New Album Reviews

Dan Bern New American Language Grand Phony

Like meeting an old friend again after many years, this album was initially released in 2001 (on the fateful day of 9/11) and is getting another deserved run out in this remastered version, some 22 years later, next month in 2024 (and on vinyl for the first time too). It was produced by the trio of Will Masisak, Colin Mahoney and Chuck Plotkin. At the time, it was placed in with the emerging Americana movement, but as with its subject, it was not without its bite and featured some hard-edged guitar alongside the more tender moments. If I remember correctly, there were comparisons to The Boss and to (reasonably obviously) Bob Dylan. However, Bern never-the-less created his own body of work through the years that has stood the test of time. 

Two of the three producers (Masisak and Colin Mahoney) were also part of the assembled band alongside Eben Grace on pedal steel, guitar and banjo (which was enough of a link back then into the roots/rock movement). There were nine others whose contributions are essential elements of the overall sound. Bern's distinctive vocal, harmonica, guitar and songwriting skills were, however, still the central core of the release. The back cover of the original CD booklet names the key six-man team as Bernstein and the International Jewish Banking Conspiracy, indicating that Bern was not a man afraid of courting controversy. That particular wording may no longer be the case on the new vinyl version.

The title track shows a seeming ambivalence to a relationship with the opening lines: "She said love, love, love is everything / I said ok, I guess, whatever." But the closing line shows a difference in attitude: "I dream mostly about love." There are also tracks that are effervescent, like Honeydoo!, even when the lyrics suggest a man scorned. Toledo and Albuquerque Lullaby are songs full of atmosphere and lyrics that evoke a place and a spiritual search. But the track that really stood out on first listen was, and still is. Black Tornado summons up an inner turmoil of moving around in a way that is a "Budweiser, Budgetel, Bukowski kind of night." By all accounts, the final track took a long time to record and capture the feeling required for Thanksgiving Day Parade. It's an epic ten-minute song and a lyrical tour de force that covers a lot of observation and insight from Bern that is both poetic and prescient with lines like "And life is like a fairy tale / every step like a dream / that keeps on getting nearer / and more and more extreme."

As its title suggests, the opening track, Sweetness, is a touch more power pop-orientated and opens the album as an inviting welcome. Alaska Highway is a somewhat rougher Neil Young-ish sound that evokes some well-known but diverse names as he travels along, wondering, "Who's goin' my way / on that great Alaska Highway." It turns out that they include Leonardo Di Capri, Eminem, Britney Spears, Keith Richards and others. Another thoughtful song that deserves a listen is God Said No, where the protagonist meets God, and he asks if he could go back in time to save Kurt Cobain, but God, well, you know what he is going to say. Equally, he asks to be allowed to go back and take out Hitler but receives the same answer and the reasons why. His final denied request is to take Jesus down from the cross. This and other tracks on the album show that perhaps his vision was different from one that was likely to find overall favour in the mainstream either then or now - despite having parallels in the work of the two iconic artists mentioned above. However, as noted at the start, it is getting an opportunity to find a new audience and remind those who have encountered his work before that Dan Bern is one of those individual artists who always gave their best to their music.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Terry Klein Leave The Light On Self Release

Primarily a singer/songwriter, Terry Klein is adept at doing what time-honoured troubadours have always done: to tell a story and get to the heart of the subject with insight and impartiality. Songs that are honest and crafted from the perspective of the individual song’s subject. These ten songs are given a wide-ranging sonic exploration, many in a subdued enhanced folk setting and others taking a more country-orientated slant without breaking a sweat. The album was produced by the noted Thomm Jutz, who himself is both an artist and a facilitator to others. Jutz also worked on Klein’s previous album, GOOD LUCK, TAKE CARE. He is an ideal producer to bring out the best for all involved in what are often short-lived studio situations. In this case, a reported six-hour session, which tends to promote intimacy, vulnerability and spontaneity, all of which are on show here.

There was a selection of musicians tasked with bringing these songs to life in the studio, including both Klein and Jutz on guitars and vocals and a deft rhythm section who were joined, when required, by pedal steel and acclaimed fiddler Tammy Rogers. It was a versatile team employed to bring Klein’s ten songs (one a co-write) to a broader listening public. Klein sat alongside those writers who, despite their craftsmanship, remain primarily outside either the mainstream or the acclaim in the indie world. Klein has received praise from other songwriters who may be considered to have a higher profile in this world, such as Rodney Crowell and Mary Gauthier - as well as by our own Declan Culliton on this site for his review of Klein’s previous album, TEX. Other names that are linked to his work, in terms of comparison, include Guy Clark and Billy Joe Shaver, and fans of both will find an affinity here.

Shimmers and Hums, in a gentle mood, immediately lets you get acquainted with Klein’s warm, slightly world-weary voice. The pedal steel glides across the landscape on Blue Hill Bay allowing the sweeping atmosphere of lonliness to pervade. It is a song that looks at a lord of his domain, which happens reflected in the song title. More touching is Wedding Day Eve, wherein advice is given, whether wanted or not, the guitar and steel adding to the thoughtfulness of the song’s sentiment. More up-tempo and punchy is This Too Shall Pass, which has an effective guitar break from Jutz. It is not too far from the work of another artist, James Mc Murtry, who is not as well-known as he should. There is a much darker side to the tale of murder, Well Enough Alone, a subject that Klien, as a trial lawyer, previously may well have had direct experience with. It’s also a song that immediately impacted this listener and features Rogers’ fiddle effectively.

Another tale of bad times is the hard luck of the man from the the fringes of society looking to scrounge some the money for a pack of cigarettes, certainly not the kind of cash needed for anything harder, that is A Dollar, Two Quarters And A Dime. Also reflective of a less positive relationship, Oh Melissa has the protagonist reaching for the cigarette again. The seemingly endless routine of the daily travel to get to and from a less than satisfactory work situation has ended, leaving a contemplation of that journey from a different frame of view than exists for him now in That Used To Be My Train. 

The details of the life of a struggling musician is told in Sky Blue LeBaron, his car and mode of transport and perhaps, on occasion, his sometime bed. It tells of once being in a band and that oft-told tale of almost being signed to a deal and achieving a long lost dream, but that is now something that is well in the rear-view mirror. The simplicity and understated acoustic articulation all the more effectively illustrates the life left for the artist now past his prime and career possibilities. Contrastingly, the closing song, Starting At Zero, co-written with Aaron Smith, relates to trying to start again and gain some new life traction. That’s certainly not the case with Klein’s fourth album, which should receive the critical response and wider recognition he has been building towards. A thoughtful and well-rounded career-best (to date) release. 

Review by Stephen Rapid

Chris Carrapetta Nothing To Lose Self Release

Twelve songs from Australian artist Carrapetta who is based in Sydney, New South Wales and releases his second solo album. He employs the talents of Dean Bennison to co-produce the album with him and they are responsible for almost all the instruments used in the recording process. The credits show Chris Carrapetta (guitars, bass, vocals, harmonica, keyboards, drums),  with Dean Bennison (drums, percussion, guitars, bass, keyboards, vocals), and Becky Bennison (backing vocals, keyboards).

The album kicks off with a nice mid-tempo tale of lost love and the questions that linger. Can You Help Me Out sets the tone for the twelve tracks with some melodic playing and interplay between guitars, keyboard and harmonica parts. Caught Out In the Rain has a message of troubled times and needing to leave town. It has some fine backing vocals from Becky Bennison and warm keyboard sounds. On Golden Light the glow of new love is in the air and the dual vocals of Carrapetta and Bennison blend perfectly as they move around the sweet melody.

A number of the tracks have an early 70s California sheen in the production and songs like I Hope It’s Not Too Late reflect on the urge to live each day like its your last. Carrapetta has a nice vocal tone that partly echoes Graham Nash and reminders of Crosby Stills and Nash do echo in the background.  The song Nothing Left To Lose continues the message of listening to your inner voice and stop trying to be all things to everybody. Peta Caswell on backing vocals and David Eaton on keyboards guest on this particular song and turn in strong performances as the sound builds towards a fine climax.

This Is Not the End speaks of taking chances and not getting trapped in familiar routine, the song arrangement bouncing along on nice guitar lines. The slow tempo of One Day At A Time reflects on a relationship challenge and seeking peace of mind. It strikes me as perhaps a personal song among the others that channel similar emotions and share in the vagaries of vulnerability and letting down your guard in order to love and grow. It’s all is summed up by the message on both Hard Times and When I Am Lonely with the reflection that all we can do is keep trying, through both good and bad experiences, and hope to have someone there by your side . Engaging music throughout and performed with polish and vitality.

Review by Paul McGee

Orit Shimoni Winnipeg Self Release   

This Canadian artist has been living the life of a free spirit for many years now, with no regular abode and just the promise of new adventures around every corner. Her musical talent is richly honed across many experiences and encounters that inform her creative process. Covid lockdown however, changed everything and forced a temporary halt in the nomadic wandering of Shimoni for an enforced period of staying still and taking stock.

With eleven albums to her impressive catalogue she embarked upon an interesting new project upon meeting a fellow musician by sheer happenstance. While considering her next move in pre-Covid Winnipeg as news of lockdowns appeared, she met Glenn Radley a local musician who offered her the chance to collaborate across a possible project with his friend Bryn Herperger. The meeting turned into collective companionship and writing new songs to create this new album. The players are Orit Shimoni (vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo), Bryn Herperger (bass, backing vocals), Glenn Radley (drums, backing vocals), Bob Cohen (additional guitars), Paul Balcain (horns), Scott Duncan (fiddle), Bart Groenendijk (keyboards). The initial tracks were recorded by the trio before additional parts and instrumentation were enhanced by remote musicians getting involved in the process of colouring the basic songs. The flexibility of remote file sharing has certainly liberated the creative process, and even if you still can’t beat the joy of playing live with fellow musicians and bouncing off each other, on this record Shimoni got to have the best of both worlds in letting the overall process inspire her. Occasionally her vocal is reminiscent to a young Lucinda Williams in the delivery, with that sweetly tired and soulful tone. Winnipeg is a love song that looks across the distance and misses a lover in another place. What Does It Matter displays a certain despondency brought on by the lockdown and thoughts about what the future may look like and Numbers is about the need to try and control our random daily lives. As if mere statistics can provide safe haven and reassurance, more likely to perhaps scare everyone half to death with doom laden messages ‘Everyone’s an expert on those stats, Wearing self-appointed expert hats.’

Bananas is a clever play on the conspiracy theories and suspicions that ran though the pandemic and those who believe that society is being controlled and manipulated by the authorities who invented the virus. When This Is All Over is another love song about getting back to someone you love once the borders reopen. Its interesting to look back with perspective on the influences and opinions that we held over the months of isolation. ‘Til then the days are long and time feels kinda strange, Like everything I’ve ever known has gone and rearranged.’

New York is a love letter to the iconic city and reflections that ‘You seemed like a movie set of yourself when I came out the station.’ Another song I Can’t Wait is the longest track included and looks at the pain of longing. The frustrations of missing a lover across the miles is reflected in the slow burn and sadly seductive vocal delivery of Shimoni ‘To stand or lie beside you in the same damn place, I can’t wait to touch your face.’  Love is a call to arms and a prayer to endure during times of deep change and loss ‘And victimhood is a lottery, And some of us will be unlucky, Staying healthy is the key, We can’t even see the enemy.’

Witness is a touching song about racial segregation and the inequality in society between different ethnic populations. No matter how we express the concept of one love there is always a deep divide under the surface, something that has returned in the aftermath of the pandemic unfortunately. When will we ever learn?

Over finishes the album with a rueful look at what makes us such a divided society, victims of our nurture and childhood. Still, we continue to hope for a better tomorrow where peace and love can truly reign ‘Cause I’ve had some ideas, You know the kind, Where everybody gets along, And no one seems to mind.’ Maybe in an ideal world,  but in the meantime we can only work to change ourselves and what lies before us every day. Another excellent collection of songs from a wandering minstrel that shows great insight into the human condition and our collective conundrums.

Review by Paul McGee

Edward Abbiati To the Light Appaloosa

This album release is a follow up to the excellent solo debut, Beat the Night, which appeared back in 2019. Abbiati was a long-time member of Lowlands, a roots-rock band that had a great run over fourteen years, and with their demise in 2018 he began to collaborate on various projects with other musicians including Chris Cacavas, Mike Brenner and Joey Huffman. On this new recording, Abiatti reunites with many old friends, including bandmates from Lowlands, to self-produce a very enjoyable album.

Starting off with Three Chords and the Truth, and a love song to his partner who has stuck with him through all the bad decisions made in his younger days ‘Three chords and the truth, The holy grail of our youth, In the end that was not enough, I got lost and mixed up.’ Now that he has found a sense of direction Nothing Left To Say looks back at a romance that was never going to work out ‘Go left and go home, Go right into the great unknown, Or we can stay right here, And for once face our fears’ - the road not taken and the choices made indeed! This band of musicians really know how to deliver a dynamic sound and they bring the songs to life in their performance. Just About Now has the addition of strings and horns to colour the driving beat and the regular bass lines of Enrico Fossati keeps everything on the money, with drum duties shared by Winston Watson (four songs) and Mattia Martini (five songs).

The one acoustic track is a memory of living in London circa 1998 and Rags tells of losing your way and waiting for something to happen in empty days. Coast Of Barcelona is a completely different tale with a big sound to accompany memories of travel and being young ‘Late at night dreams were whispered and laughter was strong, Our lives still to be made, The story could be so long.’  Hammond organ (Joey Huffman) and lap steel (Mike “Slo Mo” Brenner) adding greatly to the melody. On nine of the tracks Maurizio “Gnola” Glielmo features on electric guitars and backing vocals and his playing is a very strong feature of the album. On the up-tempo Going Downtown his playing is something that lifts the arrangement in a song about protest and Alvin Davis features on trumpet, trombone and saxophone sounds to enhance the melody ‘We all walk down these streets, But it feels like we never meet, How can we call this a promised land, With all this hate and blood on our hands.’

While a number of songs deal with looking back at the past and mistakes made, others lean towards a better future, such as One Step At a Time, To the Light and Stairs To the Stars. The closing track Love Note is a celebration of everybody in Abbiati’s life and all that they bring. With twelve players featured, it’s a big statement in sound and one that embraces love as the only way forward. Another interesting album from an artist who continues to grow and expand his vision. Worth forty minutes of your time to enjoy the songs, strong production and superb musicianship.

Review by Paul McGee

Peter Gallway Grace Street Gallway Bay

There is very little that this accomplished New York native has not experienced over his career in music. Spanning six decades, he has released close on thirty albums, whether working as a solo artist, as a duo in Hat Check Girl (with Annie Gallup), or in other collaborations such as Parker Gray with British musician Harvey Jones.  In addition Gallway has produced over fifty albums and worked with artists such as Laura Nyro, along with other special projects.

On this new release Gallway took inspiration from a solo tour of Japan earlier in the year. With just a guitar for accompaniment, Gallway has now revisited ten songs from his extensive back catalogue and has come up with alternate versions that will please his many admirers. There are six different albums included across the ten songs, going back to 1994 and 2009 to select three songs from a pair of his solo albums, choosing another song from his album with The Real Band in 2022 and dipping into the Hat Check Girl catalogue with a further five songs covering three of their albums as a duo.

The results are predictably bare and stripped back in the delivery.. There is an intimacy in the performances and once you can accept the simple approach of just guitar and voice, there is a sense of almost being in the same room witnessing the playing. The guitar of choice is a Godin 5th Avenue model and the rich and deeply resonant sound is perfect for these gentle tunes that burrow their way into your senses to bring both relaxation and sublimation. Gallway doesn’t possess a big vocal range and yet his almost spoken words carry great character. He has been called the master of free verse and there is a strong impression of the joy this musician takes from composition.

The songs were captured live in his studio which is located in Maine, and also at his home on the coast. If there is a central theme running through these ten song selections then it is that of love and its place in our lives. From the sad longing of Under Those Trees to the challenge and mystery contained in Steel Clouds and Cold, Cold Rain, Gallway seeks the answers and comes up with the conclusion that love should always be what matters, as evident on the gentle You’ve Got Your Heart. There is also the desire and habitual compulsion of It’s Deliberate to shake things up, but the abiding rule on Not This Time is to face the changes that life brings and to test yourself.

Music is the subject of Just Think Back and memories of that first song you ever heard on the radio, followed by Texas and a nod to the influence of the classic singer songwriters in that southern state. The storms of life and what may lie beyond is tackled on Nor’easter and growing up in a rural environment lends itself to living the simple life on Up In the County. The final song is Nine Bridges and a love letter to NYC and the welcome extended to immigrants on its shores as they struggle in finding a new life. One would hope that the same optimism still applies in these days of fractured living but the original song was written back in 2009 and perhaps Gallway includes it here as a reminder of who we really are as a society and to suggest an environment of care and inclusion as we face an uncertain future. This is a very timely reminder of the songwriting talents of Gallway and a worthwhile addition to any music collection.

Review by Paul McGee

C. Daniel Boling New Old Friends Berkalin

This album is the ninth release from Folk artist Boling and it turns out to be a very pleasant listen over fifteen tracks and forty-five minutes. He has an easy guitar style and the acoustic songs sit nicely into his interesting insights and tales from the experience gained in racking up more than one hundred concerts a year.

Co-produced with Jono Mason in Santa Fe, New Mexico and featuring Tom Paxton on five songs, the playing is very impressive across the ensemble of players that assisted in bringing these songs to life in the studio. Boling plays guitar and sings, while Mason adds guitar on vocals and is joined on selected tracks by Jeff Scroggins (banjo), Jason Crosby (piano), Jon Gagan (upright bass), Michael Handler (harmonica), Char Rothschild (melodica, accordion, tin whistle), Kenny Mulhollan (mandolin, upright bass), John Enges (dobro) and Bill Ward (piano).

The songs came together over zoom calls during the Covid virus lockdown and opening Get A Life is about getting off the couch and jumping back into social activities now that things have moved on. New Old Friends is a testament to the joys of reaching out to each other and forming reals bonds. Bear Spray and Barbwire is a true story of hiking in the hills and the mishaps that can occur, while This Town Has No Café is a light and breezy arrangement with a more serious message woven through the lyrics.   

There are love songs (Of You and Me and How Did You Know?), political statements (Leaving Afghanistan and Red White and Blue), old age (The Keys and We Can Still Waltz), with reflections on the pandemic captured in The Missing Years. It’s a gentle album with lots of variety and many highlights to engage the listener.

Review by Paul McGee

Wayne Brereton The Robin’s Call Self Release

This seven-song EP plays out over twenty-seven minutes and marks the debut release for an Irish singer-songwriter who brings plenty of inspiration and potential. A native of Co. Offaly and a fluent Irish speaker, Wayne has played music for most of his life and been a band member in groups such as Turas and The Cardinal Sins. He also plays with Derek Warfield and the Young Wolf Tones, but getting to grips with a solo project is a very different challenge. Happily, it’s one that Brereton rises to in some style.

Recorded at the Nutshed studio in Clara, the production by Joe Egan is very engaging and leaves plenty of space for the musicians to be heard in the clear sound. Wayne plays guitar, bass and provides lead vocals. He is joined by Trisha Mulraney (fiddle, piano, whistle), John Tobin (bodhran, bouzouki), Bernadett Moran (whistles, backing vocals) and Eva Coyle who contributes piano and vocals on The Mountains of Pomeroy.

There is a lovely Irish traditional lilt to songs like Shepherd Lad with bodhran, fiddle and tin whistle lifting the melody in a tale of young love. The Diamantina Drover is another fine example of a traditional air and a tale of emigration to Queensland, Australia, leaving a sweetheart behind. There is also a song in Irish called ‘S Cuma Grain No Sion which translates as “I don’t care for sun or snow.”

The tale of courtship and thieving, ending in arrest at the hands of the authorities, is the subject of When First Unto This Country and Come Rain Or Come Shine is a song the promises lifelong fidelity to another. Keg Of Brandy  tells of a roving life and getting older while the love of a good woman lingers in the memory. Wayne has a warm vocal tone and the playing here is quietly restrained in highlighting the fine melodies. I look forward to hearing more from this talented new artist and this is a very promising start along his chosen path.

Review by Paul McGee

Mean Mary I’d Rather Be Merry Woodrock

A talented singer songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer who started performing at the age of six, Mary James was given her stage name by the press after her debut song  Mean Mary from Alabam' went public. Despite several releases over the years she has stuck with the original performance name and it probably does her no real favours in terms of trying to predict her musical style.

However, if you have seen her perform live then you will know that her reputation as an impressive musician and personality is well earned. On this new album we are given a real sense of Christmas, even through the overall feel is not as rooted in tradition as most other seasonal offering. We have a few of the old favourites performed, such as Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls, I Saw Three Ships and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. Not always sticking to the original arrangements, Mean Mary mixes things up to include interesting melodic twists, with banjo and other instrumentation included in the arrangements. She is joined by her brother Frank on eight of the songs, contributing vocals and 12-string guitar. Their co-writes I’d Rather Be Merry and Cardboard Box are very funny and full of mischief in the delivery.

O Holy Night and The Holly and the Ivy are two more classic Christmas inclusions and some of the other players on the project include Nomad (accordion, piano), Larry Salzman and Jon Sterckx (percussion), Oli Hayhurst (upright bass), David Larsen (bass), David Henry (cello, upright bass) and Andy Kruspe (bodhran, percussion). The most upbeat song is the version of Here We Come A-Caroling with the band in top gear as the tempo spins out into a joyful declaration of the season. The laid-back, quietly considered It Came Upon A Midnight Clear is superbly delivered with just simple guitar, piano and vocals, and the final song Ding Dong Day is soulful reflection on the big day and the conflicting emotions it can bring. A seasonal fare with much to savour and one to be dipped into on more than one occasion for optimal pleasure.

Review by Paul McGee

New Album Reviews

The Pleasures The Beginning of The End Self Release

Between them Catherine Britt and Lachlan Bryan have won several Golden Guitars (the Australian equivalents of CMA awards) and have well established careers in their native Australia in the country/Americana field, but they had never recorded together before. Enter their new joint venture, The Pleasures, with their debut album THE BEGINNING OF THE END which is somewhat of a concept album, based loosely around infidelity and breakup. Britt freely admits that the breakup of her marriage just before lockdown influenced the writing, and between them they both have had their fair share of relationships, which provided ample raw material. The songs are clearly fuelled by real life experiences, such is the passion and intensity laid bare across this sparkling eleven song collection.

Starting off quite explosively with the title track, the heavy rock vibe is a backdrop for a relationship that was doomed from the start but still proved irresistible for the two protagonists, ‘we let that fire burn freely/like sparks on turpentine’, sung by both Lachlan and Britt in harmony. Homewreckers, also sung in harmony but with a more funky bluesy groove, came from Britt’s personal experience. Whether sung in harmony, or back and forth in a conversational style, their voices are perfect together, both powerful but capable of nuance when necessary. Every Story Has Two Sides introduces that conversational device, conveying the pain and depth of feeling during the worst throes of a breakup, complete with a dirty blues backdrop. More country duet in style and sound is the sublime You Made Another Woman (Out of Me) and Mutual Friends, which explores the wider repercussions of a divorce. The band’s full sound is completed by drummer Brad Bergen and bassist Damian Cafarello, who come into their own on the early rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack of Paranoid and even more so on the electric guitar and drum led Howlin’ For My Darlin’, one of Howlin’ Wolf’s classics. Three Star Hotel wraps a country sound around the tale of a couple who meet occasionally for a casual relationship, with neither party looking for commitment.

There’s an obvious Leon Russell influence on the tale of falling for a bluffer, complete with Southern rock piano and guitar, in I Fell For It and then the record wraps up with a sparsely beautiful (acoustic guitar and two voices) version of the tragic love song Seven Spanish Angels. This record seems to have slipped under the radar on this side of the world, so do yourself a favour and check it out. It’s one of my favourites of 2023.

Review by Eilís Boland

Ian M Bailey We Live In Strange Times Kool Kat

Two standout albums released this year by American artists - Marty Stuart & His Fabolous Superlatives’ ALTITUDE and Chris Stamey’s THE GREAT ESCAPE - were to a large extent influenced by the classic 60s sound of The Byrds. Lancashire-born singer-songwriter Ian M Bailey’s latest album, WE LIVE IN STRANGE TIMES, can be added to that list. 

It’s no surprise that Bailey has released this album and his last two on the USA Kool Kat Musik label. They are market leaders in supporting lesser-known artists recording melodic and hook-driven country and power pop, and this album hits the bullseye in that genre. Bailey doesn’t stray from the musical template of his last two albums, YOU PAINT THE PICTURES (2022) and SONGS TO DREAM ALONG TO (2021), with the emphasis once more on hook-laden songs, twelve in total, that tip their hat in the direction of the classic mid-60s sound from both sides of the Atlantic. 

The aptly titled opener, The Last Chime, kicks the album off in fine style with jangly Rickenbacker and layered vocals the order of the day. Mother Nature (Giving Out Signs) and The Clock Is Ticking enter more cosmic country territory, and the instrumental She Waltzes With The Devil would have qualified as the theme tune to a Secret Agent TV series back in the day. The instantly absorbing Pray For Me recalls early Jayhawks with a melody that’s likely to remain with the listener for some time. Other instantly catchy tunes include the title track and California Desert Sundown, and the album closes with the more acoustic but not less impressive, The Moon Floats On A Cloud. 

Bailey is credited for lead and harmony vocals, six and twelve-string Rickenbacker, bass, drums and keyboards. Not quite a one-person band, he employed the services of Alan Gregson on strings, Hammond, Rhodes piano and lap steel. The writing credits are shared between Bailey and Glaswegian Daniel Wylie of Cosmic Rough Riders fame. 

With the Americana genre shifting colours and becoming virtually all-inclusive, it’s a shame that this roots/power pop genre is practically overlooked by the industry currently. But with albums of this quality still being recorded, it just takes a small amount of rummaging to track them down. If The Byrds, Gene Clark, and classic 60s pop rock your boat, you will lap this up. It’s that good. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Dori Freeman Do You Recall Blue Hens

Dori Freeman's music's beauty has consistently been its simplicity, possibly reflecting her way of life. Not attracted by Nashville's bright lights, Freeman has instead remained in rural Galax, Virginia, where she lives with her husband and fellow musician, Nicolas Falk, and their daughter. Her albums have incorporated three essential ingredients: angelic vocals, sharp melodies and uncomplicated lyrics. Her fifth studio album, DO YOU RECALL, embodies all three in every respect and finds Freeman, lyrically and musically, staying faithful to her tried and tested template. 

Rather than record in New York, where she cut her first three Teddy Thompsom-produced albums, Freeman recorded and co-produced this album with her husband Nick in their timber-framed home studio in their backyard. That 'close to home' aura comes across strongly in the material with tales of everyday life, parenting, relationships, injustices and the environmental beauty of Appalachia. Particular examples are Soup Beans Milk and Bread, They Do It's True and River Run, which collectively harbours thoughts of both survival and wrath. 

Freeman's capacity to pen no-nonsense love songs has rung true on her previous records, and the title track here is as polished and catchy as any she's written. Her long-time pal Teddy Thompson sings harmony vocals on Good Enough, and her father, Scott Freeman, is credited as a co-writer on the light-hearted tear-jerker Laundromat. An element of self-effacement, whether first-hand or notional, raises its head on the punchy Why Do I Do This To Myself?

DO YOU RECALL is an impeccable exercise in modern folk and country, without ever crisscrossing into the bland pop-country market, a path that Freeman could easily have taken throughout her career. That she hasn't is to her credit, and hopefully, she will continue to create organic and beautifully crafted music and tender, intimate songs, as she has with this gem. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Jessi Colter Edge of Forever Appalachia Record Co.

Recent years have found octogenarian country artists delivering quite an amount of quality music. Willie Nelson continues to be prolific, as does Bob Dylan. Connie Smith sounded as good as ever on THE CRY OF THE HEART in 2021, and Loretta Lynn, who sadly left us in 2022, was recording up to a year before her passing. Jessi Colter, who was eighty years old in May of this year, joined that exalted club with her latest album, EDGE OF FOREVER, her first release since PSALMS in 2017. Christened ‘The Queen of Outlaw Country’ back in the 1970s, Colter sticks to the fusion of country, rock and soul that cemented her reputation as one of the standout female artists of that time. 

Colter joined forces with Margo Price for this ten-track album and availed of the services of Price’s backing band, The Price Tags, for the recording. Price’s involvement included producer and backing vocalist, and it’s fair to say that she proved to be the perfect consort, having been a lover of Colter’s music for many years. The completion of the project was not without complications and was a possible reminder of how little has changed since Colter’s early career as a female ‘outlaw’ artist. Margo Price has suggested that sexism and possibly ageism led to difficulties in sourcing a record label to support the album. Fortunately, the Nashville label Appalachia Record Co came on board, resulting in a highly listenable and enjoyable album.

Price shares vocals with Colter on three tracks: country rockers, I Wanna Be With You, and Maybe You Should and the upbeat ballad, Lost Love Song. The gospel writer James Cleveland’s song, Can’t Nobody Do Me Like Jesus, gets a groovy and soulful reworking.

Her marriage to Waylon Jennings is represented by a song she used to share vocals with him, With Or Without You, and she opens the album with Standing On The Edge of Forever, a co-write with Waylon. Their son, Shooter Jennings, was responsible for the album’s final mix, and the standout track is also a family affair. Secret Place, a duet with her daughter Jenni Eddy Jennings, runs short of six minutes and bookends the album in fine style.  

Recently married, spiritually in a good place and recording great music, eighty is really the new sixty. Just ask Jessi Colter.

Review by Declan Culliton

Cory Grinder & The Playboy Scouts Snacks Self-Release

A late review here at Lonesome Highway HQ of an album released earlier in the year but one that nonetheless deserves to be heard. Cory Grinder's latest release with his band The Playboy Scouts (Anthony Papaleo - guitar, Tebbs Karney - pedal steel, Alex Buchanan - Bass and Bee Roberts - drums) has delivered an album of well-chosen covers that have formed part of their live set over the years. It was tracked and mixed by Jon Chips and proves to be a very enjoyable mix of songs with a cohesive style that aligns them with the overall sound that Grinder and the band have been delivering in the past. In this writer's humble opinion, it is not the only album drawn on past songs released last year but one of the best.

It opens with their deeply twangy take on Working Girl, a Conway Twitty song on the love of a person that parallels the theme of the film of the same name to some degree. Twitty also was behind If You Were Mine To Lose. Another song directly related to actual events is "travelling on the road is such a drag" Willie Nelson penned Devil In Sleeping Bag. A couple of critters show up more than once and are a noticeable influence on the band. Commander Cody, or Billy C. Farlow (as he's credited on three choices), wrote What's The Matter Now, with its loose swing affiliations, something that the other of his songs also have and show off Karney and Papaleo's interaction well. While Cravin' Your Love and Daddy's Gonna Treat You Right are, in some ways, different sides of the relationship coin in terms of approaching the subject. 

The third and again prominent artist in the band's mindset is Merle Haggard, with Seeing Eye Dog, All Of Me Belongs To You, and Silver Wings (an iconic song that rarely sounds less welcome) are all drawn from his canon. And again, as with everything else here, it sounds not so much as simply tribute but a core influence. There are other songs here that were mainly recorded by a female artist, such as Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad, best known by Tammy Wynette and written by Billy Sherrill and Glenn Sutton, which is delivered without irony as a cautionary message rather than a direct statement of intent. 

The Sons Of Pioneers recorded the Fred Rose song Home In San Antone in 1943, again alluding to Grinder's appreciation of western swing. Grinder, who is central to this music, gives it an emotional vocal delivery in a way that appreciates the original recordings but gives them a respect and resonance that is as current as it is considered.

The next outing will likely return to original material, and that is, as it was in the past, something to look forward to. But, in the here and now, SNACKS is a tasty addition to those bands of artists who are making traditional country, honky tonk and swing with the kind of spirit that has largely been lost or overlooked in the search for cross-over opportunities and commercial possibilities. These boys are gonna treat you right.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Drunken Hearts Reckless Ways Of Living Self Release

This band is centred around the talents of Andrew McConathy and a series of players that he invites to join him on studio projects and as members of his touring band. On the website McConathy lists the current band as himself (acoustic guitar, vocals), James Dumm (electric Guitars, vocals), Drew Packard (bass, vocals), Tyler Adams (Piano, organ, vocals) and Eric Low (drums, percussion).

However, this album was created using a different cast of musicians and the quality of the players is testament to the ability of McConathy to attract some serious hitters to share his musical vision. For many years he has been trying to shape his career as a musician to make financial sense, working day jobs and putting all his savings into trying to maintain himself and produce music that matters. His sound is that of the country heartland, with his deeply rich vocal imbuing his roots rock tales with a strong sense of grit and realism.

A number of albums and Eps arrived over the years as McConathy sought to define his sound and all the hard yards have now culminated in the release of this latest album. Dave Pahanish produced the new project and also contributed acoustic guitar, bass mellotron and percussion. He also co-wrote all the songs with McConathy with other artists contributing on two of the tracks. Some of the included musicians were Kyle Tuttle (banjo), Neil Jones (pedal steel), Jason Carter (fiddle), Lindsay Lou (vocals), Silas Herman (mandolin), Vince Herman (guitar), and Adrian Engfer (bass). McConathy also invited Dumm, Packard and Adams from his current band to join the recordings and the entire troupe of players do great justice to the songs.

Kicking off proceedings is the country swing of Never Say Goodbye, an unapologetic love song with soaring pedal steel from Neil Jones to heighten the emotion, the musicians perform with great invention throughout, never more so than on Good Graces where everything comes together in a heady mix of instrumentation and great rhythm.

Falling Stars, 100 Proof and Dark Times stand out with some great ensemble playing and tales of relationships intertwined, troubled family history, lost lovers and friends that have passed on but not forgotten. Hard living remedies offer temporary respite on Popcornin’ Percocets while Fall From Grace is a look back at youthful dreams and a romance that didn’t go the distance. The final song Eventually covers similar ground and asks ‘ did we kneel when we should have charged’ - the core message being that everything that lives and dies becomes one, flowing together at the end of it all. This is a very enjoyable album, well-produced and filled with great songs that linger and demand repeated plays.

Review by Paul McGee

Anders Jornesten Train To Montreal Self Release

Living in Stockholm during the Covid pandemic and working from home was all the motivation that Anders needed to finally start recording his songs and taking the step to expose them to the world outside his apartment window. He has been playing guitar since teenage years inspired him to learn the instrument and try to follow in the footsteps of his musical influences that include John Prine and Blaze Foley.

The nine songs featured are all performed by Anders on acoustic guitar in his home surroundings and the inspiration to follow through on his dream is justified in the simple approach to the recording. Anders sings in a voice that has both character and a lived-in quality in the plaintive delivery. The songs are personal and observational in theme covering issues and topics that were no doubt highlighted by the sense of isolation and lack of community during the Covid lockdown. Doubts and dreams, regrets and revelations, are addressed in songs like Train To Montreal, Bruises and Scars, The Last Call and A Heart Split In Two.

There is a longing in the quiet solitude of home recordings where the artist is left alone with his reflections and wishful thinking. The intimacy of such a setting can be heard in the excellent guitar technique of Anders and the way in which we are invited into his creative process. This is what the spirit of independent music is all about, an urge to create and to communicate. A worthy effort and hopefully not the last time we will hear from this singer songwriter.

Review by Paul McGee

Brooks Dixon Rhododendron Highway Self Release

This musician has been treading the boards since 2012 when he started playing in local venues around his hometown of Greenville, South Carolina, and further afield. A number of EP releases followed over the years since then and a debut album appeared in 2019, titled Pocketful Of Dreams.  Dixon now releases his follow-up album of songs, both old and new, enlisting the services of musician friends to assist in the recording process at Omnisound studios in Nashville.

Existing band members Shane Byler (drums), Jake Watson (bass) and Sara Middleton (vocals) appear on selected songs across the eleven tracks included here. They are joined by others such as Taylor McClesky, David Flint, Nathan Angelo, Chris Nole, Wayne Killius, and Dale Francis on various instruments and both Anna Stine, and Libby Rhodenbough on backing vocals.  Opening song Charleston has an old time western swing and a sweet melody with plaintive harmonica highlighting a yearning to return to that beautiful city by the ocean. Stranger’s Bed follows and speaks about a restlessness within and those inner voices that keep second guessing what is best. Midnight Shower is a song that examines choices and taking the right path; working to live or else following the dream to fulfill a passion. Needles is a reflection on addiction or illness and the time it takes for acceptance and recovery. Dixon’s vocal is rich and expressive and the backing harmonies of Sara Middleton are equally impressive. Hey Hey is a look at younger ideals and has a bluesy rhythm, with the lines ‘If there's one thing I can't understand, Why everybody talking about a promised land’ summing up the sentiment. 

The liberation in true love is at the heart of both Would You Say Yes and Married In the Mountains, while the song Store Your Treasure asks about the emphasis that we place upon our values, be they in material possessions or investing in experiences that build lasting memories. Dixon also muses over our place in the world (After All) whether home is the optimal choice (Rolling Stone), before ending with some good council to slow down and enjoy the journey (Good Conversation). This is a very strong album, with some excellent songwriting and creative playing from all involved. It comes highly recommended.

Review by Paul McGee

Nathan Seeckts Something Rare and Beautiful Self Release

This Australian singer songwriter has been making music for a number of years and building his profile outside of his native Victoria. In 2019 he played a showcase in the Bluebird Café as part of the AmericanaFest in Nashville which gained him a whole new level of recognition. A debut album The Heart Of The City appeared in that same year and Seeckts now follows this with his second release.

We are given an authentic look into what represents country music from the land Down Under. These ten songs are recorded at Union Street Studios in Melbourne and producer Roger Bergodaz captures the essence of Seeckts sound with a very engaging and impressive album. There is a depth of talent on display and the musicians highlight the strong song arrangements in their playing. Seeckts wrote all the songs and provides lead vocal and guitar. The fact that he can sound like Chris Stapleton in his vocal delivery is no bad thing either and adds a resonance to the natural gravel in his tone. The other players on the album include Sean McDonnell (guitars, backing vocals), Matt Dietrich (bass), Mark McLeod (drums, percussion), Gretta Ziller (backing vocals), Tom Brooks (pedal steel), Luke Moller (violin), Cameron Jerabek (keyboards), Charlie Woods (trumpet) and Nathaniel Sametz (saxophone).

The Wildest Thing is a mid-tempo introduction to the album and a story song about a one-night experience with a colourful lady up for damage and a good time. King Of the Room follows with a more driving rhythm and a song about people who talk at music gigs and the lyrics resonate ‘I asked you once, I asked you twice, If I have to ask again, I won’t be so nice.’ Cassette In the Tape Deck tells the tale about an old car that was owned by Nathan’s father and how much it meant to a young adolescent growing up ‘My hand out the window, My head in the clouds, Cassette in the tape deck, The music up loud.’ Although the car was sold, the memory still lingers.

No Ifs, No Doubts, No Maybes is a love song to the woman who has stood by the side of an aging musician all his life and it is very mellow and laid-back in delivery. The title track highlights a stage performer who captivates audiences with her songs and the sweet violin intertwines with the acoustic guitars to great effect. Little Church pictures a wedding day that goes horribly wrong and the pedal steel inter-play with the electric guitar adds nicely to the rhythm. Goodnight Bluebird slows things down with a fine vocal from Seeckts and a great feel to a song about a girl in the crowd at the weekly gig who sings along to all the songs and captivates the singer ‘You’re wearing the hell out of that dress.’

Measured and Wanting sings about handling rejection and coming to realise that in the end we all have to run our own race. Believe in yourself is the key message in this gentle song. I Watched You Slip Away From Me is about the loss of a loved one and the grief that ensues, with some lovely guitar parts elevating the melody. The final song End Of the Rope is another acoustic based arrangement and speaks of never giving up, finding courage and hope to carry on ‘When you get to the end of the rope, Tie a knot and try to hang on.’  Some good council to end proceedings.

The first Australian Americana honours night was held in Melbourne in 2017 as a mark of the growing roots scene in the country and the Americana Music Association was involved. Things have progressed since then and there is a building momentum for quality artists such as Nathan Seeckts. Long may it continue to grow with his music and this album is a signpost in style and substance.

Review by Paul McGee

The Pleasures, Ian M Bailey, Dori Freeman, Jessi Colter, Cory Grinder & The Playboy Scouts, Drunken Hearts, Anders Jörnesten, Brooks Dixon Nathan Seeckts

New Album Reviews

Billy Don Burns I've Seen A Lot Of Highways Black Country Rock

With a lived-in vocal and, as this album title suggests, many road miles under his belt, Arkansas-born singer-songwriter Billy Don Burns resurrects memories from a career that spans over five decades on his latest studio recording.

When asked about his road stories a few years back in an interview, Burns replied, 'I think I will pass on the road stories. Most of mine are either X-rated or incriminating.' He's certainly not short of writing ammunition, claiming to have been stabbed seventeen times, spent time in prison, battled with drug dependency and been married six times. That mind-boggling manner of living is presented in full colour in this twelve-song collection of self-written songs, and it's fair to say that he doesn't put a foot wrong from start to finish.

A classic songwriter, though one that remains somewhat under the radar, Burns' songs have been recorded by Willie Nelson, Connie Smith, Johnny Paycheck and Mel Tillis, to name a few. He has also produced albums by Paycheck (“He was not easy to work with in 1988 – the cocaine and the booze pretty much had him a lot then. However, I am not saying anything bad about him”) and Merle Haggard. The regard in which some current generation artists hold him is evidenced on this album by contributions from Shooter and Whey Jennings, Cody Jinks, and Wes Shipp. 

His failed marriages may or may not have been the prompt for both Don't Cry For Me and I Went Crazy. The former is very much in the 'good riddance' stable, and the latter is one of heartache and remorse ('I blew through a pack of Marlboro Red, trying to smoke her out of my head'). All She Put Him Through is a melodic treasure with a nod in the direction of Warren Zevon. The spoken tale, Mack Story, tells of a suicide pact fuelled by a chronic cocaine habit, interrupted by a phone call with the news of a several thousand royalty cheque ('So we got it cashed, bought ourselves a couple of eight balls and headed out in the middle of the night to California'). 

It's not all ruination and degeneracy, either. Two tracks touch on redemption and spirituality and probably define why Burns has survived his torrid lifestyle and lives to tell the tales. That's When I Knew ('I was down on my knees on the bottom with nothing and no one to turn to. He reached down and touched me, and that's when I knew') and Satan Is A Son Of a Bitch ('One of these days, Jesus is gonna kick ol' Satan's ass. It's gonna be a sight to see when good and evil clash').

Firmly rooted in the classic singer-songwriter panache of Guy Clark, John Prine and Townes Van Zant, I'VE SEEN A LOT OF HIGHWAYS is that good and one of the standout albums in that genre for me in 2023.

Review by Declan Culliton

Gram Parsons and The Fallen Angels The Last Roundup: Live from the Bijou Café in Philadelphia March 16th, 1973 Amoeba

Gram Parsons' debut solo album, GP, was released in January of 1973 on the Warner Brothers label. Despite critical acclaim from Rolling Stone journalist Bud Scoppa - and attaining legendary status for Parsons after his death - the album failed miserably in commercial terms. 

The opening dates on the tour to promote the album were shambolic and problematic. Parsons' wishes to bring Elvis's band (James Burton, Ron Tutt, Glen D. Hardin) on the road were scuppered for financial reasons. When the tour bus parked at the Bijou Café in Philadelphia, the line-up had changed from the original crew assembled by Parsons and his trusted tour manager, Phil Kaufman. Following several under-rehearsed and chaotic opening shows, they had disposed of the services of guitar player Gerry Mule and replaced him with Jock Barkley. Parsons and Emmylou Harris - her first experience on the road - were then backed by Barkley, Neil Flanz (pedal steel), Kyle Tullis (bass) and ND Smart (drums) for the remainder of the tour.

Parsons was abusing alcohol and drugs, overweight and subject to mood swings at that time. The presence of his wife Gretchen on the tour bus led to constant rows, often fuelled by the body language of Parsons and Harris on stage but also due to Gretchen's overindulgence in stimulants. A disastrous interview by Parsons and Harris with DJ Rusty Bell on KOKE-AM in Austin did little to promote either the album or the tour, and the bus and its crew continued on their travels, with the stage shows improving as the previously under-rehearsed band got their act together.

LIVE FROM THE BIJOU CAFÉ captures, warts and all, the most musically coherent period of the tour. Neil Flanz considered the show to be the best of the tour and, fortunately, sought the soundboard recording of the performance on cassette. Forty years later, the tape was acquired by Amoeba Music but was not rediscovered for ten more years when Amoeba relocated its offices.

Franz's notable pedal steel guitar holds the band together, and Parsons sometimes struggles vocally. However, his duets with Harris, particularly Love Hurts, are memorable. The magic of the GP album is also recreated on Streets of Baltimore and We'll Sweep Out The Ashes, both arrangements coming to life when Emmylou Harris' vocals kick in. Other highlights include Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man (introduced by Parsons as a song that actually made us money), the Merle Haggard-written California Cotton Fields and Sin City. The show ended in cabaret style with a rock and roll medley including Hang On Sloopy, Boney Moronie, Forty Days and Almost Grown.

Not only is this album a 'must have' for lovers of Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, but it's also an authentic 'moment in time' by two artists who were to become household names in the future for different reasons. Six months after the recording and a month before he was due to be on the road again, Gram Parsons would die from a morphine overdose at the Joshua Tree Inn in California on September 19th 1973. Emmylou Harris' solo career would bloom in the coming decades, leading to her becoming one of the most cherished vocalists in the country and Americana genres. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Jon Dee Graham Only Dead For A Little While Strolling Bones 

Jon Dee Graham has been an intrinsic part of the Texan punk and alt-country scene since his days as a member of The Skunks and True Believers alongside Alejandro Escovedo. He has been inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame three times, with those bands and once as a solo artist. 

His back catalogue included thirteen solo studio albums before the release of his latest record, ONLY DEAD FOR A LITTLE WHILE, his first in seven years. Graham suffered significant trauma in that intervening period; he had a heart attack and actually died for five minutes - hence the new record's title – and had a stroke two years later.

Given the album's stimuli, it's little surprise that much of the material deals with mortality and related matters. It's a powerful affair in many respects, with Graham's lived-in gravelly vocals and driving guitar excelling on Going Back to Sweden, Where It All Went Wrong and Lazarus. His victory of life over death is celebrated on the latter ('You know we got so much in common and Lazarus just nodded his head'). There's A Ghost On The Train is a standout and strikingly evocative song with sharp lyrics that draw the listener in. Brave As Her (Marie Colvin), with its spoken lyrics, is a beautiful eulogy to the American journalist who perished in a rocket attack while working in Syria in 2012. Another highlight is the bewitching Astronaut, written by Graham's son, William Harries.

It may have taken major adversity to create ONLY DEAD FOR A LITTLE WHILE, but the result is a splendid mix of raspy air-guitar-inducing rockers and delicate and intimate ballads. The lyrics perfectly reflect the songs' moods and no more so than on the previously referenced Going Back To Sweden. Exasperated by the 'foolishness' prevailing in his country, he professes, 'Well in Sweden, Lee Hazelwood is considered The Godfather of the Cool. Aw Hell, Lee brought his horse to Sweden; Lee ain't nobody's fool.' Similarly themed, Where It All Went Wrong also considers humankind’s capacity for self-destruction.

Graham's latest album never drags its anchor. Instead, it demands to be listened to from start to finish, preferably with the volume cranked up, which I've done many times since it landed for a review. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Grey DeLisle She’s An Angel Hummingbird

A longtime favourite of mine and when I saw that this album was produced by Deke Dickerson and Eddie Glendening I had the feeling that it would be slightly different from some of her previous material. Some six previous albums have revealed a prodigious and unusual talent that veers to the more folk and acoustic side of storytelling. DeLisle has been quite eclectic in the past and had a long-time working partnership with Marvin Etzioni, with whom she worked with on several albums. She is also a sought after voice over artist and her distinctive voice is a strong pointer to that.

Here she has put together a fourteen track release that includes four co-writes alongside the other tracks she wrote solo. Her writing has always been engaging and entertaining and is none-the-less so here. The overall sound, given its producers, has a natural affinity with a twang sound that will doubtless find favour with fans of Brennen Leigh and other neo-traditionalists. Throughout there are echoes of Dolly and Loretta, which are more pronounced here than on some of Delisle’s previous recordings, all of which delineate her musical direction here. This in itself touches on more than one aspect of the music of an earlier time,  but it is done in a way that is both relevant now, as well as respectful to its sources. 

The musicians are a veritable who’s who of Austin and California players with names like the aforementioned producers, T. Jarrod Bonta, Tammy Rogers, Dave Berzansky, DJ Bonebrake, Mike Molnar and Ray Benson, alongside some other fine players, delivering a selection of songs that are both varied and vital in the way they bring the themes of love, life, death and dogs into clear focus.

The title of the opening song gives you something of an insight into the nature of her (sometimes) forceful nature. I’ll Go Back To Denver (And You Can Go The Hell) is one of a number of songs that tend to take no prisoners. Who Brought The Boots Beside Your Bed? and Quit Picking’ On Me would be other examples. There are also more tender moments like the title track, and I Really Got A Feeling is a straight up declaration of lasting love.

They sure can rock out to recharged rockabilly rhythms too, as Big Sister does, effectively using Bonta’s ivory tinkling to good effect. The clever Quit Pickin’ On Me is an appeal to her favourite guitar picker who has the tendency to name her as the subject of his “you done me wrong” songs. The Dog is as the titles indicates a song about a much loved hound who, though, creates some additional problems noting that “I cry in the driveway but don’t hit the highway ‘cause dang it I can’t leave the dog.” It features in the voice of Ray Benson, a perfect duet companion.

There is a touching tale of a boy who dreamed of the outdoor life and who had two loves, but the story of Cowboy Joe ends in tragedy. I Like The Way You Think I Think was co-written by Big Sandy and DeLisle and sounds pretty much as you would expect if you are aware of his output. So in the end, as mentioned, fourteen tracks to enjoy, and they are all good. 

De Lisle has an interesting back catalogue and though she may not be as well know or appreciated as some of her contemporaries is as deserving of your attention. Also, it goes to show, as we head to the end of a fruitful year, that there are still gems arriving and this is one of them. One of the year’s best.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Jenna Clark & The Salty Truth West To Texas Self Release

Another new name to me is Jenna Clark, a Texas based, Florida born artist who has released this eight track mini-album and it showcases an artist with both a strong voice and some adept songwriting. The opening track, This Ship Will Sail, has robust steel and guitar to set the tone, a defiant stance in the face of an ending relationship. Next up, Can’t Help That I loved Him is a highlight. It is an arresting tale of regret about an old flame who has departed but a meeting shows “that old flame keeps burning me.” It features fiddle and steel that underscore that ongoing heartache in a suitable arrangement, showing that the assembled ensemble has the undoubted talent to breathe life into the songs. More of the same permeates the next song, You Get To, which has some strident guitar demonstrating that her companion has moved on and gets to do what he wants.

Fiddle, guitar and steel all help to continue the overall theme of the lost love and heartache of many of the songs. The slow paced Bloom is another of those. Don’t You Dare Cry, tells that the protagonist was well capable of causing hurt and so shouldn’t feel hard done by when the tables are turned. There is a powerful use of trumpet as well as saxophone in the soulful More Sunrises, Clark delivering a passionate vocal that discloses she is able to tackle a number of different approaches to her songs and delivery.

Good Friends is a recognition of how much like minded people can provide a much needed friendship, which lays out the possibility of such an acquaintance benefiting both parties. The edgy, twangy duet with Mike Randall goes back and forth with the notion that Three Shots Of Whiskey can set the both if them up, at least for the short time and that they will be gone not long after their brief liaison. Reminds me a little of Danni Leigh in her earlier releases. 

Clark, it also appears, sometimes dons a blonde wig and plays Dolly Parton covers at specific shows. Now may be the time to step up and consolidate her own identity and image. On the strength of this release she would be well able to do that and has previously performed soul and blues material as well as country. There are a number of videos on her site where you can see this emerging talent as well as acquire WEST OF TEXAS without having to actually travel there.

Review by Stephen Rapid

My Sister, My BrotherTwo Self Release

Both Garrison Starr and Sean McConnell presently enjoy highly successful solo careers and their decision to join together in order to pool their abundant talents has been a real success on every front. Not that the artists themselves were ever in any doubt. Ever since writing together at a songwriting workshop some years back, both could immediately sense the magic that they created together as writers and performers.

Recording under the name of My Sister, My Brother the pair released a 5-song EP in 2020 and this follow-up album of seven songs is superbly crafted and delivers yet another seamless work that brings real reward. This accomplished songwriting duo blend their vocals to great effect and a beautiful symmetry is achieved with a strong sense of easy creativity across the project. Having toured together in pre-Covid times, there is intuitive understanding of what works and their vocal harmonies meld into moments of magic with superbly structured song arrangements throughout.

The title track brings a message of fellowship and support for one another in a soulful delivery, stating ‘All we’ve got in this old world is each other’ as a statement of strength. The more restrained Cry Me A River talks about communication in relationships and feeling apart from a loved one. The song asks for openness and an honesty that can break through the emotional barriers. The string arrangement on the song is particularly effective.

Elsewhere, the gentle acoustic feel to Maybe There Are Angels wonders if our lives are guided by unknown forces in our midst, disguised as other people. The unexplained mysteries of life that seem to turn in favour of those who believe, “I think I’ve figured out that fate and doubt are the same from different angles.” The song More Than You Could Give looks at the young experiences of a gay person growing up in a family who could not accept their child for being who they were born to be in life. It examines the lack of real understanding and love that leaves a mark into adulthood. The reflective arrangement is supported by acoustic guitars and additional piano as the song develops.

Another Life has a more upbeat tempo and channels memories of youth and carefree days that can be repeated right now, if having fun in a relationship is the key focus “You make it easy babe like it’s always been this way.”Almost There is a song about forgiveness and how it comes slowly and wrapped in painful memories. The unravelling of a relationship over time is elegantly captured in the lyric “Homemade movie of you and me, Golden days; Wish we could shout out to them - Look out, things will change.” The song Shelter is another promise of support for a loved one and a shoulder to lean upon in dark times.

Overall this another great example of the success that can be found in musical collaboration, where the combined results benefit so much from the joint input. This duo have the magic dust in their corner and no doubt will continue to mine this rich vein of gold. 

Review by Paul McGee

Luke LeBlanc Places Real Phonic

This is album number five in a building career and it’s further confirmation that Luke LeBlanc continues to grow and mature as an artist of some substance. Recent releases ONLY HUMAN (2021) and FUGUE STATE (2022) were well received and displayed  a solid momentum, while on this new release regular producer Erik Koskinen really steps up the game for all concerned. He also plays guitar on the album and other players include Eric Heywood (pedal steel), Caz Falen (bass and backing vocals), John Cleve Richardson (piano and backing vocals), Lars-Erik Larson (drums), Casey Frenz (saxophone and trumpet), and Kora Melia (violin). Recording took place at Real Phonic Studio in Cleveland, Minnesota during March of this year and the results are very persuasive.

Opening song A Place defines what follows with an easy acoustic blues woven with fiddle and pedal steel on a love song about giving it all up and the impression made is reminiscent of the great JJ Cale. No Good is another sweetly delivered melody that looks at a relationship that shouldn’t work but there are hopes to the contrary. Again the seductive combination of violin, pedal steel and an understated rhythm section delivers a fine country sound. Own It is more up-tempo in the groove and is a song about being in control of your life despite the knocks along the way. Sweet sax and guitar in the arrangement work so well in defining the attitude contained in the lyric. The song Defeated has a smooth soulful sound with sweet sax and pedal steel colouring a melody that drifts across the arrangement as LeBlanc looks to surrender fully into a relationship.

Never Met You At All is a real highlight with an easy rhythm and some sweet country violin, guitar stylings and harmonica lifting the song. Break My Wall is another song with a county cool swing to the arrangement and a look at getting to know the person behind the images and personas that we paint in our relationships. Hazy has a great lyric in “You know I wanna know when I’ll see you again, but if I ask too soon I might lose a new friend.” The subtle guitar and violin parts dove tail with the drum and bass tempo, sliding on by in a gentle reverie.

Marble Stone is an acoustic blues tune that arrives with a deep bass rhythm as LeBlanc sings about his future demise, fuelled by duelling guitars and violin that extend the song around the reflective chorus ‘They’re gonna write my name in the middle of a Marble Stone.’ The interplay is just superb among the musicians and the joy in the performance is clearly evident. Quite superb.

The final track is Right Way and a perfect conclusion to a beautifully paced album. LeBlanc relates to the love we all plug into occasionally in reaching out to another who needs direction in finding the way forward to better days. All songs are written by Luke LeBlanc and the album has a lovely feel to the arrangements the production. If LeBlanc continues at this pace of development then the sky is truly the limit.   

Review by Paul McGee

Afton Wolfe The Harvest Grandiflora

Seven songs from the talented Afton Wolfe, and a follow-up to the EP titled TWENTY THREE that was released earlier this year. Wolfe was raised in Mississippi and he continues to wear his early influences firmly on his sleeve. Both of the recordings from this year complement each other in sound and in their delivery, showcasing a depth of musicality and an interesting variety in the arrangements. For this new instalment, Wolfe has focused upon the songs written by his father-in-law, Nashville-based musician L.H. Haliburton. Good to keep it all in the family!

The studio musicians are different from those on the prior release with only Madison George (percussion) and Seth Fox (flute and saxophone) making the cut across both projects. Robin Wolfe provides harmony vocals, along with Courtney Santana, while the skills of Anthony Saddic (keyboards), Mark Robinson and Will Hammond (guitars), Anna Eyink (violin) and Erik Mendez (bass) provide the inspiration across the tracks.

Harvest is the opening song and should perhaps have closed out the album with its strong message of hope. We should embrace the rewards of the harvest in the Autumn, showing us that everything can be reaped as a just reward, even as the seasons change and we grow older. New Orleans Going Down is a heartfelt tribute to this musical heartland and the challenges that it has faced from the elements that nature unleashes upon its fragile defences in the form of flooding and hurricanes. Equally, the song Mississippi speaks of dark days and dark nights in connection with the systemic domestic issues that have haunted that great state. A genuine plea to sustain a quality of life for the inhabitants.   

Hello, Mr Wolf is the longest track here and includes a loose rhythm and off-kilter percussion that gives the song a broken quality as it looks at power-hungry politicians and rulers in the guise of wolves, ‘the dogs of the Gods.’ There is a sense of foreboding and being in the grip of predatory forces within the urban jungle that is city life. Lost Prayers is exactly that, a question to the heavens asking if anyone is really up there listening. The song seeks redemption and a reason for what has been lost and sacrificed in seeking to follow a righteous path.

On Til the River No Longer Flows we are given a statement of intent that Wolfe is in this for the long haul, searching for answers and not giving up the fight to find true meaning. The driving blues beat and the soaring guitar make this an excellent antidote to the present sorrows in this fractured world. Here To Stay is the closing song and has a simple upright piano backing a soulful vocal that channels Tom Waits in the ragged delivery. The search for a sense of home and the return of someone close haunts the track as it brings a feeling of longing.  Delta Blues, mixed with sweet Soul, and a southern R&B slow burn at the root of it all. Well worth investigation as Afton Wolfe continues to create music of both substance and real imagination.

Review by Paul McGee

Tommy Goodroad and the Highway Birds Self-Tilted Self Release

This 5-song EP was released in May and the honky-tonk sound of the collective is very polished and enjoyable. Goodroad grew up in Minnesota and these days he is based in Chicago where he has established a footing for his music career. The Highway Birds band is comprised of Nick Bates  (electric guitar, backing vocals), George Adzick (fiddle, mandolin), Peter Briggs (pedal steel), Cooper Gatzmer (electric, upright bass) and Samuel Stroup (drums). They perform as a very tight unit and the interplay is always interesting and inventive.

Goodroad released a debut album in 2021 titled SWIMMING IN THE CLAY and he has built on this with a number of singles in the intervening time. This new EP will only add to the reputation of the band as an act to seek out when they tour and the opening song Keep ‘Er Moving is a reflection of life on the road, travelling in vans, hawking gear into venues and trying to make it all work. The honky tonk sound is bright and breezy and their cover of the Cranberries song Linger is in a similar vein, giving an interesting spin on the original and kicking up further dance hall fun.

Goodbye For Good and 50 Degrees In September are both slow country songs that deal with the aftermath of failed relationships but the girl stays around on Teaching Me To Paint and brings colour to the shape of the world as love blossoms. A definite confidence booster for further releases and definitely a name to watch out for into the future.

Review by Paul McGee

Billy Don Burns, Gram Parsons Jon Dee Graham (Official) Jenna Clark My Sister, My Brother, Luke LeBlanc Afton Wolfe greydelislegriffin.com

New Album Reviews

Dean Owens Pictures Self-Release

Following his DESERT TRILOGY EPs from 2021, SINNERS SHRINE (2022) and EL TARIDITO (2023), Scottish singer songwriter Dean Owens is in a more reflective frame of mind and meditates on matters closer to home on his latest recording, PICTURES. Those three Tex-Mex-influenced recordings included collaborations with Joey Burns and John Convertino of Calexico fame. For this album, Owens worked once more with Grammy nominees and long-time musical partners in crime, Neilson Hubbard and Will Kimbrough. Hubbard produced Owens's albums, SOUTHERN WIND (2018) and INTO THE SEA (2015), and is also a member of Buffalo Blood alongside Owens, Joshua Britt, and Audrey Spillman. 

Given that the project was fashioned during the pandemic, Owens' recordings took place at Slate Room Studios in East Lothian, Scotland and Hubbard and Kimbrough's at Skinny Elephant in East Nashville. Jim Demain mastered the final recordings at Yes Master in Nashville.

As you expect, given the prevailing environment during lockdown when the material was written, the album's essence is self-examination and retrospection, with Owens giving the listener an inkling of what lay inside his head during those restless times. The dream-like opening lyrics, 'Today I flew over the old church where my sister was married, over the streets where I grew up,' written in a time of uncertainty, sets the scene for much of what follows, lyrically and in its musical content. That opening track, Hills of Home, is followed by an open-hearted and apologetic love letter titled Pure Magic. Sometime may be interpreted as a forward look to both the return of post-pandemic normality or encountering loved ones lost in another life ('The sun will shine again on you and I my friend. Sometime, sometime, someday, there'll be singing again'). 

Harking back to his younger days and Owen's treasured passion for boxing, Boxing Shorts recalls his days of donning boxing gloves in the gym. More poignantly, it identifies a childhood friend, the first to take him to the gym, but who fell into addiction and lost his life later in life ('When you get trapped in the corner cover up, sooner or later the punches have to stop'). A tale of simpler times and everyday lives is recounted in Daltry Cemetery. The historic, picturesque Edinburgh Garden cemetery dates back to the mid-19th century, and the song tells of two ordinary people, Annie and Frank. The former lives in the cemetery and maintains the graves, and the latter visits his wife’s grave on his way to see his football team play.

Mortality and loved ones passed away also raise their head on Friend and on the title track, which bookends the album. The latter, which is edged with affection and regret and no doubt autobiographical, speaks of the necessity to move on at a particular time and escape the menace of familiarity and restlessness, which can eventually lead to disorder.

On a lighter note, Great Song, complete with a whistled intro, echoes the singer songwriter's search for the epic song. To his credit, Dean Owens has written numerous songs deserving the title of greatness and continues to do so with this eleven-track record. While often directed towards self-examination, the lyrics are touching and plainly spoken, and the low-key arrangements from his partners are the perfect fit. The press release for the album mentions 'a Ronnie Lane vibe' to the album, which certainly rings true for me with this highly listenable collection of folk-rock songs.

Review by Declan Culliton

Al Backstrom Wild Colonial Boy Self-Release

A curriculum vitae that boasts touring in his mid-teens, a mainstay in the Melbourne pub rock scene for many years, a member in another life of Aussie band’s P-Tex and Bullet, and touring the US and Europe as guitarist with Jaime Wyatt, Austin Lucas, Moot Davis and MacLeaphart, is not to be sniffed at. With that lifetime dedicated to performance, it’s little surprise that Al Backstrom would eventually find the time and space to record a solo album.

Wild Colonial Boy is an Irish-Australian traditional folk ballad which tells of an escaped convict who perishes during a gunfight with the police. While the title does not reflect Backstrom’s way of life, it does dovetail with his musical and nomadic lifestyle, which currently finds him residing in Nashville, TN, and ideally located to solicit the services of his neighbours and musical acquaintances for this record. 

Backstrom more than wears his musical heart on his sleeve, blending his passion for rockabilly, power pop, and roots. The title track is a knees-up, toe-tapping ride and Don’t Even Know My Name, Puttin’ Me Down, and Analog Guy have all the hallmarks of a soundtrack from that purple period, early to mid-70s, for classic UK pub rock. One More For The Road nods toward Son Volt, and opener Through is a muscular guitar-driven affair.  Two covers are also included: fellow Australian Ruby Boots joins the party for a bustling take on Gram Parsons’ Ooh Las Vegas, which does justice to the original version and The Hoodoo Gurus Hayride To Hell gets a Charley Daniels Band-styled makeover. 

Self-produced and recorded in his home studio, multi-instrumentalist Backstrom’s impressive guitar skills shine, and his selection of contributors are A-listed players. Adam ‘Ditch’ Kurtz (Sarah Shook, Joshua Ray Walker) played pedal steel, Bruce Bouton (Garth Brooks, Ricky Skaggs) was on lap steel and last but certainly not least, Billy Contreras (George Jones, Hank 111, Crystal Gayle), whose fiddle contributions are outstanding. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Danielle Howle Current Kill Rock Stars 

Despite a recording career that spans four decades and numerous studio and live recordings, both solo and with bands Lay Quiet Awhile and Danielle Howle and the Tantrums, singer songwriter and producer Danielle Howle remains an ‘under-the-radar treasure.’ A pretty distinctive vocalist and very much a Southern storyteller, CURRENT is Howle's first studio recording in ten years. As the title suggests, it’s loaded with up-to-the-minute observations, often intense and vibrant and on other occasions, genuinely humorous.

Produced by Jeff Leonard Jnr., Howle vocals are very much out in front with, in the main, acoustic musical support from Josh Roberts (guitars), Kerry Brooks (bass), Tony Lauria (accordion) and percussion input shared by Leonard Jnr., Jim Brock and Russell Lee Padgett.

There are excursions into the woe of love lost – though with a degree of comedy (Another One), positivity in the face of anguish (The Damage Appears on The Frame), unconditional love (Keep The Light), and self-love and acceptance (While I Miss You). Seamlessly genre-hopping, she goes full-on honky tonk on I’m Alright, laid back and jazzy on How Is The Rain and strikingly gothic on the quite stunning Keep The Light. Also included is a cover - faithful to the original - of Tom Petty’s Southern Accents. 

‘I hope to make someone happy - for my music to be a blanket or a coat,’ Howle confesses about CURRENT. She more than achieves that for me with an album that embraces much of what represents modern life in southern America, beautifully articulated, carefully arranged and well worth your attention. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Bonnie Montgomery River Self-Release

Although her classical vocal training was in opera, Bonnie Montgomery's captivation with the bluegrass, southern gospel and Delta blues of her childhood have come to the fore in her recordings. Voted Outlaw Female of the Year at the Ameripolitan Awards in 2016, her latest record, RIVER showcases the Arkansas-born artist's love of country music and her capacity to create compelling country songs.

With time off from her heavy touring schedule in 2020 and suffering from near exhaustion, Montgomery's recovery process included brushing up on her piano skills and composing this often-autobiographical collection of songs. Her vocals, as you would expect, are note-perfect, and with her co-producer Kevin Skria - a member of the excellent Texas band The Broken Spokes - they set about developing the arrangements to compliment her songs. The recordings took place at Skria's Wolfe Island Recording Company studio, which he built in a farm barn in Dayton, and his input included pedal steel, drums, bass, electric guitar, piano, organ and percussion. Geoffrey Robson played bass and arranged the strings, and Whitney Rose and Jimmy Davis added harmony vocals.

The lush string-driven Countrypolitan sound of the '60s comes to mind on the title track and Half Drunk, though Music Row wouldn't have approved the forthright lyrics on the latter in those times. The smooth Connie Smith-sounding I Was Fine also harks back to that era, and Modern-Day Cowgirl's Dream lives up to its title with a more present-day country sound. Memories of the writer's grandfather unfold on the mystical Leon ('I think I saw Ole Leon; he was walking down the road where the river meets the sunset, holding his hat, and moving slow'). The cutting song, Cut Your Check, was written ten years ago while she went through a divorce and traumatic times also inspired No Way Around It, which speaks about addiction and mental illness. On an album with few, if any, lines wasted, its deepest cut is the stunning Seventeen. Telling the tale of a close friend whom Montgomery witnessed drowning, its heart-wrenching story is beautifully articulated. 

The angelic pureness of Montgomery's country-edged vocals, supported by superb playing and production, translates into a mesmerising musical journey from start to finish.  

Review by Declan Culliton 

Nora Jane Struthers Back To Cast Iron Self Release

Another album under the pandemic umbrella, but one laced with positivity and truthfulness, BACK TO CAST IRON plays out like diary entries as Virginia-born Nora Jane Struthers details the anxieties and positivity of those unsettling times. The overriding theme that the album imparts is one of combining motherhood and a professional career in the music industry, and Struthers articulates the matter with openness and tenderness. 

Currently living in Nashville, Struthers called on the services of Neilson Hubbard, as she had done on her two previous records, to produce BACK TO CAST IRON and credit is due to him for achieving a most impressive end result. Struthers possesses a classic modern country voice, and her perfect punctuation, alongside a gentle quiver, breathes life into the ten homegrown stories that unfold. Her multi-instrumentalist husband, Joe Overton, played pedal steel guitar and banjo and added backing vocals. Stephen Daly’s electric guitar work is standout, as are the contributions by Lex Price and Juan Solorzano on bass and Hubbard on keys and drums. 

Struthers opens and bookends the album with two unflinching statements: the powerful Is it Hope and the jubilant Back On The Road. The complications and anxieties associated with childbirth are not often addressed in songwriting. Still, the title track does just that, with Struthers recalling her experience as a baby-weaning mother while she and her husband worked towards their second embryo transfer. That reference to family, frequently addressed on the record, also fuels Children They Need You (All Of The Time). It’s a joy to behold, a classic country song written from the often rollercoaster demands of a mother and professional artist. She flirts with bluegrass on Trying To Get Ready, written during lockdown as she prepared for the birth of her son and the return to normality.

Nora Jane Struthers’ talent and potential have been evident since her 2010 self-titled debut album, and BACK TO CAST IRON is a career highlight. It ticks many boxes, combining Lucinda Williams-styled rawness and earthiness on some of the more raucous tracks with sweetness and melody on others that bring to mind the work of Kelly Willis - heartwarming country music of the purest kind.

Review by Declan Culliton 

Jaime Wyatt Feel Good New West 

Never one to be pigeon-holed in one genre and an Outlaw in the real sense, Jaime Wyatt's musical output has flirted with country, soul and R&B. Her 2017 record, FELONY BLUES, could be best described as 'beauty born out of chaos' and the Shooter Jennings' produced NEON CROSS from 2020, was a country edged affair that gained Wyatt a lot of love and acclaim.  

Her latest album, FEEL GOOD, is more Dusty and Bobby G than Dolly and Loretta. The album title may be good advice aimed in the direction of her queer country community or may reflect Wyatt's current state of mind. Still, her confessional lyrics on the album reference love won and lost, together with the ongoing social issues of racism, sexual inequality and gun violence. 

'I've been down and out but never fallen. Love is a place I've never known; I'd like to go, and would you take me there?' she asks in Love Is A Place. Directed at another woman and openly seeking her affection, it's a statement by an artist openly and confidently expressing her sexuality. It's immediately followed by heartbreak with the luxuriant and soulful outpouring on Hold Me One Last Time; it marries horns, gospel-like backing vocals and a ripping rhythm section. 

'I wanna show them the mountains and say, drink from the clear spring water, fresh from the mountain top… and Mother Nature is raising her voice, by hurricane, fire and wind, do you feel me?' she announces on the opener World Worth Keeping. A plea from the heart and a reaction to 'profit at all cost' society, it harks back to the late 60s - Jefferson Airplane's Revolution comes to mind - but with a modern spin. That '60s counterculture also raises its head by including a cover of Grateful Dead's Althea. The selection is a reminder of the numerous GD concerts attended by Wyatt with her late father, who was a long-time friend of founding member Bob Weir. That '60s sound is deployed throughout much of the album, emphasised by driving keys, piano and organ, credited to Joshy Soul and Josh Strauther, and brilliant guitar playing by eight-time Grammy nominee and Black Pumas member Adrian Quesada, who also produced the album. Other highlights are the nostalgic Back To The Country and Fugitive, the latter written in a Covid-induced fever. 

FEEL GOOD is noticeably more groove and melody-driven than Wyatt's previous work. Her vocals are as assured as ever, earthy and soulful, but sonically, she pushes out the boundaries spectacularly well. Making good on the promise of her previous recordings, the project reveals an artist celebrating self-assurance and brimming with confidence. She's raised the bar some distance here with a standout record that deserves to be heard by many.

Review by Declan Culliton

AC Wallin Sweet Revenge Self Release

Such a refreshing experience to plug into a second solo outing from the multi-talented A.C. Wallin. On this follow up to his 2021 debut USELESS HEART, the multi-instrumentalist plays everything on these ten tracks and delivers an album this is very engaging and enjoyable. Including various guitars, bass, 6-string banjo, programmed drums and all vocals, Wallin clearly spent a lot of time in getting the various parts down to his satisfaction in the studio. The seamless interplay of the instruments is impressive and delivers an authentic rootsy vibe in the process.

Based in Sweden, where there is a healthy country music scene, Wallin is part of a growing number of independent artists who are encouraged to create and perform. His attention to detail in the songs is very refreshing and his ability to write clever words adds character to the overall feel of this project. Road Hot kicks everything off in fine style as touring time comes around in the wake of Covid and the band need to get back in the van ‘I dug up our old stage clothes, And got us a gig in the next town over, From there we'll just keep on going, Rockin' and rollin' on.’ Gold Plated Blues follows with a great swing to the beat and a song about the secrets that we keep ‘What folks don't know, Goes on at night, Behind closed doors, And out of sight, Who's foolin' who? What's tempting you?’

In A Perfect World is rough and raw while capturing the acoustic blues of dreaming about the girl who is just out of reach ‘If you can't make it happen, Well, you sure can dream.’ The essence of People Who Call Themselves Your Friend is the reality of insincerity and falseness in others ‘They like to nestle themselves into your heart, Like some kind of invasive weed that's overtaken the garden, You'll find yourself going along, With all of their wishes, They constantly hurt you, And then ask for forgiveness.’ The guitar playing is superb in the song arrangement.

Fast-Track the Heartbreak is a tongue-in-cheek ditty with a real western swing as Wallin declares ‘I got all these memories to go through, I got all these tears to cry, No need to make the pain drag on, No need to waste more time, Can't we just fast-track the heartbreak and get to goodbye?’ This is a real country classic in the making and I can see many top-line artists wanting to cover the song. Payment Plans and Back Rent looks at the conundrum facing many musicians, whether to fix up that old guitar, buy new equipment, or just try to pay the monthly bills instead, ‘Payment plans and back rent, And you know it's just my luck, I bought a JCM 800 head, the week before the band broke up.’

What Can I Do To Help? Is a song that filters worries over global warming and feelings of being overwhelmed by it all, whereas Right Hand Man takes away all such concerns by stating that ‘ You've been making easy mistakes, You've been getting pretty sloppy lately, You need someone who got what it takes, To keep things from getting too crazy.’ The title track is another country blues swing tune that channels feelings of getting even ‘That sweet revenge won't mean nothing, It won't do a thing, so they say, Sweet revenge, I'll just try it for myself, Because I don't know if I see it that way.’

The final track Going Nowhere is another clever song that speaks of being an individual and believing in yourself always ‘I was going nowhere and I got there fast, They couldn't believe their eyes the way I hauled ass, Lightning speed the way I blew right past.’ Just about sums up A.C. Wallin in my view, intent on making a difference and enjoying the ride all along the way. Another excellent album to add to his impressive catalogue and one that you should explore at all costs.

Review by Paul McGee

Cameron Wrinkle in My Heaven Self-Release

A new Texas country singer and one of a number who are releasing these mini-albums of seven or eight tracks. This one opens with a song, I’ve Got A Thang, that initially sounds like it could easily fall into the trap of songs with superficial mentions of girls in jeans and cars. However, Wrinkle and the band’s delivery is energetic enough to make you stick with it, which proves to be a good choice. The songs show that his heart is solidly in traditional country with some 90s overtones. His voice fits the genre like a pair of well-worn boots and a cowboy hat.

Wrinkle is a co-writer of four of the songs, and the others seem well suited to his sound and country leanings. The band is right up there with him in terms of committing to the material and direction. They can handle a more melodic mid-tempo swing-styled track like The Day You Walked In, which alongside several of the songs takes the well-trodden path of heartbreak and balances with the unbridled lust of the opening track. The rest fall between those two points with titles like Takin’ This Leaving Too Far, I Wasn’t Through Loving’ You Yet, and the more regretful tale of a once “life of the party” participant who now realises that now I Can’t Take Me Anywhere. In My Heaven is a song that references the many things that fall into his definition of his own personal heaven, rather than the one that he heard in church, such as watching a sunset from a porch, not having to deal with politics, the Super Bowl, John Wayne and his grandpa who has passed away. It’s not an original concept but one that suggests that his sincerity is evident. 

The final two cuts are slightly different in tone, with steel and nylon string guitars used to help meet the need to keep a relationship Off The Record. It has a nice female harmony to help define the discretion that may be needed to achieve that. Some more hints of Western Swing underpin the final track Breakfast Of A Fool, which finishes the album with the protagonist again not wanting to set his breakfast alone. However, he is essentially the cause of that situation.

The eight songs open the career of Wrinkle as a recording artist, and it is full of promise in the George Strait style of things. In other words, strong lead vocals, a solid band with fiddle, steel and piano. No doubt, with his good looks and youthful energy, Wrinkle is doing very well on the live circuit, and this debut release will further solidify his appeal. Otherwise, it is a small slice of Texas county served up with all the right ingredients to make it a pointer for good things to come from him and his band.

Review by Stephen Rapid

CS Nielsen Better Times Kørfir 

The latest release from Danish singer/songwriter offers prime examples of his take on Americana influences he incorporates into his music. Two things are immediately apparent in listening to his deep, distinctive vocal delivery and well-crafted material - all written and sung in English. Additionally, his interesting take on Bob Nolan’s Cool Water a much-covered song written back in 1936. It closes this twelve-song set in keeping with his own songs and the album’s overall sound.

He is joined on the recordings (all tracked in Denmark) by producer, mixer and multi-instrumentalist Johnny Sage, Johannes Gissel and Michael Lund, both also adept on numerous instruments as, indeed, is Nielsen himself. Others joined in on keyboards, accordion and backing vocals to bring the necessary depth and textures that sit below Nielsen’s sonorous vocals.

Despite the number of instruments used throughout, they never overpower the songs. All are there to serve the song and its meanings. Overall, it might be considered that there is an acute sense of despair and doubt regarding where we are all heading. That is offset by the album’s title and lead song, which promises hope for all is in better times to come as envisaged by the lyric “Your voice of hope / Borne on the air / Could lift my soul / Above the clouds of despair.” 

Elsewhere, words like “Men will worship bondage and fight to keep their chains / Even make believe it’s liberty they struggle hard to gain” That song Harrowing Of Hell shows an understanding of the human population’s propensity to be its own worst enemy. There is also a strong sense of a biblical vernacular that pervades the lyrics as if Nielsen is a prophet whose role is to understand these challenging times and impart his viewpoint while also sensing the light that may be visible over the horizon, even as there is need to travel a distance to get there. Perhaps that is best witnessed in The Shepherd, a song wherein a harmonica plays over a slow beat and other sonic subtleties to create its mood and message.

But, as in all such scenarios, the overall soundscape will attract and keep one listening while lifting the soul in pure terms of the music here. Those acquainted with Nielsen’s music are unlikely to need further encouragement, and those new to checking out his distinctive approach will find it worth the effort.

Scandinavia has proved to be a rich and diverse setting for roots-based acts like Nielsen and both The Country Sound Of Harmonica Sam and the breakthrough duo First Act Kid. There is an understanding of the music of the country (USA) they draw inspiration from, but that is blended with some of their own folk and roots traditions to create something that has a broad appeal. It is often a case though, that these acts receive little attention, or less anyway, if not from America and its environs.

BETTER TIMES, in the context of this album are here, in terms of its content. It is also a timely testament to Nielsen’s talent. 

Review by Stephen Rapid

Dean Owens Danielle Howle, Bonnie Montgomery, Nora Jane Struthers, Jaime Wyatt, A.C. Wallin, Cameron Wrinkle, and CS Nielsen.

New Album Reviews

Minor Gold Self-Titled Self-Release

Breaking down the barriers between folk and country ballads, ARIA nominated band Minor Gold are Tracy McNeil and Dan Parsons. Having performed in their native Australia for over a decade, this self-titled album has brought them to the attention of music followers far beyond the borders of their homeland. My introduction to the duo was at Americana Fest earlier this year. During their tour of North America, they performed a hugely impressive showcase to a receptive crowd supporting this album at that festival.

The ten songs on the album were written during lockdown while the couple lived in a van, having relocated to Queensland from Victoria. The album was subsequently recorded in Brisbane with the production duties undertaken by Hugh Middleton, the frontman of the trio band Mid Ayr. 

The album combines Gillian Welch/Dave Rawlings styled country ballads, Lover’s Race and Tumbleweed, with other sun-kissed and laid-back melodic Laurel Canyon-fashioned songs like The River and the opener Mona Lisa. Equally impressive are the catchy and radio-friendly Way With Words and Cannonball; the latter could have been plucked from the Simon and Garfunkel songbook. 

What impressed me most at their live show was the exquisite vocal harmonies accompanying their tender and intimate songs. That angelic pureness of their combined vocals is reflected enormously on this album, supported by instrumentation that supports rather than overwhelms the songs. With a front porch ease to much of the material, Minor Gold’s debut album hits the bullseye as a timeless and charming listen.

Review by Declan Culliton

Carla Olson Have Harmony Will Travel 3 BFD/The Orchard

Los Angeles-based songwriter, performer and record producer Carla Olson has worked with many household names over a career dating back to the late 70s. Percy Sledge, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and John Fogerty are a few that she has collaborated with, and her debut recording in 1987 was SO REBELLIOUS A LOVER, the classic duet album with former member of The Byrds, Gene Clark. This recording is the third in a series of covers albums that she has recorded and follows on from her 2022 record NIGHT COMES FALLING, where she worked with Stephen McCarthy of The Long Ryders.

Well-known songs like the Jagger/Richards, Street Fighting Man and Pete Townsend’s I Can See For Miles are included alongside lesser-known selections. Two recently written songs composed by Olson and Allan Clake of The Hollies, It Makes Me Cry and A Love That Never Blooms, also feature; the former finds Olson and Clarke impressively sharing the vocals, the latter has Shawn Barton Vach on lead vocals with Olson on harmonies. 

She’s out of the tracks in rollicking form on the guitar-driven opener In Another Land. Craig Ross (Lenny Kravitz, Broken Holmes) takes the plaudits for some epic guitar playing on the track, and that fervid pace is replicated on Face To Face and the previously noted Street Fighting Man and I Can See For Miles, which follow. Things take a more laid-back direction on the harmonised countryfied track, Stronger. A love-torn ballad written by Shawn Barton Vach, Tonya Lamm and Anne Tkach, Olson’s duet with Robert Rex Waller Jnr. more than does the song justice.

An exciting feature of the album is the inclusion of three previously unreleased live tracks, Gypsy Rider, Del Gato, both of which were included on their REBELLIOUS A LOVER record and Set You Free This Time, recorded with Gene Clarke, which date back to a recording in Nashville on May 30th 1987. Featuring only vocals and guitars by both Olson and Clarke, the vocals perfectly reflect the songs’ moods and are a reminder of the dynamic and heavenly vocals they both possessed. 

HHWT is a delightful listen that should appeal to followers of Carla Olson’s notable career and, with the fifteen minutes of input by Gene Clark, is a must for collectors of whom many consider to be the standout songwriter from The Byrds.  

Review by Declan Culliton 

Stuffy Shmitt Stealin’ Stuff Realistic

‘Expect the unexpected’ is possibly the best advice when approaching the music of the eccentric East Nashville resident Stuffy Shmitt. Following his 2020 pandemic release STUFF HAPPENS and CHERRY from earlier this year, his latest recording finds the ever-restless artist raiding the back catalogue of a diverse range of artists to reconstruct ten songs that fall into place remarkably well.

Growing up in Milwaukee in a dysfunctional and often frenzied family environment, Shmitt moved to New York and Los Angeles, and his near ‘meltdown’ has been well documented by Lonesome Highway in an interview and our previous album reviews of his work.

Now permanently residing in Nashville, which may be considered the mecca of Country and Americana music but can also boast a bohemian collective of musicians and producers, mainly living in East Nashville, that also thrive on the more experimental and abstract. Shmitt is unquestionably central to that community. 

Impossible to pigeonhole, his restless and edgy leanings have resulted in a back catalogue that shifts between rock and an occasional Americana side plate. STEALIN’ STUFF finds him in the main shifting his attention in a ‘down and dirty’ blues direction and raiding the songbooks of legendary artists. Bo Diddley’s Mona has an early Rolling Stones feel, and Lead Belly’s prison work song Take This Hammer gets a rootsy makeover. He does justice to Sam Cooke’s classic Bring It On Home To Me with his tender-hearted rendition, and his livelier take on Robert Johnson’s acoustic blues Ramblin’ On My Mind breathes new life into the song.

When Shmitt turns his attention away from the blues legends of yesteryear, things take on an entirely different backdrop and finds him toying with some unexpected selections. He sticks close to the original version of The Psychedelic Fur’s Here Come The Cowboys, less so with an acoustic take of The Del Fuegos’ I Still Want You. The pick of the crop is an outrageous and eyebrow-raising adaption of Madonna’s Like A Virgin. Bordering on the terrifying, it plays out like the soundtrack to a horror movie that is best watched with hands partially covering the face yet is hugely rewarding despite the induced terror. 

Self-produced and recorded at Wirebird Productions in Madison, Tennessee, the regular collaborators of Shmitt, Irakli Gabriel and Chris Tench (guitars) are credited. Voiceovers were added by locals The Wild Ponies (Doug and Telisha Williams), alongside the late comedian and recording artist Lord Buckley. 

Don’t expect STEALIN’ STUFF to dent the Billboard Charts or feature on your local radio station, but look no further for sheer playfulness, escapism, and a rollicking good listen.

Review by Declan Culliton

Israel Nash Ozarker Loose

Less experimental than his recordings of recent years, OZARKER is the eight-studio album from the Missouri-born artist. Currently residing in Dripping Springs, Texas, having relocated from New York in 2011, Israel Nash built a recording studio on his rural ranch where he recorded some cosmic experimental albums. A slight diversion from LIFTED (2018) and TOPAZ (2021), his latest recording is his most heartland / blue-collar rock album with ten tracks inspired by the people and events from Nash’s small-town Missouri upbringing.

Rather than write the songs in his homemade studio, seeking simplicity over complexity, Nash relocated to Wimberley, Texas, to create the bones of the album. The result is a collection of songs that examine the aspirations and often broken dreams of family, acquaintances and fictional characters often living on the margins of his home state. Some are from first-hand experience, and others from tales recounted to Nash by his mother. 

OZARKER finds Nash following the Springsteen and Petty model with guitar-driven and chorus-charged anthems. The fine title track, complete with Shalalalala’s tingling keyboards and slick guitar solo, certainly echoes Springsteen’s sound and the standout track, Roman Candle, that of Petty. The all too familiar plight of a Vietnam war veteran unable to escape the horrors of war and reintegrate into society is presented in Lost In America, and the desperation and ruination of substance abuse is addressed in Shadowland. 

Whether this venture into heartland rock signals a diversion in Nash’s musical direction or whether he returns to his more sonically exploratory style remains to be seen. Regardless, OZARKER is loaded with intensity and enthusiasm and will likely win Nash new admirers alongside his faithful fanbase.  

Review by Declan Culliton

The Country Side Of Harmonica Sam The Blue Side Of Me Sleazy

When it comes to hearing a perfect contemporary manifestation of classic country, it’s doubtful that you will find better than The Country Side Of Harmonica Sam, an ensemble  - for they are that and not just a singer and backing band - whose talent, understanding and love for the genre are apparent throughout this album as they have been, indeed, through all their releases. Though hailing from Sweden, this really hasn’t a great deal of bearing on the music they play (although that whole region has long had a strong connection with the traditional country formula, more than any others in Europe). They stand easily alongside their USA counterparts who equally share a passion for the music’s heyday. Think of the likes of Sean Burns, The Shootouts, Joshua Hedley, The Malpass Brothers, Wild Earp, Brennen Leigh or Jake Penrod; all of whom reflect back on the time when the music was inspirational and identifiable. They find an affinity in the music that imbues them, and not only in the music, but also in the clothing they choose to wear onstage and the graphics they use on their album sleeves. They offer a complete package that leaves no doubt where their hearts lie.

Penrod, who has released excellent albums in his own right, contributes a couple of the songs here that were not featured on his last releases, and show his talent has not diminished. Another writer involved is Theo Lawrence, who had a hand in five of the songs. He is a French artist who also releases his own albums and is another devotee to the form. But the longest running contributor to the band’s repertoire is Dan Englund, a talented writer who can pen songs that fit the genre’s mode well, but who himself has just formed a band called The Worried Minds to play indie-rock - obviously a versatile and adaptable writer. Harmonica Sam has always picked a number of covers to include on these recordings and this time out its material from Justin Tubb, Wayne Walker, Ben Parsons, Betty Jean Lewis, Ronnie Self and the inestimable Harlan Howard.

The album was recorded by David Carlsson in Malmo, Sweden and it again features the talented team of Peter Andersson on pedal steel, Johan Bandling Melin on lead guitar and vocals, upright bassist Ulrick Jansson (who also mixed the album with Carlsson) and Patrick Malmros on drums. They are joined by Thyme van Lassen on fiddle and Peter Barrelled on piano, to round out the recorded sound. Everyone knows what to aim for and they consistently hit the target. It is akin to taking a step back into a hallowed studio like Quonset Hut from the 1950s - but with a sound that is still as resonant today.

However, that’s all window dressing if the sound from these recordings doesn’t feel right. You can authenticate the looks and sounds but you also need the material that is still largely now, as it was then, about the finding, keeping, losing or abusing the universal emotional and physical aspects of love. The melding of complex and simple emotions are given their sense of belief by the band’s wholehearted performance and energy. Having been together for some years now, there is that instant rapport between each player that is topped by Sam’s vocal presence that is perfectly suited to each song. The band’s name comes from the fact that Sam was a noted blues singer and harmonica player for a good few years before decided to let his “country side” out on the town. There is much that is still affiliated with the blues here, as there was in a lot of early country music, and that experience shows in the way he delivers the essential humanity and belief here. He may be back to the blue side, but he’s definitely keeping it country!

Review by Stephen Rapid

The Equatorial Group Sea Self Release

Album number four in a steadily climbing career that sees the Equatorial Group continue to enhance their growing reputation. Their gently melodic sound has been quietly fashioned ever since a debut EP titled ELVIS appeared in 2017. In the same year a self-titled debut album was released, with 13 songs and a glimpse of the talent that would blossom into their dynamic interplay and engaging music. The term Americana is too widely used these days and does not always capture the essence of a specific sound or do justice to the artist. The character of Equatorial Group could best be summed up by suggesting an alternative term such as Anglicana, which mirrors the very strong sense of identity within the creative collective, something that defines this band.

Two further albums, APRICITY (2018) and FALLING SANDS (2019) followed their debut and established the band as firm favourites in their seaside town of Eastbourne and further afield. Covid put a temporary halt to their building momentum but the band didn’t just sit back and wait for the lockdown to pass. They recorded an EP of cover songs and continued to demo and create new music between August 2020 and August 2023 at various locations and rehearsal rooms around their home base. They emerged with a reset button having taken the time to create new music, visited unfinished songs and reworked ideas in their creative process.

With a stellar line up of quality musicians, this is music of real substance and deserving of a much wider audience. They paint from a palette of colours that is compelling in the creation and the delivery. Rich melodies intertwine with beautifully constructed arrangements and understated rhythm. It is a very satisfying album on many fronts with an easy flow that spreads out across these ten songs. A fine-tuned interplay between the band members elevates everything to a level that sets a high bar and delivers much of what was hinted at on previous releases. Here we have a greater maturity expressed in the woven parts and a growing understanding developed between the players.

The interpretation of songs is always something that engages the listener. The sense of some mystery and being open to meaning will often result in a different message to what generated the initial spark for the writers. These songs are full of cryptic hints into what could be contained within. Whether inhabiting a persona of imagined characters, or coming from a place of personal reflection, the joy of discovery remains a key component. The standout Liberated Steel has the lyric  ‘There are words about proportionate regret, And these are fights that we haven’t had yet, I hold your hand and pray you’ll never grow old, That’s a dream we’ve just been sold.’ The song could be about youthful dreams, idealism and naivety in equal measure. It contains a fine guitar-led song dynamic with the bass driving the arrangement forward.

Elsewhere the songs reflect interesting insights into the human condition and experiences that filter the world outside. Fire reflects on the loss of a family pet and the haunting image in the words ‘Scattered ashes in the woods, today.’ Equally the song Feet leaves a strong impression with the lines ‘ Are words on cardboard louder than opinionated men, Stand up to your fathers, Stand up with your friends.’ It’s a song that channels protest and defending what you hold to be true. Falling is a song about an absent lover and a failed relationship with distant pedal steel complimenting the guitar playing and the sense of loneliness. Final track Colourful is an older song that captures a sense of isolation and feeling separate. There is a sense of loss and of opening up to naked emotion ‘Make these lazy bones decide, Where to turn and who to turn to.. Does the song make you whole again.’

Throughout, the level of musicianship is top drawer and the cutting edge is often the lyrical guitar playing of Dave Davies, inventive and gliding across the rhythm and melody set by the other band members.  As an ensemble they work seamlessly, whether the lush keyboard sound of Twe Fox, the inventive pedal steel and guitar of Helen Weeks or the impressive engine room of Andy Tourle on bass and Neil Grimes on drums. Self- produced by the band with lead vocals shared across the songs by Helen Weeks and Dave Davies this is a worthy addition to any record collection and comes highly recommended.

Review by Paul McGee

Regina Ferguson Fortune Self Release

A debut album from Carolina native Regina Ferguson and one that makes a clear statement of intent. Currently based in Los Angeles where she developed a reputation as a singer of some note in various venues around the city, Ferguson met up with producer Matt Linesch to deliver these nine tracks that span the spectrum of traditional country, americana and radio friendly tunes. Opener Through the Pines has a pleasant melody and is a song that talks about trying to move on but getting drawn back to that home space where everything makes sense. Two Reasons looks at wanting a lover yet trying to reconcile feelings of holding back ‘ How do you know how deep a river flows if you don't dive in, How do you know how deep a heartache if you don't give in.’

American Made catalogues more relationship challenges and the doubt that creeps in ‘'I’ve been lookin' for a sign to bring me to the light, I'm fading in and out of you.’ The musicians get the opportunity to stretch out on this arrangement with some very cool electric guitar backed by warm keyboard fills, ending with simple piano. Carolinas is about a short summer romance that was fun in passing the time but never had the chance to build ‘ You told me everything there was to know on the first night, By the second night there wasn't much left to say, We just sat there with a bottle of wine, I needed company and you were just fine.’

Regina is a fine singer with a very clear vocal tone that leads from the front in these song arrangements. The studio players are excellent and the synergy between them is effortless. Many of the instrumental augmentations are nicely judged and never grandstand in terms of the song structures. The session players include Samuel Babayan (guitars), Fernando Perdomo (electric guitar), Aaron Embry (piano, Hammond b3 organ), Brett Simons (bass), Griffin Goldsmith (drums), and Ben Peeler (pedal steel, lap steel guitar).

The title song is about following your dreams and trying to make it in the big city. The music industry can be as tough as it gets, and having a self-belief is vital. There is something of Sheryl Crow in the delivery on Pearlblossom ‘Every now and then I get tired of the wrong thing baby, but it feels so right.’ Plenty to enjoy in the upbeat melodies and seasoned playing. Regina is a natural performer in her confidence and delivery, and this album will hit home with listeners who like an easy sense of having a good time and dancing to sweet country sounds with a beer and a friend.

Review by Paul McGee

Jeffrey Martin Thank God We Left the Garden Loose

It’s been a few years since the last release from Jeffrey Martin, (2017’s ONE GO AROUND), and for someone who reflects upon the pulse of these times in his intimate songs, that has been far too long away from the spotlight. Covid has come and gone in the meantime and the impact upon all our lives has been immeasurable on so many levels. If Martin pondered upon the brevity of life on his previous album and how this is no dress rehearsal, then this new release is a celebration of that fact that embracing each day is truly what matters. There is real clarity in the focus. It’s like the title of the album is really declaring that the garden of Eden is all around us if we only take the time to look and put aside our singular fears and apprehensions in daily living.

There is a deep humanity running through the music of Jeffrey Martin and it touches every corner in the quiet messages that it brings. Pondering the great questions of who are we and why are we here is at the source of these eleven songs. Recorded in a small shack in his garden, Martin had to wait until late at night for silence to prevail in the neighbourhood, the Portland suburbs dictating when there was sufficient quiet to record. It features Jeffrey on acoustic guitar and a few basic microphones, and sets a very intimate environment for this simple approach and atmospheric acoustics. John Neuman adds guitar on three of the songs in addition to co-producing the final record and it’s a great tribute to both musicians to say that they captured the essence of the songs perfectly.

There are traces of the late John Prine on the stand-out There Is A Treasure and the reflections of a life lived in the vastness of the universe, and our place in it. Elsewhere the laid back style of the song arrangements displays the lyricism of Jeffrey Martin on guitar and it lulls the listener into a recognition of the familiar with the sensitivity running through these songs. Are we not all just getting by, going the best we can and trying to grapple with fate and circumstance on a daily basis? There is an understanding here of the similarities we share and not the things that pull us apart and separate us out. Daylight speaks about a faith in the great unknown and the respite that morning can bring from the ghosts of the lonely nights. Red Station Wagon is a memory of days gone by and the lessons learned from failing a friend in need; the memories of callow youth haunting the present.

I Didn’t Know tackles the questions of family life and growing up with parents that are making the best of their situation ‘I didn’t know that they didn’t know what they were doing.’ A story that mirrors in the lives of children who are growing up and realising that their parents don’t hold all the answers. The uncharted future is captured in the lines ‘I laid in bed wondering what was already written and who gets to decide where I go.’ A powerful image of the uncertainty of life and the impermanence that informs everything. The song Garden deals with internal issues and whether anybody really knows another, feelings of loneliness rising to the surface and reflecting ‘I want to find out for certain if I’m here on purpose… ending with the message that ‘In my mind, there’s a garden.’

The final song Walking sums up the sense that we are all just passing through. Martin noting in his nocturnal reflections ‘We’ll be gone with nothing, the same way that we came, so I go out walking.’ A simple solution to the conundrum of life, live in the moment and try not to let the weight of the big questions lay too heavily upon your shoulders. A beautiful album and an essential purchase.

Review by Paul McGee

Norma MacDonald In Waves Self Release

Yet another superb album from the excellent Norma MacDonald, a singer songwriter at the height of her powers. With impressive production courtesy of Daniel Ledwell and a supporting band of musicians who turn these ten songs into real gems, this album is certainly a new peak in a career that has seen Norma release five previous albums of impressively high standards. She expands her colour palette of sound here with echoes of 60s Motown surfacing in some of the lovely harmony vocals and the lush arrangements.

The studio players include Norma (lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar), Adam Fine (bass), Jodi Comstock (drums), Nick Maclean (electric and acoustic guitar), producer Daniel Ledwell (keyboards, mellotron, pedal steel, “electronics”), Rachel Bruch (violin), with both Carmel Mikol and Melanie Stone adding backing vocals on four songs. The musical arrangements soar across the songs and the sense of timeless reverie is perfectly captured in the beautiful vocals of Norma. Her tone is soothingly seductive and the intonation just perfect on each performance.

Co-Star is a song that lingers, with a beautiful melody and a softly wistful vocal to conjure up images of a past memory that will not leave. Blues and Greens is another example of Norma’s knowing ability to create a sense of atmosphere perfectly in her delivery. The change of gears on Eastern To Atlantic is really like a palate cleanser between main courses and is a sweetly sad acoustic ballad that surrounds a sense of longing with missing someone across the miles. Absolutely gorgeous.

Glass Flowers has a 60s feel to the song and reminded me of Dusty Springfield in the vocal inflections. Same Mistake reflects upon a failed relationship and a determination not to fall into old habits. The string arrangement is very layered and the inclusion of brass sounds gives the song a big screen soulful production. Final song Rescue Mission is a perfect coda in the laid-back tempo and the gentle melody coupled with pedal steel and subtle rhythm. This artist is deserving of much greater recognition for the consistently high musical standards she achieves and on this latest album Norma really has knocked it out of the park. One of the albums of 2023.

Review by Paul McGee

MINOR GOLD, Carla Olson, Stuffy Shmitt, Israel Nash, The Country Side of Harmonica Sam, The Equatorial Group Jeffrey Martin, Norma MacDonald Music

New Album Reviews

Restos Ain’t Dead Yet Self Release

Fans of Austin, Texas band Western Youth will be pleased to hear that five members of that popular six-piece band have resurrected themselves after a hiatus of five years and recorded a debut album under the name of Restos. That title is Spanish for ‘remains’ and the band members that feature are Graham Weber (vocals, guitars), Mark Nathan (lead guitar), Chris Spencer (bass), Sam Powell (keys) and Brian Bowe (drums). Also contributing vocals on four of the album’s ten tracks is Jaimee Harris, adding to her busy schedule having released her album, BOOMERANG TOWN earlier this year.

Very much a team effort in respect of the songwriting, there’s little wildly original on the album’s ten tracks, simply a bunch of guys laying down some high-octane rock and roll and giving off the vibe that they’re having the time of their lives doing so. The opener Wild Heart is a full-on rocker written in memory of their close friend and singer songwriter Chris Porter, who tragically lost his life in a car crash in 2016 while touring with his band, Porter and the Bluebonnet Rattlesnakes (‘Wish I could shake your hand one more time, I can’t take your place and you can’t take mine’). That unbridled pace is maintained on the pulsating Wild As The Wind and Faded Love is cut from a similar cloth, while the slower groove on the title track brings to mind the melodic sound of The Byrds, with Harris’ vocals blending sweetly with Weber’s.

Co-produced by the band and Charles Godfrey (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cody Jinks, Whiskey Myers, Dropkick Murphys) and recorded at Jim Eno’s (Spoon) Public Hi-Fi in Austin, Texas, AIN’T DEAD YET lives up to its title and reunites a bunch of players that simply play head down Texan rock and roll.

Review by Declan Culliton

Cruz Contreras Cosmico Cosmico

Like so many others who used the downtime imposed by the pandemic for reflection and contemplation, Cruz Contreras focus was diverted from his work with the various projects he had previously been involved with and he concentrated on writing, mixing and recording this debut solo album. A founding member of Knoxville, Tennessee band The Black Lillies, Robinella and the CCstringband, Contreras set up shop at Cider Mountain in Northern Idaho where he recorded this nine-track record under the watchful eyes of co-producers and long-time friends of Contreras, Megan McCormick (Jenny Lewis, Allison Russell, Amanda Fields) and Ethan Ballinger (Miranda Lambert, Lee Ann Womack).

Given the quality of the album and his previous projects, it comes as somewhat of a surprise to learn that Contreras confesses to a lack of artistic confidence that delayed this solo venture. Very much in cosmic country territory, Cosmico examines the life changing episodes that Contreras encountered during the past few years, from the passing of his father in 2018, his own recent marriage, the birth of his son, and the demise, temporarily or otherwise, of The Black Lillies.  

Sonically the album covers quite a lot of ground, from the relaxed to the more spacey and experimental. The title track - possibly a reminded by the writer to himself - is a melodic ballad, all the better for some slick layered vocals and an addictive groove that was embedded in my mind for some time. Similarly paced are the Leonard Cohen-sounding Separate Minds and the breezy Breaking A Habit, the latter no doubt referencing the breakup of The Black Lillies and the challenges of making a clean break with this project. On the flipside Doin’ Time finds Contreras and his crew rocking out and Call Me Crazy is a spacious affair with swirling keyboards and guitars perfectly consistent with the track’s title and sentiment. 

An album that sounds timeless and one that is not possible to pigeon hole in any one genre, COSMICO does steer away from the overcrowded car park that Americana can presently be accused of. With a perfect blend of soulful songs, deep grooves and unexpected rough edges, it’s an eyebrow-raising musical experience and a most successful solo venture by Contreras.

Review by Declan Culliton

Chris Stamey The Great Escape Schoolkids

With a curriculum vitae that includes forming the dynamic New York power pop band The dB’s, playing alongside Alex Chilton, founding the New York record label Car Records, producing albums by Whiskeytown, Alejandro Escovedo, Caitlin Cary, and releasing numerous solo albums, Chris Stamey can boast legendary status in power pop and roots music.

Enjoying a purple patch in recent years as a recording artist, THE GREAT ESCAPE is Stamey’s fifth full-length album in the past decade and with fourteen tracks featured in just under fifty-five minutes, it is packed with hook-filled songs. The final track is interestingly titled Credits, and with an instrumental version of the title track in the background, it includes a spoken-word acknowledgement by Stamey of the numerous musical contributors and others who assisted in bringing the album to fruition. Interestingly, the first player credited is pedal steel player Eric Haywood, whose playing has featured on numerous alt-country acts from Son Volt to Alejandro Escovedo. Stamey credits Haywood’s presence on stage with Escovedo - Stamey was musical director on Escovedo’s 2017 tour - as one of the prime motivators for this album.

Very much recalling the classic ‘pop meets roots’ style of the mid to late 60s when a cross-pollination of American and British modes inspired acts such as The Byrds and The Hollies, Stamey nails that electric guitar-driven sound to perfection. Tracks like The Sweetheart Of The Video and I Will Try are prime examples, the former a six-minute gem and album highlight for this writer, the latter written as a modern-day no-holes-barred wedding song. The opener and title track, complete with slick guitar breaks, hand claps and flawless harmonies, had me hitting the repeat button on the first spin and Realize, which follows, is equally impressive. A cover of Alex Chilton/Tommy Hoehn’s, She Might Look My Way, keeps faith with the original version, and he pays homage to the legendary producer Van Dyke Parks in the light-hearted The One And Only. Despite the numerous musicians and backing vocalists that Stamey called on, there remains remarkable connectivity on much of the material. Dear Friend is a heartfelt reach out to those who may be at a low point emotionally and could be a response to the sorrowful (A Prisoner Of This) Hopeless Love.

A timeless and smile-inducing album from start to finish, it includes a vast crew of contributors yet blends coherently. Rather than list those contributors, I highly recommend you check out this album and allow Chris Stamey to introduce them, one and all, as he does on the aforementioned album closer, Credits.

Reviewed by Declan Culliton 

Jason Hawk Harris Thin Places Bloodshot

 LOVE & THE DARK, the 2019 album from Jason Hawk Harris, dealt with themes of personal disarray and grief from his mother’s passing, his father’s company bankruptcy, and his own personal issues with substance abuse. Those dark and painful landscapes and recovery and rehabilitation also dominate his latest recording, THIN PLACES. ‘I wanted to explore every part of grief with this album, not just the devastating moments,’ explains Harris on this nine-track record that moves seamlessly between soul, roots and country. Eight of the tracks are originals with Warren Zevon’s Keep Me In Your Heart For A While, appropriately covered.

Harris’ musical career has been checkered. He studied classical music theory and composition and played guitar with the alt-folk band The Snow Ponies before the launch of his solo career. Currently residing in Austin, Texas, Harris recorded the album at Andy Freeman’s Studio Punch Up in Nashville.  Harris played vocals, guitars and harmonium with contributions by guest players Phil Glenn (strings, piano), Kevin Brown (drums, percussion) and Adam ‘Ditch’ Kurtz (pedal steel). Andy Freeman played bass alongside his production duties, and backing vocals are credited to Kristina Murray, Natalie Nicoles and Leeann Skoda.

The contrast in many songs reflects a ‘topsy-turvy’ mindset, possibly reflecting the highs and lows that motivated the writing. Harris navigates from the defiant and frenetic I’m Getting By to the rejoiceful So Damn Good, and from the ‘hymn-like’ Jordan And The Nile and the light-hearted Bring Out The Lilies. Despite these often-contradictory chapters, the bottom line is an album that is very much the sum of its parts and, as a result, warrants an uninterrupted listen from start to finish.

Given the backdrop that challenged Harris to tackle his demons, musically he confronts those adversities in a buoyant manner.  All in all, a hugely impressive album that requires several listens to penetrate, but it is well worth the time invested in doing so.

Reviewed by Declan Culliton

Dylan LeBlanc Coyote ATO

A welcome addition to his excellent back catalogue, COYOTE follows on from two standout recordings from the Louisiana-born artist Dylan Le Blanc. RENEGADE from 2019 and CAUTIONARY TALE from three years prior marked him as one of the most significant artists to emerge in the Americana/Alt-Country genres in the past decade.

His latest project, possibly semi-autobiographical in its gist, is a concept album built around a character who exists very much on the edge, trying to straighten himself out but caught at a crossroads between a life of petty criminality and attempted rehabilitation. The album’s compelling and melodic sound and Le Blanc’s distinct vocals stick close to the signature sound of his previous work, so why change a winning formula? Its title relates to a bizarre near ‘life or death’ experience encountered by LeBlanc. Having climbed a cliff face in Austin, Texas - no reason is given for the unusual escapade - he came face to face with a racoon being chased by a coyote. Fortunately, following a ‘stare off’; the animals departed, averting what could have been an unhappy ending.

A multi-instrumentalist, LeBlanc played electric and acoustic guitars on the album and called on some crack session players to join him in the studio. Keyboards are credited to Jim ‘Moose’ Brown (Bob Seger), Fred Eltringham (Ringo Starr, Sheryl Crow), who played drums and bass guitarist Seth Kaufman (Lana Del Rey) completed the rhythm section. The Secret Sisters added backing vocals, and the project was recorded at Fame Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

We’re introduced to the central character Coyote in the opening and title track as he heads across the border to Mexico to set up a shady deal (‘I’m off to a new land, gonna steal a rich man’s gold, gonna take what’s mine’). Closin’ In, which follows, is a drug-fuelled reminisce of love lost or squandered. Dark Waters and Dust articulate his perilous journey and recollect his checkered past. More tender sentiments emerge on the gorgeous and standout track, No Promises Broken. Cut from a similar cloth; the protagonist considers his fortunes on the wistful Human Kind.

LeBlanc’s output has consistently brought to mind early career Neil Young and COYOTE is no exception. However, far from a pretender, this treasure chest of songs merits favourable comparison with much of Young’s work. Mirroring the author’s transition from an angry young man, who by his own admission survived a chaotic lifestyle, to a mature and ‘at peace’ thirty-something-year-old, COYOTE is DeBlanc’s most perceptive and compelling work to date, further revealing an artist on his commute to master craftsman status.  It is one of the most satisfying listens of the year for this writer and highly recommended. 

Reviewed by Declan Culliton

John Baumann Border Radio Self-Release 

Location plays a big part in the writing of John Baumann, a Texas singer-songwriter who has had cuts by mainstream artists like Kenny Chesney but has equally had his work recorded by the Randy Rogers Band. Whilst his music sits on that border between country and a more singer-songwriter aesthetic, he has previously noted the lack of something more authentically country on his song The Country Doesn’t Sound The Same from a previous album. He has a half dozen earlier releases to his name that have seen him grow as an artist along the way. The first of these, a five-track EP titled WEST TEXAS VERNACULAR, points to an interest in his home state for some time. He grew up in San Antonio but honed his talent in Austin. He has also worked with the Panhandlers (a collective of fellow writers and singers he sings and records with occasionally).

Baumann is joined here on this Dwight A Baker-produced collection by a selection of players who included the noted artist in his own right, Jedd Hughes, on electric guitar. Everyone else holds up their end too, on the nine self-written songs. Material that has a warmth in its delivery fits the location of much of the material and his vocal delivery overall. The writing details situations that, in Baumann’s hands, fall on the right side of the mainstream sense of what might be considered acceptable to radio - that is down to detail and nuance. 

Gold El Camino opens the album in a familiar cruising with a girl in the front seat car mode enthusing, “baby, let’s take a ride.” Sweeter is Reviving Engines, River Street offers the conundrum of what’s a boy to do “when there’s trouble to be found.” Opening with a hint, to these ears, of a Beatles’ song memory at the start, South Texas Tradition sets up an ongoing modus of custom and whereabouts for the album. The title track follows and is a high point and a song full of longing and landscape. It takes that often-mentioned broadcasting source as a reference to both people and place but in a way that brings you to that place and that time. 

The simplicity of the love song My Heart Belongs To You is all the better for its directness and sincerity. More up-tempo is the accolade to the energies and intentions of that regular night out that is Saturday Night Comes Once A Week; it features a short great piano break midway through. The best title of the album is up next in the sombre The Night Before The Day Of The Dead; that is the consideration of what the ramifications of such a night may mean. Equally laid back is Turning Gold, again detailing an uncertain lifestyle as someone looks to find their place and hopes to see that golden sunset offering something better. Again, Boy’s Town is about a district close to the border, where working men and military personnel can and do go to let off steam and cross the border to an area where solace may be sought in drink and prostitution.

In context, all these songs fit the sense of community and display an overall affinity with the men and women who work and find means to relax in that South Texas region. There is a certain textural quality that pervades the music that brings the listener to feel a similar sense of that location and purpose, and that is also, at times, full of hints of both melancholy and menace but does so in a way that you want to hear the songs again. And that is its strength.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Heather Lynne Horton Get Me To a Nunnery Pauper Sky

The title of Horton’s third solo album may give some clues as to the general influences running through the ten songs included here. It’s a play of words on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, during which he warns Ophelia against her female nature of fickleness and betrayal, telling her to lock herself away from all men in a nunnery, thus avoiding all contact. Horton also references the inspiration that the life of Sinead O’Connor provided to her and how her death in the final days of this album’s completion marked a huge moment. “May the world redeem her” writes Horton in the liner notes and I would rather that the world redeemed itself and embraced Sinead for all the bravery and passion that she showed in speaking out against injustice, in whatever form it presented itself.

There is an instrumental on the album that is dedicated to the memory of Lin Brehmer, the famous DJ at WXRT Chicago, who died this year after a battle with cancer. The track is titled Lin’s Never-Ending Song and it is something of a Magnum Opus for Horton, highlighting all her power on violin in the different passages that paint a colourful requiem to the memory of her friend. The instrumental could just as easily have been dedicated to Sinead O’Connor as it captures the thrilling essence of life and the vibrancy that attracts others to a belief or a cause. As the song slows in tempo and reflects upon it’s more energetic beginning, one is left to remember that the deeds we do indeed live long after we are gone.

Elsewhere the album gives many examples of the constraints suffered in trying to live with compromise in society. There are songs that touch on bigotry, misogyny, racism and abuse such as Ten Times and Call A Spade A Spade .  The subjugation of dreams in sacrifice to another is tackled on the powerful Take Off, and The Flight Of Beatrix, a good witch of love, who flies in the face of danger from angry menfolk, is another example of women being feared by the male of the species. There are songs about losing in love and All This Time observes “We’re here, But I’m alone, I wish I’d never know you.” Equally, on Six Foot the female angst is summed up by “Mom asks how I have agreed to stay, Dad said he knew I’d end up this way, I’d break both my knees if you’d hear me pray, But I won’t ask why anymore.”

There is another song titled I Don’t Like Your Children that takes aim at the Me-Generation and the push for personal gratification above all else, “I don’t like your children, You selfish, spoiled brat, Wasted generation, Who-ever taught you things like that.” The broken promises of youth run their course and we grow into the adults that we embrace. This is a very strong statement from an artist that seeks “to bring uncomfortable ideas into conversation through the medium of music.” 

In this, Horton certainly succeeds and the entire project was recorded during a mid-2022 return from Covid and completed into 2023 in both Pauper Sky Studios, and Transient Sound Studios, Chicago. The musicians joining Horton include her husband Michael McDermott, Will Kimbrough, John Deaderick Matt Thompson and Steven Gillis who contribute on an array of instruments in support of what is a very rich and ethereal sound. Co-production is by both Horton and McDermott and the vocals are layered into warm harmonies and placed high in the mix, with engaging song arrangements throughout. This is a very interesting album and one that ultimately holds a message of empowerment and strength in these challenging times.     

Review by Paul McGee

Old Californio Metaterranea Old Californio

This band hails from Pasadena in California and their sound is close to the classic Country Rock music of the 70s in terms of influence. However, this is not to try and categorise their talent too narrowly as the musicians display a range of expression that is both colourful and compelling in highlighting their songs. On this new album, their sixth since ALONG THE COSMIC GRASS appeared in 2007, there are ten songs that instantly engage this listener and deliver on all fronts. 

We witness the combined talents of Woody Aplanalp and Rich Dembowski on co-production and both musicians also contribute to the vibrant sound on a variety of guitars, bass, lap steel and both lead and harmony vocals. Long-time member Justin Smith shares drumming duties with Anthony Logerfo (three tracks) and Lon Hayes (one track), while bassist Corey McCormick appears on five tracks. With the very expressive Jon Niemann on keyboards throughout, there are further cameo appearances from Jason Chesney (vocals), Paul Lacques (lap steel), and Andres Renteria (congas).

There is a message of celebration and positivity on this album. The bright production, the lovely harmonies, the interplay across the melodies, and echoes of the Beach Boys intertwine. It’s as if Old Californio are aiming for that original hippie dream, brought into a modern context. They conjure up the past, looking back to old traditions, and also forwards into new beginnings. Psychedelic Country music borne again. The album opens with Old Kings Road a song that looks back at the El Camino Real, “The King's Highway.” A 600-mile trail that connects the 21 Spanish missions in California, from San Diego all the way to Mission San Francisco Solano in Sonoma, just north of San Francisco Bay,  ‘It’s that California sound, it’s got a mediterranean soul, And it echoes down the raveling years along the old kings road’

On the song Destining Again the band talks about the importance of the journey, and not the actual destination, stating “Like Sisyphus I gotta keep my rock, keep it rolling.” Come Undone looks at life as a continuum and includes the message ‘And though the past has passed, it’s not behind you, The soul keeps no curfew, And where you finish everything begins, And everything else starts where you end.’

The circle of existence is pondered on The Swerve and the reality of not being in control as human beings is part of Timeless Things, the process of letting go being the true answer to living. The rocking sound of The Seer recalls The Grateful Dead with a message of living in the moment. Tired For A Sea examines the superficial lives that many live, always seeking the safety of a bridge while the depths of the sea await exploration below. Taking a deep dive into yourself can only bring enlightenment and greater reward. 

Through The Days (And Past All Nights) is another message of hope, with both proportion and commitment being important measures to a balanced life. Just Like A Cloud finishes off the album with a full-on Crazy Horse workout on guitars and an end to the journey that returns to the source of it all, the energy of the absolute that endures in mother nature. A superbly crafted release that will resonate with anybody who enjoys timeless music.

Review by Paul McGee

Matthew Check Without A Throne Self Release

Once a member of Gangstagrass, a band that mix classic bluegrass and rap vocals, Check now lives in NYC, and releases this seven song EP as a follow up to his 2020 album THE CONDESA QUEEN. A few live releases followed more recently and this EP includes tracks that engage the listener. His style is reminiscent of classic 70s artists and the music includes rockers like What A Father Would Do (Absalom), country classics (Pretty Mama), and slower ballads (The Shape It Appears). There is some nice pedal steel courtesy of Thomas Bryan Eaton and piano melody from John Pahmer. Because You Can is another fine song that shows off the band in full flight and is reminiscent of CSNY in their prime.

Review by Paul McGee

Restos, Cruz Contreras, Chris Stamey, Jason Hawk Harris, Dylan LeBlanc, John Baumann, Heather Horton, Old Californio

New Album Reviews

Josh Gray Walk Alone CRS

Following on from his 2019 debut full-length album, SONGS OF THE HIGHWAY, singer songwriter Josh Gray’s latest album pursues a similar template of tales that are fuelled by personal experiences in an often-unforgiving music industry, alongside some more relaxed and heart-filled songs.

A relative latecomer to the industry, he didn’t play his first live show until age thirty-one; Gray moved to Nashville in 2015 to hone his skills and gather talented players for his backing band, the Dark Features. Building on the positive feedback for his debut album and with countless numbers of gigs under his belt to road test his new material; Gray used the crowdfunding platform to raise the funds to record this ten-track record.

Recorded at The Bomb Shelter in Nashville and self-produced by Gray, the players included his bandmates Julio Matos on bass, Jason Munday on drums, and some local big hitters contributing. Guitar wizard Sean Thompson and equally distinguished pedal steel player Brett Resnick were among those guesting.  Credit is also due to Kristin Indorato and Nikhil Dafre for the most impressive photography and design on the album’s sleeve and inner booklet.

The opening track, Radio Stations, could relate to the majority of singer songwriters attempting to survive and keep their heads above water. It’s a breezy affair lamenting the lack of opportunity to have an artist’s music played on radio and the resulting financial hurdles. It’s followed by the title track, which also addresses survival in an apathetic world, with Gray confident in his ability declaring ‘You gotta fight in this life for everything you want. What you let pass you by tomorrow returns to haunt.’ Aching pedal steel perfectly mirrors the regret of poor life choices that end with the protagonist locked up in jail on the border-sounding Cheyenne. Rage and fury fuel the protest song Money or Blood, which points its finger at the unscrupulous employer and also the lack of Government empathy.  Not all of Gray’s tales are fuelled by anger and frustration. He exhibits his sweeter nature on the love ballad She Think’s The World Of Me and on the album’s closer and standout track Building Paradise. The latter is a duet with Morgan Connors that bookends the record on a resolute and hopeful note.

WALK ALONE is the work of a profoundly emotional songwriter and has earned Gray a distribution deal with CRS in the Netherlands. That marriage will likely result in the exposure in Europe that escapes many artists in their home country. Don’t be surprised if it also opens up touring options and a dedicated fanbase on this side of the pond.

Reviewed by Declan Culliton 

Brent Cobb Southern Star Thirty Tigers

Inspired by his southern roots and recorded at Capricorn Sound Studios in his Georgia hometown, SOUTHERN STAR finds Brent Cobb incorporating the country, soul, gospel, and blues sounds from that musical hotbed.

Rather than a ‘far away hills are green’ concept, the album was written when Cobb returned to Georgia, having spent a decade in Nashville. That period earned him a Grammy nomination for his 2016 album SHINE ON A RAINY DAY, together with writing hit songs for Luke Combs, Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town. SOUTHERN STAR is Cobb’s fifth album and evidence once more of his resourcefulness as a songwriter, with the ability to create more meaty material alongside the more mainstream country that gained the previously mentioned artists’ chart success.   

As well as recording in his hometown, Cobb self-produced the ten tracks on the album and hired local musicians, the only ‘out of towner’ being keyboard player Jimmy Matt Rowland. He captures the more laid-back simplicity of Southern culture to perfection in his writing. The title and opening track set the scene for his calling to return home, and Shade Tree, which bookends the album, reiterates that sense of serenity and contentedness. Elsewhere, he turns the heat up on the funk-filled Livin’ The Dream, Devil Ain’t Done and ‘On’t Know When and takes his foot off the gas on the slow burners When Country Came Back To Town and Kick The Can; the latter finds Cobb reminiscing on the passage of time from his childhood to the present. The former is a ‘thumbs up’ to the artists who kickstarted country music revival in the past decade. Name-checking many of those artists, pride of place goes to Sturgill Simpson for his input ‘But nobody sang like Brandi Carlile or wrote like Nikki Lane … but when Sturgill climbed High Top Mountain, Country came back to town.’

As a songwriter, Cobb seldom puts a foot wrong, and that’s very much the case with SOUTHERN STAR. It’s an uncomplicated and sentimental project that is as far removed from his more mainstream writing as it is from hardcore honky tonk. Given that versatility, it’s little surprise that he has opened on tours for both Chris Stapleton and Luke Combs. Best described as definitive easy listening, it’s another feather in the cap of a multi-talented artist

Reviewed by Declan Culliton

More Than A Whisper: Celebrating The Music of Nanci Griffith Rounder

Celebrating what would have been Nanci Griffith’s 70th birthday, it only seems fitting that a host of her friends and followers would gather to honour the legendary singer songwriter. This fourteen-track album does just that and is not simply a reminder of Griffith’s unquestionable talent, but equally an endorsement of the inspiration that she generated for so many others. In her liner notes, Mary Gauthier sums up the immense impact the Sequin, Texas-born singer-songwriter had on her career in simple terms ‘What Loretta did for Nanci, Nanci did for me’.

Griffith recorded over twenty albums from her 1978 debut THERE’S A LIGHT BEYOND THESE WOODS to her final studio album, INTERSECTION, in 2012. A multiple Grammy nominee, Griffith’s album OTHER VOICES, OTHER ROOMS won her a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk album of 1994. That album was her recognition of the artists that inspired her, so it’s fitting that her vast contribution to roots and country music is similarly honoured by others on this recording.

Given the quality of the material and the artists that pay their dues to Griffith, it’s difficult to highlight the standout tracks, every one draws the listener back to the original versions while also marvelling at many of the reconstructions. However, two duets do particularly strike a chord. John Prine and Kelsey Waldon’s Love At The Five & Dime is particularly heartrending, given that it must be one of the final recordings by Prine before his untimely passing. Lyle Lovett and Kathy Mattea’s rendition of Trouble in The Fields also captures the capacity of love to offer endurance during times of impoverishment – a sentiment that rings true today over thirty-five years after it featured on Griffith’s album, LONE STAR STATE OF MIND. Other household names including Steve Earle (It’s A Hard Life Wherever You Go), Iris DeMent (Banks Of The Pontchartrain), Emmylou Harris (Love Wore A Halo) and Shawn Colvin (Outboard Plane), who grew up in the industry alongside Griffith, also contribute. A relatively younger group of artists also pay tribute. Brandy Clark’s version of Gulf Coast Highway lives up to the original version and Billy Strings joins Molly Tuttle on Listen To The Radio. The other contributors are Sarah Jarosz (You Can’t Go Home Again), Todd Snider (Ford Econoline), Ida Mae (Radio Fragile), Aaron Lee Tasjan (Late Night Grande Hotel), War and Treaty (From A Distance) and the aforementioned Mary Gauthier (More Than A Whisper).

Listening to this collection is bound to result in a revisit to the vast and absorbing back catalogue of Griffith, it certainly did for me. For younger music lovers, it’s an introduction to one of the finest voices and songwriters in roots music and an ‘every serious roots music lover should have’ album.

Review by Declan Culliton

Sean Burns Lost Country Department Store

This is a wonderful album and a career highlight for Sean Burns. Not only is the music top-notch, it is also an exploration of some of the lesser-known exponents of traditional country music released in Canada through the decades. This is a labour of love and a continuum of why many of us want to listen to country and not some semi-related lukewarm and rootless version of the same.

At the album’s heart are Burn’s vocals, which are full of passion, pain and purpose and bring that necessary connection to any country album's success. Aside from that, there are a host of musicians who are sympathetic and sincere in their understanding and talent to make this album the triumph it is. This comes about in a year that has seen many really rewarding records released that fit firmly in that hardcore country category. 

The ten songs come from a variety of writers and artists; the only one that I was readily aware of was Scotty Campbell, but they all provided Burns with a wealth of material to salute and revive. Among the players featured are Grant Siemens, who, along with Burns, produced the album, both are also members of Cord Lund’s band the Hurtin’ Albertans.  Others adding to the overall context of the album include Redd Volkaert on guitar, Mike Weber on pedal steel, Paul Weber on bass and drummer Sean O’Grady.

This music evokes an earlier time, and the nighttime townscape on the cover sums that up well too. This is all territory that Burns has undoubted knowledge of and suggests that it could be something he returns to in the future. The songs, as is expected, deal in broken hearts, beer joints and bad choices, something that can be gleaned from a quick look at some of the titles, The Final Word, Before She Made Me Crawl, Hard Times, Alone Again and Drinking’ Me Six Foot Under. It seems that the protagonists in these tales can’t get a break, but that’s beside the point, I don’t think that we’d be listening if we were expecting upbeat, positive paeans to the good life.

The overall sound, feel, and delivery make this, and similar albums, a pleasure to listen to. There is enough variety in style too to make this a contender for one of the best albums this year and an album that any honky tonk aficionado will embrace and enjoy. It is an object lesson in taking the past and giving it a future. 

Review by Stephen Rapid

Jenni Muldaur & Teddy Thompson Once More Sun

There are some who say what is the point of recording and releasing new versions of classic tracks. This album does just that with iconic duets from the catalogue of Conway and Loretta, Porter and Dolly or George and Tammy. It makes a strong case for reintroducing these songs to prospective new listeners. Both of the latter couple’s selections were previously released as four-track EP’s, and this album rounds that up to twelve selections with four more tracks from Twitty and Lynn’s memorable  duets.

Released, fittingly, by the legendary Sun Records label, this has the spontaneity associated with the sections recorded in their famous studio. It was produced by David Mansfield (who also took the helm on Thompson’s recently released MY LOVE OF COUNTRY album), and the instrumentation is largely uncomplicated, with fiddle, piano, steel guitar, bass and drums all prominent. As was the case with the original versions,  the combination of the voices is the main attraction. On that front, the duo sound perfect in harmony and both also possess distinctive voices in their own right.

The argument about covering classic songs has been aired numerous times.  Many who take that route are doing so to bring the songs and artists that they replicate to the attention of a younger audience who may not be familiar with the originals. Whether there is a market for such a venture is open to debate, but I would also suggest that the integrity of the artists here and their obvious love of the genre is beyond doubt. Both are excellent singers and don’t hold back in their delivery.

The songs are classics to a degree, and one comment I noted elsewhere was that they were lyrically perhaps a bit old-fashioned and corny, but even a song like Bobby Braddock and Race Van Hoy’s Golden Ring is a tale of the expectation of a young couple at the outset of their relationship. One that turns sour as the love doesn’t last, and the ring again turns up in a pawn shop window for the next young couple starting their own journey to view. It is not a tale that is in any way devoid of a harsh reality. Therefore, perhaps, somewhat timeless.

In the end, this collection will stand on what it offers in the here and now, and this reviewer thoroughly enjoyed it and the songs it features - once more.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Robert Rex Waller Jr See The Big Man Cry BFD/Have Harmony Will Travel

A founder member of the band I See Hawks In L.A. and a respected musician among his contemporaries, Robert Rex Waller Jr. releases his second solo project. A debut album of cover songs, FANCY FREE, appeared back in 2016 and this follow-up is produced by Carla Olson, Los Angeles-based songwriter, musician and original member of the legendary Textones. Her credits as a producer run deep and she also appears on these tracks with occasional contributions on guitar and harmony vocals. Waller continues to dip into his musical influences and the thirteen songs selected include such gems as The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore (Crewe/Gaudio) and Tougher Than the Rest (Springsteen). Also included is Gypsy Rider (Clark) and Reconsider Me (Lewis/Smith). His choices blend seamlessly together, whether with it’s in the country swing of Easy Loving (Hart) or the rocking Amanda Ruth. The  classic soul sound of I’ll Never Dance Again (Anthony/Mike) has Matt Von Roderick on trumpet and There’s No Living Without Your Loving (Kaufman/Harris) bounces out of the speakers with a big sound.

Waller does have one co-write on the sweetly melodic My Favourite Loneliness which also credits Paul Marshall, bass player with the Hawks band. There are also appearances from band-mate Paul Laques on guitar and Kaitlin Wolfberg on violin, viola and cello. Skip Edwards (Dwight Yoakam, Dave Alvin) appears on all the tracks and his rich sound on piano, keyboards and accordion adds greatly to the overall feel. However it’s the dulcet tones of Waller that dominate and his voice is like a seasoned brandy in the delivery. The songs are given great character through his vocal tone and timing, lifting the arrangements and confirming his status as a Californian treasure. A fine album.

Review by Paul McGee

Rod Picott Starlight Tour Welding Rod

Ten new songs from the erudite mind and pen of Rod Picott. His albums are always worth the wait and over recent times we have been spoilt with a succession of top-class recordings. In the last four years there has been real gold dust to be found on TELL THE TRUTH & SHAME THE DEVIL (2019), WOOD, STEEL, DUST & DREAMS (2020), and PAPER HEARTS & BROKEN ARROWS (2022). And now, a further instalment in a run that has seen the rich talents of this songwriter continue to produce some real gems. All the songs are written by Picott with four co-writes included, proof of his willingness to share the magic with others.

Kicking off with the superb Next Man In Line, we have Picott reflecting on ageing and picking at old memories “Just yesterday it was summertime, Did you get your share, did you waste your time, How does it feel to be the next man in line.” A look back on times gone by perhaps tinged with some regret. Next up is Digging Ditches which has a deep blues groove and a tension in the playing. It examines a life of manual labour and the sacrifices that the body makes in order to endure “work till you bleed that’s how you know you’re done, You gotta punish what you’re not where I come from.”

A Puncher’s Chance talks about relationships using the metaphor of a boxer’s life and the search for a love that can withstand the blows “If you are willing to go the distance with me , I’ll be in your corner whatever may be.” The song Combine sees a  farmer betting on football games in Alabama, risking the bank account in order to maintain his broken-down combine harvester through just one more crop. It captures the hard reality of surviving with a ragged elegance.

Title track Starlight Tour is about the inequity of life and the cruel way in which authority doles out a warped sense of justice. “She said he was my daddy but I ain’t so sure, He might have been just another bad night’s cure.” The song is a look at hard beginnings and struggle in the face of adversity “you can’t escape the skin you’re in, A walking reminder of another man’s sin.” Local drug dealers on Wasteland meet the needs of community dependency. It references Georgia and people lining up for Oxycotin and Fentanyl prescription cures for their pain. “If you think you’re better with your city lights, You best just stay there cause out here it’s dark at night.”

Pelican Bay, tells the lonely tale of a Vietnam Vet who is forgotten by the country he fought to defend, along with the ideals that all people matter in the American dream. His life is captured in simple imagery as his wife gets sick and dies while their daughter “went to college took a job way out of town, We don’t talk much now she’s got just got so much goin’ on.” An all too familiar story.

Homecoming Queen is about a local beauty who slipped off the track “No matter how many years go by, She still looks like 1985.”Picott observes that “everybody wants the chance to be seen.” It strikes me that Picott acknowledges the journey taken in weighing up all of life’s experiences and the price paid on arrival. Television Preacher looks at the lives of God fearing folks who want to believe in some form of redemption. However, the easy hypocrisy of seeking answers through media-fuelled solutions is not the answer. Breaking out of the stereotype is what keeps a life going and the husband in the song says he’s going for a drive and “open the door to that revival tent, Let Jesus himself find next month’s rent.”

Final song Time To Let Go Of Your Dreams is a gentle arm around the shoulder of disillusioned ideals and Picott councils “So go and make a new wish, Let it come soft as a kiss, Hold it close to your chest and there it will rest, It’s time to find a new dream.” Muted trumpet echoing the hard won wisdom of the whole album.

Rod Picott captures life’s tapestry with keenly observed insights. His characters come alive in the songs and leave a strong impression of quiet dignity with a great empathy and grace.  Produced by Neilson Hubbard, who also contributes drums and percussion, the players are Rod Picott on acoustic guitar and vocals, Juan Solorzano on various guitars, piano, trumpet and glockenspiel, and Lex Price on mandolin and bass. The playing and overall sound is stripped back to allow the character in the vocal delivery spin these tales of ordinary folks just trying to get by and looking for some deeper meaning or purpose in it all. Yet another example of the wonderful talent that enriches the lives of all who tune into the creative muse of Rod Picott.

Review by Paul McGee

Hannah Connolly From Where You Are Self Release

Initially released in 2020 and written during the Covid lockdown, this debut album from Wisconsin native Hannah Connolly is a very impressive creation. It’s almost as if these ten songs were just bursting to reveal themselves upon the world and the results are evident in the beautifully arranged melodies and the lyrics that capture so much in their longing.

Hannah lost her younger brother Cullen in a car accident caused by a drunk driver back in 2015 and the core of this album is a tribute to his life and also a reflection on grief and how it never leaves, once it has visited any of our lives. The bareness in the words, the honesty in the emotion, and the beautiful vocal delivery all come together in a compelling mix that puts this songwriter right up there with any of the current talents that are making a name on the country music circuit.

The musicians also raise a very high bar on this album with some exquisite playing, both understated and elegant in the delivery. Whether it’s the superbly aching pedal steel of Tim Fleming that haunts in the mix, or the lovely cello and violin played by Jane Kim and Phoebe Silva, or the superb musicianship of producer Jordan Rutz on a variety of instruments, from guitars, bass, drums and percussion to keyboards, accordion and backing vocals. There are also some cameo appearances on certain songs, from Eric Cannata (electric guitar), Tom Crouch (electric guitar) and Francois Comtois (drums); all adding to the impressive sound.

Hannah wrote the songs, with co-credits to Jordan Ruiz and additional writing from Eric Cannata on two songs. Her voice is an instrument of great colours; winsome, soothing and poignant in its rueful delivery. Her ability to capture emotion runs through these songs like a chord that binds everything together. Birthday opens the album and Hannah reflects upon the loss of her brother in the lines “We celebrated you today, And I miss you more than ever… ‘I’m grateful, I promise, For the years that we had.”

Other songs such as From Where You Are reflect upon a funeral and capture the essence of feeling lost and alone in grief “They say your name wrong, And I’m feeling pretty lost, I wonder what this mess looks like, From where you are.” Cullen Bay is a short instrumental played on the bagpipes by Cullen’s father, Jeff Connolly and it is beautifully delivered. Ocean (the light in everything) looks to nature as a place where solace can be found and the spirit of those who are gone can be truly felt “In the horizon, out of the silence, You are the light in everything.”

House/Home reflects upon the loss of love and the empty spaces that need to be filled ‘I remember standing there, watching birds in the morning sun, And I remember thinking, I don’t feel like anyone.’ Stay Home tackles the insecurity of new situations and trying to fit into a different life when you feel outside everything “It’s a worn out conversation, Every question insincere, While their eyes ignore my answers, To see who else is here.” Sounds familiar? Probably because we have all felt that exact emotion at some point in our own lives. Meet You There is another song that celebrates nature and the sense of quiet power in its presence ‘I’m learning to take notice, Of all that can’t be seen, Trying to find the truth beyond words, Living silent in the trees.’ On the final song The Right Words Hannah reflects upon the need for gratitude with the words “And I’m trying to be grateful, And I’m trying to smile, I’m trying to find all the beauty, But it’s taken me quite a while.”

Well, there is real beauty in this debut album and as fledgling flights go, this is as complete as anything that I’ve heard in a number of years. File under “one that got away” in the current traffic of new releases. A brand new album is due early next year, titled Shadowboxing, so my recommendation is to board this train now as it’s bound for glory.

Review by Paul McGee

Gregory Alan Isakov Appaloosa Bones Dualtone/Suitcase Town

In spiritual terms the number eight is a symbol for rebirth and transformation. Quite appropriate then that Colorado based artist Isakov should release his eight album after coming through the Covid years with a renewed perspective on everything that surrounds him. Isakov is part of a farm project called Starling Farm where they produce small-scale, bio-intensive market gardening, which produces a wide variety of vegetables, seeds and flowers. The farm is part of Community-supported agriculture that connects producers and consumers within the food system and a goal of strengthening a sense of community through local markets. All very relevant to the superb music that is based very much in the natural environment that surrounds Isakov and the inspiration that he takes from nature runs through his songs like a connecting thread.

If you are looking for a sign post along the road then the music of Isakov would travel along the route trodden by similar artists like Iron and Wine, Hiss Golden Messenger, and Bon Iver. The music is full of lovely melodies, stripped back to a very minimalistic style, where every sound has a central place in the sweetly haunting performances. Isakov performs his magic on an array of instruments, including banjo, ukulele, dobro, guitars, keyboards and understated drums. He also contributes ‘God noises’ on a number of songs and the additional ambient sounds and samples, courtesy of co-producer Andrew Berlin, add greatly to the atmosphere and warmth of the eleven tracks.

Leif Vollebekk plays atmospheric piano on six tracks and there is quite a list of other players who guest across a range of instruments that include fiddle, pedal steel, viola, violin, lap steel, and guitars. The harmony vocals are also beautifully judged and feature both Bonnie May Paine and Aoife O’Donovan. The lyrics are very much open to interpretation, Isakov planting suggested meanings rather than opting for a more defined content. Opener The Fall suggests a crisis of sorts and the title track hints at a sense of separation and feelings of anxiety. Given that Covid played a certain influence in the writing, this is no surprise and the message in other songs such as Terlingua and Sweet Heat Lightning leans toward the path of connection and the stillness of nature.

Closing track Feed Your Horses assures a loved one that all will work itself out despite feelings of restlessness and the reassurance of Silver Bell includes the lines “Finally found us some good luck, let’s see if it lasts.” An album of reflection, hope for the future and of taking stock in challenging times, Isakov continues to set impressive standards in his body of work that enrich the listening experience. Highly recommended.     

Review by Paul McGee

Josh Gray, Brent Cobb, Sean Burns, Teddy Thompson, Robert Rex Waller Jr Music, Rod Picott. Hannah Connolly Gregory Alan Isakov.

New Album Reviews

Tyler Childers Rustin' In The Rain Hickman Holler / RCA

Given his current high profile as one of the leading lights in country music to have emerged in the past half-decade, Tyler Childers can, and indeed does, do whatever he pleases. Often refreshingly outspoken - remember his outburst at The AmericanaFest Honours & Awards Show in 2018, when his acceptance speech on being awarded the Emerging Artist of The Year included a scathing attack on the Americana genre. Not afraid to speak bluntly about social issues, his 2020 record, LONG VIOLENT HISTORY, addressed issues such as racism, police brutality and civil unrest and he voiced his misgivings around religion on his 2022 album, CAN I TAKE MY HOUNDS TO HEAVEN?

RUSTIN’ IN THE RAIN, finds the Lawrence Country, Kentucky artist in a more relaxed mood. It’s a seven-track album that lasts less than thirty minutes and includes two covers, both songs often included in his live shows, Kris Kristofferson’s Help Me Make It Through The Night, and fellow Kentuckian, S.G Goodman’s Space and Time. Also included are a couple of classic country love tunes, the knockout Phone Calls and Emails - surely the first country song to include ‘emails’ in the lyrics - and the equally impressive In Your Love. The YouTube official video of the latter features a relationship between two males, further commendable evidence of Childers’ unwillingness to ‘play safe’ with his art. Also featured are two honky tonk barroom type romps with the title track and Percheron Mules and the hymn-like Luke 2:8-10.

The overall feeling you’re left with is one of an artist simply treading water and having a good time recording with his terrific backing band, The Food Stamps, alongside Erin Rae, Margo Price, S.G. Goodman, Ronnie McCoury, Jason Carter and Alan Bartram, all of whom contribute backing vocals. It may be more like an appetiser than a main course but, having said that, it’s still of a quality considerably higher than anything else being recorded under the genuine ‘country’ genre at present.

Review by Declan Culliton

Van Plating Orange Blossom Child Self-Release

Florida has been a hotbed for artists touching on all genres in popular music, with the traditional country singer Mel Tillis to the more experimental country of Gram Parsons, and from bluesman Gabriel Brown to the more mainstream rock legend Tom Petty. A native of Florida, Van Plating’s third solo album, ORANGE BLOSSOM CHILD, taps into all these genres with a project that found her digging deeply into her family history and life in rural Florida.

She’s out of the traps in full tilt with the opener and title track, stinging guitars, a driving rhythm, and fiery vocals tip their hat in the direction of Tom Petty. Equally catchy is The Heron, which features guest vocals from Elizabeth Cook, who also left rural Florida to pursue her artistic career. An instantly arresting song with a theme of homesickness and longing, The Heron borrows a chorus riff from Guns N’ Roses’ Paradise City. In fact, Cook is only one of over thirty contributors that Van Plating called upon, with The Damn Quails, Reckless Kelly and Ottoman Turks all credited.

The hymn-like Jesus Saved Me On The Radio is a slow-burning delight and she pulls no punches calling out the philanderer on the countryish Big Time Small Shot. Driven by a raging fiddle and thumping drums, there’s no happy ending in sight either on They’re Gonna Kill You Anyway. The previously mentioned Reckless Kelly provide backing vocals on the album’s standout track The Hard Way, with Van Plating’s uplifting vocal - a common thread across the album’s eleven tracks - imparting the song’s emotion to perfection.

An album that is very much 90s country in its production and instrumentation and one that explores Van Plating’s heritage, both memorable and heartrending, it’s loaded with tracks that draw the listener in and hold their attention.

Review by Declan Culliton

Scott Southworth Comin’ Round To Honky Tonk Again Flaming Tortuga

There is no doubting Southworth’s commitment to delivering country music in its most traditional and hardcore form. That he may not be as “cool” as some of his contemporaries is a wry look at some of the other recent contenders for the honky-tonk crown. In the opening title track he lists some of those he both admires and respects in the list he reels off of the newer and more established names who have acquired something of the ‘cool’ factor such as Dale Watson, Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson, Charlie Crockett, Jessie Daniels, Dallas Moore and Nikki Lane. But in truth he stands alongside them in music and talent and he rightly declares that “I hope you like your country real as I ain’t here to reinvent the wheel.”

From then on he evokes some of the best delivering songs that would have easily have been hits over twenty years ago but today hardly get a look in at radio. There are tracks that would easily fit an Alan Jackson album at his finest. Southworth can deliver with the best of them on equal terms both in his writing and his undoubtably fit-for-purpose vocals. There is some outright humour in Granny Used To Honky Tonk a song featuring the aforementioned Dallas More who co-wrote the song with Southworth. One of a number that have been co-written but all having that classic feel that makes you think they have been around for quite a while.

Here Comes The Night takes the night time’s affinity to cover the protagonist’s pain to be disguised by its very nature. So that he can use that time of the day to hit the bars that might help him deal with a departed partner and his resulting loneliness. That search for a lost love is the subject of the considered again in Getting Over You Again wherein there is a pattern of repeated failure. A strong vocal from Southworth shows his range and understanding of how to deliver a song. Another song is about a woman who “gets under his skin” in the most prominent way as she is the Women On My New Tattoo.

He also considers the universality of the three chords and the truth that allows that, in the right hands, the genre to be something that can and does exists outside of the States with Country No Matter What County. A conduit, in many songs that relate to degrees of heartache (and its aftermath), fit right into the honky tonk ferment of alcohol is present, front and centre, with both Drinking For Two and When The Bottle Goes Dry.

It can’t help to add that old favourite, that may no longer allowed in modern pop country realm, is the discovery of an unfaithful partner and their subsequent demise, along with the cheating partner, that is Riding Sparky Tonight. Though it is seldom delivered in such an upbeat musical setting as this tale of a man ultimate acquaintance with the electric chair.

Later we are in the realm of something much more relaxing and that is the oft referred to pastime of fishing (especially in country songs) which is what Just Fishing is all about.

Production is credited to Buddy Hyatt and it was recorded in Nashville with such celebrated and names from the credits of 90s albums such as Lonnie Wilson, Steve Hinson, Joe Spivey, Brent Mason and Dan Tyminski alongside other fine players. It is a labour of love for all concerned and is the essence of ongoing immersion in the joys of honky tonk - whoever you might be from.

Review by Stephen Rapid.

Ross Cooper Lightening Heart Self Release

It’s clear from this project that Ross Cooper is a man who has both authenticity and aptitude. A second-generation rodeo cowboy, his passion is for that music and the story songs that he writes. He is not an ‘all hat - no cattle’ kind of guy, as he makes clear in the upbeat twang setting of Everybody Wants To Be A Cowboy. He notes in that song that everybody wants the look but they don’t want the work involved with being the real thing. As a result, he has the right to both the hat and the embroidered suit as a sign of his affiliations. He is inspired by the great Texas songwriters and also the spirit of Lubbock embodied by the inspiration of storywriters like Joe Ely.

Locations are a part of his existence, at least in the songs away. Chicago is a positive reminiscence of that city while, maybe not so memorable, is the city that is the subject of Life’s Too Short To Live In Dallas. The title track, in common with a number of tracks here, takes a more reflective, gentler musical approach, that relies on some understated but emphatic ensemble playing. It is also a song that relates to a physical condition that causes him to suffer arrhythmia at often inopportune moments - such as being onstage. It is a condition he has come to terms with but undoubtedly one which affects his outlook. Sleeping With A Stranger is about a man feeling unworthy of the love of a partner that is creating a disconnect between them. Waiting For Me has an alluring melody and chorus, and is a song of hope to find that special person he wants in his life. That sense of positivity runs throughout the album’s thirteen tracks. The final song, Welcome You Back, closes the release on a high note. It’s a memorable song that has the best of all the elements coming together from the album, leaving you wanting to hear “the best he can be” again and to be welcomed back when he returns with the next step in his musical journey.

Cooper handles the production alongside Kevin Harper and Josh Serrato, who also engineered the recording, while the former added violin along with a solid group of additional musicians on guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and pedal steel. It changed what had originally been a more acoustic based idea to a more accomplished and rounded concept that allowed Copper to expand his musical vision. One that incorporated his cowboy-related experiences with something wider and more considered, allowing him to draw on all parts of his ability to tell stories based on his own life and that of others. It is a forward move from his previous album and its overall benevolent nature makes you want to get to know the man and his music more.

Review by Stephen Rapid.

Josh Travis Few Of Days & Full Of Trouble Self Release

This is the debut full-length album from the Pennsylvanian songwriter. Within it, Travis faces his own issues of loss, love and his own personal faith. The opening track Secondhand Smoke sets up the general mood, It is a solid band sound that builds on its folk roots with a striking chorus about living and loving the best life you can under difficult conditions. It also marks Travis as another writer with something to say. The ten tracks are the mark of a thoughtful writer, who penned all the material here.

Overall, there is a sense of hard-won reality in many of the topics for the material. The Only Good In Me is full of the need for acceptance which sits alongside the nefarious needs that also arise. A particular standout is Poor Johnny, which has touches of Townes van Zandt mixed with Chris Knight and openly sees the potential of Travis growth as an artist. With rock-edged guitar, it details the tale of desperation leading to poor choices and bad results.

Taking a more rural tack is The Beat Up Paint, the story of an old horse that is folky in delivery with harmonica playing its part in setting the tone of this slow-paced ballad of inevitability, but making the best of what is on offer for a run-down life. The music perfectly illustrates the song’s approach to the overlooked life of a much-loved animal. There are more acoustic moments too, such as the Opequon, a song that paints a picture again of the heartfelt memories of a life lived with friends and loved ones and the sadness of an early loss.

There are also songs, Change Of Heart and Picture Of You, that look at the need for love and its possible redemption. The description of a group of friends on a road trip and the things they got up is described in a Hot Week In August, it fairly motors along at an up-tempo pace. Chains is a description of the things that can hold a person back and the realisation of that fate. It features a strong guitar break that underscores that sentiment. The title track again picks up the tempo and marries the acoustic and electric sides of the album and again points out the overall commitment of the assembled players.

Travis produced the album with Al Torrence (who is also receiving praise for his similar duties in the new Charles Wesley Godwin album). The pair have put together a great sound and an album that has some writing to match, topped by Travis’ purposeful vocals and evolving growth as a writer since he released his debut EP several years ago. He has used the time well and this debut identifies a talent that should be marked out as one to watch out for with his future output. 

Review by Stephen Rapid

Jon Byrd All Your Mistakes Self Release

It is a pleasure to hear again the mature life-worn voice of Jon Byrd back with a full-length album. He is again accompanied by his comrade and pedal steel maestro Paul Niehaus. The album was produced with depth and skill by Joe V. McMahan, who has brought more than a hint of earlier times with the assembled players and the use of arranged strings which add an additional layer to the material, they were performed and recorded by Chris Carmichael. Alongside the above-mentioned you can add the skills of bassist Chris Donahue, percussionist Bryan Owings, Steve Conn’s keyboards and Andrea Zone on fiddle as well as McMahan own contributions on acoustic and electric guitar. Zonn also joins Shannon Wright and Amelia White on harmony vocals. Byrd adds his acoustic guitar but also self-deprecatingly describes himself as the “worst person in the band.” A comment which belies the fact the obvious focal point here is Byrd’s vocal contribution as the backing behind it. But the end results made him feel like “a million dollars.”

Golden Colorado is first up, a track written by Byrd and singer/songwriter Stephen Simmons, a song about the gold rush. There is a sense of pessimism at the heart of the relationship dissolution detailed in an openly descriptive way in (It Won’t Be Long) And I’ll Be Hating You, written by the legendary Johnny Paycheck with Aubrey Mayhew and Billy Merrin. That is also the subject matter in Why Must You Think Of Leaving about a liaison that asks that question of a partner he believes is really of the opposite viewpoint. It is a subtle soundscape with Niehaus’ steel adding to that overall mood. It was co-written with Shannon Wright and a version also appeared on his recent EP ME & PAUL. Byrd shares the writing on several of the tracks as well as including a number of songs written by others including (Now And Then) A Fool Such As I, Tom Paxton’s Woman Sensuous Woman, Ian Tyson’s Four Strong Winds. All are fitting to his vocal essence and the overall arrangements which standout throughout.

Miss Kitty’s Place is a reminiscence of the return to a location that in the past had offered some late-night solace but now, on return, a lot of things have been long closed and gone. I’ll Be Her Only One is a love song that is a wish to return to a happier and earlier time when he will again be the sole object of her desire. The interplay between the pedal steel and violin gives the backbone to the delivery. The old standard (Now And Then) A Fool Such As I closes out the album and is a throwback to his recent and regular performances with just himself and Niehaus, who plays in the older Hawaiian steel guitar style. It is a sparse but effective rendition that captures the spirit of the song’s sense of resignation.

Byrd and his team mates have produced the best album of his career with ALL YOUR MISTAKES.  It’s an album that undoubtedly will be enjoyed by punters at his regular live shows in Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge, those who are acquainted with his previous work, or those who are interested in country-styled songs with use an arranged string section.

Review by Stephen Rapid.

Tony Zamora & Tremoloco Curanda - Volume 1 Slo Poke

If you have a hankering for that Tex Mex border sound and some authentic Spanish language vocals, accordion and Cajun fiddle, then this is the right place for you. Amalgamated together as Tremoloco describe their music on their website as ‘Cantina Music.’ It’s an encompassing blend of Texas Mexican Roots Americana that also includes some straight country and even a bit of Celtic (Dixie Overland Highway) and folk and more, resulting in an enjoyable musical stew that will suit many tastes. 

They are fronted by Tony Zamora, who is the songwriter and co-producer of the album, along with band member Cougar Estrada. Both are adept on a number of instruments and they are joined by third member Roberto Rodriquez on accordion and vocals. However, it doesn’t stop there, with a further 17 players guesting on tracks recorded in sessions around Texas locations such as Austin, Houston, El Paso, and well as locations in California. So, it would seem that this has been put together over a period of time. With a number of albums already under their belt they are accomplished and seasoned musicians. They have had several different players in their ranks in the past, including our friend Rick Shea, but they often tour as a four/five piece with Willy Golden on upright steel and Jeff Paul Ross on guitar, both of whom were involved in this recording.

A hard riff sets up the drug-related tale of Mezcal, it has a business-like guitar break that has some clout. There are some penny-whistle contributions in the aforementioned Dixie Overland Highway which seems to relate, in part, to the demise of Bonny and Clyde. This is in contrast to other tracks in terms of sound and accentuates the diversity of the music here, and so it goes over the twelve tracks on the album. The Man Who Never Cries is a pure country duet between Zamora and Hannah Underwood, alongside the emphatic steel guitar of Marty Muse. The accordion is central to Más Que Nada, which has a mix of English and Spanish lyrics to enforce the mood of the fate of migrants and those who have been a part of the territory for longer than most. Harmonica opens the slow-burning unfolding tale of One Hand. The Tex Mex disposition returns with the cautionary Sunday Sinners - It has another fine guitar break and some strong harmony vocals. Things pick up a notch with Monterrey which can’t fail to make you want to dance.

What follows is a more reflective by wondering how and whether a person may be remembered in the future.100 Years features the pedal steel again to add to its atmospheric melancholy. Place is as important as time and the album closes with songs that underscore this. Firstly the Spanish language heritage of Mexicano and El Paso which sound traditional in approach and uses voices strongly on the chorus. Finally, Curandera closes the album in a cinematic and evocative formula.

Many of the tracks run past the four-minute mark but never seem overlong and throughout you are aware of the inherent talent of all those involved. Bands like The Mavericks, and in the past the Texas Tornados, as well as countless bands from the region have popularised this cross-border sound and cultural links, to these you can add the name of Tremoloco who, though new to me, made a strong impression with the sound and vision. 

Review by Stephen Rapid

Mike Spine and the Underground All Star Band  Guided By Love Self Release

This new release is laced with very good songs and falls into the Americana music camp. Spine is from Seattle, Washington and has released eleven albums over his career. The best place to discover him is on the 2018 compilation; FORAGE & GLEAN, Volumes I&II. The two volumes contain 32 songs and represent an anthology of Spine’s best songwriting and recording across the last two decades. This new album is worthwhile and contains gems like Pancho and Lefty, Part Two – an imagined follow-up to the classic Townes Van Zandt song. Other songs that resonate are Bloodless Eyes and Some Shows, which looks at the many situations in which musicians are expected to perform. Not easy to keep body and soul together as a travelling minstrel but Mike Spine is a road warrior and worthy of your time.

Review by Paul McGee

Loveflowers Golden Leaves Self Release

This Swedish americana band release a mini album with six songs that provides ample proof of their impressive sound. The band formed in 2006 and has released a number of prior albums over the years. They play live on a regular basis in Sweden and have travelled to America also in search of a wider audience. Michael Greiffe (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Leif Thörner (lead vocals, guitar, slide guitar), and Yvonne Greiffe (lead vocals, percussion, backing vocals) comprise the original trio and they are joined by Mattis Johansson (upright bass), and Robert Ljungberg (pedal steel, lap steel, guitar and mandolin) on these engaging songs.  Return My Heart is a highlight with the slow tempo building an atmosphere of regret (think Cowboy Junkies). Frozen Tears and Return My Heart are also  fine examples of the songcraft on display and the closing Final Dance is memorable with a restrained groove and a message of hope for reconciliation.

Review by Paul McGee

Tyler Childers, Van Plating, Jon Byrd, Scott Southworth, Ross Cooper, Josh Travis, tremoloco1.bandcamp.com , MIKE SPINE

John Blek Until The Rivers Run Dry We Are Rats

For his eighth studio album, Cork’s John Blek returned to work with his previous collaborator Brian Casey in his Wavefield Recordings studio in Clonakilty, where they jointly produced this 10 track project. Luxuriating in the fact that he no longer had to stay home and record and play  everything solo in his home studio (as was the case with his 2021 lockdown album, GROUNDED), Blek has gone the whole hog this time and given this album a truly lush production. He has moved quite a distance from his original image as a finger-style solo acoustic guitar folkie, but at the heart of the sound is still his song craft and the catchy melodies he wraps around those songs.

One half of the album comprises unashamedly romantic songs, to which the wall of sound production style lends itself perfectly. Opener St. John’s Eve continues the theme and sentiment of Long Strand (from 2021’s ON ETHER & AIR), ‘stayed out the whole night through/up on the hill with you’, but this time with Cathy Davey’s backing vocals, and a big strings sound courtesy of Colm Mac Con Iomaire (The Frames). Along with theses two contributors on all the tracks, Blek also calls again on jazz pianist Kit Downes, Davy Ryan on drums and programmed drums, and Chris McCarthy on bass. Co-producer Brian Casey plays guitars, Hammond organ and Mellotron. The track which also gives the album its name, ‘Til The Rivers Run Dry, is another big love song with a big production, and one of the standouts. His proposal of marriage to his muse is the inspiration for the touching Once In A While (21/07), while in Lyric & Air, he again declares his love, ‘I can’t get you out of my head/but why would I want to?’ The quintet of romance is completed by Lovelorn, where he declares that ‘I’d take a life for you/and bury the bodies too’- who could ask for more passion and commitment?

By contrast, on the other five songs, Blek explores the uncertainty of life, the anxiety and fear that can stalk our lives, especially post-pandemic. On Restless Sea, he returns to his familiar metaphors of birds and the sea. Raven’s Cry evokes bleakness and self doubt with the refrain ‘I am the raven’s cry/Hollow, dissatisfied/Empty as the earth beneath the snow/I am hollow’. Most dramatic of all is Come Undone, where the gothic, eerie atmosphere induces the feeling of being drawn into a bad dream. Chilling stuff.

The prominent use of programmed drums and Mellotron contribute to the move towards electronica that has always been present on Blek’s previous albums, but there’s a conscious move to a more chamber pop feel on this one. Perhaps some fans will miss the predominance of his English folk influenced finger style guitar playing here, but this could well be Blek’s most commercial sound to date. Being the musical chameleon that he has shown himself to be in the past, who knows what he will do next? I will be watching with interest.

Review by Eilís Boland

Margo Cilker Valley of Hearts’s Delight Loose

With the release of her debut album on hold mid-pandemic in 2020 and her freedom of movement restricted, Margo Cilker’s thoughts turned to her birthplace of Santa Clara Valley in California, previously named the Valley of Heart’s Delight, due to its extensive fruit orchards and lush lands during the first half of the 20th century. Holed up in Enterprise, Oregon (population 1940), and with her husband Forrest Van Tuyl’s days occupied working at a cattle ranch, her writing focused primarily on her years at the Santa Clara Valley, her family history in the region, long-lost teenage friends and the location’s evolution from agriculture to its current state as a commuter belt for those working for the high-tech companies now located in Silicon Valley. 

Having sent the songs to Sera Cahoone, the producer who had overseen Cilker’s debut album, POHORYLLE, her concentration shifted to promoting and touring that debut album as travel restrictions lifted and the world gradually returned to some degree of normality. Finally released in 2021, that album was greeted with open arms both in The US and in Europe, resulting in an extensive touring schedule on both sides of the pond. Equally impressed by the songs that would become VALLEY OF HEART’S DELIGHT, Cahoone booked studio time at the same studio in Vancouver, Washington, where she had previously recorded with Cilker. Over two days and with the same players that featured on POHORYLLE, they completed the eleven-track recording. Also joining in the recording were Paul Brainard (Richmond Fontaine) on pedal steel, Annie Staninec (Mary Gauthier) on fiddle and Caleb Klauder (Foghorn Stringband) on mandolin.

‘What do I do with the middle, between the coffee and the wine?’ Cilker asks on the open-hearted With The Middle. Awash with mournful pedal steel, it displays a personal unguardedness and vulnerability not evident previously in her writing. Crazy Or Died recalls lost friends and family, and in particular a close friend now homeless and lost in a haze of substance abuse and mental illness. She gets deeply into a groove that recalls the full sound of The Band on the altogether more upbeat Keep It On A Burner and I Remember Carolina. The former is a reminder of life’s often underappreciated and simple pleasures. Having left home in her late teens, the latter song fondly remembers Cilker’s nomadic lifestyle that followed, together with some childhood journeys. Less frenzied but equally impressive are the introspective ballads Beggar For Your Love and Santa Rosa. Also included is a raucous and playful cover of Ben Walden’s Steelhead Trout, before Cilker signs off with the acoustic, All Tied Together. A consideration of connections to the past and life choices taken along the way, it’s a fitting closing statement to an album with very few, if any, wasted lines.

It is a novel situation to have a second album fully written prior to the release of a debut record, but VALLEY OF HEART’S DELIGHT is more than a fitting heir to its predecessor. Combining Cilker’s crystal clear pronunciation and ‘reckoning of the soul’ lyrics, it is further substantiation of the emergence in recent years of an artist whose talents continue to blossom.

Review by Declan Culliton

Jobi Riccio Whiplash Yep Roc

‘I think most people’s late teens and early 20’s is a really difficult, confusing, and isolating time. Whiplash, the song and album, is a reflection on that’ explains Jobi Riccio, reflecting on her debut full-length album.  

The Morrison, Colorado-born singer songwriter’s album gives the listener an insight into those personal endeavours, passing from adolescence to womanhood. Her 2019 EP, STRAWBERRY WINE, found Riccio dipping her toes into the classic country music she grew up with. If that album was the introduction to a songwriter, vocalist and guitar player of immense potential, this eleven-track record is the work of an artist who has matured beyond recognition over those short few years. In this project, Riccio confronts her sexuality and character formation full-on and with no holds barred, exorcizing some past hurdles and moving forward confidently and with her head held high.

Riccio received the 2019 Lee Villiare Scholarship from the Berkeley College of Music. She was also awarded the Newport Folk Festival John Prine Fellowship earlier this year, so it’s no surprise that Yep Roc bought into that talent and signed her to their iconic label.

‘I’ve squeezed these hips into someone else’s jeans and I have said I’m sorry when I didn’t need to be,’ she notes with regret and a degree of defiance on Sweet. It’s a high-octane and fiercely intense song and the album’s standout track for me. Riccio’s ballads are every bit as measured and no more so than on the simply gorgeous love song, For Me It’s You. Also in the low gears are the opener Summer and Kinder To Myself. The former is a bittersweet affair of unforeseen rejection and the latter is a statement of intent and rebirth. The cleverly expressed title track, Whiplash, mulls over the writer’s rollercoaster and emotional voyage from adolescence to adulthood.

Combining themes of joy and sadness, WHIPLASH addresses Riccio’s life journey in a frank, confident, and unequivocal manner. A compelling blend of indie-folk and country, it hits the bullseye on all counts. Expressive songwriting, razor-sharp playing, and crystal-clear vocals all add up to a hugely impressive album and delightfully accessible listen.

Review by Declan Culliton

Victoria Bailey A Cowgirl Rides On Rock Ridge

Surrounded by music growing up, her father was a drummer in a rock band and her mother was a lover of both folk and rock, Orange County singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Victoria Bailey’s teens were spent surrounded by the sounds of The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Cat Stevens, James Taylor and Sheryl Crow. Her inroads and passion for traditional country music came only in her late teens from playing country music bars and various music venues in L.A.  She may be a relatively latecomer to the genre and may not have the Appalachian heritage of some of her peers. However, her debut solo album, JESUS, RED WINE & PATSY CLINE, from 2020, totally embraced both the 50s and 60s Bakersfield sound of her native California.  Her latest record, A COWGIRL RIDES ON, finds her switching her attention to the old-timey, gospel, and bluegrass sound of former years.

We described that debut album at Lonesome Highway as ‘one of the year’s most impressive and dazzling country albums’ and it’s fair to say that Victoria’s latest offering falls very much into that same category.  JESUS, RED WINE & PATSY CLINE was an introduction to a silver-voiced vocalist with the skillset to pen catchy, immediately accessible and often playful songs. Victoria’s follow-up project reveals an artist maturing as a songwriter, with one foot in the present and one foot in the past.

On the opening and title track, a co-write with producer and one-time Dwight Yoakam sideman, Brian Whelan, Bailey announces, ‘She’s a drifter miles from it all, with no one around her or a place to call home.’ The song was inspired by the travel memoirs that Melissa Chapman recorded in her book, Distant Skies, which documented her horseback journey from the East to the West coast of America in the 70s. The song is a two-dimensional tale mirroring Victoria’s personal and professional journey.

Recorded live in L.A. under the watchful eye of Brian Whelan, the musicianship of the four players that contributed is wonderful, not surprising given their collective pedigrees. Whelan played guitar and backing vocals, Ted Russell Kamp was on upright bass, pedal steel and dobro is credited to Jeremy Lond, and Philip Glenn played fiddle, mandolin and banjo. The icing on the cake are the backing vocals and harmonies from Leeann Skoda.

The sonic terrain broadly reflects Victoria’s love of gospel and bluegrass, with tracks like Snake Trails, Down From The Mountain, and Sweet By And By, all sounding like resurrected treasures from the past. She also includes the traditional song Waiting At The Gate, previously recorded by Ricky Scaggs. It’s not all old-school country either, Forever, You & I is a carefully measured and tender breakup song and the album’s stand-out track for me. Equally searching is the song Sabina, which tells of the reckless adventures of a woman who openly challenges traditional gender roles.

If Victoria Bailey’s debut solo album was a pointer towards a self-assured artist with the potential to establish herself as a leading light among the younger breed of breakthrough country artists, A COWGIRL RIDES ON finds her continuing to move swiftly in that direction.

Review by Declan Culliton

Jim Lauderdale The Long and Lonesome Letting Go Sky Crunch

Just when the very unlikely scenario of Jim Lauderdale not releasing an album in 2023 seemed to becoming a reality, up pops this little gem. With thirty-five albums already in his back catalogue, and at least one album released each year, Lauderdale continues his genre-hopping voyage with THE LONG and LONESOME LETTING GO. If his 2022 record, GAME CHANGER, was his most traditional country recording in quite a while, he has returned to his love of bluegrass this time around and hooked up with the Nashville- based Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, for this album. Lauderdale has released full-on bluegrass records in the past, most notably his 1999 collaboration with the legendary Ralph Stanley and The Clinch Mountain Boys, I FEEL LIKE SINGING TODAY. If that project was a case of working with an artist that Lauderdale had admired for many years, the shoe is on the other foot on this occasion with Lauderdale taking on the role of master to a young bunch of artists who have been enthusiasts of his for many years.

The initial connection was made at MerleFest in North Carolina a few years ago when the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys invited Lauderdale to join them in their set and following a number of hook ups at various festivals, a commitment was made to record together. The twelve-track album is a combination of six co-writes by Lauderdale and Po’ Ramblin’ Boys guitarist Josh Rinkel, and co-writes between Lauderdale and bluegrass household names Becky Buller, Joe Newberry, and Jimmy Richey. Also credited as co-writers are rising bluegrass star Alex Leach and singer songwriter, Logan Ledger. The title track and first single to be released from the album was co-written with Bob Minner and features guest vocalist Del McCoury.

With this impressive lineup of writers and players, does the end product stand up to Lauderdale’s high standard? Not surprisingly, the answer is a resounding ‘yes.’ Without attempting to reinvent the wheel, Lauderdale and the players deliver an album that visits familiar country and bluegrass themes. We hear of love lost on She’s On A Different Train and That Was When We Were Together and on the flip side of the coin, She’s The Light relishes in love gained. That old devil, temptation, is to the fore on I’m Only So Good At Being Good and Darkness The Other Side Of Light and they sign off in fine style with the closer, Drop The Hammer Down.

It's fair to say that Lauderdale has rarely put a foot wrong in his extensive back catalogue and THE LONG and LONESOME LETTING GO is another album that can sit proudly side by side with his previous excursions down the bluegrass trail. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Graham Parker & The Goldtops Last Chance To Learn The Twist Stir

Very much the ‘angry young man’ in the mid to late 70s, Graham Parker’s recent work has found him in a more playful and relaxed mood. That’s not to say that he does not still approach social issues head on but, as the title of his latest album suggests, he has mellowed somewhat since his early recording years.

LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST is his second album with his backing band, The Goldtops, following on from 2018’s CLOUD SYMBOLS. A super group of sorts, the band includes Parker’s long-time contributor Martin Belmont on guitar, Simon Edwards on bass, Jim Russell on drums, and Geraint Watkins on keyboards. Parker’s soulful signature sound frequently included a horn section and the Easy Access Orchestra takes the honours here with some smooth playing.

In fine voice and following his trademark template of blending soul, blues, and roots, Parker delivers a healthy thirteen tracks on the album, from the confessional We Did Nothing, a reflection on inactivity surrounding climate change, to the more light-hearted and friskier, The Music Of The Devil. He goes full-on reggae with Them Bugs and the autobiographical Sun Valley is a radio-friendly affair, all the better for dazzling backing vocals from the vocal duo, The Lady Bugs. He reels back the years with Wicked Wit, it’s a horn-filled and ageless delight and the laid-back Last Stretch Of The Road looks back on missed opportunities and mortality.

 It may be forty-seven years since Graham Parker broke into the new wave scene with his debut album, HOWLING WIND, followed in the same year with HEAT TREATMENT, but his latest offering includes quite a number of songs that would slot proudly into either of those collections. Swaddled in warm and rich arrangements, it’s also a reflection of an artist and his players having a really good time.

‘The music of the devil was our salvation,’ Parker confesses on the aforementioned THE MUSIC OF THE DEVIL and this record bears witness to a master craftsman who can still concoct and deliver an intoxicating mix of soulful and catchy tunes.

Review by Declan Culliton

Bobbo Byrnes October Self Release

Recorded over just two days, and using iconic studios located in Berlin (Hansa Studios) and Dublin (Windmill Lane Studios) for inspiration, the very talented Bobbo Byrnes delivers an album of great depth. Over nine songs Byrnes excels on acoustic guitar, mandolin, e-bow and vocals and both the playing and production is clean and creative. A cover version of Bowie’s Heroes is interesting and the strident playing on The Sea is very impressive. The title song October is a lovely instrumental and Too Many Miles shows off his superb guitar playing. You may already be aware of Bobbo  Byrnes as a founding member of one of Orange County’s leading americana rock bands, The Fallen Stars, with his wife Tracey. An excellent album that engages and warms the spirit.

Review by Paul McGee

Rupert Wates Elegie Bite

Yet another example of the flawless music that flows from the expressive guitar and voice of this artist. A resident of New York city for the last sixteen years, Wates was born in London and it’s his roots and influences from traditional English Folk music that are most apparent on this twelfth album release since 2005.

The eleven songs are all written by Wates and his rich vocal is complimented beautifully by his sublime guitar playing. He favours Lowden acoustic guitars and the fluid fingerstyle performance is a real joy throughout thirty-three minutes of sweetly contemplative and soothing songs. Wates is joined by Trifon Dimitrov on double bass for a number of songs and they blend seamlessly together. There is something of the ancient bard in the delivery of these songs, almost reaching back to a time of medieval tales, and the comforting combination of music and voice certainly sets the mind to rest. Song titles like Guinevere and Lady Of the Glades reference the work of English writer Sir Thomas Mallory and the poet John Keats. Elsewhere, there are nods to the inspiration provided by poets such as Tennyson and Coleridge on the songs, Across the Water and The Storm.

However, lest you think that this is all too highbrow, let me assure you that there is a deep soul at the centre of this album, one that reflects upon abiding love on (Like) Sunrise  with the lines ‘And she fills my eyes, And she warms my face, Like sunrise.’ Similarly, the song We’ll Go Dancing reflects upon a love that has grown and matured over time, ‘And though we have changed the rules of the game and little remains of the people we were, What we’ve lost has made us strong.’

There is an old wisdom at play in songs like Winter where Wates reflects, ‘When all is done, Or hearts will be calmer my friend’ and the sense that he is always open to new experiences in the book of life is captured on the song If I Ran To You where he asks ‘If I ran to you would you lead me all the way to your door.’ Another impressive addition to a body of work that bears witness to a talent of real substance.

Review by Paul McGee

Ultan Conlon The Starlight Ballroom Darksideout

There is a great sense of consistency around the release of this new album, Ultan’s fifth in a run that started with the 2009 debut, BLESS YOUR HEART. That debut included a song that featured the legendary John Martyn (Really Gone) and it laid down a marker for a career that has seen him share the stage with great artists, including Edie Reader, Jackson Browne, Shelby Lynne and Patty Griffin, among many others. However, apart from supporting such stars, Ultan Conlon has more than earned the right to stand beside any of these artists that helped to open the door for his creative talents to shine through.

Conlon’s origins are firmly rooted in Galway and his writing style is reflected in the influences that he has taken from growing up in such a rich heritage of musicality. The source of his creativity is woven into the traditions of witty discourse and wry observation of the human condition. There is a strong sense of the knowing contemplation of the human condition in these songs, almost like a barometer on the pressure points of these times.

On songs like the excellent All Sewn Up Conlon channels Roy Orbison in his crystal clear vocal delivery and warm tone. A keen observational talent is shown on Susie Gossip, a song that speaks about visiting a graveyard and one of the headstones that catches the attention. A tribute to his mother, Paradise Lane, captures innocent times and the sense of wonder that lingers in the memory of growing up in a small town environment with bigger dreams. The title track conjures memories of the old ballroom days of Irish society in the 1960s when the joy of community was celebrated in the old dancehalls of the local villages around the country. The reality of compromise is captured on Working For the Man as a mantra to getting by and paying your way ‘ there ain’t no way I’m gonna lay in bed and let my head get the better of me.’

There is great sense of nostalgia on The Old Songs that captures that feeling of  time passing by and the joy of freezing happy memories as a moment in time. Relationship challenges are tackled on the standout song Hurts Like Heaven and the second-guessing that goes with any developing commitment, ‘I go rogue and you stay quiet, We drive that love back deep inside, Where our light can’t shine and our love don’t grow.’ Conlon sings in a clear vocal tone that is very engaging and the production by David Garza is at all times in support of the songs with clear separation on the instruments and creative use of strings, played by Dave Curtis, to augment the melodies.

Rivertown channels feeling of growing up and coming to terms with a sense of the mystery that lies beyond. Perhaps the most enlightening song is The Sunday Blues, which speaks about the worry of being caught up in feelings that have no release ‘ Was it something that I said, I wish I didn’t care for anything, These days I long to forget.’ I guess that we can all live our lives worrying about what others may think. Conlon ends the song with the repeated lines ‘Heaven is a sight for sore eyes and blue skies.’  The final song is Don’t Tell Me That You Love Me, Prove It and it is a slow acoustic look the vagaries of love and the search for contentment.

My album contains no musician credits apart from a list of names that contributed - Charlie Reader, Eddi Reader, John Would, Gemma Wilson, Sebastian Steinberg, Aimee Wood and both David Garza and Ultan Conlon. The playing is beautifully understated throughout and the whole project is a real success. At the end of the day this is music in celebration of the life that we all live; the success and failure, the laughter and the tears. In Ultan Conlon’s world, knowing that he makes a difference is reward enough, and these are fine songs that make a lasting imprint.

Review by Paul McGee

New Album Reviews

The Kody Norris Show Rhinestone Revival Rebel

Jimmy Martin, the exuberant character of earlier bluegrass, is often cited when The Kody Norris Show is being discussed, and his influence on them runs well beyond the fact that the band also hail from East Tennessee. The relatively young ensemble stands out, not just for their spectacular coordinated outfits (credited to Double 8 Custom Apparel, LA) but they equally have the musical chops and stagecraft to rival the best in the business. As this second album also shows, they can write catchy new songs and reinterpret older ones from other genres with ease.

Kody Norris (guitar) himself contributed four of the twelve songs, and any of his songs could well be mistaken for established bluegrass or country numbers. He may well have written Fiddler’s Rock for the sole purpose of creating a showcase for the twin fiddling of his talented wife, Mary Rachel Nalley-Norris and their guest, Jason Barie (Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers)! Barie also contributes fiddle and backing vocals on Kody’s slow burning, broken hearts country song, Please Tell Me Why. On another new original, the catchy Baltimore I’m Leaving, we’re introduced to some inventive and almost funky banjo playing from Josiah Tyree, in a reverse of the usual ‘country boy falls for the big city lights’ affair. Josiah is also a superb vocalist, and he gets his moment on Don Sowards’ instant ear worm, I Call Her Sunshine, as well as contributing backing vocals on most of the tracks. Mary Rachel sings lead, and this time plays mandolin, on Endless Highway (covered by Alison Krauss), and backing vocals here come from none other than the wonderful Brooke Aldridge. Her husband, Darin Aldridge, produced the whole project in The Shop Studio, NC and added mandolin on that track. The true saga of the infamous NC bandit, Otto Wood, a staple of Doc Watson’s set, is given a new treatment here, with Kody taking lead vocals, with bluesy harmonica from another guest, David Johnson.

There’s lots more to enjoy here on one of the best bluegrass releases this year, complete with the usual high standard of artwork and design from Rebel Records

Review by Eilís Boland

Lillie Mae Festival Eyes S||C

Multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter, Lillie Mae is very much a ‘lifer’ in the music industry. Born into a musical family, she began performing with her sisters and brother at the age of three and, by her own admission, will be doing what she does so well most likely for the rest of her life.

Alongside playing residencies and touring with her family band, Lillie’s late teens and early twenties found her touring as part of Jack White’s bands and contributing to his early solo albums. She recorded her debut solo album, RAIN ON THE PIANO in 2015 and followed that with two albums on Jack White’s Third Man Records label, FOREVER and THEN SOME (2017) and OTHER GIRLS (2019), both of which registered impressively in the American Country and Heat charts.

Her latest project, FESTIVAL EYES, was recorded over a couple of days in Dallas. Finding herself and her band in that neck of the woods on the final date of a tour, Lillie hooked up with Dallas-based producer Beau Bedford (The Texas Gentlemen, Orville Peck, Paul Cauthen, Leah Blevins) to oversee the album.

With much of the material written during the pandemic, the recurring theme of togetherness and love is dominant. Titles like Love Is, Safe Place, Please Be With Me and Razor Love all point toward an appreciation for the most important things in life, love, peace of mind, and well-being. The latter song is a gorgeous Neil Young cover (check out the YouTube video of the song) and although not written by Lillie, the lyrics do mirror her lifestyle and mindset (‘Make a livin' like a rolling stone, on the road there’s no place like home’). The song was suggested by Bedford and coincidently Lillie’s mother’s maiden name is Razor, so the selection was a winner on a number of fronts.

The playing throughout, as you would expect from a road-tight band, is exquisite.  Lillie plays acoustic guitar and fiddle, accompanied by her brother Frank Rische (electric and acoustic guitar), husband Craig Smith (electric guitar), and sister Scarlett Rische (mandolin). The non-family members that contributed are Geoffrey Muller and Brian Zonn (bass), Aaron Goodrich (drums, percussion) and producer Beau Bedford (guitar, piano, keys).

What particularly elevates a number of the songs are the harmony vocals between Lillie and Frank. While harmonies have been a regular feature in Lillie’s work, they surpass anything she has previously recorded on the album’s closing track, Love Is.  It’s a sound that recalls the vocal experimentation that dominated The Beach Boys’ PET SOUNDS album and the album’s stand-out track. Cold June looks back on an unusually unseasonable start to the summer of lockdown and the title track, also written during the pandemic, longs for the return of normality (‘Oh, where there’s music, singing, dancing, living up the night and we’re laughing!’). Also impressive is the mid-paced dreamlike ballad, Wild and Free, co-written with Brit Taylor.

A stylistically impressive venture on all fronts, FESTIVAL EYES may not be a radical departure from Lillie Mae’s previous work, but it does include her most intimate and personal writing. 

Review by Declan Culliton

John Surge and The Haymakers Almost Time Blackbird

The debut album from John Surge and The Haymakers was YOUR WONDERFUL LIFE and it was released back in 2019. This time out they decided to try something different and headed to record in Texas and there hooked up with Tommy Detamore to produce this new offering. Surge’s longtime collaborator and guitarist, Randy Volin, joined him for the journey. Recording in a studio in Floresville in Texas over two hard-working days, there they laid down the bones of the ten tracks on the album. It is full of Surge’s love of honky-tonk, cowpunk and country dance music.

They made the most of the location and time by rounding up some top notch talent in bassist Brad Fordham, Tom Lewis on drums and Floyd Domino on piano amongst other instrumentalists, as well as having Brennen Leigh join them on harmony vocals. In the context of country themes, the majority of the songs tell us about relationships falling apart and the lessons not learned from past experiences. 

The album opens with You’re So Right and the message that it “didn’t take that long from ‘I think I love you’ to ‘I think I’m gone’.” It motors along with twang laden guitar and Detamore’s pedal steel and sets the scenario for the remaining tracks. A radio edit of the track also closes the album. Rattle Me is the effect a woman has on the man in question. Next up, Tricks Of The Trade is built around a strong chorus about those tricks being something of a series of heartbreaking tricks. Volin adds tight guitar solo to bolster things up.

Reflection is the key to the next song I Should Have Known, a dejected ballad with Domino’s piano effective in it’s tone. That contrasts with the more edgy tone of being crushed in Lesson I Never Learned. The title track has a solid groove and a solid back beat that is satisfying. Harmonica opens the riff based Big Train, a song previously recorded by a band who were a big favourite of yours truly on my early forays into cowpunk - that was Rank And File. Surge’s version adds the guest vocal of that band’s Chips Kinman to give a further seal of authenticity. All You Gotta Do has a strong classic country feel with fiddle, acoustic lead and vocal harmony giving it an additional push in the right direction - as it offers advice to the lovelorn. We go back to quieter pastures with the ballad of Sister Honeybee. It describes some of the good things that life has to offer.

Surge has made an album that fits like a pair of well worn jeans and feels the right side of retro country but also has an eye to the future and perfects his own personal vision of the music that came from the likes of the Palomino Club in its heyday in L.A. Seems like it’s almost time to listen again and make some hay in its audio sunshine.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Broken Radio Dirty Country Hausmusik

An album for those who like a bit of gravel and grit in their gothic country. DIRTY COUNTRY is the latest album from Klaus Patzak, a German musician, who spent a fair bit of time plying his trade in Austin, but hails from Landsberg. It was the town where Johnny Cash was once stationed when in the army. It must have left its mark, in some form or other, on Patzak. His music is rooted in that earlier time and the influences he heard on forces radio growing up. Those tales of songs rooted in folk, rock and country form the basis of the deep mix of music he makes now.

However it is the depth and suggested darkness of his voice that sets the scene for the songs here, all written and produced under the name of Broken Radio. This is not the music that is streamed or featured on unbroken mainstream country radio. There are the textures and effective use of late night desert twang, fiddle, pedal steel, trumpet, organ and electronics. All in all, a highly effective sonic landscape that also adds the impressive vocal contributions of Lois Walsh and Teodora Gosheva. They often evoke the classic country duets of icons of the genre in the past. From the album credits, it’s not exactly clear how many of these instruments he himself played but it would seem likely he handled the bulk, if not all, himself. Making it even more praiseworthy an effort and endeavour that was recorded back in his own studio on his own time.

But don’t think that there is nothing here that has the attractiveness of a left-field hit, for example Sweetheart Honey Baby could easily find its way onto any open-minded radio show. The vocal interaction is indeed captivating. Solitary Morning evokes its title with a guitar and steel and a more wearied but wistful tale of early morning travel. Travel is again the theme of Patzak falling for the titular Tow Truck Driving Lady when his vintage car decides to quit. But in truth there is a lot of diversification throughout, without swerving too far from its chosen highway. It shows that Broken Radio have grasped the mettle of effectively channelling a particular strain of virulent off-kilter country music.

This is the sixth release from Broken Radio and is packaged as you might expect from someone who has paid attention to detail throughout. It is recommended, if this review in any way whets your appetite and curiosity, that you visit www.brokenradio.de to see the videos that have been created for many of the songs featured here; as well as the covers of the albums and singles that have a nod to a world vision set back a few decades ago. The modes of transport and the references to place all point to Patzak being a student of those lost highways and often unforgiving landscapes. 

This is my first acquaintance with Broken Radio and it is a welcome one. Perhaps, not everyone will enjoy its essence, but for those that do it offers a set of frequently tantalising tunes that can be heard broadcasting from this broken but far from unplayable radio. 

Review by Stephen Rapid

Ryan Curtis Ain’t Ever Easy American Standard Times 

For album number two, Ryan Curtis has taken his “alt-country from the high country” sound in the direction of a tougher, rockier sound (with equal measures of blues and southern overtones). He is another exponent of the gravel-gargling vocal delivery which suits his tales of those who exist on the margins and in the backwaters of middle and small town America, in other words real life characters who inhabit these songs with doubt and hope in equal measure.

Can’t Take Back is the opening song and it has a groove over its firm backbeat and guitar and Wurlitzer laden looseness as he tells that his woman, in time honoured blues fashion, ain’t never coming back. The album then moves to a more alt country tone that reminds one of the days when alt-country was a viable sub genre. Codependent Heart is built around a guitar riff that draws you in and then expands to a final segment where the guitar lets loose. There is more introspection on Wasted Energy, wherein he decides to put that to better use and to find peace (and love) in his life. It is more reflective, as suits its title and mood.

It was this song that made me think that fans of the early releases from Ryan Bingham could find themselves with a new singer/songwriter to admire and absorb. That overall connection resurfaces over the next few tracks, for example in the country rock forcefulness of Drunk Tank and the realisation that this is not a place you want to wake up in. Adherents of Drive by Truckers sound will see a similarity here too. This Town and I Love This City offer perspectives on hard lovin’ and livin’ in locations that make it difficult to do both with any success, and lead instead to that other perennial pastime, that of drinkin’ to forget. The former is another song that hits the spot and adds to the underlying and overarching honky tonk country feel, while there is another juxtaposition with Cactus And Cocaine. It has an almost sing-along feel without ever quite getting to that point and again benefits from some emotive and twangy guitar, as he draws those two C’s into the one song. Chris Stapleton’s Good Corn Liquor moves from its initial bluegrass rendition by the Steeldrivers to something closer to Stapleton’s current modus operandi.

There is a different atmosphere to the approach of the closing track,Through The Tears, with a spoken vocal that goes in further towards raspy and uses steel guitar, vocals and more to create a descriptive sonic landscape that has the sought after cinematic outcome. It comes as an interesting finish to some of the more rough-hewn elements of the preceding tracks and allows Ryan to explore the different nuances of his music.

The album was recorded  at the famed OK theatre in Oregon, though Michigan born Ryan is now based in Boise, Idaho. He worked with engineer Bart Budwig and musicians Cooper Trail, Nevada Sowle and Tyler McFarlane and other guests including guitarist Rider Soran, all of whom have their own separate music careers, as did Ryan as a member of the more soul orientated rock band, The Weary Times.

Having gone through the rigours of lockdown which underlined the album’s title, he has emerged with an album he can be proud of and one that should find many adherents.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Hiss Golden Messenger Jump For Joy Merge

M.C. Taylor performs as Hiss Golden Messenger and, looking back over his career, says that he has lived “an outlaw life, but one that makes me happy.” For those who have followed his journey over the last sixteen years, you will know that Taylor has always worked on the fringes of what is considered mainstream, while creating music of insightful depth and country soul. He has been on a quest to discover his truth, regularly seeking to find answers to internal questions that have driven his creative muse. Now, after many albums, endless gigs and hotel rooms, airports and road trips, his current perspective comes down to “If we’re standing at some finish line of human civilisation… then I want to go out dancing.” The performance name itself is something of a contradiction in that “Hiss” conjures up a negative image and a sense of disapproval, whereas “Golden Messenger” brings the image of a heavenly visitor from on high. In a way it’s this dichotomy that perfectly captures the true essence of M.C. Taylor and his musical vision. Almost like he’s saying ‘don’t ask me for answers, I’m just looking myself and making the best of things as we go along.’

This new album was recorded at Sonic Ranch, Tornillo, Texas, by Scott Hirsch, with assistance from Mario Ramirez and it takes a new direction with upbeat rhythmic arrangements which capture plenty of joy in the playing. It also shines brightly in terms of the creative spirit that Taylor always brings to his projects. His sound is nothing if not soulful at it’s core, the music effortlessly gliding along on the impressive playing of his regular band mates, Nick Falk (drums), Alex Bingham (bass), Chris Boerner (guitars) and Sam Fribush (keyboards). They blend together so seamlessly and are a perfect example of the maxim that “the whole is better than the sum of its parts.”

We are given a jazzy New Orleans shuffle on the title song Jump For Joy and this is balanced against the sweet funky sound on Shinbone which sees Taylor talk about ‘Taking chances, If you lose it all, Can you love what’s left?’ There is an easy, gentle flow on Jesus Is Bored with a more reflective plea, ‘Please give me something to lift me up out of this darkness, Something to light my way,’ really hitting the key question on the head; is there anybody listening? Another song, the almost-Reggae groove of California King considers ‘Some prophets sing about bad things to all their Sunday sinners, They set their nets out on the shore, Try to catch the lonely surfers.’

However, it all really comes down to the message of community, as captured on the understated acoustic rhythm of My Old Friends, a song from the heart and expressing ‘But my old friends don’t mind my transgressions, May I forgive them the way I’ve been forgiven.’ It confirms that true friendship is ‘something to believe in’ and immediately we are at the essence of the album, feel the joy in what tomorrow offers and embrace the moment. For this project, Taylor decided to look back on his life journey through the alter-ego of Michael Crow, an alias that channels his memories of younger days. Songs such as 20 Years and a Nickel look at his attempts to write a successful song, ‘I am waiting, Trying to write my masterpiece… There’s no such thing as a simple song, I’m convinced of it, I should know.’ Then there is I Saw the New Day In the World with its addictive groove and optimism, while on Nu-Grape we have another soulful rhythm and the superb backing vocals of Aoife O’Donovan and Amy Helm; the lines ‘I’m just a nail in the house of the universe’ capturing the sense of wonder at all the big questions. Indeed, it is the song titled The Wondering that sums it all up with a lovely bass groove and warm keys wrapping the melody against lines such as ‘Strung out beneath the hot summer clouds, I know a place to go swimming, A place where I can be myself, When the world around me is too much.’ Yet another cracker from the pen of M.C. Taylor and an album to cherish.

Review by Paul McGee

Luluc Diamonds Community

This duo are Zoë Randell and Steve Hassett, an Australian couple who began creating music together back in 2008. This new release is the fifth album in their catalogue of what can be described as Indie Folk, with beautiful vocals and pastoral soundscapes in the sweet melodies that form an integral part of their sound. Dream-Folk is a label that has been popular of late in trying to describe a blissed-out approach to recording, with use of reverb, understated vocals and lo-fi atmospherics.

If you enjoy a sense of drifting away in your musical tastes then this is the album for you. From the opening title track Diamonds, which recounts a drive towards San Antone in Texas and learning an old Doug Sahm song, the music takes on a sense of calm. The following track Snow muses upon feelings of loneliness and missing someone with a slow drum and bass rhythm supporting a nice guitar melody that plays in the pocket. Come On Spring has a nice bounce to it and you can feel the changing seasons as Randell sings of ‘Sweet relief from everything.’

There is a wistful elegance to Moonbeam with haunting cello and pristine acoustic guitar in the mix. The use of string arrangements enhances an already beautiful song, reminiscent of Mazzy Star. The Shore uses restrained brass instrumentation and a resonant bass-line on a song that captures a longing for natural elements and a deeper love. Hooked begins with just a strummed acoustic guitar and simple bass that support the winsome vocal of Randell as she sings of ‘all the wasted chances’ and the futility of self-sacrifice in a relationship.

Sleepyhead is positively upbeat with a nice rhythm that delivers a message of love and understanding in the habits of another. There is a sad quality on Evermore with cello echoing a dream-like sense of love being perhaps a suffocating feeling. A cover of the Rolling Stones As Tears Go By is delivered in soft-focus charm but misses out on the sad distance that was explored in the Marianne Faithful interpretation of the same song. Matters conclude with a lovely song The Sky and reflections on the power of nature to deliver real awe-inspiring vistas ‘ The sun kissed the sky goodnight… give it up, give it over, that weight on your shoulder.’ A very impressive album that will delight many who look for their succour in weightless, subtle melody and ethereal vocals.

Review by Paul McGee

Paul J Bolger Beware Of Trains Pillar Stone

This interesting artist has been releasing music sporadically since the 1990s. He also has a strong interest in art and design, cartoon animation and film production, and all forms of self-expression. Originally from Waterford in Ireland, Bolger has travelled in both America and Canada and this latest album was recorded in Nashville with renowned guitarist/producer Steve Dawson at Henhouse Studios. Also featured are the talents of David Jacques on upright and electric bass (John Prine, Emmylou Harris), drummer/percussionist Jamie Dick (Rhiannon Giddens, Pam Tillis, Alison Russell) and vocalist Siobhán Maher-Kennedy (River City People, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams). Other musicians feature on the eight tracks, including Hugh Christopher Brown, Alex Soikans, Colin Shanahan and Sarah McDermott.

If you count the 1993 release of The Moss House, then this album represents the fourth full release, following on from PJB (20200), and HARD TRUTH (2022). Throw in a couple of Eps along the way and you have plenty to entertain in the back catalogue. There is much to delight on this new album and the songs are all very well written, atmospheric in the delivery and full of personality. The quality of musicianship is a big advantage of course and Bolger can more than hold his own on acoustic guitar and lead vocals. The co-vocal with Siobhan Maher-Kennedy on Breathless is a real stand-out song, as is the spoken word delivery on Dance Where You Stand. The pedal steel of Steve Dawson and the keys of Hugh Christopher Brown really lift the latter arrangement. Heather Road is a funky workout that channels a loosely-tight groove, while Watering Hole has a dynamic blues feel, all smoky laid-back playing and slow-burn delivery. The bounce of What We Did Wrong is certainly a feelgood track and features a nice rhythmic groove that channels Buddy Holly. Eight songs in all, and an album that ticks any boxes.

Review by Paul McGee

Michael Conor Murphy Where To Now? Self Release

Wexford based, Irish songwriter,  Michael Conor Murphy, delivers thirteen songs on this album and the overarching sense is one of taking chances and making your own luck in life. Looking for a sure thing never really works out and sometimes you just have to take a shot. Otherwise, it can all boil down to time passing, chances gone by with missed opportunity. This is a follow-up release to Michael’s debut album, Ain't Asking for Nothing, which was released earlier this year.

Writing On the Wall tells of a doomed relationship ‘what did you expect, watching our slow trainwreck.’ There are portents of doom on Deep Black Water and sleeping with the Devil’s daughter can only lead to trouble. The song We Stopped channels the memory of the pandemic and the world on hold, while the message in Where To Now? is one of looking for redemption and trying to make sense of the times ‘Every year seems to put another furrow in my brow, Oh… where to now?’ There is some fine fiddle and bouzouki to enjoy on Summer Sent You and the up-tempo beat of Got My Boots On is the most rock orientated track on display here.

Hammers and Nails looks at the life of a handyman builder and the practical ways that love may find a home. There is some fine percussion, keyboard and bass lines running through the song arrangement, and something of a highlight on the album, ‘Want something fixed honey, you just have to ask, I’m a handy lover-man to have around your place.’ Small Mercies is another strong song with harmonica and sweet guitar reflecting the need to count our blessings and practice acceptance.

The album was recorded at Accipiter Nisus Studios in Piercestown, Co. Wexford and it was produced by Mick Egan, who also contributes keyboards, guitars and percussion. Other players are Richard Lee (drums), James O’Reilly (fiddle), Alice McIntyre (fiddle) and Ian Barry (bouzouki, vocals). Murphy plays guitar and harmonica, in addition to taking all lead vocals. He is also backed by local talent Imelda Keogh on vocals, and she has released some excellent music in recent years, including songs written by Michael himself. This is a worthwhile album, well performed and containing differing styles to suit all musical tastes. Contemporary and marketable.

Review by Paul McGee

The Kody Norris Show, Lillie Mae, John Surge and the Haymakers, Broken Radio, Ryan Curtis, Hiss Golden Messenger, Luluc, Paul J Bolger

New Album Reviews

Greenshine New Moon On Friday Tigerdog

Noel Shine and Mary Greene have been creating great music in their base in West Cork for quite a while, both emerging from families in Counties Clare and Waterford, respectively, who were steeped in Irish traditional and folk music, and American country, roots and folk. Thankfully, being dragged to festivals all over Ireland as a child didn’t put off their daughter, Ellie Shine, who has joined them in recent years and the trio have produced another enchanting album. Their influences are obvious, but they have developed their very own distinctive folk/Americana sound, evident on this collection of eight originals and four cover songs, all recorded in their home studio.

Mary has honed her craft as an impressive songwriter over the years and has written or cowritten all except one of the original songs here. There’s an unhurried, reassuring, ambiance emanating from the recording that is hard to resist.

Big Black Bag speaks to anyone who lies awake at night worrying - over the jazz influenced musical backdrop of dobro, electric guitar and bass, Mary’s soothing lyrics encouraging the afflicted (and who among us hasn’t been through this at some time in life?) to tie that worry up in the metaphorical big black bin bag ‘and throw it out!’. She also takes the lead vocals on the gentle love song, Bend like A Willow, and the old adage that ‘if you love them, set them free’ is her message on the title track, New Moon On Friday. As well as being the lead songwriter in the band,  Mary also plays guitars, keys and concertina, while her husband Noel is even more versatile, contributing guitars, bass, mandolin, bouzouki, whistle, Theramin, keys, banjo and harmonica. He takes the lead vocal on a cover of Springsteen’s The Mansion On The Hill, bestowing on it a very Irish feel, with his natural Irish accent and a combination of tin whistle, mandolin and pedal steel that really works, though it shouldn’t.

Ellie has a very distinctive and attractive vocal tone, with much depth but also a quiver, and she harmonises to great effect with her mother on many of the tracks. However, it is on their outstanding version of Jimmy Webb’s classic Wichita Lineman that Ellie really comes into her own.  Accompanying herself on ukulele, and with delicious pedal steel from guest David Murphy, subtle percussion from drummer Martin Leahy, and backing vocals from Mary, this version is truly sublime. And I have it on good authority that Jimmy Webb approves. The other standout song for this reviewer is Mary’s Charmed Life, wherein she inhabits the thoughts of a ghost who roams nocturnally forever after a life full of regret, the haunted gothic atmosphere suggested by Noel’s eerie whistle, acoustic guitar and mandolin, and their own ‘Birds of the Garden’ who herald the dawn, and the retreat of the ill-fated tortured soul.

Review by Eilís Boland

Paul Cowley Stroll Out West Self Release

Most surprisingly, considering his current mastery of acoustic country blues as evidenced here, Birmingham’s Paul Cowley was a latecomer to the genre, only discovering this style of music when he reached his 40’s. Clearly influenced by the likes of Lightning Hopkins, Mississippi Fred McDowell and Blind Willie McTell, Cowley’s fifth album features seven new original songs, as well as five covers.

It’s refreshing to hear a blues album where the playing is in service of the song, and well written songs at that, without the all too common clichéd subject matter and lyrics. Here, Paul Cowley shows himself to be a superb steel guitar and slide player, who thankfully doesn’t feel the need to show off. He expresses his life philosophy in songs like Whatever It Takes and World Gone Crazy, most of which are taken at a gentle walking pace. The latter is a right-up-to-date, seven minute long, plea to all of humanity to wake up to the plight of our world, where we all just ‘take, take, take’, but now ‘we need to come together/east or west/we’re all facing our biggest test’. Amen to that. Cover songs include his interpretation of Robert Johnson’s Preachin’ Blues, and a laidback and sensitive rendition of the much covered Staggerlee, mainly influenced by Mississippi John Hurt’s version. The standout cover, most unexpected, is a very different interpretation of Smokey Robinson’s classic, Tracks Of My Tears, into which Cowley breathes new life, taking it at a much slower pace and with a simple acoustic guitar accompaniment, with complementary and subtle drums, bass & electric guitar added by Pascal Ferrari.

Recorded in Cowley’s home studio in a stone barn in rural Brittany, France, the album was self produced, along with his longtime collaborator Ferrari, who also contributes bass, drums and electric guitar on some tracks. Stand out song for this reviewer is Life Is Short, an exhortation to make the most of one’s time here on earth, written in the aftermath of the passing of his father two years ago, and accompanied by simply beautiful, finger picked acoustic guitar. ‘Pass you by/Blink of an eye/And leave you wonderin’ how and why’, so you have to ‘jump right in … don’t hesitate’. I second that.

Review by Eilís Boland

Larry Sparks It’s Just Me Rebel

At 75 years of age and with his track record in music, Larry Sparks has nothing left to prove. Playing bluegrass since he was 15, joining Ralph Stanley as a Clinch Mountain Boy after Carter died tragically in 1966, going on to form his own band, The Lonesome Ramblers, and winning several IBMA awards for both his singing and his guitar playing, he has finally answered his fans requests by recording a stripped back solo album.

Still armed with his faithful 1954 Martin D28 (that he actually bought in 1967- strictly of interest to the guitar nerds!), this is a delightful collection of classic country and contemporary bluegrass songs. Kicking off with Marshal Warwick’s lonesome country ballad Long Way To Denver, it’s obvious from the start that though his voice is inevitably a little careworn, he still can imbue these songs with emotion born of sincerity. His guitar playing is also still impressive - a ‘less is more’ approach works perfectly here, allowing the songs to speak for themselves. Don’t Neglect The Rose and Great High Mountain (a gospel song written by Keith Whitley) were previously recorded by Sparks on full band albums, but they also work very well here. Harking back to earlier and simpler times is a predominant theme of the project, none more so than on the quite moving Lefty Frizzell number, Mom and Dad’s Waltz. Sweetheart is another deceptively simple country love song, but this time written specifically for Larry Sparks by a young up-and-coming Nashville-based songwriter called Wyatt McCubbin. The classic George Jones number, She Thinks I Still Care, is given a welcome outing, while another Marshal Warwick composition, Bring ‘Em On Back, is again a wistful wish for a return to earlier eras, ‘that ole stage down at The Ryman/how that stage went clacketty clack’. Closing with a recent Daniel Crabtree gospel song, we are reminded that his Christian faith continues to sustain Sparks. Self produced in his home studio, Larry is accompanied on some of the tracks by his son, Larry D, on upright bass.

Mention must also be made of the outstanding photographs and album design, yet again, by the longstanding Rebel Records label - a few of the current bluegrass labels could do with taking a leaf from their book.

My only complaint is that, at ten songs and 29 minutes, this album is too short!

Review by Eilís Boland

The Handsome Family Hollow Loose

A new album from the duo (and friends) is always a welcome event for long-time fans. So what’s changed this time out? Well, superficially not a lot in truth, in terms of the overall methodology. Yet there is a sophistication in the recording process that allows Brett to explore the sonics of their particular soundscape. It still sounds like the unique output we have come to know and love. Rennie’s still writing lyrics that only she could, while Brett brings his baritone voice and melodic arrangements into focus. There is, however, a noticeable sense of ease and an embracement of a certain mellowness within the music, that comes with age.

Brett, again, takes the helm handling the lead vocals in his, by now, distinctive baritone delivery, as well as recording and playing the bulk of the instruments featured. They are again joined by touring companions Alex McMahon on guitar and steel and Jason Toth on percussion. Both make valuable contributions to the overall fabric of the album, while Dave Gutierrez plays mandolin on The Oldest Water. Rennie adds vocal and banjo in the required places. 

The album opens with Joseph, a song that takes its title and chorus line “Come into the circle, Joseph! There’s no moon tonight” from something that Rennie screamed in her sleep one night. It may have been pretty startling at the time, but Brett thought that is was a good line, so they decided to use it as the lynchpin of the song. I can think of few acts that could make that origin story so fitting but it is, though, symptomatic of their working (asleep or awake) process. The song itself has a more dreamlike quality with an overdriven guitar sound, piano and drums adding to this sense, the latter grounding the songs to an earthly base. Two Black Shows is next up and it takes in the sometimes disturbing vision of their divided post pandemic country and the sense that nature may well be waiting to take over those often people-less locations. The keyboards are upfront for the start ofThe King Of Everything, a song that repeats its title effectively, then the guitar makes its presence over Toth’s percussion which provides a solid rhythm platform. It epitomises how, while using to their usual template, they continue to process and develop it.

“Squirrels in the basement / raccoons in the walls / centipedes with stingers” are lines that again hint at the way the natural world is re-staking its claim on civilisation, in the track Skunks. There is an earthy (or perhaps liquid) sound on the The Oldest Water, wherein the mandolin hints at an earlier folk tradition of storytelling. There is an esoteric link to the oddness of Mothballs and it is another example of Rennie’s instinctive and individual lyrical vision. It has, perhaps, a hint of Tom Waits in its voice and piano setting.

Very different in its arrangement is Shady Lake, a gentle evocation of a idyllic location. The guitars are cranked up, well in the context of this title at least, for To The Oaks. There is a ballad-like delivery for Strawberry Moon, with wistful keyboards and guitar. The next track is another highlight, with steel guitar and pleasing harmony vocals. Invisible Man reminds me of earlier albums, in some ways, and it is striking with its mid-song narration and uplifting feel. The closing track is Good Night, where again the steel is prominent over the solid drumbeat and some effective xylophone embellishments. While it is a soothing it has also something of a menacing quality, as it not only embraces a good night but also reminds that it is a time for skinwalkers, time for Santa to sharpen his claws. Sleep then peacefully, but leave one eye open. It is the duo’s openness to both light and dark that gives them room to manoeuvre, to entertain and to remind us of how far they have come and how to continue to mine a rich seam of uniqueness. There is nothing hollow about their music, but they have also created a hollow that allows us to crawl through into their world.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Zach Aaron This Lovely War Self Release

Cleveland, Texas, resident Zach Aaron’s songwriting is very much in the style of the classic singer songwriters from the Lone Star State. My first awakening to his music was his 2020 and third album, FILL DIRT WANTED, and he continues down a similar path with THIS LOVELY WAR, combining tales of tragedy, hopelessness and misfortune, often tinged with a slice of dry humour on the side. Dividing his time between his music career and a side project as a rodeo rider, Aaron’s observational skills are very much to the fore in his writing.

He kicks off proceedings with May The Iron Horse get Fed. A co-write with Kayla Ray - an excellent singer songwriter in her own right whose record, YESTERDAY AND ME, was my album of the year in 2018 - they target the steady demise of the railway network as a metaphor for the slowly declining simpler times of yesteryear and the increasing advancement of fake news.

There are barroom blues and much regret in FALL DOWN DRUNK (‘Jesus is gonna save me, if I could only get him on the phone’) and Songbird. The former brings to mind the work of Hayes Carll, while the latter is a weepy two-stepper all the more atmospheric for some doleful pedal steel. Aaron’s rodeo exploits no doubt pointed him in the direction of the Marty Robbins tale of an unlikely rider in Cowboy In A Continental Suit. He puts his foot firmly of the gas pedal and turns the heat up with Truth Is A Mirror. It’s not all whiskey and road dust either, as he opens up his heart on the tender love song, It’s You.

He closes the eight-track album with the semi-spoken Latigo Joe. It tells the tale of a roughneck convict cowboy serving life in prison, who perishes while on temporary freedom riding in a prison inmates rodeo show. Recounted in semi-spoken style, it brings to mind the classic Guy Clark song, Let Him Roll.

There are an increasing number of songwriters gaining inspiration from the Western and cowboy lifestyle of both yesteryear and today, Canadian Colter Wall being the most commercially successful. Others, less well known, like Andy Hedges and Chris Guenther, have recently released quality similarly themed albums. Although already four albums into his career, I’m adding Zach Aaron to that list of writers and performers, impressively embracing and saluting the rural American life of earlier times.

Review by Declan Cullion

Erin Rae Lighten Up & Try: Live From The Heart Thirty Tigers

Lonesome Highway’s introduction to the world of Erin Rae dates back to 2015 when she performed as a backing vocalist at Americana Fest in Nashville. We’ve followed her career closely since then, marvelling at her solo albums, SOON ENOUGH (2015), PUTTING ON AIRS (2018) and LIGHTEN UP (2022). We’ve also enjoyed her headline shows in Nashville and Germany and her performances as a backing vocalist for artists like Margo Price and Courtney Marie Andrews.

Erin’s latest recording is an altogether novel affair. The live songs on the album were recorded in the summer of 2022, after she and her band had completed a six-week tour opening for Lord Huron. They were recorded by Erin’s mother, Christie Bates, on a 1990s Panasonic cassette recorder that Erin’s dad had previously used to tape rough demos of his music. The result is a live recording in the true sense, with song introductions, background noises, and audience chatter, all left untampered. What rings true is Erin’s beautiful vocals and her road-hardened band. Featured are the majority of the songs from her then-most recent album, LIGHTEN UP, alongside a number of songs from PUTTING ON AIRS. Also included in the set is As We Go Along, from Erin’s 2019 EP LAGNIAPPE SESSION.

Particular highlights, among many, are Putting On Airs, Cosmic Sigh, Candy and Curry, which opened the set, and Bad Mind. The latter is introduced by Erin as a song about growing up in the South, surrounded by inequity and bias (‘Maybe it was just the South or the influence of my brothers, or the harsh words I heard the others throw around’).

In an era of often overproduced and gadget-enhanced playing and vocalising, this simple recording, blips and all, captures in every respect the true allure of live music, and the satisfaction and enjoyment that the live setting offers to both artists and audience alike. It’s also a reminder of why, alongside her own notable recordings, Erin Rae is in such demand as a backing vocalist both in the studio, and in the live setting.

Review by Declan Cullion

Nathan Mongol Wells From A Dark Corner State Fair

Texan Nathan Mongol Wells is the frontman of Ottoman Turks, alongside Billy Law, Paul Hinojo and Joshua Ray Walker. The latter is credited as co-producer alongside John Pedigo on FROM A DARK CORNER, Wells’ debut solo record. If getting issues off his chest, and in particular matters of the heart, was the driving force behind Wells’ solo writing, he has nailed it with these ten tracks.

An inkling of what lies in the writer’s head emerges on Taken For A Ride (‘I’m a coward, I’m a loser, I’m a serial abuser, of the thoughts and of the feelings that you try so hard to hide’) and In Years (‘We set out with it all intact, a frayed knot here and there. No knowledge of the things we lacked, each challenge like a dare’). Both are memorable efforts, drenched in pedal steel courtesy of Hank Early, alongside Wells’ broody vocals. The same disintegrating relationship raises its head on Two Heads (‘You know we’re at our best when we’re sleeping together. It’s when we awake that our problems arise’) though things do take a more light-hearted direction on the drinking (lots), Honest Drinking, and working (little), Rather Go To Hell. Echoes of John Prine surface on the acoustic album closer First Day It’s Warm, which welcomes the end of winter in Texas.

Whether FROM A DARK CORNER represents the onset of a solo career by Wells in parallel with his commitments with Ottoman Turks remains to be seen. Either way, this is a no-holds-barred album, combining country and punk sensibilities, by an artist quite prepared to lay bare his own vulnerabilities. All in all, it’s a stylistically impressive venture and well worth your investigation.

Review by Declan Culliton

Maia Sharp Reckless Thoughts Self Release

“I always want to write in a way where people will plug their own lives into the song,” says Nashville-based singer-songwriter Maia Sharp in the press release that accompanied this, her ninth, solo album.

That quality in Sharp’s writing over the past two decades is evidenced by the number of household names that have raided her treasure chest to record her songs. The Chicks, Terri Clark, Cher, Bonnie Raitt, Trisha Yearwood, and Art Garfunkel are just a snapshot of artists that have recorded Sharp’s songs.

In general, Sharp’s albums have often opened the door to reveal her personal thoughts and emotions. If her last album, 2021’s MERCY RISING, reflected on the break up of her marriage and leaving California for Nashville, this latest record plays out like an update of her present state of mind. Sharp admits that this collection of songs was challenging to write, given that she was not working her way through emotional upheaval, but the end result is every bit as satisfying and thought-provoking as any of her previous albums.

A sense of letting go of the past and taking charge unfolds in a number of songs. The bouncy opener, She’ll Let Herself Out, sets that stall out from the get-go and the mid-tempo Old Dreams, co-written with Garrison Starr, follows a similar approach of exorcising unattainable aspirations. That sense of being yourself and not attempting to live vicariously in someone else’s skin is at large in Fallen Angel. Whereas the majority of the songs live in the present, Sharp does acknowledge happier past times in California but the track that captures her present frame of mind and her wishes is Kind. A co-write with Mindy Smith and Dean Fields, it’s very much a song of its time with a simple message promoting empathy and understanding.

RECKLESS THOUGHTS will be very much on the radar of Maia Sharp’s dedicated followers, but if she’s a new name to you and you’re a lover of classic singer songwriters, you’ll lap this up.

Review by Declan Culliton

Jim Ghedi and Toby Hay Self-Titled Topic

The old traditions of English Folk are alive and well in the wonderful music created by this duo. This is their second collaborative record, following on from The Hawksworth Grove Sessions - Duets for 6 & 12 String Guitar, released in 2018. The sound created on this new release captures both space and time in restrained emotion, without a word spoken, and the results leave the listener entranced.

With Ghedi on 6-string and Hay on 12-string guitars, their combined artistry is just a joy and is reminiscent of Ghedi’s previous work, often instrumental, that explores the natural world and our relationship to it. He released A Hymn For Ancient Land (2018) and In The Furrows Of Common Place (2022) to great acclaim. Both musicians are custodians of the Folk music flame and stand beside the likes of John Martyn, Richard Thompson and Martin Simpson as masters of their craft.

The twelve tracks here are all inspired by different sources, from the poetry of Seamus Heaney to Irish harp tunes and traditional Welsh lullabies. The interplay between the two musicians is quite breathtaking and the music is always engaging, moving and magical in the delivery. Song titles such as With The Morning Hills Behind You, A Year And A Day, When The Blackthorn Blooms, Moss Flower, Bog Cotton Jig and Seasoned By The Storm, give some insight into a sense of the natural world in quiet repose.   

The production is crystal clear and recording took place last year in Giant Wafer Studios in rural mid Wales. The album was recorded live over three days and contains no edits or overdubs, just the two musicians in deep connection and complimenting each other on guitars across these timeless instrumental tunes. This is a must purchase album for anyone who respects the deep traditions of Folk music and the Roots tradition.    

Review by Paul McGee

Greenshine, Paul Cowley, Larry Sparks, The Handsome Family, Zach Aaron, Erin Rae, Nathan Mongol Wells, Maia Sharp, Jim Ghedi and Toby Hay

New Album Reviews

Joshua Ray Walker What Is It Even? Soundly

Texan Joshua Ray Walker has been busy since the release of his debut album, WISH YOU WERE HERE in 2019. Since then, he has recorded two more albums, returned to his busy touring schedule after the easing of Covid-related restrictions, and has tailed off those hectic four years with his latest and fourth full album, WHAT IS IT EVEN?

Those first three albums featured a host of unfortunate characters, some probably autobiographical, who frequented the type of honky tonks that Walker regularly played in, but he has taken an entirely different path with this recording. Digging deeply into his memory bank, he chose eleven of his favourite songs recorded by female artists, many of which he kept true to the original versions and others he rearranged.

Given his honky tonk credentials you might expect that he’d tackle some of the classic country recordings from the likes of Dolly, Loretta, or Patsy, but in reality, his selections couldn’t be further away from those artists. Instead, he tackles songs performed by The Cranberries, Sinead O’Connor, Cher, Q Lazarus, Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, and others.

The result is a mixed bag. Walker is in fine voice throughout but with some of the choices, mainly pop songs, remaining faithful to the originals (Linger, Nothing Compares To You, Coz I Love You), the results are somewhat uninspiring.

The renditions work best when Walker restructures the original songs. Sia’s Cheap Thrills is a point in case where he reinvents the pop song into a countrified and upbeat arrangement. Equally impressive is his bluegrass-themed adaptation of Beyoncé’s Halo. Lazzarus’ Goodbye Horses is less impressive, but his take on Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody is arguably an improvement on the overproduced original.

‘I just wanted to make something that was fun,” Walker says. He no doubt achieved this but I’m wondering how his fan base will react to the album. Walker is a hugely talented singer, songwriter and musician and I look forward to future recordings of the standard of his first three albums, when he, hopefully returns to what he excels at.

Review by Declan Culliton

Kyle Nix & the 38’s After The Flood Vol.1 Self Release

With Turnpike Troubadours’ career path on pause due to frontman Even Felker’s marital and rehab issues, their fiddle player, Kyle Nix, launched his solo career in 2020 with his debut album, LIGHTNING ON THE MOUNTAIN.  Stellar country and roots music has often followed in the aftermath of hardship and breakups and AFTER THE FLOOD VOL.1, Nix’s second album, follows that well-worn path. His own trauma of a divorce and rehab was the catalyst for this recording. Nix dusted himself down, called on some close friends and fine players’ services, and has produced a cracking and full-on album. Those players are former American Aquarium bassist Bill Corbin, multi-instrumentalist Kevin ‘Haystack’ Foster, singer songwriter Ken Pomeroy and Nix’s fellow Turnpike Troubadours percussionist, Gabe Pearson. The production was carried out by Wes Sharon, who also previously worked on Turnpike Troubadours recordings.

The anger and rawness of Nix’s harrowing times are at the forefront of songs that contain honesty and hurt in large doses. ‘Is it too much to ask for a little slice of peace, it’s all over now so let it be,’ Nix spits out on the animated Hell & Half of Georgia. He’s equally scathing on Close The Bets (‘Close the bets, divvy up the change, she’ll get the money, I’ll get the blame’). Slightly less vitriolic but also finger-pointing is The Byrds sounding Poor Boy’s Heart and the album closes with the somewhat introspective and conciliatory Summer Plains. Other tracks of note are Nothin’ You Can Do that has Ken Pomeroy taking the lead vocal and the mid-tempo honky tonker, One More Thing.

It may be a case of ‘back to the day job’ for Nix now, with Turnpike Troubadours returning to performing and recording, but the short-lived hiatus of the band and his personal issues gave Nix the ammunition and opportunity to write and record a confessional and hugely impressive suite of songs. He has come through with flying colours in that regard, with an album that is ‘all killer and no filler’ and combines fine vocals and free and fiery playing throughout.

Review by Declan Culliton

Hannah Aldridge Dream Of America Icons Creating Art

Alabama-born Hannah Aldridge’s impressive recording back catalogue has not been easy to categorise. Is she country, alt-country, indie-folk/rock, or Americana?

Her latest album, DREAM OF AMERICA, certainly lands in the Americana pigeon hole, and its Southern Gothic style accurately represents, for me, what that genre used to depict before it expanded its borders and became a pigeonhole for many different music forms.

Aldridge has consistently excelled as a songwriter and no more so than on this latest album. Its lyrics and the orchestration that accompanies them are dark and mysterious, approaching a soundtrack to a film noir that’s not going to have a happy ending. She has dug deeply into her memory bank, reflecting on the shadier side of the South and the pressures imposed on character formation in an environment haunted by former times. The result is nine songs that explore a wide canvas of issues and events that are often hidden behind closed doors.

Written about the murder in 1947 of Elizabeth Short, aka The Black Dahlia, the opening track Dorero commends the victim rather than castigating her for what was considered unladylike behaviour by the public at that time.

‘Is that a black widow spider or a skinny young blonde that he's waiting for down by the nail salon? And is it blood on his shoulder, a little on his cheek?’ she asks on Portrait Of An Artist As A Middle Aged Man. Previously recorded by Lachlan Bryan and The Wildes, Aldridge’s treatment of the song gives it a modern-day Bobby Gentry sensibility. It’s a standout song, full of menace and mystique and at five and a half minutes, the longest track on the album.

The title track, at slightly over one minute, is the shortest one. It morphs into the piano-led albums’ tour de force, The Fall, a co-write and duet with Ben Glover. The second cover on the album is Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer, which slots perfectly into the overall theme of the record. Aldridge’s version, while not without menace, is more soulful and less threatening than the original. Her upbringing in a fundamentalist Christian environment strikes a chord in that direction with Unbeliever (‘People say you gotta give it time, So I gave it all the time I ever owned. I thought I had it coming down the line, but I was never the receiver’).

An album that catches your attention and holds it from start to finish, DREAM OF AMERICA is the boldest and most ambitious recording by Aldridge, and for me, her finest work to date.

Review by Declan Culliton

Philip Bowen Old Kanawha Self Release

There is something about this album that makes it one that will deeply resonate, for a certain listener, with its sense of empathy and understanding for family, friend and place. The themes are simple in the outlining of the sensibilities that Bowen wants to sing about. There are, for instance, two versions of the song Anymore (which reasons that they don’t make them like that anymore) which may have opened and closed the album, but in fact are placed one track apart at the end of the album’s thirteen inclusions as something of a bonus. Both work in their own right with the simplicity of the acoustic version as against the one recorded with a fuller set of musicians.

These players include Gerrod Bee, Jake Fine and Zach McCord, who all contribute some telling restrained electric guitar throughout. Other musicians include the rhythm section of Larry Shotter and Bee and Fine on bass. In other words a small, tightly focused set of contributors who also have Smith Curry on Dobro on, perhaps, the album standout track, Vampire In Appalachia - an analogy for a descending darkness in a divided country which prophesies “there’s a vampire in Appalachia and we’re running out of blood." However there is much more that captures the attention here. Other musical input comes from Joshua Howard, who plays piano on several tracks and Mike Thomas and Fine also contribute keyboards. On Vampire In Appalachia he is joined by Josiah & The Bonnevilles and for the title track of the album he shares the vocals with an old friend Charles Wesley Godwin, through whom he was introduced to the album’s producer, Jach McCord.

But central to the overall sound is Bowen’s own very accomplished use of strings (he started playing the fiddle at 4 years of age) and his acoustic guitar input. That and his resonate vocal gives these lyrics their humanity and depth. The themes are the universal struggle between beauty and decay, delight and despair, the healthy and the unwholesome; all viewed from a personal and the perceived perspective.

Bowen has established a strong online following on Instagram and TikTok from a well-received appearance on America’s Got Talent (where somewhat incongruously he covered a song by System Of A Down). Having not been exposed to these media events, I can judge Bowen purely on this debut album. Three singles have so far been released, including Sweet Honey, Vampire and Lightning Bugs, the latter is a song wherein he mentions liking The Brother Brothers, fans of whom I feel will find an affinity with Bowen’s music.

Paramount in the material is the sense of melody and arrangements, that make the songs feel timeless while simultaneously being updates of traditional themes. Better Together Again (Cora’s Song) is about togetherness and how that state is the best way to be. Every Season is a father’s affirmative message to his daughter about life’s path, while advising her never to give up on family and that the door is always open no matter what may lie ahead and the pride that’s felt in achievement.

The title track is about a place that is seen as home. Bowen, married with children, is now based in Detroit and undoubtedly has a yearning for West Virginia and the Appalachia of his roots. He is as adept at playing the fiddle as he is with his more structured performance on the violin. Though this album could be seen as a contemporary folk-oriented outing, his choice of cover song for the talent show demonstrates that he is not a purist listener or performer, but rather one grounded in his roots while ready to explore other trails. Hopefully, though, he won’t move too far from the sound he has established here. I can say here that I have listened to this album for some time since receiving it and have grown to really enjoy what it has to offer and so can only urge you to do the same.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Shane Terrell & The Stumblers Well Worn Jukebox Self Release

This is an eight track for Terrell and his band,  who play a solid mix of Texas country and touches of some red dirt hard rock. Based in Abilene, the band self produced this record of raw sounding blue-collar song writing and one song,  Thanksgiving Song, was produced in a second version by noted musician Marc Ford. It appears on the album twice, so I am assuming the file track marked “new version” is the Ford produced one. It is a similar version of the understated song, though longer than the opening take. It is an appeal to one half of a seemingly lost relationship, and shows the song in a setting that might perhaps point to an outside producer on the next release. It is the album’s stand-out song that readily sums up what this band is about.

There are guitars and organs driving the songs over the solid rhythm section and Terrell’s powerful vocal can be stadium strong as well as back-porch ready, as is required by the songs. There are versions of the songs delivered with just voice and guitar on Facebook that contrast with the mainly full fire delivery on the album. Terrell also does solo live performances,  depending on the venue, as well as those with his three-piece band on a bigger stage.

Alone In Abilene shows the way that there is a compatibility here with Terrell’s lyrical subject matter, their audience, its lifestyles and views. It is a little less upfront at the start, but still has that sense of being lost in one’s search for another. Front Door follows a similar theme of home and finding some new hope once he sees “you walk through that front door.” Self awareness is central to the other worldlyYellow Devil Living, which features some effective piano and steel, while Godamn Alone is a full force attack, with all involved giving it their best in another song that seeks that essential human contact. Midnight Romeo is about a night-time prowler looking for some solace in the later night bars. These are the songs that likely the protagonist would punch up on a bar’s well worn jukebox.

Terrell has a background in punk and rockabilly bands back in his home state of Arizona. Elements of those two genres are still influences, if somewhat buried now, with the rockier southern element a little more apparent. Perhaps the main difference from the live band to that here is the use of keyboards and occasional steel that give added texture and depth on some of the songs. They obviously have a solid following in their home state and this mini-album will doubtless enhance their standing locally, something that may well be expanded with a full album that could achieve wider recognition for Terrell and the band, if the breaks fall right in what is a highly competitive market.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Erika OlsonThis Is How I Pray Ez Come Ez Go

Kicking off with Mom Life a song about suburbia blues, car pools, school schedules and parental pressures, Erika Olson delivers a debut album of real interest. Her website states that “ I raise babies and write songs from a cosy corner of Southeast England.” That cosy corner is a small country village in East Sussex, via her birthplace of Albuquerque, New Mexico and various other life adventures in between.

Another song Hungry Little Bird could well be autobiographical as it looks at a young girl out in the world at a tender young age of seventeen and daring to make it alone. Missing the scaffolding and support of family can be a lonely road to travel and the lines ‘How on earth did it get so bad, Can’t you feel the love you have,’ tell their own story. Elsewhere the song Benefit Of the Doubt tackles peer pressure and bullying at school while feeling scared to stand up against the actions of others that you knew to be wrong.

Songs like This Is How I Pray and Wreckage suffer from the inclusion of synth percussion that dominates the mix. These tracks are more commercial in delivery and perhaps Olson had one eye on radio play when it came to the final versions that made it to the album. As contemporary folk with a commercial leaning goes, her writing is strong enough to stand alone and the over-production on certain songs does her no real favours.

Erika Olson takes all the lead vocal parts and plays acoustic guitar on the album. Producer Jonny Wright provides acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, bass, synth, percussion and vocals, with guests Chris Hillman on pedal steel guitar and Dan Raza contributing vocals and acoustic guitar on separate tracks.

Albuquerque Nights looks back at a younger memory when new love was in the air and the song works really well with a slow tempo and engaging vocal delivery. Equally the track As I Am points to a direction that suits Olson, with a reflective love song about changing lives and trying to keep a relationship fresh ‘Remember when nights were for whispers and dreams,  Now you find me passed out between spreadsheets and screens.’ Co-vocal on this standout song is provided by Dan Raza. This theme continues into Momma Ain’t Got No Time with a look at frazzled commitment schedules and ‘Then its, bags to pack, meals to make, Cuts and bruises to mend, Diapers to change, monsters to tame And a mound of dishes that never ends.’

Little Shoulders closes the album and is a tribute to Olson’s daughter and the hope that future generations bring ‘Sing, dance, be one with joy, Play the lost and sacred chords, Catch the moon in your wings as you soar.’ It’s a fine sentiment on which to end what is an engaging album and I have no doubt that Olson will continue to grow into her own signature sound as she continues to develop her musical direction.

Review by Paul McGee

The Rifters The Enchanted World Howlin' Dog

The dictionary states that a rifter is a crack in sea ice, but such a definition doesn’t seem to fit easily  with the superb music that this band creates. Unless you take the meaning to refer to the space between what is separated, because in such gaps lies the intuitive playing and creative flow of this music, sprung from the original source.

The Rifters Band formed in 2002 in Taos, New Mexico, and comprises Rod Taylor (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Don Richmond (guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, pedal steel guitar, dobro, harmonica, vocals), and Jim Bradley (bass, vocals). Their prowess across a wide range of instruments gives a special quality to the music, which defies genre and instead, delivers a timeless beauty. The harmony vocals are the icing on the cake and with seven albums to their name, plus years of honing their craft, the Rifters musical synergy with their desert and mountain regions of the Western State is a joy to behold.

This album kicks off with The Circle, and a song about a farmer who works his land through the changing seasons, capturing the magic of nature in all its forms. Immediately the interplay between the trio is highlighted by the understated way in which each player supports the melody and in the easy flow of the harmony vocals. It sets the template for the thirteen tracks that follow, mostly celebrating the natural beauty that surrounds us, and songs such as The Greatest Mystery, At the Foot Of the Mountain and the album title The Enchanted World bear witness to the sense of wonder the we all feel when contemplating the universe.

The Perfect Dance and It’s Cause You’ve Lived both reflect on life and the lessons given, and taken, from the years of looking for a balance in all things. With elements of bluegrass, folk and country leanings the songs display a seamless quality as they unfold with musicianship of the highest standards. The eco-friendly plea of The Dollar Worth Of Mother Earth hides the frustration felt at the wasted years in denying the scientific warnings, and leaving an onus for future generations to clean up the mess. The Wonder Of You is a love song with a tex-mex feel to the melody, with pedal steel, mandolin and fiddle rising in unison and the light, jazzy arrangement on Nothing Is Free highlights the range of styles on display here.

That Lucky Old Sun reflects on earthly toils and So Many Different Things features the vocals of Eliza Gilkyson, an artist that has worked closely with Don Richmond as producer on her last three albums. At the Rail has a bluesy feel to the arrangement and the slow melody is augmented by accordion in the reflections on a life that has led to decisions that loom large. The final song is Gentle On My Mind, a bluegrass tribute to the great Glen Campbell song. It’s laced with joyful ensemble playing and again highlights the warm, embracing feeling that this music generates. Everybody can do with some Rifters inspiration in their lives these days. Don’t hesitate to surround yourself with this superbly crafted music.   

Review by Paul McGee

Marina Rocks Texcentric Self Release

Texas has turned out many excellent musicians over the decades and it continues to be a hotbed for emerging talent. Included in the potent mix of influential country styles has been Red Dirt, Tejano and Neotraditional. However, it’s in the spirit of Outlaw country that this recent release finds a space among those that were determined to break through existing boundaries. The pioneering spirit of Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Joe Ely and Steve Earle has stood the test of time and continued in the true essence of singer-songwriters such as Townes Van Zandt, whose legacy is a rich reminder of all that is special in Texas country folklore. It’s therefore appropriate that on this EP release of six songs, Marina Rocks has included a cover of the classic Townes, If I Needed You, even if her ‘rocked-up’ version is very far away from the original.

Born in Austin and with four previous solo albums to her name, Rocks certainly lives up to her surname by delivering a fine slice of Americana-fused dynamic on this EP. She has clearly been influenced by a number of genres in her earlier years, including, rock, blues and country leanings. Rocks is a very accomplished guitar player and sings with plenty of energy and attitude; if you crossed Ani di Franco with Melissa Etheridge then you get the general direction of where she is located.

While not yet ready to be anything more than an admirer of the guitar greats of Texan legend, you can hear obvious influences in her playing that suggest Stevie Ray Vaughan and Steve Miller, among others. Rocks also has a very distinctive vocal tone and her opening song Dummin’ Down doesn’t hold back on her views concerning the malaise spread by ‘fake news’ and sound-bite media miasma. Next song Willie Hole is in reference to the great man and his trusty guitar, Trigger.  Rocks has also worn a hole in her favourite Godin guitar with her strident strumming and the urgency on this track is very appropriate to the energy given off in her performances. Lloyd Maines guests on dobro.

Walking On Water is a song written by R.W. Boyd and it reflects a different side of Rocks as she slows everything down in a reflective look at the craziness that surrounds so much in these modern times. Nameless is another rhythmic ride into the media madness of wanting to stand out among the ever-hungry crowds seeking attention, ‘Everybody’s saying, Do you know my name.’   The cover version of If I Needed You is filled with a building energy, fuelled by the bass of Aden Brubeck and the drumming of Pat Menske. It delivers with a fine soulful vocal by Rocks in due reverence to the original song sentiment.

The final track is the instrumental Blue Skies that again highlights the superb guitar technique of Rocks and it is a mid-tempo arrangement that gently brings everything to a successful rest-stop along the highway. There is no doubting the talent on display here and I have a strong sense that we will continue to hear more about this interesting artist. For now, her back catalogue beckons.

Review by Paul McGee

Mapache Swinging Stars Innovative Leisure

This is album number five in a rich vein of form that highlights the combined talents of Clay Finch and Sam Blasucci. The duo are high school friends and their songwriting embraces all that is timeless in the cosmic folk creativity of Californian coastlines and hazy summer days spent in the sun. On this recording the fourteen songs run along familiar ground, the lovely melodies laced with gentle strumming, drifting pedal steel and the occasional change of pace into mid-tempo band interplay. The musicians are Sam Blasucci (electric guitar, dobro, piano), Clay Finch (acoustic, electric guitars, flute), Steve Didelot (drums), Dan Horne (bass, pedal steel), with single song appearances from Dave Rawlings (acoustic guitar), and Spencer Dunham (bass).

Across fifty two minutes the tracks entice the listener into a sense of quiet reverie and the location chosen for this beautifully blissful music no doubt set the template for all that followed. The band decamped to the Panoramic House in Stinson Beach, Marin County, California. It sounds typically idyllic for a region that naturally exudes peaceful calm and scenic ocean vistas. Producer Dan Horne has worked with the band on all their albums and by now has their unique collaborative skills harnessed in the most creative fashion. Interestingly, on this project both songwriters brought their own individual styles to the table as they now live in different locations. Not that you would notice in the seamless style that forms the glue of all their creative outpouring.

Starting off with the Spanish song Sentir, the knowledge of what can be achieved by letting the process evolve, reflects perfectly on songs like French Kiss, a tribute to the Belgium-born French film director, screenwriter, photographer, and artist, Agnès Varda. Her seminal works included films such as La Pointe Courte (1955) and Le Bonheur (1965). Elsewhere the gentle sway of What A Summer, Sammy Boy and Midnight (partly sung in Spanish), delight and defy description, as they wrap their melodies in sweet sounds. The instrumental Home Among the Swinging Stars features the lovely flute playing of Finch and the swooning pedal steel of Horne. The song Ghosts is about as mid-tempo as we get, with a nice groove to the rhythm and a vocal from Finch that is filled with a quiet angst and passion in the delivery. Encinal Canyon and Amazing are songs that engage, even while dealing with broken relationships and feelings that time has changed everything. Even if the lyrics can tend to be somewhat obscure, this doesn’t detract from the beautiful arrangements.

This is another very rewarding album from Mapache, a duo that continue to evolve their wonderful soundscapes that bring such peaceful calm and succour in these challenging times. Essential listening.

Review by Paul McGee

Joshua Ray Walker, Kyle Nix Hannah Aldridge Music, Philip Bowen Music, Shane Terrell & The Stumblers, Erika Olson, The Rifters Mapache.

New Album Reviews

Mighty Poplar Self-Titled Free Dirt

The five members of supergroup Mighty Poplar became firm friends over the years, as their paths crossed at many competitions, festivals and recording studios in the bluegrass and roots realms. Recorded live in one room in the rural Tractor Studios outside Nashville, though bluegrass is at the heart of the project this is, in essence, a folk album. The choice of songs was compiled by Andrew Marlin (Watchtower) and he takes the lead vocal on most of them, with his trademark laidback delivery, as well as playing mandolin and guitar. He is joined by two Punch Brothers: Noam Pikelny on banjo and Chris Eldridge on guitar. Then there’s a former Punch Brother but now bassist with Leftover Salmon, Greg Garrison, and fiddler extraordinaire Alex Hargreaves, who currently plays with Billy Strings.

Kicking off fittingly with a Carter Family song (popularised by Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard), A Distant Land to Roam, one is immediately aware that there’s no showing off here, just great ensemble playing, all in the service of the song or tune. The interpretations feel fresh and energetic. Another traditional folk song, also covered by the Carter Family, Blackjack Davy is given quite a new feel with its more uptempo rendition and swing jazz stylings. Bob Dylan’s dark tale of the perils of coal mining, North Country Blues, is another sympathetic retelling, while the oft covered Little Joe stays fairly close to Norman Blake’s version. John Hartford is remembered with Let Him Go On Mama, his tale of a pilot working on the paddle steamers on the Ohio river. The most recently penned song included comes from the pen of Martha Scanlan - Up on The Divide recounts the hardship of continuing the tradition of farming in Montana, despite the coming of the destructive mining industry. There are two tremendous instrumentals: Alex Hargreaves’ fiddle introduces the uptempo (150 beats/min!) fiddle tune Grey Eagle, although the other four musicians are well capable of matching and harmonising beautifully with him, and Kicking Up the Devil On A Holiday/Dr. Heckock’s Jig again demonstrate the supreme musicianship and offer ample opportunities to each player to shine. Leonard Cohen’s powerful Story of Isaac is perhaps even more affecting than the original, and the traditional Lovin’ Babe (newly arranged and expanded by Kristin Andreassen) is sublime.

The band’s name is affectionately stolen from a phrase used by Bill Monroe (in a recorded conversation with Doc Watson) where he explains that a particular song was “mighty pop’lar”.

Here’s hoping that Mighty Poplar Vol 2 is in the works, because Mighty Poplar are mighty pop’lar round these here parts.

Review by Eilís Boland

Laurie Jones Dark Horse Self Release

Jones recorded this album at Halo Studio in Maine, USA, her sixth in a career that goes back to a debut release in 2001. Two more albums found their way to market in the lead up to 2007, before a career break and a period of stepping back from the business and a relentless touring schedule. Jones re-emerged in 2016 with the release of The Truth About Her, closely followed in the following year by the appearance of Bridges.

This new album was ready to go in 2021 but with Covid getting in the way of a return to the touring circuit, Jones was forced to wait for the chance to rekindle her career. This European release is very welcome and the co-production of Darren Elder and Mehuman Ernst delivers a slice of classic Americana with the emphasis on the Rock side of that broad musical genre. There are nine tracks in total and they are all written by Jones, with the exception of Dazed which was created by Torin Storm Jones. The no-holds-barred approach on songs such as Light Side, No Hell and Sorry I’m Stilted lay down an impressive marker. The band dynamic is edgy and the playing has a very fresh and fulsome quality.

Quieter songs like Good Man, Letting Go and Dazed all show another side to the talent on display and the reflection on love gained and lost is the dominant theme running through the project. Opening song That Summer has a more commercial sound while the slower arrangements on Resurrecting Joan and Bombs are perfectly suited to the expressive vocal style of Jones in their delivery.

Studio engineer Kevin Billingslea contributed to the album on guitars and bass, while co-producer Elder played percussion. Jake Wertman (drums), Torin Jones (acoustic guitar), Glen Kavin (keyboards and strings), and Amy Gauthier (backing vocals) made up the impressive studio band. A very solid welcome back statement from an artist with a lot to offer. Jones may have felt like a ‘dark horse’ at certain stages of her career, but she is now definitely galloping into the light.

Review by Paul McGee

Lori McKenna 1988 CN/Thirty Tigers

Born and raised in Stoughton, Massachusetts, the place where she still lives, Lori McKenna is a much revered singer songwriter. She grew up playing in the coffee houses of the Boston Folk music scene although her frequent affiliations with Nashville have seen McKenna adopted as a Country music artist, with her gift to pen songs for others as much as for her own solo career. She has written hits for a number of artists including Tim McGraw, Reba McEntire, Little Big Town, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban.

This new release marks her twelfth studio album in a star studded career that has admired McKenna’s ability to capture a song in both complex lyrical themes and sweet melodies, while framing the emotions of all who dwell in the realms of fragility and kindness. Her creative muse runs deep and her writing has been placed at the very top of the mountain where fellow writers such as Mary Chapin Carpenter, Eliza Gilkyson and Lynn Miles reside. The album title is in tribute to the year in which McKenna married her husband having first met in high school and married young. They have five children and the life they share is part of the fabric woven through this new collection of twelve songs. The themes of family, belonging, loving and losing are familiar touchstones on previous albums, but mixed here with youthful memory, reflection, longing, missed opportunities and bitter regret.

Dave Cobb, six-time Grammy Award winner, produced the album at his Nashville studio and this is the fourth time that the duo have teamed up in what has been a very rewarding partnership in a rich vein of success. Six of the songs are co-writes, including two with her sons Brian and Chris, which must have been a really empowering experience. McKenna has always been comfortable with writing with others and for many other songwriters this can often be a stumbling block. Over her career she has learned to let the process flow and the creativity never seems to be very far away from her guitar and notebook as a result.

Here we have songs of family, of friends who took wrong turns, past memories of growing up and dealing with the passage of time. Recollections that somehow encapsulate the hopes and dreams of tomorrow. These are words of experience and perspective, littered with old wisdom, sage advice and providing fuel for the journey ahead. The Old Woman In Me is a celebration of the ageing process and so beautifully observed ‘I hope some day I get to be the old woman in me.’ The next track Happy Children is reminiscent of an earlier hit that she wrote for Tim McGraw, Humble and Kind (2016). It is a guide book for life lessons that will keep another on the correct path. It’s a prayer for only good things in living. Killing Me is a co-write and features the vocals of Hillary Lindsey on a song that looks at relationship blues. The up-tempo rhythm masks the lyric ‘Tryna make you happy is killing me.’

Days Are Honey looks at riding out the difficult times in any relationship and looking for the joy ‘All that sting, All that bittersweet.’ The title song, 1988 is an open love song to her husband and their thirty five years together as a team ‘Looking back on those early days, Between playing house and praying for grace.’ One of the standout songs is Growing Up and the issues of leaving youthful memories and small town dreams in the past ‘You move on the way time does, Till something brings you right back to growing up.’ This is followed by another highlight in Wonder Drug and a tale of watching an old friend slip away under the addiction of opioids ‘Blue collar life and all its weight, I was right there and I was too late.’

Letting go of an old friend can bring the hardest pain of all, whether a family member or someone who grew up with you. The Town In Your Heart captures this emotion perfectly ‘You were tail lights on the highway, flying, Searching for something nobody ever, ever finds.’ And the chorus sums up all the hurt of separation in the lines ‘I hope I live on a road in the town in your heart.’ The very personal Letting People Down seems to be questioning what all the accolades are worth when you doubt yourself and wish for more ‘ Hold your arms out, God help the justified, I fall short, I always fall behind.’

Final song The Tunnel is another look back down the road once travelled and the ways in which our youth shapes the eventual road that we find ourselves upon. It accepts that life is unkind and that looking for the light can be hard. Finding something to aim for and to keep running towards it is the key to escaping the dark ‘ I don't know how it works or how God picks who gets to get through, It just seems like a lot of life's been mostly the tunnel for you.’

The themes explored here are what real life is made of, the joys and the disappointments, the doubts and the pain. However, running through it all is the soft touch of someone who has her hand on the wheel and is steering a steady course. Lori McKenna has delivered another superbly crafted album and one that stands alongside her best work.

Review by Paul McGee

Sam Blasucci Off My Stars Innovative Leisure

As a core member of Mapache, a band that he created with friend Clay Finch, Blasucci has seen his blend of Inde-Folk and Country-smooth sounds become a staple of the Californian Roots Rock scene since the 2017 debut. Stepping aside from the five albums released as Mapache, here we see Blasucci working with Johnny Payne, producer and songwriter (Asia), and together they recorded the twelve songs included on this debut solo album.

Recorded at Lone Palm Studios in Los Angeles, a location well-known to Mapache, a different perspective surfaced and provided Blascucci with the freedom to stretch out in the song melodies and arrangements. The use of saxophone on opener Sha La La is inspired and lends a nice soulful aspect to the sweet vocal delivery. On other songs Every Night On the Farm and Can You Teach Me? we find Blasucci on familiar territory with lingering melodies and timeless inflections, wrapped in beautiful and drifting soundscapes that prove so appealing.

There are cover versions included  and the interpretation of the Cranberries’ classic Linger sees Blasucci paying homage to the original vocal performance of Dolores O’Riordan with perhaps a more mellow delivery. Other covers of Il Mondo (Pes, Greco, Meccia, Fontana ) and Thank You (Dido, Herman) are delivered in real style, the former sung in Italian and the latter a new take on a classic hit. The tribute to his father Proud Of You is another fine moment on the album and no doubt David Blasucci (Toto) is another big fan of the broad talent that his son continues to explore on his recorded output. The easy jazz groove of final song I’m Glad delivers a gentle love song and name checks pet dog Roscoe who was the inspiration for last year’s release, Roscoe’s Dream. This is elegant music, performed in the understated manner that we have come to expect from prior albums and it comes highly recommended.

Review by Paul McGee

The Pawn Shop Saints Weeds Dollyrocker

This band has been around since 2012 and is the creation of Jeb Barry, based in Massachusetts. Over the Covid pandemic they released two albums, ORDINARY FOLKS (2020) and RIDE MY GALAXY (2022) and their sound is very much rooted in the Americana tradition of character songs and reflections on blue collar life in the USA. The band is comprised of Jeb Barry (vocals, guitars, bass, banjo, organ, harmonica), Michael O’Neill (guitars, vocals), Amy Attias (fiddle), Tony Pisano (accordion) and Josh Pisano (drums, percussion, vocals).

James is a song that channels the death of a friend and focuses on the need for everyone to think of their own place in life and how fragile it all can be. The War is written around a father/son relationship where the barriers erected over time stop real communication and any open expression of feelings. The effects of the Covid virus still linger and inform songs like The Covid Unit and Miss June, tackling the ignorance of those who thought they knew better than the medical experts and also the loneliness of those who ended up dying alone without the loving support of others. Twine is a tribute to John Prine who died of Covid complications and the lines that resonate in the song include ‘I’m still holding this life together with twine.’

This is an acoustic-based album with a confessional theme in both the writing and the delivery of these earnest songs. Memorial Day looks at the hypocrisy that surrounds such events where the loss of life is easily forgotten in the superficial act of planting remembrance flags once a year. The title track Weeds is about the demons that we all carry around with us and the tongue-in-cheek Baby Got Drunk hides the reality of those who turn to stimulants to try and ease the pain.

Final song All Girls Break Hearts is a look at the fragile nature of relationships and the dangers involved in surrendering yourself to another, the haunting fiddle of Amy Attias adding to the poignant reflection. There is no doubting Jeb Barry’s ability to write a memorable song and this collection will speak to many in terms of his honest and open rumination on the human condition.

Steve Mednick 1952 Cottage Sound

This singer songwriter has been releasing music since 2006 and is based in New Haven, Connecticut. The latest album was recorded at Cottage Sounds Studios in Middlebury and the production by Isaac Civitello is really excellent. Mednick has called upon a very talented group of musicians to bring his twelve songs to life here and their interplay is certainly impressive and vibrant. The album title appears to reference Mednick’s year of birth and the songs look at the signposts that mark the key moments along life’s path. Days spent in questioning the universe is something that we can all relate to, and even become a victim of; frozen in time and unable to grasp the significance of the great beyond.  On these songs, Mednick seeks to come up with answers that bring a degree of comfort.

On Fulton Hill Mednick sings that ‘I never gave up on love’ and the sweet harmonica brings a sense of nostalgia for times passed. There are regrets, like the song We Never Found Our Way that examines a failed relationship and Stars That Shine Like Diamonds looks to find real meaning in new love and hope for tomorrow. Opener Version Of the Truth asks whether memory is entirely selective and Lost and Found has a nice drum shuffle rhythm and a message to try and find the silver lining in the darkest cloud. The driving This Place is a return to the past and a location that brings back old memories ‘It’s been a long time since I saw her face.’

The lengthy After All These Years highlights the full range of Mednick’s vision as he delivers across an eight-section song that reflects upon his life. ‘Got rivers to cross, don’t know how many, It makes no difference to me,’ kicks the notion of ageing gracefully as Mednick resolves to keep pushing through and searching for new beginnings. The soaring guitar on Time Is A Strange Thing brings the suite to a climax and makes way for the acoustic An Extended Term which sings of wanting to stay on this mortal coil for as long as possible.   

The assembled players really shine with the superb guitar of Karl Allweier a regular highlight. Producer Issac Civitello adds drums, percussion, keyboards, guitar and vocals. There are various guests on selected songs with Brett Calabrese taking lead guitar on four songs, and both Ashley Bathgate (cello) and Eddie Seville (harmonica) adding their contributions, along with backing vocals from Falshyuyy Holos. Mednick wrote all the songs and plays guitar, piano and organ in addition to singing all the lead vocals. The final song, appropriately titled Living For Tomorrow reflects that ‘I wish I could take the years of time and bottle wisdom to store with my wine,’ a defining sentiment that captures the moment.

Mednick is a prolific writer with fourteen previous releases, including three albums since Covid struck in 2020. His music is very much in the Americana genre with plenty of roots-based rock and reflective ballads. An artist definitely worth checking out, both for his versatility and for his undoubted talent.

Todd Partridge Autumn Never Knows Self Release

This is a very enjoyable album featuring eight songs that are filled with easy melody and plenty of lyrical playing. Todd Partridge is an Iowa based artist who more than delivers on vocals, mandolin, acoustic and electric guitar and he is a member of the band King Of the Tramps since 2011.

Opening song Postcards From the Sea contains the lyric ‘Maybe love is just the silence between the good things that don’t get said’ and suddenly you pick up your attention. Next up is another insightful song Where the Highway Meets the Sky with some lovely pedal steel playing and the lines ‘well the road gets heavy and the road gets mean, we try to help each other in between, I guess we’re just walking each other home.’ It’s all about just letting the journey unfold…

The slow groove of Sioux Falls is a perfect antidote to a broken heart and the reflection that ‘a bird on a string is a bird that can’t sing, the love song that freedom can bring.’ Wood has a traditional country vibe with some nice violin parts while Lucy Brown channels early Eagles harmonies and some warm organ layers on a song that speaks of love and longing. Partridge has a sweet vocal style and he is back by Bryan Vanderpool (drums, percussion, banjo, guitar, vocals), Kathryn Severing Fox (violin, viola), Sarah Vanderpool (keyboards, organ, vocals) and Jay Foote (fender bass).

Junk Train has a lonesome guitar sound and banjo backing on a prairie song about travelling free and moving with the rhythm of a life on the wing. Blessing follows with a message of support to anyone who needs that sense of a friend in their corner ‘May there always be a road and a hand for you to hold… a blanket to keep you warm when you get old.’ Final song Sorrow leaves the feeling that Partridge is saying goodbye to a close friend, perhaps a family member, whose time has come. It’s a sombre end to what is a celebratory album but perhaps the real message is that life has many ups and downs and the key is trying the ‘seize the day.’ A very impressive album and one that delivers plenty of memorable moments.

Review by Paul McGee

Dan Tuffy and Song Crew Country Star Smoked

Australian artist Dan Tuffy has two previous solo albums to his name, SONGS FROM DAN (2016) and LETTERS OF GOLD (2020). Tuffy has made his home in the Netherlands for the last twenty five years and on this album he has called on some excellent local players in multi-instrumentalist Madelief van Vlijmen, (aka Madlife), guitarist and pedal steel player Stefan Wolfs, and drummer and percussionist Mischa Porte. They prove to be a very dextrous trio in the studio and the interplay on these nine songs is both intuitive and sensitive. They are joined by Zlaya Loud who produced the album and who contributes synthesizers and electronics, plus Michael Turner on two tracks with Matt Walker on another; both providing additional colour on drums, drones, guitars, keyboards, and electro sounds.

There is a loose, chilled, quality to the arrangements that is both considered and effective. The overall impression is of a very self assured and talented artist who has a particular vision of how his music should be represented. The album doesn’t outlive its stay, clocking in at just over the half hour mark and there is plenty of variety across the songs. Life lessons from ‘never pick up the telephone in a strange woman’s house’ to ‘always leave your shirt on at the table’  are dispensed on Don’t Smoke In Bed and could be right out of the John Martyn Folk songbook with strummed guitars and an easy rhythm.  Firetails brings a different hue, with restrained percussion, tinkling piano and a rich memory of fiches and bird migration.

Home Sweet Sunshine is an acoustic essay on the dangers of family strife and excessive drinking, double bass, keys and brushed drums setting the atmosphere. Tuffy targets social issues on Where Does the Money Go which is a diatribe on the evils of power in the wrong hands and the lie of the trickle down economy with lines like ‘They ripped the trees out across the big valley, to build estates for the walking dead.’ Justified anger and well-aimed at the political masters of greed.

Polecat shimmers with a slow burn tempo in a tale of someone living off the grid and making a living from used car parts and whatever comes down the track. Some very tasty guitar and restrained keyboard sounds adding to the groove. There are echoes of Leonard Cohen on Silver Morning, with the husky spoken vocal of Tuffy particularly effective in the delivery . The track Venom and Mud  has Tuffy examining his relationships and contemplating that ‘ain’t nobody getting nowhere digging up each other’s dirt.’ If all we do is carry grudges, then everything just gets worse as we get older, ‘you gotta swim through the venom and the mud to get things done these days.’ Amen to that…

Man Of Feeling is a highlight and the jazz-like flow to the guitar and bass melody is balanced against fuzz guitar and keyboard explorations. Tuffy plays with the dynamic across the arrangement, lifting the tempo and reflecting on our collective  journey. Final track Up A Tree is an acoustic folk song and a meditative piece that brings a sense of calm to all the distraction and disconnection. An Interesting album and worthy of your time.

Review by Paul McGee

The Golden Roses Coverage From Signal Hill Self Release

The joyful sound of this band is quite infectious and over two prior albums the Golden Roses has proven their obvious talent, something that can be witnessed on a regular basis in their local Austin, Texas honky-tonks and dancehalls. They are a real treasure and comprise John Mutchler (vocals, guitar), Heather Rae Johnson (vocals, fiddle), Troy Wilson (bass, backing vocals), Shawnee Rose (drums), and Tony Rincon (pedal steel). The band has a very strong work ethic that has honed their skills over numerous gigs and rehearsals On this 4-song EP they have tipped their collective hat at the great songs that have inspired so many in the country music genre over the decades.

We have cover versions of Amarillo Highway (Terry Allen), Willin’ (Lowell George) and Pancho and Lefty (Townes Van Zandt). As always, the playing is addictive and the spirit within this band shines through in bursts of great interplay, especially the flight of pedal steel and fiddle, intertwined with twanging guitar sounds. Each song is given the Roses stamp in the arrangement but still stays true to the original. We also get a Roses original on the addictive Feelin’ Single, Seein’ Double with superb lead vocal delivered by Heather Rae Johnson.

The band also released a tribute to Jerry Jeff Walker with the song Jaded Lover and a new single titled New Pal has also recently seen the light of day. Texas two steppin’ into a bright future is what awaits all who discover this hidden jewel. They no doubt kick up a storm in a live setting and if you want to get some idea of their celebratory sound then visit the website and click on the live song Top Shelf Whiskey & Cold Lone Star Beer. Energising, exciting and invigorating! “WE PLAY, Y’ALL DANCE!”

Review by Paul McGee

Mighty Poplar, Laurie Jones Music , Lori McKenna, The Pawn Shop Saints, Steve Mednick, Todd Partridge (King Of The Tramps), Dan Tuffy & Song Crew, and The Golden Roses

New Album Reviews

Jason Eady Mississippi Old Guitar

Texas-based singer songwriter Jason Eady’s excellent 2012 release, AM COUNTY HEAVEN, was my introduction to the talented wordsmith and it’s fair to say that his subsequent five albums, prior to the release of MISSISSIPPI, lived up to the standard of that fine album.

His last record from 2021, THE PASSAGE OF TIME, was a particularly personal affair. Written in the main during lockdown, it reflected on matters close to the heart, both past and present. Eady’s latest album is equally nostalgic, with the writer looking back at the music and events that initially drew him into the world of songwriting and performance. It’s a project that he had been contemplating working on for a number of years, capturing the Mississippi sounds and styles that surrounded him as a young man. Certain tracks in his previous work did do as much, but he’s gone the full hog on this occasion with a full album, ten tracks in total, of what he namechecks ‘the ‘Mississippi groove.’ Recorded live, including the harmony vocals, at The Finishing School, Austin, Texas, the production was overseen by Band of Heathens member, Gordy Quist.

Eady’s opening lines on the album are, ‘Way down in Mississippi, I got the music in my bones. I’ll take you there if you want to come with me, I’m gonna go back home.’ Fusing gospel and blues and loaded with handclaps and harmonies, that song, Way Down in Mississippi, is a snapshot of what follows. Those handclaps and harmonies, courtesy of Kelley Mickwee and Eady’s wife, Courtney Patton, are also equally well placed on Wayside.  Two co-writes with the like-minded Adam Hood are included, the funky Burn It Down and the swampy-blues Mile Over 45. The former echoes the mood of J.J. Cale, the latter is from Tony Joe White territory.

Eady is on record explaining that whereas his concentration as a songwriter is typically lyric-driven, his intention with this album was to replicate the sounds that surrounded him and were so dear to him as a child and young adult. Musically, and indeed lyrically, he expresses those dynamics confidently and with aplomb on MISSISSIPPI, shifting between blues, gospel, and swamp rock, without ever sounding self-indulgent. It may be a slight departure from Eady’s previous work, but it’s a worthy companion to his most impressive back catalogue of albums.

Review by Declan Culliton

Erin Viancourt Won’t Die This Way Late August

‘Erin is a badass with every possible skill one needs to make it in this business. The perfect debut artist for Late August Records,’ announced Cody Jinks when he made Erin Viancourt the first signing to his label. Encouraging words indeed from the Music Row Independent Artist of The Year in 2023, who had the most radio spins for an independent artist last year. Jinks has also sold over two million albums and has over two and a half million monthly followers on Spotify.

Regardless of talent, extreme patience and nerve are just two of the many virtues required by artists moving to Nashville to further their careers. The term ‘ten-year town’ is anything but throwaway and there is little guarantee of triumph for those brave enough to dedicate a decade of their young lives in pursuit of their goals.  Like many of her peers, Cleveland, Ohio-raised Erin Viancourt was writing songs from her teenage years and headed to Nashville after high school to make her mark in the industry. Her debut full album, WON’T DIE THIS WAY, is the result of her song writing over a decade, coupled with numerous live appearances and much of the record’s material reflect on that journey. Earning opening slots for Travis Tritt and Cody Jinks in 2021 raised her profile significantly and the signing to Late August Records has been the icing on the cake.

Alongside the skillset to write thought-provoking songs, Viancourt’s vocals display the optimum measures of twang, power, and control across the thirteen tracks on the album. She navigates her way from the classic country sound of yesteryear (B24, Old Time Melody, Beautiful Night For Goodbye), to the cream of modern country (Cheap Paradise, Straight Down The Barrel). She’s also equally as comfortable with her foot full on the throttle as she is with songs in the lower gears. The raucous Should Have Known Better is a Brandi Carlisle-type rocking anthem, tailor-made for the live setting and she slows things down a number of notches of the tender songs Pray and Who Taught You To Love.

No other artist has established themselves at the level Cody Jinks has while ignoring the industry movers and shakers and concentrating on self-promotion. His mentoring and guiding of Viancourt will be essential in her career development and this impressive debut recording is, without doubt, the launching pad for bigger and better things. Watch this space.

Review by Declan Culliton

Caitlin Canty Quiet Flame Self-Release

Another album that was delayed initially by the tornado that hit East Nashville in March 2020 and the pandemic which immediately followed, QUIET FLAME is the tenth studio recording by the Proctor, Vermont-born artist, Caitlin Canty. A further holdup, but in this case a joyous one, was the birth of her first child. Those delays put on pause the momentum that her 2015 album RECKLESS SKYLINE generated. That album earned Canty terrific reviews, positioning her very much in the ‘next best thing’ in Americana circles. Having said that, given her tendency for self-management and promotion, it’s debatable as to how that accolade actually sat with her. 

Unlike her previous albums, with this recording Canty adopted an entirely acoustic arrangement for the eleven songs that deliberate and dwell on issues such as character formation, resolve, and working with the cards you were dealt. The absence of electric instruments and drums allows Canty’s clear vocals, and the carefully observed and detailed tales in the songs, to take pride of place. That’s not to say that the instrumentation is lost in the mix, quite the contrary in fact. Her studio band, which featured four-time Grammy winner Sarah Jarosz (mandolin, banjo, vocals), Brittany Haas (fiddle), Paul Kowert (bass), and Canty’s husband Noam Pikelny (banjo), all contribute to the delightfully unhurried and often calming compilation of songs. The production was overseen by Chris Eldridge (Punch Brothers) and the tracks were recorded live over a four-day period at The Tractor Shed in Nashville. The warmth of the final mix plays out like an intimate live recording, an outcome that both Canty and Eldridge no doubt intended.

‘Gonna take my time in the middle of the road,’ announces Canty on Blue Sky Moon’s opening track. It’s a statement of intent mirrored in the fluid and unhurried pace of the album, as the writer reappraises the traumatic and exacting recent years. The backbone of the material is a newfound enthusiasm and acceptance of things both in and out of our control. References to the environment and nature are communicated in that opener and appear again on a number of other tracks. Canty is in splendid voice throughout, and in particular on the spell-binding Silver Sunset. It’s an intoxicating and emotive song that sits comfortably alongside Gillian Welch’s finest. She does pick the tempo up in Odds of Getting Even and Pull the Moon but it’s the slow burners, the title track included, that especially stand out.

Announcing the material from the album at the release launch at The Station Inn in Nashville, Canty admitted, ‘I stepped off the wheel for a while and now it’s test-the-waters time again. If you feel like hearing it, it’s there for you. But I’m not trying to convince anyone to love me anymore.’ On the contrary, QUIET FLAME should more than satisfy her admirers, and if her music is new to you, this is a delightful introduction and engaging listen from start to finish that more than merits your attention.  

Review by Declan Culliton

Rick Hornyak Dandelion Self Release

This album opens with some melodic rock and shows Hornyak versed in a mix of roots heartland rock, indie pop sensibilities and broad Americana. This is his second release and finds him in the production chair. His previous album MARIGOLD (released in 2011) featured fine players, such as Lloyd Maines and members of Robert Earl Keen’s band, he has again reached out to local musicians who have played with him live and Cindy Cashdollar returns to play steel as she did on the previous outing. Paul LeMond is a key player here on guitars, keyboards and vocals. Brad Johnson also plays a similar role on keyboards and accordion. The rhythm section is Ann Marie Harrop and Scott Matthews on bass and drums respectively and it’s rounded out by Danny G’s vocals. It was recorded over a period of time in a number of studios in Texas.

Hornyak supplies acoustic and electric guitars as well as the lead vocals and the songs. It opens in an inviting way with the melodic riff fuelled Shades Of Grey. This sets you up for the further nine tracks, which explore different aspects of Hornyak’s musical muse. Keyboards give Never Know Why a different approach with a strong repeated title chorus and a cutting rock guitar solo. There are songs here that look at the more positive sides of life like The Other Side and Drift Away, both are heart felt looks at the love and the sometime struggle it is to find it, themes that Hornyak doesn’t shy away from, looking as much at his own situation as the observations of others.

Continental Queen is a reference to a a recently lost lady who often inhabited the Continental Club to enjoy the ambience of the legendary venue. It features some steel guitar from Cashdollar in an affectionate and unhurried way. Taking a similarly easy pace is The Struggle With Destiny, which considers just that and how the world is both a big picture topic as well as one that has an immediate effect on one’s own situation.

There are moments when they amp up the guitar drive, such as in the appropriate discussion about Devil’s Daughter. These songs reveal Hornyak’s earlier, more metal influenced, past. Then again he mixes the sense of a ballad with the piano and with some guitar, blending different aspects of his vision on Wait For The Night, where the former steelworker, and many others in a similar lifestyle, look to the possibilities that exist as the day fades to night.

There are, as mentioned, a number of influences at work here but Hornyak brings them together with his overall arrangements and production values. The general feel is easily classifiable as Americana despite, or because of, its approach to blending these formats. Maybe not one for the honky-tonk fraternity, but redolent of an artist who is quietly seeking his own place for his personal journey. In doing so he will find those who will discover much to enjoy in his, often unhurried, music.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Tommy Stinson’s Cowboys In The Campfire Wronger Iceauk

The former Replacements, Bash & Pop, and sometime Guns & Roses musician has just released an album that is somewhat different from what those previous liaisons might suggest, though there are a couple of songs that have a degree of both bash and pop at their core. The album, his third solo outing, opens with the ukulele and brass elements of Here We Go Again, a song that perhaps acknowledges that he and his partner in campfire tales, Chris Roberts, are here and ready for action, though perhaps with a lesser approach than the big sound big arena shows that might have previously been the case. Roberts was something of a hired sideman but had worked with Stinson on some of his previous releases.

That’s It has more of that firepower and drive over its concise statement of intent that has elements of punk and hardcore country in it. The song Mr Wrong is again a short ode to a partner finding some solace and lasting time with the next partner. I’m personally immediately reminded of Squeeze in the next song, Schemes. Maybe that comparison is just mine, but it shows the sense of adventure that both bring to the album.

This is Stinson’s third solo album, but first in partnership with Roberts, which has seen them take a more contemplative approach to the sessions. Much more in the cow-punk direction, both sonically and lyrically, is Fall Apart Together, which has a relaxed twangy heart in its acceptance of a way to deal with life, if only for a short time. There is an awareness of the problems that divide America and the rest of the world in the way the lyrics of Hey Man calls out some of these issues.

We Ain’t again has that ‘cow-punk’ heritage and sound, with strong harmonies and some shit-kicking guitar. The acoustic guitars of Karma’s Bitch are again dealing with the darker moments. It is twangy in its look at how things can so easily go from bad to worse. There is a less defined sound, perhaps, on Souls, but it has some impassioned singing and telling guitar in the mix.

The album closes with Dream that is full of hope for the future and ends what is an album that rewards repeated playing, and shows the combination of Stinson and Roberts is one that will hopefully lead to some further collaborations. It would seem that the duo and their collaborators, such as X bassist John Doe’s adding vocal back-up on four tracks and Christine Smith’s production (she did half the album’s recording), lay the ground for this to happen in the future.

It is an album that has been widely well-received and seen as a likely candidate for the best album to bear Tommy Stinson’s name. There is a lot that is right about WRONGER and it is one that his fans can explore to discover its worth.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Water Tower Live From Los Angeles Self Release

Originally known as The Water Tower Bucket Boys and founded by Kenny Feinstein in Portland, Oregon in 2005, the latest iteration of the band developed when Feinstein moved to Los Angeles in 2018. Often in a state of flux when it comes to line up, the one constant is the irrepressible Feinstein, as he continues his creative goal to produce a high energy mash-up of his musical influences, which include old time, bluegrass, punk and jam band. Their irreverent take on string band roots music is thankfully underpinned by incredible prowess on multiple instruments, including acoustic guitars, banjos, mandolin and upright bass.

This new album was, incredibly, recorded in Palomino Studios in less than a day, in an attempt to capture their raw energy as they came off the back of a tour. LIVE FROM LOS ANGELES achieves this in spades, with fifteen tracks in all, and is a perfect introduction to the band for all who may be seeing them for the first time in their upcoming tour of Britain and Ireland.

This record features a bunch of traditional folk and old time songs, such as Reuben’s Train, Cotton Eyed Joe, Stay All Night, Lonesome Road Blues and Lester Flatt’s My Little Girl From Tennessee, all performed at breakneck speed and inducing a desire to get up and dance. The majority of the songs, however, are originals, mainly from the pen of Kenny Feinstein himself. California Love is a love song to the city of LA, perhaps the first cow punk rap about that town, name checking neighbourhoods like Compton and Watts, complete with grooving dual banjos and soulful harmonies! In George Washington, they take a humourous look at doomsday scenarios, after all ‘we’re all gonna die someday, and be forgotten’. When Feinstein first arrived in LA, he took to busking all day near an AM PM (a convenience store chain), and the song AM PM recounts many of his experiences there. Skante Warrior refers to a mythical character that can develop from addiction to crystal meth, and Mary Jane just might be a love song to something other than a woman of the same name. This reviewer particularly enjoyed Radio, an homage to one of life’s necessities, music radio.

The band’s current lineup is completed by Tommy Drinkard (banjo and guitar) and Jesse Blue Eades, a prodigy on bass, who brings a jazz influence into the heady mix. Don’t miss their tour, if you’re within reach of any of the venues.

Review by Eilís Boland

Edie Carey The Veil Self Release

Quite how this artist has escaped the attention of Lonesome Highway until now will have to remain one of those mysteries that linger in the ether. Edie Carey is a singer-songwriter and Folk/Roots artist who delivers her beautifully emotive music with literate lyricism and a deeply human touch. From her Boston beginnings, Carey has seen her music career blossom across time spent in New York, Europe and currently as a resident of Colorado Springs with her young family.  While studying at Colombia University in New York Carey began her interest in becoming a musician while attending concerts on campus and listening to artists like Bonnie Raitt and Shawn Colvin. A year spent in Italy saw her busking her own fledgling songs and when she returned to America, Carey released a debut album The Falling Places in 1998.

This new release marks the eleventh album in the career of this highly erudite and impressive songwriter and her talent is reflected in her engaging vocal prowess and empathic guitar playing. Carey sings in a beautifully warm tone and the rich texture of her melodies is particularly captivating, inviting the listener into a safe place of tonal colour and quiet calm.  Produced by Scott Wiley (Bonnie Raitt, Ryan Adams, Elliott Smith) at the June Audio Recording Studios in Provo, Utah, the assembled musicians that form the core studio band include the talents of Wylie himself (various keyboards and guitars), Paul Jacobsen (guitars, vocals), John Standish (piano), Stuart Maxfield (guitars, bass, viola, vocals) and Aaron Anderson (drums).

There are quite a few additional guests who contribute on various tracks, including Rose Cousins, Sarah Sample, and Megan Burtt on backing vocals. Other appearances worthy of attention are Stuart Wheeler (string arrangements), Sam Cardon (Hammond B3, Dolceola),Chad Truman (Hammond B3), Mai Bloomfield (cello, backing vocals), Cassie Olsen (cello), Emily Brown (viola), Aaron Ashton (violin), Rebecca Moench (violin), and Ryan Tilby (upright bass).

The twelve songs delve deeply into personal relationships and the sensitive territory covered is at once familiar in the recognition of places that we have all been. There is a comfort in the sharing that makes the various paths we may take seem to eventually arrive at a common destination. Carey’s soulful voice adds a real emotional punch to reflections on life, love, marriage and the challenges of parenthood. There is real intelligence and contemplation at play here, as Carey seeks to explore her vulnerability in the search for meaningful communication and a sense of belonging.

The album title song, The Veil, looks at the fragility of life from the perspective of the love of a parent, the arrival of new life in the world, and a car accident which almost took everything away. The theme of the veil runs through many of the songs, whether as a symbol of religious significance, of modesty and humility, in wedding ceremonies and mourning rituals, or of mystery and the thin line that separates the known world from that of the deep beyond. Carey muses ‘We thought that we could catch the moon, In the window of the way back.’ With these opening lines the album begins to reveal itself and considers the passage of time, the events that shape us and which can dictate our lives.

It would be easy to assume that every song is written from personal life lessons but there is a perspective that Carey uses to reflect the experiences of others in her songs which leaves it up to the listener to decide. That ability to inhabit a character in order to illustrate an emotion is a real gift and bears witness to the empathy and sensitivity that is at the core of this artist’s talents. A number of the songs no doubt draw on personal experience but the true gift here is in taking the personal and making it universal.

The Old Me is a song that looks at isolation in relationships, at what once was and the fear of verbalising frustrated feelings. Such a keenly observed portrait of loneliness. Equally The Chain looks at the challenge of keeping a relationship from sinking under. ‘Your broken language benediction, This unspoken false competition, When will we ever lay our armour down?’ – the walls we erect and the insecurities we all struggle to overcome. The Teacher looks to parenthood doubts and whether we are doing the right thing. Carey offers good counsel to be easy on yourself ‘I know those voices and all their lies, Maybe it’s time we set them all on fire.’

I Know This is written in tribute to the front-line workers during the pandemic. Those medical angels and service heroes who risked their lives on a daily basis in the care of others. Georgia is another tribute song, this time to the lasting memory of Georgia O’Keeffe painter and the "Mother of American modernism", who died in 1986. Carey reflects on her life and asks ‘I wonder, Georgia, Were you ever lonely? The silence spilling out, Endlessly before you.’

All That Space is a song written from the perspective of a woman who has lost her identity and craves freedom in a relationship in order to try and recapture her old self. The suffocation of routine pulling on everything ‘I gotta hold the wheel now, I need you to let me drive.’ Another song Who I Was highlights younger scars and the cracks that break relationships apart. There is a sense of rueful regret and also an anger in the reflections that are mirrored in the song dynamic, an angry band workout against a frustration in the lyric that raises past mistakes ‘Starved myself for what? Bargained with a God I didn’t trust, There was nothing that I didn’t try.’

This album is the essence of contemporary folk music today, mature, open, beautifully performed and delivered with such knowing and compassionate grace. A powerful display of talent and in my top albums of the year so far.

Review by Paul McGee

Sam Burton Dear Departed Partisan

A debut album, I Can Go with You, appeared in 2020 and heralded the arrival of this musician and songwriter from Salt Lake City.  Burton was also part of a local shoegaze band The Circulars in addition to joining the psyche-folk trio SYLVIE for their superb 2022 debut album.  This new solo project has the production magic of Jonathan Wilson (Father John Misty, Angel Olsen, Dawes, Margo Price) as a key influence throughout.

In the absence of any musician credits, I have to assume that Wilson and Burton are the key players on these ten songs of love and loss. There is an unhurried, languid quality and atmosphere to the vocal delivery and the lush string arrangements. A gentle album delivered in such a timeless fashion that the listener feels like part of a dream state. The melodic swell of strings lifts the relaxed and liquorice delivery of Burton to perfection. It could be 1960s dream folk and it could be stoned reverie on a sunny afternoon in the hills of some far-away place.

Burton has recently been moving around the greater Los Angeles area, including a period spent writing in a cabin in northern California. ‘The mirror of the world it is no friend of mine’ he sings on My Love and you get the sense that Burton is seeking to return to a simpler place post-Covid where he can plug into something real again. The pastoral qualities are perfect for the sense of letting go that walks the line here with lonely echoes of rueful nostalgia. The overall sound is so seductive and somewhat reminiscent of the great Jimmy Webb . I just wish that Burton had another gear that he could shift into occasionally as the similarity across the ten songs can appear repetitive. However, it is a very pleasing listening experience overall even if song titles such as I Don’t Blame You, Coming Down On Me and Empty Handed do hint at a broken heart in need of mending.

Review by Paul McGee

Lukas Nelson and PTOR Sticks and Stones 6ACE/Thirty Tigers

Since their formation back in 2008 Promise Of the Real (PTOR) has comprised Lukas Nelson (lead vocals, guitar), Anthony LoGerfo (drums, percussion), Corey McCormick (bass guitar, vocals), Logan Metz (keyboards, lap steel, guitar, harmonica, vocals), and Tato Melgar (percussion). Through constant gigging they have grown in status to being the chosen backing band of Neil Young from 2015 to 2019. Nelson also co-produced the music for the film, A Star Is Born, writing songs with Lady Gaga, and PTOR appeared in the film as Bradley Cooper's band. Nelson won a BAFTA Award for Best Original Music and a Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack.

When you add in the formative years spent learning music under the guiding hand and watchful eye of father Willie Nelson then the fact that Lukas Nelson delivers this eight studio album in some style is really no surprise. The band sound is so tightly honed after years on the road and the studio setting of Chateau Oblivion is an appropriate location for this fun romp through the twelve tracks included. Self-produced by the band, the album has plenty of tongue-in-cheek lyrics and the songs are a real slice of country cool and clever arrangements. The honky tonk groove of Every Time I Drink is typical of the dynamic here with a loose piano boogie circling around the sharp guitar motifs. The theme of getting wasted is repeated on tracks like the title, Sticks and Stones, ‘Sometimes when I’m uninspired, I take a hit to get me higher.’ Similarly, the excellent Alcohallelujah talks about ‘Sunday funday, Headache Monday’ and ‘Day drinkin’ trying to float, I can’t even drive the boat.’

More Than Frends features Lainey Wilson on co-vocal and some nicely rounded playing as the couple seek to leave friendship behind and go for the next step in their relationship. Ladder Of Love is a rockabilly workout that highlights the great band playing again while Wrong House is a song about arriving drunk at the door of a neighbour ‘Simple weekend on the town, Woke up naked on the ground.’

Icarus reminds me of a Buddy Holly song in the rhythm and vocal tones with a message about time to settle down and start producing grandkids for the parents. On the song Overpass Lukas sounds so like his father with the vocal and this is only to be expected on various tracks with the apple never falling far from the tree. Although Willie has a very distinctive guitar style I’m thinking that Lukas has probably got the drop on him when it comes to lyrical playing; his fluent guitar is really superb throughout the album and especially on this song.

The fast pace takes a break on Lying, a gentle acoustic song that speaks of a longing to be with the one you love. Lukas sings this one with such easy charm and a clarity in the delivery.  The easy theme continues on Four Winds and a melody that reminds me of Glen Campbell in his day, harmonica and lap steel adding to the rich textures. The View ends things with a simple love song about staying home with loved ones and leaving the road behind.

This is an album of celebration for the little things and for communicating with each other. There is a real sense of the band having fun and relaxing into these fine songs, never more so than on If I Didn’t Love You where the lyric says ‘Why did I call, When you were just thinkin’ of me? It’s simple serendipity, that’s all.’ No doubt that this is a band of musical brothers who dial into each other on the right wavelength and who know how to produce excellent music that is endearing in its veiled simplicity. A superb outing.

Review by Paul McGee

Jason Eady, Erin Viancourt, Caitlin Canty, Rick Hornyak, Tommy Stinson, Water Tower, Edie Carey, Sam Burton, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real.

New Album Reviews

West Texas Exiles Volume 1 Floating Mesa

This 6 track EP introduces the West Texas Exiles to an unsuspecting world. They lay out their stall on the opener Exile, which finds them planning a return to West Texas, ‘Out here tryin’ to outrun my fate/While I still got my boots on my feet’. The five band members mostly hail from Lubbock, Amarillo and El Paso in West Texas, but came together in Austin, where they play in various bands and naturally gravitated towards each other. Being from Texas, their sound is, as you would expect, country rock with the emphasis squarely on the rock. Comprising three songwriters - Colin Gilmore (son of Jimmy Dale and a solo artist in his own right), Marco Gutierrez and Daniel Davis, along with bass player/producer Eric Harrison and power drummer Trinidad Leal - between them they have the musical chops and the vocal abilities to carry off their excellent original songs. There’s a fun live feel to the production on these tracks and I suspect it is in the live shows that they really come into their own.

Hotel Tomorrow and New Moon Foe deal with fear/anxiety and depression, although always holding on to hope for the future, and all expressed in an upbeat melodious riot of guitars, keys, bass and drums. In Sweet LA they demonstrate a softer side, probably the closest they get to an almost bluegrassy/country ballad, a song of regret for a lost love, with lush harmonies, accordion and Colin Gilmore’s mandolin. The anthemic Monday Night finds them revelling in ‘working on their best bad habits’ and ’buzzin’ like that open sign’, all contributing to the impression of a ‘good time being had by all’.

The artwork on the album really impresses also, with its stylised snakes and roses.

Not surprisingly, WTXE have been touring constantly since they formed barely a year ago, and they will be showcasing at the Americana Festival in Nashville this year. I look forward to Volume 2. Ones to watch!

Review by Eilís Boland

Doug Levitt Edge of Everywhere Self Release

Doug Levitt’s debut album has been a long time coming. Twelve years and 120,000 miles traversing the US on the ubiquitous Greyhound buses has yielded this monumental album among other things, including BBC documentaries (one in 2018 and more to come later in 2023) and countless interviews on major US and British TV news programmes.

Produced by Trina Shoemaker (Emmylou, Brandi Carlile) in Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, each of the twelve songs depicts the story of one of the many characters that Levitt got to know on those interminable journeys cross country. Greyhound buses transport almost exclusively those on the margins of life, the poor, the ex-cons, the homeless, the addicted. It was a strange place to find a ‘privileged white boy’, originally from DC, a former Cornell and LSE graduate and a Fulbright scholar, who became a London based foreign correspondent in his former life. Deciding to dedicate his life to music, Levitt almost accidentally embarked on his odyssey, playing his songs in prisons, at VAs (veterans’ hospitals) and shelters. The enforced camaraderie that developed between the long distance travellers on the Greyhound buses allowed Levitt to hear the stories behind the random faces, the stories he tells with an empathy that leaps out of each track, many of them told verbatim, as he heard them.

There’s Susie who’s in her early 60s, and ‘can’t get no rest on 40 West’, driving big trucks for a living. She left her job in the Air Force years ago to look after her young son, who needed her more. ‘Long haul trips from the Gulf/18 wheels and the miles they feel like the years that roll’.

And Ellis, in Born In West Virginia, a veteran who returned home from war to feel like a stranger in his own country. Then there’s Hector, an agricultural truck driver living in El Centro, a border town in Southern California, who is wracked with guilt. Run It All Back recounts the story of how his son  is accidentally shot, and Hector blames himself because they were living in a bad area, and he ‘would give anything to run it all back’.

Through time, Levitt began to realise that he too was running - from the traumatic memories of his father’s suicide when Levitt was just 16. In Highway Signs he acknowledges that ‘I didn’t know then how those stories spoke to me…It’s a tale of so many others/just threaded through me’.

The whole album is bathed in a soothing Americana soundscape, expertly curated by Shoemaker, allowing Levitt’s tender and simultaneously strong vocals to shine through.

Explore all the songs here yourself, check out the documentaries and videos, and if you’re lucky you might even catch Levitt playing Cambridge Folk Festival at the end of July.

Review by Eilís Boland

Beth Bombara It All Goes Up Black Mesa

‘I never set out to be a lead singer, I wasn’t comfortable being in the spotlight like that’, confesses the Grand Rapid, Michigan artist Beth Bombara in the press release that accompanied this album. The encouragement to reconsider this came from the numerous fellow musicians that Bombara played with over a career that found her playing guitar, bass and percussion in a number of bands over the years. Fortunately, she heeded that advice and IT ALL GOES UP is her sixth full album, the last being the first-class EVERGREEN from 2019, which drew comparisons with Aimee Mann from ourselves at Lonesome Highway.

Her latest project, despite having been written during the dark days of the pandemic, finds Bombara in a more upbeat and optimistic headspace, without abandoning the blueprint that worked so well on its predecessor. The songs - ten in total - were written on an old classical guitar that she rediscovered stored in a closet for many years. Four were co-written with co-producer Kit Hamon, who also played bass guitar, percussion, synthesizer and added backing vocals.

Bombara’s buoyant temperament is particularly to the fore on the jaunty Tom Pettyesque Everything I Wanted. It’s the liveliest track on the album, the remaining songs being generally mid-paced with the emphasis on the carefully observed detail in the writing. Many of these songs reflect the environment they were conceived in, with references to slowing down and living in the moment (Moment, Fade) and yearning for a return to normality in the prayer-like gorgeous ballad, Lonely Walls. Overtones of loneliness and separation surface on Carry The Weight, followed by more cheerful and romantic sentiments on Electricity.

IT ALL GOES UP is not a radical departure from Bombara’s previous record, EVERGREEN. Unhurried and intimate, understandable given the period when the songs were written, it offers a most impressive batch of songs expressed with vocals that articulate both vulnerability and optimism in equal doses.

Review by Declan Culliton

Brigid O’Neill The Truth and Other Stories Self Release

We go back to 2002 to find this artist’s debut album, INLAND SAILOR. Based in Northern Ireland, Brigid O’Neill seemed to take a break from her career until a new EP of songs arrived in 2014. Another album, TOUCHSTONE appeared in 2017, followed by a further run of singles and another EP, all of which led to the release of this latest album, recorded at Skinny Elephant studios in Nashville.

The producer is the much vaunted Nielsen Hubbard and he has called upon some top musicians to bring these eleven songs to life. We are treated to the silky playing talents of  Will Kimbrough and Doug Lancio (guitars), Dan Mitchell (piano, organ and flugelhorn), Eamon McLoughlin (fiddle), Dean Marold (bass), with Neilson Hubbard also contributing drums and percussion.

Lead vocals are provided by Brigid O’Neill and she also called upon a number of musician friends to join her on backing vocals, including Siobhan Maher Kennedy, Cormac Neeson, Matt McGinn, Amy Montgomery and again, Neilson Hubbard. The album is a really pleasant listening experience with O’Neill’s voice complemented by the nuanced and interpretive playing of the gathered musicians. Her vocal tone is warm and her phrasing is full of subtle expression.

Starting with the commercial sound of Live A Little Lie Oh and the sing-along chorus, the song is both catchy and memorable for the bright production and separation on all the instruments. Definitely a radio-friendly single in the making. The mood changes dramatically on the next song Easy which is a sad, slow melody that captures the pain that a lot of people keep hidden under the façade of a brave face. ‘We see him in the local bar, he’s always on his own, He says he has more time to think when he drinks alone.’ The message is one that says ultimately, we are all alone as we go through life, looking for connection and a sense of safe harbour.

The easy melody of Ask Me In A Year features some fine guitar and piano interplay in a song about taking time to find yourself.  There is a real traditional Country sound on Prayers with some superb guitar, fiddle and mandolin interplay. Similarly, You’re Not Gonna Leave Me Honey has that Country twang of banjo, fiddle and acoustic guitar, reflecting a tale of tangled love. Messy Path slows it all down with another classic Country sound that channels the memory of Kitty Wells and a tale of heartbreak in the game of love. Again, the wonderful understated playing is just perfect for the sentiment in the song.

Leaving is a more poignant look at domestic abuse and the decision taken to accept the reality that something that’s broken cannot always be glued back together. Take A Day has a sweet arrangement and the message that sometimes what you have in life is more than enough. The slow jazz groove of Midweek Magic Club is another interesting departure and the sultry vocal and noír feel to the music dangles the promise of hidden pleasures that lie in store.

Amelia looks at a new life in the world and the joy of love, hope and the infinite possibility that a baby brings. The final song Pilot’s Weather is the ideal way to bring everything home with a lovely arrangement that includes some beautiful flugelhorn courtesy of Dan Mitchell, strummed guitars and a message to always follow your own instincts when looking for your own path. This is a very impressive album from a very talented Irish artist who has written some excellent songs and assembled an elite band of wonderful musicians to bring her vision to reality. Highly recommended.

Review by Paul McGee

Bonny Doon Let There Be Music Anti-

This is the third release from a trio that was formed in  Detroit, Michigan. The band consists of Jake Kmiecik (drums), Bill Lennox (guitar, vocals) and Bobby Colombo (guitar, vocals). Although the musicians now reside in different parts of America, they still retain their love of creating music together and despite recent setbacks, including illness and hold ups in their creative process due to touring commitments as the backing band for Waxahatchee (songwriter Katie Crutchfield), three friends have produced a very exciting new album.

The blissed out sound of Maybe Today typifies their sweetly undulating melodies and harmonies with additional piano courtesy of Michael Malis. His contributions on keyboards cannot be understated as the song structures are brought to living colour by some understated layering and up-tempo dynamics. It is the twin song-writing talents and guitar prowess of Colombo and Lennox that drives the creative process but the drumming and percussion of Kmiecik anchors everything in order for these gentle sounds to take flight.

It could be California in the 1960s with everyone wearing flowers in their hair, such is the sense of space and time on these tracks. Fine Afternoon is an example with its easy melody and light arrangement –  however it masks the lines ‘That I’m always searching for the thing that’s right under my nose, That I’m looking for a rainbow while I’m pissing in a pot of gold.’ Dreaming of a better tomorrow while today continues to unravel.

The theme of being close to falling apart at the seams is never far away in the underlying sentiment even though there is also a river of hope running through the soul of these songs. The title track has the lines ‘ Let there be kindness, Let there be fun, Let there be lightness, In everyone.’ Also, in the song San Francisco that sense of inclusion surfaces with ‘Everybody’s waiting, Everybody’s got a dream, Everybody’s looking for what they’ve never seen.’   

However, on the song You Can’t Stay the Same the clock is ticking on life and there is still so much to be achieved ‘No matter how you play the game, No matter what you try to tame, No matter how you run from change, You can’t stay the same.’ The music has a timeless quality to it, despite the message that change is inevitable and the production by the band and Brian Fox is flawless. A very enticing and engaging album.

Review by Paul McGee

Jeff Larson It’ll Never Happen Again Melody Place

This 6-track EP is in tribute to the great songwriting talent of Tim Hardin, the famous musician and composer who died at the young age of thirty nine. Tim Hardin had many highlights during a career that included a Woodstock appearance and many accolades, including a tribute from Bob Dylan, who was inspired by Hardin’s songs.

Jeff Larsson has been releasing music the 1990s and his honeyed vocal tone has always been a standout feature across a discography that includes many fine albums. In 2000 he released a forty-three track compilation of his work up to that date, which is the perfect place to start if you are new to his music. He grew up in San Francisco and has collaborated with Gerry Beckley, a founding member of the band America, in previous years. Indeed, this project was suggested and produced by Beckley, who also plays a number of instruments on the six chosen tracks. Included are the great hit songs Reason To Believe and If I Were A Carpenter both of which have been covered by numerous artists over time. Perhaps less well known are the other songs , It'll Never Happen Again, Don't Make Promises, Misty Roses and How Can We Hang On To A Dream.

On this tribute, Misty Roses is given a light Bossa Nova arrangement that works particularly well and It’ll Never Happen Again has a jazz-tinged slow groove, with Rick Braun (trumpet) and Jonathan Zwartz (bass) providing key contributions to the lovely melody. How Can We Hang On To A Dream includes Matt Beckley (backwards electric guitar), Jim Hoke (flute), Austin Hoke (cello) and Kristin Weber (violin), string arrangement by Gerry Beckley and the beautiful timeless vocal of Jeff Larson bringing everything to a perfect conclusion.

Across these songs Jeff Larson contributes lead vocals and acoustic guitar while Gerry Beckley juggles piano, acoustic and electric guitars, organ, accordion, strings bass, drums, supported by the additional talents of Joachim Cooder (electric mbira, drums, percussion), and Matt Combs (mandola, fiddle). The EP was recorded at studios in Sydney, Australia and Southern California. There is definitely room to turn this into a fully-fledged album release, given the amount of quality material to draw from, but for now this is a very tasty sampler and worthy of your attention.

Review by Paul McGee

Bill Price Kicking Angels Grass Magoops

Four songs and nineteen minutes of music on this EP from a very talented singer songwriter based in Indianapolis, Indiana.  This is his most recent project and past releases have all celebrated the dedication that Price has to the creative process. He is also a successful graphic designer and creates all his own album cover artwork.

All four songs deal with the abuse of power and question the short-sighted focus on the need for self-promotion above all else. The welfare of the common man gets pushed down the line and in the overall order of things, counts for little. Produced at The Lodge Recording Studios in Indianapolis, the songs are very much alive and engaging. The vocal style of Price reminds me of Tom Petty and his righteous anger comes to the fore on the first song Kicking Angels with the observation that ‘Angels don’t dream small, We know wings trump walls.’  A nice lyrical segue. Political hubris and spin will not convince everyone of apparent sincerity and all that is false in the kingdom of the blind.

50 Miles From Nowhere follows the core theme with an attack on winning at all costs ‘they think that he’s made history by the wars that he has won, but a man’s name will be weighed by every deed he’s done.’ Be Nice Or Get Out has a nice string introduction before electric guitars come into the arrangement and lay down a rocking groove that includes some nice slide guitar and harmony vocals in the middle eight section. Again, a message of the need for tolerance if we are all to progress as an enlightened race.  Final song Bringing Down the Sun is a dreamy song with flugelhorn and cello mixed with some sweet electric guitar lines. A very interesting EP and one that will have me reaching out to other recording from this accomplished artist.

Review by Paul McGee

Malcolm Holcombe Bits and Pieces Proper

North Carolina native and prolific songwriter Malcolm Holcombe has seen it all and done more than most in a career that has spanned close on thirty years. His craft has been lauded by many of his contemporaries in Roots music circles and comparisons have been made to both John Prine and Tom Waits. Of course, there is really nobody to compare to the unique spirit and talent of Malcolm Holcombe. When it comes to authenticity then this man is the real deal. Who was it that said “comparison is the thief of joy,” - perhaps Teddy Roosevelt was onto something back then?

On this new release, Holcombe is joined by multi-instrumentalist Jared Taylor who has been a regular collaborator over the years, playing regularly with him and producing a number of prior albums. Holcombe sings with an authentic rasp in his vocal, as if he’s so fed up with all that he sees surrounding him, that he just has to spit out the bad taste in his mouth. These thirteen songs were written during 2021 and they portray various aspects of his world view, often portrayed through characters in different life situations. The power of observation in something that Holcombe has in common with all the great songwriters and if there is a little bit of himself in many of the song characters, then all the better for the perspective.

Holcombe sings of people on the edge of normality, the fringe of what counts as acceptable; the dealers, gamblers, hustlers, thieves and down-at-heels in society. Holcombe also trains his sights on the powerful enclaves that dictate the lives of those who survive by doing what they must; the politicians and businessmen whose only god is avarice and the accumulation of wealth. In this sense, he represents a modern-day Woody Guthrie, with a righteous anger and a wake-up call to those who deal in causing misery.

On Conscience Of Man he declares ‘I will not hide from the words of justice, I will not join the cries of liars, I will not keep my heart from climbing from the dust I swallowed behind.’ Equally, on Rubbin’ Elbows he takes a swipe at social climbers and those who seek entry to the club of easy living, ‘Woncha grease my palm, Slap me on the back, Meet my younger sister and kiss my ass.’

On this album, Holcombe’s eighteenth, I have the impression that the process is every bit as important as the end product. In 2022, Holcombe was diagnosed with cancer and he decided to enter the studio with his friend to get these songs recorded. Holcombe was at home in Echo Mountain studios, Ashville, NC and the therapeutic gains for the musicians in the playing process no doubt brought a sense of acceptance and calm to the battle faced against illness. The song, The Wind Doesn’t Know You, touches on the concept of time passing with the lines, ‘It’s an everyday battle wakin’ up in the morning, With the rattle and the hustles of the cars, and the warnin’ of the pressure every measure of the clock ticking forward.’

The interplay between the two musicians is incredible and really kicks up a storm when they are in full flight. There is great clarity and space on the production, which Jared Taylor shared with Brian Brinkerhoff. Holcombe has a fascinating guitar style that mixes fingerstyle picking with percussive elements that colour the playing. If you check out some of his Shed Shows on social media then you will be able to witness the true essence of this national treasure. He even plays some of these shows with a visible nasal cannula, attached to a mobile oxygen canister, while he was still in recovery. Happily, the news is positive and Holcombe is now in remission.

This is acoustic blues, mixed with plenty of roots leanings in folk music traditions and beyond. Long may this gritty survivor keep holding up a mirror to modern society and maintain a necessary presence in our lives. Do yourself a favour and purchase this essential and vibrant music.

Review by Paul McGee

Andrew Hawkey Hindsight Mole Lodge

This collection is sub titled ‘ Andrew Hawkey at 80 - A Fifty Year Overview.’ The album cover art leaves much to be desired, but that apart, we are given a total of seventeen songs to celebrate a talent that flourished from London to rural Wales, mainly in the late 1960s through to the 1980s. Indeed, thirteen of the tracks included here cover that period, with the opening five taken from early cassette recordings. It brought me back to my own youth, hearing tape hiss again, and although the songs themselves possess an innocent quality to the lyrics and a fragile sound, it left me wondering if such an authentic approach ultimately serves the end product?

No doubt, Andrew Hawkey moved in very worthy circles back then and played with numerous talented musicians. His guitar playing is certainly very expressive and while mainly falling into the acoustic arena, his ability on other instruments is featured as the collection develops to include harmonica, electric guitar, and keyboards. Hawkey spent two decades playing in a blues band, Pat Grover’s Blues Zeros, represented here by a singular track dating back to 1994, with a cover of Sonny Boy Williamson’s classic Help Me.  A temporary sojourn in France followed the disbandment of this band, together with the closure of the Cambria Arts music venue which was run by Hawkey. Indeed over his career, Hawkey has worn many hats, from solo artist and writer, to promoter and producer.

It is a diverse collection which reflects the many twists and turns that fate threw his way, with a number of different genres influencing the choices, from acoustic folk to blues and rock with side projects including writing for films. An instrumental track Desert Moon channels a Mark Knopfler style and the sultry vocals of Jane Gilbert on Take Me highlight a suggestive, sexy performance over a repeating keyboard melody. A song that leaves little to the imagination.

In 2015, after a break of many years, Hawkey released a solo album, What Did I Come Up Here For? He followed this with another solo project in 2020 and the release of Long Story Short. The final three songs represent where Hawkey now finds himself with Spirit representing his singer-songwriter origins and a nice acoustic based melody that looks at a message of both contentment and peace. A reworking of opening track Between Two Horizons follows and yields a much more engaging version with a look back down the path and a reflective vocal performance. The project ends on a short instrumental Just the Sky featuring simple harmonica and guitar in a brief contemplation on what has passed and what the future may hold.

As with any such anthology, there are uneven parts that stop the natural flow across the songs but then again the true spirit of any such collection is to show the artist in all the various forms and configurations of his career. The journey has been a long one and the information booklet included contains well researched notes at every stage, highlighting many of the local bands that inspired and influenced along the way. Not for everyone, but the easy representation of folk, Americana and blues will appeal to those who have grown up with a knowledge of Andrew Hawkey and his music.

Review by Paul McGee

West Texas Exiles, Doug Levitt, Beth Bombara, Brigid O'Neill Music, Bonny Doon, Jeff Larson Music, Malcolm Holcombe

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.