocals of Vince Gill, and she calls in Amanda & Kenny Smith for harmony vocals on her cover of Gram Parsons’ Luxury Liner, among other tracks.

Also a member of roots/bluegrass supergroup, Sister Sadie, and studying songwriting at university, this young woman is one to watch. Already with one foot in traditional country and the other in bluegrass, I won’t be surprised if she becomes the ‘Dolly Parton’ of this generation.

Review by Eilís Boland

Shawn Williams Sulking In Love Self Release

 New Orleans singer songwriter Shawn Williams’ 2022 album, WALLOWIN’ IN THE NIGHT, was a ‘no holds barred’ affair of heartbreak, hangovers and hardship. Describing her music as alt-country rockabilly, Williams’ emotional outbursts on that album marked her out as a songwriter cut from the same cloth as her namesakes Lucinda Williams and Hank Williams Jr. If that fine suite of songs was an attempt to finally exorcise vexations and bury some past failed relationships, it may not have entirely succeeded as Williams is still spitting fire on her latest record, SULKING IN LOVE.

She gets down to business from the onset with the opener I Need More (‘let me tell you what’s been on my mind... ‘cos I need more trust than I’ve been giving’) and closes the album on a less than upbeat note with the confessional and mournful mid-tempo ballad, Lonesome Blues. In between these two tracks, her collected stories are rich in detail and content. The wonderfully brooding Call Me Up aims its trigger in the direction of a past suitor and Where I Stand is cut from the same cloth, following a matching ‘busted heart’ thread. If the rawness and the emotions vented in those previously mentioned songs indicate the approach of a breaking point, the album’s standout track, Givin’ Up, goes a step further, approaching the verge of physical collapse. It’s both brutal and brilliant and wouldn’t have been out of place on Lucinda Williams’ self-titled album or Marianne Faithfull’s masterpiece BROKEN ENGLISH. Society (‘I sure as hell can’t afford to leave and my family’s family’s family fill these cemeteries’) finds Williams venting her anger against the gentrification of her home town, New Orleans.

Williams hired a talented bunch of players to replicate the organic sound that worked so well on WALLOWIN’ IN THE NIGHT. Joining her in the studio were Michael Chaves (Leonard Cohen, Marianne Faithfull) on guitar, keys, strings, harmonica and tambourine, Daryl Johnson (Emmylou Harris, Neville Brothers) on bass, harmonies, and percussion, and Omari Neville (Omari Neville & The Fuel) on drums and percussion. Grammy Award winner Mark Howard (Bob Dylan, REM, Lucinda Williams) supervised, produced, and mixed the tracks and captures the dominant mood of the songs perfectly.

An album that travels from the composed to the frenetic, SULKING IN LOVE continues where the writer’s last album left off, with William’s trademark unflinching lyrics and raw vocals offering a gateway to the darkness lurking underneath personal distress. It’s also one for the slow burner so don’t expect to connect on the first play, it does take time to absorb. However, time invested offers rich rewards on each subsequent visit, from an artist never afraid to challenge the tried and trusted. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Diana Jones Better Times Will Come - Reimagined & Remastered Proper

It’s hard to believe that fifteen years have passed since the release of Diana Jones’ celebrated album BETTER TIMES WILL COME. It’s also poignant that the optimism and hopefulness expressed in the album’s title have not yet come to fruition and that many of the sentiments addressed on the album remain fractured.

Revisiting the entire recordings for the original album with studio engineer Steve Addabbo (Bob Dylan, Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega), was both an uplifting and emotional experience for Jones. She admits that tears were shed while revisiting the recordings of the title track and hearing the late Nanci Griffith’s vocals once more. The new version of that song that opens the album includes an additional chorus with Griffith’s harmony vocals. The album’s sequencing was also altered. The anti-gun and domestic abuse song, If I Had a Gun, appropriately follows that opening track with its clear and simple message - no guns and no one gets shot. An additional song, Call Me Daddy, which also addresses domestic violence but didn’t make the original cut, is included.

The love letter penned by the miner trapped underground on Henry Russell’s Last Words and the meeting of two people eventually finding love on Cracked and Broken sound as vital and timeless today as they did fifteen years ago. Soldier Girl tells of a woman heading off to war by way of a necessary career choice and the autobiographical in part, All God’s Children (‘I search for faces that look like my own’), considers the plight faced by the orphaned child. As was the case on the original album, the album closes with The Day I Die.

Diana Jones’ writings have consistently focused on dark and harrowing topics, a celebration of the classic folk ballads so close to her heart. With her delightful vocal purr and joined by musicians whose playing is suitably understated and more than complements those vocals, BETTER TIMES WILL COME established itself as one of the quintessential Americana recordings of its time. This remastered edition and its thought-provoking and powerfully emotive songs, fifteen years after its initial emergence, remain a joy to behold.

Review by Declan Culliton

Casey Prestwood Where I’m Going Is Where I’ve Always Been Self Release

There can be little doubt that Casey Prestwood has always been a believer in the righteous ways of traditional country music, something that is exemplified in his music, his mode of dress and his long-standing honky-tonk attitude. He also uses his deep knowledge of the history of the music to create original material that would fit as much back then as it does in today’s climate, though not perhaps in the way that many have come to regard as country music, based on current commercial dictats that seek to move the music so far from its roots that the title is virtually meaningless. Things might be about to change, to some small degree perhaps, with some of the more true to genre artists making breakthroughs in the mainstream.

I don’t feel, though, that Prestwood is focused on that particular goal with his music. Rather the Denver, Colorado based performer is more concerned with getting his music right and true to his personal vision. Neither is he prolific in the release of his albums. His last outing, BORN TOO LATE, came out in 2016 (it is available with some other releases on his website).  However, the wait for this latest collection of songs has been worth it.

He recorded the album with a like-minded and thoroughly respected producer in Justin Trevino. They recorded in Trevino’s studio in Brady, Texas. He was joined, as he has been over several previous recordings, by his Burning Angels rhythm section of Kevin Finn (drums) and Jeff Martin (bass) and new member David Knodle played electric guitar. Add to that Hank Singer on fiddle, Floyd Domino on piano and Tyler Hall on steel guitar. The backing singers are notable too, with Sierra Ferrell and Amber Digby adding their vocals to balance Prestwood’s ever assured and nuanced lead vocals. The sessions were recorded largely live, which gave an added presence to the overall country shuffle sound that is apparent in the self-written tracks.

As is perhaps natural, the songs touch on the perennial themes that were the staple of country music over the last few years. Paralyzed Heart is the opening song and is a nod to the Bakersfield inspired sound that has a fondness for the truck drivin’ stories of Red Simpson among others. Crossed Signals is a song about the importance of getting to the point in a relationship. It heralds in the classic shuffle sound with fiddle and steel well to the fore. Out Of Place (a co-write with Josh Berwanger), that has the darker side of drug use at its centre, features Sierra Ferrell in a mash up that Prestwood describes as “the Gatlin Brothers meets T Rex!”

There are two songs that directly touch on that other seminal theme of drink in Wine Drunk wherein that state of inebriation is a place he wants to take his girl. Day Drinking, on the other hand, recognises that as the years pass it’s not often possible to carry on as it was easy to do in the past. 

Cheating, as you might expect, has its place here too - and from both sides of the fence. In Slipping Away he is the one facing up to the pain of the realisation that he is no longer wanted, while  the song Crazy Girls addresses the running around he did in his younger days, especially in relation to touring and playing. Maybe I’ll Be Happy describes a petulant mood that finds him heading to the place where he thought he would be happy, following a fight with a girlfriend. That mood is again addressed in Leave Me Alone, the detail tells it all. 

The overall perception though is of an excellent album that captures the well intentioned balance between artist, players, producer and material, that makes it one that it is easy to love on those different levels. A work of heart. 

Review by Stephen Rapid

White Rose Motor Oil The Gift Of Poison Self Release

A husband and wife duo of Eryn DeSomer on vocals, guitar, keyboards and percussion and Keith Hoerig DeSomer on drums, bass and handclaps. So by the very fact of that particular line-up, they will doubtless draw parallels with any similar duo but especially, perhaps, The White Stripes playing a Dolly Parton song. They have been compare with the Jack White produced Loretta Lynn album Van Lear Rose, as well as to Neko Case’s more country-styled output. Pop-country is a term that has been used about them too but that has connotations of something far less palatable. They are closer to the best of power-pop in terms of energy and enjoyment and their country veers towards the traditional, rather than the more recent mainstream pap. That, at least, will give those unacquainted with their output some Idea of what to expect.

They put out a series of EPs back in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022 respectively. YOU CAN”T KILL GHOSTS, their debut album of original material, came out in 2021 and was preceded by an album of cover versions. They have obviously gained a lot of studio experience from those recordings to get them to the place for this album.

This twelve track release is good fun and the sound, produced by Brian Hunter who worked with them on previous recordings and who also recorded, mixed and mastered it, is vibrant and accessible and on the rock side of rootsy. They hail from Denver, Colorado, a city that has thrown up some interesting outfits in recent times like Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, Casey James Prestwood and The Burning Angels through to The Cowboy Dave Band (to name but three).

The songs deal with the trials and tribulations of love, with titles such as Just Your Type, Meet Me At The Bottom, Trouble Or Nothing, Only In Dreams and Ain’t No Saint giving hints of that state of mind and mood. Most of the songs are uptempo and upbeat despite the sometimes alternative nature of the lyrical content and story songs. The single outside track here is a version of Carlene Carter’s Every Little Thing that reminds one of a great song, artist and a reference point in time that is as valid in this version as the original was in its time.

One things that is apparent is that this couple, on record at least, don’t need anyone else to keep you listening. Eryn has a powerful, confident and versatile voice that can handle all the songs with equal ability, whilst musically they offer a similar credence and credibility. 

This gift is one that, so far, sounds like it will keep on giving and that White City Motor Oil lubricates many parts of the country rock motor, something that keeps us in tune and our motors running.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Pete Berwick The Damage Is Done Shotgun

Described as a cowpunk pioneer, Berwick this time sounds a lot less of the former and more firmly rooted in the latter demographic. This is the seventh release from Berwick and continues his hard rockin’ trajectory which began with his initial cowpunk outfit, Peter Berwick & Interstate. This album has been produced by Charlie Bonnet III, who has also furnished the buzzsaw guitars to Berwick’s often angry songs and delivery. The studio team is rounded out by engineer/ mixer Dave Summer’s worthy contributions on bass, drums, keyboards and additional guitar. Ashley Argo provides some backing vocals, joining the male trio to provide some additional vocal presence.

There is hardly a let up in pace and intensity from the open trio of hi-energy tracks that would likely please any Social Distortion fan or, for that matter, fans of power-pop fuelled punk in general. Time Clock On The Wall takes a step back with a slower paced guitar-led ballad. In an equally balanced step back from the raging fire is Ghost Tears, with some melodic atmospheric harmonies behind Berwick’s straining vocal that hints of the 60’s and the Ramones’ Spector recordings. Don’t Know How is another tale of hard times delivered, as the song’s message befits, at a less hectic pace and again is used to offset the full tilt punk boogie of the other songs, such as the beat-up hard edged beat for the remaining songs, one of which You’ll Get Used To It takes you back to the genesis of UK punk in London in ’77. The mid-paced Haunted Heart was written by Bonnet, the only song not penned by Berwick himself.

Berwick has thus far released some nine previous albums and anyone acquainted with his releases will know what to expect from this seasoned performer. It seems after such a long engagement with his music that this album has not seen him mellow though he has, on occasion, moderated his music to explore some other possibilities. Here he is back to demonstrating why the “cowpunk” connection was made in the first place, even though there is less obvious twang in evidence.

Berwick is also a working character actor with a lot of experience, who currently features in a new film One Night On Dover Street. His biography notes he has been a stand-up comedian, a theatre actor and an author, as well as playing both Elvis and Johnny Cash  He has also had his music included in a variety of movies over a number of years. One song taken from the album of the same name is Ain’t No Train Out Of Nashville that featured in the film about aspiring Nashville songwriters entitled A Thing Called Love. But it is his solo work his has forged his roots rock path, that sits alongside his musical journey since he began performing in the late 70s.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Cinder Well Cadence Free Dirt

Amelia Baker is one of the brightest talents to emerge on the music scene in recent years. Her debut album arrived back in 2015 and she has been slowly building a career that has seen separate album releases in 2018 and 2020, with a few singles and a live recording included along the journey.

Her vocal is very hypnotic and captures the listener with its intimacy and purity in the delivery. These are songs of meditative space and timeless quality. There is a deep resonance in the melodies and the song arrangements that lingers and demands attention. The music is deeply rooted in the feel of the process and the musicians are very intuitive in their interplay. Baker called upon the talents of Philip Rogers (drums), Neal Heppleston (bass), Jake Falby (violin), and Cormac MacDiarmada (strings) during the recording.

Having lived in Ireland for a number of years, Baker decided to return to her original home in Los Angeles and to touch base with her past. The album reflects the distance between these two parts of her experience, the time spent of different coasts, both very beautiful and both very different. The song Returning seems to capture this dichotomy with the refrain ‘The returning takes its own time’ hinting at the perspective needed to reconcile the two different worlds.

The title track is one that drips with atmosphere and reflects upon the rising and falling of life’s experiences; the vocal mirroring this sense of movement and passion. The sombre violin tone sets the atmosphere and the understated playing supports the song at every new inflection. The project was recorded at Hen House Studios near Venice beach but there is no sense of sunny days or long beach walks in the reflective and intimate sounds of songs like Well On Fire and Crow. The undulating waves perhaps played a part as Baker took in the beach vistas and superimposed them upon the rugged seas of the west of Ireland. Darkness and light, pleasure and pain, introspection and remembering to caution restraint.

Gone the Holding reflects upon the path that Baker has taken with images that reference birds, ports, the sea and time running out. Her experience of Covid isolation cannot have been easy for a writer who requires stimulation to feed her creative muse. A Scorched Lament is a slow melody with the imagery of a blackbird carrying messages of inner thoughts to places unknown. Final song I Will Close In the Moonlight has a certain calm that channels a delivery that is very reminiscent of Natalie Marchant in its lament to passing ships in the night, people who touch our lives, and then move on. Compelling and swathed in sounds to both heal and renew. A superb album in every way.

Review by Paul McGee

Hillsborough Comin’ back For You Heartsville

This band is based in the Queensland area of Australia and comprises the twin talents of Phil Usher and Beata Maglai, with Robbie Zawada on double bass, and Jonathan Pickvance on drums.

Opening track Trouble Finds Its Way is a perfect start to these songs about pleasure and pain. ‘There’s a price to walk away, But it’s death to try and stay, Walk the path with heavy boots, When trouble finds its way to you.’ In a similar vein Magnetic Lives and Exit Wounds circle the same territory of lost relationships and wanting to move on from a bad situation.

When Nobody Knows Your Name speaks of a life spent in isolation and the urge to be independent ‘When no one knows your name, You can lay your own track, It’s a two-headed coin, When you break from the pack.’ Maybe it’s just following a dream or maybe it’s a case of just lying to yourself? Other songs like Stitches and Comin’ Back To You tell about the other side of relationships and the feeling of being together with your love on the same path.

The country noir sound of Port Jackson Blues is typical of the great rhythm that runs through these song arrangements with the pulse of the backbeat and the distant howl of guitars laying down a sense of foreboding. Equally the insistent guitar groove on Laughing Clown is deeply infectious and the lines ‘No matter how you spell it honey, I’m just a wandering soul, You better save up all that money, My feet are made from gold.’ Another song that speaks of getting away and starting over is Far Away From Here and the urge to escape childhood constraints is strong ‘When you’ve only seen the night, You can’t recognise the light, The charred remains of your former life, Forge a prison for your mind.’ The slow strum of guitars, impassioned vocals and harmonica all add to the dynamic. The final song Queenie is an ode to a lost friend and the hope that they can meet again further down the dusty trails of time. ‘This is how it ends, Speeches given by old friends, The volumes left unsaid, And hope that we will meet again.’ A nicely framed sentiment and a tribute to the past.

This is outlaw country with a ragged sense of time and place despite the miles that separate Texas from Queensland. It has a swagger and a real taste of gritty maturity that is endearing.

Review by Paul McGee

Drew Young Bourbon and Bad Decisions Self Release

This album came with little information but on searching further it transpires that the release date was June 2022 and the fourteen songs were a “collection of previously releases singles, remastered singles, live versions and never before released singles.”

My copy of the album has only twelve tracks included but that doesn’t take away from the enjoyment factor. The arrangements and melodies are very bright and clean in the overall production and mastering. These are songs of loss and longing. The lessons learned are hard fought and the insights gained are worth the pain in the end.

Young sounds like Gorden Lightfoot across a number of these tracks with a resonance in his voice that is both deep and resonant. The title track references the road taken by Young in getting sober and joining the ranks of the ‘Friends of Bill.’   The nice groove and rhythm is similar to other tracks like You’re Just Too Good To Let Go, Falling Down and It’ll Be Soon. Another song The Geogia Line is similar in tempo to a Richard Marx hit, Hazard, from some years ago.

Stuck On Believing and A Couple Of Rounds Before I Go are two highlights with some sweet guitar and keyboard sounds filling the arrangements and excellent background vocals from an uncredited female voice that is impressive and succeeds in lifting the songs to a sweeter spot. This release will give you a strong impression of a consistent and strong song-writing quality and an urge to check our more of this artist’s back catalogue.

Review by Paul McGee

Jaelee Roberts Music, Shawn Williams Music, Diana Jones - Singer/Songwriter, Casey Prestwood, White Rose Motor Oil, Pete Berwick, Cinder Well, Hillsborough - Music, and The Drew Young Band.

New Album Reviews

Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection 2 Full Time Hobby

Playing pedal steel in Caitlin Rose’s band when she toured Europe, Spencer Cullum was encouraged by Rose and her guitarist, Jeremy Fetzer, to relocate to Nashville where the burgeoning Americana scene had the potential of offering the young East Londoner considerably more work opportunities than in his hometown. Cullum soon found himself very much part of the bohemian musical community in East Nashville and his avant-garde style of playing led to the formation, with Fetzer, of the instrumental band Steelism. Twelve years later, while Steelism still exists, Cullum’s impressive workload includes playing three-week residencies in Las Vegas as Miranda Lambert’s pedal steel player and numerous calls to the studio to work with a variety of artists and bands including Lambchop, Angel Olsen and Deertick.

A lover of various genres but with a particular fondness for the UK Canterbury sound and the classic British folk music of the late 60s and early 70s, Cullum discovered that his close friends and peers in Nashville- Erin Rae, Caitlin Rose, Sean Thomson and Andrew Combs - were also fans. (Cullum told us in a recent interview that when he first heard Erin Rae sing at The Fond Object, he was instantly reminded of Sandy Denny). What initially kicked off as loose evening jam sessions with friends eventually morphed into the recording of Cullum’s debut solo album COIN COLLECTION in 2021.

That album’s successor loosely treads a similar musical path with smatterings of krautrock and jazz alongside some classic Brit-folk. The track Betwixt and Between is a case in point and one that had me hitting the repeat button a number of times. Its origins stemmed from a fun Halloween night where Cullum and his associates covered the soundtrack of the 1973 British horror film The Wicker Man, which encouraged him to write and record a traditional folk song along similar lines. It’s a thing of beauty, with Cullum and Erin Rae’s vocals married to perfection. Cold Damp Valley, a co-write with Sean Thompson, affectionately recalls a few damp days the pair spent in a little village in West Yorkshire.  More experimental are the tracks Kingdom Weather and the opener What a Waste Of an Echo. The former includes chorus vocals, recorded remotely, by Japanese singer songwriter Yuma Abe, the latter features harmony vocals by Dana Gavanski alongside Cullum’s spoken delivery. The Three Magnets, running over the six-minute mark, is a racy krautrock instrumental featuring guitar and synths by ambient and spiritual jazz experimentalist, Rich Ruth.  Also included are the gentle folk ballad Green Trees and the dreamily psychedelic Out Of Focus.

While the album seldom strays too far from the genre-hopping delights of its predecessor, it does suggest an artist with multiple tricks up his sleeve and one growing in confidence both as a songwriter and a collaborator. If, like this writer, you’re a fan of the work of the delightfully eccentric Robert Wyatt, this record will be right up your street.

Review by Declan Culliton 

Carter Sampson Gold Horton

The latest album from Carter Sampson, the artist affectionately known as The Queen of Oklahoma, finds her sharing the production duties with multi-instrumentalist Kyle Reid, who played pedal steel on Sampson’s 2018 album LUCKY. That collaboration led to Reid touring with Sampson and Jason Scott as a three-piece in support of her last studio album, TRIO, from 2019.

Given that association, it’s little surprise that Sampson’s latest recording GOLD, from the intro on the opener and title track, is pedal steel - laden, and all the better for that. A writer who gives the impression of one who has lived through every lyric she writes; Sampson is particularly contemplative and plain-spoken on this ten-track collection.

Unlike her previous full-length albums, where she invited guest musicians and friends to contribute, the only players to feature on this occasion, other than Reid and herself, are Johnny Carlton, who plays upright bass on a couple of tracks, and Lane Hawkins, whose fiddle playing features on one track. This scenario was forced rather than intended, due to the majority of the tracks being recorded during lockdown. To observe social distancing, Reid ran cables from his house to a makeshift backyard studio where Sampson was set up, a somewhat unorthodox manner of recording. The process was completed by the addition of some innovative overdubs by Reid. Given the improvisation, the end product works remarkably well and gives the sense of a live recording with Sampson’s vocals particularly in fine fettle.

That previously noted opening track is a defiant thumbs up in the direction of her mom (‘Momma don’t you worry about me, I’ll be fine..cause you made me out of gold’). Exploring a wide range of issues alongside her personal plights, she digs deep into her western vibe on the swinging Yippy Yi Yo (‘it’s hard being a woman today’). She recalls the drought-stricken terror of the 1930s Dust Bowl in Oklahoma on Black Blizzard and brazenly declares the acceptance of her career vocation on Can’t Stop Me Now. The album closes on a hopeful and reassuring note with the acoustic There’s Always Next Year.

For sheer charm and listening pleasure, look no further than GOLD. Beauty is often born out of chaos and tribulation; this collection of tales is a case in point. A dynamic storyteller, by recognising past challenges, exorcising them, and moving on, Sampson has struck gold and created another superlative album equal to anything in her impressive back catalogue.

Review by Declan Culliton

Robbie Fulks Bluegrass Vacation Compass

Over a three-decade career, fifteen solo albums and two Grammy nominations, Robbie Fulks has crisscrossed seamlessly between traditional country, alt-country, folk and singer songwriter genres. The common denominator in all his musical excursions has been the quality of the end product. Raised in North Carolina and surrounded by a musical family - Fulks’ mother played autoharp, his father was a proficient guitarist and two of his aunts played banjo and violin respectively - Fulks owned his first banjo aged six and was also an accomplished guitar player by the age of ten.  Prior to launching his solo career, he was also a player in Greg Cahill’s bluegrass band, Special Consensus. Given that history, it’s hardly a surprise that Fulks has finally recorded a full-blown bluegrass album, BLUEGRASS VACATION.

A regular collaborator himself, it’s fitting that Fulks was joined in the studio by bluegrass royalty in Sam Bush, Sierra Hull, Ronnie McCoury, Tim O’Brien, Alison Brown, John Cowan, Brennen Leigh and Jerry Douglas.

Fulks previously wrote satirically and with ‘flowery’ language about his less than favourable association with Music City with Fuck This Town on his 1997 album SOUTH MOUTH. I had the pleasure of witnessing him performing that song at American Legion Post 82 in Nashville a few years back. The reaction was divided between abject disgust amongst the more mature regulars at the venue and hilarity from the younger and hipper attendees. Like a sore not yet fully healed, Fulks revisits that jarred relationship with Nashville Blues (‘I’ve got the blues, those Nashville blues, ain’t got no hair, ain’t got no shoes’). The equally impressive Molly and The Old Man is an endorsement of the potency and restorative qualities of old-time music as it passes through the generations. It features a gorgeous vocal contribution from Brennen Leigh and fine banjo playing from Alison Brown. The album is not strictly bluegrass throughout, Fulks strays into country folk with memories of parent-directed rebellion while moving through adolescence into manhood on Angels Carry Me, and the gentle ballad Mommas Eyes visits the hurt and grief of losing a loved one. He hasn’t abandoned his sardonic writing style either - no surprise there - and he kicks off the album with a tongue-in-cheek rouser, One Glass of Whiskey (‘one glass of whiskey to ease my mind and another to take it too far away to find’).

‘Electric guitars might give way to computers, as seems to be happening now, but the mountains will still be right there’ reflects Fulks. It’s a fitting contemplation and a reminder of the significance of honouring and sustaining the excellence of music from the past. Fulks has more than played his part in that regard and continues to do so with flying colours with BLUEGRASS VACATION, which should appeal to both bluegrass lovers and devotees from the roots and Americana world.

Review by Declan Culliton

Ben De La Cour Sweet Anhedonia Jullian

A new album to savour the delights in the exploration of the many characters created by Ben De La Cour, taken from many walks of life, though most are traveling on those uneven paths you end up tripping up on. This time out De La Cour turned to a producer he felt would be sympathetic to his overall vision. That was fellow singer/songwriter and life-experienced troubadour Jim White. White has not drastically changed the overall musical direction but brings a subtle hand to the desk, one that highlights the details and mood of these new songs.

Again we are guided through dark backroads, dark thoughts and the darker landscape that permeates the polarised viewpoints that are more than apparent in America (and elsewhere) these days. However the idiosyncratic apprehensions of many of his subjects would suggest that they have more immediate concerns than worrying about any such weighty ideals - no matter how much that may come to have relevance in the long term.

There is a core empathy in De La Cour’s writing that suggests he has an understanding of what forces bring them to that place in their lives. Like many writers of this quality, he inhabits these persona and lays out a place and time without making a judgement on the nature of that person.

Appalachian Book Of The Dead opens the album and from its conspicuous title augurs the tales to come. It reads like a screenplay synopsis for an American noir which reveals itself in small non-linear scenes an enticing introduction to the material that follows. The element of chance and luck is the premise of Number’s Game, a song written with Lynne Hanson and featuring Becky Warren on vocals. Why this the song was released as the first single is apparent from its immediate sense of melody, even if lyrically its sense of realism would mean it’s unlikely get played on mainstream radio. 

From there on we take a journey down a particularly heartworn highway that passes through Maricopa County, wherein the solo trumpet adds to the sense of foreboding on the track. Shine On The Highway travels that road with an endless vista of a forgotten small town America. It again highlights De La Cour and White’s marriage of interesting sounds and sugary writing. The title track is a somewhat softer take on the lives of those whose faces don’t entirely rhyme, who tend to be in a place where they can feel nothing at all. Elizabeth Cook joins in on the kind of gritty savageness that is well expressed by the title Suicide Of Town. Next we’re heading into Palookavile with mining camps, memories of Buddy Holly and unsuitable venues along the way to that final destination. Trumpet and piano are again central to the pervasive mood and noirish frame of mind.

Taking a more personal insight is Brother, which looks deep into another life who may or may not be a sibling, but offers the credo to “keep your head up high and keep your profile low” on the off chance you might avoid the devil’s glance. More discordant, with a distinct Tom Waits disposition in the first part, is the penultimate American Mind - as fragmented as you might expect in current (and past) times. It has an arrangement that seems to divide the song into two distinct sections that work in tandem, noting that “the road to heaven is paved with sorrow.” The album ends with a sense of hopeful ambiguity, over an acoustic guitar and fiddle treatise on what thinking I’ve Got Everything I Ever Wanted and what that might be.The child’s voice in its coda points to a hope for a better future for the next generation.

Of course, these are my interpretations of these intriguing songs, and may not entirely be what was intended by their author. Nevertheless, this is an album I have been listening to for some time and it is a career best for De La Cour and one that singles him out as being among the very best singer/songwriters working today (or at any time).

Review by Stephen Rapid

Discovering new music is not always the easiest thing, you rely on reviews from certain magazines where you know the writer’s own preferences are close to your own. Or there are a number of websites you trust to give you the heads up. Apart from that you need to sort through submissions, many of which are totally unsuitable for Lonesome Highway. You can, though, discover some real gems that way too. The following album was one highlighted by the Saving Country Music website - a site well worth investigating.

Sam Munsick Johnny Faraway Self Release

The Munsick family are a well regarded family of musicians, whose father Dave was a champion fiddle player who taught his three sons to play - all have a love of country music (especially with the added defining suffix of Western) which they play together as The Munsick Boys. Tris released his debut solo album NEXT TO NOWHERE in 2010. Ian is the youngest but has signed a deal with Warner Music Nashville and may have the biggest profile.

However the family member we are most concerned with here is Sam. He has released this second album, JOHNNY FARAWAY, recently as a follow up to his debut RODEO ROAD. The album is honest and true to a tradition which has seen a major resurgence in recent times, led by artists like Colter Wall, Corb Lund, Riddy Armen, Andy Hedges and Wylie Gustafson. The loss of icons of the genre like Ian Tyson, Don Edwards and Chris Ledoux means there is a need for new artists to fill that saddle.

Sam Munsick is a definite candidate with his tales of cowboys, rodeos, ranches and the characters who inhabit them and the bars that service them. He does so here with nine self-penned songs that are as full of life as the people who are the subjects of the material. The album features some top notch playing from co-producer and multi-instrumentalist Cody Angel, alongside the other producer and rhythm guitarist Tyler McCollum. The rhythm section is Glenn Fukunaga on bass and drummer Pat Manske. Ron Huckabee plays piano and brothers Dave and Ian are involved too. All in all, a set of players well able to do justice to these likeable songs.

Sam adds his prominent, personable voice and guitar which serve as the core of the performances. While some artists have favoured a more stripped down approach (campfire like) of voice and guitar with some subtle additional instruments touches, this album seems more like a Friday/Saturday night out. There is the opportunity to sing along, to dance and to be drawn into the obvious joy that ensues. 1-80 Lady and Marana Marie are taken up with the subject of the ladies who are very much a part of the lives of these folks. There is a country rock edge to Old Montana that feels right for the song and for the album’s overriding balance of work and play. 1922 is about the comparison between thinking of departed love and a painting by the renowned western artist Charles M Russell. It compares the fact that his paintings are still around, unlike the person he wishes still was. Cayuse Twister is the tale of an old timer whose saddle was his home. It has a Western Swing flavour that is pretty tasty. There are similar approaches to songs such as Smokey’s Bones, though here it is the horse not the man who is lauded. The attraction (or addiction) of the rodeo life is the theme of In Trouble On The Bubble.

The ballad setting of the title track feels like it could have been based on an old Irish traditional song from sometime in the last century, as many of the songs of the genre did. It again highlights the warmth of Sam Munsick’s voice and how easy it is to enjoy the whole dang thing. The final track Smokin’ Joe ends with a spoken outro, like a stage announcer thanking us for joining Sam in this particular performance.

Well I for one sure did and I think you might too if you have a liking for country and western music this well put together and played. This is music from the heart, coming from an authentic place that is never faraway.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Jake Ybarra Something In The Water The Orchard

A new name to me and to many others I would imagine but if he continues to develop the potential that he shows on this his debut album, he will be a name to watch out for in the future. Ybarra (the Y should be pronounced as an E) has written all ten songs, which show a writing style that manages to consider some of the less obvious but revealing details, alongside those bigger issues that are part of the day to day existence that so many face and can therefore relate to. He has an unmistakeable understanding of those he writes about. That may be from personal experience or from close observation of these he has, thus far, encountered, often influenced by several authors rather than just singer/songwriters.

He is a Texan but grew up in South Carolina and there was a member of a choir, which was where he began to explore what a voice, and specifically his voice, can do. That was in the Southern Baptist community, and his next interest was on the sports field, before he immersed himself in the blues guitar styles that were much in favour. The next revelation was when he began to consider the lyrical content of the material he was listening to at the time, noting the sadness and beauty those songs and writers revealed.

He released an EP locally before that led to the opportunity of recording this album. He worked with William Gawley as producer and a team that included Billy Thomas on drums, bassist Dow Tomlin, David Flint on guitar and keyboardist Dane Bryant rounding out the band. They all serve Yberra well and bring something extra to the songs, something that is pretty crucial on a debut release.

There is a variety in the delivery in terms of tempo and mood and one is immediately taken with songs like the title song both with the arrangement and with the story line unfolding. Equally, Savannah’s Song is a similarly paced acoustically rooted song with subtle instrumental support. The contemplative Long Winter is a descriptive tale of remembrances of that season’s time and endeavours. Call Me By My Name has a sense of longing and a wish for company that is perhaps both hopeful as well as having a degree of dejectedness that fits the musical setting. We are again in similar territory with Disappear. 

Other songs such as Bloodfire or the riff-woven A Whole Lot To Remember and the lead track (and one of the album highlights) Late November kick it up a notch and drive the album along in a way that sees the running order working as a balance that gives the whole album its overall identity.

Throughout Ybarra’s voice and songwriting impress, with his ability to mix the plaintive and plain-spoken with the  perceptive. All in all, a thumbs up for a new name that is likely to have a a shot for a place alongside the greats of the Texas troubadour tradition. It must be something in the water.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Maggie Fraser The Way That I Wish It Was Self Release

This is a debut release from Toronto based Maggie Fraser, a songwriter with many years of experience writing for other artists. In 2008, local Ontario singer and multi-instrumentalist Colleen Hodgson paid tribute to Fraser on her release, Songs of Maggie. All these years later, Fraser steps up to the microphone and takes her place in the spotlight. There is a sense of symmetry in the fact that Hodgson appears as a support and background vocalist on two of the ten songs featured here.

Fraser handles all of the song-writing duties and plays acoustic guitar on six tracks. She also takes all lead vocals and her delivery could be something of an acquired taste to new listeners. It is a cross between Marianne Faithful and Lucinda Wiliams in cadence and timbre. Production duties are handled by husband Alec Fraser, who also contributes on bass and guitars, banjo, keyboards, drums and percussion.

Other musicians on the project are Denis Keldie (electric piano, organ, accordion), Chris Bartos (violins, moog bass, fiddle, pedal steel), Rich Roxborough (keyboards, piano), James McKie (mandolin, bodhrán), Chris Staig (guitar), and Ed White (drums). Together, the band recorded at Liquid studio in Toronto and the results are captured in this engaging album of songs that cover a whole range of emotions, from self-reflection to fear of the future, analysing grief and trying to get beyond feelings of depression, to embracing hope for the future.   

Outside of her interest in music, Fraser is a qualified Psychotherapist who runs her own practice and who navigates life changes for her clients as much as she tries to express her own journey in song. Her husband, Alec Fraser, as well as taking on production duties is also a respected blues musician who developed the Circus Bass, an upright bass with seven drum sounds attached, played with his hands and a brush. He plays this instrument on three of the songs featured here.

Your Ghost is an interesting take on the grief of losing a loved one and the lyrics ‘Tomorrow is a betraying word, Don’t believe all the lines you’ve heard, Just when you need her most, she doesn’t come through,’ give a sense of loneliness and a sense of fear in the future. The Cornfield is a song that laments the way that the earth has been abused and the image of its essence as a young girl that has been ignored is wrapped in a country tinged arrangement with pedal steel and fiddle featured.

After the Loving is a song about lost love and Our Little Canoe looks at the ability to carry on regardless, no matter what life puts in our way ‘Our little canoe, onward we travel, Though kingdoms unravel and time falls away.’ With the song, The Way That I Wish It Was, Fraser looks at a life lived by an immigrant who was married at sixteen as part of a pre-arranged union. The difference in the lives that we are given, and forced to live against the freedom to choose. It takes strength to endure.

Going to Hell is about domestic abuse and the regrets born of the price paid for dark deeds. The title track tells of unrequited love and has an easy country influenced arrangement with some fine piano and guitar lines, courtesy of Denis Keldie and Alec Fraser. Wild Black Dogs looks at our fears and our hopes, keeping down the feelings of being out of control. The final track Song For Susan is a tribute to a friend who has passed on.

As a debut album, this contains plenty to entertain and is an interesting look into the creative muse of a talented artist.

Review by Paul McGee

Dougie Poole The Rainbow Wheel Of Death Wharf Cat

This New York singer-songwriter has been releasing music since his debut EP first appeared in 2016. He released a full album Wideass Highway in 2017, and followed this up with a second release in 2020 and the arrival of The Freelancer's Blues. The lockdown years proved a time of both challenge and reward for Poole as he negotiated his feelings and emotions across the isolation of having to stop playing and touring for a living.

In 2021 he released a 13-track Live Bootlegs album that covered recordings between 2018 and 2020. All the songs were performed at Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn, New York and originally released on the podcast, Dougie Poole's Special Delivery.  He is a very interesting artist who has taken his early influences from indie-based music and punk to approach a new take on country music as a genre that can fuse genuine songcraft with synth based sounds, Wurlitzer and traditional pedal steel. The results are very impressive and engaging across nine tracks that run just short of thirty-four minutes and leave a lasting impression.

The title track refers to that icon that greets us on our computer screens every time our machine buffers and the waiting can be related to feelings of being stuck, something that we all experienced during the pandemic lockdowns. Poole sings ‘Been waiting here so long, For something good to load.’ In the very poignant High School Gym Poole reflects upon those who have died and now form part of his dreams where they populate the benches in his old school gym. ‘There’s just one question that’s on everybody’s mind, Hell, they ask me every time that I stop in, Can’t you turn back time? Can’t you curve that line? So we can roll the old dice again, Oh, but the house, it always wins.’ Superb song-writing and such bittersweet reflection on the wheel of life.

Poole delivers a soft vocal that blends in easily with the understated playing. It’s very much a case of less is more in the gentle melodies and song arrangements. Worried Man Blues 2 and Nickles and Dimes are two songs about relationship woes and the ever-present push and pull of conflicting emotions mixed with poor communication channels. Beth David Cemetery is located in New York and the song talks of regular undertaker visits to deliver another corpse; ‘I’m headed home to give you back another one.’

Must Be In Here Somewhere is a search on a computer hard drive for an old message that has gotten lost and the memory of an old lover that lingers and haunts.  I Lived My Whole Life Last Night has a similar sense of something lost and speaks of regret ‘I ate the whole apple in just one bite, I ate the core, the seeds, the stem, just like I said I might.’ The final song is one of guarded hope and the overriding emotion of I Hope My Baby Comes Home Soon is one of wanting to be held and comforted.

Poole wrote all the songs during 2021 in his apartment before bringing them to co-producers Nate Mendelsohn and Katie Von Schleicher. Over a period of five days they worked in the intimate space of a suburban home, temporarily turned into a small studio and invited a group of players to join in the live, off the floor experience. Sean Mullins (drums, organ, wurlitzer), Brian Betancourt (bass), Mike Etten (guitars), Jack McLoughlin (pedal steel, resonator guitar) were joined by producer Katie Von Schleicher (Wurlitzer, synths, vocals), and Nate Mendelsohn (vocals, horns), Dan iead (pedal steel) and Zhanah Wyche (vocals) appear on  different tracks. Dougie Poole leads the ensemble on main vocal duties together with guitar, synth and harmonica contributions. This is a very restrained album that is full of sweetly observed moments and it is certainly worthy of your investment.

Review by Paul McGee

Roxy Gordon Crazy Horse Never Died Paradise Of Bachelors

A renowned Texas poet, journalist, artist, activist, and musician; Roxy Gordon was a Choctaw and Assiniboine native American. He lived from 1945 until his death in 2000 and is remembered on this reissue of a previous work that was first recorded in 1988. In his day he was feted by the likes of Townes Van Zandt, Leonard Cohen, and Terry Allen. Butch Hancock, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Billy Joe Shaver also identified with him as fellow Texan songwriters. However, Gordon was more defined by his wide-ranging work that encompassed poetry, short fiction, essays, memoirs, journalism, and criticism. His primary subject as a writer, musician, and visual artist was always American Indian culture, specifically the ways it collided and coexisted with European American culture and with his own life experience.

I am reminded of the similar works created by John Trudell (1946-2015), another native American author, poet, actor, musician, and political activist. He served as the chairman of the American Indian Movement, and his pregnant wife, three children and mother-in-law were killed in 1979 in a suspicious fire at the home of his parents-in-law.

On this album of ten spoken word pieces, Gordon comments on the way in which history has been written and distorted by the white man in the search for land and wealth across the great plains of America. History is always written by the victors and in subjecting native American first nation peoples to life on reservations, the hurt and callous disregard for empathy and human kindness can never to forgotten.

The indomitable spirit of a subjugated people can never be broken and that very fortitude is perfectly captured in the soul of Crazy Horse. He stands as an enduring symbol for the ongoing fight and for the past suffering that has paved the way towards a challenging future. Both The Hanging Of Black Jack Ketchum and I Used To Know An Assiniboine Girl recount the true stories of events that went unpunished and Life As A Living Target sums up the reality of having to survive against the odds of keeping others alive by personal sacrifice, being willing to die for the ultimate survival of other races.

In An Open Letter to Illegal Aliens Gordon highlights capitalism, communism, materialism and money, Christianity, and Judaism, as the sickness imported by European immigrants to the USA and  to unspoilt lands that had been thriving for thousands of years before their arrival. This is a timely message that conservative white America should absorb in the midst of their current hysteria about immigration policies.

The musical accompaniment is provided by Brad Bradley on keyboards and guitar and Frank X Tolbert on washtub bass.  It is a stark recording, raw at both the core and along the edges. It is an absorbing listen that reaches from beyond the grave full of insight and sharply honed wisdom.

Review by Paul McGee

Carter Sampson, Robbie Fulks, Ben de la Cour, Sam Munsick, Jake Ybarra, Dougie Poole

Spencer Cullum Jr., Maggie Fraser, Roxy Gordon

New Album Reviews

Rachel Baiman Common Nation of Sorrow Signature Sounds

Aside from being a gifted multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and vocalist, Rachel Baiman’s unwavering commitment to addressing social issues and injustice is in little doubt. A co-founder of the musician-led organisation, Folks Fight Back, Baiman is Nashville based but was raised in Chicago by parents who both were political activists. Her 2017 album, SHAME, tackled thorny political issues head-on and featured in our favourite albums of that year. Her second full album, CYCLES, which followed in 2021, also addressed more personal matters of the heart.

This self-produced album was recorded in twelve days at The Tractor Shed in Nashville and was mixed by Tucker Martine (Rosanne Cash, My Morning Jacket, Aoife O’Donovan). It plays out as a ‘state of the nation’ in political terms, with particular emphasis on the economic oppression forced upon so many ordinary people in America. Baiman sets that scene with the opener SomeStrange Notion and airs her frustration and exasperation on Bad Debt. Optimism is seldom on the agenda, although the Gillian Welch-sounding Bitter, notwithstanding its lyrical content, is simply gorgeous. The banjo-led John Hartford cover, Self Made Man, is an endorsement of Baiman’s love of old school country and Lovers and Leavers is directed towards her bipolar disorder, a diagnosis which she only received in recent years. Annie, possibly autobiographical, is written from the perspective of a young girl trying to make sense of the adult world surrounding her. 

 Despite the dark overtones, and bruised and tender lyrics, Baiman has created an uplifting listening experience with COMMON NATION OF SORROW. While the album's quality owes much to the intimate vocals of Baiman and harmonies from Erin Rae, the standard of musicianship from the assembled players is equally splendid. An artist always questioning while on her creative quest and never one to reinvent herself, this record is a worthy companion to her previous recordings and a highly recommended listen.

Review by Declan Culliton

Dom Flemons Traveling Wildfire Smithsonian Folkways

Chicago-based musician and historian Dom Flemons’ latest recording, which runs for a healthy fifty-six minutes, is a fifteen-track album of both original songs and reconstructions of traditional folk songs. The Grammy award-winning artist describes the collection as ‘a statement of my personal travel experiences…. and stories can travel from generation to generation bringing important lessons from the past into the present and the future.’

Together with vocals, the majority of the instrumentation (acoustic guitar, banjo, drums, percussion, electric bass, electric guitar and quills) was performed by Flemons. Contributions are also credited to mandolinist, Sam Bush, and former  Pogues accordion and piano player, James Fearnley. Ted Hutt, previously a member of Flogging Molly, and who worked at the controls on albums by Old Crow Medicine Show, Lucero and Violent Femmes, produced the album, which was recorded at Kingsize Soundlabs in Los Angeles.

Flemons’ work with Carolina Chocolate Drops was a refreshing venture into the traditional musical history of yesteryear embracing folk, country, western and blues genres and he continues that application on TRAVELLING WILDFIRE. Opening with a waltz, Slow Dance With You, and closing with the lively instrumental, Songster Revival, there is nothing approaching a filler in between. Impressive covers of Dylan’s tribute to Woody Guthrie, Guess I’m Doing Fine and the Jimmie Strothers’ penned We Are Almost Down To The Shore are included. Every bit as fetching are self-written westerns, Nobody Wrote It Down and Dark Beauty.

There has been a noticeable resurgence in Western culture in album releases in recent times and this gem is a continuation of that welcome development. A leading light in this regard, Flemons’ 2018 album DOM FLEMONS PRESENTS BLACK COWBOYS was another signpost to his commitment to this genre. Romantic without being overly sentimental and political without being high-handed, this release addresses its author's personal journey, together with that of his forefathers, elegantly and noteworthily.

Review by Declan Culliton

The Scarlet Goodbye Hope’s Eternal Angel Dust

The pedigree of Minneapolis band The Scarlet Goodbye is most impressive, combining the talents of Daniel Murphy (Golden Smog, Soul Asylum) and singer songwriter/ producer Jeff Arundel, whose back catalogue includes five previous albums dating back to his debut record COMPASS from 1993.

Following a ten-year absence from recording (‘In 2012 I sold all the guitars and amps, now I’m busy buying them all back’), Murphy’s interest in making music was rekindled once more by a casual invitation into Arundel’s studio following a chance meeting in a local coffee shop. That meeting of minds and renewed enthusiasm on Murphy’s part soon morphed into the pair writing and recording the twelve tracks on HOPE’S ETERNAL. Similarly to the brainstorming that resulted in four exceptionally listenable albums by ‘supergroup’ Golden Smog, you could be forgiven in assuming that this recording was an archived album, recorded in the late 60s, but only seeing the light of day now. The duo gathered together a host of Minneapolis’ finest players in Ben Peterson (drums), Patrick Nelson (bass), Michael Nelson (percussion, keyboards) and Pat Fredrick (violin) to fashion this blend of breezy Brit power-pop and jangly American country rock.

The pick of the crop are the instantly catchy and sweet-sounding Angel Dust and Sandy, the latter recalling Fountains of Wayne at their sharpest. It’s not all fun-filled stock either. The dark and brooding The Ballad Of Julie Ann and the album’s swansong Minor Things, which addresses dementia, both tackle thorny matters sensitively. A cover of Husker Du’s Celebrated Summer is also included, but unlike the manic original version, the inclusion is less chaotic and unrestrained.

Despite The Scarlet Goodbye being christened ‘the most unlikely mash-up in Minnesota music history’, HOPE’S ETERNAL is loaded with positive energy, and hooks galore, and is a lovely listening experience.

Review by Declan Culliton

Bennett Wilson Poole I Saw A Star Behind Your Eyes, Don’t Let It Die Away BWP/SRD

A meeting of minds between three artists with somewhat dissimilar backgrounds, the self-titled album from Bennett Wilson Poole, released nearly five years ago, resulted in the band winning the 2019 UK Artist of The Year Award at the AMAUK’s.  Deemed a diversion and a one-off at that time, such was the acclaim of that album that Tony Poole (Starry Eyed & Laughing) Danny Wilson (Grand Drive, Danny & The Champions of The World) and Robin Bennett’s (Dreaming Spires) thoughts turned to a further musical adventure along similar lines.

Covid and illness among the ranks delayed the release of this ten-track album by a couple of years. The end product, while deviating somewhat from the more West Coast vibe of the debut album, recreates the classic three-piece harmonies, sublime guitar playing, and razor-sharp rhythm section, the latter courtesy of Fin Kenny (drums) and Joe Bennett (bass), which worked so well on their first project.

While not entirely abandoning their West Coast influences - echoes of CSN&Y are to the fore on the gorgeous Help Me See My Way - dynamics closer to home dominate, in particular 60s Brit-pop. In a manner similar to Starry Eyed & Laughing unapologetically following in the footsteps of their principal mentors The Byrds, the album plays out like a ‘thumbs up’ to the bands and artists closest to their hearts. With the master craftsman and godfather of the band, Tony Poole, at the controls, the production is faultless with emphasis on the shared vocals and harmonies.

They name-check their American heroes -   Andy Warhol, Kerouac, Grateful Dead, Aretha Franklin, Walt Whitman and Bobby Kennedy - against the backdrop of the Trump-era with I Wanna Love You (But I Can’t Right Now). Tie-Dye T-Shirt, with its slick Who-like intro, takes a pertinent dig at the ghastly TV makeover shows and cleverly includes a one-off refrain borrowed from Love Affair’s Everlasting Love (‘open up your eyes, open up your eyes’). The melodic Yvonne tips its hat in mid-60s Lennon/McCartney direction and Heart Songs has a matching classic vintage pop undertone.

Harking to past eras but with a modern spin and a fitting heir to its predecessor, I SAW A STAR BEHIND YOUR EYES, DON’T LET IT DIE AWAY has the capacity to set your pulse racing in places and provide tender and reflective moments elsewhere. Doffing their collective hats in the direction of best-loved artists and eras, and unashamedly nostalgic, the album is classic jukebox fare from a bygone time.

Review by Declan Culliton

John Calvin Abney Tourist Black Mesa

When the world decided to stay home when the pandemic hit, John Calvin Abney did the complete opposite. His lease was up in California (and the wildfires were raging) so he decided to go on a road trip through the US, staying with friends or in hotels, through Nevada, Texas and his native Oklahoma, and that trip fuelled the songs on his latest album. Aptly named TOURIST, he recorded the album solo in his portable studio (whatever that means), and sent the songs to John Moreland, who produced it remotely, while also adding percussion, bass and backing vocals. The result is a pop leaning, folky affair filled with melodic hooks, and layers of dreamy vocals, creating a shimmering soundscape.

Holy Golden West is one of the standout songs - influenced by his Californian environment, Abney’s lyrics are keenly observed, with descriptions of nature, but then ominously ‘ashes fall like snow from cigarette skies’, an obvious metaphor for the wildfires. It’s a personal cry for help and a seeking of safety, the ache in his breathy vocals almost drowned by the layers of soft percussion, piano, bass, chimes and harmony vocals. Watch Me Go (Back In Time) is another tale of unravelling and vulnerability, while By Your Leave uses acoustic guitars and swirly synths to good effect in this slow paced evocation of silence, sunset and moonlight.

Abney somehow manages to play a myriad of instruments on this record, from guitars to synths to Wurlitzer and more, presumably not all were stashed in his vehicle for the journey!

Worth checking out - it’s a grower.                

Review by Eilís Boland

Kelley Smith Moon Child Self Release

Sometimes, just sometimes, a record comes along and stops you in your tracks. That is what happened when I first listened to this debut 5-track EP from Kelley Smith. Unusually, Smith only began to write songs in the past couple of years, while approaching her 40th birthday. A Minnesota native, who plays several instruments, she has been busy with life, including rearing four children. She freely admits that she has social anxiety, and has recently discovered her voice through songwriting.

The title track takes the form of a conversation between a couple, where one is a dreamer and one the steadying tether. There’s a pull, over and back between the ‘moon child’ and ‘her anchor, her stay’, ‘Moon child, the night is for dreamers like us/So I’ll be the tether to your wanderlust’. Swathed in gently fingerpicked acoustic guitar, supported by claw hammer banjo, and a hint of slide guitar, it’s also our introduction to Smith’s most distinctive vocal tone - somewhere between Iris deMent and Gillian Welch. Marriage is a taking stock in a long established relationship, ‘seems we close our eyes and wake up old’, where staleness has crept in, ‘did we almost lose each other/in the arms of one another’? But where there’s love, there’s hope, ‘find some patience and some kindness, too/melt the ice that grew in me, and you’.

Smith credits her Toronto based producer, Joel Schwartz, for ensuring that she managed to realise her dream of making a record, something she thought unattainable. His production here is sublime, allowing her vocals and lyrics to take centre stage. He adds resonator guitar, along with a soupçon of mandolin, banjo, electric guitar or piano, exactly when needed, barely there yet so effective.

Dust is one of the most powerful songs exploring grief that I have ever heard. Poignant, yet full of celebration of the love that existed in life, and still remains. ‘Seems like yesterday your hand was warming mine/And now you’ve slipped though my fingers…’ In Tea and Whiskey, there’s a longing for the early days, the carefree days of youth and early love, and a whimsical journey of escape to the moon. Clearly autobiographical, in the exquisite I’ll Let Go she takes a leap of faith, into the unknown, ‘take me now, to the end of the road/beyond what I think I know’.

I, for one, am glad that Kelley Smith took that leap of faith and I can’t wait to hear where the road will lead her next.

Review by Eilís Boland

Peach and Quiet Beautiful Thing Self Release

This album is a follow up to a 2021 debut, Just Beyond the Shine, which was recorded during the pandemic and released to very positive reviews. The partnership of Heather Read and Jonny Miller join together as the creative centre of the music and the twelve songs are very much based around the topic of relationships in all their different forms.

As a couple, their talents and commitment shine through and their songs of love and life certainly leave a positive impression. Their romance is celebrated in the opening song and album title Beautiful Thing and their life on the shores of Pender Island, off Canada's west coast, sounds idyllic.

This sense of joy as a duo is also celebrated in songs like That Is For Sure and When You’re Gone, both of which speak of a shared devotion and a love united. However, there are plenty of dark turns on the road and the search for happiness and this duo mix it up quite a bit on other songs, with Pockets Empty visiting the topic of domestic abuse and Oklahoma or Arkansas highlighting the urge to just get away, buy a motor cycle and drive out towards new beginnings.

The theme of missing someone and the lonely feelings of separation are captured in other songs like Just Before the Dawn, This Time and Save Me Tonight. The dual message of desire and longing is captured nicely on the bluesy groove of Horse and Saddle with the superb pedal steel and keyboard infusions adding great dynamic to the playing. Heather Read features on four songs and her arresting vocal is a highlight; Jonny Miller provides lead vocal on the other songs and together, their harmony vocals dove-tail sweetly together.

The musicianship is quite superb throughout with the dual guitar playing of Read and Miller perfectly complimented by producer and guitar maestro Steve Dawson.  He brings the magic dust to so many of the albums that he produces, with just the right amount of what is needed on the overall feel and groove of every track. Chris Gestrin plays keyboards on the project and his inclusion is a change from the first album which works really well, adding nice colour and warmth to the songs. The rhythm section of Jeremy Holmes on bass and Gary Craig on drums features again and provides the foundation for the other players to enhance the arrangements. A really tight band sound with great moments of guitar and keyboard embellishment.

Behind the Sun is the longest track here and a real joy with the guitar playing channelling the energy of a Neil Young work-out. A song that has a brooding quality and great imagery around the dark spectre of dishonesty and secrecy. Take a well-earned bow to all concerned. A very enjoyable album with much to recommend it.

Review by Paul McGee

Steve Dawson Eyes Closed, Dreaming Black Hen

This release completes a hat-trick of albums, referred to as the “pandemic trilogy” by Steve Dawson and all released within the last twelve months. Gone, Long Gone appeared in March last year and it created the blueprint for what has turned out to be a thrilling and productive time in Dawson’s career. Phantom Thread followed in August last and was an instrumental album with eleven songs of timeless quality played by a select group of players that just merged seamlessly into a cohesive whole. The quality of playing across the three albums has been of the highest level and the featured musicians compliment Dawson so perfectly in the beautiful playing.

Alberta songwriter Matt Patershuk has worked with Dawson over past years and five albums appeared as a result of their collaboration. The duo have developed a song-writing partnership over the course of this album trilogy and four of the tracks featured here are a strong example of success achieved in their shared talents.

Dawson also covers songs from Ian Tyson (Long Time To Get Old), Bobby Charles (Small Town Talk), Cowboy Jack Clement (Guess Things Happen That Way), and John Hartford (Let Him Go Mama). There are two interpretations of traditional songs, House Carpenter and Singin’ the Blues, both of which highlight the scope of inventive playing by the trusted musicians that Steve has called upon from past projects. Regular studio stalwarts Gary Craig and Jeremy Holmes provide the always inventive rhythm section with Chris Gestrin contributing on all manner of keyboards. They are augmented on various tracks by the drumming and percussive skills of Jay Bellerose (five tracks), with Fats Kaplin and Tim O’Brien guesting on mandolin. Vocals are ably handled by Dawson himself and Alison Russell guests on three songs, as does Dawson’s daughter Casey. Kevin McKendree adds organ and piano on one track and Keri Latimer appears as guest vocalist on two songs. The horn section of Jerry Cook (baritone sax), Dominic Conway (tenor sax) and Malcolm Aiken (trumpet) make a great impression on Small Town Talk and also returning are the excellent Ben Plotnick (violin, viola) and Kaitlyn Raitz (cello) on the standout Hemmingway.

Mentioning all these players is important in the context that four separate locations were used in bringing the overall sound together. Various recordings were captured in Los Angeles, Nashville, Toronto and Vancouver on a remote basis and it is a huge tribute to Dawson that he makes the disparate parts blend so easily together. The production is vibrant and filled with great moments where you just want to hit the repeat button and experience the brilliance one more time. There are two instrumental tracks, Waikiki Stonewall Rag and Singin’ the Blues, both of which perfectly illustrate the immense talent of Dawson across a range of guitars, proving beyond all doubt that he is indeed the king of the strings, no matter what form they may take! A vital record and one that breaks through all the confines of musical constraints.

Review by Paul McGee

One Adam One Where Do I Begin Die Trying

This release marks a welcome return to Adam Reichmann, once band leader of Nadine, alt-country darlings of the late 90s who released four albums on an excellent run, before breaking up to pursue other interests. Only five songs feature on this EP and the running time of eighteen minutes just leaves the listener wanting more. Reichmann is a fine writer and has such a haunting vocal style to match his languid delivery. The title song speaks of a confused state and trying to make sense of the surrounding world. Feelings of isolation come through in the words and a sense of longing for days gone past.

Living Between the Lines is a gentle, soothing lullaby that speaks of ‘counting dollars and days’ as a way of getting through the daily routine and ‘bottles full of wasted time, pretending that it’s fine.’ The sweet vocals of Stephanie Stewart add greatly to the sense of acceptance and getting on with living.

The song arrangements are beautifully structured with swathes of melody wrapping the vocals and heightening the performances. Hollywood Ending is one of those songs that stays in the memory as something that is infinitely hummable. Again, the wistful vocal style and the easy groove and chorus leaves you feeling fully invested. Cold Murmurs has an up-tempo beat with the harmony vocals complimenting the rhythmic drive of the song. The production builds to a great crescendo and we are asked to come ‘out of the shadows and into the light.’

The final song Platte River looks at memories of Nebraska and days spent trying to decide whether a relationship was worth a lasting commitment. Name checking Pink Floyd, Vonnegut and Salvador Dali captures the heady joys of youth ‘painting the landscape of a young man’s mind’. The song has memories tinged with regret at what gets left behind. The guitar break is nicely judged and the melody frames the realisation in the words that ‘I just wasn’t ready for love to be true, Sweet Alisha whatever happened to you.’

St. Louis, Missouri remains the home of Reichmann and his original Nadine band mate Todd Schnitzer produced this project in addition to co-writing all of the songs. I can’t wait for the second instalment.

Review by Paul McGee

Rachel Baiman, Dom Flemons, The Scarlet Goodbye, Bennett Wilson Poole, John Calvin Abney, Kelley Smith, Peach & Quiet, Steve Dawson, and One Adam One.

New Album Reviews

Chris Murphy Two Rivers Crossing Friendly Folk

Not many artists would have the ability, experience and confidence to pull this off, but for his nineteenth album, Chris Murphy has pared it right back to the bare bones. It’s just his violin, vocals and looping effects, a marked contrast to his previous recordings, or his work as a band leader and composer. Murphy loves touring constantly, both in his home state of California and occasionally in Europe, so this minimalist approach will naturally lend itself to travelling. Calling to mind the songs and playing of John Hartford, to an extent, Murphy’s influences, however, are very wide. Growing up in upstate New York, and as a student in NYC, he was exposed to a myriad of genres from bluegrass, Turkish, Irish (with a name like Murphy, his Irish roots are evident!) to gospel and jazz. This six track EP features five songs and an instrumental, and demonstrates his versatility and virtuosity on the violin, but also his ability to write a good song.

Early Grave finds him complaining about his woman, inspired in theme and sound by pre-war blues artists like Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee. She’s ‘cuter than a button, smarter than a whip’, ‘but she’s gonna send him to an early grave’ he intones in his warm and mellow voice, accompanied by his violin and a foot stomp. He adds plucked strings to fill out the sound on Into The Past, an intriguing series of vignettes about various characters on a long train journey, all of whom are either running from the past or even running back towards it. Long Ago uses layers of haunting violin and percussive looping to evoke a dream-like sequence, again reminiscing about past events and a certain person who haunts his thoughts, ‘we were friends once, long ago’. The menacing spirit of the border town on the porous Mexico/Texas border inspired The Wolves of Laredo, the stark fiddle accompaniment and soaring solos lending atmosphere and pathos to the story of the damaged characters inhabiting the song. Complete Surprise is an upbeat ditty of positivity, and the closer, Shantallow, is an instrumental in a sombre march, with a Celtic feel.

Review by Eilís Boland

Slaid Cleaves Together Through The Dark Self Release

First and foremost, Slaid Cleaves makes albums that sound good, they entertain and in a meaningful way offer an insight into the human condition that lingers in the mind. These are songs that detail the often overlooked details of the lives of the ordinary (and sometimes not so ordinary) men and women for whom the trials and tribulations of daily life are rarely easy. That he does so in a way that musically resonates too is not always the case, when the lyrical content is often so raw.

The album was recorded in Dripping Springs, Texas by Pat Manske, who also played on the album with the album’s principle players and co-producers, Cleaves and multi-instrumentalist Scrappy Jud Newcomb. This is the third album that the duo have made together and it’s obviously a team that works so well together. There is a depth and texture that never feels sparse or underplayed, but rather they get the balance right again.

The twelve songs have all got individual strengths and nuances that start with Through The Dark, an acclamation of love and togetherness against the gathering dark. It was co-written with Cleaves’ long time friend, and sometime co-writer, Rod Picott. This is one of several songs that talk about relationships from both sides, which is envisioned by the sentiment of Next Heartbreak, and how there is a need to carry on with hope, even when contemplating the next disappointment. Sparrow, also written by Cleaves and Picott, deftly considers the particulars of the isolation of a man who has lost his wife.

More reflective is Puncher’s Chance written by Cleaves and Brian Koppelman. It details a man looking back on some welcome mayhem from the past and admitting “I sometimes think about those wild, wild nights.” More in the nature of story telling, which he does so well, is Arnold Nash - based on an article in the Bangor Daily News, it turns out he was in truth “a good prisoner, a bad citizen / A terrible family man.”

Double Shift Tuesday weighs up the drudgery of work in a situation and life that could and should offer more than a minimum wage. It was written by Cleaves, Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines. The lines emphasise the feeling of trying to figure how they did “end up here”, its sadness underlined by the stripped-back arrangement. That theme appears again in the Adam Carroll co-write, Second Hand, that has Robin Ludwick on harmony vocals and the title conveys a life lived in that way. Put The Shovel Down offers an option to take the time out from the seemingly endless work and a likely end that finds a shovel again involved. Getting away, making a new start and moving from the city is the subject of Terlingua Chili Queen.

A wider view is the subject of Nature’s Darker Laws, a song he wrote with Karen Poston, weighing up the current divided landscape of America and beyond, in these troubled times. It is graced by a subtle musical performance that again highlights that aspect of the album, something that, as mentioned, is consistent throughout the album, and perfectly aligns the crafted writing with a context that brings the two together and accentuates the over-riding talent that Cleaves has developed through his albums, travel and personal growth.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Tim GrimmThe Little In-Between Cavalier

I have listened to the music of Tim Grimm over the years and it has always been a rewarding experience. He seems to be always moving forward,or at least consolidating and developing his ability to observe and comment on the people, places and political manifestations he encounters on his path. This new album, I think, does just that. It also brings the talents of the great Sergio Webb back into focus. Formerly Webb was the guitar foil for David Olney and a member of Pinto Bennett’s Famous Motel Cowboys. He, however, is just one of the components in place that lift this album to a new level. Alice Allen plays cello which gives a resonant character to the tracks she plays on. Webb is joined by Mark Clark and Justin Bransford on drums and bass, while Grimm adds his robust vocals and guitar to the forefront of the recordings.

This is his fourteenth release so, by now, he knows his way round the process of delivering his work to his audience. He has worked in the balladeering tradition of folk music that focused on his community, his family and his beliefs - often based around his family farm in Indiana. Here, he has again looked both inward and outward, and does so by placing the lyrics from a first person perspective throughout. The songs were written and recorded (Grimm’s parts anyway) in Oklahoma, with the Allen parts recorded in Scotland and the band tracking in New Mexico. It also marks the first time Grimm’s voice has been heard without harmony or backing vocals. There is a strongly emotional feel to many of the songs that are rooted often in the landscape and love.

The Leaving opens the album with voice, guitar and cello offering the hope of finding a new welcoming shore. By way of contrast, the next song Lonesome All The Time has more that a hint of Hank Williams Senior’s troubled tales and features, very effectively, Webb on guitar and pedal steel. These two directions offer the musical compass points that the album travels between. I Don’t Know The World has a discordant tone that fits and offsets the directness of Grimm’s voice and guitar.

The lyrics of Stirrin’ Up Trouble take a shot at those who like to poke their noses in where they are not wanted, again balancing the acoustic strumming against the electric guitar tone. More gentle and reflecting on the earth and the trees, nature and the loss of such is where The Breath Of Burning takes us. The lyric “the hardest part of losing things/is knowing when they’re gone” offering a truth to be told. New Boots is a gentle but heartfelt remembrance of his father (and mother) delivered in its simplest form, as suits the song. 

The list song format sees Grimm detailing again the association between a person and place.Twenty Years Of Shadows effectively uses the band to give it a driving rhythm and a harder edge. The closing song is a straight love song that offers a hope that is available to all and finds the two guitars intertwining to an effective liaison.

Album fourteen proves that Tim Grimm is far from the end of his musical journey and his partnering with Sergio Webb offers the possibility of an alliance that will be fruitful for both parties going forward.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Dave Gonzalez / Susanna Van Tassel Grits’n Gravy Lux

Perhaps best know for his role in The Paladins and The Hacienda Brothers, Dave Gonzalez is the heart of this album, which overall is closer to the soul-country that was part of the latter band’s sound. He is central here, playing guitars, bass and drums on several tracks but also producing and recording the album in Texas with Dillon Fernadez. Susanna Van Tassel adds her versatile vocals on several tracks on both lead and background vocals. They also have a wide cast of additional musicians involved on percussion, brass, keyboards and steel guitar.

Gonzalez is the main writer of the material included, mostly co-writing with a selection of partners. He has also chosen a number of covers which are solid pointers to the overall direction of the project. These include a very soulful take on William Bell favourite Private Number, another fitting choice is the Dan Penn/Spooner Oldham penned Do Something. The final cover is Until You Came Into My Life co-written by Ann Peebles. 

The overall feel will not surprise those who have followed Gonzalez’s career, outside of his longtime involvement with the more rockabilly oriented Paladins. The title of the Hacienda Brothers album Western Soul is a summation of this album’s credentials. It is a treat, after the opening, somewhat groovy, instrumental, to hear a pairing like I Could Fall In Love With You, wherein the two voices show how this real life duo have found a musical partnership too. This continues throughout the album, with one or other taking the lead vocal. Let’s Hideaway finds Van Tassel’s countrified vocal becoming sultry, with the conga and saxophone elements. The title track, all funky guitar and organ, hits a very 60s mood again and throws up a lot of memories of comparison. It also highlights Gonzalez multifaceted guitar skills and adaptability.

The pair made a previous country-oriented album and I Still Believe is very much in that vein, vocals in close harmony over piano and weeping steel guitar. Gonzalez wrote this with Chris Gaffney and Jeb Schoonover and it would be good to hear more in this vein in the future. (Though if you want to check out that excellent country duet side of their collaboration then THINK WE’RE GONNA BE ALRIGHT will be something you want to check out. Go to www.luxrecordsusa.com for this and other related releases from the Hacienda Brothers).Those who have a love for the kind of soul music that abounded a few decades ago will equally love this. Fans of The Delines would also be advised to check it out.  

Another door of possibility is open on the last track, a spaghetti western-styled instrumental that features the harmonica of Ted Roddy prominently, alongside some lonesome trumpet playing, which only serves to underline that GRITS ‘n GRAVY (Vol 1) was intended to cover some different but largely compatible territory musically and it succeeds in that. It also gives these two artists a platform to display their individual and combined talents, as it also does those some additional performers who contributed to this enjoyable album.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Drayton Farley Twenty On High Hargrove/Thirty Tigers

Produced by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit guitarist, Sadler Vaden, TWENTY ON HIGH is the third release in three years from Alabama native Drayton Farley. His first full band recording, it follows on from HARGROVE & SWEET SOUTHERN SADNESS (2020) and A HARD LIFE (2021). Those previous and mainly acoustic albums earmarked an artist with obvious songwriting prowess, writing from the heart and with a voice ideally suited to the Americana genre. An overcrowded marketplace can make it virtually impossible for artists such as Farley to achieve the exposure that they deserve, but TWENTY ON HIGH, with its beefed-up and fuller sound, could very well raise Farley’s profile by quite a number of notches.

Recorded at Sound Emporium Studio in Nashville - and with Vaden possibly influencing its musical direction - the album slots into the genre occupied with flying colours by Jason Isbell at present. Whether that pigeonhole is Americana or heartland rock, the ten tracks on the album are a collection of first-person stories that draw the listener in, through both their content and delivery.

The recurring theme across the album is the passage of time and  personal goals and aims that may or may not have been fulfilled. The opening track,Stop The Clock, and album closer, All My Yesterdays Have Passed, find the writer mulling over these matters, and the inevitable self-doubt that accompanies them features on Something Wrong (Inside My Head). Above My Head focuses on the sacrifices of leaving home and following your dreams. The draw and security of the homestead also emerge on the title track and Alabama Moon. The latter features backing vocals by Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield.

Farley’s reflective mindset in exploring his mental vulnerabilities and personal journey to date could have resulted in a self-indulgent project. The end result is quite the opposite, with the writer continuing to seek the meaning of life. Those thoughts and reflections are skillfully expressed on this coherent and deeply melodic album.

Review by Declan Culliton 

Lauren Morrow People Talk Big Kitty

 ‘I used to write stories, made-up things about others I’d imagined in my head, but this record is all true to me. There’s not a single lyric that hasn’t happened to me in some shape or form,’ explains Lauren Morrow in the press release for her debut solo long player PEOPLE TALK.

It’s been quite a journey both personally and professionally for the Atlanta-raised artist.  Never the conformist, Morrow’s musical journey kicked off writing songs in her bedroom, followed by forming her first band while majoring in English at Georgia State University. She relocated temporarily to Newcastle, England, where she honed her songwriting before fronting the Atlanta-based country rockers, The Whiskey Gentry, for a decade.

The latest - and possibly final leg - of Morrow’s odyssey finds her and her husband settled in Nashville since 2017 and working on her solo material. She released her self-titled debut EP in 2018. A four-track collection, it highlighted both Morrow’s crystalline vocal and her ability to pen and record songs that slotted soundly into the Country/Americana genre. PEOPLE TALK strays somewhat from that template with ten songs that, while not abandoning a roots sound, are often closer in structure to power pop.

The recording of the album commenced in 2019 at Sound Emporium in Nashville under the supervision of producer and multi-instrumentalist, Parker Carson, who also co-wrote a number of the album’s tracks. Like many recordings around that time, it was interrupted during the pandemic. With her income stream at a standstill and time on her hands, Morrow revisited a number of the songs and, as a measure of their commitment to the project, took out a second mortgage on their house to fund the album’s recording and release.

Matters close to home raise their head on the opener, I’m Sorry. Written following a tiff with her husband, it’s one of a number of selections that visit domestic issues. Family Tree finds Morrow tracing her ancestry and the factors, outside our control, that often determine our demeanour. Instantly catchy are Only Nice When I’m High and Looking For Trouble, the latter is a reconstruction of a song previously recorded by The Whiskey Gentry. Hustle, which features Lloyd Green on pedal steel and backing vocals from Joshua Hedley, reveals the real-life endeavours that Morrow carried out - from house painting to selling weed - to survive during the pandemic.

There’s no doubt that Morrow has poured her heart and soul into PEOPLE TALK. Directed towards self-examination, the songs are often infused with a dry sense of humour, but the real winners are Morrow’s standout vocals and songs that dip slightly into pop territory. It’s also an album that’s likely to raise her profile quite a number of notches and hopefully help to pay that second mortgage off sooner rather than later.

Review by Declan Culliton

The Panhandlers Tough Country Deep Roots/Make Wake

The Texan players that make up The Panhandlers formed the band back in 2019, with the intention of recording a covers album to celebrate the artists that represent the classic West Texas sound. Those artists included Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings and, in particular The Flatlanders.  Josh Abbott, John Baumann, William Clark Green and Flatland Cavalry’s Cleto Cordero’s initial intention was shelved when their 2019 Marfa songwriting session yielded enough quality material to record their own self-titled debut. Given the response and industry plaudits that album earned, it is little surprise that the collective soon started working on the follow-up project titled TOUGH COUNTRY.

With shared songwriting credits and shared vocals, the album offers fourteen tracks in total, four of which were included in the band’s four-track EP WEST TEXAS IS THE BEST TEXAS from 2022. The first single from the album is the standout Valentines, For Valentines, featuring Oklahoma country chanteuse Kaitlin Butts as guest vocalist.

Taking the reins as producer was Bruce Robison and with guitars, pedal steel, fiddles, banjos and percussion in all the right places the album captures the landscapes, characters and customs of Texas. Drinking songs (The Chilton Song), troubled love songs (Santa Fe), toe tapping-romps (Lajitas), and odes to their beloved state (Flat Land, West Texas Is The Best Texas), are the order of the day.  

In common with another ‘supergroup’ in the roots genre, Western Centuries, and notwithstanding the quantity and stature of the songwriters and players in the band, clashing egos certainly don’t appear to compete in The Panhandlers. TOUGH COUNTRY is not a radical departure from their previous recording and why should it be, if it’s not broken, why fix it? It’s simply uncomplicated and heart-warming Texas country music of the purest kind.

Review by Declan Culliton 

Lynn Miles TumbleWeedyWorld True North

This album marks a very welcome return to the media spotlight for one of the first ladies of Canadian Folk Music. Not that Lynn Miles needs any persuasion to take her rightful place, front and centre, with this, her sixteenth official release. Her last album WE’LL LOOK FOR STARS appeared in 2020 and her many admirers have been waiting with bated breath to see what would come next, post Covid and post meltdown across the globe.

Lynn recently said of the new album “These are songs that arrive at a moment when global instability illuminated the fragility of personal relationships.” Lynn reflects on these issues and the impermanence in our fractured attempts to make relationships work in any real sense. The shutting down and the letting go; the hoping for better outcomes and the wish for something that we can’t always see – these are all themes that run through the pen of Lynn Miles. As always there is a knowing forgiveness that runs parallel with all the pain and heartache we cause. Lynn holds out her arms for a comforting hug, her knowing wisdom in all the turmoil is that eventually the hope inside of us will endure.

Using real quality and experience, Lynn invited some stellar players to perform on the album and the level of musicianship is just off the scale.  Michael Ball (upright bass), Joey Wright (mandolin/acoustic guitar), Rob McLaren (banjo), Stuart Rutherford (dobro) and James Stephens (violin),  all join together in the most exquisite ensemble performance as Lynn takes the central role on rhythm guitar and vocals. Recorded at Little Bullhorn Studios in Ottawa, Canada and produced by Lynn, together with Dave Draves (Giant Sand, Kathleen Edwards), this mirrors her usual high standards and matches her previous releases in terms of excellence.

Night Owl looks at the incompatibility of two lovers ‘You like the flowers, I like the rain, You drive the highway, I take the train, I like the twilight you need the dawn, So by the time you wake up I’ll be gone.’ Memories of the past and old flames left behind are reflected on Hwy 105 in the haunting words ‘Everything’s ok, everything’s alright, It’s just sometimes I start thinking around midnight; I make us perfect and build us a little shrine, I forget that we weren’t pretty and we weren’t kind.’

Such a consummate wordsmith and the ability to capture an emotion in just a few lines is a true gift.

Cold Cold Moon reveals the harsh mistress that dwells inside, no comfort in the moonlight for our doubts and fears ‘I’m a quiet ghost tried and true, I’m a silver pearl in midnight blue, Sometimes I’m sweet but you should know, That I won’t always love you so.’

All the complexities of a woman are captured on Moody, the unpredictable nature to change with the weather, ‘Some days I want nothing, and then I want your soul.’  Another relationship song All Bitter No Sweet is pure bluegrass as it bounces along to a tale of broken love, the musicians coming together for a real hootenanny. Hide Your Heart is in a similar vein, giving advice to a woman to learn from disappointment and move on with no regrets.

Johnny Without June is such a clever song and looks at the essential glue that ties two people together into a seamless whole. Using the analogy of the famous Johnny and June Carter Cash romance as undying love, Lynn reflects that ‘I’d give anything to turn back time, I’d give anything to walk the line, To join you on that funeral pyre, To go down in that ring of fire.’

Calling out bad habits and unacceptable behaviour lies at the centre of Sorry’s Just Not Good Enough, a song that says enabling someone is not the way forward. The song Palomino talks about leaving it all behind and living free on the range with just a loyal steed for company ‘I’m a lonesome drifting girl, In my tumble-weedy-world, You’re a quiet steady soul, Painted coat and eyes of coal.’ The simple life without a care.

There is a lovely sentiment in closing song, Gold In the Middle, visiting the lure of beauty, hope, promise, love and sadness. It is an enduring prayer to the strength within us all to keep the lamp lit bright and we continue to seek our path through the darkness, looking for the eventual light. A superb album.

Review by Paul McGee

I’m Kingfisher Glue Fading Trails

Thomas Jonsson has been recording under the artist name of  I'm Kingfisher since 2010 but his pedigree as a talented musician dates back much further. Jonsson released music under his own name for a number of years before taking the decision to adopt a new persona in the image of I’m Kingfisher.

This new project is his eighth solo album – his fifth under the I’m Kingfisher moniker, and once again it proves to be a beguiling experience. Jonsson has always looked for gold in the stream of consciousness writing and the gentle melodies that populate his body of work, and this time he expands his palette to include some subtle jazz leanings into the arrangements. Never one to stand still, he is open to experimentation and a few of the arrangements apply different colours to the overall content. The jazz arrangement on Saved by a Friendly Reminder is a prime example with Jonsson providing a fine vocal performance.

His lyrics remain something of a mystery with obscure imagery and words that conjure up disparate worlds of reflection and thoughts. The songs hint at many things and there appears to be a thread running through them that links the recent Covid lockdown years with a sense of isolation and feeling outside of oneself. They contain elements of regret and self-inflicted doubt, questions concerning the transitory nature of relationships and a lingering sense of not being always comfortable around others. As Jonsson muses on the track Beginning Of A Great Song ‘Why would I love her when everybody is a traitor?’

Elsewhere he speaks of other doubts, as on Second Wave when he observes ‘There’s a dark cloud always hanging over me.’ The title track Glue references a breakdown of sorts with the realisation that ‘Every day is my comeback, I wasn’t proud of myself, Got all the pieces, haven’t got the glue.’

The use of different female vocals on some of the twelve tracks is something that works very well and adds to the gentle vocal tone of Jonsson. The contributions of Anna-Stina Jungerstam, Niamh Regan, Vilma Flood and also Sam Florian, brings much to admire in their performance. In addition, the use of saxophone on Licking My Wounds delivers a lovely resonance to the smooth arrangement. Equally, the violin and piano on Make Up A Good Time brings a sweet joy to the song and the use of pedal steel and cello feature on other songs.

Jonsson calls upon multi-instrumentalist Bebe Risenfors and her contribution is central to the album, providing beautiful playing on any combination of clarinet, bass clarinet, cornet, alto horn, omnichord, lyre, tenor and alto saxophones, accordions, piano, string quartet machine, upright bass, drums, and percussion. Renowned pianist Martin Hederos also makes telling contributions on pianos, pump organ, Moog and other synthesizers. Long time friend and producer on previous albums, Carl Edlom, makes a welcome return and in addition to overseeing everything from Trunk Studios in Karlstad, he plays guitars, synthesizers, piano, electric bass, and percussion across a number of tracks. Jonsson keeps his focus on his vocals and acoustic guitar delivery, writing all the songs and maintaining a weather eye on the big picture at all stages.

This is a folk music for the modern age, a therapeutic return to old themes that offer a healing balm together with a hint of the claustrophobia of self-analysis. Too much reflection can be a bad thing but in the hands of Thomas Jonsson it opens up the pathway to new roads and opportunities to grow from the past. Another fine album that adds to the reputation of this interesting artist.

Review by Paul McGee

New Album Reviews

Dave Sutherland Last Drop Of Empty Rectifier

After a break of quite a few years, Londoner Dave Sutherland has returned to writing and performing his own material in support of his recently released album, LAST DROP OF EMPTY. On top of this, he was awarded UK Male Country Singer of the Year 2022 by the UKCMA.

Those endearingly world worn vocals are front and centre of the new release, which was produced by two stalwarts of the Americana world, and recorded over some time and in four locations from the US to Sweden, as well as in London. Producer Stacy Parrish is known for his work with T-Bone Burnett and Alison Krauss, among others, and is now working in music education in London. He contributed drums and percussion, guitars, keys, strings and woodwind. The co-producer was Jack Cassady, bass player with Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, who also plays bass throughout.

The ten songs are all penned by Sutherland and are mostly story songs, exploring nostalgic themes and are rooted in his native Greenwich and its surrounds. The overall sound is country, with a large helping of folk and a taste of blues. Sutherland is very close to his Irish roots too (his father emigrated to London from Co Galway) and there’s more than a touch of ‘country and Irish’ in the ballads here. Ever Changing Skyline references the changes in London Docklands and East End in the last few generations, while also recalling summers on ‘an old Irish boreen’. There’s a distinctive Irish flavour too in Down To The Last Drop Of Empty, added to by the accordion of Danne Strahed, which closes the album on an upbeat note. In between, there’s a painful cry for help from a psychologically broken person in the harrowing Damaged, with backing vocals from Moa Drugge. She also duets with Sutherland on the gently swaying love song, Most Of The Things That You Are. Yorkshire Grey, another love song, involving a boxer’s last fight, also features accordion and piano, this time from Sweden’s Gunnar Frick.

Review by Eilís Boland

Amanda Fields What, When & Without Are and Be

I have to admit to being stopped in my tracks on my first listen to this album, the debut full-length recording from Nashville-based, Amanda Fields.

There are recurring themes of insecurity, longing and failed relationships on WHAT, WHEN & WITHOUT - no surprise there, it is a country album. Whether based on fact or fiction the songs unfold like diary entries, incredibly intense yet attempting to avoid any degree of culpability or incrimination. The album’s title is represented by three tracks, the opener What A Fool, the closing track Without You and When I Met You, which is placed in the middle of the album. The sequencing of the tracks throughout is very well considered, each song could very well be a ‘moment in time’ from the same relationship.

The first four songs are classic country, with nods in the direction of Tammy Wynette on both I Love You More Today and the simply gorgeous ‘stir the heart’ break-up song, Diamonds. At this point the expectation may be for more of the same, but things go off in a completely different direction on the aforementioned When I Met You. Leaving behind the calmness and orderliness that went beforehand, it’s a strikingly evocative song complete with hauntingly distorted guitar and layered vocals. Trail Of Unforgiveness, which follows, travels a similar menacing path, indicating that Fields is every bit as adept writing and performing both alternative roots and more traditional country tunes. Calmness is restored on a duet with Cruz Contreras titled Lucky, before a sense of acceptance and moving on is expressed on the previously noted final track Without You.      

Hats off to producer Megan McCormick (Allison Russell, Jenny Lewis) and Brandon Bell (Miranda Lambert, Brandi Carlile), who engineered and mixed the tracks. The production on the mid-tempo country ballads is stand out and paced to perfection, Fields crystal clear and controlled vocals are particularly enriched by aching pedal steel guitar by Russ Pahl. Recorded at The Cabin, Nashville, other contributors included Dennis Crouch (bass), Matty Alger (percussion), Ethan Ballinger (guitar, piano), Chris Contreras (piano) and Megan McCormick, who played guitar and added backing vocals alongside her production duties. 

Fields’ 2019 single, Brandywine, found her following her Appalachian bluegrass roots but, for whatever reason, WHAT, WHEN & WITHOUT has led her down the classic country chanteuse path. It’s an inspired change in direction and one that has yielded a crescendo hitter in which you are likely to get totally immersed after a couple of spins, I most certainly did.

Review by Declan Culliton 

Andy Hedges Roll On, Cowboys Self Release

An interpreter of traditional cowboy songs for nearly two decades, Texan Andy Hedges’ latest collection of Western songs is a continuation of his passion for keeping this often-neglected genre represented.

This double album consists of twenty-two tracks in total and includes a twenty-eight-page booklet, offering notes on the individual songs and quotes from a number of the guest contributors. Those guests include a host of artists close to Hedges’ heart, with the common denominator of an appreciation, understanding and love of traditional Western songs. The contributors are Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Dom Flemons, Pipp Gillette, Bren Hill, Corb Lund, Waddie Mitchell, Michael Martin Murphy, Brigid Reedy, Randy Rieman, Tom Russell, Rod Taylor and Andy Williamson. Twenty of the twenty-two tracks are duets with the guests, the other two are spoken word by Hedges.

The material covers the full gamut of Western music, from traditional ballads to gospel songs and novelty songs to fiddle led tunes. Scenes from campfires, trail drives, railroad, plantations, and saloons are all unveiled. Together with the quality of the production, musicianship and vocal deliveries on the album, Hedges deserves immense credit for logistically recording such a large number of duets with a wide range of contributors.

Amongst the many standout tracks is Railroad Bill, where a spoken introduction by Ramblin’ Jack Elliott recalls the tale of an encounter he had with Woody Guthrie and  Sunny Terry. Other highlights include Desert Sands, which features the exquisite country vocals and fiddle playing of Brigid Reedy and Pitch, You Wild Outlaw, Pitch, with Corb Lund sharing the vocals. Both of the album’s closing tracks, the appropriately titled Palo Duro Farewell and Goodbye Old Cowman, find Hedges’ regular partner in crime Andy Wilkinson playing his part. Tom Russell joins Hedges on Root Hog Or Die and Philadelphia Lawyer is another track which includes the craggy vocals of Ramblin’ Jack Elliott.

Hedges’ last full album, SHADOW OF A COWBOY, was the winner of the Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy & Western Museum for outstanding traditional Western album in 2020. It’s likely that his latest offering will also be the recipient of similar awards and deservedly so. For students and lovers of the Western genre, Andy Hedges’ albums and Chris Guenther’s AMERICAN OUTLAW VOLUMES 1&2 are essential listening and also excellent value for money.

Review by Declan Culliton 

Chris Guenther American Outlaw Volume 2 Blackboard

‘AMERICAN OUTLAW VOL.1 opens a door to a musical feast from start to finish. Here’s hoping there are more volumes to follow,’ were our parting words when reviewing that album from Paul Guenther back in 2022. Less than twelve months later and the Washington state singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist continues his passion for all things country and western with the release of AMERICAN OUTLAW VOL.2. Written, arranged and produced by Guenther, he also performed all the vocals and played the majority of the instruments, with the exception of some of the fiddle parts which are credited to Katie (Keller) McManus.

Sub-titled as ‘Non-fiction Western Music & Spoken Word,’ the ten-track album revisits legends, events and characters from the ‘Wild West’. Guenther’s passion for America’s past is much more than simply casual curiosity, he can boast a degree in History and Agriculture, has previously recorded seven country albums and divides his time between playing with his backing band The Honky Tonk Drifters and weekly solo residencies. Raised on a family farm in southwest Washington, he entered into the world of writing and performing his music at livestock shows and county fairs, before expanding his horizons by forming a band and playing dancehalls. In his younger years, he combined these activities with a parallel role as an agriculture teacher. Two decades later and his enthusiasm for playing and promoting classic country and western music is as strong as ever.

The album opens with an Ennio Morricone-inspired instrumental titled The Brave Line and closes with a celebration of the cattle towns of yesteryear, Ode to the Cowtown. Sandwiched in between the two are eight tracks with historical connotations. We hear of the life and death of outlaw Johnny Ringo in Who Shot Johnny Ringo?, whose death was registered as suicide but legend has it he was shot by Wyatt Earp or Doc Holliday. The bank and train robber Elmer McCurdy, who was gunned down while robbing a train in Oklahoma, has his tale told on The Life & Death Of Elmer McCurdy and Harvey Logan, who was a member of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid’s gang The Wild Bunch, is the subject of the spoken track Harvey Logan. The Battle of Little Big Town - better known as Custer’s Last Stand – is retold on Son Of The Morning Star.

There has been a noticeable resurgence in ‘western’ country music in recent years and in particular, its representation in movie soundtracks. Corb Lund has been flying the flag for the genre for over two decades and artists like Charley Crockett, Colter Wall and Riddy Arman are currently exposing a younger generation to western music. Students and newcomers to the world of this genre, alongside the converted like ourselves at Lonesome Highway, could do a lot worse than investigating this collection of songs. Not only does it offer a gateway into the characters and events of the wild west, it is also a delightful listening experience.

Review by Declan Culliton

Crosby Tyler Don’t Call The Law On Me Bohemia

This album is a look back, to some degree, into Tyler’s long career as a 30 year veteran. Those years have provided a lot of different life lessons and continue to do so. He has been a frontman as well as a collaborator and has honed the writing and vocal skills that are apparent on this new album - one he declares his “most countryish to date”, something borne out as one listens to the music here.

Tyler produced the album and found a talented crew to help with its recording and song realisation. Dale Daniel and Jeff Turmes are the capable rhythm section. Aubrey Richmond adds her fiddle and back-up vocals, as does Kimbra West. The lead and pedal steel guitar are courtesy of Mike Khalil, while Tyler fronts with acoustic guitar and vocals. It’s a team that brings their talents to making an album that feels right.

The songs move from reflections on traveling down long white-line highways, such as in Trucker On The Road and 18 Wheels of Steel, to a set of life realisations from varying points over a lifetime seen in Born A Bad Boy or Stop Being An Ol’ Redneck. Then a certain lifestyle choice is presented with Peace Love And Beer and Bilkers, Hippies And Honky-Tonkin’ Cowboys.

The ten songs are all down to earth in overall frame of reference, which doesn’t allow for any opaque poetry but rather lays down the stories straight, while employing a decent melody and chorus to give the song the necessary connection to the heart of the theme. These often look at the fringes of a segment of society that may feel forgotten or lost or certainly one that has its troubles. This is done, it has to be said, with a certain amount of humour underlying the reality of that situation. The overall production is largely upbeat, uptempo and up front.

Some of the other songs are, however, a reflection of a long career in music, especially in the camaraderie shown in The Family I Never Had which recounts the way his band mates lived, played and slept together (often in their cramped van) while playing small venues all over the States. That they never made it big was not the important factor, it was the connection they forged together that mattered. This is the story of a very large proportion of those making music for (what could pass for) a living.

That sense of belonging, but not being a part of a normal existence, is also considered in the final song Us Black Sheep Ain’t Like The Others, concerning a group of people who are singing to a different hymn-sheet but who are, never-the-less, enjoying the song. This ethos sums up the album and Tyler’s outlook on what is a spirited and ‘outlaw-ish’ take on honky-tonk heartbreak, hangovers, high points and hindsight.

Review by Stephen Rapid

The Lowest Pair & Small Town Therapy Horse Camp Delicata

The Lowest Pair is an American folk band that formed in 2013 and consists of dual banjoists, Kendl Winter and Palmer T. Lee. They have released six albums to date. Separately, Small Town Therapy is a collaboration between multi-instrumentalists Adam Roszkiewicz and Leif Karlstrom, who play also with the band Front Country and have released two albums to date. Together, the four musicians found themselves at a horse camp in Gifford Pinchot National Forest Washington State, in 2020. With no touring commitments, due to Covid restrictions, they decided to collaborate on this project, aptly titled Horse Camp, and the eleven songs are very appealing.

There are five instrumental pieces, all of which highlight the superb interplay and musicianship. The gentle opener This House displays a lovely melody and the understated playing of Winter (guitar), Lee (banjo), Karlstrom (violin) and Roszkiewicz (guitar). The fluid understanding between the musicians results in some superbly nuanced interchanges and the soaring violin of Karlstrom features on six of the songs, lifting the arrangements to new heights.

The blending of guitar and mandolin on songs Oak Leaf and Dandelion Tides compliments the dual banjo playing among the four players and is particularly impressive. The instrumental prowess on songs Dark Divide, Escape From Yellowstone and Tongue Mountain ranges from the quietly contemplative to the impressively dynamic in the playing and rhythm, with the use of trumpet on Tongue Mountain an inspired addition to what is akin to a traditional Irish air.   

The music also features Charlie Muench on bass (two songs), Bart Budwig on trumpet (one song), Erin Youngberg on bass (one song) and Tony Sales on drums (one song).  All in all, this is a project to celebrate the joy of creative collaboration and the four musicians have hit upon a formula that certainly points towards a return to the recording studio at a future date.

Review by Paul McGee

Turn Turn Turn New Days From An Old Sun Simon

This is a second album from musical trio Barb Brynstad (bass/vocals), Savannah Smith (guitar/ vocals), and Adam Levy (various guitars, banjo, mandolin, organ, synth, glockenspiel, piano, percussion and vocals). They are based in Minnesota, and the album was recorded and produced by Adam Levy at Yvelmada Studio, Saint Paul MN.  It steers very much in the direction of pop-infused, radio friendly songs. The three-way harmonies are very much part of their overall sound and there is also a strong influence of psychedelic rock in the fuzz tone guitar inclusions.

  The album was released in late January this year and tends toward a somewhat crowded dynamic in the production, with the instrument and vocal tracking leading to a cluttered listening experience. Also, the lyrics can be very obscure with seemingly unrelated images linked together and little insight into the original intent. The title track has beasts and priests facing off against one another in some kind of mythical tale that only confuses.

If You’re Gonna Leave Me is a song that captures something of the different styles featured across the eleven songs. It’s a soulful arrangement and features a message that drives a lot of relationships “We forget all the things we want to remember and we remember all the things we’d rather forget.”

Taking your band name from an iconic Pete Seeger song can be considered something of a risk. Added to that the fact that the Byrds covered the same song with an iconic rendition of the 1960s psychedelia sound, it leaves the impression that this current band are trying to follow in the footsteps of big shoes. However, the lasting impression is not one of real substance, rather a commercial focus in the song writing that visit a few musical genres, wrapped in a big production ribbon.

The opening songs Stranger in a Strange Land and Powder lay the foundations for what follows and are prime examples of the busy arrangements being too layered and lacking nuance. The underlying themes of a girl out of control and of being lost and lonely are somewhat lost in the mix. The words speak of “emptiness and suffocating needs” but the shrill production quality takes away from the message.

On the more dialled-down tracks the arrangements allow for greater space and the songs benefit from the uncluttered approach. Dopamine Blues, a recent single and Seven Kids are two prime examples. Also, the slow groove of My Eyelids Weigh Mountains with its grandiose lyrics and sense of unrequited love includes a great guitar dynamic, something that should feature more on their future arrangements. Equally, the Stones vibe on Towards the Light points to a more earthy sound that could be explored as this band searches for a more defined identity.

Review by Paul McGee

The Zephyrs For Sapphire Needle Acuarela

Welcome back, to a band that has always captured the imagination. Formed in the late 90s by brothers Stuart and David Nichol, a fine run of early albums straddled the twin genres of shoegaze rock and alt-country leanings in their music. Never destined to be household names, the band survived some early setbacks with record deals and label closures, to be offered a new deal by Spanish label, Acuarela.  The Nichol brothers remained as constants in an ever-revolving line-up and from the debut album in 1999, they went on to release a further four albums between 2001 and 2010. Always admired for their superb sense of melody and dynamic musicianship, the band has remained very popular as one of those celebrated ‘under the radar’ acts that deserved greater media exposure.

So, here we are in 2023 and the release of a new album is something to celebrate among the hard-core admirers of the band. It’s the first release for fifteen years and the great news is that the band sound as good as ever. Stuart Nicol (guitar, vocals), David Nicol (bass), Robert Dillam (drums), John Brennan (guitar) and Will Bates (keyboards) make up the current line-up and their interplay across the ten tracks is quite something. It’s the kind of album that bears repeated listening, offering up new delights each time and building into quite an achievement. Just short of forty-five minutes the sound is created in tandem with long-time producer Michael Brennan at the Substation studios in Rosyth, Scotland.

Whether you enjoy a country-folk influence or the more up-tempo psychedelic arrangements, this album has the lot. There is also a terrific spaghetti western instrumental to close the album and leave you wanting more. The gentle folk leanings of Snowline references Sisyphus and the mistakes that we make in behavioural repetition. God Loves A Trier is heartfelt and slow, a song that channels regret. The sweet melody of Blue In the Face hides the relationship woes in the words and the subject of difficult relationships is also looked at in Can’t Tell Us Apart.    

The bigger sound on songs like the instrumental December, Bolder, and Aliens take things up a few notches and the superb melody on How Have You Been Today delivers a slow release in a song that examines a depressive state. So much to enjoy and such a strong statement from a band that may finally start reaping the rewards that are long overdue.

Review by Paul McGee

James Deely This Train Is Running Out Of Track Self Release

Born in Washington, DC, James grew up in New Jersey where he embraced the local music scene, inspired by the sounds of Southside Johnny and Bruce Springsteen. He formed his band, The Valiants, in the mid-80s and they released several albums over the following years. Their vibrant sound was embraced in the Long Beach to Asbury Park circuit and they expanded their regular shows to include Philadelphia and New York City. The lack of a supporting record label and a recording contract was something that halted progress and James saw his momentum stall in the music business before returning with a couple of excellent albums in 2016 (A HARDER ROAD) and 2018 (WHAT IF WE’D NEVER MET?).

Two compilation albums were also released along the way, with WASTED TIME appearing in 1991 and more recently, OUTTAKES, REMAKES, AND MISTAKES in 2019. The musical quality has always been self-evident and now we are given a second shot at embracing this superb songwriter and musician with the release of a new album. The aptly titled THIS TRAIN IS RUNNING OUT OF TRACK is the perfect way to announce your return and the lyrics reflect the memory of those early days and the journey taken in between “Someday we'll be together again, out past the blue skies and wild winds, and no more tears will fill our eyes, there're be no more painful goodbyes.” The celebratory sound is infused with some dynamic guitar playing and a great rhythm section.

James comes from very proud Irish American roots and he celebrates his ancestors who left Ireland back in the 1800s with a song in memory to his grandfather. Streets Of Dublin is a fine story-song that reflects the local characters that James met on his travels in Ireland, retracing his ancestors’ footsteps and the history of famine and revolution that resulted in so many leaving for hopes of a brighter future.

Although the players are not individually identified, the spirit in the songs is very much one of celebration with the ensemble delivering some quality musicianship. James did welcome back some old pals in the shape of James Michael Devaney (drums), Chuck Manich (bass), Bruce Tunkel (guitar/keyboards), PK Lavengood (guitars), Eddie "Kingfish"  Manion (saxophones), Layonne Holmes (vocals), Lisa Lowell (vocals), Eric "Roscoe" Ambel and many more who contributed to the recording process.

American Heart is an instant classic and one that deserves a wide audience to acknowledge the song-writing prowess, with words like “And this American heart is twisting in the wind, and the things we hold dear, are on the line again.” It is a plea for community in the divisive state of division the USA faces and that James experiences today. The ten songs revolve around the themes of hope, loss and redemption with the abiding message of tracks like Prisoners Of Ourselves and Just Out Of Reach looking at the people we have become and the way that life sometimes throws up second chances.

House Full Of Memories and Another Night Alone are reflections of the past and how memories can shape the future. Death of a loved one features in His Time Is Coming with the lines ‘Oh Momma did he say where he’s bound, Be still child, he’s just going to see some old friends.’ Separately, on the song Until the End, James reflects upon growing up “Daddy tell me before I leave, Am I the man that you dreamed I would be, and Daddy tell me before I go, did you teach me the things I should know.”

There is also a great cover version of the Steve Earle song Even When I’m Blue and James has certainly delivered a very fine album that he can be proud of. Currently living in Los Angeles, the spirit of his roots in New Jersey shine through and the old musician friends that helped create this excellent album have reignited a lot of quality and old joys revisited. Well worth your time folks!

Review by Paul McGee

New Album Reviews

Gwil Owen The Road To The Sky CRS

Perhaps something of an under-rated songwriter, Owen has never lacked the songs and is perhaps best known for a couple of songs that were covered by other artists such as Allison Moorer (with whom he wrote the nominated A Soft Place To Fall). Another co-write, this time with Kevin Gordon, Deuce And A Quarter, was recorded by Levon Helm and Keith Richards. He has written material that had been recorded by many other artists, however here it is Owen and his new songs that are the focus.

Owen released a number of fine album under his own name (and others with an earlier band) and has now returned with this self-produced set, where he blends his customary Americana blend of rock, country and a little loose funk. His comrades here include longtime John Prine bassist, Dave Jacques, who is joined in the rhythm section by another veteran player in Bryan Owings. The core players are completed by Joe McMahan on guitars and vocals and Tony Crow on keyboards. 

The credits also reveal that this album has the inclusion of a guitar coda from the late David Olney in She Does It All With Her Eyes - a song that he co-wrote with Olney, as he also did with So Much. Will Kimbrough also was a co-writer for Where The West Wind Blows and Change. The remaining eight songs are from Owen’s own hand.

All of these reveal a sense of craftsmanship that can be poetic, full of charisma, alongside clarity and cinematic lyricism. Not that the songs lack punch, as with the solid guitar driven grit of Ghost Town (a song which features fellow songwriter and previous band mate Jeff Finlin) or the reflection of the meaning within the words of When The Songwriter’s Gone. Both are songs that would have an appeal to fans of The Boss. The simplicity, balanced with the occasional complexity, of the arrangements mean that the album has a variety of tonality that offers much to the listener. Throughout there is a groove, from the funkified rhythm of Connected to an equally soulful You Leaning On Me, which features vocals from Shannon McNally, who also adds her voice to three other tracks.

Magic Child is graced by a subtle and elevated gentleness, both in the structure as well as the lyric. Where The West Wind Blows also communicates a delicate touch regarding the wish for burial in a place of meditation as it slowly builds to a layered finish. Heaven In Our Hands sits alongside both as a strong spiritual piano led piece. All show the depth of Owen’s voice as a key part of the process.

That Gwil Owen is not better known is perhaps down to several external factors - though they are not related to the quality of his work. Something that those who have discovered his recordings will already know. This album continues that path and should be listened to.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Daniel Meade An Essentially Non Essential Compilation Of Recordings From The Last Ten Years (2013-22) From The Top

Possibly the best introduction to the music of Glasgow’s Daniel Meade. This is a 21 track compilation with tracks taken from his varied career. Glasgowcana might be a cheeky made-up label as this talented musician has, through the years, released albums that have covered a number of bases from roots to rock. While he has played keyboards with a number of artists including, alongside his brother Raymond, in Ocean Colour Scene and with Gerry Cinnamon. His own releases he is often the sole players on a number of these recordings. It should also be noted that he is no slouch in the composing stakes either and he is also a demonstrative singer.

This is Meade selection of songs that go back to some of his earliest releases. The choices are not chronological but rather fit together in the context of the pacing and tone of this compilation. Juliette is the earliest recording. It was written in a taxi after a gig and recorded with the Basement Boogie Men in a house in Paisley and produced by Meade and George Miller of The Kaisers (amongst others).

From there there are tracks recorded with Morgan Jahning (Old Crow Medicine Show) in 2015. Keep Right Away has Joshua Hedley fiddle as a centrepiece. From that same session, recorded in Hendersonville in Tennessee comes Not My Heart Again. Otherwise Meade has produced the majority of the material himself, often at home and often solo. But he has also had a long-standing relationship with trusted guitarist Lloyd Reid with whom he has appeared as a duo and also as a member of his band The Flying Mules. Cocaine Jane is a good example of how well they work together.

Some of these songs were written as love songs such a Shooting Stars And Tiny Tears. While he is equally adept at damning self-recrimination and noting how often he came close to the bottom rung of the ladder, either through alcohol or life’s unflinching kickings. In this category there’s Life At The Bottom, When Was The Last Time, Mother Of Mercy. Other songs were written in recovery or in realisation of the need to change like On The Line or As Good As It Gets.

As well as cover the ground in a honest look inwards the music looks outward and, in that light, offers a number of different (often very) musical settings that still manage to have a cohesiveness that makes the albums journey an interesting and effective one that is held together because it’s all Meade in his many moods and element of humour is often present alongside the healthy does of reality.

This is something of a holding pattern until the next new music comes along to take us on the next part of his passage through life’s rich tapestry. However one you consider that these 21 tracks are just a small selection of the music Meade has recorded to date you are again reminded of his underrated talent. And of the many albums that these songs are taken from all are well worth a listen and a visit to his Bandcamp for further details.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Karen Jonas The Restless Self Release

This marks a step up for Jonas, even if it is, in many ways, a step away from her previous albums which leaned more towards country influenced Americana. This album has a deep sense of longing and a darker tone than the earlier albums, but runs deeper into the heart of vulnerability and vitality. The title sums up a certain overall mood that allows a series of songs to tell a story, or an aspect of a story, and allows the listener to assimilate the overall mood of heartbreak, tempered with desire and longing but not allowing oneself to be seen as a victim. They are not judgemental, but rather lay out a series of observations that have the ring of truth, if not any definite answers.

The album was recorded in a studio in Virginia with Jonas’s long-time guitarist and musical partner, Tim Bray. They were joined by bassist Seth Morrissey, who also co-produced, and Jay Starling, playing a range of instruments. This resulted in a more layered and, by its process, a more organic sound. It also allowed time to consider the way that the songs and sound would be brought to life. It was a process of Jonas working with her friend and co-writer Andie Burke on the lyrical content, and then with Morrissey to find the best way to  bring the music that point.

There are 10 songs here (with an acoustic version of one song added as a bonus closing track) that start with Paris Breeze, that celebrates a relationship and that city and all it has to offer. It sets a tone that is both intimate and introspective. Many of the songs have a literate and somewhat chimeric quality that allows the listener to discover something new in the songs, with repeated listening.

But there are also songs that have a more immediate impact, and they will vary with each listener. I was drawn to Elegantly Wasted, That’s Not My Dream Couch (which has a gauze-like affinity with early country music, in its guitar motif that is very appealing). And Rock The Boat which opens slowly with a treated vocal before the electric guitar adds a more sinister tonality that is most effective. It also highlights the added strength of Jonas’ vital vocal adeptness that is apparent throughout.

Deep in the glow of midnight moonlight is We Could Be Lovers, which has an overall soothing sensuality that offers a wealth of possibility in that moment - the use of the dobro adds to that feel. Another song that has a similar ambience, with the dobro and electric guitar working together as the key instruments, is the final track before that bonus cut and that is Throw Me To The Wolves. It has a sense of rejection but also a determination to survive and thrive. The acoustic version of Lay Me Down is then a perfect follow on from those two previous tracks and is as strong, if not more so, than the full band version found in the first part of the album’s running order.

This is an album that accentuates the talent that Jonas and her collaborators have brought to THE RESTLESS, and places her front and centre of a wave of female singer/songwriters who are not following trends but are leading them in a very individual and galvanising way.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Jesse Jennings The Last Dance Legend

Hardwood floor Texas country that would surely have them up dancing, as they indeed do in those parts. There’s no information accompanying this download in terms of production or player credits (though based on his previous release, it’s likely that he wrote and produced this album himself). Given that, all involved seem to have had a good time making it. Formerly a member of the Casey Donahew Band, Jennings lists the likes of Waylon Jennings, Garth Brooks and Bob Seger as major influences and that shows through in a number of the tracks on this 8 track album. There are elements of the rocker guitar on the opening Beer Joint, where Jennings lets us know that his mother has found the right kind of lady for him, but he prefers to find his women in the establishment of the title.

I’m sure Jennings had a hand in the writing of these songs but, again, that’s not detailed. So what we are left with is the music as it is offered, and it is a satisfying example of the many artists who play around in the State. In this case he is currently based in Fort Worth (and, coincidently for a website from Dublin, Ireland was originally from Dublin, Texas). The title track has some fine fiddle that fits this failing relationship song well. A little more rocky is This Is My Goodbye, another song that is based on a parting of the ways. 

Pat Green is something of a Texas country legend and this song named after him details his presence in a time that brings around some mixed memories, with the named musician appearing on the radio during a pleasant summertime. Moonshine is again about time, place and backroads associations and illicit alcohol delivery. That omnipresent liquid is also the subject of Whiskey and its ramifications on a couple, one of whom “can’t do this anymore” despite her “loving you till my dying day.” It paints a fairly common country music scenario of hardship and break-up. The song has a sense of pain that is palatable. It shows Jennings’ vocal ability well and is an album stand-out.

Perhaps the best track here is the final one, Driving In, which features Dave Perez on accordion, giving it a nice border feel that immediately draws attention to it. It has a strong chorus and a beat that is kind of infectious and should be a live favourite.

While Jennings is not doing something that is a whole lot different from many of his contemporaries, this shows that he is an emerging talent. His debut came out in 2014, so we can expect his next outing will show a progression from that release and his development as a singer and writer as this likely won’t be his last dance.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Jaimee Harris Boomerang Town Thirty Tigers

If RED RESCUE, released by Jaimee Harris in 2020, provided a snapshot of the potential of the Texan singer songwriter, her sophomore recording BOOMERANG TOWN reveals an artist that has blossomed and matured enormously over those few short years. The loss of close ones, followed by the pandemic, has resulted in Harris looking over her shoulder at life’s fragility, the clutches of addiction both personal and further afield, and family complexities.

Her partnership with Mary Gauthier has, no doubt, instilled a noticeable self-confidence and inner strength in Harris. Their weekly live streams during lockdown found Harris growing in confidence as the weeks went by and, fuelled by Gauthier’s support, delivering self-written songs that often matched the excellence of Gauthier’s material. That shyness and hesitancy have well and truly been left behind on the ten tracks on BOOMERANG TOWN which, although not entirely autobiographical, focuses on issues and characters that have no doubt been at the forefront of the writer’s mind for some time.

The opener and title track tells of a young couple, whose dreams to create lives for themselves outside the confines of their small town and not follow their families’ traditions, fall by the wayside when the woman gets pregnant. (‘Julie and I come from similar kin, heavy drinkers, quick to anger, fists to skin. They all live and die here’). A former young school friend of Harris, who was tragically accidentally shot and killed, is remembered in the co-write with Mary Gauthier, Fall (Devin’s Song). Another co-write with Gauthier also features, the beautiful How Could You Be Gone. A stand-out track, it was included in Gauthier’s last record DARK ENOUGH TO SEE THE STARS and Harris’ rendition, enriched by delightful viola and violin by David Mansfield, matches the excellence of the previous version.

The Fair and Dark Haired Lad celebrates the writer’s ongoing sobriety and recovery from alcohol abuse (‘I say goodbye, tip my hat, to the fair and dark haired lad’). It’s an upbeat and uplifting admission and features Dirk Powell on accordion and Michele Gazich on violin. The concerns and uncertainty that raise their heads in the early stage of a relationship are addressed in the acoustic ballad Good Morning My Love before the album is bookended with the assured Missing Someone. It’s a rhythmic final statement, with Harris rejoicing in her new-found relationship and serenity.

An album that is often directed towards self-examination, BOOMERANG TOWN’S textured stories reveal a singer songwriter with the ability to express both anguish and fulfilment in her writing. A hugely impressive album from start to finish.

Review by Declan Culliton 

The Nude Party Rides On New West

Released in late 2020, MIDNIGHT MANOR was the second album released by the New York via North Carolina sextet, The Nude Party. Having previously supported high-profile names like Jack White, The Arctic Monkeys and Dr. Dog, the album hit the number one spot on the Alternative New Artists Album Chart and was destined to further elevate their exposure and fan base. However, the opportunity to tour the album was scuppered by the pandemic, which also denied them the stage time to road-test material they were in the process of writing for their third full-length album.

Rather than lick their wounds and feel sorry for themselves, the band pooled their resources and took the bold decision to create their own studio to rehearse and record in. Converting a barn in upstate New York into a working studio was a project that they undertook over a twelve-month period. To fit out the studio they teamed up with engineer Matthew Horner, who transported his recording equipment to the newly built space and subsequently engineered the band’s first self-produced album, RIDES ON. Not working against a deadline and with the luxury of their own rehearsal and recording facility has resulted in their most robust record to date.

The Nude Party’s heart and soul have always been rooted in a retro 60s and early 70s vibe and they don’t stray too far from that benchmark with RIDES ON. Echoes of  The Stones’ albums STICKY FINGERS and EXILE ON MAIN STREET are close to the surface on Word Gets Around, Polly Anne and the Dr. John cover, Somebody Tryin To Voodoo Me. The zippy Ride On could have been plucked from The Velvet Underground songbook and they dip their toes into the country sound of their home state of North Carolina on Tree Of Love. They fashion a fusion of roots and folk on Midnight On Lafayette Park, inviting comparisons with their Catskills neighbours,The Felice Brothers. Others that impress are Hey Monet, which has a 60s dance anthem sound, and the soulful Sold Out Of Love.

Five years since the release of their debut self-titled album, The Nude Party’s self-assured and loose garage band sound remains very much to the fore on RIDES ON. You’re left with the impression that is exactly where they want to be musically and they more than achieve that with this fitting heir to its predecessor MIDNIGHT MANOR. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Logan Springer & The Wonderfully Wild Crow Self Release

A few lines into All Lies, the opening track on CROW, and you’re left in little doubt about where the writer is coming from. ‘There’s poison in our drinking water says the man on TV… It’s hard to trust someone who’s never felt hunger, hard to believe he can feel the abuse,’ Springer spits out, mirroring the sentiment of mistrust, anxiety and abandonment felt by much of his blue-collar community in the Midwestern States of America. It’s the first track on the ten-track record by Logan Springer & The Wonderfully Wild.  Springer released his debut solo album in 2021 titled COYOTE and with an extended band recorded CROW at Flat Back, a one-hundred-year-old converted barn in rural Iowa.

Plans to escape the dead-end life of working in a strip mine for little pay, by robbing the mine’s bank, surface on the driving rocker Greenbacks and Gold. There’s little to rejoice about in the piano-driven Headed Through Hell either, the story of a long-distance truck driver. Constantly on the road, in remission from pill addiction, divorced from his wife and without any contact with his children, he wishes he could turn back the clock and start all over again. ‘Crow on the telephone line, watching every move I make, crow on the telephone line, this paranoia I can’t shake,’ bellows Springer on the full-blown, grungy and dark-as-hell title track. It points at mental illness and/or the impossibility to circumvent an existence that offers little by way of optimism. There’s little by way of good cheer either on Thundercloud. A raging guitar led song with a nod in the direction of Neil Young and Crazy Horse, it’s one of many highlights on the ten tracks that feature.

Coming from a large extended farming family in a small town in central Illinois, Springer’s ambitions extended beyond following the back-breaking prospect of long working days on the farm. That lifestyle and the expectation to ‘just get on with it’, is squarely articulated in Can’t Complain.

‘Your typical country song is like the social media of music; it only shows the good parts. I want to show what life out in the middle is really like, without all of the polish,’ explains Springer on the motivational force that brought CROWS into being. He makes his point with flying colours on an album that hardly allows the listener to draw breath and, for maximum impact, should be checked out at very high volume and from start to finish. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Paul McCann Alter Ego Self Release

Co-produced by Paul McCann and Martin Quinn, ALTER EGO is the second full- length album from the Cavan, Ireland native. It follows on from McCann’s debut album HERE COMES THE RAPTURE from 2018 and two previously released EPs, THE MAGICIAN and BEGINNING TO END. 

The initial recording sessions for ALTER EGO took place in 2019 at Jam Studios in Kells, Co. Meath, but the arrival of Covid both delayed the completion of the album and also led to a number of the recordings being carried out remotely.  The result was a delay of two years in the release of the album and that interruption allowed McCann to engage a number of guest musicians who otherwise would most likely have been out on the road with their various bands. Rather than playing the majority of the instruments himself as he had done on previous albums, McCann called on the services of Gary Lucas (Jeff Buckley, Captain Beefheart), Charlotte Hatherley (Ash, Bash For Lashes), Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (Beck, Jellyfish, Air) and Jason Falkner (St. Vincent, Beck, Paul McCartney). Others featured are McCann’s regular ‘go to’ artists Majella O’Reilly, Brendan Scott and Tony Smith.  McCann’s two young daughters Lily and Cassie are also credited as backing vocalists.

The songs were created during a challenging time for McCann as he grieved the sudden passing of his father in 2019, following an accident, and his frame of mind at that time is reflected on a number of the tracks. Graceful arrangements and gorgeous harmonies enhance Love Is All That Matters, with the writer laying bare his emotions. Equally close to home in its sentiment is All Is Fair In Love And War and World Keeps Turning Around recalls The Byrds at their most experimental.  The heat is turned up a few notches and enters Teenage Fanclub territory on the power poppy Lost In This Moment. Call Off The Dogs and Divide And Conquer are in a similar toe- tapping fashion before the album is bookended with the trippy Weight Of The Bow.

McCann’s influences range from Johnny Cash - he was a member of the Johnny Cash tribute band Get Rhythm that in 2013 spent four months touring Irish prisons  - to Jeff Buckley and The Beatles to Nick Drake. The resulting twelve tracks on this album mirror those role models of McCann and offer a compelling blend of classic power pop, harmony-drenched roots and considered ballads.

ALTER EGO is a reminder that we don’t always have to look beyond our own shores to uncover quality music. It’s a record packed with instantly catchy tunes,  providing an insight into an unquestionable local talent. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Channing Wilson Dead Man Ol’Dog/Soundly

Readers may be more familiar with songs written by Channing Wilson than ones actually recorded by the Lafayette, GA artist. With a few recordings under his belt including a self-titled release from 2012 and a live album titled LIVE AT EDDIE’S ATTIC in 2017, his primary occupation for the past two decades has been songwriting. Luke Combs scored a No.1 hit with Wilson’s She Got The Best Of Me and others who recorded his material include Travis Tritt, Jerry Jeff Walker, Sunny Sweeney and The Oak Ridge Boys. Given his expertise in penning songs for others, it would not be unreasonable to expect his latest studio album, DEAD MAN, to contain formula-written material. However, nothing could be further from the truth. The ten tracks that make up the album contain hard-edged tales of excess, destitution and depression, and given the potency of the writing, give the impression, factual or not, that many of the scenes and characters are somewhat autobiographical.

Whether real or imagined, Wilson’s gritty baritone vocals are well suited to his topics. His songs are a reflection of real-life issues faced by many ordinary folks, and like famed country singers of yesteryear, Jimmy Rogers and Hank Williams, the material offers portraits of ordinary folk often on the margins.

Drink That Strong, which opens the album, paves the way for what is to follow. A ‘love lost’ lament, it has echoes of Jamey Johnson both in its message and vocal delivery. That theme of booze and rejection continues on the more mellow but equally sorrowful Beer For Breakfast. Similarly paced and maintaining the ‘sad country song’ thrust, Sunday Morning Blues is a classic ballad, all the better for some well-placed aching pedal steel guitar. ‘Well, Lord there is nothing as lonesome as hearing your heart beat all alone,’ Wilson sings on the mournful ballad Blues Comin’ On before he touches on the grinding reality of finally falling off the edge on Dead Man Walking.

Far from a party album, DEAD MAN is hard-hitting, plain-spoken and forthright, from an artist that more than qualifies as a modern outlaw. Produced by Grammy winner Dave Cobb and with a host of celebrated players contributing, it’s a record loaded with memorable and well-crafted songs. The characters that populate the songs may be fictional or closer to home, either way, their burdens and tribulations are communicated flawlessly on this hugely impressive record.  

Review by Declan Culliton

New Album Reviews

Here at the Lonesome Highway review desk we have received a wealth of newgrass and bluegrass albums released in recent months. So we are posting this selection of some of the best of these.

All these reviews are by Eilís Boland.

Tray Wellington Black Banjo Mountain Home

Rhiannon Giddens’ bravery and the recent Black Lives Matters movement have given permission (not that it should have been needed) to young black artists like Tray Wellington to come into the spotlight in American music. Although still in his early 20s, Tray (christened Trajan) has a mastery of the banjo that is way beyond his years, as he demonstrates on his debut solo album, produced by the ubiquitous Jon Weisberger. No show-offy playing here on this mainly instrumental record, just a joyful celebration of his chosen instrument, accompanied by a host of equally talented players including Avery Merritt on fiddle (Tony Trishka, Missy Raines), Jon Stickley on guitar, Kevin Kehrberg on bass and Wayne Benson (a relative veteran!) on mandolin. Across the eight original compositions and three covers, Tray shows he is equally comfortable in the traditional bluegrass style, with breakdowns like Georgia Turnaround or in New Grass style with Port of Manzanita and Wasted Time, on which he shares vocals with Tim O’Brien. There’s a demonstration of his love of jazz in a lovely cover of the gently meandering Strasbourg/St. Denis (written by the late Texan jazz musician, Roy Hargrove), where guest fiddle player Lyndsay Pruitt also shines.

Andy Leftwich The American Fiddler Mountain Home

Andy Leftwich is a force of nature and I predict this album of instrumentals will leave you breathless, as it does me!

A phenomenal fiddler player at a young age, Leftwich won many competitions as a junior and went on to play in Ricky Skaggs’ Kentucky Thunder for fifteen years, until 2016. Since then he has concentrated on work with his mandolin playing wife Rachel, studio production and Christian ministry. The American Fiddler demonstrates his talent at composition, as well as arranging and producing.

The opening title track is an Irish influenced tune, and he is joined here by his mentor Ricky Skaggs, whose mandolin keeps up with the breakneck speed. Next, his great friend and also Kentucky Thunder alumnus, Cody Kilby, joins him on Over Cincinnati and indeed lends his flatpicking on many of the tunes. Pikes Peak Breakdown is a bluegrass original, where the guitar duties are taken by Bryan Sutton, and Scott Vestal contributes banjo. Elsewhere, Matt Menefee plays banjo on several tracks, including a cover of the well known Biréli Lagrène gypsy jazz classic, Made In France. Leftwich learned this tune from his Three Ring Circle band mates, Rob Ickes and Dave Pomeroy. Ickes also features on this album on the aforementioned Over Cincinnati.

I have to admit that I hadn’t realised just how proficient a mandolin player Leftwich is, until this album, where he plays most of the mandolin parts as well as the fiddle. However, he bows to the current mandolin queen, and invites Sierra Hull to duel with him on his reworking of Bill Monroe’s Big Mon. Mark Schatz is better known as a bass player (Nickel Creek, Bela Fleck) but on Through The East Gate he gets to indulge his first love, contributing claw hammer banjo and ‘feet’ to this lovely tune, written to show the evolution from traditional style fiddle playing to the modern style.

Upright bass on most of the album is provided by another stalwart veteran, Byron House. And there’s lots more to discover on this essential album.

Unspoken Traditions Imaginary Lines Mountain Home

The latest album from this well established and popular touring band will more than satisfy those who like their bluegrass hard driving and traditional. Mind you, the N Carolina quintet push out the boundaries a little here - hence the album name.

They have chosen songs by many well known contemporary writers and interpreted them with superb musicianship, lead vocals and harmonies. The band is made up of Sav Sankaran (bass and vocals), brothers Audie McGinnis (guitar and vocals) and Zane McGinnis (banjo), Ty Gilpin (mandolin) and Tim Gardner (fiddle). There are songs of pining for the old days (Charles Humphrey III’s Lookout Mountain), and story songs like Bounty Hunter and Crooked Jack, sung to the tune of ‘Star of the Co Down’, with Ireland’s John Doyle (a former Asheville resident) guesting on bouzouki and sharing lead vocals. Standout song for this reviewer is Justin Carbone’s At The Bottom Again.

Jeremy Garrett River Wild Organic

‘Powerful’ and ‘soulful’ are the two words that spring to mind when listening to this latest solo album from Jeremy Garrett, better known as the fiddle player with the progressive bluegrass band, The Infamous Stringdusters. When he’s not playing with the Stringdusters, a band that he helped to form in 2006, Garrett devotes his time to his solo stage work, where he performs using technological wizardry to loop his fiddle and vocals. Somewhat unusually, for a bluegrass musician, Garrett stands out as a songwriter and a vocalist as well as a musician, none more so than on the opening song, I Am The River Wild. Straight away one realises that his approach to songwriting is no more conventional than his fiddle playing, with the song written from the viewpoint of the river, which is omnipotent and threatening. The river’s ominous warning of  ‘danger lurking all around me, too close you’ll get swept away’ is accompanied by atmospheric playing from Garrett and his impressive choice of musicians, including Seth Taylor (guitar), Alan Bibey (mandolin), Barry Bales (bass) and Russell Carson (banjo). Garrett’s vocal range goes from a falsetto to a very deep baritone on this stand-out song, which he also wrote (with Rick Lang).

In fact, all but one of the eight songs are written by Garrett, except for his slightly unusual take on Bill Monroe’s Kentucky Waltz, which may not suit the purists but then again, that has never bothered Mr Garrett! His co-writer on In A Song (about a songwriter!) is Mountain Hearts’ Josh Shilling, who also takes harmony vocals beautifully throughout the album.

The closest he gets to  Stringdusters territory is in the big bluesy slow burner, In The Blink Of An Eye, with gorgeous dobro courtesy of his band mate, Andy Hall, grooving backing vocals and Garett’s phenomenal fiddle parts are simply chilling, adding to the song’s darkness.

There are four excellent instrumentals, the standout being Bird Of Prey, where the harmonising between Bibey’s mandolin and Garrett’s fiddle playing is memorable, as is the banjo playing of Ryan Cavanaugh. Go get this hugely enjoyable example of progressive acoustic bluegrass - you’ll be glad you did.

Lonesome River Band Heyday Mountain Home

Hard to believe but the LRB have been one of the leading bands in bluegrass since their inception forty years ago. Led since 1990 by the much awarded and coolest banjo player around, Sammy Shelor, they were going through another transition while this record was being recorded, but there is no let up in their signature driving contemporary sound. You get thirteen masterful songs, covering the gamut of the usual bluegrass themes - heartache, gospel, trains and travellin’- performed by some of the best in the business.

Stand-outs include the single Mary Ann Is A Pistol, from the pen of the late Nashville songwriter Dennis Linde, in praise of an independent ‘tomboy’ girl. Anchored as always by Sammy Shelor’s signature driving banjo, it introduces the impressive lead vocals of the new boys: Adam Miller on mandolin and Jesse Smathers on guitar. Departing guitarist, Brandon Rickman, sings lead on a couple, including his own That’s Life, and departing bassist Barry Reed plays on many of the tracks. There’s a deliciously gothic feel to the doom laden Gabriel’s Already Standing, where longtime member Mike Hartgrove’s fiddle playing really stands out. And did I mention the strength of the harmony vocals?

There isn’t a songwriter among the line-up but the band’s interpretations of mostly newly written compositions, and their excellent self-production make for a must-have album.

Fireside Collective Across The Divide Mountain Home

Asheville, N Carolina five piece show that they are not confined by the constraints of traditional bluegrass on their fourth album, where they stray into funk and blues and folk stylings. The album art cover also hints at this, with its trippy psychedelic theme, so you wouldn’t be surprised to realise that they veer towards territory established by bands such as Greensky Bluegrass and the Infamous Stringdusters. Each band member contributes original songs and indeed vocals across this collection of ten high energy songs and one instrumental. Not Today is a sad and gentle country song written by guitarist Joe Cicero, dominated by the dobro playing of Tommy Maher, and here Jesse Iaquinto adds piano, as well as his usual mandolin. Iaquinto’s House Into a Home explores a traditional bluegrass theme in a more New Grass musical style, as does another of his contributions, And The Rain Came Down, a driving number that describes the misery of a big flood. Dobro lovers will appreciate the dominance of that instrument in the excellent production by Jon Weisberger, and the harmonies are also particularly impressive. Funky folk rock is the dominant sound on Your Song Goes On, and banjo player Alex Genova wrote the catchy and hopeful closer, Rainbow In The Dark. It would be a treat to catch these songs performed live - the opportunities for improvisation in these songs by such good instrumentalists has whet my appetite for just that.

New Album Reviews

The Shootouts Stampede Self Release

It is good to have the Shootouts back with a new album and relatively quickly after the release of the Chuck Mead produced Bullseye, in 2021. The band look and act the part with a certain sense of style but not at the expense of a certain humour. This makes them visually, as well as audibly, fans of the tenets of traditional country music. It is somewhat surprising that they haven’t been signed up by a more adventurous major label, as they certainly could fulfil the role that both BR549 and The Derailers had when they were signed to major labels. Now that there are signs that there is a wish for more authentic exponents of the form, it would seem an interesting opportunity for the band and record company.

That said, the reason for that thought is the strength of the performances, material and production offered on this new album. It is helmed by Asleep At The Wheel’s Ray Benson and Sam Seifert. While there are numerous high profile guests joining in it is true to say that they never overshadow the band’s own talents. Often, these musicians add some instrumental zest to the recordings and when they are bringing their individual strengths as vocalists, it is not at the expense of the band’s vocals. Benson sings on the most obviously Western Swing moment here which is One Step Forward. Marty Stuart, Buddy Miller, Raul Malo and Jim Lauderdale all add some harmony vocals or instrumental licks.

But the band: Ryan Humbert on guitar and vocals, vocalist Emily Bates, lead guitarist Brian Posten (who gets a chance to show his skills on the instrumental Run For Cover) and bassist Kevin McManus are reaching new heights on many fronts. They are also joined by regular contributors Dylan Gomez on drums, Ryan McDermott on bass and, a man who has acted as mentor for some time, Al Moss (a former mainstay of a great band Hillbilly Idol) on pedal steel and guitar. There is also some brass and fiddle set loose to add appropriate texture as required - most likely from members of Asleep At The Wheel.

The Shootout are proven exponents of the various types of country music that matter, from honky-tonk, Bakersfield California country, bar-room ballads and  border music, through to Western Swing with some of the Rust Belt music that they have grown up with thrown in. It is the music they love to listen to and music they want to play - and that shows. 

The album mixes original songs with some covers such as I’ll Never Need Anyone More written by the late Ohio rocker Michael Stanley who originally recorded it in an uptempo version. He also did it acoustically and that is what they built this version from, with Raul Malo adding his distinctive voice to it. They have, in the past, turned a number of well-known non-country songs into viable honky-tonkers, something that says a lot about their devotion to their chosen genre.

Make no mistake, at this early part of the year, this is one of the best real country albums you will hear this year and one that might hopefully start some kind of stampede from others who will equally want to hear more of this quality of music.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Helene Cronin Landmarks Self Release

The title of the album tells what these songs might pertain to and be. Songs that draw from personal and wider experience, written to distill Cronin’s thoughts on where she is in her life today and that of the world around her. A self described “story-singer” she is an accomplished songwriter who, from the credits, mainly co-writes with other similar-minded collaborators. The other factor at play here is the relationship she has with producer Matt King (who also produced her last album OLD GHOSTS & LOST CAUSES which itself was a well-received album) and the assembled players. Together they surrounded themselves with some notable players, whose names are always a big attention getter for this writer, such as Kenny Vaughan, Bobby Terry, Byron House, Jerry Roe and King himself.  

The songs are well arranged with plenty of light and shade but are also capable of packing a punch when required. There is an across the board sense of open honesty to share what can be learned from life. This is sometimes done by taking in the perspective of others, as well as those she has encountered herself, on her own path.

The convincing, alluring ballad Halfway Back To Knoxville has some steel guitar that skilfuly underpins a journey that has Cronin joined by a harmony vocalist, who helps to give the song’s subtlety an added poignance. Make The Devil asks “why do good things happen to bad people?” and surmises that maybe the devil holds sway while posing the question whether he was a needed entity at all. A single voice is used to envision the different aspects of being a woman through the ages - mostly in difficult and men dictated situations. Just A Woman builds toward the end with a chorus from fellow artists Wendy Moten, Heidi Newfield, Shelly Fairchild and Vicki Hampton to bring a sense of group empowerment.

What Do You Lean On? asks that question of others as well as of herself. It takes a heavier tone with Vaughan’s guitar giving it the edge from the start. It is in fact something that throughout the album these players excel in, giving the songs a convincing and creative sense of purpose that makes the album one deserving of repeat listening. Your Cross calls for a need for some salvation, a theme that also is a part of What They Didn’t Build, reasoning that tearing down is easier that building up. Taking a more countrified approach is the road song Between Me And The Road, which stands out for its insistent beat and twangified elements. Cross That River is more acoustic, with banjo prominent, and has a uplifting gospel feel. Gentler is the love song You Do, in which one’s own faults and strengths are measured against another’s, often allowing that another’s ability is better. The use of cello here is effective.

This is a mature album with a balance between the central voice, the playing, and the responsive production. This shows a solid growth since the debut album and that Cronin deserves to be viewed alongside some of her better know contemporaries as a contender.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Cowboy Dave Venture South Self Release

Nebraska native Dave Wilson (Cowboy Dave to you and me) is a lover of all things related to the Old West and has been inspired by the late author and painter Will James, turning a phase of his into a song. That song Guts And A Horse quotes from James’ credo that a working cowboy is “a man with guts and a horse”. After a couple of previous eps this is Dave’s first full length album. It’s a homage to the American West, of various eras. It was recorded both in Colorado and in Texas. In the former he brought together some adherents of the Bakersfield Sound (a major influence) for two tracks featuring Jay Dee Maness on pedal steel, Eugene Moles who worked with Merle Haggard on guitar and former Dwight Yoakam sideman, Jim Christie on drums. While in the Dripping Springs Studio he had another set of top notch pickers in Tommy Detamore, Hank Singer on fiddle, drummer Andy Sweetser, bassist Scott Johnson and guitarist Zach Boddicker. The latter two also added vocals alongside Kristina Murray and Loren Dorland. The production duties came from John Macy.

Cowboy Dave wrote the songs (two of which were co-writes), played acoustic guitar and provided the pleasing vocals. He once fronted a cow-punk band, FortyTwenty, which makes sense given the energy and commitment that he brings to this latest work. The relationship with punk comes across in that both genres (of the hardcore variety) are direct, honest and heartfelt.  

287 is a drivin’ home song with steel and fiddle and Telecaster well in evidence - as it should be. Honky Tonk Hot Sauce is what he serves up straight at whatever venue he might be gracing. Sandhill Girl takes things slower to tell us about a girl who may have moved away, but in her heart has never lost her love of her home place.This Kind Of Living tells of the way many try to keep family and home together by traveling and playing music. 

Next up features Kristina Murray, you may get a feel for the song from its title Cruel, Cruel Queen. Again we are given some substance from the steel and twangin’ guitars. The two voices give their side of the story and work well together. As you might also expect alcohol plays its part too, with the thoughtful Whiskey Tonight which has one of Cowboy Dave’s most assured vocals that gives the ballad a deeper resonance. We’re back up to speed then with the dumped by his gal lyric of Skunk Yodel No 7, which indeed has a touch of that vocal style. It has an extend yodel outro that works a treat. 

Back on the highway in truckin’ mode again is the tale of a mother trucker that is Mama Drove A Big Rig ,putting the Telcaster, fiddle and steel to good use again. Very much in the Marty Robbins mode is the aforementioned Guts And A Horse, another memorable song from Wilson that is enhanced by the border mood of Gabriel Mervin’s trumpet. Definitely an album highlight. The final track uses one the of repeat dictates that you will “never be a prophet in your own home town”. That expression gives the song its title. But whether that’s true for Cowboy Dave, he has delivered an album that is worthy of attention whatever town its music reaches.

Review by Stephen Rapid

The Whiskey Charmers On The Run Sweet Apple Pie

The Detroit based Whiskey Charmers continue their run of successful Americana albums with their fourth offering, ON THE RUN. Carrie Shepard (vocals and acoustic guitar) wrote all ten original songs, and is joined throughout by her partner Lawrence Daversa, who plays electric and steel guitars, as well as contributing backing vocals behind Carrie’s rich and mellow voice.

Opening with the countrified sad song, Nobody Cares, we then stray into blues rock territory with the murder ballad, Billy, where, unusually, the female protagonist shoots dead her controlling partner in self defence when she tries to leave. There’s more than a touch of Rory Gallagher in the lead guitar playing of Daversa on this and many other of the songs, which can be no bad thing, in this reviewer’s book. The futility of longing for a lost love is paralleled with the hopelessness of panning for gold in an old mining town in the wistful Gold, and Lawrence also turns to his pedal steel for The Devil’s Rodeo, another tale of surviving lost love through gritted teeth.

The duo are joined by Brian Ferriby (drums), David Roof (keyboards), and Daniel Ozzie Andrews on bass.

It has to be said that this record strays more into rock territory than the last album, 2020’s LOST ON THE RANGE, which we reviewed here. Definitely worth checking out

Review by Eilís Boland

Brit Taylor Kentucky Blue Cut A Shine

The State of Kentucky can boast more than its fair share of blue-chip country royalty. Departed household names of yesteryear like Loretta Lynn, Tom T. Hall and Keith Whitley, and living artists Chris Stapleton, Dwight Yoakam and Ricky Skaggs immediately spring to mind.  The more recent crop of contenders includes Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childers, both fiercely devoted to classic country music and not behind the door in calling out the cannibalism of the genre, in recent years, on good old Music Row in Nashville.

The most recent ‘likely to succeed’ of that talented bunch is Brit Taylor, whose breakthrough album THE REAL ME (2020) turned a lot of industry heads and featured in many ‘Best of the Year’ listings. All the more impressive was that Taylor ignored the Music Row rulebook, withdrawing from her songwriting deal (‘I’d rather clean shitty toilets than write shitty songs any longer’) and independently financing that album at a time when she was also overcoming a failed marriage. That collection of songs included Bobby Gentry-type 60s classic pop, alongside some more traditional country tunes. For KENTUCKY BLUE she hooked up with Sturgill Simpson and David Ferguson for the production duties and co-wrote with a number of writers including Jason White, Adam Wright, and Pat McLaughlin. The result is a more upbeat and certainly more ‘country’ record, laced with fiddles, accordion, pedal steel, piano breaks and banjo in all the right places, bringing to mind Tyler Childers’ excellent album, COUNTRY SQUIRE. A listen to jaunty tracks such as Anything But You, Ain’t A Hard Livin and Cabin In The Woods immediately draws that comparison.

Toe-tapping and joyous in musical content, it also reinforces Taylor’s skillset as a songwriter. Rich Little Girls is a clever dig at the young privileged classes swanning around Nashville, no doubt noted by the writer as she worked endless hours and numerous menial jobs to kickstart her career. It’s not all foot full down on the gas, Taylor also includes a number of sweet-sounding ballads. Love’s Never Been That Good To Me is a countrypolitan gem in that regard and the title track is equally tuneful.

Taylor has bravely distanced herself from the lucrative pop/country mainstream genre and has channelled traditional country down a modern path with KENTUCKY BLUE. An excellent project on all fronts, with top-class vocals, stellar playing, slick production and no-nonsense songs, it ticks all the boxes. She may not be as close to the mainstream as Miranda Lambert or Kacey Musgraves, but if there’s any justice, she’ll be gracing the same stages as them in the not-too-distant future.

Review by Declan Culliton

Iris DeMent Workin’ On A World Flariella

With a career that has stretched over three decades, revered singer songwriter Iris DeMent has released seven albums, the latest being WORKIN’ ON A WORLD.  That may not necessarily suggest a prolific output but in the case of the fourteenth-born child of Pat DeMent and his wife Flora Mae, quality has consistently won over quantity.

Thirty-one years after the release of her debut album INFAMOUS ANGEL, DeMent remains a most passionate author of songs that pioneer her steadfast commitment to human rights and environmental matters. Musically this latest addition to her impressive catalogue is not a radical departure from SING THE DELTA (2012), combining piano lead ballads and fuller-sounding compositions, all presented with her characteristic vocal style.

The impetus for the album can be traced back to the presidential elections of 2016. Considering the state of the modern world at that juncture, DeMent returned to songwriting as a personal distraction from the progressing social injustice and random violence at the time. The album’s title track outlines DeMent’s state of mind at that precise time (‘The world I took for granted was crashing to the ground and I realized I might not live long enough to ever see it turn around’). The upbeat free and fiery treatment on the track may be in contrast to its subject matter, but DeMent’s writing has consistently attempted to seek positivity over negativity in her output.

Written over a six-year period, other pertinent issues such as climate change and the pandemic generated additional ammunition for the thirteen-track album. The project was actually stalled during the pandemic and may not have seen the light of day without the prompting and support of Pieta Brown, who together with being a musician, producer and multi-instrumentalist, is also DeMent’s stepdaughter from her marriage to Greg Brown. During lockdown Pieta sought out the songs already written and essentially shelved and on hearing them responded enthusiastically to DeMent ‘You have a record and it’s called Workin’ On A World!’ The final songs were duly written and the album was recorded in Nashville in April 2022.

The issue of gun control and those courageous enough to call out the thorny subject is tackled head-on in Goin’ Down To Sing In Texas (‘I’m going down to sing in Texas where anybody can carry a gun. But we will all be so much safer there, the biggest lie under the sun’). The Sacred Now is a co-write with Pieta Brown, both having individually written verses for the song during lockdown. Overflowing with devotion and conviction, the hymn-like Let Me Be Your Jesus is conveyed with a whispered vocal delivery and mournful trumpet in the background.

DeMent fondly recalls peace activist Rachel Corry and civil rights leader John Lewis on Warriors of Love, commending them for their unflinching stances in the face of adversity and how they were ‘willing to risk an early ride in a hearse.’ Fuelled by a mellow horn section and tingling piano, the song simply brims with energy, recalling Van Morrison’s chirpy sound on his INTO THE MUSIC album. A similar sentiment and musical direction follows on How Long, with Marin Luther King name checked on the appropriately titled song. Taking a break from the more ethical subject matter on the album, twangy vocals and a vibrant rhythm section take shape on the six and a half minutes full-on blues track Walkin’ Daddy. The album closes in fine style with Waycross, Georgia.

A delightfully accessible listen by a unique talent whose writing consistently embraces a ‘moment in time’ of American modern life. Thought-provoking yet unassuming and refined, WORKIN’ ON A WORLD explores its perilous subject matter with coherence and positivity to perfection. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Mackenzie Roark Rollin’ High, Feelin’ Low Vocal Rest

We’re slightly late to the party with a review of this debut full-length album from Richmond, Virginia artist Mackenzie Roark, released late last year. Thankfully it did not pass us by as it’s yet another prime example of a slightly off the radar artist, producing raw country/roots music of the highest standard.

It follows on from Roark’s 2016 EP MOTHER TONGUE and although it only runs for thirty minutes and eight tracks, quality wins over quantity. Titles such as Drunk Again, Wasting Away, Little Pills and the title track are pointers to the theme running through the album. They also suggest a writer pouring out her heart and soul rather than one sitting in a songwriters round from nine to five and clocking out with a formulaic book of lyrics.

Roark puts her cards on the table from the get-go, kicking off the album in rocking style with the confessional and unapologetic Highways I’ve Been On (‘trying to be a good woman makes a bad girl go insane’). In keeping with the truthfulness contained across the album, she also lays bare psychological vulnerabilities, closing the record with Little Pills (‘tell me that I’m crazy when I need little pills’).

A tangled love affair is the driver on Sweet Thing, a gorgeous track with Roark’s raw country vocal backed by some sweet banjo picking and nimble fiddle. It tells a tale of a probably doomed relationship and leaves the listener reflecting whether the reconciliation sought by the writer ever comes to fruition. In fact, because the various tracks on the album work so well collectively, it is easy to assume that the character in Drunk Again and Wasted is the distanced lover in Sweet Thing.

Whether Roark is writing from personal experience or otherwise, the songs unfold with a savage intensity. Her earthy and twangy vocals are well matched by deft musicianship by her band members, with the rugged guitar playing particularly standout.

ROLLIN’ HIGH, FEELIN’ LOW is another potent reminder of the immense talent out there, making music that is unlikely to get the coverage and recognition it richly deserves. Few things are more pleasing for us at Lonesome Highway than discovering talent previously unknown to us, Makenzie Roark qualifies in that regard with flying colours.

Review by Declan Culliton

Mary Elizabeth Remington In Embudo Loose

Singer-songwriter, part-time stonemason and painter, Mary Elizabeth Remington’s introduction to live performance came about ten years ago when she took to the stages at the Kerrville Folk Festival. A decade later and the Hardwick, Massachusetts native has recorded her debut album.  

Remington was raised in a log cabin with her parents and brother in Massachusetts and, not surprisingly, avoided the confines of a recording studio for this project. The songs were recorded live to tape in a cabin along the Rio Grande in Embudo, Mexico, in the company of her long-time friend Adrianne Lenker of the Brooklyn folk-rock band Big Thief, who contributes backing vocals. Lenker’s colleague in Big Thief, Mat Davidson and James Krivchenia from the band Twain, who also acted as engineer, added the sparse instrumentation on a number of tracks. Other selections are performed a capella, Green Grass and the soothing paean Mother, being particularly imposing in this format. The marriage of Remington and Lenker’s vocals is heavenly on the unrequited love song and standout song Dresser Hill.

The finished project, with its low-key arrangements, criss-crosses from folk to country and world music, akin to a modern-day field recording, with overlays or overdubs not considered. Giggles from both vocalists are left unedited and the sound of falling rain adds ambience to the wistful Water Song.

The album’s title is taken from the recording location, with Remington noting that ‘The dry desert air and vast clay coloured landscape brought inspiration and calmness to the process of creating music together.’  Attentive listens are the order of the day on an album that casts its spell far and wide and reveals increasingly more with each ensuing visit.

Review by Declan Culliton

Stuffy Shmitt Cherry Realistic

‘The music biz is nearly impossible to negotiate these days. Forget it.  I'm done worrying about it. I just want to have fun making music with my friends,’ explains Stuffy Shmitt, recalling the motivation to record CHERRY, his latest record that follows on from his eclectic and hugely enjoyable album STUFF HAPPENS released three years ago.

Very much part of the thriving underground music scene in East Nashville, Shmitt brought his New York street-punk attitude to Music City when he relocated there nearly a decade ago. He didn’t have to search too far for like-minded spirits in Music City, particularly on the Eastside. Within a stone’s throw of his front yard, there were numerous well-matched individuals scratching out a living playing or producing more contemporary music in Nashville but who, like Shmitt, were in their element working on more eccentric projects. Among those acquaintances is Dave Coleman (Amelia White, Tim Carroll, Dean Owens, Minton Sparks), who produced and recorded CHERRY at his Howard’s Apartment Studio in Inglewood, East Nashville. Coleman also played guitar on the album; the others players included Chris Tench on guitar and a rhythm section of Parker Hawkins on bass and Dave Colella on drums.

Shmitt’s 2020 release, STUFF HAPPENS, revisited old haunts and old flames in the writers’ previous lives, more often than not without anything approaching fond memories. Tracks like She’s Come Unglued, Jim’s Dad, Mommy and Daddy and The Last Song may, on initial listen, read like fictitious episodes laced with black comedy. However, given the passionate vocal deliveries, on subsequent listens a darker picture of home truths emerged.

Although, like its predecessor, CHERRY finds Shmitt flirting between soulful mid-tempo ballads and manic rockers, the author is in a less introspective and more playful mindset than on that last record. Laced with witticisms and no end of double meanings - the opening track The Man In The Boat is a chant derived from the female orgasm - there’s no end of groove alongside the wicked humour on the eight tracks featured. With a liveliness that captures the sounds of both The Ramones and X, Billy Kilowatt is a two-and-a-half-minute manic journey and the high-spirited and playful The Hard On Polka is probably as near as a love song Shmitt is ever going to pen. (’if you see her drink a bottle of Budweiser, you’ll dream about it ‘till your dying day’). Having said that, there are more sombre moments, Shmitt fondly recalls his deceased younger brother Danny - he played drums with John Hiatt - on the funky Little Brother and 100 Shotguns is a nostalgic recollection of madcap days in a former life.

An album loaded with positive energy; readers acquainted with Shmitt’s back catalogue will lap this up. Others, unfamiliar with his work, should crank those headphones up to full volume and get on board for the ride. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Review by Declan Culliton

New Album Reviews

Diane Hubka & The Sun Canyon Band You Never Can Tell Self Release

A noted and respected jazz singer and performer, Hubka has released several albums in that genre but here has taken a somewhat different path towards roots/country/folk elements. She was raised in Maryland before moving to Washington DC, then New York, and on to LA. But the direction that politics were taking meant that in 2017 she decided to look at singing protest and songs relating to union activity and began to perform these songs acoustically in a local coffee shop. Later with Joe Caccavo and Rick Mayock she formed the Sun Canyon Band and recorded this mix of covers and originals, which is their debut album. What attracted me to give it a close listen was the name of the special guest listed on the cover; one Albert Lee. The guitarist associated with Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band as well as the Everly Brothers, Lee also plays mandolin on the album and is joined by the aforementioned players as well as producer/multi-instrumentalist Chad Watson and Lynn Coulter on percussion.

 Not being aware of Hubka’s previous releases it is nonetheless clear that she is comfortable in this format. Comfortable is the operative word here as nothing disturbs the good time feeling of such experienced musicians playing together in a street free environment. The opening two tracks will be familiar to many (as will some of the other choices) in that both Bob Dylan and Guy Clark are renowned writers as Baton Rouge and You Ain’t Going Nowhere respectively show. These covers then set the pace and the general direction the album will take.

Of the other choices, Randy Newman’s Louisiana 1927 takes that historic flood to emphasise how such catastrophic events have a way of repeating themselves if lessons are not learned. It is given a further location emphasis with the use of Watson’s trombone. You Never Can Tell, written by Chuck Berry, which closes out the album is another nod to their primary influences with some musical touches that make it enjoyable and not just a run through. Albuquerque nods to the player’s previous jazz roots. The Blues Is My Business has a feel for that particular format but again hints at a broader palate with brass and some whistling to add additional textures. To The Light has an acoustic feel and a nuanced vocal that suits the song and Hubka’s voice.

The are some original songs included with Hubka’s Home and Maycock’s Dancing With My Shadow and Belly Of The Whale both offering an opportunity to look beyond the cover choices. The former is in a folk-styled setting with shared vocals, while the other again has Mayock taking the lead with Hubka adding harmony. It has some sweetened guitar to help it flow on its somewhat downbeat but positive lyrical message. Hubka’s song is about the need to get back to a place that one call home and all which that means. Again, it has a folk-affiliated manner that fits with the context.

Without a doubt the standout track here, for me, is the traditional Shady Grove (a love song that has a closer relationship with the English version of the ballad Matty Grove - as recorded by Fairport Convention) The band give it a lively outing with Lee’s mandolin taking a lead alongside Mayock’s baritone guitar (though as several of the players cross-over in terms instruments that’s an assumption).

 An ‘easy to listen to’ album that had me drawn in by Albert Lee’s name on the cover - as it may for many - but the interaction between all is not forced and offers you an album that you can tell that all involved were happy to be recording.       

Review by Stephen Rapid

Jill Rogers & Crying Time Many Worlds Theory Self Release

Described as a straight-up country/honky-tonk band, a definition that suits them and Rogers’ original songs, but one that might seem at times a little less hardcore than some recent acts trading under that banner. In reality, they are related more to a time when real country was acceptable in the mainstream. The band which features some veteran players from the Oakland area are versatile and variable. Myles Boisen is the guitarist with Tony Marcus on fiddle and a rhythm section of Russel Kiel and Tim Rowe. They are joined by pedal steel, percussion and brass on some tracks.

Other members add to the overall textures with Tony Marcus delivering a jazz influenced swing number Devil In The Details that show the collective skills of the band. Boisen penned an album standout track with the border brass of I Only Cry When I’m Drinkin’ - a sound that nearly always hits the spot for these ears. Rogers’ lively vocal is well suited to the upbeat but down-sided message of the lyrics. 

There are also a couple of covers such as Del McCoury’s More Often Than Once In Awhile and Willie Nelson’s You Left Me A Long Time Ago. Both underscore that Rogers has a voice that is capable of taking on the different aspects of all the material that they have recorded. The latter closes out the album with a fine reading of a less known Nelson song, but one that sits beside her own take on country music, both classic and contemporary.

Of the songs written by Rogers, particularly strong are Evangeline, the up-tempo River Songs with fiddle to the fore, as it is with the guitar on the sad and slow Tears, Time And Ink. The Mess (That Used To Be Me) is a pretty self-descriptive but ultimately redeeming song about getting one’s self together to face the future. It is done to a beat that belies that thought process. 

Their previous releases offer a view of what they have been doing for some time now. A set of covers of George Jones songs with a number of guests (KING GEORGE), a live album that mixed covers and self-penned songs as well as a studio recorded record (LAST SATURDAY NIGHT/TEN GOLDEN HITS). They also recorded an album of some 70s country (LINDA). These, though unheard by this writer, would indicate a band in it for the long haul. They wear their cowboy hats and shirts as a visual indication of that.

MANY WORLDS THEORY continues in that vein with as much care put into the covers songs as with the original songs. It is an album that grew on me the more I listened and it is, in its own way, something that will enhance their local reputation and could, just as easily, be appreciated on a wider scale.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Alex Mabey The Waiting Room Self Release

A powerful fifteen-track album from an artist that writes freely and honestly about personal trauma, mental illness and addiction, Alex Mabey has been recording music for nearly a decade. Currently residing in Nashville, where she previously studied as a teenager at Belmont University, Mabey has successfully confronted and overcome a number of painful issues since those early career days. Ill health and a broken marriage led to prolonged physical and mental pain and if Mabey’s 2017 EP ENOUGH was a statement of an individual determined to conquer her demons, THE WAITING ROOM plays out as a further pointer to Mabey’s rehabilitation and recovery.

Contributors on THE WAITING ROOM include Grammy-winning producer Casey Wasner (Taj Mahal, Keb’Mo, Amanda Shires, Walter Trout), pianist Peter Wasner (Vince Gill, Amy Grant), bassist Brian Allen (Jason Isbell, The Secret Sisters) and Nate Dugger (Drew Holcomb) on guitar.

These Wings, the first single from the album, is powerful both lyrically and musically and a statement of liberty and letting go. The mid-tempo ballad The Well, also released as a single, broods over the painful yet finally rewarding decision to move ahead and distance oneself from a destructive manner of life. Fittingly, and in keeping with the album’s subject matter of resurrection, a cover of Patty Griffin’s Up To The Mountain is included. Entrapment and fragility emerge on Canary and Wait, the final track and statement on the album, which advises patience and resoluteness in adversity, acts as a reminder that fortune often favours the brave.

Written with candour, THE WAITING ROOM gives the listener a tour from where Mabey was at her lowest point towards her present state of body and mind. No doubt written by way of putting a closer to harrowing and distressing times, it’s not only a rewarding listen but also well-worth investigating for others going through similar dilemmas of the mind or body. Fans of the aforementioned Patty Griffin and Eliza Gilkyson will most definitely warm to this record.

Review by Declan Culliton

Pony Bradshaw North Georgia Rounder Soundly

Very much a writer of stories brought to music, Pony Bradshaw follows on from his 2021 album CALICO JIM, with another ten impressive songs drawn from his love of North Georgia, his home for the past decade and a half. If anything, this collection of songs, though somewhat matching in lyrical content, is musically more up-tempo, with particularly gorgeous splashes of pedal steel and slick guitar breaks, all complementing Bradshaw’s well-defined vocal deliveries.

An album that draws your attention to the lyrical content, it plays out like a short story movie, introducing the listener to the writer’s keen observations and also real-life characters leading ordinary existences. Recorded in only five days at Fellowship Hall Sound in Little Rock, the material explores a variety of Appalachian locations and scenarios. Bradshaw also speaks of other places encountered during his relentless touring lifestyle. A point in case is the melancholy A Free Roving Mind where the writer confesses ‘And I ain't got no kinda home…. And I don't need no reason to pen a sad and lonesome tune.’ A sense of barely surviving and yearning for simple home comforts emerges on the title track and that sentiment also surfaces on Kindly Turn The Bed Down, Drusilla, where the weary road traveller looks forward to a return to domesticity (‘I make my wage on the road, good lord, 42 and living out of my van.’) Safe In The Arms Of Vernacular opens with a memory of the writer’s father returning from Desert Storm before moving to the present and to a small-town local diner where he observes a waitress’ mundane way of life. The gothic and shadier side of Appalachia emerge on Notes On A River Town, it bookends the album in fine style with a sound that is both hauntingly lonesome and as dark as coal.

A self-confessed aficionado of fiction and poetry, Pony Bradshaw confesses that his writing is more inspired by his bookworm mentality than his admiration of the classic singer songwriters. A dynamic storyteller in his own right, Bradshaw’s latest offering is both lyrically arresting and quite spectacular in places. You’re left wondering if he’s likely to pen a novel of short stories at some point in the future.

Review by Declan Culliton

Angela Perley Turn Me Loose Self Release

A free spirit with one leg in the late 60s and the other in the modern world, the debut solo album from the Columbus, Ohio artist Angela Perley was one of our favourites of 2019 at Lonesome Highway. Titled 4.30, it was a tour de force of psychedelic-infused rock and alt-country.

The former band leader of Angela Perley and the Howlin’ Moons follows a similar musical template with TURN ME LOOSE, delivering an equally impressive ten-track record. If anything, Perley has increased the alt-country content this time around, inspired by listening to a lot of Gram Parsons during lockdown. A point in case is the hook-filled and pedal steel drenched Star Dreamer, which features well placed vocal ‘sha-la-las’ and synchronised hand claps. Equally splendid is the country-esque and slower paced Holding On and she goes full-on country with the two-stepper, Praying for Delight. Here For You, the first single from the album, was written following the loss of a number of family members. With a catchy backbeat and slick slide guitar, it finds the writer in a reflective mood, reminding herself of the importance of enjoying the moment while also being mindful of the struggles that those close to her may be enduring. Opener Plug Me In and Ripple are playful high-octane rockers, yet behind all these upbeat moments you get a sense of sorrowfulness and loss on tracks like Holding On and the closing track Wreck Me. The latter is a semi-spoken and skeletal offering of anguish and longing for forbidden fruit. 

Recorded at Earthwork Recording Studio in Newark, Ohio and Studio 4:30 in Columbus, Ohio, the album was produced by Brandon Bankes, who also contributed pedal steel. Perley and her long-time bandmate and guitarist Chris Connor are credited as co-producers.

An album that traverses from mellow to frenetic, TURN ME LOOSE defines Perley’s signature sound. A combination of honeyed vocals, clever lyrics and a group of players that ebb and flow around her, resulting in a suite of songs that offer a memorable listening experience. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Juni Habel Carvings Basin Rock

This is a really beautiful record. Created from a deep place, at once both fragile and strong; vulnerable, yet powerful in the quiet delivery. The music is both arresting and haunting; it is bare bones with nothing spared in the honesty and beauty of both the melodies and the words.  Defined as ‘pastoral folk’ in certain media, this is a timeless slice of intimate and whispered emotion.

There is loss here, and there is both beauty and a sadness borne of experience. Habel lost her sister in a car accident and a number of the songs make reference to the grief and the sense of intimacy in the memory of loss. This is clearly a work of great release for the artist and the sense of balancing the past against the emotions of the present are never far from the surface. The playing is sublime and the inclusion of family members heightens the sense of a prayer sent out to the universe in terms of healing and starting anew.

The sense of being part of the listening experience is akin to holding your breath while somebody close to you opens up about their inner doubts and dreams. Opening song Rhythm Of the Tides looks at the pull of nature and the depths contained in our own fears and hopes; water being used as a metaphor for the mind. Valiant is a song that brings the memory of her deceased sister to mind for Habel, as she captures the essence of the unbreakable sibling bond; ‘When we leaned into each other.’

Again, on the final song, I Carry You, My Love we find Habel framing the moment in beautiful imagery, ‘I wait by your door, for a sign to find me.’ The presence of someone no longer there in physical form so eloquently described. The music throughout has a dreamlike quality and the use of subtle percussion, twinkling piano, haunting violin and abstract sounds is enthralling. On the song Chicory I am sure that I hear a cuckoo sound and the closing of a door as percussive elements.

This is meditative music. Never rushed, and played with a gentle touch that hints at layered vocals, minimal keyboard and superb fingerstyle acoustic guitar atmospherics. Drifting Pounds Of the Train has violin sounds to accompany the love song as it builds in emotion and swells. Habel lives outside Oslo in Norway and this is her second album release. It is a very special album and one that will bring rich reward to all who immerse themselves in this sublime music.

Review by Paul McGee

Trevor Beales Fireside Stories Basin Rock

There is a deep poignancy that surrounds this posthumous release which highlights the expressive guitar playing of Trevor Beales. He grew up in Hebden Bridge, in Calder Valley, West Yorkshire. Learning guitar in the 1960s, Beales was clearly influenced by the Folk troubadours of the time and his playing evokes the developing genre and stirs memories of Bert Jansch, Davey Graham and John Renbourn. His fingerstyle playing was very fluid and free, with a lovely tone and expression.

The songs included here were recovered from his bedroom and retrieved from old cassettes recorded circa 1971 to 1974. The quality of the playing is quite superb and there are moments where it sounds like there is more than one guitar in the mix, so fulsome is his technique with the rhythm and solo runs merging into such a comprehensive and satisfactory whole. The twelve songs include instrumentals Braziliana and  the wonderful Dance Of the Mermaids. Other songs that stand out are Marion Belle, a tale that relays a sailors story and a ship that sailed the waves with a sickly crew looking for refuge in any port; Metropolis tells of life as a busker in the city anonymity of London, ‘Wearing dirty jeans and jacket, I play tunes on my guitar, Though no one has time to listen as they dodge the passing cars.’

Another song, Sunlight On the Table tells of capturing a moment and the distant glow of memory and choices made. Then I’ll Take You Home looks at the movement around guru enlightenment that was a craze back in the 60s. Righteous preaching leaves him cold and his response is to play his music, drink some beers and then head for home. The title track conjures a young John Martyn in the effortless playing style and confirms the talent that was evident to all who heard him develop his craft.

Beales died suddenly in 1984, leaving behind a young widow and a daughter, and we can only surmise on the career that awaited him and the heights that he would have achieved. We come and we go, the whys and wherefores lost in the mist of time. The one lasting influence that music brings is the legacy that endures over time, and the realisation that what was created back then, continues to stand as testament to the artist that created it.

Review by Paul McGee

Anna Mieke Theatre Nettwerk

This artist is a true world traveller, having experienced life in her travels across different continents. All the time absorbing the native sounds and the music of the indigenous people, from Maori songs in New Zealand, to the traditional airs of Bulgaria, working in India and aligned to the musical wealth of Granada in Spain. Mieke plays an array on instruments, including cello and guitar, bouzoki and piano.

The music is very much in the space of what is termed, Alt-Folk. There are nine tracks that span almost fifty minutes of listening and much of the playing draws from improvisational interplay between the musicians. Mieke is joined on the project by the talents of Matthew Jacobson (percussion),Ryan Hargadon (tenor saxophone, synthesizers, clarinet, piano), Brían Mac Gloinn (guitar, fiddle), Rozi Leyden (bass), Lina Andonovska (flutes), Cora Venus Lunny (viola, violin), Alannah Thornburgh (harp) and Nick Rayner (bass and synths).

It is an impressive ensemble and the ebb and flow of the songs contain a trance-like quality, especially when listened to on headphones. The lyrics are quite cryptic and somewhat impenetrable, with brief glimpses into the inner world of Mieke and her  delivery conjures memories of a lost lyric in the back of your mind that you can never quite recall. For A Time revisits days of her youth spent in London and the imagery that remains in reconstructing those memories. Coralline seems to channel an old relationship and the accumulation of reflective musings built from the past. Seraphim asks of another ‘Take me far away from the crowds, oh the maddening crowds.’ Go Away From My Window is a traditional song that pleads ‘Go ‘way from my window, Go ‘way from my door, Go ‘way way way from my bedside, And bother me no more.’ Perhaps the urge to escape into a more solitary state is what both binds and fuels these songs?

The beautiful harp intro to Red Sun is replaced by gentle acoustic guitar and has Mieke musing ‘Distance is a sound I know, Momentary ground.’ There is a free-form, jazz-like quality to some of the arrangements and the improvisation allows the mind to wander off to distant places and allow reflective thoughts of fragmented hindsight to arise.

The track Twin has memories of a time spent in Lausanne, Switzerland and the lines ‘ Sometimes things are better left unsaid instead, Linger if you will we are strangers still.’ This sense of being solitary and apart from the observations being made is what weaves through these songs. I am left thinking of a collaboration between Joni Mitchell and Jane Siberry, where the creative muse visits shaded corners of the mind in search of some solace. An interesting album where the challenges reap great reward.

Review by Paul McGee

Michael Veitch Wachtraum Self Release

The album title translates as “Wake Dream,” and the twelve songs included are all from the creative muse of Michael Veitch, an experienced artist from Vermont. He has released many albums and here we see his talents blossom on songs that visit personal and political issues.

There are four co-writes and two were written with engineer Julie Last. Veitch self-produced the album and invited quite a list of musicians to join him in the process. There is a credits list that runs to some fifteen contributors and with Veitch leading proceedings on guitars, piano and lead vocals. He sings with an easy, sweet tone and the song melodies are very engaging.  This is finely delivered americana with emphasis on the craft of the singer-songwriter.

Love songs such as August Nights, Last Days of Summer and Always Vermont celebrate that special feeling with a loved one. Memory is something that holds nostalgia, whether real or imagined, and Veitch visits the past in the songs, Sunday Afternoon and Birthday Oh Birthday.

Happy Fourth Of July questions the type of country that has created so much hatred and murder within the American dream and the aspiration of equality for all. April Fools hits out at politicians who have nobody’s interests at heart, except their own; the hypocrisy clearly evident to all.

Mother nature is celebrated in First Snow Of the Year, and First Day is a celebration of the New Year and the opportunity to begin again with a fresh page. Final song One Wish is a plea for peace and harmony on Christmas Day and throughout the year, the song featuring a duet with Kirsti Gholson, and a fitting way to end a very enjoyable album.       

Review by Paul McGee

New Album Reviews

The Foreign Landers Travelers Rest Tinfoil

The seeds were sown for this duo when Tabitha Agnew from Co Armagh in Northern Ireland met David Benedict from S Carolina at the IBMA 2017 Conference in Raleigh. Both were already establishing themselves as bluegrass musicians to be watched, Benedict as mandolinist with the progressive Mile Twelve and Agnew as banjoist with her family band, Cup O’ Joe, and soon to be a member of the all female British bluegrass ensemble, Midnight Skyracer. Love and marriage soon followed, but then so did the pandemic, and the couple were thrown into two years of strife while Tabitha waited for her Green Card and they tried to conduct a transatlantic relationship. TRAVELERS REST is the chronicle of that difficult time, a concept album if you like. Their first full length album is a delight, produced by them both in their new home in the quaintly named South Carolina town which gave the album its name. Traveler introduces Tabitha’s sweet vocals against delicately picked acoustic guitar, but soon we hear her inventive banjo playing, interplaying with her husband’s backing vocals and glorious mandolin runs. The song quotes her parents, who reassure her in her trepidation about the move to the US that ‘whether near or far/you’ll always have a place to stay’, and isn’t that what we all wish for our family? In Waves, the ferociousness of the sea reflects the fear of the unknown for Tabitha, but she again finds reassurance, this time from her Christian faith. In fact there are many references throughout the lyrics to a faith that is clearly paramount to the two artists.

While Tabitha’s vocals are inherently soft, the production here is superbly suited to her vocal style and brings out her sweetest best. Unfortunately, we only hear backing vocals from David, and one hopes that he will right this wrong on future projects! His brother-in-law, Reuben Agnew, guests on vocals on David’s song Flying Back to You. Should I Go is a melodramatic cry for help from Tabitha’s viewpoint, and is suitably soundtracked by her progressive banjo contributions here, discordant and tumbling fast, all the while supported by David’s octave mandolin and acoustic guitar playing. It’s refreshing to hear new acoustic music that is fresh and original, while still rooted in the bluegrass tradition.

There’s an instrumental interlude, two new tunes with a distinctly Irish flavour, Johnny’s Peacock/The Red Tailed Hawk, where they are joined by the Irish guitar maestro John Doyle and Armagh’s finest tin whistle player, Brian Finnegan.

Boxes finds Tabitha unpacking after moving house, and she again follows her father’s advice, this time to ‘keep your door open wide/Warm the welcome, young and old’. Things start to look up, and another guest, Karl Smakula, plays pedal steel on the country love song We’ll Be Fine, while well known fiddler Brittany Haas enhances the reassuring Garden - ‘though the world may be broken/I’ll be in the ground planting seeds’. The Last Song closes this first chapter of their story, the gentle instrumentation reflecting contentment at last, ‘a land I can call my home’. The album design is also aesthetically pleasing with a woodcut by Dealey Dansby and artful graphics and photography. Roll on the next instalment.

Review by Eilís Boland

Sunny War Anarchist Gospel New West

‘Everyone I loved died before they reached twenty-five. They OD’ed or killed themselves. We were just kids who didn’t have anyone looking out for us,’ confesses Nashville-based singer songwriter Sunny War, reflecting on a troubled and brutal early life that she has thankfully left behind. War’s early music career found her playing in punk bands, including Los Angeles based the Anal Kings, drinking heavily, dropping out of school and out of control. Moving to California did little to improve her predicament, on the contrary, the relocation lead to heroin and meth addiction and near death.

Clean and sober for over a decade, heartache and tragedy revisited War. A relationship breakup and contracting Covid led to a further period of depression and contemplations of suicide. Fortunately, she overcame these emotions and instead wrote the soul searching I Got No Fight, the first song to be written for what became ANARCHIST GOSPEL. War continued to address her personal journey of adversity and distress across a number of demos and presented them to the Nashville resident and producer Andrija Tokic (The Deslondes, Hurrah For The Riff Raff, Alabama Shakes, Caitlin Rose, Jeremy Ivey). Studio time was booked at Tokic’s Bomb Shelter, where the fourteen tracks were recorded. The resulting album is one that doesn’t slot easily into one particular genre, instead it sees saws from folk to gospel and soulful blues to raw rock and roll.

War’s ageless vocal style and distinctive fingerpicking guitar work unconditionally capture the mood of the songs and their content. The inclusion of backing vocalists on a number of the tracks further intensifies the message within the tracks. In fact, the vocal input of the three times Grammy nominated Allison Russell on the Dionne Farris cover Hopeless and Loves Death appears to intensify War’s performance, resulting in two standout efforts. Jim James of My Morning Jacket fame also features on Earth. War’s partner in the band War and Pierce, Chris Pierce, is also credited as adding vocals. Banjo and guitar contributions by Dave Rawlings on tracks Shelter and Storm, Swear To Gawd and Higher further intensify those songs. The second cover included is Ween’s Baby Bitch, which sticks true to the original version and is directed towards War’s ex-partner with the parting dispatch, ‘I’m better now, please fuck off.’

Despite its origins and the matters of the heart that dominate the album, a sense of rebirth and pushing ahead does emerge. Tracks such as the aforementioned Hopeless and New Day, although not entirely suggesting healing, do suggest a degree of stoicism and resoluteness from their author. If War’s previous recordings, SIMPLE SYRUP (2021) and WITH THE SUN (2018), marked the emergence of an artist with unlimited potential, ANARCHIST GOSPEL with the support of New West, is most likely to raise her profile immeasurably. Let’s hope that is the case, as it’s fully merited on the strength of this marvellous project.

Review by Declan Culliton

Mark Erelli Lay Your Darkness Down Soundly

“My impending blindness opened my eyes, and I was able to write from that new viewpoint,” explains Mark Erelli on the motivation behind the ten songs on his latest recording LAY YOUR DARKNESS DOWN.

Erelli was diagnosed with the degenerative eye disease Retinitis Pigmentosa in the midst of the pandemic in 2020. Notwithstanding the possibility that the condition could lead to a total loss of sight, he tackled his condition head-on, using his predicament as ammunition for his eighteenth studio album.

Ironically, Erelli’s last recording was titled BLINDSIDED and was released prior to his diagnosis in the spring of 2020. An exceptionally talented songwriter and multi-instrumentalist - he was part of Josh Ritter’s touring band in 2009 - Erelli can also boast production duties on Lori McKenna’s 2013 album MASSACHUSETTS.    

Somewhat surprisingly, given the author’s frame of mind at the time of writing, the album’s subject matter is one of hope, appreciation and love. In particular, the opening track Break In The Clouds and the closer Love Wins In The Long Run, are both buoyant, free-flowing and strong opening and closing statements.

Self-produced and recorded at his home, Erelli played the majority of the instruments that feature.  Lending a hand was Dave Brophy on drums and Zachariah Hickman on bass, Mellotron and Omnichord. Anthony Da Costa plays electric guitar on Fuel For The Fire and Lori McKenna adds vocals on the thoughtful ballad and co-write with Erelli, Lay Your Darkness Down. The slow-paced soulful ballad The Man I Am pays homage to Erelli’s wife Polly and Is It Enough follows a similar inspiration by advancing that when everything else is falling apart, human love is the redeeming factor. That power of human attraction is also reinforced on You. A raw and powerful ballad, beautifully articulated and enhanced by hazy and almost primitive guitar work, it’s up there with the finest that Erelli has penned and is the album’s standout track. Having said that, there isn’t a weak track on the album and the Dylan-esque Sense Of Wonder, and the aforementioned opening and closing tracks, are outstanding.

There has been an indisputable consistency in Mark Erelli’s albums over the years and he certainly maintains that quality on LAY YOUR DARKNESS DOWN. Equal parts rootsy Americana and old-school rock, it’s a record loaded with raw emotion and steadfast truthfulness. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Diane Patterson Satchel Of Songs Self Release

Based in Oregon, this talented artist has released seven albums in a career that started with her debut back in 1991. She is described as a folk goddess and her music falls into the realm of mystic acoustic americana. It is quietly pointed towards roots music for the soul and is filled with tunes that celebrate nature, the healing powers of the earth, the ancient ways, lives devoted to simple crafts and a sense of belonging within a community.

The ten tracks are all very enjoyable and are delivered by an impressive cast of supporting musicians who recorded their parts either remotely or who joined producer Mike Napolitano ((Ani DiFranco, Squirrel Nut Zippers) to record in New Orleans.  Two songs were produced separately by Pedro Vadhar and Roman Morykit, and the overall feel and groove to the album is very organic and rhythmic. From the reggae infused beat of Roots Heart Rhythm to the anti-war sentiment of Steady the Hand, these are songs that both move and reflect upon the ways in which we poison the earth as a race.   

The title track addresses the abuse of native indigenous people and their traditions. This theme is also what lies within songs like One Part Corn (the healing hands of the medicine woman), Cookfire (the beauty found in simple acts and deeds), Where Are We (a poem by Coleman Barks, inspired by the ancient poet, Rumi).

Elsewhere, the plight of Indian tribes and the buffalo are highlighted on Turn Toward the Sun charting the history behind the Lakota treaty in North Dakota that impacted local water supply in the greed and rush for oil. However, the land always endures and the old ways are sustained by those who pass down the knowledge through the generations. Somewhere There’s A Song Still Singing speaks to these matters and the perpetual return to nature. The album is from the heart and delivered in impressive style.

Review by Paul McGee

Paul Gurney Blue Horizon Tailgator

This is the second solo album from New Zealand based musician and music tutor, Paul Gurney. He is a member of The DeSotos and is joined by two of his band members on this new project. Producer Bob Shepheard contributes on bass, electric guitar, piano and keyboards. He brings a light touch to the proceedings and the song arrangements are very well structured. Gurney plays acoustic guitar, electric guitars, mandolin and sings in a confident style across all eleven songs gathered here.

Stuart McIntyre plays bass on six songs while Michael Burrows (drums), Ron Stevens (Hammond organ), Richard Adams (violin), Craig Denham (piano accordion) and Neil Watson (pedal and lap steel) all contribute to the easy melodies and the atmosphere of the album. Fragile and Blue Horizon have superb pedal steel atmospherics to colour the tunes and the laid back feel continues on Meaning which has a nice flow and timbre. The slow blues of Misunderstood also has some nice touches on pedal steel while the brooding menace of Ricochet looks to the damage we have done as a race to our mother earth.

Perfect Space has an up-tempo groove and some fine interplay and the attraction of the album is perfectly mirrored in the superb Trouble, a highlight, with dynamic guitar riffs.  Belong is a straight up tribute to the enduring Roy Orbison, both in vocal delivery and song dynamics, a country waltz through time. The final track Windows could have been on any number of albums produced in the 1970s out of California, with that sunny laid back sound of the era. The album closes with the sound of the Windows choir adding a soulful dynamic to the song.  A very enjoyable album and one that bears repeated listening.

Review by Paul McGee

Suzie Vinnick Fall Back Home Self Release

Saskatoon native Suzie Vinnick has pulled out all the stops on this new album. It’s lucky seventh for her and employing the production talent of Danny Greenspoon was a very wise move. He had worked with Vinnick before on a few of her earlier releases and this time around he captured the essence of her sound, a perfect blend of blues and roots music. The songs are very strong and there is a hint of Bonnie Raitt in the air when she lifts her vocal performance on tracks like Raino and Secret.

The jazz infused blues of The Pie That My Baby Makes channels Rickie Lee Jones and the upright bass of Ross Boswell gives the vocals a nice bedrock from which to soar. Steve Dawson pops up on pedal steel on a couple of tracks and the various guitar sounds are brilliantly delivered by a combination of top players across the eleven songs, with Colin Linden( two tracks) and Kevin Breit (five tracks) taking the spotlight.

Other songs are tinged with a country blues, and It Doesn’t Feel Like Spring Anymore and Big Train (From Memphis) stand out with some excellent guitar courtesy of Paul Pigat on the latter. The album is full of interesting twists and turns and is certainly a welcome addition to the growing reputation of this very talented musician.

Review by Paul McGee

Courtney Hale Revia Growing Pains Self Release

This is the third release from a Texan artist who has described her lifestyle as consisting of being a mother, teacher, wife, daughter and a music promoter. The title track refers to the journey that Revia has been on since she lost her father to Covid in 2021. The songs reflect the different moods that have pulled and tugged at the process of grieving and the final track is a tribute to her father, James T Hale, with a live version of his song Bloom Where You Are.

Revia has been hosting live concerts since 2018 at her listening room known as, 7 Oaks Event Garden in Beaumont, Texas. The core players on the album are Walter Cross (drums on nine songs), Zachary Edd (bass), Cody Eldridge (lead guitar), Southpaw Smitty (mandolin on eight songs), and Ellen Melissa Story (violin on nine songs). Revia provides rhythm guitar across all twelve tracks and sings with real confidence and style. Her vocal range is impressive and she handles all the different demands of production and writing with ease.

Blood and Water has a sassy  style that delivers with a fine chorus and the contrast with simpler ballads like Who Are You shows the different aspects of Revia and her ability to deliver with real conviction. Other songs such as Lavender Cowgirl, They’ve Poisoned the Well and One Way Out are quite superb in the interplay between the musicians, with the violin of Story a real highlight throughout.

There is a great bluegrass feel to Coffee Beans (The Logon Café Song) with violin, mandolin and guitar swapping phrases across the melody lines. The title track is a standout with words like ‘rain drops fall upon these walls that I built around my soul,’ suggesting the need for healing and new beginnings. This is a really fine album and it certainly would not have been out of place in my best releases listing for the year just passed.

Review by Paul McGee

Tim Hill Giant Innovative Leisure

Kicking off with the bluegrass sound of The Clock’s Never Wrong, more than lays down a marker for an album that is brimming with personality. Tim Hill is also a touring member of Allah-Las, the Los Angeles band. However, there are many different influences at play on this album including French Sweet No. 3 in B Minor - J.S. Bach. There are also two bonus tracks on the digital release that are not on the physical version of the album, including a cover of the Townes Van Zandt classic, No Place To Fall.

The harmonica and pedal steel lines on Calico channel that classic Neil Young sound and indeed Hill namechecks the Canadian legend as one of his main influences. The album takes its name from the James Dean movie (a cult classic) and Hill also cites Paris Texas and Harry Dean Stanton as another jumping off point.

In 2019 Tim Hill released a debut album that was recorded on his four-track recorder at home. This follow up has a much more professional approach with Hill using a Long Beach studio where he played quite a range of instruments including piano, guitar, vibraphone, drums, bass and synthesizer. He is joined on the recording by a small group of players Corey Adams (banjo, harmonica, lead guitar), Philip Glenn (violin), Brady Henrie (pedal steel), George Madrid (pedal steel) and Ray Welch (lyrics).

Candlestick is another really excellent song and is followed by the equally impressive Good As Gone. Both tracks have a nice laid back groove with strummed guitars and reflective vocals. The beautiful piano and pedal steel on The Irish Sea is another highlight and the fact that Hill has been living the life of a rancher for the past two years in Silverado has clearly influenced his sense of space and time – both of which are woven through the melodies of these songs like a fine silk thread.

Review by Paul McGee

Tip Jar Songs About Love and Life On the Hippie Side Of Country Shine A Light

This album appeared last year as a follow up to the previous 20201 release, One Lifetime, which was a fine example of the high quality output of this Dutch duo. Bart de Win and his wife Arianne Knegt formed Tip Jar back in 2013 and the music they create spans different musical genres. At the centre of the writing is the close harmony of Bart and Arianne and their focus on a solid sense of musicality, build over years of hard earned experience and inspiration.

The bright up-tempo sounds of early tracks, Never Saw It Coming and White Sands are balanced by the poignant folk sound of Creaking Of the Stairs and a look back at memories formed in younger years. The jazz tinged arrangement of Plough has a honky tonk element that is infectious and  highlights a great dual vocal from Bart and Arianne, plus some fine boogie woogie piano from Bart.

The same core band of musicians appear across these two recent releases with Harry Hendricks (guitars, banjo, ukelele), Bill Small (bass), Eric van de Lest (drums), Joost van Es (violin), Tonnie Ector (double bass), and Walt Watkins (guitar, vocals) all turning in quality performances.

The blues swing of Wondering Why is balanced against the simple melodic ruminations of Colours. Equally, on Strong Enough, Arianne delivers a subtly wistful performance in looking back at past relationships. The creative flow of the arrangements certainly draws upon a wide palette of different hues and tints. Big Family sums everything up with the message that we are all in this together and we need to rely upon each other in the sense of being inspired by music and the creative arts. Another worthy release and worth your time investing in the creative vision of Tip Jar.

Review by Paul McGee

New Album Reviews

Wylie & The Wild West Bunchgrass Hi-Line

I have to thank Wylie Gustafson for not only bringing some great sounding country music to the world since his debut release in 1992, but also for being the first spectacle wearing artist in the genre that I had encountered on, the then European version, of CMT. Having the same visual enhancement, it induced a kinship that, alongside his authenticity and steadfast adherence to traditional country music, made him a continuing touchstone.

His latest release, his 25th by my count, shows that he has lost none of his passion nor pride in his music and lifestyle. He is a rancher working in Montana, as well as playing and producing his original and well chosen cover material that is at home on the open plains as much as it would be in a dark honky tonk. As is his normal process Gustafson recorded the album in Nashville with a crack team of musicians who would, by nature, be totally sympathetic to the direction his production took them. These players are note and placement perfect in terms of not grandstanding or over playing their individual parts. They instinctively know what best suits the arrangements.

With names like Denis Crouch, Billy Contreras, Mark Thornton, Mark Meyer, Matty Meyer and Chris Scruggs along side Wylie himself, you would expect no less. Gustafson delivers some self-penned originals that mix his sense of purpose with an element of fun. The songs are headed by Straight Up Country Music, one which emphasises his own preference, as does his affiliation with his lifestyle in the wry smile of Girlfriend Is A Barrel Racer.  Then there’s Don’t Say Whoa, Water Of Jordan, Flying, Birch Creek, his arrangement of the traditional Cowboy Soliloquy and his usual foray into the territory of the yodel with Hiline Waltz.

The covers offer an equally diverse set of songs,  like Gordon Lightfoot’s Ribbon Of Darkness which opens the album and shows off his distinctive and appealing vocal ability, as well as the strength of the song itself. The same could be applied to his choices of Heather Myles’ Rum And Rodeo, the John Hartford penned In Tall Buildings, Butch Hancock’s Dry Farm Land,  the song Young And Beautiful (a song perhaps best known to some by its version from Elvis) and a heartfelt rendition of At My Window from Townes Van Zandt.

All of these selections show not only a wide ranging taste in music, but also a lyrical content that is in harmony with his own thoughts and actions. Wylie, you get the impression, records this material for his own satisfaction as much as that of his many fans. It would appear there is a steady appreciation of music that is rooted in Western themes, as evidenced by the success of artists like Colter Wall and Charlie Crockett and others. The recent loss of such iconic trail blazers as Don Edwards and Ian Tyson makes the continuation of the music of Wylie Gustafson even more important. 

In the final round-up though, this is an exceptional album that has the ability to appeal on many levels and should not be overlooked or under-rated. As Wylie has written, this is straight up country music with the added touch of Western that deserves a wider audience and this writer, for one, looks forward to his next outing with as much anticipation as he does looking back on his previous work, that is a pure example of what country music is, was and should be.

Review by Stephen Rapid

The Miners Megunticook Match-up Zone

This album was one of those that got overlooked during a hectic year of reviews. It was actually released in 2021 but arrived for review last year. They are a band fronted by Keith Marlowe, who is the band’s songwriter and lead vocalist, while also playing guitars (acoustic, electric and pedal steel). He also handled the album’s production duties. He is accompanied in The Miners by Brian Herden on pedal steel, dobro, b-bender, upright bass and slide, as well as Gregg Hiestand on bass and Vaughn Shnkus on drums. Other guests include Bon Lowery on harmonica and backing vocals, Bobby Baxmeyer on mandolin, banjo and fiddle and Joe Kille, who also adds fiddle.

The assembled band play an alt-country blend that is both easy on the ear and accomplished. They cite Uncle Tupelo and Whiskeytown as key inspirations, alongside icons like Gram Parsons and Merle Haggard.  There are ten tracks featured, which start with the loved and lost sound of Without You and finishes with the more politicized observation of life today, for some, with Cardboard Sign. Between those points, they cover some different topics such as departing in this case.

Leaving For Ohio. Call Me Up reflects on the difficult questions that relationships can offer up, often without resolving them. The fact that it is always an option is where Apologize delivers its message. The Day The Drummer Died is a sad tale of that event and its aftermath. All of this material is based in some real life observation, which was given depth by the musical structures that use the instrumentation well. The overall feel is that of a band who knew exactly what they wanted to achieve with this record , which has solid arrangements, vocal harmonies and integrated playing that sit comfortably with the lead and harmony vocals.

The band released a previous EP some years back and it has taken time for this second release to see the light of day. They are based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they recorded this album. They, doubtless, hold a torch for alt-country in that area, but are worthy of a wider consideration and enjoyment.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Ted Silar Last Rose Self Release

This seven track EP is a new release from a musician with a long history of playing different genres of music including rock ’n’ roll, blues, jazz, and he even mentions singing Bach in Saxony - so, a man of eclectic tastes. Here he turns back to a love of traditional country, especially that emanating from California and the likes of Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakam. This album was recorded in a number of studios around the States at different times, as witnessed by the names of the various sidemen he features including Byron Berline (fiddle), Dan Dugmore (pedal steel), Jason Carter (fiddle) and Kristin Scott-Benson (banjo). Silar wrote the songs, played bass and drums and added the guitars as well as lead vocals.

However although there are 7 tracks featured, three are remixes - the songs are Why Do We Have To Dream, That One Last Rose, I’m Gonna Haul Off And Love You, Elana and She’s The One. The first three are the ones repeated in what seems a different emphasis on the instruments rather than a radical remix. While Silar, here, doesn’t have a particularly distinctive vocal style you can tell he is enjoying the process and the contributions of the noted players he had join him; even though they were added remotely to the initial tracks. 

There is a solid melodic structure to the songs themselves that delivers a pleasant listen and  deserves repeated listens, even if the above mentioned trio are doing just that. The contributions of the fiddle and steel are both thoroughly enjoyable and lift the songs to a new level that makes you wonder if a full album of such originals would have been worth pursuing. Given that the likes of Berline is, unfortunately, no longer with us, newer contributors like Carter can fill that gap.

So hopefully Silar might choose country as his chosen musical path on another occasion and get the opportunity to record with a band in the studio to create something new. For now we can settle for this latest release from a musician who follows his own muse rather than any particular trends.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Kassi Valazza Highway Sounds Fluff & Gravy

A recent signing to Loose Music in the UK., Arizona-born artist Kassi Valazza’s four- track EP HIGHWAY SOUNDS from 2022 is as good a place as any for an introduction to her music world. Inspired by the wide-open spaces of the southwestern state of Arizona where she spent her childhood, Valazza’s beautifully delivered dark lyrics, and the instrumentation that accompanies them, justly reflect that spacious environment.

HIGHWAY SOUNDS comes after her 2019 album, DEAR DEAD DAYS, and continues on her versatile musical alt-country template. The gentle opening track Little Flowers has its origins in early 70s country folk, and the EP’s highlight, Little Dove, lands between the psychedelic country of Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter and the desert noir of Calexico. Loaded with dreamy reverb and all manner of desert- inspired sounds, it is border flavoured country of the highest order. The dark country ballad Crying could have been plucked from the Jimmy Webb songbook, and Pastures continues that menacing theme of sunken and unfulfilled dreams.

HIGHWAY SOUNDS offers a gateway to the brooding Americana universe of Kassi Valazza. Equally, it reveals her versatility across the four tracks. Initially drawn in by her crystal clear and disciplined vocals, the haunting musical sketches behind those lyrics are soon revealed. A stylistic and impressive venture on all fronts, it’s more than likely going to direct the listener back to Valazza’s debut album, it certainly did that to me.

Kassi Valazza will be performing shows at Kilkenny Roots Festival during the May Bank Holiday weekend this year. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Vanessa Bourne Give Me A Break Black Ribbon Records

An album that nearly passed me by in 2022, GIVE ME A BREAK is the second recording from Vanessa Bourne, following on from her debut album YOUNG AT HEART in 2020.

Born in India but living in Australia for four decades, country music played a major part in Bourne’s youth. Traditional country music was very much the order of the day in her household from an early age and despite being the possessor of a vintage country voice, her recording career only kicked off with that debut album in 2020.  Having sent Nashville-based singer songwriter and producer Curt Ryle (George Jones, Billy Ray Cyrus, Gene Watson) a number of her songs, she headed to Nashville, on his recommendation, to record YOUNG AT HEART, with him at the controls, in February 2020. Buoyed by that recording experience, Bourne’s world soon came crashing to the ground due to the Covid restrictions applied in Australia, which resulted in her having to spend eighteen months with her parents in India before being allowed back to Australia. Despite the setback, that album struck a chord with lovers of twin fiddles and pedal steel-driven traditional country music and won her The Will Rogers Award for ‘Pure Country Female Artist of the Year’ (Academy of Western Artists). It also got her signed to Black Ribbon Records LLC, in Nashville.

Packed with ‘leavin’, lovin’ and drinkin’ songs, Bourne wore her heart on her sleeve on that record, recalling the classic Music Row sound of the 60s. A similar template is repeated on GIVE ME A BREAK, although it moves from Nashville to Texas across many of the ten tracks that feature, a number of which are co-written with Curt Ryle.  She opens with My Three Queens, namechecking Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette and Patsy Cline, before professing her love of Texas on In My Next Life, the latter entering western swing territory. All Tied Up In You continues with that Lone Star State ambience and the title track mourns the lack of genuine country music on the radio in Australia - a sentiment that equally applies to both America and Europe. Lord I Hope, complete with impressively layered vocals, is an unhurried ballad and The Simple Things In Life, the album’s standout track for me, has Loretta Lynn’s stamp all over it. Also included is a duet with Ryle, the smouldering love tune, We’re Back In Love Again.

Bourne’s beautifully punctuated vocals - I’m reminded of Laura Cantrell’s singing on a number of the tracks - coupled with arrangements and production that more than complement those vocals, point to an artist steeped in old-school country and doing exactly what she pleases.  

Review by Declan Culliton

Macie Stewart Mouth Full of Glass Full Time Hobby

Multi-instrumentalist, singer songwriter and composer Macie Stewart’s album, MOUTH FULL OF GLASS, is her debut solo record, having previously recorded three albums with the band OHMME. Stewart has also accompanied The Weather Station on tour, playing violin, guitar, piano and adding backing vocals.

The album combines Stewart’s background of performing folk, indie, jazz and classical music and was, in the main, written and recorded during the pandemic. Alongside the enforced isolation of that time, Stewart was also coming to terms with a family bereavement and a relationship breakdown, and, not surprisingly, the album confronts the loneliness and soul-searching of that period.

The Chicago-based artist recorded the majority of the instrumentation at her home, with additional parts added later by a host of Chicago eminent players including VV Lightbody (flute), Lia Kohl (strings) and Sen Morimoto (saxophone).

Confronting their plight, Stewart asks ‘I didn’t know myself, when will I know myself?’ on What Will I Do and that dilemma of isolation and solitariness also raises its head on the dreamlike title track, ‘I've got a mouthful of glass and no one to ask, I've got a mouthful of glass and no one to tell about it.’ In addition to the striking and often complex instrumentation, the vocal prowess of Stewart is to the fore on Tone Pome and the stand-out track,Garter Snake.

An album that traverses from the mellow to frenetic, no doubt reflecting the composer’s state of mind at the time of recording, MOUTH FULL OF GLASS  bemoans a world of ongoing personal challenges. Gently seductive, it’s also an album that takes shape at a slow pace and requires multiple listens to appreciate it fully. File alongside the chamber folk of The Weather Station and Aoife Nessa Frances. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Mallory Johnson Surprise Party Self-Release

Like many of her peers, Mallory Johnson left the comforts of small-town living to follow her musical dream in Nashville. Relocating from Newfoundland, Canada, to Music City five years ago, she follows on from her self-titled EP in 2019 with SURPRISE PARTY, the debut full-length recording from the East Coast Music award winner. Johnson was also recently nominated for the Country Music Program/Special of the Year at the 2022 Canadian Country Music Awards for WISE WOMAN – THE SHOW, a radio special for SiriusXM Country, which featured Canadian female artists residing in Nashville.

Initially intended as a six-track mini album, SURPRISE PARTY features eleven songs, landing in the more mainstream and contemporary end of country. Produced by Kent Wells (Dolly Parton, Carly Pearce), Johnson collaborated with fellow Canadians and like-minded artists Tenille Arts, Kelly Prescott and Jason Blaine to name a few. Lost love and alcohol feature on quite a number of the songs, some of which contain light-hearted and humorous lyrics and others have deeper and more meaningful messages. The break-up song Hungover, with a nod in the direction of Brandy Clark, is particularly easy on the ear and her Billboard charting single Married is as cleverly written as it is expressed. Party Dress, with a driving rhythm section, is a full-on rocker laced with cut throat energy. 

She takes her foot off the gas and places her splendid vocals out in front on a number of tracks. Both the title track and the semi-acoustic ballad Drunk Mind, Sober Heart work particularly well in this regard. Wise Woman (The Worktape) is stripped back with only vocals and acoustic guitar, and the mid-tempo Where The Good Times Are is further evidence of an artist that’s equally comfortable delivering folk ballads as she is belting out more raucous numbers.

Currently an independent artist, Johnson’s steady rise since moving to Nashville is most likely to increase in pace with this album of well-constructed and radio-friendly songs.  Don’t be surprised if she appears on the C2C roster touring Ireland and the U.K. in the coming years.

Review by Declan Culliton

JD Clayton Long Way From Home Self-Release

Citing The Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Creedence Clearwater Revival as his main influences isn’t a bad starting point if your ambition is to succeed as a singer songwriter. Those three acts, in particular, were the benchmark for Arkansas-born artist JD Clayton’s first full-length album, LONG WAY FROM HOME, which follows on from his debut recording and five-track EP, SMOKE OUT THE FIRE, from 2018.

Despite the album’s title, Clayton currently resides in Nashville, where he moved to further his artistic career. Like many of his peers, the restrictions due to Covid in March 2020 hit him hard, resulting in the coffee shop where he worked closing down and leading to alternative employment with a landscape contractor and hours on the road travelling from job to job. Clayton used this time to crank up the headphones, listen to a lot of vintage roots music and formulate his own songs for this album.

Teaming up with producer Thomas Dulin, who also worked on Clayton’s debut EP, they recorded the ten tracks for this album at Dulin’s home studio in the Nashville suburb, Berry Hill. There’s a great deal of warmth in the lyrics, suggesting a contented and clear-thinking mind. The gentle rolling Beauty Queen and the jauntier Goldmine, which immediately follows, read like odes to his loved one and Clayton recalls the simple times growing up in small town America with Different Time Of Simple Life. Expressed like a letter written to his parents back home, that feeling of dislocation is also repeated on the title track. The opener Hello, Good Mornin’ is a stripped back acoustic intro featuring little more than Clayton’s vocal, acoustic guitar, and the sound of birds singing in the background.

‘I'm workin' my way to be one of the greats,’ announces Clayton on American Millionaire. Given the crowded playing field of singer songwriters, this assertion could either be tongue-in-cheek or profound. However, LONG WAY HOME is a pointer toward an artist with the prowess to write lyrics that fit like a glove on songs that appear to be written from the heart. The end result is a collection of songs that are both soothing on the senses and extremely listenable.

Review by Declan Culliton

Myron Elkins Factories, Farms & Amphetamines Low Country Sound / Electra

An old head on young shoulders, FACTORIES, FARMS & AMPHETAMINES, from the 22-year-old Otsego, Michigan (pop. 3980), singer songwriter Myron Elkins sounds like the output of a veteran rather than the debut album from an emerging artist. Having spent three years working as a welder after high school, this ten-track album is likely to find Elkins setting aside his welding equipment and plasma cutters permanently and replacing them with a touring van and all the accessories. He has already cut his teeth on the road supporting acts such as ZZ Top, Lucero and Blackberry Smoke and showcased the material from this album at 3Rd & Lindsley in Nashville a few months ago.

The recording took place at RCA Studio A in Nashville, with Grammy Award-winning Dave Cobb at the controls. With a weather-beaten voice that defies his young age and a sound that very much mirrors the country/rock style of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Elkins’ move from small town West Michigan to Nashville resulted in – to quote Elkin – ‘stumbling into the right places and shaking the right hands.’ Whether fortuitous or not, the quality shines brightly on a record packed with songs that instantly connect with the listener. There’s a predominantly ‘live’ feel to the material, no doubt precisely what Cobb was attempting to achieve with the recording.

From the bluesy opener Sugartooth, with its bouncy bassline, to the break-up closer Good Time Girl, Elkins and his posse maintain a consistent ambience throughout, seldom taking their foot off the gas. Pick of the bunch is the hook-laden title track and the defiant Nashville Money, the latter’s driving rhythm recalling ZZ Top. The soulful Hands to Myself and Ball and Chain also impress, giving the impression of high-spirited young men inviting you into their musical world.

All in all, an impressive introduction to an artist and band that display the capacity to put a modern slant on their grasp of country and southern rock. Well worth your investigation.

Review by Declan Culliton

New Album Reviews

Charlie Treat  into the Wild Mystic Mountain Self Release

New Englander Charlie Treat has moved in a rootsy bluegrass direction for his second album, and he credits much of that to the inspiration that came from spending a year in the company of Americana’s darling, the talented and eclectic Sierra Ferrell. Ferrell and Treat met around the time Ferrell had just broken though career-wise and the two spent much of the following year together  in Nashville and touring with her band across the US.

Treat decided to go into the studio and record his album in only four days, inspired by the recording style of his musical heroes like Woody Guthrie, Hank and Bill Monroe. In fact, he admits that most of the tracks were recorded on the first or second take, without even any prior rehearsals with the musicians. It’s a testament to those players that the result is a tour de force of exuberance and faultless musicianship. Producer Geoff Saunders (bass with Sierra Hull) gathered together a bunch of first class young players who are becoming prominent in the bluegrass and old time scenes, including Frank Evans on banjo (Slocan Ramblers), Oliver Bates Craven on mandolin (Stray Birds), and fiddle players Nate Leath (Sierra Ferrell) and Julian Pinelli (Ben Sollee).

Kicking off with the stand out barnstormer Motor Motor, Treat sings lead on all twelve self penned story-telling songs, and plays rhythm guitar, with backing vocals contributed by all of the band.

Swimming in November is autobiographical, recounting a memorable wild night spent with Sierra Ferrell, when he took her on a motor bike ride to a watering hole, ‘she’s singin’ The Magical Mystery Tour/through her helmet into my ear’. Treat says that it epitomises much about their relationship and the early heady days of a love affair. Mama Hen, contrary to what one might assume, was not actually inspired by Ferrell, but by a wild woman that Treat knew in a previous life, who was ‘a dirt biker, amateur lawyer, funk drummer’ and clearly was not to be messed with. The beautiful slow burner Bluer Than Bluegrass was also inspired by his muse, Ferrell, the line ‘you got me singin’ with the canary in the coal mine’ a reference to her West Virginia origins. She also was the catalyst for the jaunty swing-heavy Creekwater Blues and the closer Sing Child, Sing, which tells the story of how her mother encouraged her to leave home and follow her musical heart.

There’s lots more to enjoy on this sparkling recording, which consistently reminds me of Old Crow Medicine Show with its joyous looseness.

I’m looking forward to seeing what the creative Treat comes up with next - it could well be something completely different. In the meantime, seek out and enjoy this enchanting album.

Review by Eilís Boland

Whitehorse I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying Six Shooter

The notion to release a classic country album came about by chance for husband-and-wife team, Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland. With time on his hands during lockdown and with his wife and son tucked up in bed, Doucet turned to country music by way of passing the late-night hours. Having written and recorded two albums the previous year, MODERN LOVE and STRIKE ME DOWN, he started to pen numerous country tunes and send them to his wife’s phone for her approval. Impressed by what she was hearing and the creative spirit that was driving the songs, McClelland rose to the challenge and started to write similarly themed songs. McClelland’s crystal-clear vocals could not be better suited to singing country and Doucet’s trademark twangy guitar style, drawn from his love of the country licks played by Albert Lee, James Burton and Pete Anderson, are the perfect companion to his wife’s silky voice.

Entering the studio during an easing in lockdown, they recorded the twelve tracks for this album off the floor, reinvigorated by the opportunity to actually perform with other players once more. Country ballads Leave Me As You Found Me and If The Loneliness Don’t Kill Me sit comfortably alongside the western swing of Sanity Tennessee. Lock It Down and On The Road, both have more than a tad of Tammy Wynette about them. It’s not all 60s and 70s influenced either, Bet The Farm mirrors the country blues sound of Margo Price’s debut album and I Might Get Over This But I Won’t Stop Loving You – with Doucet taking the lead vocal – and 6 Feet Away, are both very much ‘lockdown’ songs reflecting couple’s mindset during the period when they were written.

It should not really come as a surprise that Whitehorse has gone ‘full on’ country with this album. Their debut self-titled album in 2011 had country flavours about it and their two cover singles, Summer Wine and We’ll Sweep Out The Ashes in the Morning from 2022, signalled the direction of I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying. It’s a genre ideally suited Whitehorse’s core talents, and they have spoken about a possible full album of classic covers in the near future. Alongside the quality of the vocals and the instrumentation on offer, what is also significantly impressive about this album is the quality of the song writing. Conceived at a most uncertain and worrisome time, and very much a team effort, these are genuine country songs. Of course, many are awash with heartbreak, but the main focus is one of true love and devotion. 

It may only be the first month of 2023, but this Whitehorse honky tonker, their finest recording to date for me, is unlikely to be far from my CD player during the rest of the year.

Review by Declan Culliton

Adeem The Artist White Trash Revelry Four Quarter

Times are changing at an accelerated pace in country music in recent years for artists that would have found it practically impossible to establish themselves in previous decades. Whereas in previous times the formula for a gateway into country was predominantly threefold – male, white and straight – that model is slowly but surely evolving. Increasingly more black artists – men and women – are entering country music territory, though often with a sound closer to Memphis than Music City. Cheryl Wright’s sales may have fallen by fifty percent when she came out in 2010, but fellow LBGT performers such as Mary Gauthier, Brandy Clark, Brandi Carlisle and Amy Ray, have gone from strength to strength in more recent times, an acknowledgement that the tide has turned.

Less acclaimed, for the time being anyway, Bobby Dove, Orville Peck, Mariel Buckley, Willi Carlisle, Melissa Carper and Adeem The Artist, to name but a few, are among the latest generation of ‘queer’ artists emerging into the mainstream of country music. WHITE TRASH REVELRY was produced by Adeem The Artist’s manager Kyle Crownover - he’s also Tyler Childers’ tour manager - and the album’s eloquent lyrical style, containing both anger and warm humour, visits the writer’s fears and frustrations, both personal, social and political. In musical content, it’s a patchwork of front porch, folk ballads, southern rock, and rock ‘n’ roll, which in today’s terms plants it firmly in the Americana pigeon hole. 

Similar to the solo recordings of Amy Ray, tales of Adeem The Artist’s upbringing in the rural small town of Locust, North Carolina dominate, some of which are memorable and others less celebrated. Painkillers and Magic, Baptized in Well Spirits and Going to Hell, are cases in point, powerful songs that depict childhood flashbacks (‘When I ached in the closet alone on my knees. Hallelujah, I would plead for God's mercy to wash over me’) and entrenched racism (‘Well, I met the devil at the crossroads and I asked if we could make a deal….and he said, it's true I met Robert Johnson, he showed me how the blues could work, but white men would rather give the devil praise than acknowledge a black man’s worth’). Also addressed are the duality and contradictions close to home (‘Between my whiskey jar and the heart of God, there's a simple understanding, I’ll be drinking when I'm happy and praying when I'm sad’).

Straying away from North Carolina, For Judas is a heartfelt same-sex love song based in the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District, before returning closer to home with the hilarious Redneck, Unread Hicks (‘There's a trans femme trans am mandolin riff, a firebird, registered socialist. But she'll still out drink you on a Tennessee Saturday night from an old fruit jar. Yeah, these rednecks and unread hicks organizing in the trailer park’). Having given the listener a tour of their homestead and its social landscape, the final track, My America, is a wistful acoustic offering, closing the album in style.   

CAST-IRON PANSEXUAL, from 2021, found Adeem touching on a difficult childhood and upbringing. WHITE TRASH REVELRY is much more than an extension of that album and goes multiple steps forward with a graceful, disciplined, and brutally frank stockpile of modern country songs. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Aoife Nessa Frances Protector Partisan

In a bizarre manner, the enforced lockdown and isolation brought about by Covid may prove to be a defining catalyst in the career of Aoife McCarthy, better known professionally as Aoife Nessa Frances. Relocating to County Clare on the west coast of Ireland, and abandoning her suburban lifestyle in Dublin, was to become a reawakening for McCarthy and the springboard for her second full album PROTECTOR. Her migration came about by way of an invitation from her father to join him at his home in Clare, to where he had moved following his divorce, and to help to look after her eleven-year-old sister. Coming at a low and anxious time for McCarthy, it amounted to a life changing set of circumstances and the stimulus for her latest eight-track record.

January 2020 saw the release of LAND OF NO JUNCTION, the debut album from the Dublin singer songwriter. It attracted stellar reviews in the popular music press, resulting in festival invitations and tours to support its release. The onset of Covid put those plans on hold, which in hindsight was a blessing in disguise, McCarthy subsequently acknowledged that she was ill prepared mentally for that journey. In Clare, with the support of family around her, walking around the fields, swimming in both the Atlantic and a local lake, and driving around the countryside listening on repeat to Jim Sullivan’s lost country-folk LP UFO, calmness returned. With her mojo rebooted, each morning was subsequently spent in a cedar shed on her father’s property, writing the material for this album.

Studio time was booked in a cottage studio near Inch in Kerry during September 2020, where Aoife was joined by producer and multi-instrumentalist Brendan Jenkinson and drummer Brendan Doherty. The final pieces of the jigsaw were subsequently added with the addition of harp by Meabh McKenna, strings by Ailbhe Nic Oireachtaigh and, finally, horn sections by Conor O’Brien of Villagers. Layer by layer the songs developed, with McCarthy’s striking vocals floating above the orchestration and with eloquent lyrics that embodied inner thoughts being forensically examined. Yes, there is grief aplenty but the lasting impressions the listener is left with are of regeneration and redemption.

Best listened to in one sitting, the eight tracks roll into one another in a dreamlike fashion. The album’s underlying theme of prevailing and moving forward figure in both the opener Way To Say Goodbye and closing track Day Out of Time.  The final track to be recorded, and arguably the album’s finest, was Chariot. The title reflected McCarthy’s interest and education in tarot reading while in Clare, the chariot tarot card is a representation of determination and willpower, mirroring the writer’s renewed state of mind. If the hauntingly lonesome Emptiness Follows captures the writer’s blurred mood to perfection, This Still Life suggests a turning point or defining moment, the shoots of a new personality emerging.

Inhabiting the music orbit occupied by artists such as Tamara Lindeman (The Weather Station), Aldous Harding, and Weyes Blood, PROTECTOR is simply a masterclass in psychedelic chamber folk by a maturing artist with endless talent.

Review by Declan Culliton

H.C. McEntire Every Acre Merge

In a similar vein to LIONHEART (2018) and ENO AXIS (2020), the sights and sounds of H.C. McEntire’s beloved North Carolina feature repeatedly in her latest project, EVERY ACRE. Having recently moved from her home along the Eno River in Durham, the third solo recording from former Bellafea and Mount Moriah singer songwriter appears to be a narration on the decade she spent there. An unflinchingly forthright writer, McEntire continues to seek positives in her scripts, always soul-searching and seeking silver linings in an often burden-filled world of challenge and rejection.

Very much a team effort, McEntire engaged the production team of Missy Thang and Luke Norton, both of whom also co-produced ENO AXIS with her. Multi-instrumentalist Norton also played guitar – brilliantly it has to be said – piano, pump organ and Wurlitzer, while Thang’s contribution included keys, Farfisa, Hammond organ and synthesizer. Casey Toll (bass) and Daniel Faust (drums), both regular players with McEntire in the past, also feature.  Others than joined her in the studio included like-minded artists S.G. Goodman and Amy Ray on backing vocals.

‘Walk your way into the river, is it fever or surrender?’ she sings on Shadows, a possible reference to her Bible Belt upbringing and the contradictions she faced as a gay woman attempting to exist in that environment. The album’s title was taken from the lyrics of Turpentine, a song that includes backing vocals from Indigo Girl Amy Ray, a continuation of their relationship which found McEntire covering Ray’s When You Come For Me on her debut album, LIONHEART. At six minutes in length, it’s a standout track, bursting into life mid-track with a stunning guitar break from Luke Norton. The hymn-like piano-led Dovetail, which follows, slows the pace down somewhat. A love ballad, in a similar vein to One Eye Open from ENO AXIS, it could be drawn from the author’s childhood Sunday School days. ‘It ain’t the easy kind of healing,’ McEntire sings on the imagery-invoking Rows Of Clover and she pronounces her love of the written word as well as her natural surroundings by name checking the poets Day, Ada, Laux, Berry and Olds on the opening track New View.

The jagged rocker Soft Crook finds the author struggling with her own demons, while the less muscular and dreamlike Wild for The King and album closer Gospel of a Certain Kind include simple arrangements that more than complement McEntire’s perfectly paced vocals.

It's little surprise that McEntire continues to work with similar masterly artists S.G. Goodman, Amy Ray and Angel Olsen. All four are writing and recording some of the stand-out modern alt-folk in recent times. McEntire most certainly maintains that lofty standard with EVERY ACRE, which combines poetry like lyrics, beautifully delivered vocals, and exquisite musicianship throughout.

Review by Declan Culliton

Dan Navarro Horizon Line Self Release

It’s been four years since the last release from Dan Navarro, an artist perhaps best known for his time spent as part of the duo, Lowen and Navarro. Back in the 1990s the duo had a fine run of albums and success until Lowen had to quit playing music, due to illness. He sadly passed on in 2012.

Ever since, Navarro has been active in various roles and is known as a voice actor in both film and tv work. His song writing is also recognised with many inclusions in various media channels and on this new album he writes all ten songs, with six co-writes highlighting his ability to work seamlessly with others.

Navarro called on the award winning producer Jim Scott to engineer, mix and produce the project. They worked together on a number of the Lowen-Navarro releases and it seems very appropriate that they join together again, post-Covid, to acknowledge their past history and to tip a hat in memory of Eric Lowen. The results are very engaging and impressive, with a clean sound and a quality to the production that never seems cluttered. Navarro has a rich vocal tone and he leads the project on various guitars, keyboards and percussion. He is joined by many fine players in the recording process at Plyrz studios, Santa Clarita, California.  Steve Postell, who produced the last album, plays a range of guitars, including a superb Spanish guitar solo on the final track, Sleep Tonight. Elsewhere we have the talents of Doug Pettibone (Lucinda Williams),who contributes on five songs, including some atmospheric pedal steel on the stand-out Oklahoma Skies.

There is also room for Brian Whelan (Dwight Yoakam) who plays guitar and keyboards on four songs and adds harmony vocals also. Jimmy Paxson (Lindsay Buckingham) plays drums on five tracks and Mai Leisz (David Crosby, Jackson Browne) plays bass on four songs. The list goes on with Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing, on upright bass, Taras Prodaniuk & Michael Jerome (The Richard Thompson Trio) together as the tight rhythm on four of the tracks, and Phil Parlapiano (John Prine), on pianos and organ.

Peter Adams (piano, synth), Aubrey Richmond (violin, fiddle), Carlos Murguia (organ, harmony vocals), also feature, along with other contributors to the project – a veritable who’s-who of talent. Despite the various contributions across such a wide range of players, the overall sound is seamless, with producer Scott pulling out all his best skills to meld everything into a united whole. Songs like Come and Find Me and Tar Pit are very atmospheric and Circling the Drain highlights the plight that many fine themselves facing in these changing times. The title track perhaps sums it all up with the lines ‘The past is gone, but I’m still learning; gonna set my sights on the next horizon line.’ This album is a very fine addition to Navarro’s best work and comes highly recommended.

Review by Paul McGee

David Massey Darkness At Dawn Poetic Debris

A regular on the Washington DC music circuit, Massey has been playing music for many years. He released a debut album back in 2004 and in the following seventeen years has followed up with a further four releases. In 2017 he retired from his regular career as a lawyer and now devotes his time to creating music. He has a clean vocal style and also plays rhythm guitar here.

On this sixth release Massey has kept things short and turns in an impressive seven songs, just shy of twenty-five minutes. His regular band members, Jay Byrd (guitars, mandolin, vocals) and Jim Robeson (bass, vocals) are augmented by the talents of Casey O’Neill (pedal steel), Ron Stewart (fiddle), Bill Starks (organ, piano), Kristen Jones (cello) and Eric Selby (drums on four songs). Paul Goldstein guests on drums for one track also and these musicians really do justice to their inclusion on what is an impressive release.   

The title track channels the loss of hope at the current state of the planet where the dreams of living free are sadly eroded by our leaders and the reality of global warming. Nothing asks the big question about what lies beyond and expresses doubt in finding any real meaning. Some superb pedal steel sets the atmosphere on this song.

Players follows this theme and looks at the parts we all play in our lives as actors upon the stage of life. Massey even includes a segment from Shakespeare’s Macbeth on the album sleeve! We do indeed come and go, in our acquaintances and our relationships.

There are two angry tracks that point the finger at the Republican party and the tenure of Donald Trump in office. The band really come alive on these songs and the fiddle playing on Watch Your Back In Hell is matched by some excellent organ dynamics. Jay Byrd shows his class on guitar on Party Of Lies and captures the mood of the arrangement with some strident licks.

The final songs are more mellow with From God We Come expressing the view that we find it in the love for each other and that community is what matters, not division. Daddy’s Wedding Dance is a love song to a daughter as she moves on through life and the words of advice counsel towards love and kindness as the key elements. Some lovely cello playing here, added to by complimentary mandolin. A very fine album and one that will bring plenty of enjoyment to the listener.

Review by Paul McGee

The Burnt Pines Don’t Look Down Self Release

This band released their self-titled debut album in 2021, and buoyed on by the warm response, they now return with a second helping of their bright melodies and vocal harmonies. Using the same line-up of studio musicians is a fine idea and brings a cohesiveness to the overall project, even down to using the same two studios – one located in Brookline, Massachusetts, and the other in Lisbon, Portugal. These days the challenge of recording remotely has been long overcome and the different continents pose no barrier to this project. Perhaps we should call it ‘Globalcana’?

The main band is comprised of the trio Kris Skovmand (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica), Miguel Sá Pessoa (piano, keyboards) and Aaron Flanders (acoustic, electric guitars, banjo, harmonica, tambourine). They are joined by Fernando Huergo (electric bass), Luis Barros (drums, percussion), and guesting on specific tracks are Dan Fox (double bass), Joe Cunningham (tenor sax), and Erica Leigh (backing vocals). The eleven original songs all have an easy flow with pleasant melody lines and the sweetly sensitive vocals of Skovmand adding an extra lightness to the sound. Their cover of the Jethro Tull song, Skating Away (On the Thin Ice Of A New Day) is a strange inclusion on first impression but it actually fits into the feel of the album quite successfully  - perhaps pointing at the direction we are all facing into the future with so much uncertainty after the gradual relaxation of Covid restrictions across most of the world.

Ghost Living In My Beer is a reflective song that is laced with self-examination and perhaps refers to the fall-out from the divorce that Skovmand experienced recently. The sense of being under the spell of another is something that informs the song Your Magic Is To Blame and the same sentiment could be at the core of What Did You Come Back For? – that sense of not being in control of the things that allow you to move forward in living through challenging times.

Welcome Home! skips along with a gentle melody like a cool breeze that stays with the listener, while the darker mood and tempo of Daytime TV hints at long boring hours spent in hibernation, maybe hiding out from the world or just needing to shut out the daily routine. This is a nice introduction to new beginnings in 2023. An album with much to offer, not least the excellent musicianship and the honeyed vocal tone of Kris Skovmand.

Review by Paul McGee

My Politic Missouri Folklore: Songs and Stories From Home Self Release

This album slipped out in December last, just as the year was winding down and we were all looking back on our favourite music that landed during the year. It represents the tenth release from Missouri born friends Kaston Guffey and Nick Pankey. As with all their previous albums it proves to be an engaging and interesting experience, heightened by the superb harmonies and wonderful interplay among the musicians.

It stands as a love letter of sorts to their original birthplace of Missouri as seen through the perspective of mature recollection and reflection. However, sometimes a look back through the rear-view mirror can be less than welcome and serve to dig up too many old ghosts. The theme running through songs like Eminence, Buzzards On A Powerline, Message On the Radio and Vanishing Vapors is that of growing up in a small town with little to do and no prospects ahead for a life of any real substance. Getting up to childhood mischief morphs into teenage angst and further into addiction as local youths struggle to find meaning and a way to escape the tedium of daily existence. Questioning the status quo is not something that is encouraged and if you are not inclined to stay in line with the old ways then the only alternative is escape and face the unknown that lies beyond.

Interestingly Springsteen wrote about dead-end jobs and the lack of choice facing blue collar workers in the big cities where factory work was all there was to aspire to. Kaston Guffey sings about these same issues but from the perspective of small rural towns and the reality of wanting to break out and run towards something bigger in the cities. The juxtaposition is interesting and both perspectives share the hopes for a better life, whichever way you come at the compromises faced.

Despite having left, you can never really escape the memories forged in childhood. They linger into adolescence and manifest through adulthood whenever something triggers a frame of reference on the journey from there to here. My Politic is never overly concerned what other people think however, driven by the conviction that it is always better to be true to oneself, and Kaston Guffy has trodden a very personal path in his honest and heartfelt song-writing.  Short-Sighted People In Power: A Home Recording, released in 2020, nailed Kaston’s frustrations to the mast and gained him as many friends as it did enemies in his political protests on the divided political state of the United States at the time. There is nothing more personal than your politics, of course, and Kaston came out swinging against the hypocrisy and the prejudice that he found everywhere.

This time out, he has penned fourteen songs that are beautifully performed and very poignant. His writing has always displayed an acute insight on the human condition and his astute observations are as finely honed as ever. The sound of acoustic guitars, easy fingerstyle delivery and gentle melodies supported by fiddle, pedal steel, mandolin and dobro make for a heady mix when absorbing his insightful words.

The songs range from personal memories, to looking at various scenarios through the lives of others. Whether the people are real or imaginary, it doesn’t much matter, once the sentiment and the message of the song comes through.  Kaston has always been able to deliver on a vision that  exposes what lies in the past and also shapes what awaits into the future. Childhood demons meet with trying to find your place in a small town. Characters come and go, leaving impressions of lives well lived or indeed, wasted.

Songs like Cursing At the Night and At the Morning (memories that bite), Maybe It’s Love (random liaisons between strangers), Gina and Leroy (dead-end lives, trying to change), Albuquerque (a junkie trying to reform in prison), Driving Home To You (death of a brother in the war), are all tales of quiet dignity with people trying to make life work out better.

The sweet vocal tones are the perfect accompaniment for the fluid musicianship and style on this album. At a very generous fifty-four minutes in length there is something here for all tastes. Some key lines that have stayed with me include the following gems;

What A Life finds Kaston in reflective mood, pondering our daily routines and our repetition in mundane activities - ‘Surprises don't come easy, And other times they do, Routine can mean stability, Or it can be the death of you.’

Dog and a Bone, while a love song, also admits to that sense of ‘otherness’ that we all feel from time to time ‘I can feel homesick, When I’m sitting at home, Must be another dimension where I sometimes go, It's a strange affliction, Feeling empty and whole.’

Sleepin’ Off the Blues speaks about being stuck in a rut and trying to find the courage to leave.  ‘I'm just dying while I wait for someone to say they found me.’

Final song, Vanishing Vapors, really looks into the eye of all this circling that we do as a species with the lines ‘You can't shake the look you share with another, Somebody desperate like you, Looking hard for the line, That's running through time, Tryin’ to find out what's honest & true.’ Really just sums up the whole thing in a nutshell, looking for connection so we don’t feel quite so alone.

Another masterclass in subtle artistry. A quite superb album.

My Politic is Kaston Guffey (Vocals, Guitar) and Nick Pankey (Harmony Vocals, Guitar + Mandolin on "The Dog & The Bone" & "Chasing Tomorrow"). All songs written by Kaston Guffey and produced/ arranged by My Politic.

Other musicians on the album are John Mailander (fiddle, mandolin, mandocello), and Steve Peavey (pedal steel, dobro, coodercaster, 10 string lap steel). Josh Washam added bass and also engineered & mixed at his Ground Sound Studios in Nashville.

Review by Paul McGee