New Album Reviews

Annie Bacon and her Oshen Storm Self Release

An entire album that is based around the issues of grief and loss may seem like a daunting task for the listener. Could it turn out to be an exercise weighed down by onerous self-reflection? Happily this is not the case and this project wraps the songs in a blanket of compassion and empathy. It takes a real gamble to place your raw emotions on such public display and yet, by making the deeply personal into something that embraces the universal, Annie Bacon delivers a healing in the power of her music.

Having suffered a series of losses in recent years, Bacon reflects upon the various stages of grief and channels the realisation that it can take on various guises. Divorce is one form of real loss, and in dealing with this, the death of your ex-Mother in law brings additional challenges to the emotions. When you are also hit with the sad reality of having to say goodbye to your best friend, the pain is palpable. Bacon also lost her father, who passed away before the Covid virus closed the world down and the end result of all this death has been a period of self-analysis and pouring all manner of confused disbelief into the songs that appear on this new album.

The ability to cope and indeed endure is also at the heart of these fourteen songs, The conclusion drawn is that sitting back in the moment and acknowledging these feelings as they arise, and staying grounded until they pass, is the real key, and a code by which you can chart the unfolding of the rest of your life.

The loss of relationships, and the grief that death unlocks, all culminate in heartbreak and a deep sense of also losing a vital part of who you are as a person. These songs cover the full range of such loss and uncover real emotions along the road to ultimate healing. Secret Broken Heart looks at the cost of hiding pain inside and putting on a brave face to the world. Mist is a song that sees the reality of losing yourself to grief and the remedy to solve matters by coming into the moment and sitting still with the pain. California Heat is written in memory of her best friend who died, and the image of a hiking trail and the isolation of being alone in nature brings a coping mechanism.

Walk A Little Farther covers similar territory with the resolve to keep going and not submit to crippling inaction under the weight of loss.  Alone With Grief is probably the defining song in this woodland of sadness with the words ‘ No one can walk your path for you, But so many have and so many do, Feel alone with grief tonight.’

Realising a relationship is over and having the courage to leave normality and routine behind is at the heart of songs Can’t Remember, When Will I Learn and Love Can Mean, with the latter song capturing the essence ‘But if you’re twisting yourself into knots just to stay, And you’re screaming to be heard but ignored anyway, And the illusion of peace is not a price you can pay, Remember that love can mean walking away, You can love yourself enough not to stay, That’s okay.’ Wise words that show a resolve to develop a perspective on the slings and arrows that life throws your way.

The final song is Worry and has a message that the problem can indeed be worry itself. By letting it go you can open up a new vista that leads to happiness - ‘Or maybe worry is the trouble, Maybe I should worry a little less.’ The excellent band is worthy of the highest praise for the way in which they wrap these songs with a protective cocoon of care and creativity.

The musicians are Annie Bacon (guitar, vocals), Paul Defiglia (bass, keyboards, synthesiser, organ, drum machine), Thomas Bryan Eaton(guitars, pedal steel, mandolin), and Anson Hohne (drums, percussion) make up this band and the album was produced by Annie Bacon & Paul Defiglia in Natural Daylight Studios, Nashville. All songs are written by Annie, with one co-write.

Anne Bacon is an Ann Arbor resident and a singer-songwriter and guitarist of real depth and quality who took her fledgling steps in the industry with the release of a debut album in 2012. She built upon this when a further album appeared in 2019. I may be wrong about Annie’s performing name but I think that OSHEN is a variation of Ocean, it’s power and vastness capturing our sense of place, surrounded by all this tranquillity and mystery. A really fine album and worthy of your exploration.

Paul McGee

The New Leaves A Sketch Of Home Corn Crake

There is a gentle contemporary Folk sound in the music of Irish quartet The New Leaves. Based in the seaside town of Warrenpoint, a small port town in Co. Down, the members are Declan McKay (guitar, vocals), Cian O’Hare (guitar, mandolin), Patrice McKevitt (bass) and Paddy Goodfellow (drums, percussion). Together they make a very soothing sound with a collective approach in their song arrangements of ‘less-is-more.’ They are childhood friends and the band was formed in 2022.

Mother Nature features quite a lot in the lyrics of Declan McKay who writes all the songs and his affection with the locale comes through on songs such as Donaghaguy Reservoir, In the Shadow Of the Mournes and The Lights From Omeath, a small village on the Cooley Peninsula. The ensemble playing is very engaging and the harmony vocals of Patrice McKevitt are particularly bright in the production mix. The sense of separation and space brought to the album recording by Steve Fearnley is impressive and the project was recorded at Narrow Water Studios in Warrenpoint.

The inclusion of cello on the album is an inspired choice and the lyrical playing of Ben Triggs elevates the songs throughout, Maggie’s Island being a particular highlight. The sense of easy reverie threads these songs into a tapestry that is very appealing and tracks A Silk Road To the Moon and Rocky Mountain River include some subtle guitar work from Cian O’Hare, who also contributes harmony vocals. The drumming of Paddy Goodfellow is nicely judged and he never overplays, expertly supporting the song arrangements as evidenced on the very pleasant Away With the Fairies.  Across these thirteen songs there is a real sense of joy, and the sentiment on A Giant Murphy Favour is one of standing tall for each other and facing the challenges with an open agenda.

All in all, a very accomplished debut album and I look forward to hearing more from this talented group on their developing musical journey.   

Paul McGee

Gerry Spehar and Friends Other Voices Self Released

This album is a compilation of songs that were written by Gerry Spehar and performed by a number of artist friends who recorded his work over a period that spans four decades. The album title is very appropriate in that, across the twenty tracks, the consistently strong writing is given a chance to see the light of day through the interpretations of others, and we can celebrate the talent of this Colorado songwriter who has been creating music since his teenage years.

He initially cut his musical teeth by playing in a 1970s band with his brothers George and Tom.  After a period of going solo he hooked up with long-time associate Bobby Allison and together they had increasing success during the 1980s. Gerry then stepped back from the music business to work a day job and raise a family but he never stopped writing and his guitar was always on hand to partake in any sessions that were going down. After a break of 30 years he returned to the recording studio in 2017 and he has released four albums over recent years, making up for lost time.

There is a stellar cast of musicians that appeared on these recordings over the years, and far too many to list. All songs were written by Spehar, including nine co-writes, four with Mike Becker and five with Bobby Allison. Two of the songs appeared on a previous album DELTA MAN (2022), with the inclusion of Train, Train, Train and Rockin’ On A Country Dancefloor. In fact, the latter song appears on each of these two discs with different versions provided by Teresa James and Gary F. Floyd. Both tracks are highlights on a very strong compilation that includes contributions from Dale Watson, Lisa McKenzie and Lisa Daye.

There is plenty to appeal across the different styles that range from traditional country to soulful ballads, taking in blues and rockabilly sounds also. The slow burn of What He Said and Georgetown are complimented by the sweet melody of Angel, Grandpa’s Daisies and The Last Person; balanced against the up-tempo Lovin’ Proof,  Do Whatcha Used To Do and Joanne.  There are also love songs and Both Ends Of the Rainbow and The Longer I Love You are excellent examples of this songwriter’s craft.  A very rewarding album and one that I’m sure will bring plenty of pleasure to those who like well-crafted songs.

Paul McGee

Krista Detor Chaos, Collisions and Clocks Tightrope

While this ‘best of’ collection dates back to 2019 it is a timely reminder of the deep well of talent that dwells within the creative muse of Krista Detor, a singer-songwriter based in Bloomington, Indiana. Over the course of her career Krista has delivered eight recordings that highlight her songs and playing skills in a manner that leaves an enduring trail for those who wish to follow the yellow brick road that leads to her door. This collection was produced by Krista and her husband Dave Weber at their Airtime recording studio which is based on their farmland and attracts many musicians who avail of the professional and extensive facilities on offer.

Krista has a very expressive voice that is arresting in it’s sweetly delivered tone, both wistful and knowing; yet forgiving and universal in capturing the ache and yearning contained within the dichotomy of living. Krista speaks of  the spectre of depression that visits many of us at certain points in our lives and in having the bravery to investigate the source and tackle it head on. Where does that sense of sadness come from?  Is it perhaps self-doubt at a young age that turns towards unwarranted inner reflection? Could it be caused by a distorted vision of oneself?

This collection contains only one song from her great breakthrough album MUDSHOW (2006,) which brought her overnight media attention and praise. Indeed, the follow up album COVER THEIR EYES (2007) only merits two songs here, and it is the twin releases of CHOCOLATE PAPER SUITES (2010) and BARLEY (2016) that feature mostly, each contributing four tracks.

Given the wealth of choice across the span of her career, Krista has chosen her personal favourites and this album is full of truly great moments. The haunting Deliver Me and the personal reflection of self-liberation on Hear That are just two stand-out moments among many. Also included is the excellent More Than I Can Say and the delights of Clock Of the World, For All I Know and Icarus. There are three bonus songs also included and these unrecorded tracks show that Krista continues to write music of great insight and beauty. Plenty for everyone to enjoy and if you have yet to become aware of this superb artist and her many talents, then this album is a fine place to start. File under ‘buried treasure.’

In recent times she launched The Hundredth Hill Artist Residence and Retreat in Bloomington and much of her energy has been focused on making this enterprise a success, with its rolling green woodlands and creative spaces that attract artists and leaders from across genres, disciplines, and borders to find inspiration and focus.

Krista also delivered a TEDx talk in 2022 that focused upon ‘Shattering the Looking Glass Self’ and an insight into the career arc of this very entrepreneurial talent. It is well worth finding on your social media and it will certainly inspire.

Paul McGee

David Starr Better Me / Starr and Stucky Self-Titled Cedaredge

Two releases from the talented David Starr over the last 12 months and both are examples of the fine qualities this songwriter possesses. Better Me is a six track EP that runs for twenty-plus minutes and includes the talents of Matt Bubel (drums, percussion), Jimmy Mattingly (fiddle), Dan Dugmore (steel, electric guitar), John Reno Prentice (electric guitar), Irene Kelley (background vocals), Michelle Prentice (background vocals), Mark Prentice (bass, keyboards), with acoustic and electric guitars played by Starr. The songs are all written by David Starr and the delivery is a roots rock sound with the musicians very much front and centre in the groove.

Title track Better Me is a hope for inner growth gained from ongoing maturity, while the softer Some Angels Fly shows another side to the ensemble playing, and a tune that reflects upon a friend who has passed away. The rock beat of Poison the Water brings a great dynamic with the guitar riff driving a song about corporate thirst for power and the soulful vocals are particularly impressive. Because You’re Right is a love song that plays along on a gentle melody and harmony vocals that reflect upon a doomed relationship. Closer To You is another roots rock arrangement that allows the musicians space to express their individual skills.

The closing track Any Chance Of Going Home is a song about circumstance and fate where the timing in a relationship is always out of step. There are some lovely fiddle and piano parts and a lyric that reflects ‘Sometimes circumstance lays waste to best laid plans and it’s years until we find out what it means.’ Starr sings in a very clear vocal with a nice tone and this adds character to the song arrangements. The music was recorded in Nashville, at Addiction Sound Studios, and was produced by Starr and Mark Prentice.

The second release Starr and Stucky is an acoustic album with friend and mandolin player Erik Stucky. The record is comprised of reworked acoustic versions of original setlist favourites and the nine songs come from five different albums in Starr’s discography with three tracks featured from THE HEAD AND THE HEART(2017) and SOUTH AND WEST (2018). The production and the playing is very impressive and full of nice moments with guitar and mandolin stretching out in stellar fashion throughout. Good As Gone comes bursting out of the traps before the slower Waiting In the Dark brings a more reflective tone. Other songs like Don’t Give Me Hope, Night Rolls Around and Edge Of the World continue the laid-back feel and the considered interplay between Starr and Stucky is beautifully realised.

Head and Heart is a great example of the understated melody that both players dance around with the reflective lyric echoing the sparce arrangement and simple song craft. Cabo San Lucas is a cover of a Toby Keith song and is delivered in a Tejano fashion with mandolin lifting the song to new heights. Another fine album from this Colorado-based musician who delivers on a regular basis with soul infused vocals and a fine writing sensitivity.

Paul McGee

Joana Serrat Big Wave Great Canyon

"This is the foundation of who I am now. It's the best album of my career so far, and I don't think I'll ever be able to put out an album like it again," declares Joana Serrat on her latest and most soul-searching album.

Packed with emotions that range from anger to exhilaration, sonically, the album is a significant departure from the Catalan singer-songwriter's previous work, fuelled by a period of personal transition, the loss of both her grandparents, the demise of a long-term relationship and the onset of another one. That's not to say she hasn't previously been afraid to move outside her comfort zone. Her 2017 album DRIPPING SPRINGS was an ethereal psychedelic affair produced by Israel Nash and recorded, with the aid of his backing band, at Nash's Plum Creek Studios in Texas.

For Big Wave, Serrat collaborated with producer Matt Pence and recorded at The Echo Lab Studio in Texas. The characteristic reverb, a sonic signature of Serrat's previous work, is more pronounced, drawing comparisons to P.J. Harvey and Liz Phair. The guitar work of Joey McClellan, a longtime collaborator, is central to the album's sound, with McClellan also credited as co-producer.

With her foot firmly on the cosmic pedal, opener The Cord, Big Lagoons, and Sufferer find her pushing out the boundaries and exploring previously unvisited sonic territory.  She returns to more familiar ground with This House and Freewheel, and the album's underlying themes of lost love and grief are pronounced in You're With Me Wherever I Go and Broken Hearted.

Prepare to be transported to a different place from that expected with BIG WAVE. It may take a few visits to settle into, but the time invested is well rewarded.

Declan Culliton

Elaine Palmer Half Moon Rising Butterfly Effect

I don’t recall encountering this singer/songwriter before, but on this encounter she is someone worth investigating. She was born in England in the North Yorkshire Moors, but travelled to the US often to Arizona. She was interested in music for a long time and use the two countries as inspiration for her material. There are folk, country and Americana influences from a place where the roots of those were largely intertwined. She spent time teaching songwriting and signed a publishing deal for her own work and has recorded a number of prior releases while continuing to tour. 

In 2023, Palmer went to California to work with producer Mike Butler in a week long session, recording the album in mostly live sessions, something that, when you have the right musicians involved, can offer positive results capturing the live essence of a group of players. They were those who Butler worked with  previously in San Diego, including Dave Berzansky’s pedal steel, Theron Wall and Bobby Furgo’s strings  and Butler’s own guitar work - all of which immediately became cornerstones of the album. They are given a good foundation by the often understated rhythm section of Matt Lynott and Patrick McClory. However,  from the opening bars of the first song, it is the clarity and strength of Palmer’s vocal that give the album its identity and personality.

There are eight songs on the album that are observations on the varied conditions of love and a consciousness of landscape, a similar working pattern to many of those working in the Americana scene who draw from a comparable set of stimuli. It is, doubtless, the result of homing her melodic and lyrical skills that may have produced her best release to date.

The album opens with Heart And Soul, which sees her welcome an old flame who she sees is still “all fire and fool / how the years have changed you … I just wanted to  feel your heart.” She wishes for love that is real and unquestioning in A Love Like That, yet seems tinged with a sadness to notice “my dreams have been and passed / through the eyes of my child I live now.” This sense of melancholy carries on with So Long, realising that “if there are many fractures / then we may never go back into one piece.” This is a ballad with plugged violin and strings to enhance that mood. One song would seem to be returned to, judging by the title, Let Me Fall (revisited) wherein she knows that she “can’t catch myself in here  / so let me fall into you.” 

Somewhat more affiliated with place but not without emotion is Freebrough Hill. It has a more impassioned vocal that has a distinctive crack, making it appear more fraught as the song builds, with the guitar mirroring the sentiment with deftness and effectiveness. The lyric may reveal something of the substance and source of its hard message with “judged only by a man of cloth / who has never had to endure / the things that I have.” Not Lost has an electric folk feel that will appeal to many who have missed that blend of storytelling and powerful guitar. It accepts that though broken she is not lost - again the steel guitar is paramount to the frame of mind that is expressed. On The Way Up hopes to meet in happier times with the thought that may be relevant to many who would echo the feeling, often expressed, that “youth is wasted on the young / wisdom lies with the old.” This the offered from someone with life experience to draw that thought from. Another stripped back arrangement is used for The Last Dance, the violin used to portray Palmer’s belief that she was mad from fire and rain so that she can leave rainbows. A pretty good sentiment to end the album on.

When taking account of the lyrics, in their written form, you might assume that this is a somewhat sombre album. But Palmer, like many artists who look into the darkness, can see a light and help others to see it too. It is a short eight track album but nothing is lost in its brevity, indeed the short space of time in which it was recorded added an energy that makes the album vibrant. Palmer’s moon, it would seem, is on the rise.

Stephen Rapid

Joe Ely Driven To Drive Rack‘Em

The moment you hear that big jumbo acoustic following by the immediately recognisable voice of Joe Ely, accompanied by the accordion of Joel Guzman, Drivin’ Man motors you into the world created by the iconic singer/songwriter over a long career of outstanding music. The next track is the one that will doubtless garner much attention - Odds Of The Blues is a simple duet between two friends and mutual admirers. Ely and Bruce Springsteen‘s voices blend especially well over a simple backing of acoustic guitar and bass from Ely and electric guitar from Jeff Plankenhorn. For Your Love will be readily identifiable to fans from its band enhanced previous version. Here it is stripped back to acoustic guitar, accordion and vocals. Of course Ely has previously released the album LIVE CACTUS where he was solely accompanied by Guzman. Watching Them Semis Roll is another song about traveling the highways of America, this one written by his Flatlander’s companion Butch Hancock. 

More beat laden is Didn’t We Robbie which sees Ely playing electric drums with Mitch Watkins on electric guitar and Bill rockin’ out on roadhouse piano. I’m sure it will make many nostalgic for Ely’s earlier full band and full blown recordings. Similarly Ride Motorcycle finds Watkins on synths and guitar with Ely also on electric guitar. This track fairly puts the pedal to the metal and it has the kind of raw elemental rock that has worked through the history of rock ’n’ roll. The title track uses an actual drivin’ drummer in Pat Manske and again Plankenhorn is the lead guitarist. Contrastingly, with San Antone Brawl its all down to Ely on his todd. Again you can see the power in his voice as an instrument in its own right, a timbre that gives the human touch to these songs. The diction is always clear and you can follow the lyrical themes easily as he tells these tales of outlaws, outsiders and outcomes.

The electric drums are used again on the border feel that pervades Slave To The Western Wind, with Guzman and fiddler Richard Bowden adding to that hot wind ambiance while, as the title might suggest, Gulf Coast Blues has a feel related to that particular strand of music, with the accordion doing what a harmonica might otherwise have done in similar circumstances. It also suggests that Ely could do a similar thing to Jimmie Dale Gilmore by working with Dave Alvin to good effect. Jackhammer Rock, a song written by Donald Elwood Dykes, closes the album with Ely playing synth and guitar - something that is partially of a nod to the time he experimented with electronics back in the day. Eddie Beethoven is the harmony singer here. The remaining tracks were all written by Ely and show that he is also a engaging writer as well as performer.

So what you have is a collection of songs that have existed in one form or another for some time. The title is a recognition of a restless, seeking, traveling persona that was with him from the start. For instance, the title song is one that he started out writing in 1986 and is only now reaching its final destination on this album. The songs were recorded over a long period of time in his Spur Studio either as demos or initial sketches. They are songs that are fundamental to the notion of discovery or, occasionally, disclosure that not everything takes you to where you might want to be. None-the-less the need to carry on carrying on is undoubted. I have listen to many of Joe Ely albums in the past and seen him live on numerous occasions, both solo, with his band or as a member of the Flatlanders. He doesn’t disappoint, so long may he continue to ride.

Stephen Rapid

SUSS Birds & Beasts Northern Spy

Anyone remember the band Rubber Rodeo who, not unlike Wall of Voodoo in intent if not sound, tried to merge electronics with a Country and Western sentiment? They emerged from Rhode Island in the 1980s and released a number of albums before calling it a day. Two members of that band were Gary Leib and Bob Holmes, synths and guitars respectively. These gentlemen are key members of SUSS who have been described as ‘ambient country.’ Here on this new release which quite possibly lives up to that description, they are joined by former associate Jonathan Gregg on pedal steel and Pat Irwin on multiple instruments. The end result is a sound that could as easily reflect a desert landscape, moving clouds or slow moving water, diving into the landscape of the mind and floating along with its diffuse current. At times it is peaceful, at others there is a hint of unforeseen menace.The acoustic and steel guitars are a bedrock over which the other sounds stream and infuse.

This is an album that offers a sense of tranquility, that can be heard as a background element or as something that helps to create a more focused imagined visual. Others attracted by the two cornerstones may well find it irritating or confusing. It is very much a musical setting that lets the listener find their own label for what they have heard. It does tend to remind me, to a degree, of some of the music released by the German label Sky back in the 70s and 80s, or some similar sounds of the Brian Eno/Daniel Lanois album APOLLO.

That the various members have remained as band mates since their earlier incarnation shows that they have likely developed an instinctive understanding of how to work together as a unit, without having to use that much communication for them to express their vision.

It would now appear they are a trio who are working together without Leib - at least that’s how they are portrayed on their website. They have a following for the music they play live or on record. The website offers numerous samples of their work together which is, perhaps, the best place to decide on where you might place their endeavours. Are they birds or are they beasts?

Stephen Rapid

Annie Bacon, The New Leaves, Krista Detor, David Starr Music, Joana Serrat, Elaine Palmer, Joe Ely SUSS

New Album Reviews

Keegan McInroe Dusty Passports and Empty Beds Self Release

Fort Wort, Texas is home to this musician who has six previous releases since a debut appeared back in 2008. The nine songs included are a mix of contemporary country and americana sounds and the musicians who recorded the album are Clint Kirby (drums), Aden Bubeck (bass), Patrick Smith (bass), Matt Tedder (guitar), Gary Grammer (harmonica), Chris Watson (piano, organ, keys), Jeff Dazey (saxophone), Dirt Stinnett (fiddle, mandolin, gut string), Hannah Owens (vocal), and Morris Holdahl (vocal).

McInroe plays guitar and sings lead vocal in addition to writing all of the songs, apart from one cover version that is included in the form of the John Prine classic Lonesome Friends Of Science. The songs came together over the Covid lockdown when McInroe found himself at his mother’s home in Dublin, Texas where he was able to experience an extended break from the life of a musician and the touring commitments involved. The death of John Prine clearly left quite a mark on McInroe as he name checks the legendary songwriter on the title track, along with other notable names who also died during the pandemic.

Another song is dedicated to the country troubadour and John’s Songs resonates in the words ‘Now he's got to shake God's hand, And I've got you,  And we still got all the songs he left to help us through.’ The easy groove of Ey Brother references the changes that were manifest during the lockdown with much uncertainty in the air – guitar and saxophone blending in the melody. The traditional country sound of Thanksgiving Night has some nice interplay between fiddle and guitar as McInroe misses the rituals of the past and ends up eating in a diner on such a landmark day. There is a honky-tonk feel on the track Only To Be Songs with some tasty piano runs and harmonica playing over the beat.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry is a slow melody that captures the sense of living in the moment and putting worry aside ‘With some food in your belly, and a roof overhead, And some clean water flowing, and a dance in your step, Have a party, have the best time.’ The final song is Traveller’s Wind and the urge to be back out on the road is as strong as ever ‘But still this lonesome road’s my home, And I'm as restless as I've been, Never too long in one place, Til I'm moving on again’ – the life of a working musician perfectly captured. Co-produced by McInroe and Grant Wilborn at 7013 studios in Fort Worth the album is a solid statement of a talented artist and the fine musicians do everything required to support the sweet vocal performance.

Paul McGee

The Fugitives No Help Coming Fallen Tree

A Folk-Roots band that is based in Vancouver and has been creating music since their formation in 2007, with the group essentially made up of duo Adrian Glynn (vocals, guitars, bass, balalaika, piano, percussion), and Brendan McLeod(vocals, guitars, ukulele, banjo), who create the music and write the songs. They are joined by Carly Frey (vocals, violin) from The Coal Porters and Chris Suen (vocals, banjo, ukulele) from Viper Central.

This sixth release has a central theme around climate change and although the title No Help Coming suggests that we are all beyond saving, the sentiment is more that of waking up to the fact that the only solution to our earth’s problems lies solely with all of us, as a species. On this album the collective are joined by Sally Zori (drums, percussion) on three songs and Cole George (drums, percussion) on six others. Producer Tom Dobrzanski contributes on Hammond B3 organ and the project was recorded at Monarch Studios in Vancouver.

The vocal harmonies are very engaging and impressive across the songs and highlights like Wing and a Prayer, Edge Of the Sea and  the title track are laced with a lightness that belies the serious nature of the topic. The slow dynamic on Advice is a change of pace and the song arrangement is very memorable with the words resonating ‘You’re the church where my kids speak in tongues, You are the man who owns the man with the gun.’ Elsewhere we have enduring message of hope on Not Burning Out and the words ‘In a way I can see it now, only thing that matters is the way you love, Edge of the heavens is a world of doubt, I’ll be here when the lights go out.’ An impressive album that will be enjoyed for the excellent musicianship and timely message delivered in a colourful fashion.

Paul McGee

The Felice Brothers Valley Of Abandoned Songs Million Stars 

The thirteen songs recorded for The Felice Brothers’ latest record consist of previously written material by Ian Felice from sessions for the band’s 2019 album, UNDRESS and ASYLUM ON THE HILL, which arrived somewhat unannounced and was released only on Bandcamp at the end of 2023. Initially intended to be only released online, that changed when Ian Felice shared a collection of the songs with Conor Oberst, who, impressed by what he heard, offered to release the material as the first project from his new label, Million Stars. The common denominator is that all the material was recorded live in a one-room church built in 1873 and acquired and renovated by Ian Felice, located in Harlemville, New York.

The Felice Brothers have come a long way since their formation in the Hudson Valley in 2006. The current line-up, their longest-lasting and arguably their strongest, features frontman, guitarist, and songwriter Ian Felice, James Felice on piano and backing vocals, Jeske Hume on bass, and Will Lawrence on drums. 

The soul-stirring lead single, Crime Scene Queen, inspired by Humphrey Bogart’s character in the movie The Big Sleep, was a pointer toward the quality we could expect from this record, and the remaining material lives up to that standard. Ian Felice possesses the Midas touch as a writer with the gift of delicately handling bleak and mysterious themes and, as is the case on this album, often expressing real-life matters through the eyes of the unfortunate and outcast.

With a charmingly ragged and stripped-back sound, the band leader's unrushed vocal deliveries invite the listener into his tales of simplicity and innocence (Flowers By The Roadside, New York By Moonlight), lost love and regret (Black Is My True Lovers Hair, Stranger’s Arms), and hopefulness in the face of despair (To Be A Papa, Tomorrow Is Just A Dream Away).

An album that sounds like it has been around forever, VALLEY OF THE ABANDONED SONGS is another timeless collection of songs by the Felice Brothers that deserves your fullest attention from start to finish.

Declan Culliton

Kaitlin Butts Roadrunner Soundly

Taking inspiration from a mid-1950s Rodgers & Hammerstein musical may seem like an unusual and daring starting point for a country album, but that's precisely what Kaitlin Butts did for her latest album, ROADRUNNER. The Oklahoma-born and raised artist, now living in Nashville, drew on her love of musicals as the building blocks for the album and, not surprisingly, chose the one closest to her heart. The musical Oklahoma includes many of the hallmarks that raise their head in Butt's songwriting, such as love won and love lost, murder and humour, and she channels them all to create a modern-day country concept album.

More than simply a whim, the songs also reflect Butts' state of mind at the time of writing. She opens with the musical's overture, Oh What A Beautiful Morning, renaming it My New Life Starts Today, a statement of the good place she was at the time of writing and continues to be in. The mood is a departure from the darkness of her last album, WHAT ELSE CAN SHE DO, which dealt with issues she and her mother had encountered at that time. In contrast, Butts is in chipper form this time around, although she does include some darker songs alongside the more upbeat numbers.  

The title track is a 'hundred mile an hour' blast and recitation of her touring lifestyle; I'm still determining if I'll hear a song this year whose melody took as long to shake off as a summer cold.  A pointer toward her continuing rising star from the shy young artist that we witnessed strumming a guitar and singing solo at Americanafest some years back is the artists that came on board to guest or co-write with her. Vince Gill didn't hesitate when asked to add his vocal to the cowboy ballad Come Rest Your Head, the song's origins came from a woman wearing a tank top that read 'cowboy's pillows' on her chest, as Butts recounted in a recent interview with Lonesome Highway. Other high-profile artists also lent a hand. Sharing writing credits are Natalie Hemby (Other Girls, You Ain't Gotta Die To Be Dead To Me), Courtney Patton (Elsa) and Angaleena Presley (That'll Never Be Me).

The seventeen-track record also includes a couple of well-chosen covers. Bang Bang, previously recorded by Cher and Nancy Sinatra, is given a relaxed makeover. Kesha's Hunt You Down, which is very much a thumbs-up for female empowerment, gets a countrified makeover. Loaded with attitude, You Ain't Gonna Die could have been borrowed from Loretta Lynn's songbook, and it is noticeable how Butts reverses the traditional country trait by having male singers do the spade work as backing vocalists on a number of tracks. She also shows her sweet side by sharing the vocals with her soul mate and husband, fellow singer/musician Cleto Cordero, on People Will Say We're in Love. 

The album has Kaitlin Butts’ personality stamped all over it and very much reflects what you experience at her live shows. She's ballsy, witty, rocky, loud and delicate in equal doses. A delightful and profoundly satisfying listen, Butts' career will most likely take a massive step forward with ROADRUNNER. It's tailor-made for her eye-catching live shows and captures everything impressive about her.

Declan Culliton

Jim Lauderdale My Favorite Place Sky Crunch

The title of Jim Lauderdale's thirty-seventh album may refer to his adopted home, Nashville, or may be a nod to his present-day touring and backing band, The Game Changers. Either way, it's business as usual for the artist known as ‘Mr. Americana’, a respectful accolade given that Lauderdale has represented every genre in American music throughout his career.

The Game Changers, Jim Lauderdale's present-day touring and backing band, play a significant role on his latest album. Comprising Frank Rische on guitar, Lille Mae Rische on backing vocals, Craig Smith on guitar, Jay Weaver on bass, and Dave Racine on drums, they perfectly complement Lauderdale's soulful country music. Their collaboration was evident in Lauderdale's 2022 album, GAME CHANGER, and continues to shine in MY FAVORITE PLACE. The album also features Music City big-hitters like Tommy Detamore, Steve Hinson, and Micah Hulscher, adding depth and variety to the music.

Lauderdale's output is staggering. He has released an album every year since the turn of the century, except 2005, and yet his output never seems repetitive or forced. This album finds him in a relaxed mood, and no more so than on the tracks Mrs Green and The Laughing Tree. Both are Tom T. Hall-type story ballads; the former, written by Bob Minner, is a tale of unrequited love, the latter a love-letter, tender-hearted ballad. Both are delivered impressively in 'crooner' style. The piano-led Baby Steps sounds like a restrained Jerry Lee Lewis offering, and Sweethearts Remember is a jazzy, swinging affair. The album is bookended by What's Important After All, sage advice from a craftsman who always has a few tricks up his sleeve.

It's business as usual, a characteristic Jim Lauderdale album, extremely easy on the ears and with a cast of players whose playing ebbs and flows behind his distinctive country vocals. 

Declan Culliton

Silverada Self-Titled Prairie Rose

 ‘Back in the day, all we wanted to do was play the Broken Spoke,’ says Mike Harmeier, recalling the early aspirations of Mike and The Moonpies, the band he formed in his early twenties. That dream did come true and, over the band’s seventeen-year history, they graced that hometown honky tonk stage many times before heading off to play bigger venues, festivals and eventually The Ryman and The Grand Ole Opry, with their rootsy brand of Texas country.

This self-titled album finds the band relaunched under the name Silverada, following eight previous albums by Mike and The Moonpies. Silverada is band leader Mike Harmeier (vocals, guitars and keys), Taylor Englert (drums, percussion), Omar Oyoque (bass), Zachary Moulton (pedal steel, dobro), and Catlin Rutherford (guitar). Hailed in many quarters, including Lonesome Highway, as one of the most dynamic live bands of recent years, and despite gaining a dedicated cult-like following, Mike and The Moonpies’ commercial success hardly reached the level they deserved. The band’s name was a tongue-in-cheek decision made by Harmeier, not for once thinking that their fame would spread beyond the dusty local bars where they first played.  

Whatever the reasoning behind the name change, lovers of their previous albums need not be alarmed; this ten-track collection cements their reputation as ambassadors of powerhouse Texas country music. Although somewhat sonically experimental at times, it’s not a vast departure from their previous work either, crisscrossing some full-on rockers and reflective ballads.

The inspiration for the songs came from an unusual source. Harmeier holed up in his home office and dived into a number of random books that he had bought at a charity shop. Whatever the background, the stories in the songs are rich in detail and content, with the writer revisiting observations collected from endless hours and miles on the road, together with matters closer to home. The former surfaces on Load Out, Anywhere But Here, and Radio Wave (‘One foot on the gas and one foot in the grave’), the latter emerges on Hell Bent For Leather, Stubborn Son and the stand-out track, Stay By My Side. With echoes of Willie Nelson, it plays out like the writer’s life story as he attempts to balance life on tour and home life (‘I get homesick at home and sick on the road’). Interestingly, the previously noted Radio Wave includes a thought-provoking dig at the music industry’s genre-creating hype (‘Americana is a myth, I told ya’)

As in their previous work, razor-sharp guitar licks and large doses of dreamy pedal steel complement Harmeier’s vocals. The band’s name may be different, but their collective qualities ring true. Let’s hope Silverada’s fanfare surpasses the previous band’s hardcore following. Based on the collection, that is more than deserved.

 Declan Culliton

Grant Langston Alabama Self Release

This album comes with a cautionary back story as, prior to its original release date ,Langston found his music had been pirated and put online under someone else’s name. Hopefully that has now be sorted and he can rightfully claim these songs. It was recorded in a number of studios in California with one session engineered by the renowned Ted Russell Kamp - who contributed some occasional trumpet and trombone. He is joined on the different tracks by a number of musicians from the locality. Langston himself played guitars, bass and Wurlitzer as well as contributing the fine lead vocals.

What we have here is a mix of country roots and some more Alabama oriented Southern sounds. It is a combination that works well and Langston’s self written songs tell their own tales of cheating, traveling, seeking and inevitably some drinking, but with a little wryness that suggests that it not be taken too seriously (even if it was made that way). Its aim is to please and it does so with a sway of choruses that are easy to catch. Langston, however, delivers these with a certain amount of grittiness and determination too.

Based now in California, he grew up in Alabama under the influence of his father’s listening habit of classic country radio, but less of the habitual honk-tonk Saturday night sinning syndrome. Here he learned to play and to love music for its healing and restorative elements. However, the next few years saw him as a sideman in a number of rock bands. Eventually he connected with the music that was prevalent in his youth and wanted to return to that. He has now matured with that music and continues to put his own slant on those varied influences.

The opening song Country Or Bust is an uptempo journey from city to a dream of something more rural. It sounds a reversal of what many did in the past even if the song is rooted in that past. How Much Do You Want? immediately appeals with its California country drive and gains from the trumpet break that makes it an album highlight in its ode to steadfastness. That sense of seeking to rely on trusted things and people is where This Old Truck comes, with its strong chorus and Langston varying his vocal stance as the tracks require. The longest song is the 60s vibe of This Heavy Load, clocking in at over five minutes, thematically it would be appreciated by fans of The Band or those bands who were influenced by them.

The rockin’ vibe is also present in Pure Grain Guarantee and glides along with keyboards and guitar and some soulfulness, and Langston is joined on the choruses by The Hawthorns. There’s twang afoot with As Is Sale, Sing Along and the opening track, all with their concise references to the reliable Bakersfield sound. The latter opens acoustically and is more in the heartland country sound with some telling lyrics of a sad and strained relationship between a father and son, as the son recounts his father’s life and death story - but with a tenderness that may have been absent during their time together. Not a unique story by any means but one delivered with an understated passion.

There is a solid beat that underscores the fast-paced Keep It Coming, a song that celebrates love and does so with some aplomb and introduces some banjo in the fade out to spice things up. It possibly sits at odds with a song like Corporate Hack, when the diversity of having two roles in life don’t always gel to anyone’s satisfaction. The fiddle infused story Jailbird is at odds with its musical outlook but, given that the inmate is thinking of the day he might be free, it is an appropriate realisation of that feeling.

There seems to be something of a resurgence of the particular sound and attitude that has come to represent the more outward looking assimilation of influences that come to determine California country right now, with some of these who might be considered veterans of that scene releasing albums that will do much to keep that important scene in people’s minds and hopefully giving some wider exposure to others emerging too. 

Stephen Rapid

Matt Hillyer Bright Skyline State Fair

This new album from Matt Hillyer picks up from where his last release GLORIETA left off in 2023, offering again a smorgasbord of what would be some Austin approved country roots amalgamations. Again it is produced by John Pedigo who worked on the previous album. There are some Austin stalwarts involved including noted pedal steel practitioner Lloyd Maines, bassist Kevin Smith (currently stroking their four strings for Willie Nelson), Heather Stalling on fiddle, drummer Arjuna Contreras and additional bass player James Driscoll. Hillyer still has a way with words that, on occasion, are co-writes with the likes of Max Stalling and Mando Saenz - both well know songwriters in their own right. 

Hillyer fronted Eleven Hundred Springs in the past and through numerous albums as a band. Since then he has been able to write songs for himself rather than for the band as an entity in itself. Part of his musical heritage was rockabilly, alongside traditional country influences. Both are touchstones here along with some classic rock ’n’ roll moves. This album has a pretty open outlook and is not without moments of humour, based on real life observations, not least Moving Away which details his relief, and that iofseveral other neighbours, when a somewhat arduous family decided to change location. The frustration is abated somewhat by the ability to see some humour in the episode.

In other songs he gives us some unrestrained love songs that detail his deep admiration for a particular partner. It Would Take A Miracle (“to take me away from you”), If I Had Everything I Want (“you’d be at the top of my list”) and If I Didn’t Have You (“I probably wouldn’t be here”), which has a swinging sound with fiddle and upright bass. There is some deep baritone guitar at the opening of Did She Ever Want To Live Like This, a song that wonders how anyone could have stuck with a situation that never seems to change and what could have ensued in a different situation, something that makes him think that despite her saying with some obvious affection that “Baby, don’t think so much,” … having the realisation that in fact “lately I’ve been thinking maybe I don’t think enough.” The arrangement of the song is restrained enough to make the sentiment seem that much more real.

The opening track What Are You Doing Now? simply asks that proposition of an ex who has moved on and is full of regret for not making it work. It is delivered with some harmonies that help to give the uptempo song its place at the head of the album as a pointer to the goods on offer, fiddle and guitar helping it to flow. Another direction is taken with the ballad format of the pitiable thoughts of Even An Angel - forgiveness can only go so far and that “even an angel gets the blues.”

The title track looks to a more positive future, while Green Eyes describes a femme fatale. There a touch of a late night lounge with the jazz influenced guitar and slow paced mood on Honey Do Blues. Overall the sentiment of the closing tracks rings true across the board, recognising that what we face is A Daily Fight. It closes out what is an enjoyable, upbeat collection of songs that are an affirmation of the long running skills that Matt Hillyer has brought to his music from the start. This album has the hallmarks of those skills, not only as a songwriter and singer as well as a top notch guitarist, but someone who is still learning and loving what he does as he continues to look to the next song, the next one that feels right - so that the future is looking bright.

Stephen Rapid

Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore Texicali Yep Roc

Two veteran performers, ostensibly from different corners of the roots field who, in truth, as evidenced on DOWNEY TO LUBBOCK their previous album together, are well matched. More especially also when they are working again with Alvin’s road band, The Guilty Ones. That previous album was named after their individual home towns and this time out the title reflects the two states that the pair call home. There is a strong relationship readily apparent between the two comrades that sees them as equals. Gilmore has a decade on Alvin in terms of physical age, but both are matched in their understanding of the fertile ground they are ploughing together. 

The songs are a mix of covers chosen to reflect the way they now can look back on their lives with a lot of miles, and physical issues under their belts. This gives the music both a timely perspective and a present one. From Alvin’s more blues/roots background there are songs by Brownie McGee (Betty And Dupree) and Blind Willie McTell (Broke Down Engine) which sees Gilmore going from his more hillbilly to a bluesman. It has a hint of that boogie blues so prevalent in the 60s. Indeed Blind Owl is given something of an understated On The Road Again pulse as it is a tribute to one of the original, though now deceased, Canned Heat singers, Al Wilson - known by this titular moniker. It is for him and other lost players. There is a co-write Southwest Chief, a song co-written with the late singer songwriter Bill Morrissey, that offers something of an accolade for lost times and friends; it is a gentle and warm reading. There are also a couple of songs that relate to Gilmore’s own back catalogue ,like the fifty year ago penned Trying To Be Free and Borderland. The latter opens the album and it reminds us of what a pleasure it is to hear that distinctive and care-worn voice again. As the song surmises ,it is “so good to be home in the borderlands … between the dawn and the dream” - and in that space between. It is the sound of a band settling in rather than showing off, even though there are plenty of moments of prodigious playing all over. Alvin co-wrote the touching song Death Of The Last Stripper with husband and wife, and fellow Austinites, Terry Allen and Jo Harvey Allen. It is a tender and sympathetic ballad that, perhaps more than anywhere on the album, combines the two voices in a perfect alliance.

When you put that together with a set of players as sympathetic and aligned as the rhythm section of drummer Lisa Pankratz and bassist Brad Fordham, who are joined by keyboardist Bukka Allen and Chris Miller on guitar, there is something both comfortable and rewarding about the way everything integrates into a whole that, throughout, creates a blend of age and alliance, something that goes beyond trend and easily drawn boundaries. There is a reggae-inspired feel to the sound of Roll Around that also underscores the nature of the project. Another fine song that covers the distance is Down The 285, wherein the former Blaster and former Flatlander travel the distance together on a shared road.

The extended closing song We’re Still here is full of humourous attitudinal asides that basically lets us know that no matter what you might hear “we’re still here.” That is something that everyone can and should be thankful for, as this is an album to enjoy from many angles. It’s also an acknowledgement of the wisdom of age and the fact that we all hope that the road can, indeed, go on forever - and, doubtlessly, their music will.

Stephen Rapid

New Album Reviews

The Henry Girls A Time To Grow Self Release

The hint is in the title - Inishowen trio The Henry Girls show that they have indeed grown, both musically and emotionally, on their latest album, recorded in their native Donegal in Attica Audio Recording studios. The McLaughlin sisters (Joleen on harp and piano, Lorna on piano, tin whistle, accordion and uke and Karen on fiddle and uke) took their maternal grandfather’s name when they started performing as a trio over 20 years ago. Their unique blend of Irish folk and traditional music with an Americana bent has brought them recognition in Ireland, and they also have a strong following throughout Europe and indeed in the US. 

The choice of producer Tommy McLaughlin (who is also a member of Villagers) has really paid off, with his rock/pop credentials bringing a new dimension to their folk-orientated material. As you would expect, familial harmonies play a big part in their signature sound, evident right from the opening of the title track, A Time To Grow, which starts with the sisters singing a capella, before the harp, accordion and fiddle begin to layer behind the sweet harmonies. It’s a song inspired by the pandemic (yes another one!) but while it ponders the initial shock of the unknown, it ends on a hopeful note. Leaving Dublin is a co-write with their longtime friend from Boston, Ry Cavanaugh (Session Americana), and it is a metaphor for the perennial Irish experience of returning to one’s home after a time in exile, the lyrics ‘my pictures never looked right on your wall’ ringing true for so many Irish emigrés.

 Apart from two songs, all the rest are written by the three sisters, and are performed with crystal vocal clarity, mostly in three part harmony. Breathe is an exquisite example of same, opening with one voice and harp, building up quietly with a four piece brass section, then swelling with layered echoey backing vocals, and subsiding again to one voice, emphasising the subject matter of gaining strength through grounding oneself in nature. One of the outstanding tracks is Not Your Fight, a co-write between Karen and Rioghnach Connolly (an Armagh native who is currently the BBC Folksinger of the Year). Written to recognise and support the victims of conflict everywhere, it is a powerful rendition of the difficult subject matter, Rioghnach’s unique vocal style and her appropriately percussive flute playing are complemented by Karen’s fiddle and Lorna’s accordion to provide a suitable musical backdrop for the violent atmosphere depicted in the lyrics. Equally affecting is Where Are We Now, a superb no-holds-barred (and brave) depiction of the emotional damage that accompanies the usually hidden burden of infertility. 

The McLaughlin sisters are also adept at composing instrumentals, going by the beautiful set of tunes written to honour their departed friend and beekeeper, Paul Moore. Opening and closing with the sound of real honeybees recorded in Co Donegal, Honeybee is a gentle lullaby-like tune, led by twin whistles, and it runs into Hard Border, recalling the gay abandon of the lively bees on a sunny day, happily ignoring all land borders. Inghinidhe na hÉireann (Daughters of Ireland) is the other impressive instrumental, particularly appropriate for the centenary commemorations of the Irish Civil War etc, where the pivotal role of women is being reevaluated. As well as co-producing and arranging, Tommy McLaughlin adds guitars and synths throughout. There’s lots more to discover across the twelve tracks, and I must make particular mention of the fabulous artwork by Tim Stampton, who also hails from the Malin peninsula in Co Donegal. 

Eilís Boland

Barbaro About the Winter Storysound

This band is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and has been creating music together since 2017. The current line-up includes Kyle Shelstad (vocals, guitar), Rachel Calvert (vocals, fiddle), and Jason Wells (vocals, bass), and their unique sound owes much to the origins of roots music, mixed with interesting influences from classical and folk leanings.

Shelstad founded Barbaro as a duo in 2017 with Isaac Sammis, who played on early sessions for this album, and while Calvert replaced him, Wells did not join until early 2019. The direction they are headed seems to encapsulate a lot of what similar bands like 3hattrio are exploring in their music, which is both inspiring and rewarding in equal measure.

Apples To Apples open proceedings and is a perfect barometer for what follows with gentle melody complimenting the hushed vocal delivery in a song of regret ‘I’m calling for you, But I’m pretty sure that you’re ignoring me.’ The next song is Gardens and an esoteric look at pain and loss, the playing reflecting the complexities of stream of consciousness musings. There is a Bluegrass feel to The Lil Sweaters and a sense of joy in the delivery, while Subtle Hints sees Rachel take lead vocal in a song that examines a relationship in the sweep and swoon of the arrangement.

Violin, banjo, piano and upright bass continue to tickle the senses throughout and gorgeous melodies swathed in bluegrass intonations and jazz inflections add an intensity that is both compelling and subtle. At every turn the songs are engaging, playing on the senses, as a melody or a phrase sticks in the memory and strikes a chord with the emotion of the moment, like on Honey, for where everything soars towards a climax, only to stop suddenly. Rachel returns with her emotive vocal on One x One the gorgeous violin sweeping the melody along in a sense of reverie.

Subpoena Colada is one of the longest songs and excites in the arrangement, challenging the listener to stay on the surfboard that rides the waves of jazz-fused expression, rooted by upright bass, with banjo and fiddle solos. All My Friends has Rachel in pole position once more and another interesting arrangement that builds to a satisfactory climax, with piano mixing into the violin and banjo runs.

Let’s Talk About the Winter is a real highlight and shared vocals point to a sense of things left unresolved in a past relationship. With no lyric sheet to guide me, there is the risk that my interpretations are wide of the mark but the defining emotion is one of rueful reflection. The final song is Ike’s Farewell and is an instrumental that showcases the dextrous playing and inventive sense of fun in the arrangement. The album was recorded in Eau Claire, Wisconsin by Brian Joseph and Kyle Shelstad and it is a really impressive piece of work throughout. The rewards on repeated listening are many and I recommend that you seek out this music as a source of inspiration.

Paul McGee

Phoebe Rees Bring In The Light Strictly Country

This English folk artist has lived a very interesting life that has included community and volunteer work in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Mumbai, India. Her childhood saw Rees immerse herself in old folk traditions drawn from Celtic, English and American influences. A multi-instrumentalist who performs mainly on fiddle, viola and piano, Rees is a qualified instrumental teacher and creative music workshop leader with a wide range of teaching and project experience.

On this album she was approached by American singer-songwriter Si Kahn, founder of Grassroots Leadership, a non-profit organization which advocates for several causes, including coal worker rights, cotton mill and Alaskan fisheries conditions, prison reform, improved immigration detention policies, and violence prevention. As a social activist, now in his 81st year, Kahn wanted to have his songs interpreted for future generations and his connection with Rees was a perfect place to land. Previously, the songs of Si Kahn had been highlighted by the likes od Dick Gaughan and June Tabor to UK audiences but here we are given a fresh perspective across fourteen tracks and an hour of superbly crafted music.

Rees sings in a clear and expressive vocal tone and she is joined by Janos Koolen (banjo, guitar, accordion, bodhran), Lucas Beukers (acoustic bass) and Sophie Hanna (harmony vocals). Si Kahn assisted on production along with Pieter Groenveld with main duties shared between Phoebe Rees and Janos Koolen. Her song choices include the first tune that brought her to the attention of Si Kahn, a version of Mississippi Summer and a song that highlights the plight of cotton pickers. Songs of struggle and quiet resolve are visited on In Afghanistan, When the War Is Done, Peace Will Rise and Freedom Is a Constant Song. The unquenchable dignity of people shines through the words and the musicians compliment the song messages with some impressive interplay.

On a lighter note songs such as the Irish traditional jig The Didin Didin recall endless days of reverie and the tribute to Ola Belle Reed, the Appalachian folk singer, songwriter and banjo player is another heartfelt tune in High On A Mountain. Belle La Follette is honoured also with a song, as she was a women's suffrage, peace, and civil rights activist in America for many years. Wigan Pier is a song for the mining community and Molly In the Mill is similarly a tribute to the mill workers of old  ‘Back in those olden times, The dust was like November snow.’ Such stark imagery of a time when heavy manufacturing and hard labour were a grim reality.

Ultimately, the album is a celebration of all that makes us human, the fortitude to endure and the desire to persevere. The final song  People Like You sums it up in the words ‘Old fighter, you sure took it on the chin, Where’d you ever get the strength to stand, Never giving up or giving in, You know I just want to shake your hand.’ Certainly a laudable project and one that is delivered with a quiet aplomb.

Paul McGee

John Shipe Water This Dark Self Release

Grappling with the big questions is something that preoccupies John Shipe on this new release. The opening song What Do I Owe? looks to try and make sense of it all while struggling with the reality of having buried both his son and his wife. The next song is also the title of the album Water This Dark and relays a near-drowning incident without spelling out what led to the dangerous scenario in the first place, the lyric suggesting some surrender to the situation ‘When in doubt you can’t figure it out, Just go with the river downstream.’

Unfinished Business is a song to the sassiness of youth and to a daughter who knows her own mind well enough to not take any bullshit right from the starting pistol ‘Got her grandmother’s name, but her granddad’s look, She doesn’t do nothing by the book.’ The end of a relationship is captured in Counting Song and the pain of having to admit defeat ‘I counted the all the reasons I can’t stay, Counting all the things I could never say, Now I’m counting the miles as I drive away.’

Gold Into Yarn is a song of regret and looking at the years gone past in such a hurry ‘First you tell yourself, you’re just trying to do the right thing, Twenty years go by in the blink of an eye, It’s frightening when it hits you, You’re old a helluva lot longer than you’re young.’ Another song is based upon the repetition that happens in our lives and Starting Over and Over Again comes to the realisation that ‘Wherever you go, you’re stuck with you.’

The futility of war is tackled on The Darkness I’ve Been Waiting For and the cost of serving for a higher calling ‘The War is over, and I’m walking pretty good with a cane, Every now and then I feel it when it rains, And staring through the window panes. Waiting.’ The final two songs are musings on our journey and whether we really learn as the years unfold; on Lessons(Do They)? we have Shipe reflecting that ‘I learn all my lessons well, just in time, You better put out that fire, When the flames of envy climb’ and the final track By Now states that ‘All my love is written in these rhymes, Things I can't shake from long ago, What I don't talk about, I can't let go.’ Proof that the search is ongoing and the quest for peace of mind is a long road.

In total we have nine tracks that play out over a concise thirty four minutes and the musicians turn in a fine performance in bringing the arrangements to life and injecting plenty of layers in the melody. The album was produced by Tyler Fortier who also plays guitars, keyboards, percussion and sings. John Shipe provides all lead vocals and plays guitar and piano, with Mike Walker (organ, pianos), Bryan Daste (pedal steel), Lilli Worona (violin, vocals), Nate Barnes (drums), Sam Howard (bass), Phillipe Bronchtein (lap steel, organ, piano) and Erin Flood Fortier (vocals), all contributing to what is a very interesting album.

Paul McGee

Jim Patton and Sherry Brokus Big Red Gibson Berkalin

This Astin Folk duo have been making music together since 2008 that saw the release of their first collaboration. A number of albums have followed since, including a live EP and a ten-year retrospective collection, with their last record appearing in 2022 last. This seventh full album was produced by multi-instrumentalist Ron Flynt (guitar, keyboards, bass, vocals), and he is joined by Cordy Lavery's (guitars), Steve McCarthy (drums), and BettySoo (vocals). Eric Hisaw (guitar) makes a contribution on one track and Jim Patton (vocals, guitar) with Sherry Brokus (vocals) complete the troupe. The production took place at Jumping Dog Studios in Austin and all songs were written by Patton with five co-writes included.

The eleven songs play out over thirty two minutes and sound very clean in the production. From the urge to break away and get a new start on Dead End Town, to the plight of trying to make it as a full-time musician on the title track Big Red Gibson ‘I started a new day job, Just to make it through the year, Yesterday it was a stopgap, Today it’s my career.’ A similar theme is highlighted on Devil’s Highway with the career musician striking out for the horizon ‘He put all his possessions on a Greyhound bus, Left his family in that small town dust.’

Broken love is the sad outcome on My Heart’s Turned To Stone and the need to forget runs through the song. Janey Has A Locket is another relationship song, this time about unrequited love and the rock arrangement on Wild, Dumb and Unsatisfied  showcases the guitar driven dynamic of the band in full flow. Promises To Keep celebrates the urge to keep thinking young as increasing age appears ‘We’ve still got a couple of miles to go and promises to keep.’ The final song is a tribute to a partner in the words of I Still Believe In You ‘Somewhere there’s a lonesome highway, That siren song begins to moan, And something calls me toward that darkness, But something stronger calls me home.’

Paul McGee

Carl Solomon The Whisper Self Release

This Folk artist lives in Portland and the ten songs included here are a fine example of his songwriting talent. There are three co-writes included and the atmosphere created by the studio musicians is one of gentle melody and quiet mid-tempo arrangements.

The players include Carl Solomon (acoustic guitar, vocals), David Pearlman (pedal steel), Mark Epstein basses), Michael Dorrien (guitars), Peter Wassner (piano, organ, Wurlitzer, accordion), Merel Bregante (drums, percussion, Lori Beth Brooke (accordion) and Cody Braun (fiddle). Backing vocals are provided by a combination of Sarah Pierce, Alex Winters, Micheal Henchman and Merel Bregante.

The title song is a tribute to Jenny Joyce, his wife, and Solomon sings sweetly of his enduring love for the bond shared. The pedal steel on Singin’ With the Ghost is nicely atmospheric in a tale of a car crash on the road home one night. Lincoln Continental has another nice melody with accordion playing alongside pedal steel and a tale of young love. Window Shopping For Jesus is a song that suggests ‘paradise is one day out of reach’ and that ‘another grievous angel cries out for peace.’

Soldier’s Psalm is a highlight and a song that reflects on the price paid by serving soldiers in the US army and recognition given to their regiments. Solomon is very active in Soldiers Songs & Voices, a body that provides free guitar and songwriting lessons to Armed Forces veterans in the Portland Metro area. While not counsellors, there is a healing value to be found in the act of self-expression through creative workshops. These are songs of genuine sentiment and much to enjoy in the variety.

Paul McGee

Birdfeeder Woodstock Soul Selects

A trio made up of Chris Harford (guitar, bass), Mark Mulcahy (drums, vocals) and Kevin Salem (guitar) is something to savour and the eight songs on this short record capture the friendship forged by these artists over an extended period of years. In just twenty five minutes of music they produce a unique sound that frames their combined sense of creativity.

Big Chairs and Candy  opens up the collaboration with strummed guitars and an intimate vocal that captures a local meeting house scenario where vested interests get resolved. The next track is She Stood Up At the PTA and an incident where a poem delivered results in a dilemma that concerns family and domestic matters. Mulcahy is well known for his passion-fuelled vocal dating back to his Miracle Legion days and here he shows that none of that quiet power has been lost.

So It’s A Bomb follows and the uncredited keyboard sound backs the rhythm and a sense of alienation in the song arrangement. A threat of outside influences being brought to bear perhaps? We are then introduced to My Cousin and a tale of relatives not seeing eye to eye as family life unfolds. The song So Triangular has a quiet tempo and lyrics that state ‘Go back to Pakistan and tell your mother it’s all over.’ Hints of prearranged marriage?

Standout song Born This Way and Your Expectations is a song that tackles the question of gay disposition and coming out – with certain assumptions made that bring pressure and upset. A Fairy Tale is a relationship song that reflects upon the support given by a loved one while the final track Super Diamondaire is a demo dating back to the 1990s when the trio were first exploring song structure together. It has some heavy, sporadic drum sounds, angular electric guitar and fun vocal experimentation. All in all, an intriguing collaboration that hopefully will lead on to future recording together.

Paul McGee

West Of Eden Whitechapel Self Release

Contemporary Folk group West Of Eden is based in Gothenburg, Sweden and formed in 1995 when Jenny and Martin Schaub enlisted local musicians to bring their Celtic-based music to life.  Now on album number thirteen the current line-up comprises Jenny Schaub (lead and backing vocals, accordion, tin whistle), Martin Schaub (lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitars, tenor guitar, dobro, mandolin, bouzouki, cittern, keyboard, Hammond organ, Rhodes, celesta, piano, pump organ, accordion, glockenspiel), Ola Karlevo (drums and percussion, cajón, bodhrán, backing vocals (since the beginning), Lars Broman(fiddle, viola, backing vocals (since 2009), Martin Deubler Holmlund (double bass, bass guitar, backing vocals (since 2013), and Henning Sernhede: (electric, acoustic guitars, mandolin (since 2016).

This is a concept album that contains twelve tracks and the forty five minutes tells the tale of Jack the Ripper and his victims in the London area of Whitechapel in the 1880s. The women that feature in the songs are portrayed as flesh and blood individuals who lived and dreamed of a better future under the most challenging of circumstances. Kicking off with Whitechapel Blues the scene is set with a tale of poor living conditions and people out to take what they can ‘Whitechapel alleys and Whitechapel streets, Where the outcasts and the penniless meet.’ The song has a great band feel in the playing and the vocal is very reminiscent of Ian Anderson in his early Jethro Tull days. The Ten Bells is a song about a local hostelry where the locals drink their cares away and the prostitutes stroll the street looking for potential punters.

Read All About It is a song that recounts the paper coverage of the Ripper murders and sale of terrible news ‘ We have made a little career, Writing stories of terror and tears, We are profiting upon your anguish and fears.’ The local street trader in Harry the Hawker brings rumours of murder and sells turnips and cherries as he promotes his tales. A rural girl of innocence moves to the big city in The Register Of Shame and ends up losing her dreams to the grim reality of survival on the streets. A standout song is Mudlarking which is a co-vocal shared by Jenny and Martin Schaub that highlights the practice of scavenging along the banks of the river Thames looking for items of value. The ensemble playing on this arrangement is superbly delivered by the band.

The instrumental tune Dark Annie is another high point with a melody that is close to an Irish jig in the delivery with flute, fiddle and tin whistle playing in symmetry above the guitar accompaniment and lilting percussion. Closing song We Will Never Be Afraid Again sends a prayer of hope to the future when things can change for the better ‘Someday these dirty streets will glitter in the sun, The sound of laughter in our ears, and food for everyone.’

There are a number of guest musicians, eight in all, who join the band across these twelve songs and the brass arrangements by Martin Schaub are also very influential in the overall feel of the album, conjuring images of olden times when life was not as comfortable as today, but the inner strength of the people was reflected in their strong spirit to keep going. Very much a tribute to another era but an album that reflects the quality musicianship of this talented band.

Paul McGee

Grey DeLisle Driftless Girl Hummin’bird

Californian artist Grey Griffin wears many hats when it comes to creative output. She started out as a comedian before turning her talents to voice acting and this change of direction brought much acclaim. She has performed over 1500 cartoon voices since 1996, and has also acted in a number of movies. When it comes to creating music DeLisle (a performing name) has not been shy in putting her talents into the delivery of eight albums since her debut in 2000.

On this new release, DeLisle shines across eleven songs and her fragile, distinct voice holds sway at all times in the quiet melodies and gentle arrangements. The opening song Where You’re Coming From has a contemporary country sound with some sweet guitar provided by Buck Meek. The title track continues the theme of feeling apart from normal life and on the lookout for a direction to hopefully bring stability. Again the playing is superb with Ben Boye on restrained piano and Jolie Holland on viola, Nikki Grossman providing backing vocals.

The Ballad Of Ella Mae is a story song about domestic violence in the true traditions of old time country music and DeLisle sings with a tone that is reminiscent of Emmylou Harris. Another song I Don’t Wanna Want You No More follows closely in the same vein with tasteful pedal steel courtesy of Adam Brisbin, who also plays great bass parts on the album. It’s a song of yearning and the frustration felt in thwarted love is superbly delivered.

Quick Draw is a highlight with a bluesy groove and the opening lines ‘You’re a quick draw darling, Ain’t sure who shot who’ declaring the frisson between two lovers who spark off each other. The rhythm section of Andrew Maguire on drums and Adan Brisbin on base anchoring the interplay between Ben Boye on keyboards and Buck Meek on guitar, with swirling pedal steel also in the mix.

My Two Feet and Little Ol’ While take the tempo up a notch with the musicians able to stretch out and Mama’s Little Rose is another story song that would not be out of place on a Dolly Parton album; producer Jolie Holland providing duet vocal with Gil Landry playing banjo on the standout performance. Indeed, the one cover song on the album is a Dolly song Down From Dover  and the tragic tale of a young girl fooled by a selfish lover who leaves her alone and pregnant. The easy waltz of In the Living Room is a testament to lasting love where no outside stimulus is necessary ‘Our love sends us to the moon, Right here in our living room,’ pedal steel and piano laying down a sweet drift across the melody lines.

DeLisle wrote all the songs with the exception of one song (My Two Feet) from Murray Hammond of OLD 97s fame, and another (Where You’re Coming From) is a co-write from Jolie Holland and Buck Meek.  This entire project is quite an achievement and certainly an album that leaves a lasting impression.   

Paul McGee

New Album Reviews

Linda Thompson Proxy Music Story Sound 

Followers of Linda Thompson on social media will be well aware of her risible and often self-deprecating sense of humour. That trait is very much to the fore in the title and the album artwork on PROXY MUSIC. Somewhat tongue in cheek, Thompson cleverly used both the title and artwork on Roxy Music’s quintessential 1972 debut album as a starting point for the album. However, that playfulness does not transfer to the eleven tracks on the album. All written or co-written by Thompson, her spasmodic dysphonia condition, which she has suffered since the 1980s, ruled out her capacity to sing the songs, so instead, she invited family and friends as guest vocalists to bring the songs to life.

Although hailed as a classic vocalist - her folk/rock albums in the 70s and 80s with former husband Richard Thompson are particularly memorable - Thompson is also a masterly songwriter. Working closely with her son Teddy Thompson, they began selecting the most appropriate voices to perform the individual songs, and all the artists called on gladly accepted the invitation to contribute. First out of the blocks was daughter Kami, who opens the album with the melancholy Solitary Traveller.

A previously unreleased Richard and Linda composition, Three Shaky Ships, is beautifully presented by The Unthanks, playing out like an original song by the Northumberland-born sisters. The ballad Bonnie Lass is delivered in fine style by The Proclaimers, as is the spirited Those Damn Roches, with Teddy taking the lead vocal in an ode to the musical families and dynasties (‘Faraway Thompsons, tug at my heart. Can’t get along ‘cept when we’re apart. Is it life, or is it art?’). The piano-led Darling This Will Never Do, performed by Rufus Wainwright, takes its cue from the British music hall vaudeville era.

The noteworthy folk song and album highlight, Mudlark, was co-written with Linda’s son in law James Walbourne. Very much a family affair, the vocals are by Walbourne with his wife and fellow member of the folk duo, The Rails, Kami Thompson, with Linda adding backing vocals. Teddy Thompson produced Dori Freeman’s first three albums, and the Galax, Virginia singer-songwriter returns the compliment with the stripped-back Shores Of America. The remaining contributors are John Grant, Martha Wainwright, Ren Harvieu and Eliza Carthy.

What could have been an indulgent and disorderly affair is, in fact, quite the opposite. The selected contributors excel in giving unwavering expression to the songs, which is an endorsement of Linda Thompson’s quality as a songwriter. It’s a delightfully accessible listen that will have me revisit her back catalogue of solo albums and her work with Richard Thomson once more.

Declan Culliton

Good Looks Lived Here For A While Keeled Scales

The subject matter on Austin, Texas, root rockers Good Look’s 2022 album, BUMMER YEAR, was life’s complexities, disorders and frustrations. Little did they know, on its release, the tragedy that awaited them. Having celebrated the album’s release in their hometown, the band’s lead guitarist, Jake Ames, was struck by a car while crossing the street following a performance and fractured his skull and tailbone, leading to a tortuous recovery period. Following a short-term memory loss, Ames slowly recovered but had speech difficulties. However, somewhat ironically, his ability to sing and play guitar remained unaffected. Rather than break their spirit, the incident furthered their resolve to continue to record.

Frontman Tyler Jordan had already written the ten songs for this album and, re-energised and grateful to be able to record once more, the band holed up at Dandy Sounds in Texas to track LIVED HERE FOR A WHILE. If they hadn’t experienced enough misfortune, further calamity visited them when their tour van was rear-ended on the first day of their Midwestern tour, resulting in the van and their instruments, equipment and merch ending up in flames. Fortunately, none of the band members were injured. 

LIVED HERE FOR A WHILE is noticeably more high-spirited than its predecessor. Raging guitars, thumping bass lines and Jordan’s gravelly vocals point them in a more indie direction. Jordan’s writing follows a path that matches the subject matter that emerged in BUMMER YEAR. Relationships present and past are at the fore, often hopeless and sometimes optimistic. The opener, If It’s Gone, bolstered by a gloriously driving rhythm, is an angry break-up rant and the closer, Why Don’t You Believe Me?, at over six minutes the longest track on the album, is a hazy, dreamy affair of puzzlement and confusion. Self-Destructor and White Out are rampant face-melters, both mirroring the raw energy of the band’s live shows.

A full-blooded addition to their back catalogue, LIVED HERE FOR A WHILE often hits that sweet spot that sometimes only guitar-driven albums can reach.

Declan Culliton 

Various Artists Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty Big Machine

Despite not being a country artist, the late Tom Petty, who left us in 2017, shared a profound bond with the traditional and modern country music scene. His enduring backing band, The Heartbreakers, lent their talents to Johnny Cash's album UNCHAINED, further solidifying his connection to country music. In more recent times Dierks Bentley has enjoyed major chart success with his take on Petty’s classic American Girl, evidence of how today’s mainstream country music is a closer relation to rock music than traditional country.

PETTY COUNTRY is a comprehensive twenty-track tribute album, a testament to the wide-ranging influence of Tom Petty. It features a diverse array of artists, many of whom were not only close friends of Petty, but also collaborated with him. The majority of the versions on the album stay true to the originals, while a few stray somewhat from Petty’s accounts.

Dolly Parton, who, like Petty, and despite her initial reluctance, is a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, puts her stamp on Southern Accents. Other senior citizens, Willie Nelson and Steve Earle, came on board. Nelson, alongside his son Lukas, performs Angel Dream, and Steve Earle was the ideal candidate for a fiery version of Yer So Bad. Of the newer breed of country faces, Luke Combs tackles Running Down A Dream, and Justin Moore cuts loose on Here Comes My Girl. It's not all foot fully on the gas either.   Jamey Johnson slows things down on the ballad, I Forgive It All, and Thomas Rhett puts a mid-tempo country touch to Wild Flowers.

Pick of the crop are Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives’ driving reconstruction of I Need To Know, the equally animated and soulful Ways To Be Wicked by Margo Price and Mike Campbell, a killer adaption of Refugee by Wynonna Judd and Lainey Wilson, and a live recording of You Wreck Me by George Strait. However, the real winner is the quality of the artists and players who contributed to celebrate an icon held in the highest esteem across many music genres.

The project was engineered and produced by Petty's close friend George Drakoulias, with the assistance of Randall Poster and Scott Borchetta. It is more than worthy of a place in the record collections of Petty devotees, lovers of country music, and anyone with an ear for classic rock.

The full track listing is:

I Should Have Known It by Chris Stapleton / Wildflowers by Thomas Rhett / Runnin’ Down A Dream by Luke Combs / Southern Accents by Dolly Parton / Here Comes My Girl by Justin Moore / American Girl by Dierks Bentley / Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around by Lady A / I Forgive It All by Jamey Johnson/I Won’t Back Down by Brothers Osborne Refugee by Wynonna Judd & Lainey Wilson /Angel Dream No.2 by Willie Nelson & Lukas Nelson / Learning To Fly by Eli Young Band / Breakdown by Ryan Hurd feat. Carly Pearce / Yer So Bad by Steve Earle / Ways To Be Wicked by Margo Price feat. Mike Campbell / Mary Jane’s Last Dance by Midland / Free Fallin’ by The Cadillac Three feat. Breland / I Need To Know by Marty Stuart And His Fabulous Superlatives / Don’t Come Around Here No More by Rhiannon Giddens feat. Silkroad Ensemble and Benmont Tench / You Wreck Me (Live) by George Strait

Declan Culliton 

Cory Cross There's More Self-Release

There is indeed more here on Cross' debut full-length album. He has, across the fourteen self-written songs, shown that he is a talented writer, singer and exponent of his version of country music. He hasn't got the obvious edginess of some of his fellow honky-tonkers. Though he can get more rowdy when the occasion demands, there is also a certain sensitivity with a number of face-to-face intimate slow-dancing songs. The opening song here, 100 Miles, is about the distance required to be back with his partner again. Whatever occupation of travel is required, whether as a trucker, traveller, or musician, separation is an unavoidable part of the job. Later This Highway has a similar thought process, though perhaps without the destination being one place or person. Cross has co-produced the album with his drummer, Austin Choate - a member of his backing band, generally known as The Burden. The other players featured are Will Wright on guitars, steel guitarist Matthew Walton, fiddle player Brandon Arthur and bassist Kyle Farley. Born in, and now based in, Fort Worth Cross spent time playing and living in Austin before returning to the place he has some obviously strong ties to.

Cross has noted that in the past, his progress has been hampered by self-inflicted indulgences that he has overcome to create this album. This is not just a positive move on his part but one where his past experiences filter into his writing and overall direction, which can be enjoyed by others who respect his honesty. Some of the titles here relate back to those times with a certain sense of resolution, such as Cryin' In A Honky Tonk - where he declares he isn't going to cry in the venue no matter what sad songs might be played. Equally sad is Good Enough Today, about a lost relationship and a longing to be there again, with the fact that he was loved has to be the best he can hope for. Just Tonight also focuses on making the most of a short-term alliance, "ain't talking about the rest of your life - just tonight." It is a male/female duet.

A number of songs offer a stance that is that of a person caught in a particular cycle. These include Done Bein' Good (For Good), which has some strident sax and guitar solos to bolster its edgy uptempo stance. Too Drunk To Swim offers a fairly straightforward opinion of a state of mind. It is another song that kicks up the dust and has some upfront steel guitar, too. Might As Well Get High (I'm Already Lonesome) sees that option as a solution to a sense of loneliness. Quit Quittin' is another statement of defiance delivered in a more outlaw style.

Location features too with the wish, even if not physically, to be in another place - as in Salado In My Mind or with Make Malibu. A place he wishes to be made into a memorable night. Easy For You To Say touches on heartbreak and a relationship gone sour for one, if not both parties. Old Flame is another regretful ode to an affair which has burnt out. The title tracks closes the album with the hopeful notion that there is more to come, possibly bringing better times. As a starting album, this has all the signs that there is much more to come from Cory Cross.

Throughout the album, the arrangements vary in tone and tempo enough to make the album work on different levels. The production team has given the songs a suitably contemporary feel that aligns them with the Texas country music tradition but with Cross's own stamp placed on the sound, which may help them stand out in a fairly crowded market. However, the omens are good, and this is a testament to that.

Stephen Rapid

George Ducas Long Way From Home Self-Release

This marriage is made in heaven, the pairing of George Ducas, a 90s country hit-maker, with producer and arranger par excellence Pete Anderson. That era is pivotal to what is on offer here, though neither has been exactly inactive in the intervening period. Ducas released two fine albums since his two 1990s released on Capitol Records albums. Anderson has continued to work his magic in the studio. Perhaps the closest he came to the kind of music he played and produced with Dwight Yoakum previously was his work with Moot Davis, another artist who wrote and sang some excellent material when the pair worked together for their Little Dog Records albums. 

Ducas has remained true to his vision both artistically and in his presentation. As does everyone, he looks older than in the pictures on those debut releases but not stylistically different. It will likely be a part of his appeal to fans of 90s country and how it managed to be a sound itself that is now being mined by many new artists as well as those who are getting some recognition again from the era and who continue to perform. While Ducas never made it to the top shelf as a solo artist, he carried on creating and songwriting, which brought him some success in subsequent times.

Here, he co-wrote all the material bar one track, Tears Fallin’ Down, which was composed by William K Hermes; otherwise, Jacob Lyda was involved with six. Pete Anderson is credited on three. Another, the excellent Cryin’ Time was co-written with the California singer/songwriter Jann Browne. This is the result of considering the available material and picking those songs that would fit the overall sound that this album was aiming for. He has said he enjoys creative co-writing, especially writing with someone who is totally collaborative. The results here attest to that. 

Ducas is powerful and more assured vocally here, with his vocal performances seeing him at the top of his game. The assembled band of Anderson and regular contributor Skip Edwards (keyboards) are joined by Gary Morse on steel guitar and fiddler Donnie Reed, bassist Paul Malingagio playing alongside three different drummers for individual sessions. Beth Andersen added the background vocals. All totally bring their A-game and make this something dynamic and diverse.

What is immediately apparent is that this album sounds like fun. It has track after track that hits the spot from the opening Mr. Guitar Man. There is an appeal to the twang maestro, “my only friend in this town”, to deliver the magic. There is a 60’s keyboard sound on Cryin’ Time that blends with the baritone guitar to give it its instinctive sound. Nothin’ Left To Lose makes despondency sound appealing with its upbeat groove. Those lost relationships, the backbone of much classic country music, are explored appropriately in the mid-tempo arrangement of Do What The Lonely Do. It has one of Ducas's strongest vocals on the record. It has a subtlety that underlines that emotion with a succinct melody.

Back to the more upbeat approach for Hello Fool, showing a man looking at himself and how he is perceived when he looks in the mirror and realising that the fool he sees in it is the one to blame for his continued rejections. Another track that is an immediate standout is the title track, which again has all involved giving a performance that elevates the tracks with Anderson’s guitar tone, especially forceful. That cover song, Tears Fallin’ Down, which would, perhaps, have been right on track country chart status released back in the mid-nineties. It uses the accordion to good effect in the background under the melodic guitar bridge. The final three cuts are written with Lyda, who seems to be a perfect foil and creative ally with Ducas, Anderson joins them on Where Oh Where. The other two are Drifter and These Empty Arms. They close the album as a perfect ending to the considered and concise album that has never failed to engage me even after repeated playing, which I sometimes do with other admired albums. 

The overriding hope is that this will start a more extended partnership between Ducas and Anderson. Both deserve to be recognised for the high standard of creativity and sheer vitality they have derived. This album may be being released at a time when the receptiveness to the more traditional mores of country music might find a broader audience. But, hell, even if that doesn’t happen, this is a great album that shouldn’t be too far from any home of those who know the value of this collaboration. 

Stephen Rapid 

Sammy Volkov & Dana Wylie The Day Had To Come Self-Release

Classic country-style duets have largely been out of favour in the mainstream for quite some time. Still, in more recent times, there have been some great examples from such duos as Jenni Muldar and Teddy Thompson or Victoria Liedtke Jason Ringenberg. They primarily consisted of re-recordings of some classic duets from The George & Tammy through to the Gram & Emmylou catalogue. So, it is welcome to find a new pairing that features all original material, even if they sound classic and well-covered. I have to admit I know nothing of these two artists other than both had individual careers and are noteworthy singers who manage a convincing sound for their voices to merge or contrast. Both are Canadian, and this collection was recorded in Alberta. Harry Gregg produced and engineered it, mixing classic country stylings with old-time and folk influences. They utilise a full cast of players who add electric and upright basses, drums, keyboards, guitar, pedal steel, violin, dobro, trumpet and autoharp to add flavour and texture to the recordings. 

Volkov has written seven of the tracks and Wylie three, and these range from the Louvin Brothers’ style harmonies and themes of Here Today to the more concurrent relationship issues of a subsequent departure that is outlined in Secret Subway Conversations. It includes a spoken element that tells of the lasting hurt that has one looking to such a dialogue. Bird Song is graced by great harmonies and interaction, and both voices stand out. The pedal steel is put to great use, too. The inevitability of an ending that was detailed lyrically and is at the centre of Wyllie’s The Day Had To Come title song. On the same thread is Saw The End Before We Started about a chance meeting that wasn’t handled well. Here, they sing the words together, and it is uplifting in spirit, if not in story.

Very acoustic and seemingly ageless is Here Today with dobro and mandolin; it sounds like it could be a hundred years old. More in a gospel mode is Ain’t Found Heaven Yet, written by Wylie; it has a subtle 50s jazz tinge with trumpet to the fore and is essentially a solo vocal. It shows off the variety of the arrangements on offer. Poignant may be the best way to describe Tears On Parade, as it features some vivid storytelling and a moving violin segment. Apologies are apparent in My Heart Up Against You, which uses a slide guitar and soulful organ to help the slow-paced ballad simmer. Though the words are downbeat, the feel of Long Long Gone is more elevating than it might be in the circumstances. The final inclusion is There Are Angels, which returns to a more spiritual ambience with the pedal steel and organ used effectively.

If, like me, you are drawn to these examples of harmonies, interaction, and opposite views, you will no doubt enjoy discovering this album and the exceptional vocal ability of the two artists, who have contributed much to the recent upsurge in those interested in recording. Those who are receptive to the end results of this genre, of which this is a very fine example, will also enjoy it. 

Stephen Rapid

Paul Lush Six Ways From Sunday KKPL

Forgiveness is in the air when it comes to the core theme running through this fine album. Released in the latter part of last year, the music somehow evaded the radar at Lonesome Highway central. All the better to discover the superbly crafted songs into a new year and to pay due homage to the artist now. Paul Lush is a native of New South Wales and has been part of the UK music scene for quite some time at this stage. Having worked in various collaborations and musical projects over the years, Paul is probably best known for his inventive guitar work as a key member of Danny and the Champions Of the World since 2011.

He released a solo album in 2021 under the name of Araluen, a small town in his native Australia, and some of the musicians that appeared on the album also appear on this follow up release. Paul takes lead vocals and plays guitars and mandolin across the twelve tracks featured. He also wrote all of the songs and his vocals are very engaging, his native accent coming through in his delivery, reminding me of his fellow countryman Paul Kelly in the warm tone.

The album charts the breakdown of a relationship and I find myself wondering whether the songs come from personal experience or purely written from the perspective of observing others. Probably a mixture of both in the process of exorcising all those old ghosts and trying to find a new direction in order to move on. The album actually starts out after things have ended on Don’t Tell Me That Now where seeing an old flame conjures up feelings that had been consigned to memory. Emotions still linger despite the resolve to leave the past alone.

Ever At A Loss offers a friendly hand in times of doubt where new beginnings can make it hard to accept the changes made. Both songs offer the dynamic of what resonates in the fallout from many different, but similar, relationships. Things take a turn on You Could Have At Least Said Something where a sense of frustration still remains at a lack of communication, with true feelings remaining hidden. The lyrical guitar playing of Paul Lush is a highlight, as it is throughout the album; his light touch and dexterity revealing new layers of creative nuance in the delivery.

Philip, You Need To Hear This offers sage advice to a friend who still lingers in the hope that a relationship can be saved, with the superb pedal steel atmospherics of Henry Senior charting the loneliness of the situation. Again, on In A Heartbeat the offer to be there as a support is genuine and heartfelt, the sweet mid-tempo melody illuminated by some laid-back guitar lines from Lush. Fates’ cruel hand is blamed for the poor timing on As It Stands while the jangling guitar and harmony vocals conjure a sound that is sunny and upbeat.

Soft Pedalling also bites, in the reality of a new relationship now over, where the guitar rages and anger lingers ‘no matter what I said, The girl never really cared for me.’ Perhaps the most poignant song is the country sound on You Just Know When You Know and the grim acceptance that something has changed and shifted in a relationship ‘walking on eggshells, just trying to second-guess you.’ Who hasn’t been there at some stage with an old flame. Things don’t get any better on Someone That You Used To Know and there is fear of rocking the boat ‘now our comfortable silences are no comfort at all.’ There is an acoustic blues feel to the song with pedal steel adding some nice atmospheric touches.

No One Comes Out Of This Looking Good realises mistakes made and tries to reconcile how things became so fractured. Such complicated webs we can weave in trying to connect with each other. On the song For What It’s Worth the guitar soars in the arrangement as the keyboards and rhythmic beat drive the break-up song to great heights and the lyric resonates ‘I guess when it all comes down to it, I just miss my friend.’  Final song Trail Of Tears recounts the tale of a splintered family, siblings forced into foster care and the lonesome pedal steel illustrating the sadness of a motherless child. It is a lament for the children of Australian Aboriginal communities that were torn apart by mindless Government intervention over a prolonged period of some sixty years.

The other musicians on the album are Alan Gregg (bass), Steve Brooks (drums), Sean Read (keyboards, percussion, backing vocals), Henry Senior (pedal steel) and Danny George Wilson (backing vocals). Production is by Sean Read and the impressive sound is laced with a great dynamic in the delivery. A very rewarding album that is packed with great tunes and plenty of insight into the human condition along the way. A very immersive listening experience and worthy of immediate purchase.

Paul McGee

Tim Easton Find Your Way Black Mesa

In the storied career of Tim Easton this album may well stand as a career highlight. Never shy in relating his personal experiences of life and everything after, Easton has been a light that shines in the distance for many struggling singer-songwriters. Those who strive to make a living from the conveyor belt of would-be artists that struggle in the music business these days are well advised to take courage from his journey.

Starting out in 1997 as an aspiring artist, Easton has walked that lonely road of acceptance and rejection for a number of decades and the necessary thick skin that grows from such experiences is what delivers him today as one of the most insightful writers of his time in this crazy world of short attention spans.  His prodigious output bears testament to the talent that champions an independent ethos in everything that he does and his songs bear testament to the insight gained.

On the song, Everything You’re Afraid Of he asks ‘Send a meaningful prayer of sympathy to all your enemies.’ It’s a message of peace at a time when the turbulence of the world overwhelms us. Throughout the album Easton seeks for redemption and understanding in the songs that can speak to a sense of higher purpose. This sense of going it alone is at the core of all that defines Tim Easton, a troubadour in the true sense of the word. He has sacrificed relationships in his pursuit of the golden fleece and his instincts are finely honed to the price that has been paid. Here For You is a song of commitment to his ex-wife and the bond that is shared in raising a daughter.

There is the rueful lover on Arkansas Twisted Heart who reflects ‘You know you did me wrong babe, And I did the same to you, We never shut the doors on the things that we used to do, I could never make you love me the way that I need you to.’ The feeling of loss is palpable in the delivery. Elsewhere the blues groove on Bangin’ Drum (Inside My Mind) and Dishwasher’s Blues capture the essence of resilience, self-doubt and acceptance that serve to highlight life’s struggle. The latter song sums everything up in the lyric ‘Just because you quote Jesus, And a line or two from Five Easy Pieces, Doesn’t mean you have a right, To tell me how to live my life.’

Another song, Little Brother speaks of the complex relationship that can exist between brothers ‘Little Brother, I never know what to tell you, We’ve both been on the run, In between hell and the burning sun.’ Arkansas Twisted Heart is a song that captures two rebels living life on the run ‘We hit the highway running, crossed a half a dozen state lines, You rode shotgun and I was always driving blind.’ Another song seems to touch on a personal theme and the words on What Will It Take resonate ‘I was young and careless, breaking all my chances, Bound to my impossible desire.’ And yet, by the concluding track we have a sense of acceptance and reconciliation on By the End Of the Night and the words ‘This all started before we were dancing close, It’s just something that happens, To those who don’t want to be alone.’ Beautiful Spanish guitar lifting the melody and the slow groove of the song.

The album was produced by Leeroy Stagger, a close friend and collaborator, while the musicians include Geoff Hicks (drums), Jeremy Holmes (bass), Jeanne Tolmie and Ryland Moranz (harmony vocals), and Tyler Lieb (pedal steel), with Easton providing lead vocals and guitar. The interplay between the musicians is superbly crafted and delivered and there is a timeless quality to the entire project. This album is certainly one that you will not want to let pass you by.

Paul McGee

Steve Dawson Ghosts Pravda

Welcome back, Steve. I’ve been missing some new music from the bard of Chicago as his last album was  the wonderful At The Bottom of a Canyon in the Branches of a Tree  back in 2021. The master of melody and a pithy turn of phrase, Steve doesn’t ever overstate his personal gifts and always delivers music of incisive and insightful clarity.

Walking Cane is a standout song with the sweet vocal phrasing of Steve drifting gently over a lovely melody and the pedal steel of Brian Wilkie sending shivers down your spine ‘Maybe it’s the chances, The random crush of time, Dulling down the edges, The will to fight resigned.’ This mellow perspective of ageing so succinctly captured and delivered with such humanity. Again, on Sooner Than Expected we get further insight into the process of grieving and acceptance ‘I still  get a stab in the centre of my chest, when I remember your laughing face, loss by loss, year by year, try to keep up, try to keep pace.’

Memories of youth surface on Leadville and an image of getting stuck in a nowhere life ‘I got my first job when I was fourteen, washing dishes in a kitchen full of raging men, their endless bragging about pussy and cocaine, made me promise myself I wouldn’t turn out like them.’ Steve sings in an almost hoarse tone as the latent anger simmers just below the surface. The soulful delivery on It Was A Mistake has a slow blues groove with a great organ sound coupled with horns and a slide solo from Steve. As a lament over lost love, this one is a beauty.

Time To Let Some Light In heralds a new manifesto and the album title could easily have been this, instead of Ghosts, even though there are some spectres hidden in the lyrics and the memories. I Am Glad To Be Alive is another statement of positivity as Steve looks forward with optimism with his partner Diane Christiansen harmonising quite beautifully as the song builds and the superb guitar climbs in intensity.

A Mile South Of Town captures the dying moments of an army veteran who crashes into a deer on a lonely highway in the middle of the night. It is right up there in the examples of how to craft the perfect song from an idea that is uniquely captured, the lyrics freezing the moment so perfectly in the writing ‘ In the middle of the road, still as a photograph, the skid marks and the blood, and the broken mama deer, the whiskey still alive from my last breath.’ It doesn’t get much better than this as regards creative and insightful writing.

When I Finally Let You Down looks at a fractured man being held together by the love of a good woman who is running out of patience ‘If I pass out on your stairs, If I shatter your last nerve, will you give me another chance, or will I get all I deserve.’ Again, the emotive vocal of Diane Christiansen lifts the song dynamic higher. The final song Weather in the Desert deals with the issue of suicidal notions and handles it in such a gentle fashion ‘Sometimes I wish I could call you up, we could talk about your dogs, and the weather in the desert.’ The beautiful song arrangement perfectly capturing that sense of loss when someone is no longer there ‘You told yourself you would not be leaving, you were gonna drink those bottles down, until you stopped breathing.’ By the end of the album you do feel as if all these old ghosts that have been given an airing have finally been resolved within a form of perspective that allows for ongoing growth and reflection.

Steve Dawson wrote all the songs and delivers with restrained beauty on guitars and vocals. He is joined by a superbly talented band of musicians with Gerald Dowd (drums, harmony vocals), Brian Wilkie (pedal steel), Alton Smith (Wurlitzer, piano, accordion, harmony vocals), Nora O’Connor, Diane Christiansen and Ingrid Graudins (harmony vocals), Chris Greene (tenor and baritone saxophone), John Moore (trumpet) and Tommi Zender (baritone guitar). The playing is very organic and flows easily across the nuanced production by Steve Dawson and John Abbey.

An essential album and recommended to any discerning music collector.

Paul McGee

Linda Thompson presents... Proxy Music , Good Looks, Cory Cross, George Ducas, Sammy Volkov & Dana Wylie, Paul Lush, Tim Easton, and Steve Dawson - Singer / Songwriter

New Album Reviews

Annie Gallup Small Fortune Flyaway Hair

For many years now, this Ann Arbor native has been creating music of both high quality and impressive depth. She regularly captures the mystery of the dual forces that drive us forward; the search for meaningful connection and also our place in the grand scheme of things. Our basic nature runs through her work with a power that seeks to harnesses all our failings and foibles, reminding us that there will always be the beginnings of a new day tomorrow.

Across some sixteen solo releases since her debut appeared back in 1994, Gallup has sought to find beauty in the fragile, in the uncertainty and the apprehension, and in our search for community and the quest for love in its many guises. She also performs in the duo Hat Check Girl with her husband Peter Gallway in addition to working closely with theatre and poetry groups in her prose and lyrical adaptations.

The opening song The Sky At Night sums up her creative muse perfectly as she reflects ‘We were a match made of matchsticks and sulphur, We burned our own house all the way down to the ground, And then built it again in a thunderstorm with a key and a kite, There’s nothing in this world big as the sky at night.’ Gallup is gifted with this innate ability to capture the essence of relationships in such lyrical imagery while placing everything in the context of the universe as a whole. And you know that you’re in the presence of timeless music and musings.

Elsewhere the atmospheric rhythm on Memory freezes moments in a relationship where choices are made and consequences ensue. The spoken word delivery wrapped in soft, spectral sounds with saxophone and synthesizer provided by Harvey Jones - ‘Memory is fluid. It’s not absolute. What you see as true shifts every time you think back through it.’

Younger days are captured in the autobiographical Harvey Moved To Queens and on the wickedly wry  She Lived With Her Mother ‘As a minor poet, You know how to impress, You script the scene, She slips off her dress, It works on the page, In life it’s a mess, You’re a disappointing lover, And a lousy guest.’

Gallup’s observational skills are finely honed and on Like Audrey Hepburn she muses ‘Everybody at this party has something to prove, Some are howling, or crying wolf and some are cryptically aloof, And somebody turned the music up, no one can hear a thing, but what they’re saying is loud and clear in the push and posturing.’ Superbly delivered and keenly considered.

The predatory male that stalks the city on Killing Time is someone that everybody has had experience of ‘It was killing time and I was easy prey. I thought that love meant “sit! Stay!” But he was wired to hunt, to catch what runs, to chase the one that got away.’

So much to enjoy here and the music was produced, performed, and recorded by Annie Gallup, Harvey Jones and Peter Gallway. All songs are by Annie Gallup and she plays guitars, keyboards and pedal steel, with husband Peter Gallway contributing on bass, percussion and keyboards, while Harvey Jones provides synthesizer, saxophone and other instruments. It is the haunting vocal of Gallup that defines the overall delivery of the songs however, at one moment vulnerable and sad, at another, ironic and cutting. The songs also are available in long-form video that can be found on Gallup’s website and her creative talents stretch to a series of attractive images to accompany these contemporary folk songs of great insight. As always, a very interesting album from a consummate artist.    

Paul McGee

Our Man in The Field Gold On The Horizon In The Field

London based, but Teeside raised, Alexander Ellis (the main man behind the band moniker) took a big chance and travelled to Portland, Oregon to the studio of producer Tucker Martine (The Jayhawks, Roseanne Cash, k.d.lang, Jim White etc) during a break in the pandemic, to record this second album. Martine had shown a lot of interest in the demos, and Ellis decided it was a gamble worth taking. Miraculously, they managed to record the whole album with the personnel all present in the studio, unlike most other projects at the time which by necessity were recorded remotely, with tracks flying over and back through the ether. The result is nothing short of wonderful. 

Joining Ellis in the studio were two long term members of the band, pedal steel player Henry Senior and percussionist Greg Bishop. Senior’s pedal steel playing is all over most of the tracks, adding to the lushness of the production directed by Martine. The opening track, Feel Good, a depiction of addiction, features that steel, along with brass, electric and acoustic guitars, and the layers of backing vocals that are predominant throughout most of the album. Ellis has a distinctive tenor voice, sometimes ascending into a falsetto, and the exuberant choral style vocals chosen by Martine are an unexpected delight. 

Ellis sees himself as an observer of people and a teller of their stories (and it’s important to know that he was an actor in a former life!) and therefore the songs are not autobiographical, or so he claims. They deal with a range of subjects, but almost always encompass a deep look into human emotions. Glad To See You was prompted by the experience of a particular hospital doctor and nurses during the peak trauma of the pandemic. Last Dance unexpectedly opens with uplifting twin fiddles, only to reveal itself as an exploration of the dissolution of a relationship, also the subject of the country-rock styled, How Long. The protagonist rejects the idea of a higher power in L’Etranger, ‘I’ll put my faith in hope/because hope is all I need’ and he’s also holding out for something better in Silver Linings. The latter gifts the album with its title, ‘you can keep all your silver linings … I see gold on the horizon’. Another standout track, and one of the few with a positive outlook is Go Easy, which offers encouragement to a lover or a friend. One of the endearing aspects of the album is that Ellis sings throughout in his own Teeside accent.

Also helping Ellis to find that gold were a bunch of musicians brought in by Martine, among them Jenny Conlee (The Decemberists) on accordion and Hammond, and Luke Ydstie on upright bass, who both contributed to those huge backing vocals, along with the aforementioned musicians. They were further swelled by the arrival from Sweden of the Dimpker brothers, Adam and Martin.

Rumour has it that there are lots of new songs already written and the plan is to return to the same producer for the next album. I, for one, predict that the future is gold for Our Man In The Field.

Review by Eilís Boland

Kayla Ray The World's Weight Real AF

YESTERDAY & ME, released independently by Waco, Texas-born Kayla Ray, was my Lonesome Highway Album of the Year in 2018. An introduction to a stunning vocalist with the skillset to write copybook country songs, that album, which I still regularly return to, had me scratching my head as to why a label had not captured Ray to support and promote her talents. Fast forward six years, and Ray's latest album has the support of Real AF Records, an imprint of Average Joes Entertainment and a label founded by fellow singer-songwriter Bryan Martin.

Ray's living years have been steeped in country music. Touring in her teens with the legendary Texas music family The Gimbles and tour-managing fellow Texan singer-songwriter Jason Eady in her early twenties gave her the insight and tools to kickstart her self-managed career. She never lets the grass grow under her feet, and her workload, alongside touring and recording, also includes regular live streams on social media; check out Room 402 -The Home of Kayla Ray's Family & Friends on Facebook. She is also completing a Master's Degree in mental health at the University of Oklahoma and has created a therapy course in music for Texas inmates.

Recorded at Castle Row Studios in Oklahoma City, the production on THE WORLD’S WEIGHT was helmed by Giovanni Carnuccio III. Undoubtedly, Ray was influenced by his previous work with her peers and friends, Jason Eady, Zach Aaron, and Courtney Patton. Giovanni's expertise spans multiple genres, from country to jazz, psych-rock to trip-hop. However, on this recording, he adheres to the optimal template, placing the spotlight on Kayla's impeccable vocal phrasing, which is complemented by note perfect instrumentation.

I approached the album with some trepidation, wondering if it could match the standard of YESTERDAY & ME. Two plays in, and the answer is a resounding 'thumbs up.'  The songs and vocals are every bit as strong, if not stronger. The icing on the cake is the pin-sharp production that works hand in glove with those vocals and the tales within the songs.

A master of pining love stories and tears in your beer tales, the woozy slow burners Like To Drink Alone, The Least You Could Do and Until My Dying Breath tick those particular boxes. Infusing country with a jazzy backbeat behind her edgy vocal twang, The Place I Fell In Love With You gives a nod to Glen Campbell. The lyrics' gentle on my mind' feature and a short ten-second insertion from the song of the same name is included. Jason Eady shares the writing credit on the ballad The Highest Point In Seven Counties and the title track, which it's easy to imagine Connie Smith topping the charts in the 1960s, is a co-write with Joshua Barnard.

A talent that continues to develop, THE WORLD'S WEIGHT is a triumphant move forward and one that more than lives up to the promise of Kayla Ray's previous work and – if there is any justice – should transport her work and heavenly country voice to a wider audience. This would be my first 10/10 of 2024 if we awarded points in our reviews.

Declan Culliton

Bonny Light Horseman Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free Jagjaguwar

The foundations of the third studio album from Bonny Light Horseman, the unique collaboration of Anais Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson and Josh Kaufman, was initiated in the century-old pub, Levis, in Ballydehob, Co. Cork. The innovative idea of recording in a small rural pub was the brainchild of Mitchell, whose vision was to connect with the pub’s history of community and ancestry and stimulate the trio’s creative writing juices. This unconventional approach certainly paid off, as the album offers the listener no fewer than twenty tracks without anything approaching a filler.

Described as ‘an ode to the blessed mess of our humanity’, the album is a poignant testament to the trio’s collective talents. Despite their busy schedules, the album was written over three months in 2023, with the sketch recordings for over half the songs taken from Levis pub and the final recordings completed at New York’s Dreamland Recording Studios, where their previous two albums were also mastered.

The album opens with a gentle plea in Keep Me on Your Mind and closes with words of hope in Set You Free, presenting a treasure chest of modern folk contributions. The trio shares lead vocals, harmonies, and instrumental contributions, and additional musical support comes from a number of their regular collaborators. JT Bates plays drums, Cameron Ralston plays bass, Mike Lewis plays bass and saxophone, and Annie Nero sings harmonies and adds upright bass.

 With so much on offer, it’s difficult to select the record’s highlights. With its striking guitar break, the crescendo-building When I Was Younger is certainly one, and the call-and-response Old Dutch is another. The gentle rolling ballad Singing to the Mandolin and the old-time trad-sounding Hare and Hound also stand out.

The highest praise I can offer is that the songs instantly connect on first listen, like ones you have encountered before, and are stored in your memory bank. With their laid-back and gloriously loose manner, Bonny Light Horseman has the admirable knack of making the art of writing and recording seem effortless. This collection once again provides an insight into their individual and collective talents.

Declan Culliton  

Noelle & The Deserters High Desert Dream Speakeasy Studios SF

Raised in Taos, New Mexico, in previous lives, Noelle Fiore was a founding member of the bands Sweet Chariot and Magic Trick. Alongside fronting Noelle & The Deserters, she is also a member of the Shannon Shaw Band. HIGH DESERT DREAMS is the debut full-length album from her latest venture and is a combination of traditional honky tonk and border-influenced country. The Deserters are Graham Norwood (guitar), Alicia Vanden Heuvel (bass), David Cuetter (pedal steel) and Jerry Fiore (drums). Others who contributed to the album’s rich and bustling sound were Anna Hillburg (trumpet), Joel Robinbow (piano, organ), Jacob Aranda (mandolin, violin), Paige Anderson (banjo) and Russell Tillitt (organ).

The ten tracks seamlessly transport the listener from California across the border to Mexico. The opener, Born in the Morning, brings to mind early Emmylou Harris and her Hot Band, complete with excellent guitar and pedal steel breaks. Love lost and won features strongly, as you’d expect from a country album. The haunting Now I’ve Got You leaves you in no doubt as to who is calling the shots, and the witty Our Loves Got A Cold has shades of Loretta Lynn at her most plainspoken. The modern country rocker Canyon is a delight and eyebrow-raising territory boasting an irresistible riff and a tragic storyline. The mandolin-led Taos, complete with expressive trumpet, is a fond recollection of real life in the New Mexico mountain town. Some Men celebrates the sound of textbook California country rock.

With an increasing number of albums being released, hopefully, this is one that won’t be overlooked. Noelle’s edgy country vocals, together with knockout playing from a host of seasoned contributors and strong material, all add up to a sterling modern country album.

The Press Release for HIGH DESERT DREAM reads ‘Noelle & The Deserters bring South-Western honky tonk from the high deserts of New Mexico to the golden hills of California.’ That just about sums up this gem to perfection.

Declan Culliton

Shane Smith & The Saints Norther Amplified Media Services

Austin, Texas, five-piece red dirt country band Shane Smith & The Saints fourth studio album comes at a time when their profile has never been higher. Headlining at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, support act to Willie Nelson, and bookings at The Ryman are pointers toward a band getting its deserved dues thirteen years after its formation. An appearance in the Western TV drama Yellowstone, following several of their songs featured in that series, brought their dynamic sound to a vast audience, and they are finally reading the rewards.

The band, led by songwriter Shane Smith, is a powerhouse of talent with Dustin Schaefer on guitar, Bennett Brown on fiddle, Chase Satterwhite on bass, and Zach Stover on drums. Their latest offering, NORTHER, is a thirteen-track album that spans fifty-two minutes. It's a high-energy, exhilarating collection of songs packed with infectious melodies and hooks. If you're new to the band, this album is the perfect introduction to their unique sound.

The fiddle-lead and first single from the album, The Grey Between, draws the listener in on first listen, and the album's opener, Book of Joe, also incorporates excellent fiddle playing alongside a dramatic backdrop of guitars and backing vocals. Indeed, other fiddle-driven songs ($1000 Dollar Horses, Fire In The Sky, Field Of Heather) emphasise the Celtic influences of the band. The powerful Hummingbird is all the better for a killer guitar solo. They do occasionally take a breather. The gospel-styled ballad All the Way features vocals, piano and little else, and Everything And More is a mid-paced love tune. 

Renowned for their charged and rip-roaring live shows - up to two hundred and forty each year - the band has replicated that energy in the studio with NORTHER. Credit to Shane Smith and Beau Bedford (War and Treaty, Sunny Sweeney, Paul Cathan, Logan Ledger) for their precision production in that regard. 

It's been five years since their last album, HAIL MARY, but it's been worth the wait. This one will undoubtedly be their best seller and continue their hard-earned upward spiral. It's also a breathtaking, memorable record, and you're strongly advised to get your hands on it. These guys have finally arrived big time, so why not join the party? 

Declan Culliton 

Jesse Daniel Countin’ The Miles Lightning Rod 

This may be the time when the hard work pays off. As with Jesse Daniel’s previous albums, this is a solid tribute to traditional country but delivered as a living, breathing subject matter. What sets this apart from his last recordings is that this time out he has produced and arranged the album himself after working with the likes of Tommy Detamore in the past. He has listened and learned and feels comfortable now calling the shots. The resulting album shows not only that but an artist maturing on all fronts, especially as a song-writer and singer. The album was recorded in Arlyn Studios in Austin, Texas. There, he was able to call on the services of a number of talented musicians, such as members of George Strait’s Road band, which included the late Gene Elders on fiddle, on one track, pianist Ronnie Huckaby, as well as bassist Kevin Smith. Other players included drummer Kris Schoen, lead guitarist John Carroll, steel player Caleb Melo, fiddler Jason Roberts and the harmonica came from Ted Roddy, all players who understand country music’s fundamental attributes.

There are also some vibrant additional vocal contributions with his partner, bandmate and manager Jodi Lyford, which perfectly balances the two tracks she prominently features on. Fellow artist Jon Randall lends his voice to three tracks, and on Tomorrow’s Good Old Days, he is joined by Ben Haggard on a track that would have been very suitable for Ben’s father, Merle, too. But it is Daniel who is front and centre and delivering the most assured performance, vocals, of his career to date.

From the opening bars of the first track Comin’ Apart At The Seams, the insistent beat with the steel and twanging guitar set you up for the journey that is to come. Listening to this particular track, I thought he sounded not unlike Chuck Mead in his BR549 days. He sets out his credentials on the next track, That’s My Kind Of Country, a sound deep down in his soul and about knowing the difference between right and wrong. Again, the upbeat tempo is just right for the many hardwood floors prominent in Austin and Texas. The title track continues down the highway and benefits from a strong, memorable melody. He imbues this material with energy and commitment that relates to his punk days and the Bakersfield sound, which is very much to the fore.

His ability to talk of the location of hard times is the subject of Ol Montana, which has a reflective tone mixing Telecaster and dobro on a tale of a man who, on seeing his partner being unfaithful and then, after fortifying his anger, takes his father’s pistol to exact his retribution. It doesn’t end well for anyone. Sitting and hoping for comfort from the heartbreak songs playing on a jukebox also throws up some other not so welcome thoughts. That song, Restless, is about recognising how difficult it is to change to the point of wondering if anyone will miss him when he’s gone. Lonesome Blues is a lament for days and nights spent neglecting possibilities in pursuit of something else that inevitably brings on the similar likely possibility that he may end up alone. These themes, redolent in the world of hard country, are naturally apparent throughout the album.

That sense of finding a place of solace appears in the ballad When Your Tomorrows In Your Past, which is a sad reflection of what one has missed. Lyford’s striking vocals are a perfect foil for reflecting different viewpoints. A subject that features again in Tomorrow’s Good Ol’ Days, which is a song that considers the time may be close to being too late to make the necessary change. The long road ahead is the life of the Golden State Rambler, one that he hopes will include a loved one who may not see the life on offer as one that has anything other than looking out for number one as its path. Lyford offers her thoughts on a couple who wonders if the other is Steppin’ Out on their relationship. I can see a full duet album on the strength of the two shared tracks in the future. The album ends with another high-octane travel scenario of a man who is going to be living for tonight rather than considering the effect that it might have on his tomorrow. He wants simply to have his request Cut Me Loose heeded. As with all the tracks here, the playing, production and purposefulness are paramount to why the album sound so good. A prime example of what the path of hard county should be.

It seems that this year, so far, is offering some very fine examples of contemporary honk-tonk, with this album is right there up at the top end and very much in contention for the top spot, and we are only six months into the year. It’s going to be exciting, and it's going to be a lot of fun.

Stephen Rapid

David Serby Low Hanging Stars Blackbird

A long contributor to the Californian country music community, Serby has explored different aspects of Los Angeles’ take on roots music over five previous albums bearing his name. Serby possesses a distinctive vocal tone that makes him more identifiable than some of his contemporaries. There is a direct alliance with the music that Dwight Yoakum has produced through the years. There are apparent elements of power pop and other LA styling - such as the 60s keyboard sound on Lonely Motel Days. Elsewhere, the chiming twelve-string guitar also recalls that era. All is well and good in my book. I remember noticing the influence of British beat groups in some of the bands that emerged in 80s, when the neo-psychedelic sounds of the paisley underground mixed with country influences. However, there is less of that particular soundscape in Serby’s current release which is more in tune with his earlier. There has been a break from his last album to these where, as he has noted himself, life in various not exactly life-affirming ways tended to derail his artistic journey. This meant something of a rethink.

In the end, he moved back to the sound of his earlier music while incorporating some of the subjects that were present in his own life. Though some of the material comes from a pre-Covid time, some come from a more recent time. The opening track, Fishtail Cadillac, was written after he took part in the benefit for the much-missed passing of the Palomino Club, which had been central to the LA roots/country scene for a long time. That track was recorded with Yoakum’s one-time bassist Taras Prodaniuk and drummer Scott Babcock. It was inspired by the memories of the venue and the ghosts of the past it conjured. He has a strong sense of location in his work as well as for the people who may struggle to survive in those places. So this album is about his town, the place where he was raised. So, those memories have been used to inspire some of those songs. Trying To Get To Encinitas deals with a time when his life was on a strong and happy footing, but family illness, relationship breakups, and general hardship had a major effect on Serby, and things went askew. It is not directly his own story but had been inspired by that place and an earlier time. It has something of a border feel with accordion and that engaging twelve-string electric guitar sound. It is a song that is central to the album’s disposition and denotation. Despite some anguish and heartbreak in the themes, the music contrasts that with a lively and upbeat attitude, which makes it an engaging listen.

The album was produced by long-time producer Ed Tree, who also provides the electric guitars, along with a close-knit combo of Dale Daniel on drums, bassist Gregory Boaz, Carl Byron on keyboards and accordion, as well as Darice Baily on harmony vocals and piano. A seasoned set of players who do justice to Serby’s songs. Many of these references, in what would be fairly routine fare in honky-tonk music, the difficulties of sustaining relationships and the subsequent loneliness that may ensue. The title track again has a sound that is a part of Serby’s repertoire. It discusses surviving those fleeting moments of fame while trying to survive as a working musician. Another Chance To Dream has the wish to be able to dream of something better and features some fine, understated guitar playing. More forceful is the driving riff that motors She Ain’t Changed At All along, about meeting seven years after a parting and that while the lady in question hasn’t changed at all in terms of her physical presence, she also hasn’t changed in the ways that saw them break up in the first place.

That sense of missing a favourite haunt from the past is no longer what it was is dealt with in The Jukebox Is Broken. It again has the accordion, giving it that additional ambience of LA and beyond. Another metaphor is at play in I Bought The Ring, where the symbol of a ring on a finger equates to that of the sparing in a boxing ring. It highlights that Serby knows his way around a lyric and accompanying melody. We return to the plight of the indie musician, which is again outlined in Why Leave Los Angeles? The gigs may be getting scarcer, but it is still the place that he wants to live in despite all the difficulties. The closing track, Is It Lonely In Here, perhaps sums up an overall realisation that he may be a bigger part of his problems than he was willing to accept: “Is it me … or is it lonely in here?

This album finds David Serby reaching for the stars again and, in doing so, creating another rewarding chapter in his personal musical story. It is one that is worth spending time with not only to enjoy this recording but also to applaud the underlying spirit in the creative urge to continue against whatever odds may be out there. Sharing those experiences is good for all concerned.

Stephen Rapid

Jenny Don’t & The Spurs Broken Hearted Blue Fluff & Gravy

This is a garage/western/cowpunk workout from the get-go from Portland, Oregon-based Jenny Connors. She grew up in Washington and formed a punk band called Don’t from where the stage name came from. She formed the first version of the band with Kelly Halliburton, who remained her partner and bassist in the band. Their aesthetic allowed them to play at country venues as well as rockabilly and punk clubs. With the genre’s DIY ethic, they released singles on their own label. The current band evolved with Christopher March on lead guitar and lap steel and drummer Buddy Weeks. Also, on this new album, they are joined for a couple of tracks by pedal steel player Rusty Blake. They also fit the western tag with rhinestones and embroidered flowers adorning their stage outfits. This speaks of an attitude that takes in a certain history while also looking to the future. They have previously issued a number of albums under the name, and a number of different guests have appeared with the band. The last three were years ago (all previous albums are listed on their Bandcamp site).

This twelve-track album continues their musical path and does so with their usual energy and ability. It was recorded in a studio in their hometown by Collin Hegna in what sounds like a fairly off-the-floor situation to capture something of the live sound. The rhythm section holds everything together solidly, allowing Don’t and guitarist March free-rein to grab your attention. And they do it in a way that anyone unacquainted with their work to date may refer back to Rosie Flores’ early albums. 

We open with Flying High and a barrage of power chords that are not unlike a New York Dolls song until, of course, Don’t controls the vocals with her feminine delivery. More twangy is Pain In My Heart, wherein the protagonist recognises her ability to treat someone else badly. The other side of the coin is owning up to a different set of rules with her Jealous Heart. Other tracks that explore this examination of the diversity of human feelings, especially from the woman’s perspective, are the more understated Unlucky Love. The title track proclaims she doesn’t want to fall in love, but we get the feeling that it is the required end result at the start. It has a stylistic lead vocal that emotes as the song slides along on the lap steel and guitar runs. The admission of a certain longing is professed in You’re What I Need, with the steel guitar adding extra measure to the arrangement. Once that is found, she needs On More Night to have a little fun with her newly acquired love interest. 

The interaction of the band’s playing ability is displayed on the instrumental Sidewinder, and it shows that they can create in that format as much as they can in any other. My Baby’s Gone hits a more 50’s inspired feel with its welcome Bo Diddley beat, which never fails to get the feet tapping. The album finishes with a baritone guitar riff that suggests a noir-western soundtrack may well await.

Don’t wrote all the material on the album, either with bandmates Halliburton, March, or solo. With that and her raucous vocal and guitar skills, she is the apparent leader of the band, but they are right behind her. It makes for one of those combos where the obvious talent and collective vision create something vibrant and vivacious. Jenny Don’t & The Spurs shake, rattle, and roll on down the road, leaving their mark as they go. 

Stephen Rapid

Annie Gallup, Our Man In The Field, Kayla Ray, Bonny Light Horseman, Noelle & the Deserters, Shane Smith and the Saints , Jesse Daniel, David Serby, Jenny Don't And The Spurs

New Album Reviews

Freddy Trujillo Never Threw A Shadow Self-Release

I NEVER THREW A SHADOW is the fourth solo album from Freddy Trujillo, the bass guitarist with The Delines and Richmond Fontaine. The Simi Valley, California-born artist currently lives in Portland, Oregon. Not surprisingly, all the members of The Delines feature on the record, which was produced by The Delines' Cory Gray and recorded at his Old Unconscious Studios. 

Written and recorded during the pandemic, the album's backstory is the real-life experiences encountered by Trujillo as a Chicano growing up in Southern California. With time on his hands during lockdown, Trujillo cast his mind back to his early years, and, stimulated by The Black Lives Matter movement, wrote a collection of songs based on his account of living in the United States. He puts down a marker with the song I Didn't Cross The Border, The Border Crossed Me, a fitting reminder that Mexican culture existed in the Southwest long before it was regarded as American.

The story of the title track is taken from a real-life situation of racism when Trujillo, the victim of an attempted robbery, was subsequently treated by the police as a criminal because of the colour of his skin. Semi-spoken, it's backed by a funky backbeat and horns, giving it a worldly border vibe. The opening track, Corpus Christi, is a driving rocker written initially by Willy Vlautin for The Delines but has yet to be recorded by them. Trujillo's version is pacy with a driving rhythm and livelier than the original composition. 

World There Haunting Me puzzles the so-called 'land of opportunity', recalling how that 'opportunity' was not always an option for Chicano people when basic family demands called. Despite the many obstacles faced, the strength of community is spoken of in Mexican Hearts. Julio Jones is a glorious spaghetti western-style instrumental with twangy layered guitars to the fore. Shades of Carlos Santana enrich Remember Me, and a final reflection on the good and not-so-good of Trujillo's life in America is detailed on the album's final track, Many Years of Minding. His emotions are summed up in a few words: 'I feel indigenous. A Mexican American, do I have to explain.' 

Musically, as expected, the album embraces Trujillo's many influences, including Chicano-rock, soul, border-flavoured country and R'n'B. However, the fundamental dynamic is the stories within the songs, which explore racial rejection and ignorance encountered during the author's lifetime. Unfortunately, little has changed since then, and the situation has become even more pronounced in recent years.  Attentive listening is the key for maximum return on this meditation of the life challenges facing many people worldwide today. Trujillo reflects on those struggles elegantly in this hugely satisfying listen.

Declan Culliton

Prinz Grizzley Dear Leftovers Self-Release

Emerging from the picturesque landscapes of a small mountain village in western Austria, Chris Comper, known by his stage name Prinz Grizzley, first caught our attention with his band, The Beargaroos, at the Kilkenny Roots Festival in 2017. A relatively unknown artist at the time, he quickly made a name for himself there, performing six shows and solidifying his position in the Americana genre. Since then, he has graced stages at prestigious events like AmericanaFest in Nashville, SXSW in Austin, and Static Roots in Oberhausen, where he is set to perform again in July this year. His latest offering, DEAR LEFTOVERS, is a self-produced gem, marking his seventh studio album, the first four having been recorded with his indie rock band, Golden Reef. 

Anyone with culinary skills and even the most celebrated cooks marvel at the challenge of creating dishes from leftover food. Celebrity chefs have dedicated books to its challenge and the ultimate rewards.  Musically, Comper has taken on a similar mission with this latest project, using songs initially written for his 2020 album TO MY GREEN GARDEN HOME and remodelling and reworking them for this eleven-track record. Credited with writing up to fifty songs a year, it's little surprise that Comper had a war chest of previously written songs to draw from. However, to even his surprise, many of the songs that didn't suit his last album had a common thread of broken and falling apart relationships. Using that concept for the album has resulted in a consistent flow of songs that shift comfortably between country-influenced shuffles and unhurried ballads.

Trucker Love is a raucous helping of cowpunk, and Comper's reverence for Credence Clearwater Revival rings true on the jaunty toe tappers Got Nothing To Prove and Wicked Heart. The album's country shuffles in the lower gears are exceptionally high points, where Comper's booming vocals and Johannes Bischof's pedal steel playing earn the laurels. The looming heartbreak expressed in Where Did We Go Wrong, Watch The Embers, Don't Blame Me For Loving You and Much Too Sober hit the bullseye in that respect, all depicting classic tears in your beer scenarios. 

DEAR LEFTOVERS may get planted in the Americana pigeonhole, but make no mistake, it is Comper's most complete 'country' album to date. That may be by design or simply down to the subject matter of broken or about-to-be-broken hearts. Either way, it is packed with lonesome and lamenting lyrics, slick lines and chords, and it is a body of work with 'career finest' stamped all over it.  

Declan Culliton

Slim Cessna’s Auto Club Kinney Of Lupercalia/Buell Legion SCACUNINCORPORATED

This release from SCAC is the second in the trilogy about the Kinney Of Lupercalia, a world created by founding member, author and lyricist Munly J Munly. The first instalment was under the name of Munly & The Lupercalians and was sub-titled UNDELIVERED LEGION. It takes a different sonic route though, as with all the releases from the collective, there are members involved to different degrees in all the music. I readily admit that my main knowledge of the band’s music relates to the Slim Cessna’s Auto Club side of their releases, having been enthralled by their several albums and having had the opportunity to see them play live here in Dublin. They are unique in many respects, performing material that is more than the sum of its parts and relying on the singular vision of Munly, but delivered with a passion from all of the musicians. Since their inception Slim Cessna, Munly Munly and Lord Dwight Pentecost have been the pillars around their musical contextuality. They are, here, joined by other long-term members Rebecca Vera on keyboards, steel guitar and vocals, Andrew Warner on drums and percussion and the most recent addition, George Cessna on baritone bass. 

There are undoubtedly a considered and expressive unit whose music expands beyond the label of ‘Gothic-country’ that has been assigned to them. They are a tight, focussed unit that revels in the human voice and experimental use of some traditional instrumentation. It’s not often that the use of twin banjos is taken to these levels of dynamic diversity. They are fronted by the twin vocals of Cessna and Munly, who often appear to have a strong spiritual and instinctive connection that, visually and musically ,is intuitive and engaging. There are eight tracks that tell this particular part of the ongoing story of the Lupercalian mythology. 

These are Boucher, Cesare, Easter, Harris, Ichnabod, Lessing, Munly Munly, Tosspa And Tosspa’s Twin. And while it is easy enough to hear the tale as it unfolds, the overall arch of the story is, for me at least, a little more difficult to fully comprehend. Munly has published a number of books of lyrics, illustrations and stories that are available via the band’s website, including Döder Made Me Do It and Ten Songs With No Music which may help with that. The website also summarises the new album with this overview that in the new chapter of the trilogy, Munly showcases the story of Buells, one of the legions, direct descendants of the Northrops-Petr & The Wulf. An existential journey in the mythical world takes the listener to meet the creatures full of dread and heredity, accomplishing their wants against their instincts. “They should be as they sprouted from the Northrops, the miserable Three Hunters. SCAC represents the Buells, a bit more gregarious and unreserved than other Legions of Lupercalia.”

However, whether you totally follow the lyrics unfolding or not, this is not a barrier to immersing yourself in the overall experience in what is an album that perfectly reflects the band as it is now, and a pretty good indication of how their music has grown and developed into something that is immediately identifiable and unique. It has a layered intensity that is both melodic and yet full of interesting sonics that perfectly sit with the multi-textured vocal delivery that has found its epitome here.

The spiritual and sensual overtones of Slim Cessna’s Auto Club may not be something that will, both on record and as a live experience, appeal to everyone but it is undeniably an ‘experience’ - one that is largely unforgettable. This is a band, to exercise a pun, firing on all cylinders. They are, in many ways, largely listed under the wide umbrella of Americana, yet equally apart from it. They join a handful of other acts exploring something that is not easily categorisable, whose music and lyrical sensibilities fall outside the parameters of the mainstream but one that draws from much earlier folk-tales, myths  and manifestations of often forgotten times. And as one of their earlier albums notes “always say please and thank you” - which I’m more than happy to do.

Stephen Rapid 

Swamp Dogg Blackgrass: From West Virginia to 125th St. Oh Boy

This release comes from the R’n’B and country-soul artist Jerry Williams Jr. who is a prolific writer and recording artist - he has some 25 plus albums to his credit that have incorporated many different musical genres. This latest release was produced by Ryan Olson at the Sound Emporium in Nashville and features some top notch players on this aptly titled album. With the exception of a handful of covers the songs are written or co-written by Williams. They include the Felice and Boudleaux Bryant song Have A Good Time, Count The Days by Yvonne Williams and Brooks O’Dell and Floyd Tillman’s Gotta Have My Baby Back.

While recognising Williams’ central placement in these recording as a soulful, passionate vocalist and interpreter they is no way to not mention the list of talent employed to give these songs their special identity. The musicians include: Jerry Douglas, Kenny Vaughan, Chris Scruggs, Sierra Hull, Noam Pikelny and Billy Contreras amongst others. Vocalists include very soulful turns from Margo Price on The Other Woman and Jenny Lewis on Count The Days. There are also backing vocal contributions from, amongst others, Harry Stinson and The Cactus Brothers. All of this talent is used to its best advantage on these twelve slices of Swamp Dogg at his finest. To a degree it reminds me, equally positively, of the Nashville production by Buddy Miller of soul-legend Solomon Burke.

Both are albums that broaden the music’s appeal without the main thrust of the music being diluted in any way. It is not, I admit, a formula I get to hear that often but, when presented in such an appealing way, it broadens the reach of country/soul to a wider audience by blending a number of musical streams into a bigger river. There are any number of moments, aside from those mentioned, that are noteworthy, such as the banjo and lead guitar interplay between Noam Pikelny and Vernon Reid in Rise Up. By way of contrast, the more acoustic closing track Murder Ballad is a reflection of death, spoken at times to emphasise its sense of purpose. Gotta Have My Baby Back has a laid back almost crooner 50s feel with strings, mandolin and hushed backing vocals. These go to show the wide variety of arrangements that occur throughout the album.

The expression that things are greener on the other side is translated here to things being equally good when the grass is black, as Williams has noted that a lot of people don’t really talk about the true origins of bluegrass music, and that its origins came from black people and their musical journeys. The banjo, the washtub - all started with African Americans. He acclaims that “we were playing it before it even had a name.” This album, along with the recent work of other African-American artists, is reclaiming that heritage, and rightly so. It is one that deserves a wide and respectful audience for what it has to offer.

Stephen Rapid

Jesse Dayton The Hard Way Blues Hardcharger

Back in a solo capacity after the release of DEATH WISH BLUES with Samatha Fish last year, this new album continues Dayton’s exploration of his various roots music interests that stem from his Texas upbringing. His debut album was released in 1995 and he has lost none of his passion for creating music. This latest album was co-produced by Shooter Jennings and Dayton. It takes a somewhat harder, bluesier approach overall, reflecting his love of bluesmen like Mance Lipscomb and Lightin’ Hopkins, as well as the electric side of Bob Dylan’s output during the Seventies, with Talkin’ Company Man Blues showing that influence perhaps more predominantly, without ever aping that era. The heavy guitar riffs are there but he still finds time to take the foot off the pedal on a number of songs like the aforementioned. Here he sings over a solid rhythmic groove with keyboard to the fore. Vocally he is perfectly able to deliver the howls and passion that one might not expect after a career spanning more than thirty years.

The band here includes Jennings on keyboards and long time accomplice Ted Russell Kamp on bass. Also Courtney Santana on backing vocals and Matt Hubbard on additional keyboards, percussion and accordion. The drum chair was filled by Jamie Douglass and Patrick Herzfeld. They rock out through many of the songs in a way that many who have seen Dayton and his band live will relate to, more than some of his earlier more country-orientated recording work. Angel In My Pocket is another song that sits back, though without losing its edge, to let the more contemplative nature of the songs surface. The storytelling continues with Huntsville Prison Rodeo, Dayton’s vocal here is one of the best of the album in its detailing the life of those drawn to rodeo events that allow prisoners to compete in the arena. Like Esther Pearl, it takes the life of a woman who helped slaves to freedom in the 1800s and gives you an insight into that character. Equally the Ballad Of Boyd Elder has that Texas songwriter connection to the likes of the late Billy Joe Shaver and others as it details the existence of someone living outside the margins.

Dayton had decided that he wanted to move away from the expectations of another outlaw country album, especially working with Jennings. He is as much a great guitar player as he is a vocalist and singer/songwriter. On this album he combines all those attributes, but with a slight emphasis on his guitar playing skills, without losing his identity or focus. Given the tour and album he completed with Fish, it’s natural that there is as much a blues and early rock ’n’ roll attitude happening here as with anything. Some of the dates played were in venues that were more open than bar-room settings and that has been reflected in the way that this album might be performed in the future. It was recorded live with the band in the studio, to retain the energy and interaction that create a necessary fusion. 

There is no doubt that Jesse Dayton is now more recognised for his all round talent than he has been in the past and, with this album under his belt, he should gain a wider audience which will give him options other than always having to do it the hard way. At this point he is undoubtedly entitled to that, but you know that he will continue to do what he was meant to, by making great music either way.

Stephen Rapid

Ordinary Elephant Self-Titled Self Release

Five years since their last official album release, and one pandemic later, plus a decision to settle down into what, for Crystal and Phil Damone, could be considered something approaching normalcy; Ordinary Elephant are back, and what a winning return!

This self-titled album is a work of real quality and great substance. No matter that it clocks in at almost double the time of most albums these days, or that there is nothing more on display than harmony singling and a small number of musical instruments; the fifty-five minutes and fourteen tracks deliver such treasure that the listener remains captivated throughout. There is real authenticity here, songs from the heart and from the mind; autobiographical and nakedly personal at times, the superbly crafted lyrics hit the mark often and will find a resonance in the common experiences of many.

In a career that commenced back in 2013 and the release of a debut album, DUSTY WORDS AND CARDBOARD BOXES, their strong touring ethic in building an audience started everything rolling forward. This duo have been living on the road for a decade, crossing the length and breadth of America in a quest to bring their music into new territories and to also explore the freedom of a life that proved constantly challenging and changing with each new day.

Crystal Hariu-Damore (vocals, guitar), and Peter Damore (harmony vocals, banjo, guitar, mandolin) bring beautifully observed vignettes on life to their gentle songs, both haunting and comforting in equal turn. The songs are simple in their delivery and yet contain great richness that echoes long after in the memory. Crystal sings in a very emotive way, her vocal laced with character that draws from her depth of expression, a sense of yearning mixed with the sadness of the world and the journey. She writes all the songs and the great harmony parts with husband Peter really shine brightly here.

Peter threads the melodies with inventive playing that dove-tails perfectly into the vocal colours that lift these songs up. The lack of percussion or rhythmic beat does not detract in any way from what the songs deliver in terms of their quiet expression and power. If anything, the simple instrumentation highlights the great songwriting and the understated intensity in their delivery. The duo chose Dirk Powell to produce the album and he is considered to be an expert on traditional Appalachian fiddle and banjo styles. His studio is the Cypress House in Breaux Bridge, which is near Lafayette, Louisiana. It is a converted 1850s Louisiana Creole home on Bayou Teche and focuses on vintage gear and audio.

So, the perfect setting for a folk duo that celebrate a simple approach with an honesty that informs their creativity. Powell does not play on the album as he was so impressed with the sound on initial song run-throughs that he realised Ordinary Elephant needed nothing more than their own voices and instrumentation. A number of the songs were written through the Pandemic and the aftermath of the changes that became manifest in all our daily lives. Once Upon A Time opens the album and wonders about the sense of vulnerability and confusion felt by so many. Joy Has Not Forgotten Me looks to simple pleasures in living and Hardwood is in similar territory in expressing the value of being in the moment.

Other songs question the state of our world and Here It Is looks at a society where ‘There’s no rug to sweep it under or twist of words to make right, The truth is staring us down like a mirror in the morning light, It can’t be unseen, it can’t be undone, Can’t call it a lesson learned if it doesn’t teach anyone.’ Inner doubts and fears surface on songs such as Midlife which carries feelings of fragility and a sense of mortality with the passing days. Another song Say It Out Loud looks at the price of stress and inner turmoil where the demons of self-doubt come to play. Maybe It’s the Holidays  remains on this reflective theme and has a hard look at self criticism and trying to do better ‘Cause I love the potential of a well-intentioned plan, Don’t you?’

The love song Walk With You is really poignant, as is the celebration of all we represent on the song Pigeons ‘We’re in the service of a circle, That ain’t broken yet, Everything that is, has always been, And will someday be again.’ Wise words indeed.. And the circle of life is visited on Birdie Was An Oak Tree a celebration of the changing seasons and the life-lessons that mother nature holds ‘Like unravelled strings of DNA, That rearranged and found their way, Into a new set of genes, in every one of my cells, And every word that I say.’

The final song I See You speaks of the freedom to be found in truly embracing our partners and surrendering yourself to the shared bond of love. Standing outside yourself and focusing upon others brings its own release and the music of Ordinary Elephant will bring you many such rewards once you have embraced their beautiful songs. A real contender for album of the year.

Paul McGee

Dana Cooper The Ghost Of Tucumcari Self Release

This singer-songwriter grew up in Missouri and has been releasing albums since his debut appeared back in 1972. This new release represents album number thirty-two and for an artist that has gone largely under the radar it is quite some record. Cooper straddles both americana and folk fences with real ease and never let’s a good song get bogged down by genre limitations. He has worked with numerous other more notable artists over his career, including Lyle Lovett, Hal Ketchum, Kim Richey and Kim Carnes.

On this album he co-produces with Dave Coleman who also contributes on various instruments and the sound is very bright and engaging across the eleven tracks. With the exception of a cover version of the Woody Guthrie classic This Land Is Your Land, Cooper writes all the lyrics, with co-write credits on six of the songs. He invites a number of guest vocalists to join him on the recording and they all add greatly in the harmonising and melody. Included are Hays Carll, Lyle Lovett, Shake Russell, Darden Smith, Libby Kotch among others.

Tucumcari is the largest city on the highway between Amarillo, Texas and Albuquerque, New Mexico, formerly Route 66, and made famous in songs like Willin' by Lowell George and Little Feat. The album title may well echo all the ghosts of travellers that have passed through over the years but the credits also refer to a homeless cat who inspired the lyrics. Elsewhere the message of universal peace and love rings loud in a post-Covid world on songs like Start the World Again, and Children Of A Common Mother. The enduring theme of love is also present and songs such as Beauty and Ruin, Needless To Say and What Is Love Waiting For look at various aspects of this great mystery and the need to seek it out in all its’ varying guises.

The theme continues on the excellent Song For Myself and a look at commitment in trying to reach out to another. The harmony vocal from Gillian Tuite, Irish songbird and songwriter, is particularly appealing and brings great warmth to the arrangement. Growing up with the influence of Country music and rock n’ roll is the topic on Rocked In a Country Cradle while the rock-groove of Goin’ Down To Judah references religion and our belief systems.

The album came together across four different studios and the quality of musicianship is top-drawer throughout with Cooper (vocal, banjo, harmonica, acoustic and electric guitar) joining Coleman (acoustic and electric guitar, keyboards, lap steel and percussion) in driving the project forward. Other players are Chris Benelli and Rick Lonow (drums, percussion), David Francis and Paul Slivka (upright and electric bass), John Macy (pedal steel) and Josh Leo (electric guitar).

There is no doubting the power contained in a strong song and for many years now Dana Cooper has been proving this maxim. His vocal tone is sweetly delivered and blends seamlessly with the guest vocalists that are invited to partake in this very enjoyable album. Definitely worth your further investigation.

Paul McGee

Ruth Moody Wanderer Blue Muse

Questions will always visit an inquiring mind and the search for inner meaning comes from personal reflection and growth. And so it falls for this artist who has been contemplating upon life changes over recent years. Ruth stepped away from the music business in order to focus on her family back in 2016. It is a life changing decision to bring new life into this world and she now finds herself with a son and the tug of motherhood balancing against her return to the recording studio. This new album is her first since 2013 and it was recorded at the Sound Emporium in Nashville, with Ruth co-producing alongside Dan Knobler, and Tucker Martine also mixing the ten songs included. It is great to have her return in such fine form and these songs are superbly crafted and beautifully delivered by all involved.

The list of studio musicians is impressive with a total of eighteen players contributing their talents across various tracks in support of Ruth’s return to her career. The core players are Sam Howard (upright bass), Jason Burger (drums, percussion), Kai Welch (piano, organ, accordion, synths, Wurlitzer), Will Honaker (piano, organ, mellotron, synths, Wurlitzer) Anthony da Costa (guitars, vocals) and Ruth Moody (vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo, mellotron). There are strings on some songs, plus mandolin and pedal steel to enhance others. The music is lush in the melodies that sweep along  on a tide of keyboard sounds while some arrangements are stripped back and simple in their essence.

Songs of love and the joy of falling in love celebrate relationships, and the unique qualities we all bring to our search for communication and true meaning with one another. Twilight speaks of enjoying the thrill of new love as does the superb duet with Joey Landreth on The Spell Of the Lilac Bloom. Equally, The Way Lovers Move and the title track speak of finding that true connection where everything falls into place, with The Wanderer reflecting ‘I’ve been a wanderer all my life / It’s all the life that I know / I’ve never slowed down for anything much / But you had me right at ‘hello.’

Another song Coyotes examines a dream state where passion is drawing feelings out into the light ‘The dream calls me back / There’s no white there’s no black / Only colours that I’ve never known / I’m wearing your shirt and we’re covered in dirt / You smile and you me your own.’ Lost love is also visited in songs like Seventeen and Michigan where reflecting upon past memories brings perspective to the table. North Calling has a great feel to the song and examines the tug of nature calling Ruth back to her roots; cello and violin mixing with mandolin and clarinet in a merry dance. The message in Already Free is one of embracing change and not questioning too much, while the final song Comin’ Round the Bend looks to the dawning of a new day and fresh chapters to be embraced. A very strong album and packed with excellent songs to be savoured.

Paul McGee

Kim Richey Every New Beginning Yep Roc

Since her debut release back in 1995, Kim Richey has forged a very successful career that has seen her release nine albums, write for many other notable names and collaborate on recordings that include Mary Chapin Carpenter, Reba McIntire, Trisha Yearwood, Gretchen Peters and Jason Isbell to name just some of her admirers.

This is album number ten and it is right up there with the best work of her distinguished career. Her vocal tone has always been crystal clear and much admired, the passing of the years seemingly having little impact on her range and warm timbre. The songs are mainly mid-tempo and include some lovely melodies. Kicking off with an ode to growing up, Richey sings of her youth in Zanesville, Ohio on Chapel Avenue and captures special memories in the lines ‘All the gold of yesterday/ Is a debt I can’t repay / I owe it all to you Chapel Avenue.’ The next song Goodbye Ohio is about moving on and losing connection, with memories of previous times lingering.

Relationships dominate many of the songs here with the daily challenges amounting to insurmountable barriers on songs like Floating On the Surface and The World Is Flat; the former stating that ‘We don’t worry ‘cause the water’s so peaceful / We hide behind the colours nailed to the mast / Underneath a sky as blue as the ocean / Drift on the current and we never look back’ while the latter posits ‘We stand at the point / Where there’s no turning back / Once we were good / Now we settle for scraps, / So here we are too little too late.’ Both songs longing for a new beginning but waking up to the fact that things have unravelled just a little too far.

A Way Around councils someone in the middle of a heartbreak and offers a shoulder, while the character on Take the Cake is a lothario and a pretty boy incapable of commitment. Things take a turn into pop leanings on Joy Rider and a celebration of youthful disregard for the rules. The song has such a catchy chorus and the country sound of banjo and fiddle on Come Back To Me is equally engaging, even if it deals with someone close who has departed.

If Feel This Way is about acknowledging the pain of heartache, the sense of quiet contentment on Moment In the Sun brings everything back to the beginning and the sense of joy in just being in the moment. The album was produced by Doug Lancio, who does a fine job with the warm sound that wraps all the lovely melodies here. Other musicians on the project include  Dan Mitchell, Neilson Hubbard, Lex Price, Sav Buist, Katie Larson, and Roger Nichols. However it’s always the engaging vocal of Kim Richey that brings the real symmetry to the songs and her delivery is a real highlight, always expressing the emotion in the song.

It's been six years since her last album EDGELAND (2018) and the years in-between has seen a pandemic arrive and the music industry try to reinvent itself in the wake of the ensuing chaos for recording artists and live performance. Kim Richey however just dusts herself down and keeps creating diamonds in the rough. She continues to search for that thin line between the light and the dark, saying that “Nothing in life is all happy or all sad.” More often than not, she nails down the emotion and delivers a song that we can all empathise with, the sweet and the sour of walking our own paths in search of common ground. This album is a fine example of all that endears Kim Richey to so many and it is a very welcome addition to any music collection.

Paul McGee

Grizzley, Slim Cessna's Auto Club, Swamp Dogg, Jesse Dayton, Ordinary Elephant, Dana Cooper Music, Ruth Moody, Kim Richey

New Album Reviews

Ana Egge Sharing The Spirit StorySound

Christened 'the folk Nina Simone' by Lucinda Williams, Canadian-born Ana Egge can boast a back catalogue of thirteen albums since her self-titled debut recording thirty years ago.  Currently living in New York, her last eight albums, including her latest, SHARING THE SPIRIT, have been released on the Big Apple label, StorySound Records. 

With her unique blend of introspection and heartfelt storytelling, Ana Egge's vocal deliveries on the ten tracks on this album delve into familiar themes that have shaped her writing over the years. From tragedy and politics to physical and mental abuse and mortality, Egge's approach to these potentially bleak subjects is both delicate and sympathetic. The album kicks off with the defiant bluesy anthem, Don't Sleep, a powerful reminder to stand up for oneself but also be mindful of others. 

Two covers are reworked on the recording. Sinéad O'Connor's song of betrayal Last Day Of My Acquaintance, recorded months before her passing, closes the album. Egge also borrows the Ted Hawkins written Sorry You're Sick, sympathetically directed toward an alcoholic friend who had 'fallen off the wagon.'  Door Won't Close is a beautifully delivered country ballad, though its grave subject matter deals with confronting and identifying an abuser. Ending We Need, a co-write with Mick Flannery, emanated from a dream of Egge's in which Bob Dylan died. Mission Bells Moan is a genuine love song directed at her lover. 

Unafraid to expose her vulnerabilities and confront her personal and political fears, SHARING THE SPIRIT is a testament to Ana Egge's emotional depth. It's a calming and thought-provoking listen that defies easy categorisation, as is the case with her other recordings. This may be why Egge's name is less widely known, as her music may be too unique for traditional folk or country music fans. Credit is due to her longtime collaborator Lorenzo Wolff (Taylor Swift, Teddy Thompson), whose production - he is also credited as co-writer on the song If It Were Up To Me - strikes the perfect balance between Egge's vocals and the supporting instrumentation.  

This is another exciting gateway into the creativity of a hugely gifted artist, and it is well worth your investigation.

Declan Culliton

Zack McGinn Cowboy Moon Self Release

When you’re drawn in from the first notes of the first song, you feel the signs are positive. That is the case for Mason Country, McGinn’s opening song for this album. Over a solid beat, the guitar interjects the right atmosphere in this ode to a locality in West Texas that holds the singer’s heart. McGinn’s sense of storytelling continues throughout out the album and he possesses a voice that is equally loaded with passion and some pride. The guitarist (and occasional drummer) here was also the album’s producer, that is one Josh Serrato, and he captured the sense of location and lifestyle that brings these songs to fruition.

Ben Hussey, Aaron Hernandez, Brandon Adams, Chris Watson, Geoff Queen and fiddlers Kevin Foster, Wes Barlow and Philip Bowen all deliver their contributions with understated skill. McGinn previously fronted a band, with all the traveling and tribulations that that entailed. However he has now continued making music while running a ranch with his family. This experience seeps through into these songs of soul and soil.

There’s a couple of co-writes here but in the main it’s McGinn’s songs throughout, except for a touching version of Guy Clark’s Magnolia Wind, which captures its writers spirit. That five of the songs have been released as singles show that they are endowed with memorable tunes. As expected from the title, there is much about the ranch/cowboy lifestyle incorporated here. Break Camp, a song co-written with fellow western artist Ross Cooper, is another prime example of how well this works on several levels. There is a tragic tale of a man trying to survive and resorting to crime. Oscar Shultz is reminiscent of Robert Earl Keen’s Sonora’s Death Row, an example of continuing a strong tradition of songs that outline how a man resorting to crime may not get away with his freedom - or life. The album closes with Soaking Dry, a story of the continual struggle that such a hard-fought lifestyle can offer. It uses some pedal steel and echoed guitar sounds to add a sense of expectation to the way a rancher might look towards to the sky with the forlorn hope for a deluge of much needed rain.

There are, right now, a number of high profile acts, such as Tyler Childers and Colter Wall, who are drawing from the same well. Well, Zack McGinn may soon be joining them in bringing a lifestyle choice into some choice music. There are some fine songs here that point to a writer and singer who is drawing from a different experience than previously and is using it to create a record of his personal world in a public forum. There is much more to expect from this cowboy before he rides away. 

Stephen Rapid 

Domenic Cicala Bitter Blues Tortured Artist

This is a fine album of roots rock songs and the impressive line of musicians that contributed to the ten tracks deserve every credit in delivering a project that really is impressive. Domenic Cicala is from Washington DC and has been creating music since 2014. His guitar and vocal delivery is very engaging and his songwriting on this elegant album is to be admired. He co-produced the album with Steve Carr and also wrote all the songs with the exception of one cover, Hanging Tree.

There are echoes of Seger and Springsteen running through the strong arrangements and the opening tracks One Horse Town (Mother’s Day) and Baby Come Back are classic slices of heartland americana. The title song has some lovely violin courtesy of Tiffany Shanta as the song talks of being kind to each other in escaping bitter experiences. Angry Heart is a highlight with its rockabilly strut and the plea ‘Tomorrow’s a brand new start, Please put away that angry heart.’

Just To Walk That Little Girl Home is right out of the songbook of the Boss, and if he ever wants to include it in his list of cover songs performed live, then this superbly judged R’n’B  groove would fit right in. The violin on Again lifts the song to great effect and the final track Shores Of Sorrow has the feel of a traditional soul tune with the rich sound of Arif Durrani on organ and Bill Starks on piano. Overall a fine album and worthy of your attention.

Paul McGee

Tipps and Obermiller MacGuffin Self Release

This album is a follow up to a debut album released by husband and wife team Hilary Tipps and Steve Obermiller back in 2023. Based in Texas, this duo continue their songwriting collaboration with ten tracks of sweet harmonies and easy melodies. Their voices compliment perfectly on the song arrangements and the additional studio musicians bring a nice dynamic in the performance.

The album was produced by Nick Tittle at Blackstone studios in Fort Worth and he also contributed on organ, percussion and glockenspiel. The rhythm section of Aden Bubeck on bass and Trey Ware on drums provide a strong anchor throughout and Clay Parker adds piano on these songs that are rooted in the region of americana/folk influences. However, it’s the twin guitar and vocal performance of Tipps and Obermiller that brings the real magic to the overall feel and freshness of these tunes. The album title refers to an object that exists purely to move a story forward and their own story takes a positive step in the right direction with this release.

Their creative process kicks off with the excellent All I Need and a song that defines their relationship ‘Can’t get enough of your beautiful smile.’ It’s an uplifting opening to an album that lights up the path for their evolving career and it is followed by Forth Worth and a song that reflects upon growing up in that Texas city and references the passing of a family member in the lyric. Elsewhere the fear of commitment while falling into love is explored on Wait while stand-out song Favourite looks at a life lived and the onset of illness in a relationship ‘And pain is love’s medicine, isn’t it?’

We Went To Work refers to the brave souls who continued to risk their own health during the Pandemic in the service of others ‘Just last night there were fifteen breathing machines, In day’s first light there were three.’ Welcome To the Choir celebrates our fallible nature as humans upon the earth and councils that we go easy on ourselves ‘You’re not the only one stumbling through the dark, You’re not the only one missing their mark.’ The soulful harmonies have a deeply gospel feel and the melody builds to quite a climax.

The final song is hilarious and the aptly titled Intro Song is a calling card for this talented duo that pokes fun at their name ‘It’s hard to say, I know, File a complaint after the show.’ In other lines they comment ‘You can blame our Dads, we do..’ A very effective self-promotion tool and typical of the inventive intelligence that colours this most enjoyable album.   

Paul McGee

Chris Smither To the Bones Signature Sounds

There is a quiet calm to this new album from the legend that is Chris Smither. This release brings his tally to twenty albums, that this troubadour has completed over a career that spans six decades. The easy flow to the songs, that glide in the vocal and in the instrumentation, all creating a hypnotic rhythm. All this is sent to provide a balm for the soul, no matter what your frame of mind, when you absorb this impressive look into the blues and folk traditions. It is both immediate and intimate in the delivery and in the emotions conjured up.

Music icons don’t just appear and fade away with time. They linger in many ways, in the collective consciousness and deliver intermittently upon our shared psyche with a timely reminder of what elevated them in the first place. Here we have exactly that, a return to the source of it all, the acoustic blues that was performed to share a sense of community and belonging among rural settlements and a motivation to carry on regardless. Smither is a master at capturing that intimate feeling and delivering a message of quiet forgiveness and hope.

Lest we need reminding about the fragile state of our existence on this mortal coil, the track All About the Bones leaves us in no doubt that the grim reaper comes calling for us all ‘Right from the beginning it was all about the bones’ – a song about what we do when we are alive and the legacy that we leave. Smither always had a knowing acceptance of the unpredictability of life and a keen eye for capturing the moment when some wisdom can be imparted.

Digging the Hole is a song that reflects upon repeat behaviour and our penchant for being self destructive creatures of habit ‘ Now he’s half-way to China and he can’t quit digging that hole.’ Elsewhere, the slow acoustic melody of Still Believe In You looks to share the journey over the passing of the years and comfort in the love of another ‘ I will not grow old without a hand to hold.’

The acoustic blues of If Not For the Devil is typical of the classic sound we have come to expect from a master craftsman ‘The Lord knows he needs me, But he don’t want to believe it’s true.’ For one to survive, then both must thrive… A cover of the great Eliza Gilkyson song Calm Before the Storm is included and performed in a jaunty, mid-tempo shading and colour that brings the message of apocalypse and core family values into the light. There is a tribute to the Louisiana city of Thibodaux and the song arrangement on Down By Thibodaux is a cool groove that celebrates the local vibrancy in the characters, the fishing and the music in the area.

David “Goody” Goodrich produced the album and he has been working with Chris Smither since 2003 and the release of the album TRAIN HOME. He also contributes on various instruments, including guitar, piano, percussion and bass. The duo are joined at the hip when it comes to capturing that perfect vibe in the music and there are echoes of JJ Cale in the easy glide of the beat in songs like Time To Move On, a cover of the Tom Petty tune, which provides optimism for the future and hope in the mesmerising rhythm.

Throughout, the combined talents of Zak Trojano(drums), BettySoo (harmony vocals), and Chris Cheek (saxophone) bring great personality to the arrangements and the execution. There is understated nuance in the subtle touches that lace their way through the sweet melodies. In The Bardo is a song that visits the liminal state between death  and rebirth in Buddhist teaching and where the cycle of life can be investigated by losing the illusion of control, and in exploring our potential through the process of letting go.

The sentiment on Close The Deal is one of  tired cynicism at the greed in the world and the self-obsession with the ego, Smither muses that ‘Nobody’s playing by the rules, now you can order the truth to go, have it your way.’ However the message on Completion is one of taking things as they come and having a healthy perspective on a life lived, Betty So and Smither dove-tailing gently on harmonies and the reflective piano calmly illuminating the gentle acoustic guitar.

This album is yet another high water mark in the career of a consummate artist that leads the way for many other musicians through the maze that is the music industry these days. Step outside the chaos, keep it simple, return to the source, slow that train down and make a real statement from the heart. Another classic album.

Paul McGee

Lynne Hanson Just A Poet Self Release

Two years on from her last release, Lynne Hanson returns with her tenth album and it continues her track record of delivering music of a consistently high quality, full of great writing and musicality. On the 2022 release ICE CREAM IN NOVEMBER Lynne took the opportunity to expand her sound and she introduced new elements into the song arrangements. Her self -production with Blair Michael Hogan was a departure and the risk involved worked really well, the upbeat production bringing her into a new commercial space.

This time out, we find Hanson in a place of reflecting upon the vagaries of love.  On the opener Outlaw Lover she reflects that “I am every wrong that ain’t ever been right, I’m the one you carry round for years, I’m a thousand tears.” So, there are no prisoners being taken here, when it comes to standing up for yourself in matters of the heart. The attitude builds on Just A Little Bit with challenges in love being faced down “Heartbreak hurts but it never killed anyone.” The song has an echo of Bonnie Raitt in the arrangement and the quality of the delivery.

The title track slows the tempo and is a self-reflective look at a life lived “chasing the perfect song.” When you feel adrift from the creative process then it can be difficult to get back that elusive, creative muse. The ensemble playing is so restrained as the musicians compliment the song sentiment. When you are addicted to the pull and tug of love it can be hard to let go and Can’t Let Go  channels the sweet surrender involved.

A stand-out is Spray Paint and the thought that long term relationships need a new coat of paint to colour things up every now and then “I leaned in and said I think I got to let you go, You smiled and you said, when you know, you know.” Another song walks the same terrain with Sort Of  questioning real commitment in a relationship “Was it just for now, Is that the thing?”

The album is produced by Jim Bryson and recorded at his Fixed Hinge Studio in Stittsville, Ontario. Hanson last worked with Bryson on JUST WORDS which was released in 2020 and he always delivers a bright and appealing sound. His understanding of what is required on each song arrangement is very nuanced, adding greatly to the listening experience. The twelve songs included here benefit from the ensemble playing, which is very impressive and the musicians that elevate these songs are Jim Bryson (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, wurlitzer, mellotron, percussion, backing vocals), Blair Michael Hogan (acoustic and electric guitar), Philippe Charbonneau (bass), Marshall Bureau (drums), Emma Lamontagne (backing vocals), Tara Holloway (backing vocals), Ken Yates (backing vocals).

Lynne Hanson provides lead and backing vocals, and her career arc continues to be very consistent, built steadily ever since her solo debut was released in 2006. Light In Me speaks of self-acceptance and learning to love yourself “I’m alone, but I’m not lonely.” Perhaps the challenges of the heart in seeking connection are summed up in Rubik’s Cube by the lines “Just embers burning cold in the dust, Was it love, You were never even there.” The final song Halfway Whole catalogues the hurt but points to an attitude of self-reliance. There is always an optimist within the songs of Hanson and she never gives up on looking out for that beacon of light that may just point the way home. Despite the hurdles, Lynne Hanson always comes up on the bright side, emerging with a new resolve.

Paul McGee

Eric Bibb Live at the Scala Theatre Stockholm Stony Plain

This album is a selection of songs taken from a concert that Eric Bibb performed in 2023 at the Scala in Stockholm. The theatre was established back in 1918 and is one of Stockholm's oldest private theatres. The ten tracks chosen are performed across forty-five minutes and the musicians include a string quartet alongside guest vocalists and producer Glen Scott on keyboards, bass, drums and backing vocals. Scott also acts as musical director in bringing together a collection of players who all perform quite superbly and the talent on display includes Olle Linder (drums and acoustic bass), Johan Lindström (pedal steel and electric guitar), Christer Lyssarides (electric guitar and mandola), Esbjörn Hazelius (fiddle and cittern), Greger Andersson (harp), and Lamine Cissokho (kora and vocals).

Bibb takes a look into his back catalogue of recorded material and selects a range of songs that convey the quiet power contained within acoustic blues music and the key message of rising above hardship in the hope of seeing brighter days. Many of the songs are form a message of traditional values and the interpretations of arrangements such as Mole In the Ground, 500 Miles and Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad  are delivered with a reverence and a care that honours the roots from which they came.

A version of the Lead Belly song Bring Me Little Water, Sylvie is also included, along with the Walter Vinson song Things Is ‘Bout Comin’ My Way, itself an interpretation of the 1930 song Sitting On Top Of the World. The remaining five songs are taken from previous albums and the delivery on both Silver Spoon and Rosewood resonate and are particularly memorable. The latter song recounts the sad tale of a massacre that took place in Florida in 1923 and which resulted in the disappearance of an entire community of African Americans.

Throughout, Bibb anchors everything with his honeyed vocals and that light touch on guitar that elevates so much of his superb music. You could hear a pin drop at the show, such is the quiet power of the ensemble, played with a sense of occasion and an élan in the delivery. It’s all very engaging and the warmth in the performance is worthy of your undivided attention.   

Paul McGee

Small Town Jones Kintsugi Broken Sea

Jim Jones hails from North Devon in England and has been releasing music as far back as 2005 when he first recorded under the name of Small Town Mentality, a band that that included Peter Bruntnell, and released an album titled MONOCHROME. Further albums followed as Small Town Jones with FREIGHT SHIPS (2012), SKY DOWN TO THE GROUND (2015), and DAYLIGHT AND STARS (2016), completing a trio of releases that brought increasing praise for his music and songwriting.

After a few years hiatus we now welcome the return of Jim Jones and his companion, producer and drummer Michael Reed. As both musicians also hold down day jobs, their ability to find the time and creativity to unveil the impressive songs on this new album is something to be admired and applauded. In continuation of the Small Town Jones musical adventure Dave Little (guitar), and Nathan Layland (bass), were drafted in and this four-piece formed the core sound of Kintsugi over the last two years of recording.

Additional musicians were called upon to bring greater colour to the arrangements and Holly Carter (pedal steel), Rebecca Balzani Barrow (violin) each play key roles here. David Smale (double bass) and Peter Bruntnell (guitar) also make appearances, together with vocals from Abbe Martin and Hannah Wood on selected songs. There is an intimacy in the writing and the vocal delivery from Jones, his beautifully restrained timbre just the right side of worn acceptance until the light of hope replenishes the ache. All of the eleven songs are of a consistently high standard and the entire project clearly received all the loving attention to detail required in producing such an impressive album.

Songs like Go Easy On Yourself highlight the message of empathy that threads itself through the fabric of these songs  ‘I’ve seen that shame you wear, I’ve known known that pain you bear, I’ve heard those voices too, Go easier on you’ with the fine guitar lines building the song dynamic to a strong climax. Another song The Mist and the Light considers the journey from darkness towards happier conclusions ‘The mystery of life is not finite, the path between the mist and the light.’ Better Days looks to lift feelings of dread and inject some hope into the equation ‘A little something to make this lighter, help me understand. ‘

The album title is referenced on the track Mr Kintsugi and the word represents the Japanese philosophy that embraces breakage and repair as part of the history of inanimate objects. Rather than disguise a flaw, the act of showing its damaged state is itself a reflection of  what makes up a life in the living. The optimistic states of Hope, Faith and Grace are considered as balm to the soul in 3.33  - a song that reflects upon unwanted thoughts that keep us under stress and feeling isolated ‘I’m staring at the clock and it says 3.33, I’m staring at the darkness and it’s staring back at me.’

Perhaps the answer is contained in the message of The Path and the urge to freeze a moment and hold close the communication between two people ‘I want to hold you close, put all our senses under a microscope.’  We Alive is a positive statement about living for the moment and ignoring all the negativity, while Safe In Sound is an anthem for the lonely who gain strength from surrounding themselves with the comfort of music and beautiful sounds.

This is a very engaging and rewarding album - enjoyable at every level and one that more than merits inclusion in any music collection.   

Paul McGee

Jeff Talmadge Sparrow Berkalin

Ten songs and thirty seven minutes to reacquaint us all with the somewhat latent talents of this fine singer-songwriter. Born in Uvalde, Texas, Jeff Talmadge was a successful attorney in Austin when he decided to concentrate on a music career and closed his office in 2003. He had released seven albums between 2000 and 2011 and yet SPARROW is his first record in over ten years.

Opening track Hurricane has the metaphor of a natural disaster fronting as the image for a ruined relationship ‘I didn’t mean to make such a mess of things, I didn’t know the trouble that a careless heart could bring, And they say that a memory will fade, But now I’m lying in the bed we made.’ The next song If I Was A Sparrow deals in similar terrain in looking back at the mistakes of youth and a love that slipped away ‘A wise old man once told me you won’t forget that woman’s touch, You can always tell a young man, But I guess it’s true you just can’t tell him much.’

Forgiveness is yet another song that trawls the past looking for perspective and closure ‘Oh forgiveness, Sometimes it’s the hardest thing to see, Oh forgiveness, It’s worth a fortune but it’s free.’ The easy pace of these songs is something that brings a nice relaxed atmosphere to the overall production and recording took place at studios in both Georgia and Texas. Bradley Kopp and J. David Leonard acted as co-producers along with Talmadge and they also contributed to the playing with Kopp adding guitar and vocals while Leonard stars on a range of instruments which include lap-steel, synthesizer, organ, dobro, bass and percussion.

The atmospheric Night Train To Milan conjures images of Bruce Cockburn in the delivery and the Devil’s Highway captures the forces that compel someone to follow their passion to the exclusion of everything else. Hurricanes appear again on Little Speck Of Dust and a message that nothing lasts forever ‘ And then the hard part starts for those who stick around, Do you build the place back up or do you knock it down, The choice is not as easy as it seems, And things never turn out like they do in your dreams.’

The final track Top Of the Hour is an instrumental featuring Talmadge on guitar alongside Kopp on additional guitar, with Leonard on gentle synth bass and percussion. It is a great way to bring things to a quiet conclusion and highlights the creative interplay between these talented players. Welcome back Jeff Talmadge, it really has been too long.

Paul McGee

Ana Egge, Zack McGinn, Domenic Cicala, Tipps and Obermiller, Chris Smither, Lynne Hanson, Small town Jones, Eric Bibb, and Jeff Talmadge Music.

New Album Reviews

Iron & Wine Light Verse Sub Pop

Unlike many of his peers who found both the time and the inspiration to write during the two years of COVID-19 and lockdowns, Sam Beam’s experience of that period was quite the opposite. Without any desire to write and record a ‘pandemic’ album and unable to kickstart his creative verve, this form of writer’s block lasted for over two years. 

The pathway back to writing the material for LIGHT VERSE came about when Beam, together with his close friend and producer Matt Ross-Spang, embarked on a recording session of four Lori McKenna songs, which would be released as Beam’s 2022 EP, LORI. Following that recording, Beam set off on a short solo tour titled ‘Back To Basics’ and then a more extensive tour with Andrew Bird, before finishing writing the ten songs for this album. Produced by Beam and mixed by Dave Way (John Way, Macy Gray, Fiona Apple, Michael Jackson), it features a twenty-four-piece orchestra on a number of tracks, adding depth and richness to the album and bringing to mind the arrangements on Al Stewart’s classic 1974 recording, PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE. 

If Beam’s 2017 record BEAST EPIC was a commentary on ageing and the passage of time, LIGHT VERSE finds him in a more buoyant and self-assured frame of mind, possibly tinged with relief having survived the pandemic and recovered his mojo. 

He invited Fiona Apple to add her voice on All In Good Time, and their vocal marriage, awash with dramatic strings, works spectacularly well.  Tears That Don’t Matter is the record’s longest track, a few seconds short of seven minutes. With ‘streams of consciousness’ type lyrics and spectacular orchestration, it is a spellbinding delight. With whispered vocals, You Never Know is a gentle opener to the album. It is very much in keeping with Beam’s trademark sound, and its calmness and gentle melody is repeated on the reflective Taken By Surprise. The melodic and radio-friendly Sweet Talk is possibly the most upbeat and optimistic song recorded by Beam.  

A departure from his previous recordings, LIGHT VERSE is an excellent serving of indie folk. It does require a few listens to connect fully, but that time invested reaps rich rewards. 

Declan Culliton

Kelsey Waldon There’s Always a Song Oh Boy

The winner of the Ameripolitan Outlaw Female award earlier this year and featured in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s American Current: State of The Music 2024, Kentucky-born Kelsey Waldon is finally getting the recognition she richly deserves. 

Coinciding with those honours, Kelsey has released her third album on the Oh Boy label, having been the first artist in fifteen years to be signed to John Prine’s label in 2019. The album plays out like a road map to the music closest to Kelsey’s heart, from her childhood to the present day, with bluegrass, gospel, and old-time country very much to the fore. 

Kelsey was joined by several guests on the eight tracks that feature. Her fellow Kentuckian S.G. Goodman got on board for the call-and-response song Hello Stranger. It’s a more animated rendition of the version previously recorded by Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard in 1973. The Hazel Dickens association is also visited on Pretty Bird, with Kelsey’s old mountain style a capella inspired by Hazel’s similar recording of the poem she wrote in 1973. An unaccompanied presentation of the traditional folk ballad Keep Your Garden Clean also features. Isaac Gibson of 49 Winchester added his vocal on a Porter and Dolly style duet of Ralph Stanley’s I Only Exist. Kelsey’s longtime Nashville friend, Margo Price, came on board on the blazing gospel tune Travelling The Highway Home. Amanda Shires lent a hand in the fiddle-driven reworking of Bill Monroes’ Uncle Pen, and the hymn Your Lone Journey, immortalised by Doc Watson, is beautifully interpreted. The last of the eight songs is the bluegrass traditional song I’ve Endured. Credited to the Appalachian folk singer and banjo player Ola Belle Reed, Kelsey’s harmonised countryfied version transforms the song into a mid-paced honky tonk gem. 

Having displayed her capacity in the past to write meaningful country songs, this treasure chest of songs is a celebration of the music that pointed Kelsey Waldon on her career path. Joined by her friends who have travelled an identical road, it’s a joyous compilation of classic musicianship and vocals from one of the absolute purest country singers of recent years. Kelsey’s hit the bullseye dead centre with this album, but don’t just take my word and check it out yourself. 

Declan Culliton 

Jenny Tolman Broke Down In Jennyville Sessions Old Sol

The latest album from Jenny Tolman is an acoustic reworking of some songs previously recorded and a number of new songs by the Nashville-born artist. 

Tolman’s 2020 debut album, THERE GOES THE NEIGHBOURHOOD, was a cleverly written concept affair, with a collection of songs that introduced an artist with a keen eye for often humorous small-town tales and titbits and with a sweet country vocal to underscore her tales. MARRIED IN A HONKY TONK followed two years later with further songs crafted from her fictional small-town Jennyville. Co-written with her husband, Grammy-nominated producer Dave Brainard (Jamey Johnson, Brandy Clark, Sunny Sweeney), it followed the formula of its predecessor with catchy songs and sharp lyrics.

Her new record is an interesting diversion from those two earlier releases. Stripped back and acoustic, it presents the listener with nine well-constructed songs. Tolman’s gorgeous vocals - the quality of her voice alone is worth your attention - without the embellishments of a full studio band, give depth to the songs. The humour of her previous two albums is also toned down; for me, the songs benefit from this approach.

Particularly noteworthy is her reworking of There Goes The Neighbourhood, which has echoes of Bobby Gentry. The tearjerker So Pretty and the sassy High Class White Trash also stand out; both have a Brandy Clark style about them. World’s A Small Town and Ain’t No Good for Me are simply vintage country songs, and the gentle album closer Until The End showcases Tolman’s striking vocal range.

With largely minimalistic acoustic backings, BROKE DOWN IN JENNYVILLE SESSIONS is a testament to the angelic pureness of Tolman’s voice and her ability, alongside Dave Brainard, to create thought-provoking songs from everyday observations.  A delightfully accessible listen and possibly a pointer toward a change in direction for Tolman going forward, it’s most certainly a winner for me.

Declan Culliton

Madison Hughes Goodbye To Neverland Self-Release

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida-born Madison Hughes' recording career to date has primarily been cover songs. Her versions of Morgan Wallen's I Deserve I Drink, Bob Dylan's Knocking on Heaven's Door, and Springsteen's Dancing in the Dark collectively earned her multi-million streams. It could be argued that the latter two were 'safe choices,' but they offered Hughes the opportunity to showcase the angelic pureness of her vocals.

GOODBYE TO NEVERLAND is a six-track mini album that sees Hughes venturing into a variety of musical styles, mainly through material co-written with New Jersey songwriter Rich Deans. It follows their full-on bluesy co-write 'Hate That You Love Me,' released as a single in March of this year. While that song is not included on this album - presumably it will be part of her full-length record due for release later this year - it sets the stage for an artist who is not afraid to experiment and grow both lyrically and vocally. 

Among the standout tracks on this record are 'If My Heart Was A Train,' reminiscent of mid-career Shelby Lynne, and the title track, a well-constructed country ballad. These songs showcase her knack for easy-to-access melodies but she also delves into a high-octane vibe with the Carlene Carter 90s-styled rootsy gems' Ring The Doctor' and 'Nowhere Fast,' and the pedal steel-drenched country rocker, 'Too Far To Reach.' The inclusion of the aforementioned 'Dancing in the Dark' is a testament to her versatility, but it's the original material that truly shines.

Currently based in East Nashville, Hughes has broadened her musical horizons with an album that marks her as out a maturing artist with endless potential. In an overcrowded marketplace, let's hope she gets the opportunity to establish herself going forward. 

Declan Culliton

The HawtThorns Zero Gravity Red Parlor

It's been a fascinating journey to witness the rise of The HawtThorns, a Nashville-based duo.  KP Hawthorn, a former member of the California trio Calico, and her husband, Johnny, with a diverse background in solo work, session work, and production, have crafted a style that beautifully blends West Coast influences with a unique, swampy vibe.

ZERO GRAVITY, their third album in five years, is a testament to their musical evolution. Recorded live to tape at The Wood Brothers' The Nashville Studio and co-produced by the duo and Ted Pecchio, the album showcases KP's mellow vocals and Johnny's slick guitar hooks and solos on eleven tracks that captivate their raw energy and authenticity. 

A bus stop outside a graveyard in Nashville passed many times by KP was the inspiration behind the racy opener Nothing But A Shadow. Elsewhere, rock-tinged tracks like Trouble and Hands On A Clock make a large splash and sit comfortably alongside the intimate ballads Save This One and Flying. However, stealing the show is the album's title track.  A tour de force combining joy and sadness, it finds KP in exceptionally splendid voice supported by heavenly harmonies and swirling guitars. They sign off with the album's one cover version, a rousing delivery of The Everly Brothers When Will I Be Loved, which features Alice Wallace as guest vocalist. 

The creative partnership between KP and Johnny Hawthorn marches on with this album. From a band that is now a robust pillar in the East Nashville music scene, ZERO GRAVITY is not a radical departure from their previous recordings; it is more a testimony to a duo that has found its musical sweet spot and continues to explore it.

Declan Culliton

Hannah Connolly Shadowboxing Self Release

Jon O’Brien’s Music Box Studios in Idyllwild, California was home for the release of this second album from Hannah Connolly. The mountain town, with the presence of nature all around, provided the perfect environment for this impressive step-up from the more acoustic and restrained debut album FROM WHERE YOU ARE which appeared in 2020.

Connolly is an experienced singer-songwriter at this juncture of her career and her ability to capture an emotion or a feeling in a song is very impressive. Her debut dealt with some personal matters and the album had a softer quality to the arrangements and the reflective musings. This time out there is a bigger production sound on the album and a greater sense of stretching out into new territory sonically. The songs continue to resonate when it comes to matters of the heart and perhaps the more contemplative aspects of the debut are now replaced by a new-found optimism in the future.

The opening song Reno has an appealing dreamy texture with the beautiful vocals of Connolly high in the mix and the pedal steel surfing the melody in a love song about missing your partner. The following song Stuck In Place raises the tempo and the guitar parts drive a song that sings about making things work, day at a time, living for the now and ‘Let it be what it is.’ The pace continues with tracks like Tired Of Trying, the rock groove of pushing through a busy life highlighting an aggressive tone in the vocal delivery.

Other songs like Bags Are Packed and Party Is Over are more acoustic based and consider the strength to be found in the love of another and wanting to be in the centre of the shared experience. Another song, Worth the Wait is focused on the pain of separation brought about by busy touring schedules and Brothers In the Same Dream looks to let go of past resentments and forgiving another for wrongs done. It shows a considered acceptance of others in the mellow delivery by Connolly, always an engaging vocalist with her soprano timbre.

The title song Shadowboxing is very much a country standard with pedal steel tickling the sweet melody as Connolly reflects upon feeling apart and outside of her external life with ‘A head full of dreams, And a heart full of love.’ The funky rhythm on Golden is very bright in the delivery as it looks at the challenges of daily routine and facing changes as part of the journey. Rushing By ends the album with a slow acoustic reflection on grief and getting beyond that sense of dislocation that we all grapple with. However, love will endure if the bond is strong and ‘It’s not the life that we chose but we’re getting by, The only thing I need now is your hand in mine.’ A fitting sentiment on which to conclude the album.

Connolly co-wrote all the tracks with Jordan Ruiz who also plays guitar, bass piano, pedal steel and drums across the ten songs. He also sings backing vocals along with other core studio players Eric Cannata (guitar, bass, piano, synth), Ben Greenberg (guitar, Wurlitzer, xylophone), and Jon O’Brien (organ, mellotron, bass, keys, percussion). They are joined on various tracks by Dan Bailey and Adam Schreiber who share drums and percussion, Via Mardot on theremin, slide guitar, marxophone and strings. The album was produced by Eric Cannata and  Jon O’Brien with the live feel of playing in the studio very much a part of what delivers a work of great personality and layered with plenty of memorable moments.

Paul McGee

Sean Eamon With A Lean Self Release

A country/alt.country singer and songwriter based in Butte, Montana who is just releasing his third album recorded in his hometown. It was produced by Eamon and Justin Ringsak, who also plays bass and trumpet on the album. The assembled crew also includes Garrett Smith on trombone and harmony vocals - which adds an interesting soupçon of the flavour of New Orleans and Mexico to the overall sound. Drummer Mike Babineaux and the organ playing of Frankee Angel are also on board, which leaves the estimable talents of much sought after electric guitar and pedal steel maestro Eric Heywood to round out the musical talent. Eamon himself plays acoustic guitar and, naturally, handles the lead vocals in what is a distinctive style, which may not be to everyone’s taste but is instinctive and effective.

Sean Eamon has a couple of previous albums to his credit but this time he is seeking recognition further afield. The nine self-written songs here are realised in such a way as to warrant that closer attention. We open with If Love Was A Fighter, which quotes Muhammad Ali in the opening verse and uses the analogy to describe a relationship with love. It has the brass and steel adding another sonic layer that is appealing to its solid beat. Next we’re told that the protagonist would never have been a lucky guy! He is always On Trial in so far as he’s so far in front he’s always behind. Again it features an arrangement  that adds a difference overall with the brass and steel embellishments. More introspective is Getting Down Early, another tale of a loser who can’t quite get it together, with the steel adding a mournfulness to the mood. “Getting down early and waking up late is my name” and he’s therefore missing out on life in many ways.

The losses in life continue with Every Teardrop, and you can guess the reason why he is in that particular state. It has to be said that lyrically there is no let up in this self examination of a life that looks for love but ends in emotional ruin. However, as with so much of the mores of traditional country themes, you sympathise with this ‘tear in the beer’ set of tales of woe and feel perfectly comforted by the way the music reveals this in such a appealing fashion. Who’s The Fool? Is self explanatory, while Hanging Under sees a man sitting at the bar and waiting for another round to see if that one eases his aches.

In the same sense of self-pity and perhaps looking for a way to change his life, it might just happen if he could just change All The Things I Have Broken. The foot-tapping tempo of You Don’t Love Me Anymore professes love, despite the fact that she doesn’t love him anymore, at least not the way she used to. Fittingly in some ways, the final track sums up the overall sense of downbeat delusion in the sadness of Waiting For It To End.

Obviously this doesn’t fit the positive nature of the new bright and shiny sheen of today’s country pop leanings, but rather offers a look into the lives of those who can’t seem to get a break in love or life. That musically it is delivered with such overall empathy for the central characters seemingly endless miasma makes it, like all good blues and country music, the perfect companion for either those trodding a similar path or those that simply appreciate an age old tradition of listening to musicians who know how to get this across in such an engaging way. One can only hope, though, that Sean Eamon is not writing just from experience but rather from something of an observational and creative perspective. Either way, lend an ear to this leaning tower of trouble.

Stephen Rapid 

Monte Warden and the Dangerous Few Jackpot Break A Leg

I have been a fan of Monte Warden and his fellow bandmates who formed The Wagoneers in the 80s. At that time the only country bands, as such, that I was aware of were mainstream groups like Alabama and Diamond Rio, neither of whom floated my boat. So here was a young band, who played live and played on their albums and who looked western cool, with the right amount of reverence for the past while looking to the future. However they didn’t make it too far past the first two albums. There is a third album recorded around that time that has never been released, and after they played the Austin City Music awards in 2011 were back in the studio to record another unreleased album.

Monte Warden was the main songwriter and with his next three solo albums that was also the case, in the main, though there were also many co-writes. One of his partners in the process was Mas Palermo, who was also on board in Warden’s next combo, the Loan Sharks. He is still a part of the team playing with Warden in the dates that are done as The Wagoneers, as founding member drummer Tom Lewis is pursuing other musical directions. So overviews blame Warden for moving away from the purer country sound of the debut, still a classic album, STOUT & HIGH.

In order to keep momentum and offer an alternative to the retro rock, rockabilly and country of the those bands and dates, Warden’s wife Brandi suggested that he try another direction as well, that was jazz done in a lounge combo, often late-night, laid back crooner style. This is where the heart of this album and the band that performs with him, The Dangerous Few, lies. A part of that team is again Mas Palermo as well as Wagoneer Brent Wilson, moving from lead guitar to bass. Two crucial players are trumpeter Erik Telford and pianist Nick Litterski. They are the ones that give the album much of its specific style. 

Once again, the songs which are a perfect fit for that overall mood are written by the husband and wife pairing, as well as a couple of additional writers on three other tracks. This is the second album in this genre, as it follows on from the self titled debut album from The Dangerous Few, but this time out finds them more self-assured in this direction. This is not my natural habitat and I can’t deny that I wouldn’t love to hear another album in the country/rockabilly mode of previous line-ups.

The natural pointers would include the classic crooners, maybe something of the Dean Martin oeuvre as well as, at times, on the slower material, Michael Buble. However, as mentioned, not being that deep into this particular groove, I would suggest that Dwight Yoakam’s take on the Kinks’ Tired Of Waiting offers a fairly solid hint of what to expect from an artists coming to the arrangement from a similar perspective. But these days it’s simple enough to just find a streaming service that will give you a chance to make up your own mind.

Warden is never-the-less in top form vocally throughout and, as he has done in the past, assimilates this path with a sense of belonging. The playing is superb and songs like Silhouette, which opens the album really hit the target. There is a lot of fun in the current single Waxahachie Hooch Coo, which you could easily hear on numerous TV movie soundtracks, especially the myriad of those that reference an earlier era. It would also appear that their live gigs are well attended and provide a lot of enjoyment for all concerned.

There is a hint of a Jim Webb mood in Lovesong Every Day ,which offers an upfront sentiment that underscores a personal love story. Most tracks adhere to the jazz remit, but there are deviations, like the call and response routine of the equal positivity of Steadfast Love, the track which closes the album. I took to the album more that I had perhaps expected, with certain songs like those mentioned above and the title track - which have a touch of ‘south of the border’ to them that helps their immediacy, outside of those with that are more imbedded in the overall ambience. But it works and hits the required prize. 

Stephen Rapid 

Al Staehely Somewhere In West Texas Quatro Valley

Along with his brother John, Al Staehely joined the band Spirit in the early 70s. He played bass, sang lead and wrote songs while his brother replaced Randy California as lead guitarist. When that stint ended, they recorded and toured under the name The Staehely Brothers. But in 1980 he utilised his law degree to become a music industry lawyer as his day job, while continuing to play and record by night. Around that time he released his debut album in Europe only, at the time, however it eventually was made available in the US as AL STAEHELY & 10K HOURS. In more recent times he wrote a bunch of songs during the pandemic and in the area he was staying he knew some top class musicians in Fran Christina on drums and bassist Chris Maresh and guitarist and producer Scrappy Jud Newcomb - all seasoned players with venerable histories of playing with well known artists.

They located a small studio in Marfa, Texas and found an immediate connection when they began to play and record. They laid down twelve tracks of relaxed, fun driven, roots music that is as easy to listen to as it was, by all accounts, to record. The material is all composed by Staehely ,other than What’s So Hard About Love by Cam King and Freddie KRC and Phil Lee’s Night In The Box. I notice an affinity between Lee’s own work and what was on offer here. There is humour and undoubted heart in the album’s varied roots sound, that displays the inherent collective instinctive talent of all involved, with Newcomb as the lead player standing out for that very reason. Not that anyone is showing off, rather they are just giving the songs the best possible reading.

The album opens with Something Good Is Gonna Happen, a song that has a positive outlook on life even when that might not immediately be the case. The video that accompanies the song online reflects that, with a hint of the mischief that might ensue. Staehely’s songs hit the old story of love lost, strayed or found in unexpected places. What’s Wrong With You For Loving Me, What’s So Hard About Love and Time Is A Lover all fit that brief, the latter in some ways mirrorring some of the work he has recorded playing with Spirit and others. It is the overall writing theme too on other tracks here - you get the general idea from those titles. Emily is about kinship that doesn’t always run that smoothly - even if the music does. Long Legged Woman goes global as he tries to escape the subject of the song.

Most songs are delivered with a sturdy beat and dynamic, while others like Love Trance taken at a more reasoned slower groove, with Staehely well able to vocally stay front and centre, as he does on the other more danceable material. He has a voice that, without becoming gravel, has a seasoned, well-worn quality. Mercy Of The Moon has a tenderness that is subtly conveyed, showing that the foursome can move from one pace to another, which adds a welcome diversity across the album as a whole. The closing track is essentially stripped back to just bass guitar and voice and asks you to Be Still - and listen to your heart. That is all well served by Newcomb’s production and ease with the assembled players and, no doubt, also to the high desert location that they recorded the album in. The aforementioned Night In The Box, also recorded by Phil Lee, is a cautionary tale that should be heeded.

Staehely’s other occupation has kept him busy with many different clients but this, however ,may be his true love, something that he has turned to time and again through the years. It probably shows that, in his case, for his musical endeavours time is a lover, especially somewhere in West Texas - and beyond.

Stephen Rapid 

New Album Reviews

The Faux Paws Backburner Great Bear

I can honestly say that I have never come across a harder to classify band than the Faux Paws, who I was lucky enough to run into at IBMA last year. This five track EP is a perfect introduction to that eclectic sound, crossing the genres from stringband to jazz to folk to bluegrass and old time … and back again. Most unusual of all is the pairing of tenor saxophone with fiddle and guitar and, in their hands, it works (trust me!)

Brothers Noah (fiddle) and Andrew (guitar) VanNorstrand hail from upstate NY, where they honed their chops in a contra danceband with their mother, while Chris Miller (sax and banjo) comes from a jazz and Cajun background. Their dynamism is evident from the off in the opening and title track, an upbeat song (vocals by Noah) about love lost, then won, featuring guitar breaks and then some absolute shredding on fiddle, followed by an ascending key change to boot. Birdy Thirty is a slightly less frenetic but more funky, jazz-influenced instrumental, led by saxophone with some nice interplay and harmonising with the acoustic guitar and mandolin. Salish Sea is a beautiful slow paced instrumental, with the all feel of a sea shanty, led by Noah’s fiddle, musically very reminiscent of Scottish tunes. Then it’s back to breathtaking speed with the two instrumentals Sailing To Denver/Red Top, where the tenor sax again interacts dynamically with the fiddle in particular, both taking the tunes to dizzying musical heights. The tongue-in-cheek Good Song closes out this gem of a recording, with three part harmonies in a jazz-driven ditty. 

Unfortunately I missed the Faux Paws’s showcases at IBMA 2023 (not even I can be in two places at once!) but I look forward to seeing them live somewhere in the future. I urge you to check them out and see why I was so pleasantly surprised.

Eilís Boland  

Abby Posner Second Chances Blackbird

 Modern day Renaissance woman Abby Posner often writes to order. The Californian multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and producer has successfully turned her hand to writing for film, TV and adverts, as well as touring with her band, The Myth. This second solo album, however, was fuelled by real life - the break-up of a serious relationship. Known for constantly crossing musical genres, the pain of that break up erupts through the twelve songs here, whether the sonar landscape is folk, indie-pop, Americana or the blues. 

Posner freely admits that she has always used music as a therapeutic tool to help her work through life’s vicissitudes and she certainly lays her soul bare on SECOND CHANCES. The opener Slowly finds her pleading with her ex-partner, still hopeful that they can make a go of it, ‘we can make it through/when you are ready to try’, folky acoustic guitar and mandolin bestowing a lightness on the sentiment. Darker, though, is the musical palette of We’ve Come So Far, and If You Wanna Love ‘you gotta let it go’ is given a bluesy rock treatment. She thinks about giving it all up and moving back to her home town in Moving Back To Denver, and she’s still wrestling with the pain of it all on At Any Cost. Pedal steel player Devon Teran joins her on the latter, as well as contributing gorgeous steel to the Californian country rock sound of Night Train and The One Good Thing. Posner herself produced, mixed and plays guitar, bass, drums, keys, mandolin and banjo, as well as taking all the lead vocals. Her band join her on three of the tracks, recorded live in the studio. 

As an openly queer woman, Posner recently said she is particularly proud of The Starting Line, which is an anthem of encourgement to all to be proud to march to the beat of their own drum. Quiet on Sunset is another standout track, where she’s still holding out hope, the heavy electronic folk of synths and bass clashing with the organic banjo and drums, mirroring the clash of needs within a relationship. 

There is no happy ending for Abby Posner on this album, but I for one will be looking out for the next chapter, hoping for her second chance.

Eilís Boland

Sarah Gayle Meech Easin’ On Good Timin’ Woman

The title of Sarah Gayle Meech’s latest album is a statement of resolve and rebirth from the Nashville-based artist. Very much at the core of Music City’s classic country resurgence, the Longview, Washington-born artist’s legendary four-hour residencies at Robert’s Western World on Broadway, alongside Joshua Hedley’s equally impressive shows at that venue, are part of the fabric that draws so many, both local and tourists, to that honky tonk institution. Given the endless talent in Nashville, earning that entitlement is no mean feat and confirmation of her skillset as a songwriter, musician and entertainer. 

Fuelled by a challenging period when Sarah had to overcome the trauma of a divorce and the death of a close friend, the album considers those trying and devastating times, puts some closure on them and ultimately rejoices in newfound love and the power of survival. She bravely and openly tackles the problematic subject matter, giving the listener a no-holds-barred tour of life’s complexities.

Many of the players Sarah has shared and continues to share Nashville stages with added their weight to the album. Pedal steel maestros Eddie Lange and Tommy Hannum’s playing is faultless. Chris Brush was on drums on all the tracks, and co-producer Shawn Byrne added numerous instruments, including guitars, mandolin, and banjo. The orchestration on the countrypolitan tracks Time For A Change, Love Me, and Stars is credited to multi-instrumentalist Billy Contreras. 

The heartbreaker There He Goes is a throwback to 60s pop/country ballads that became household-known tunes for Tammy Wynette. The brutally confessional Trouble With Me speaks of the grinding reality of vulnerability and compulsion. Uncertainty and moving ahead are vented on the powerfully emotive Forget About Me and Something To Live For, a response to the former song and a plea for new pastures in the future.

Personal disarray and recovery are often the drivers of excellence in music, and no more so than in the country genre. EASIN’ ON is a prime example, and Sarah Gayle Meech, the recipient of Best Female Outlaw at The Ameripolitan Music Awards back in 2015, has delivered, alongside a collection of musicians firing on all cylinders, a wholly heartfelt country gem.

Declan Culliton

Emily Nenni Drive & Cry New West

One of the most exciting artists to emerge in the outlaw scene in recent years, both on record and in the live setting, Nashville-based Emily Nenni continues to go from strength to strength. Her 2022 album, ON THE RANCH, featured highly in our favourite albums of that year, and her storming live set at American Legion during Americana Fest last year was a highlight of our annual trip to Nashville. Far from an overnight success, Nenni’s steady rise has come about by hard graft to present her classic honky tonk vocal style and clever songwriting to a growing audience. Moving to Nashville at twenty-one, she cut her teeth playing for tips downtown at Robert’s Western World and Santa’s Pub and independently recorded her debut album, HELL OF A WOMAN in 2017 and her EP, LONG GAME, three years later. A pointer towards her ongoing rising star will be her debut at the Grand Ole Opry scheduled for this month.

Nenni’s talent, hard work and extreme enthusiasm have paid rewards, and those talents have fully blossomed with DRIVE & CRY. Released on the New West label, it maintains a consistent ambience of old-school and modern country throughout. More adventurous in production and arrangement than her previous records, hats off for that to producer and Deslondes member John James Tourville, who, together with Matt Ross-Spang, oversaw the final mix. Collectively, in the studio, they recreated the energy and dynamism of Nenni’s stage shows.

The majority of 2022’s ON THE RANCH was written during lockdown at a ranch farm in Colorado. Eleven of the twelve tracks this time around were written over three weeks at Nenni’s current home in Nashville, resulting in a noticeable interconnection between the songs. ‘I’m making changes, moving on from phases, onto new stages I will run. I sure as hell ain’t ever one and done,’ Nenni announces on the track Changes, the first song written for the album. That defiance and self-confidence are always close to the surface and no more so than on the swampy country funk track I Don’t Have To Like You (‘I’m a grown-ass woman and I don’t trust a word you coo’). We Sure Could Two Step, awash with fiddles and pedal steel, is a dance hall anthem, and Nenni’s vocals are firmly on the traditional country pedal on the lively title track and the opener, Get To Know Ya. Lay Of The Land and I Can’t Pretend It Never Happened find her spiralling off in a calmer direction, although equally impressively and also included is Terry Allen’s Amarillo Highway. This song is regularly featured in Nenni’s live sets. The musical chemistry of players very much on the same page is outstanding throughout, and the plainspoken I Don’t Need You finds them at the top of their game.

Fiercely devoted to vintage country, DRIVE & CRY is a slick helping, lyrically and instrumentally, of that sound from start to finish. Hopefully, it will catapult Emmi Nenni to the top of the queue, alongside Kelsey Waldon and Sierra Ferrell, of women who are brushing aside industry demands and recording some of the finest ‘country’ albums of recent years. 

I may hear a better country album this year, but I doubt I will.

Declan Culliton 

Charley Crockett $10 Cowboy Son Of Davy/Thirty Tigers

'When I was out there on those street corners learning to stand behind this guitar, ten dollars was a whole lot of money,' Charley Crockett recalls in the title track of his latest record. $10 COWBOY—his seventh in the past four years—is, in many ways, a personal account of his steady rise from street busker to internationally acclaimed country artist, and that opening track is one of several on the record that recount that campaign. 

Delivered in his composed, semi-spoken style, Crockett's self-titled 'Gulf and Western' sound is a unique fusion of country and western, R'n'B, soul, and blues, and this record is a testament to that. His deep-rooted admiration for acts from Buddy Holly to Waylon Jennings and Jerry Reed to Henson Cargill also shines through on the twelve-track, forty-minute record, adding to its allure.

Mid-tempo inclusions like Good At Losing and Hard Luck And Circumstances poignantly communicate the thorny travels of the struggling artist. The former is beautifully adorned by strings, amplifying the despondency in its tale, and the latter features a backing choir and pedal steel for a similar effect. The essence of going against the flow also blooms in I Ain't Done Losing Yet and Solitary Road. Less personal and with a wider lens, America plays out like an open letter from a drifter ('America, how are ya?I hope you're doin' fine. America, I love ya and I fear you sometimes').

If those songs were a glance over the shoulder at often arduous times, Crockett fast forwards to the present with Lead The Way ('I've been told many times throughout the years that the road I was on would lead me nowhere….. I found a place where your dreams come true').

Recorded live at Arlyn Studios in Austin, Texas, Crockett and his regular band members, Kullen Fox, Nathan Fleming, and Mario Valdez, recreate the essence of his live shows. A host of session players, including Kullen Fox, Nathan Fleming, and Mario Valdez also contributed. A string quartet also performed on a number of the tracks.

An artist who knows what he's good at, Crockett's creative fire continues to burn on this latest offering, which perfectly represents the shifting colours of country music. 

Declan Culliton

Heather Little By Now Need To Know

Right from the opening song Five Deer County you are completely hooked by this beautiful, authentic album of heartland songs and roots music of the highest quality. It has been far too long since Heather Little produced new music and her debut album dates back to 2013’s WINGS LIKE THESE. That album included eight songs and in 28 short minutes she announced herself to a music media that was largely unaware of her talents. In 2021 she recorded a live session at the Old Quarter Acoustic Café in Galveston and of the ten songs she performed, four feature as tracks on this second studio album that confirms her status as a songwriter par excellence.

The entire project is a joy from start to finish with a deft touch displayed throughout by producers Brian Brinkerhoff and Frank Swart. Initial recordings were at the Need To Know studios in California and there is an impressive, and long, list of musicians and guest singers that help bring the project to such a successful fruition. All thirteen songs are written by Heather Little, including one co-write with Miranda Lambert, the hit Gunpowder and Lead, which appeared back in 2007 on Lambert’s second album, CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND. It was a big success back then and it is included here also and probably the most commercial track on the album.

There is a knowing maturity to these songs of love and loss, poignant observations of days past and rueful regret at missed opportunities that could have shaped dreams of a life once imagined. Despite the sense of sadness that runs through the lyrics there is a hard found optimism also present, as if the protagonist has not yet thrown in the towel and is still in the fight. There is no doubt that the songs come from a very personal space and that the nature of much of the content is autobiographical. Even in the character songs, there is a thread running through that conjures self- reflection. In the interpretation of the song content it’s possible to find different layers and meanings in the writing; always the sign of a seasoned and sophisticated storyteller.

I hear the sound of Bonnie Raitt in the vocal delivery on Bones and in the sense of regret which informs the song. Patty Griffin appears on the poignant This Life Without You and the reality of death is captured in words that resonate ‘If we had it to do over, Would anything have changed your mind, Is there something we all missed that would have saved you, Or did you need this all along to be alright.’ Elsewhere songs like Razor Wire and Hands Like Mine shimmer and echo in the distance as love leaves and reflection follows ‘ You ought to know all the times you couldn’t find your truth, I was looking for you’ and the equally piercing ‘The whole damn time there should have been a sign, They don’t make a ring for hands like mine.’

These are songs of great depth and the performance is so honest in the delivery that they leave an impression that stays long after the album ends. Hitting all the parts of heartfelt emotion, using what is understood between all who try for that special place of comfort. Love gained and dreams lost in the trying. Five Deer County refers to the lone star state of Texas and the city of San Saba, the place where her man wants to live free in his Airstream travel trailer, outside the city and on the range ‘All by himself, Living the dream, In a five deer county and an old Airstream.’ Letting go is sometimes the only answer.

The song Better By Now looks at a relationship where the couple stay together and the price paid for their growing distance ‘I’ve wasted a lot of love being wrong, I learn too late and I stay too long.’ Landfall is a beautiful song that tracks the dissolution of a relationship through the metaphor of a hurricane and it hits hard ‘Our storm is making landfall tonight.’ Family challenges and strained relationships are captured on Transistor Radio and My Father’s Roof and there is a sense of the autobiographical in the sentiments expressed. Disappointment and the realisation of damaging affairs are tackled on Saint Christopher and Sunset Inn, ‘You take a sinner for a saint, They’re all winners every time until they ain’t’ and the telling lines ‘A little better looks like love, When it’s really just one step above, The pain you’ve always known.’

The playing is beautifully restrained throughout and the quality of musicianship is hugely impressive, colouring the melodies and lifting the song arrangements at every turn. It’s very early to be naming one of the albums of the year but this one is going to take some beating. Essential and evocative, haunting and laced with moments of tender insight.

Paul McGee

Dustin Kensrue Desert Dreaming BMG

Not an artist previously known to me but he was a member of the rock band Thrice previously and is also a committed Christian. He has forged his musical path that has led him to spiritual nature found in the desert and it would seem, from some online clips, that his previous work has been leading to this place in his life and music.

The album opens with a duet between Kensrue and Cat Clyde, Death Valley Honeymoon, that is a contemporary contender for a place alongside the classic duets of the past. It has some engaging pedal steel from Abe Levy (who is also used to great effect elsewhere on the album). What is apparent is that Kensrue has a way with a song that is consistent and not without charm, telling tales that relate to an overall sense of place. Treasure In The West is a search for something that is more than the physical. There is, overall, a frame of mind that feels right for the simultaneosuly harsh and yet appealing nature that is apparent in the quietness of the desert.

Lift Your Eyes is one that has an immediacy that is forged from Kensrue’s echoed vocal and twangy guitar. Beneath that are Seth Richardson and James McAllister’s contributions on bass and drums. The desertscape is often a cipher for internal thoughts and feelings that fit its sometimes Lynch-ian soundtracks of echoed guitar and mood-filled sounds. Western Skies tells of double crossings while the upbeat tempo of The Heart of Sedona is a strong call to return to its precincts. More straight countrified is Sage & Lilac, it has a dancefloor shuffle beat that won’t fail to move feet, with its call to stand in the sun and light and feel nature.

In a campfire mood is the tale of a walk around a small western town at night in The Light Of The Moon. Built around upright bass and strummed acoustic guitar, it effectively paints a particular picture and there is a little reminder of Calexico apparent in its border performance. A move that is essential for the protagonist that is fuelled also by the draw of the open road and a new town is Leaving Tonight For Santa Fe. The overall sound here, with strong pedal steel, is another song that has its heart in traditional country themes and essences. The title track is the final one and is an atmospheric slow paced song that relies on a return to the solace and dreams that repeatedly attract the peoples of that arid but inspiring place.

This is one of those albums whose cover promised something that I would enjoy and, in fact, from the first play I was happy to be in the world suggested by the title. I hope that Kensrue continues to explore this direction in the future which ,while it may not be unique, is still worthy of further exploration - certainly based on this particular release. Dream on.

Stephen Rapid

Wesley Dean Music from Crazy Hearts House Of Flames

Until I received this album for possible review, I wasn’t aware of Wesley Dean. From the cover I learned that it was recorded in RCA Studio A in Nashville and that he is a new outlaw affiliated country orientated artist. Dean is an Australian who is well know and successful back in his home country for winning Australian Idol and has released hit singles and albums. He had, in the past, visited the States and Nashville in particular. On that trip he met Justin Cortelyou, an experienced engineer, and for this album has used Cortelyou as his producer. It has turned out to be a very successful partnership. Though it has many of the hallmarks of roots Americana, they have created something of a big and engaging sound that has an immediate impact from first listen. 

All the songwriting is credited to ‘W. Carr’, who is in fact Wesley Dean. He dropped the Carr from his name of late when he made the new move. The songs came after a period of self-analysis and doubt as to whether he should continue with his musical career. He made the decision to move his family to Nashville during the pandemic and once that was firmly in place and the decision cemented, he found the songs came over a brief period and then he  set about recording them with Cortelyou. A key team of players worked with Dean, who himself featured on acoustic and electric guitar, along with Chris Harrah, and was joined by the power and omnipresence of the rhythm section of Brian Killian (drums) and Adam Beard (bass), the keyboards of Charlie Lowell and the string arrangements and fiddle from Billy Contreras. This adds much of the depth, drama and texture that is apparent here. There is also a forceful use of vocals, with both a choir and assembled backing vocalists (Sarah Buxton and the McCrary Sisters) used through the tracks, to great effect. 

The opening drum pattern of Mercy, a song with religious overtones of deliverance and redemption with the choir singing “God has mercy”, is a sound that grows and builds to a short but effective guitar and fiddle mid-section. As an album opener, it’s powerful and memorable and sets up expectations for the remainder of the album. The next song Burn This House goes out to those with “crazy hearts”, who have had to endure what life offers to those living on the fringes and who might also have fallen through the cracks. Dean adds convincing harmonica to contribute to the overall energy of the song.

There is a simpler feel to the tale of two friends that is Blood Brothers. It details how the closeness of these two friends is lost over time. It has an impassioned vocal from Dean to further emphasise this, as does the closing abstract sound collage.This is just one song that draws from a heartland experience that could relate to small town America as much as it could to a similar situation in Australia, or anywhere. 

In a not dissimilar vein is Gunslinger, where again the guitars add a forcefulness to the sound that in many ways transcends genre into something more universal, with a mass of vocals repeating the title. The title track is more gentle and acoustic, using guitar and keyboards sparingly until the choir weighs in without overwhelming the mood. “Sometimes I think my heart is too crazy for you.” The first version of Tennessee Road is short and soulful and reminds one, to a degree, of Chris Stapleton. Then the longer version of the track continues that theme but with a full keyboard bolstered sound that could have come from a later Springsteen album. It is in this latter part of the album that the sound opens up to something that is broader than an ‘Americana’ label might predict (though that term is now so broad I guess it can accommodate pretty much anything - these tracks included). Doorways has more soulfulness, strings and a touch of 60s psych-soul. 

Harmonica opens the next track’s reflection, which is Don’t look Back, about belief and forward looking and thinking. It asks who are you fighting for and is similarly less reliant on the big sound. He is joined by Sarah Buxton on the vocals. A track that may, by its title, have some resonance and placement in the consciousness is Southern Man. Built around a central boogieing guitar riff, the song has an undeniable power as it explains who the southern man here is. It builds to a hypnotic state, with the title repeating throughout. The album closes with Tomorrow which is, by way of contrast, a vocal and acoustic song at heart. It speaks of dreams and hopes for tomorrow. The strings are used effectively and subtly here, and it shows that Dean’s grasp of portraying mixed emotions is at the heart of his musical quest.

This is an album that may be considered to redefine the notions of a genre, but one that, for this listener, manages never to move to a place that seems at odds with its intentions, something that many artists who claim adherence to that style do - for me at least. At the end of the day this man’s crazy heart is beating strong and his music has a similar heartbeat.

Stephen Rapid 

Gary Stewart Live At Billy Bob’s Texas Smith

This album from the legendary latter day honky-tonker is part of an ongoing series of releases of shows taped at the largest honk-tonk in Texas. Stewart has been gone 21 years now and this release features many of his best know recorded songs done in a welcoming live setting. It came out originally back in 2003. He had steadfastly stuck to his musical path when many others had abandoned it in the 80s and early 90s. His debut album was released in 1973 and he released a further seventeen or so albums, but by the time of this release his music was not considered viable at radio (still may not be), which may explain why he was not better renowned or rewarded for his work. However many critics lauded his music and albums throughout his career, one that, it seems, included playing piano in Charley Pride’s band. He also released some duet albums with noted songwriter Dean Dillon.

Gary Stewart wrote or co-wrote many of his best songs, including Brand New Whiskey, An Empty Glass (That’s The Way The Day Ends) and Single Again. Other well know songs include Wayne Carson’s She’s Acting Single (I’m Drinking Doubles) and Danny O’Keefe’s Quits. Stewart sings these songs with an ongoing passion and is backed by a solid band whose steel player, harmonica and piano players as well as guitarist do some sterling work, as do the rhythm section. The reaction from the audience is warm and welcoming and they clearly appreciate his stance and legacy. His voice has a certain quality that is recognisable and very much in the mode of the somewhat nasal vibrato-tinged tenor of some honky tonk singers, something that was noted got better with age.

The fifteen tracks, which include slower songs alongside the uptempo numbers, will serve both as an introduction as well as being his only live album, a collection that fans who are aware of his work will enjoy. Though born in Kentucky and he worked and lived for a time in Florida, his music still seems best suited to a Texas audience, one that still appreciated his performance back in 2003. And certainly listening to this recording you can readily appreciate why. As his music is now hard to find, with various reissues now out of print, this may be the easiest way to hear and get to understand why Gary Stewart was so well thought of. The album and many others in the series can be purchased at SmithMusic.com.

Stephen Rapid 

The Faux Paws, Abby Posner Music, Emily Nenni, Charley Crockett, Heather Little, Dustin Kensrue, Wesley Dean.

New Album Reviews

Dawn Landes The Liberated Woman's Songbook Fun Machine 

A week after her peer and fellow singer-songwriter Aoife O'Donovan released her album, ALL MY FRIENDS, which was inspired by the writings of suffragette Carrie Chapman Catt, comes a similarly themed project from Dawn Landes, titled THE LIBERATED WOMAN'S SONGBOOK. The inspiration for the album was a book by the same name, which Landes came across in a thrift store and read during lockdown. Her commitment to reconstructing music from the book was further fuelled by the 2022 Supreme Court overturning of the Roe v Wade ruling, which stated controversially that the right to abortion was not "deeply rooted in this Nation's history or tradition."

The selected songs for the album, each with its own historical significance, span two centuries. The traditional Which Side Are You On, for instance, dates back to 1830, while the album's closing track Liberation, Now! was written by Betty Friedan in 1970 on the occasion of the Women's Strike for Equality, a significant event that celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment which granted women the right to vote.

Landes, alongside Josh Kaufman (Bonny Light Horseman, Bob Weir, Cassandra Jenkins), who also produced the album, performed the material at the Newport Folk Festival in 2023. Further performances are scheduled for this year, including a show in London on 7th September at the Barbican, featuring Peggy Seeger. 

Landes's interpretation of the folk songs is enthralling. She remains true to many of the songs' folk sensibilities, injecting a degree of vibrancy while not distracting from the core messages. One Hundred Years and The Housewife's Lament are prime examples. Both were written in the mid-19th Century, yet Landes's musical treatment and lyrical content give them a present-day feel. 

The Factory Girl, first recorded in 1906 by Alan Lomax's father, John, and Mill Mother's Lament reflect the album's tender heart. The former speaks of the desperate working conditions of mill workers, and the latter is an ode to Ella May Wiggens, one of those mill workers who lost her life fighting for better conditions for her co-workers.  

Despite its sombre theme, this uplifting album gives a modern spin to the essential songwriting of its time. Landes has taken stock of those deep-hearted songs and fashioned a thought-provoking and very listenable album indeed. 

Declan Culliton

Caitlin Cannon Beggar Going for the Bronze

My introduction to Caitlin Cannon was her album, THE TRASHCAN ALBUM back in 2020. One of my favourites of that year, it was a no-holds-barred and deeply autobiographical project, with the writer re-opening wounds not yet fully healed. Despite its subject matter, it was an easy listen, often fun-filled and self-deprecating. It was also an insight into an extremely competent songwriter with the vocal capacity to match.

Since then, Cannon has recorded and toured with Side Pony, a project she formed with Alice Wallace. That adventure led to an introduction to producer and multi-instrumentalist Misa Arriaga (Kacy Musgraves, Willie Nelson), who produced this four-track EP and also Cannon's full-length album, LOVE ADDICT, due for release later this year. The players Cannon surrounded herself with are equally impressive, including some of Nashville's finest in Lilly Mae Rische (fiddle, guitar, backing vocals), Ryan Anderson Keith (keys), Tommy Perkinson and Hershel Van Dyke (drums), Noah Bellamy (electric guitar) and Grand Ole Opry regular, Eddy Dunlap (pedal steel). Misa Arriaga played acoustic guitar, keys, bass and backing vocals and the string sections were played by Nat Smith and Matt Combs. 

The tracks, which fall into the mid-paced category, showcase Cannon's flair for easy-to-access melody. The opener, The Alchemist, is particularly striking in that regard, drenched in vocal and lyrical emotion. The title track considers the artist's dilemma of possibly risking humiliation to achieve their deserved goals, and Amarillo and Little Rock was derived from a hasty exit out of town (and the ensuing speeding ticket), fleeing and attempting to leave behind personal anguish.

She bookends the collection with the brutally poignant and moving Waiting, telling the tale and expressing her love for her incarcerated brother, to whom she has directed, and to date without success, her unwavering support of many years to effect his release. 

Despite the solemn content of the material BEGGAR, is best described as 'easy listening country,' not to be confused with the dreaded formulaic 'pop country.' Released on the Going for the Bronze label (also the title of a song from THE TRASHCAN ALBUM), none of these tracks will feature on her ten-track album later this year. If there's any justice, and these tracks are a taster of what to expect from that album - and with industry support - Cannon should be turning bronze to gold in the future.

Declan Culliton

Ann Savoy Another Heart Smithsonian Folkways

Musician, author and record producer Ann Savoy wears many hats. Alongside her solo career, she is a member of the Savoy Doucet Band, (which also includes her husband, Marc Savoy) and the all-female band, The Magnolia Sisters. Savoy and her husband are joined by their sons in The Savoy Family Band, and she can also add her project, Ann Savoy and her Sleepless Knights, to her canon. Her production credits include the Grammy-nominated album, EVANGELINE MADE: A TRIBUTE TO CAJUN MUSIC, which included contributions from John Fogerty, Nick Lowe and Linda Ronstadt. In the literary world, she compiled and edited Cajun Music: A Reflection of a People, reflecting her  dedication to Cajun music as a historian and musician.

ANOTHER HEART, which includes original compositions and cover versions, is a musical travelogue of Savoy’s influences from her younger days and from her introduction to Cajun music by Marc Savoy, whom she first met at the National Folk Festival in Washington, D.C., in 1975. Produced by Dirk Powell, who also played numerous instruments, the studio band included Savoy’s family members and guest contributions from Rhiannon Giddens and Sonny Landreth. 

Nods to the music that was closest to Savoy’s heart on her travels to the U.K. as a young woman include Sandy Denny’s Who Knows Where The Time Goes, Donovan’s Lord Of The Reedy River and The Kinks’ swinging 60s classic Waterloo Sunset. Closer to home and from CLOUDS, an album that set Savoy’s sights on her musical path, Joni Mitchell’s The Angel is also included. Her original songs are the raunchy album opener Cajun Love Song, the sorrowful Triste Samedi (A Sad Saturday/ A Hurricane Song) composed in memory of a catastrophic Louisiana storm and the tale of youthful yearning, Gabie’s New Year’s Eve Lament. 

The Richard Thompson-written A Heart Needs A Home, which was also included on Savoy’s 2006 duets album with Linda Ronstadt, ADIEU FALSE HEART, features Kelli Jones on harmony vocals, and Rhiannon Giddens adds her vocals to Savoy’s reworking of Springsteen’s Stolen Car. 

Songs that refer to various periods and moments in the writer’s life journey, ANOTHER HEART may primarily be a personalised and inward-looking undertaking by Savoy. However, its charm and character make it quite something to savour for the listener. 

Declan Culliton

David Murphy Cuimhne Ghlinn: Explorations in Irish Music for Pedal Steel Guitar Rollercoaster

Cork-based multi-instrumentalist, producer and hired hand David Murphy has played pedal steel guitar on stage and in the studio with numerous artists and bands, including John Blek, The Delines, The Lost Brothers, Arborist and Freeman's Country Carvery. Murphy's approach to the pedal steel guitar is far from traditional; he infuses his country and psychedelic chords with the ambient and expressive sound of an instrument that has contributed to numerous music genres outside its 'country' domain, creating a unique and intriguing musical experience. 

His ambitious debut solo album, CUIMHNE GHLINN: EXPLORATION IN IRISH MUSIC for PEDAL STEEL, mirrors Seán Ó Riada 1960's pioneering projects, which introduced modern and classical styles to traditional Irish music. Similarly, Murphy deconstructs and recreates ancient traditional Irish harp pieces employing pedal steel as the dominant instrument on the album's eight instrumental tracks. Accompanying musicians are a cast of talented players, including Peter Broderick (strings), Steve Wickham (fiddle), Laura McFadden (cello), Aisling Urwin (harp), Alannah Thornburgh (harp), Rory McCarthy (piano), Mark McCausland (guitar), Anthony Ruby (uilleann pipes), and Cory Gray (trumpet).

From the opening piece Aisling Gheal, to An Speic Seoigeach, which bookends the album, the pedal steel guitar, with its unique tonal qualities, effectively captures the deep melancholy and sombre nature of the compositions. Cití na g Cumann, the traditional Irish waltz and first single from the album, bewitchingly marries pedal steel with gentle strings and piano, further enhancing the emotional depth of the music.

A brave and pioneering undertaking by David Murphy and a landmark in ambient Irish traditional music, CUIMHNE GHLINN's haunting musical sketches take the listener on a moody and other-worldly musical trail. It's also a recording that is very much at the heart of the current resurgence of classical, traditional, and folk music both at home and abroad. 

Declan Culliton

Ted Russell Kamp California Son KZZ

Originally a jazz-schooled New Yorker, Ted Russell Kamp is very much a ‘go-to’ bass player in California, having played on numerous recordings and stages with Jessi Colter, Whitey Morgan, Sam Morrow and Waylon Jennings. 

Kamp has also been bass player in Shooter Jennings’ band for many years. Alongside that parallel career as a hired gun, Kamp has recorded fourteen solo albums, including his latest and most autobiographical, CALIFORNIA SON. In the tradition of his adopted state and in keeping with his previous recordings, the album criss-crosses between country, rock and folk. Self-produced, Kamp contributed vocals, bass, electric and acoustic guitars, dobro, Hammond, Wurlitzer and percussion.

Like the opening chapter in a book, CALIFORNIA SON kicks off with the title track, fondly cataloguing Russell Kamps’ pilgrimage to what has become his home for the past two and a half decades. His many like-minded friends and peers join him across the twelve tracks. The gently rolling Shine On features I SEE HAWKS IN L.A players Paul Lacques (who has sadly passed away since)  and Rob Waller, and Russell Kamp’s regular collaborator John Schreffler is credited on four tracks. 

Other highlights are the barroom rocker The Upside to the Downside and the stripped-back bluesy Hangin’ On Blues. Roll Until the Sun Comes Up nails the vintage California early 70s vibe, and the hell-raiser Hard To Hold gives the thumbs up to headstrong and maverick women. 

Russell Kamp has invariably kept the engine of the late 60s and early 70s West Coast music genre running. CALIFORNIA SON maintains that consistent ambience with this heartfelt testimonial, which travels in a number of directions but never strays outside the California state borders.

Declan Culliton

Robby Hecht Not A Number Tone Tree

Singer-songwriter Robby Hecht may not be a household name, but his music, both self-recorded and with over sixty songs recorded by others, can boast a staggering twenty-five million streams to date.

NOT A NUMBER found Hecht teaming up with multi-instrumentalist and recording artist Anthony da Costa, who produced the album and is credited with numerous instrumental contributions. Also adding to the quality of the album are vocal contributions from a host of Hecht's Nashville neighbours, including Caroline Spence, Jill Andrews, Katie Pruitt, and Lydia Luce, who are very much on the Lonesome Highway radar.

The overriding theme of the twelve songs is personal introspection, with issues such as mental illness, marriage, relationship breakdown, and personal struggle dominant. Fittingly, the vocal and musical delivery is gentle, restrained, and unrushed, allowing the messages within the songs to take pride of place. 

Metaphorically, Someone To Dance With addresses the basic human need for companionship rather than isolation and loneliness,’ a theme that most people, if honest, can relate to. If I Knew You Now and I Can't Save You Anymore, strike a similar melancholic and questioning chord, grappling with lost love that could have prospered. The title track, written at a time of grave uncertainty at the height of the pandemic, considers the many people suffering and dying alone ('I hope you know you're not a number and if you go, you'll be remembered'). Dead Weight, co-written with Caroline Spence, details the artist's anxiety about surviving and providing for a partner or family in their precarious career. On a lighter note, Old Radio recalls the writer's connection to music from a young age and how that draw led to his chosen vocation despite the hurdles and undesirable consequences expressed elsewhere in the album.

The candour in Hecht's songwriting and vocal expression possesses the prowess to draw the listener in and hold their attention. Not afraid to lay bare his vulnerabilities, Hecht achieves that with this soul-stirring twelve-track album.

Declan Culliton

Elliott Brood Country Six Shooter

It's nearly twenty years since I first saw Elliott Brood perform live. I recall being bowled over by their brand of alt-country, as it was christened at that time. Alongside their own material, they included a Neil Young cover from his album ZUMA (the exact one escapes me) and, for my ears, they were the optimum blend of melody and edginess. Fast forward two decades and a dozen albums later, and those characteristics remain, although their brand has been updated in some quarters from 'alt-country' to 'death country.'   

The three-piece Canadian band consists of multi-instrumentalists Mark Sasso and Casey Laforet and percussionist Stephen Pitkin. Their latest record, COUNTRY, follows TOWN AND COUNTRY from earlier this year and TOWN, which they released in 2023. 

The new album plays out like a guided tour of the band's interpretation of country music and the specific forms within the genre that inspires them. The opener, Wind and Rain, is a raging fix of cowpunk that recalls the classic sounds emanating from California in the early 80s. They follow that with a countrified and hugely impressive re-working of The Stones' Out Of Time, which sticks to the West Coast sound of the opener although somewhat more laid back. It's one of two covers on the eight-track album; the other is a true-to-the-original take on Rodney Crowell's Bluebird Wine. Their fellow countryman Neil Young's magic often surfaces on their recordings, and the ballad Long Since Lost, with its whistling intro, ticks that box this time. They nod their heads toward Lynyrd Skynyrd with the rampant Southern rocker Postcard Pretty, which signs out under the two-minute mark. They Never Want To Sing Along is a more relaxed love song, with weeping pedal steel and slick guitar breaks emphasising the poignancy of the tune.

COUNTRY is an impressive addition to a back catalogue of albums by Elliot BROOD that should be on the radar of all serious followers of textbook roots music. Lyrically poetic with drifting melodies and razor-sharp playing, they capture country music's often-shifting colours with this extremely easy-on-the-ear recording.

Declan Culliton

The Paper Kites At the Roadhouse Nettwerk

This album recently came across my radar and represents the sixth release from an Australian band that impress at every turn. Their easy dynamic is a sweet mix of pure Americana and Country inspired tunes as they explore a rich tapestry of sound across the sixteen tracks included here.

Based in Melbourne, this five piece group comprises  Sam Bentley (lead vocals, guitars, harmonica, mandolin), Christina Lacy (backing vocals, pianos, Wurlitzer, Rhodes, guitars), David Powys (backing vocals, guitars, banjo), Samuel Rasmussen (bass), and Josh Bentley (drums). On this album they are joined by The Roadhouse Band that includes the talents of Hannah Cameron (backing vocals, organs, piano, percussion), Chris Panousakis (backing vocals, guitars, percussion), and Matt Dixon (pedal steel, guitars).

This is timeless music. The laid back playing and the sense of space in the arrangements allows the musicians to express their full range in allowing the melodies to find their own course. I hear the Go-Betweens in the silky Maria, Its Time and there is a gentle memory of the great Neal Casal in the vocal tone of Sam Bentley throughout. I Don’t Want To Go That Way is heartbreakingly beautiful in the delivery and typical of a number of special moments on this superb album. There is a subtle production throughout and the honeyed delivery of this music induces a sense of reverie as the songs deliver a sense of being visited by something special.

Darkness At My Door is a wonderful example and echoes The Band in the richly melodic arrangement and groove. The finely tuned pulse that reverberates through the album continues to inspire on Till the Flame Burns Blue as it channels early Van Morrison, the easy glide of the melody and vocal delivery augmented by soulful backing vocals and pedal steel atmospherics. Black and Thunder is another real highlight and has a deep blues groove with the guitar motif connecting with the slow rhythm and keyboard atmospherics. Marietta has a real sense of loneliness in the wistful delivery and the words ‘maybe peace will come in time.’

The album has great feel and atmosphere, with the listening experience one of joy at the real sense of accomplishment in the delivery. It certainly stands as a major statement in the career arc of this band and also points towards a new paradigm in the development of their journey. The ghost of Gram Parsons is in the fine lines of Rolling On Easy while Hurts So Good is classic country pain, sourced from the fires of sweet desire. The country noir of Burning the Night Away drips into the attack of June’s Stolen Car and a Replacements vibe in the carefree delivery.

The band dynamic is something that comes only from years of playing together and the seamless flow in the groove is both enticing and hypnotic, with plenty of nuance in the delivery. The Sweet Sound Of You is yet another highlight and one that arrives perfectly formed in the gentle flow, while Pocketful Of Rain is a meditation on the peaks and troughs of a relationship in all its guises.

There is over an hour of inspiring and inventive music to explore here and the deeply gratifying feeling of being on a surf board above the waves persists throughout. Without doubt, one of the highlights of the year and a talisman for the potential that continues to guide this band on the path forward. A very special album and an essential purchase.

Paul McGee

The Old 97s American Primitive ATO

Right from the get-go you know that this band are back with a bang. Since the release of their debut album back in 1994 they have never failed to impress, with a sound labelled both cowpunk and alt-country. They have always had country overtones and high-energy undertones (or perhaps something of the Undertones). Some might rightly wonder if they are still capable of making the music as they once did 30 years in. This album dispels any doubts and is a hit to these ears, from first song to last.

It was produced, engineered and mixed by Tucker Martine who has done his best to capture that ‘lightning in a bottle’ sound that sometimes evades bands in the studios. Martine has undoubtedly achieved that balance between primitive and polish. They went into the studio without any pre-production with the producer, so that may help explain some of the elements of the recording that makes it sound instinctive rather than overthought. That their line up is unchanged since their inception speaks of shared objectives and mutual respect. Occasionally members of the band have released solo albums and side projects, but the sound and ideals of the Old 97s still lies in this band. One reason perhaps for their longevity is that they have credited the majority of their material to the whole band, something that can avoid the conflict that can exist when one or two members take the writing credits (and more significantly perhaps the royalties).

Joining the band for the recording were Peter Buck (guitar and mandolin on a couple of tracks), Scott McCaughey played piano on one song, Richard Hewett added additional drums to one cut, pianist Annie Crawford and Jeff Tripp (who plays some notable flamenco guitar on the final track Estuviera Cayendo). But it is Rhett Miller, Murry Hammond, Ken Bethea and Philip Peeples who play the crucial roles, bringing the band through their noted live genesis as well as in the studio. They reveal themselves to be at the top of their game here, with Miller delivering very impressive lead vocals and the others all adding backing vocals and harmonies. He draws on literary as well as literate observation for inspiration. One song though, Honeypie, is more obviously of a closer family source, wherein he declares “She likes it when I call her honeypie / she likes it when I call her pretty baby / but the one thing she don’t like is when I call her my old lady” This adds a rounded perspective to some of the more introspective lyrics, as with the opening three track salvo of rock prowess that begins with Falling Down. That song offers this couplet as a way of signifying and dealing with an uncertain future “You’ve got to dance as if the world’s on fire around you / because it is” and that is a truth that will resonate for many. Across the thirteen tracks they exhibit a deftness with arrangements that underscore their ability to combine melody and mighty riffs. The open trio of songs would not be out of place in any punk club or rock arena. 

Stepping back a little in terms of tempo, they detail a roadmap that Where The Roads Goes has taken them and may still continue to take them. I can’t remember the last time that whistling was a central feature of a song but it is in By The End Of The Night. It is a standout for this reason, as well a for being a memorable song. And so it goes with Masterpiece, Magic and Incantation - the latter opens with acoustic and vocals harmonies and effectively maintains that pace to give the lyrics their clarity to outline a break-up to be “an invitation to rejoin the human race” and to be free and find another person. Western Stars has some twang to motivate it. And especially cowpunk in feel is Chased The Setting Sun, something that the protagonist has done and wants to be told when he is done. Moller uses some falsetto in his vocal that is a testament to his undiminished skill in that areaWestern Stars has some twang to motivate it. And especially cowpunk in feel is Chased The Setting Sun, something that the protagonist has done and wants to be told when he is done. Moller uses some falsetto in his vocal that is a testament to his undiminished skill in that area.

We close as we began with the penultimate full throttle song that decries This World, short and not that sweet. AMERICAN PRIMITIVE is the latest outing from a band that I have followed (from afar) and never been disappointed with, in their recorded music. This is arguably, and justifiably, one of their best and long may they continue. It is the war cry, rather than any sign of a possible wreck of the Old 97’s. 

Stephen Rapid

Dawn Landes, Caitlin Cannon, Ted Russell Kamp Music, Robby Hecht, Elliott BROOD, The Paper Kites, Old 97's.

New Album Reviews

Seth Mulder & Midnight Run In Dreams I Go Back Mountain Fever

In just a few short years, mandolinist Seth Mulder and his band have risen from relative obscurity to being one of the top drawer bluegrass bands in the US. After graduating from college music courses, they developed their chops and stagecraft playing 5 hours per day, 5 days per week in Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery in Gatlinburg, Tennessee (where they still continue to play when not out on the road). Yet they also manage to keep it fresh in the studio, which is clearly evident in this, their third full length album. 

From the opening track, One More Night, it’s evident that there are a lot more influences filtering through the music than just traditional hard driving bluegrass, in the case of this Seth Mulder original it’s ‘rockabilly meets bluegrass’. It also gives the first taste of Mulder’s superb tenor voice, that can do high lonesome with the best of them. Three part harmonies are de riguer throughout the song choices, particularly on traditionally themed numbers like Carolina Line, The Mountains Are Calling and Back To The Carolinas. They show their strong country leanings in the George Jones favourite, Picture Of Me Without You, and in another wonderful Seth Mulder original, Your Love, with a catchy opening and closing riff from guitarist Ben Watlington. Banjo player Ben Colton shines everywhere, but also gets to contribute his baritone vocals to the gospel song, My God Will set me Free, another song co-written by Mulder. There’s more country flavour and three part harmonies in the fast-paced waltz, In Dreams I Go Back, while fiddle player Max Silverstein is featured on the breathtaking two minutes and ten seconds long My, My, My. One of the standout tracks is the only instrumental and another Mulder-penned tune, Bull Head Swamp, which is up there with any bluegrass instrumental anywhere, in this reviewer’s opinion. 

We’ve been lucky that Seth Mulder and his band have played Ireland twice already and I hear they’ll be back this way during another trip to Europe this summer. Check them out and tell them we sent you.

Eilís Boland

The Secret Sisters Mind, Man, Medicine New West

Muscle Shoals, Alabama-born sisters Lydia Slagle and Laura Rogers's self-titled debut album in 2010 was an introduction to siblings whose exquisite harmony vocals and well-constructed songs signposted them as 'ones to watch' in the Americana world. Since then, they have released three more albums, including the Brandi Carlile Grammy-nominated 2020 album, SATURN RETURN.  

Their fifth album, MIND, MAN, MEDICINE, was co-produced with John Paul White and Ben Tanner. They returned to Muscle Shoals and the Fame Studios for most of the recording, also availing of the services at Sun Drop Sound in Florence, Alabama. A lot has changed in the fourteen years since their debut album. Motherhood and its inherent pressures and responsibilities, the pandemic, broken friendships and a realisation of the people and things that really matter in life provided the framework for this album. The result is an album that breathes hopefulness and positivity, most probably a statement of the sisters' current mood and perspectives. Opening tracks on albums are generally a thematic pointer to what follows, and Space, the first track here, is a delight. 'I am holding space for you,' they announce in the song, reading like an olive branch held out to those who may need a helping hand. 

That overriding sense of compassion and empathy also surfaces on I Can Never Be Without You Anymore, Bear With Me and Never Walk Away. The soulful All The Ways, which features Ray LaMontagne on vocals, is vintage R'n'B, and in complete contrast, the hymnlike Planted is a gentle lullaby. I Needed You combines the sisters' vocals with rich orchestral layers and, on a lighter note, Paperweight is a catchy slice of country soul. 

Despite the Grammy nominations, Lydia Slagle and Laura Rogers have faced their fair share of challenges. From being dropped by Republic Universal Records to navigating lawsuits and the realities of motherhood, their journey has been a testament to their resilience. MIND, MAN, MEDICINE is a reflection of their perseverance, a project both lyrically and musically that The Secret Sisters have always aspired to create. In my view, it stands as their most powerful work to date.

Declan Culliton

Pat Reedy & The Longtime Goners Make It Back Home Self-Release

One of my most enjoyable musical experiences in Nashville didn’t take place in a salubrious venue like The Ryman, Grand Ole Opry or even that legendary honky tonk Robert’s Western World. The location was the office of an underground car park, which required the assistance of Google Maps to eventually locate it. Pat Reedy and his pick-up three-piece band chose this less-than-swanky venue to showcase his album THAT’S ALL THERE IS AND THERE AIN’T NO MORE during Americana Fest week in 2018. The band included an upright bass player, singer-songwriter Michaela Anne’s husband Aaron Shafer-Haiss on drums and a Scandinavian pedal steel player Pat had met only hours before. Despite the haphazard arrangements, they performed a killer set from an album that became one of my favourites of that year and one that I still regularly revisit.

Reedy is a survivor of an industry that has found him busking at street corners in New Orleans, founding the band Sundown Songs, which included similarly bohemian street artists Alynda Segarra and Sam Doores, and working various construction jobs before moving to Nashville. Very much part of the underground country scene in Nashville, he can be found with his ever-changing band, The Longtime Goners, entertaining locals and out-of-towners at the American Legion Post 82 on Gallatin Pike or, more recently, his residency downtown at Bobby’s Idle Hour Tavern.

Many of the talented crew of players who shared the stages with Reedy contributed to his latest album. Stalwarts of the East Nashville country scene and recording artists in their own right, John R Miller played electric guitar and bass, Kristina Murray added background vocals, and Thomas Bryan Eaton added electric guitar. Other contributors included Leo Grassl (pedal steel), Ryan Elwell (drums, harmony vocals), Evan Martin (organ) and Meredith Watson (harmony vocals). The production duties were handled by John James Tourville (The Deslondes), who also added electric and acoustic guitar. Collectively, they impeccably recreate the dynamic of Reedy’s live shows across twelve tracks.

Telling his tales in simple and to-the-point terms, the songwriting signposts the highs and lows of Reedy’s often disorderly career. Doomed relationships and empty pockets are recurring themes, whether factual or imaginary. The pedal steel-drenched Bright Lights, the sharp-witted Runnin’ Out of Reasons, and the mid-tempo Long Drives and Lonesome Mornings particularly impress. It’s not all ‘tears in your beer’ either; the title track has a ring of defiance and self-worth. There is a striking desert border vibe to Traveler on the Plains, and Tallest Man in Tennessee salutes the untiring blue-collar working man.  

MAKE IT BACK HOME won’t feature in the Billboard Charts or country music radio—it’s far too ‘country’ for that. But with a collection of well-constructed nuggets and exceptional playing, anyone who craves ‘rough around the edges’ styled country music loaded with swing, twang, and wicked humour will find this essential listening. 

Declan Culliton

Eric Brace and Thomm Jutz Simple Motion Red Beet

Nashville-based duo Brace and Jutz are life-long friends and consummate music professionals. Over the decades, they have played together in various ensembles, produced other artists and steered their business interests successfully through the shark infested waters of the music industry. For Brace, the journey to Nashville was in search of recognition as a founding member of Last Train Home, a superb band of heartland and roots rock leanings. Jutz took a separate path as a musician for hire and his reputation grew out of contributions to albums by Nanci Griffith, Marty Stuart, Kim Richey, Mary Gauthier and Amy Speace, among others.

Both have played with Peter Cooper, journalist, historian and producer, who died in 2022 following a tragic accident. They played together, as a trio, and released two albums, in addition to touring on a regular basis.  Brace also released a number of duo albums with Cooper but this new project marks the first occasion that both Jutz and Brace have come together as a duo to record. It’s a landmark album in many ways as it honours their old friend and also visits the memories of time past when a simple life was something to be valued over the crazy motion of this modern world.

The fourteen songs are perfectly formed and recorded in a bright and inviting fashion by the duo and at forty eight minutes of playing time, there is plenty for every listener to enjoy. Opening song Frost On the South Side tells of seasonal farm workers who move across the country in search of the next harvest and a living wage. Burn is another song about travelling and soaking up all the experiences that life can deliver along the journey. The title track continues the theme, and the album image of two rail workers on a push trolley captures the need for motion in order to enjoy the adventure. Yet another song, Ramble, councils to put on your shoes and go walking.

The musicianship is quite superb at all turns and the combined talents of Mike Compton (mandolin), Richard Bailey (banjo), Justin Moses (dobro, banjo), Jeff Taylor (accordion, tin whistle), Tammy Rogers (fiddle), and Mark Fain (bass) deliver ensemble playing of the highest order. The combined guitars and vocals of Brace and Jutz highlight the easy manner in which the songs flow seamlessly together and their blended talents are a real highlight throughout. Just A Moment refers to the fact that ‘everything has changed’ and alludes to the passing of their great musical brother, Peter Cooper.

Can’t Change the Weather is a song that was co-written by Cooper and Jutz and it fits nicely into the narrative here. It’s a song about tour plans to Ireland being put in jeopardy and the need to just let things take their course. The relationship woes of Anywhere But Here play out in a slow waltz while the light jazz feel of When London Was the World has a swing that is sweetly delivered. The story song of Adam and Eve tells of tragedy on the high seas, while the pull of the ocean on Sea Fever captures the freedom of being out on the water and sailing away from all your cares.

Nashville In the Morning frames the city in a love song that captures the creative energy that has always formed part of the spirit over time, despite the changes that have come to pass over recent decades. All in all, a great album wrapped up in a creativity that delivers quality songs and an understanding that the magic remains in the communication between musician and listener.

Paul McGee

Vanessa Peters Flying On Instruments Idol

This Texas singer songwriter has been releasing music as far back as 2003 when she first came to media attention with a debut release, titled Sparkler. Over the intervening years she has pursued a successful career, recording with other artists such as Ice Cream On Mondays and The Sentimentals, in addition to releasing a further seven solo albums. With this new release, Peters has opted for a very bright Americana sound across nine tracks that feature her European touring band "The Electrofonics" which consists of Federico Ciancabilla (electric guitar), Andrea Colicchia (bass), Matteo Patrone (keyboards), and Rip Rowan (drums).

The up-tempo opener Beauty Or Grace speaks of the fallout from Covid and reflects ‘I don’t need a golden calf, I’d just like to afford to keep doing what I love, and I’m long past needing recognition, or a sign from above.’ A message to live in the moment is at the centre of Halfway Through which muses over ‘what to carry, what to leave behind, and what I can do without.’  The song Blind Curves  slows the pace with a look at the life options that we either decide to embrace or to ignore; whether leaving is the way forward or perhaps staying is the true path ‘numb the pain with too much work and alcohol, pretending I don’t miss anyone at all.’

Better is wrapped up in a nice melody that is very much aimed at a radio-friendly audience, even if the lyrics point at self-reflection and issues of self-acceptance ‘I spent a lot of time on wasted decisions I couldn’t seem to make, and kept a lot of feelings hidden away, with others I couldn’t fake.’ Pinball Heart is a song that rocks out with a driving rhythm section and a message to live life large ‘If you’re stuck in the way that it was, then you’ll always be missing the way that it is.’ How Long is a highlight with a look at the vagaries of life. A friend who loses his wife, another who is wrestling with a decision regarding being pregnant, and heart surgery on the horizon for yet another acquaintance as Peters reflects upon life ‘moving forward, while always sliding back.’ This song also references the album title in the lines ‘we’re all flying on instruments, no one’s got a crystal ball.’

Other songs deal with the struggle of relationships and both Out To Sea and Wasted Days are questioning the channels of communication, while Hey Claire hints at the futility of making plans, suggesting that things fall apart and leave us stumbling through the dark. I would prefer to imagine us all in the space of free-will where our decisions have their own karma. An interesting album with a very assured sound and Rip Rowan co-produced the project with Joe Reyes (guitar, lap steel) in Dallas. Peters has an inviting tone in her vocal and her acoustic guitar sits easily into the mix of song arrangements. Her lyrics are nicely balanced between insight and reflection and the inclusion of a string quartet on some songs helps to lift things to further heights. Worthy of your attention.

Paul McGee

Michael Lane Memories Greywood

Released towards the end of 2023, this album represents the sixth record in a career that goes back to 2014. Lane is resident in Germany and he previously served in the American army, seeing service in both Afghanistan and Iraq. His album in 2021 was titled Take It Slow and the songs were a look at issues such as acceptance and rebirth. The spiritual tone and the message of hope is reflected into this new album also with the emphasis this time on personal relationships. The need to share our inner feelings with another and to be prepared to express vulnerability are themes that run through these ten songs of loving awareness.

The opener Getting’ By talks of selling a guitar to pay the rent but even if bad luck abounds, the message to keep moving on is repeated as a mantra to push through the tough times.  I Can’t Live Without You is a song that looks at communication issues between couples and the dark days that bring out the need to find the light. Balsam Tree is a song that appeared on the debut album in 2014 and the female voice who shares the duet is uncredited but very engaging as the acoustic arrangement drifts along a banjo and guitar melody, conjuring up images of summer days and letting go of all cares.

Memory is a more up-tempo arrangement with a driving rhythm section setting the pace and a song that looks back at a former relationship that has slipped away. Also, Remember the Days covers this same ground in realising that the insecurity of youth can be a stepping stone towards more mature relationships into the future, once love can endure. Walking A Long Road also appeared on that same debut album and is included here as a hope that an old lover is doing well and that somewhere their paths will cross in the future. Here With Me is a wish for dreams to come true and for a safe place where those who are close can hold memories of what is lasting.

There is a commercial influence to some of these contemporary folk musings and the sweetly toned vocal of Lane is a real plus in terms of reaching out to a different market where his music can find a wider audience.  In Your Arms is a gentle love song and definitely a contender for inclusion in some future movie soundtrack as the celebration of love is highlighted in the nice melody lines with the players delivering a fine performance. Someone New is a song in hope of reinventing yourself through the love of someone new, to shedding the old you and embracing fresh beginnings.

The final song is Summer Love and a rousing message that our desire to feel emotion that burns like a fire is the fuel that drives us forward. An interesting album and one that certainly delivers on a number of platforms. Music to both soothe and signal a way forward for the true believer the dwells within us all.  

Paul McGee

SG Sinnicks Fridge Magnet Self Release

Although this was originally released in 2022 it recently arrived for review here. It is a well-rounded six track EP of original songs and one cover. that are short and (very) sweet in a very appealing folk-rock style (there is a mention of Nick Lowe on his site, which may give you an idea of the general wide-ranging direction). Sinnicks is a Canadian with strong Irish roots who has seventeen releases listed on his website.

That one cover is a version of Buddy Holly’s Words Of Love that keeps the basic format of the song but gives it a new arrangement that works well and shows Sinnicks affinity with the iconic music that Holly pioneered. On all the tracks Sinnicks is joined by a number of fellow players who are sympathetic to his gameplan. Though they rarely number more than two to three contributions for each track. Sinnicks himself plays baritone and acoustic guitar as well as percussion and drums. Although not noted on the cover I would imagine was also produced by him.

The five originals are When You’re Gone a beat heavy ode to being essential unable to cope with life’s small vicissitudes such as using the remote or remembering card numbers when his partner is gone. With a sixties swing and symptomatic backing vocals The Dance Tonight feels like a lost song from the era and underlines Sinnicks’ adaptable and stylistic vocals. About change and moving on That Old Road is another well thought out folkish take on believing as time passes that “not everyone’s the villain and not everyone’s the same” and that change is essential to growth - it also has some effective slide guitar.

There’s a slight night club feel to the rhythmic feel of White Charlie that would appearbvto be talking of individual needs and phone addictions. It has some effective mood-enhancing piano from Mike Boguski and mandolin from Randall Hill. Different again is the tale of the Landlady Of Boxhill - a story of a lady who worked in a bar in London’s Camden, pulling pints. It tells of a liaison between a young woman and an older man. It also has a violent undertone of that area’s late night darker criminal activity. It shows Sinnicks ability with a lyric which reminds, for perhaps obvious reasons when you hear it, of Richard Thompson. It uses a simple but effective beat, over which bass and acoustic guitars thread a strong structure that allows the voice to clearly tell its tale.

I’m unaware of Sinnicks previous work but on the strength of this introduction look forward to hearing where he will place his magnetic music next time out.

Stephen Rapid

Neil Bob Herd & The DLAB 5-Reel Feature EP Self Release

The former member of the Coal Porters released a well-received album in 2020 with EVERY SOUL TELLS A STORY. On it he was accompanied by his current comrades who are know as DLAB (Dirty Little Acoustic Band). They are here again on this new five track EP of new songs that opens with the interesting and stand-out song Angel At My Table. But that presence may not be totally a one of enlightenment “the angel at my table visits me at my table when I do something wrong … do you want to be remembered as someone who faked his own life.”

Throughout the EP there is a loose affiliation with folk, roots and twang that has earned him a moniker as a reminding some of a Scottish Nick Lowe. Again you can see the connection even if it’s only in overall terms. But as Lowe himself has covered some very different bases with his music it is perhaps something of an apt comparison.

DLAB, despite their name are not adverse to hooking up to electricity and that is demonstrated by the twanging Guild guitar on there closing track, the instrumental The Night that also uses some guitar pedal effects over a solid bass and drum rhythm. Steel guitar also features in the overall sound especially effective in the aforementioned Angel At My Table. Have a look at the video for the song on Herd’s website. It shows a tight and self contained band at work and adds a touch of visual humour at the end that shoes they are not taking themselves seriously - although the take their music with deliberation. Between those two points there are there quite different arrangements, for instance Brother has a heavier feel overall that is an option of the overall diversity on offer. There is a live version of The Heart, The Mind, The Purse that finds Herd offering all three to the right person. Herd’s accent is apparent as are the guitar skills from Herd and Paul Fitzgerald. The other members here include bassist Glenn Lamberton and Gary Smith Lyons.

Who’s Going To Dance offers something of a loose rockabilly groove that will make it a floor-filling favourite in a live setting - while on record it adds to the overall of the structures and diverseness. EPs tend to allow some media focus and opportunities for tour merchandising but also tend to leave you wanting some more. Something witnessed by the strength of the debut album release. So this can be seen as something of a stop gap until the opportunity arises for the release of the next album proper. - a full length feature.

Stephen Rapid

Tylor and the Train Robbers Road Ready Self Release

When I hear of a band from Idaho I immediately think of Pinto Bennett and the Famous Motel Cowboys. This band has been around for ten years or so and deliver a similar commitment to their music which, in turn, makes them a logical contender, creating a blend of country and rock that was once alt.country and now passes as Americana. They are fronted by singer, guitarist and main writer, Tylor Ketchum. The band also included his brothers Jason Bushman and Tommy Bushman on bass and drums respectively. They are rounded out by lead guitar and pedal steel player, Rider Soran. This album was produced, as was their last album, by Cody Braun whose membership of veteran outfit Reckless Kelly makes him well suited to that role.

Ketchum has a distinctive enough vocal to distinguish him out and his songs are reflections of life and that of anyone whose living is made through some constant travelling. The opening title song is an obvious testament to that. It opens with some tinkling keyboards before Ketchum’s voice takes over the song and the band join in with a catchy guitar motif and some steel to back it up, over the (country) rock-solid rhythm section. Same sense of the road ahead is true of Next Long Haul, which features harmonica effectively, On The Go is another tale of keeping on keeping on, even if you are “on you own .. .all alone” - it has some great guitar and a solid beat to help get the message across. Not long ago this would likely have been tagged alt-country, as the band’s stance is not without depth and a sense of some harsh realties that take them a good distance from the somewhat bloodless mainstream of today. That may thankfully be slowly changing to a degree, but a cohesive band like this offers something more, something tangible and heartfelt.

They immediately make inroads into the memory with some upfront, upbeat, driving crowd pleasers in The Way We Learn and Skittle Man, both with  instrumental textures that add to the overall sound. They can just as easily captivate with a song like Sailing Song which, while taking the pace down a notch, doesn’t lose the band’s inherent power both lyrically and in arrangement. It uses the metaphor of the sea to make the point of needing to sail across life to find a destination that is desired. Following a similar path in terms of overall feel is Straight As An Arrow, which finds the protagonist looking for some immediate satisfaction rather than succumbing to the realities of the future. By “shooting straight as an arrow / flying sideways / right on track for going off of the rails / if tonight were all I had I’d say to hell with tomorrow / least the morning will put the night in my palms.” It’s a song that I’ve listened to several times now with the rest of the album and it remains a standout. The album closes with Ton Of Trails, it has an almost campfire feel at the start as then, slowly, the snare, the steel guitar and rest of the band join in, under Ketchum’s believable vocal delivery.

Though the band originate in Idaho, the album was recorded in Yellow Dog Studio, Texas and manages to straddle those two musical locations with a sound that touches on both of the regions’ musical heritage. There is no doubt that this four piece band has the vocals, harmonies, story-songs and musical muscle to make them ready to choose their own path, no matter where their road might take them. But I think they have found a niche that works for them and for their fans, one that is ready to be discovered further afield.

Stephen Rapid

Seth Mulder & Midnight Run, The Secret Sisters, Pat Reedy & The Longtime Goners, Eric Brace and Thomm Jutz, Vanessa Peters, Michael Lane, SG Sinnicks, Neil Bob Herd & The DLaB, and Tylor & the Train Robbers.

New Album Reviews

Sierra Ferrell Trail Of Flowers Rounder

Sierra Ferrell's ascent from the humble beginnings of street performances and truck stop gigs to the illustrious stages of the Grand Ole Opry and The Ryman in just a few years is a captivating narrative that stands as one of the most thrilling success stories in contemporary country music.

Her debut album for Rounder Records, LONG TIME COMING, was a bold departure from the norm. Born in West Virginia, she defied conventions, creating her own sub-genre of gypsy music and seamlessly transitioning between old-time country, folk, and New Orleans-styled jazz. TRAIL OF FLOWERS, her latest offering, continues this eclectic musical journey, coinciding with a nationwide tour that includes two nights at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

Old-timey in sound and sentiment, Fox Hunt, with a heavy bass and drum beat and raging fiddle, harks back to days of self-survival and hunting for any available nourishment long before the convenience of the local store or supermarket. The protagonist in the front porch sing-a-long I Could Drive You Crazy may well be the ideal suitor for the woodsman in Fox Hunt ('Well, I can't hunt and I can't fish/But I can drive you crazy'). The murder ballad Rosemary, with little more than vocal and acoustic guitar before the song's climax, also transports the listener back to those former times. 

Nikki Lane and Kristen Rogers provide backing vocals on the instantly catchy and audacious Dollar Bill Bar. Her cover of Fiddlin' Arthur Smith's Chittlin Cooking Time in Cheatham County is a delightful slice of ragtime heaven. Money Train is a poignant lament for lost love, and the album concludes in a similar vein with the acoustic country No Letter. 

To her immense credit, despite being extremely marketable, Sierra Ferrell has avoided the temptation of travelling down a more mainstream path with TRAIL OF FLOWERS and instead stuck with what is close to her heart. Keeping the engines of country music well and truly stoked, she continues with her purple patch both in the studio and on stage. Long may it continue. 

Declan Culliton

Kimmi Bitter Old School Self-Release

Kimmi Bitter’s debut full-length album, OLD SCHOOL, transports the listener back to 1962 when Patsy Cline was ruling the airwaves with her velvety vocal tones and aching tales, alongside Loretta Lynn, who was No.1 with the Johnny Mullins-written Success. The album is not simply retrospective in revisiting that period; Bitter has the vocal deftness and songs, lock, stock, and barrel, to champion that period in classic country.

Following several singles, some of which are included on this album, and a relentless touring schedule, Bitter and her band of ten years, The Westside Twang, are generating the kind of industry attention that has opened doors for similarly old-school artists, Charley Crockett and Sierra Ferrell. Those band members are Willis Farnsworth on guitar and Ben Neal on bass, and their decade of sleeping in the touring van and surviving on a shoestring should be rewarded with this eleven-song collection. In reality, this album might never have seen the light of day had it not been for the success of Bitter’s single My Grass is Blue which was nominated as single of the year in the Saving Country Music publication, giving her exposure to a broad audience and also the confidence and motivation to go ahead and record an entire album of similarly styled songs.

Bitter gives great credit to her co-writer, co-producer, and accomplished guitar slinger, Michael Gurley (Ringo Starr, Mick Taylor, Kiefer Sutherland), who not only ‘got’ exactly what she was trying to achieve but worked with her over a two-year period, co-writing and eventually recording the record. 

Bitter’s vocals perfectly reflect the song’s moods throughout. The title track is loaded with twangy guitar, pounding upright bass and slick backing vocals (courtesy of Gurley). She namechecks Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash in case the listener is in any doubt as to where her heart lies. If that opener is classic bubble-gum 60s country/pop, other tracks like I Can’t Unlove You and I Dream of You are classic country heartbreakers. The pedal steel-drenched Cowboy Kind of Girl is full-on honky tonk, and Aquamarine conjures up images of sun-kissed blue seas and desert islands. 

Bitter’s hometown, San Diego, voted her Best Country / Americana Artist of 2023 and OLD SCHOOL will most certainly lead to greater recognition. Her style, a voice that sounds like a latter-day Patsy Cline, a crack band and catchy songs all combine to create a unique stock of old-school country. With that brand and an uncomplicated, vintage and delightful album that showcases her flair for easy-to-access melodies, the sky is the limit for Kimmi Bitter and The Westside Twang. 

Declan Culliton

Sentimental Family Band Sweethearts Only Tomika

Some of the finest country music in recent years has been recorded by artists and bands whose initial launch into the genre was via indie rock or punk. A case in point is Austin, Texas, three-piece Sentimental Family Band, whose debut full album is a throwback to former times with ten tracks that slot into an old-timey country groove. Like many adolescents, they rejected the traditional country music and bluegrass that their parents consumed. Still, after forays into indie, they have revisited the music of their childhoods with SWEETHEARTS ONLY. 

The three core band members are Kyle Albrecht (vocals, bass, guitar), Camille Lewis (vocals, guitar), and Matthew Shepherd (vocals, drums). They share co-writing credits, lead vocals, and harmonies. Other contributors to the recording were J.J. Swinn (Piano), Thibault Ripault (Guitar), Jack Montesinos (Guitar), and Simon Page (Pedal Steel Guitar).

There is a charming unfussiness to the album. Ignoring mainstream, overproduced crossover pop/country, their retro-sounding album doesn’t quite make the thirty-minute mark but is certainly quality over quantity. Camille Lewis takes the vocal lead on the majority of the tracks, and her striking vocals exhibit a delightfully understated quiver, perfectly suited to the country genre. 

Sweet melancholic songs Never Love Again and Fallen Petals sit comfortably alongside barroom honky tonk two-stepper Drink, Smoke, Cuss and Cry, and the wistful mid-tempo ballad Hung Up On The High Times. Other highlights are the opener Face to a Name, and the mellow Theo Lawrence co-write Hot House Flower.  

Sentimental Family Band isn’t breaking new ground with its debut album. They offer a suite of fine country songs supported by quality vocals and elegant instrumentation. It’s refreshing to add another act to the growing list of young bands immersing themselves in traditional country. 

SWEETHEARTS ONLY is a wholly heartfelt album that sounds like it’s been around forever. Hopefully, it will raise their profile and lead to more recordings and industry recognition. It’s more than deserving of that.

Declan Culliton

Carsie Blanton After The Revolution Self-Release

'Fevered, drugged up, and quarantined in my backyard shed, I had a semi-hallucinatory reverie about the future. The REAL future; not the one being pedalled by ad campaigns or political parties. A big, deep wave of hope and grief welled up and hit me upside the head,' explains Carise Blanton on the origin of the title track of her latest album. Many artists assert to have written their finest songs while in a fever and semi-hallucinatory condition. A Covid-related illness presented Blanton with a disturbing, dreamlike depiction of the future for that title track. 

It is impossible to pigeonhole Blanton's musical canon even in the ever-expanding Americana genre. Her canon incorporates country, soul, folk, punk, and rock (in fact, lots of rock). The common denominator in her writing is hard-hitting political protest and anti-fascist songs, and the title track ticks that particular box.  

She vents her anger and frustrations on that title track, and Empire ('Trash in the gutter and trash in the sea, trash in the hearts of the powers that be') is a plea for empathy and humanity. It's not all doom and gloom, either. Alongside the more solemn side of her writing are light-hearted offerings. Ain't We Got Fun, complete with a Walk On The Wild Side bass line, is a funky mid-tempo affair that revisits Blanton's carefree days as a sixteen-year-old enjoying life in a shared house in Oregon with similarly bohemian friends. Labour of Love is a co-write with the equally gifted artist Devon Sproule, and her punk sensibilities shine through on the full-on tracks Cool Kids and Right In The Middle Of It. Despite the exasperation at the administrative and governmental issues surrounding her, optimism and hopefulness ring through on the tracks Hope and Suddenly the Spring.  

Following a hugely successful series of dates in Ireland last year supporting Declan O'Rourke, Blanton returns to our shores in April with shows in Dundalk, Dublin, Kilkenny, Cork, Galway, and Limerick. She will showcase the material from this powerful album, so booking is highly recommended. 

Declan Culliton

Claudia Gibson The Fields Of Chazy Self Release

Currently a resident in Austin, Texas, this third release from singer songwriter Gibson follows on from her debut album, Step By Step (2016), and the Louisiana Sky EP (2019). Chazy is a town in northeastern Clinton County, New York and Claudia Gibson pays tribute to her ancestors and their years of building a life and contributing to the local community. The title track honours the memory of her grandfather, a farmer, who worked the land and planted apple trees that Gibson sees fully grown in later years ‘Today I walk a winding road, I touch the trees my Grandpa sowed, My heart’s here in the North Country, Among these fields of Chazy.’

On Promised Land we have a tale of young immigrants arriving in NYC. Two sisters trying to redefine their lives and hoping to rise above the grim reality of factory work. It is a song that references the life of Gibson’s grandmother as an Eastern European immigrant ‘Oh Lina, sister take my hand, There’s the lady with the torch, We’re living in the promised land.’ Elsewhere, Unbound is about fresh starts and new beginnings, moving on from a relationship and hoping for better days ahead ‘Headed back from where I came, Where everybody knows my name, Unbound, I'm starting out again.’ In contrast, The Days is a love song to the dedication and eternal bond involved in standing faithfully by your chosen partner in life ‘We laughed till we nearly cried, And loved so hard, I thought that we would break.’

The traditional Scottish song The Night Visiting Song is included and highlights the vocal of Pat Byrne, an Irish singer who duets nicely with Gibson’s sweet voice. Laura’s Song is an interesting story song that tells the tale of Laura Bullion, an outlaw and the only woman to ride as part of Butch Cassidy’s infamous Wild Bunch gang. Angels Fly is a beautiful song that channels loved ones that have left us and the sense that their essence remains in the air that surrounds us ‘So vividly you laughed and spoke, Still heard your voice as I awoke, Saying, “You can talk to me anytime, I’m always listening nearby.” The blues-tinged Rain dedicated to the memory of the great Valerie Carter who passed away in 2017, and who was a big influence on Gibson as a younger artist

The final song is Shine On and the message that we can rest in the acceptance of a life well lived, is one that we could all benefit from ‘Sometimes the world feels so heavy, The burden of years as we toil and strive, When luck is not even or steady, Keep your hand on the tiller, And eyes on the prize.’ Indeed..

The album is produced by Walt Wilkins and Ron Flynt who both contribute as musicians and they are joined by a coterie of studio players who add greatly to the easy feel of these tunes throughout. A very enjoyable experience across almost forty minutes of music that comes highly recommended.

Paul McGee

True Foxes Howl Self Release

This musical duo is comprised of cousins Amie Parsons and Chloe Payne who are based in Cornwall, England. Their debut album is filled with impressive vocal harmonies that are wrapped in a big production sound.

The opening track is Devil’s Calling and it’s a murder song which carries a warning that ‘If you go down to the woods today, You might just find his resting place, The ending of his laughing.’ Other songs like Follow the Leader carry a jaunty air that flies along on the banjo and fiddle melody and it has radio play and single written all over it.  Another commercial song is 17 and it highlights the harmony vocals of this duo, along with a strong rhythm and driving beat. To these ears, the production feels somewhat crowded, with the lyrics squeezed into the song arrangement.

Cry Wolf is a warning against a predatory male that is lurking in the shadows, always looking for an opportunity to take advantage. The duo sound close to fellow English trio Wildwood Kin and their contemporary Folk sound is certainly the product of a range of influences. Thrive is a warning against being too open to the vagaries of romance and vulnerable to the troubled path of passion. Equally, Higher is wrapped in regret for youthful mistakes but looking to empowerment as adulthood brings self-belief and confidence. The vocals again seem to be squeezed into the song arrangement as the upbeat tempo carries the message of ‘aspire to be free.’

Things slow for the more reflective Other Girl and a song that charts relationship woes. How Are You Now? is the strongest song here and seems to touch on issues of mental health and the strength to find a way through the challenges ‘How are you now? Now that you’ve found your way.’

Leave the Light On has a theme of comfort running through it with the sense of insecurity being replaced by the joy of a partner ‘ I am not who I was yesterday or a year ago, I was trying to be everybody’s friend but not my own,’ leading into the admission that ‘Now I honestly couldn’t see me with anyone else, You leave the light on, You’re like coming home.’  The gentle sway of Wanderer looks to the spirit of wanting to be free in discovering life ‘Time won’t stand still for no man, Run and get out while you still can, Take your insecurities and flaunt them.’

The final song is also the album title and deals with the pain of separation, and all that comes with looking for your place in the world. Danny Hart features strongly throughout on both banjo and fiddle, with Sam Gerrard also contributing on banjo, together with Annie Baylis-Gray on fiddle. Bo Payne also contributes on both drums and electric guitar. File under contemporary folk with a commercial twist. The harmony vocals are lovely and although the production is somewhat busy in places this doesn’t detract too much from the overall positive feel of the album.

Paul McGee

Charlie Parr Little Sun Smithsonian Folkways

The talents of acoustic blues musician Charlie Parr first came to the notice of the music community in the new millennium and his debut album appeared in 2002. Parr is famous for his DIY approach to recording and a preference to go with the first take. This time out he allowed more collaboration with his friend Tucker Martine having a significant contribution as producer. This is album number eighteen in the career of this roots artist and his ability on banjo, resonator/ 12-string  guitars and harmonica always delivers music that is both compelling and engaging. The eight songs included on this new release blend seamlessly together over forty minutes and the album was recorded in Portland, Oregon.

The two longest tracks are meditative pieces that run for over seven minutes each and both are celebrations of nature in all its glory; Bear Head Lake is a timeless slice of kicking back to enjoy the surroundings ‘I remove my shoes to accept the cool October water;’ with Pale Fire describing the glory of a desert drive, falling asleep to the sunset and waking to the sunrise – same sun, different day. There is also a strong message of community running through the album with local neighbours deciding what constitutes generosity these days. On the song Stray Charlie Parr is concerned about a man who has fallen on hard times ‘How can you say there’s a stray, In the middle of your town, He can feel the anger in your eyes, Where empathy should be found.’

Sloth examines the need to do as little as possible in search of the perfect state if idleness ‘My career goals are a little patch of sun, Or maybe that little bit of shade.’ Ten Watt is about growing old and not caring what others think anymore. There is a sense of freedom in not conforming to type and the lyric ‘Climbing fences? at my age? Yeah, but I’m just an old man when the cops are called’ sums up the attitude nicely. Portland Avenue ponders just how much we acknowledge the characters in our communities with the sudden disappearance of a colourful local character, and on Boombox we are urged to enjoy neighbourhood music and dancing, in all its variety and vibrancy.

Throughout, the music is beguiling in its easy delivery and the quality of the musicians interplay. There is such a sense of synergy in the different textures brought to the song arrangements with Marisa Anderson (guitar), Victor Krummenacher (acoustic and electric bass), Asher Fulero (Keyboards, piano) and Andrew Borger (drums, percussion) playing seamlessly and with subtle flair. Anna Tivel contributes on backing vocals, Mary DuShane adds fiddle on one song and Mikkel Beckmen (percussion), with Liz Draper (bass) supply the rhythm section on Ten Watt.   

Charlie Parr plays both harmonica and guitar, in addition to providing all lead vocals, and producer Tucker Marine brings a delicate balance to everything with plenty of space in the song structures. The album title refers to Tony “Little Sun” Glover, a folk and blues musician who was revered for his harmonica skills and who released many albums, either as a solo artist or as a member of Koerner, Ray & Glover. The song lyric says ‘The music it plays everywhere, was it better when we were young, Or have we lost our focus, We need you here Little Sun.’ Tony Glover passed away in 2019 and the legacy he left behind is honoured on this album with the measure and meaning of community and the spirit of timeless music woven like a silken thread through these songs. A very rewarding album.

Paul McGee

Son Of the Velvet Rat Ghost Ranch Fluff and Gravy

When it comes to atmospherics and dynamics then there is no better music than a new album from the performance vehicle, Son Of the Velvet Rat. Formed in 2003 by Austrian husband and wife duo Georg Altziebler and Heike Binder, their impressive catalogue of twelve album releases is witness to their creative muse and their dream to bring music of substance into the collective consciousness.

Currently living in Joshua Tree, California it could be argued that the strong influence of the Mojave desert has found its way into both their consciousness and the music created. Opening with the intriguing Bewildering Black and White Moments Captured On Trail Cams the song takes on the notion of life, and love,  as a passing collage of images that blur and extend over time, leaving us all none the wiser ‘Is it just bewildering black and white moments, captured on trail cams that you see, Or maybe just some long gone kind of twisted series of memories.’ It all sounds very cerebral but the deep groove of the music delivers a real emotion and punch in the song structure.

Are the Angels Pretty? follows and again we are given a slice of country noir with a classy slow blues tempo and the longing in the lyric ‘do we really keep our secrets or do we leave them at the door?’ These songs conjure up great imagery in the themes and the words, with a sense of loneliness running through tracks like Deeper Shade Of Blue, New Frontier and Golden Gate with tales of immigration, dented dreams and the hopes for a better life.

Rosary is a song that channels a Tom Waits influence in the offbeat arrangement with the warped image of a mass shooting scenario running as a narrative ‘Daddy’s gonna take me to the shooting range for my birthday, Mama’s gonna give me a rosary.’ The theme of bullying is at the core of the song and the use of theremin by Heike Binder adds a surreal quality to the song. Standout track Kindness Of the Moon carries a sense of foreboding and tension in the arrangement and a creeping sense of isolation in city life.

The musicians that serve up this feast of atmospheric sounds and creative playing are; Georg Altziebler (vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, harmonica, optigan),  Heike Binder (vocals, harmonium, theremin, Omnichord, percussion), Marc Ribot (electric guitar), Jeff Bellerose and Danny Frankel (drums), Janie Cowan (acoustic bass), Jennifer Condos (electric bass), Tony Patler (B3 organ, piano), Jolie Holland (vocals, whistling, processed violin) & Bob Furgo (violin). If you are new to the music of this artistic couple then this album is as good a place as any to start your love affair. Highly recommended.

Paul McGee

Sue Decker Keeping Time Self Release

Canadian musician Sue Decker releases her second album and the seven songs are very much focused in the blues/roots stable of the music map. Employing the stellar talents of Steve Dawson as both producer and musician is a fine move and one that almost guarantees a successful outcome and a calling card for future projects. Steve really pulls out all the stops on these songs and his creative playing across a range of guitars is a pure masterclass. He is joined by Dave Jacques on bass guitar and Justin Amaral on drums, both of whom add a dynamic and understated support to the song arrangements.

As with any Steve project, there is a great sense of space and freedom in the recording and the vocals of Sue Decker are very much front and centre in the mix. Her vocal tone is warm in the production and her sassy songs such as Cheatin’ Side Of Town are filled with personality. It’s the type of song arrangement that would suit Bonnie Raitt and perhaps that avenue would be of interest in exploring. Love Made For A Lifetime is a song that explores ageing and dementia and it is handled with both understanding and a sense of letting go of the past. We all fear what the future may deliver..

Elsewhere, Nobody’s Mother is an acoustic-based song that reflects upon a decision to not opt for family life and children. The life of a travelling artist has its sacrifices and demons and perhaps the true key to contentment is learning how to live with compromise. Pretty Words and Flowers dissects a relationship and past memories, a romance that has run its course and the sense of forgiveness that now hangs in the air.

The Lost Ones tackles the grim reality of the homeless and disenfranchised on our streets and the way in which they are forced to live on the margins and the outskirts of society. Hummingbird is a great track that highlights the bluesy bottleneck guitar of Steve Dawson and the pedal steel of Never Asked To Be So Strong has a traditional country arrangement that charts the fading star of an ageing performer whose best days are behind him.

All songs are written by Sue Decker, with one co-write, and the album was recorded at the Henhouse Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. The album is a very enjoyable listen and it points towards another collaboration into the future that involves these impressive musicians as a creative ensemble.

Paul McGee

New Album Reviews

Matt Owens and the Delusional Vanity Project Way Out West Urby

This new album is a strong statement of endurance from a very talented artist. A former member of Noah and the Whale for over nine years where he featured on bass guitar, Owens reinvented himself as a solo artist with the release of his debut album in 2019. He has since gone on to release three further albums and this new project is the second time that he has recorded with the Delusional Vanity Project - (great name)! The DVP is a seven-piece band made up of musicians from other bands that have circled around Owens orbit over the years (Little Mammoths, Treetop Flyers, Clemencie, Danny and the Champs), and together they make a very impressive ensemble with a richness in the playing and great colour in these song arrangements.

We are treated to eleven songs over forty-nine minutes and the journey is well worth the time invested. The songs are full of interesting insights into life as we live it and the sense of understated empathy that runs through the characters and the lyrics cannot be over-emphasised. Songs like Hope the Darkness Pulls You Through and Morning Light are fine examples of showing resilience and learning from the experiences that come our way, either through the ageing process, relationship changes or challenging times. Death, Sickness and Heartache has a great groove and carries a similar message about the need to endure and to ride out the hard days, while You’re Not Gone is a tribute to a close friend who has passed away and is still a strong presence ‘You were the best of us, raised up the rest of us.’

A  real highlight is the co-vocal with Hannah White on Five Years Into Marriage, a hard look at a relationship that is running into a cul-de-sac and ending in regret ‘ I will probably cheat to stay in, until you cheat to get out.’ Blindsided By Time is a real tour-de-force and the longest track here at almost eight minutes of slow burn tempo and electric guitar dynamics. Owens and James Jack blend creatively on traded solos that lift higher into the pain caused by feeling out of time and ruminating over the missed opportunities in an old friendship that lost traction.

Glasgow City Lights is an up-tempo rocker that recounts days and nights of being on tour, missing home and trying to reconcile that eternal urge to be playing live. One For the Grapes has a great guitar sound, plus Robert Vincent guesting on harmonica, and speaks of the joys of playing a local venue in Bath with ‘an ice cold beer and an old guitar.’  Both Sides Of the Line looks at the cold reality of trying to make music work as a full time job, while The Bard Of the Bars has a similar theme with a look at an old pub singer that gets his weekly lift from enjoying the live experience at his local.

Owens is joined on this album by the combined talents of Jimmy Besley (drums and percussion), Duncan Kingston (bass), James Jack (electric guitars), Geoffrey Widdowson (organs and keyboards), Jim Godfrey (piano, Rhodes, synths), and Camilla Skye ( harmony vocals). There are a number of other guests who feature, including Eddie Johns (drums on selected tracks), Keiron Marshall (guitar on selected tracks), and both Hannah White and Robert Vincent, as previously mentioned.

The final song Twickenham Station is a nostalgic memory of growing up and the early influences on a young musician looking to find a starting point. It strikes me that Owens has long since found his tribe and that he moves forward in a direction that confirms his strong talent as a songwriter and a guitar player. A really engaging album and one that will feature in many year-end lists when it comes to favourite albums of 2024. Such a fine example of independent music that regularly scratches at the edges of the music industry for recognition. You can support the cause by checking out the back catalogue of this insightful songwriter and musician. You will not be disappointed.

Paul McGee

Jack Cade Bewilderland Self Release

Born on the Isle of Sheppey, an island off the northern coast of Kent, and steeped in the culture of English tradition, performer Jack Cade has been creating music of some substance since 2011. His band are the Everyday Sinners and their three albums to date have all been well received. Cade himself has released a number of solo albums in parallel with his band activity and this new album marks his fourth as he continues to build upon previous success. Given that Cade uses the Everyday Sinners as his studio musicians, one could argue that there is little difference between the two separate projects but, either way, the songs and the playing are very strong throughout.

Cade has been wrestling with all he has been indoctrinated with since childhood. Questioning the teachings from school days onward, all his influences and beliefs, and his views of the world, both internal and external. Socrates was credited with saying that ‘The unexamined life is not worth living,’ and Cade certainly is on a mission to ensure that this will not be his legacy over time. Standout tracks are The Glitter Around Your Eyes, Where the Sun Meets the Moon and Rocking Horse Blues. There are influences of country and americana sounds running through the song arrangements and Cade gives a strong vocal performance that hints at Johnny Cash and Nick Cave in the delivery.

The dark Americana of Love Will Burn All Down has a vibrant band workout, while the Keep Believing highlights the message that outside influences cannot define you. The Faster You Run looks at life’s great conundrum and the search for temporary satisfaction in material things versus the need to live in the present and to look within for permanent happiness. Little Secret muses about the journey that we all undertake alone through life and the unique experiences that we all encounter.

The production on some of these tracks is somewhat dense and could have done with a lighter touch but overall the album is one worthy of your attention in the conviction and the energy provided.

Paul McGee

Cody Jinks Change The Game Late August

There's little doubt that the title of Cody Jinks' latest album is fact-based. The multi-platinum award-winning artist has been self-sufficient from day one and remains self-managed with his handpicked independent team. Despite rowing against the industry's current, his success as a recording and performing artist is phenomenal and places him firmly in the modern outlaw category.

'I'd say this is the most vulnerable record I've ever written,' says Jinks of his new album, CHANGE THE GAME, which he releases on his label, Late August Records. The writing finds the Fort Worth, Texas artist in a particularly reflective mood and writing about - no doubt semi-autobiographically - less than becoming behaviour, self-examination and the unorthodox lifestyle his chosen career imposes. 

Emphasising this is the opening track and first single from the album, Sober Thing, which deals with Jinks' pledge to kick his whiskey habit of twenty years ('I don't remember writing some of my biggest songs, but I damn sure remember writing that one'). It's a powerful and forthright ballad, and equally plainspoken is the lively title track, which traces Jinks' ascendency from playing hole-in-the-wall honky tonk bars to the stadium stages he now performs on. Equally reflective and candid is the ballad Outlaw and Mustangs, which also broods over the challenging lifestyle of the career musician. 

The format of Jinks' previous albums remains intact, combining mid-tempo ballads (The Working Man, Take This Bootle, A Few More Ghosts) with livelier arena-suited offerings (I Would, I Can't Complain). Backed by his team of exceptionally talented players his Jinks' lived-in coarse vocals, it's business as usual across the album's twelve tracks.

While the banner 'outlaw' is often bandied about to describe anyone with a beard, cowboy hat and record deal, Jinks more than qualifies for that descriptor. He continues an autonomous campaign with his loyal band of players, both on the road and in the studio. That independent stance continues to yield quality albums, and CHANGE THE GAME is up there with his best.

Declan Culliton 

Aoife O'Donovan All My Friends Yep Roc

The backdrop to the creation of Aoife O'Donovan's latest album is a movement that took place over a century ago. 2019 celebrated the centenary of the nineteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, which granted women the right to vote. This change came about in no small way by the campaigning of suffragette Carrie Chapman Catt, who dedicated her life to the cause. Studying Catt's letters and speeches led O'Donovan to create her own chapters on that turbulent and groundbreaking period in history, exploring her political fears.  

Recorded as an orchestral project gives the nine tracks - eight of which were written by O'Donovan - a timeless feel. The appropriate remaining track is a cover of Dylan's The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll, which details the killing of an African American barmaid by a wealthy young man from a white tobacco farming family, whose sentence for the murder was only six months in a county jail.

The project was an ambitious affair for O'Donovan; four of the tracks (All My Friends, Crisis, Daughters, America Come) fuse her crystalline vocals with those of the San Francisco Girls' Chorus, whose voices come from singers aged twelve to eighteen. The strings throughout are by the chamber orchestra, The Knights, and the brass sections are conducted by the quartet, The Westerlies. Co-production is credited to O'Donovan and her husband, Eric Jacobson, who also conducted the orchestration in the studio.

The opener and previously referenced, All My Friends, is a cry for unity in numbers against oppression. It recalls the courageous band of women marching for liberty over one hundred years ago but, in many ways, is also a plea for empathy and resoluteness at the present time ('Marching on, the Tennessee dawn is lifting o'er the fields. Steady on, America, you know it's time to heal'). Crisis, which follows, includes sections of an impassioned speech by Catt in 1916 and is graced by a gorgeous mandolin break from Sierra Hull. More modern day is Over the Finish Line, which follows the theme and sentiment of O'Donovan's 2022 Grammy-nominated album AGE OF APATHY. Anais Mitchell adds vocals to the song, which offers a degree of optimism despite the present avalanche of fake news and high-risk political rhetoric. Possibly the strongest track on an album that offers so much both musically and lyrically is America, Come. Opening and closing with a direct quote from Catt ('What is the democracy for which the world is battling, for which we offer up our man power, woman power, money power, our all?'), the track perfectly summarises the inklings which lay in O'Donovan's head when she undertook this exquisitely moving album. 

Released in a year likely to present the most callous presidential election in United States history, this album is a timely testimonial of the power of the vote and particularly the women who fought courageously and often with immense personal sacrifice for democracy over a century ago. It's also a crescendo hitter vocally and musically, touching on grinding reality and themes of hope and joy alongside a lot of sadness.

Declan Culliton

Niall McCabe Rituals Self Release

Clare Island, a small island (pop. 130) off the Mayo coast in the West of Ireland, is the touchstone for this hugely impressive debut solo album from Niall McCabe. Growing up there in a large family, where his mother was the only teacher in the tiny National School, McCabe absorbed all sorts of musical influences from his family’s pub - Irish trad, folk, rock and soul - and after travelling, he has returned to make his home there again. 

The opening track Stonemason encapsulates the loneliness, isolation and physical exhaustion experienced by so many of the Irish diaspora who had to leave the country in their droves over the centuries, driven by economics. Not since Paul Brady’s seminal 1981 HARD STATION album has anyone come as close to evoking those sentiments as McCabe does here, in this reviewer’s opinion. Producer Seán Óg Graham contributes mournful button accordion to further emphasise the pathos, ‘it’s been a hard life too long …’ Midas Touch hits a much happier note, a touching reminiscence of one’s best friend growing up. “The miles we walked between our homes are written in my brain/close my eyes and we’re there again” (we can all relate) accompanied by McCabe’s deft guitar fingerpicking, and there’s Graham again on harmonium and accordion, this time adding a lightness and whimsy. November Swell and Tornado are equally infused with the elemental spirit of island living, never far from the potentially destructive forces of nature, whether that be as a fisherman ‘drawing oars through the wild foam’ or as a child tucked up securely in bed sleeping through a storm. Other more universal themes are explored too: Lost Boys finds a mother looking back at photos of her children, somewhat sad but also excited for their potential futures; Little Sister ponders the effect of relationship breakdown on the children, while the exquisite Superman is the only overtly romantic and confessional love song on the album. The closing song Valhalla is a co-write with Graham’s progressive Irish traditional/folk band Beoga, with whom McCabe has toured in recent years.

Niall McCabe is a multi instrumentalist, here contributing guitars, 5 string banjo, percussion and piano. His producer Sean Óg Graham, who recorded the project in his Bannview Studios in rural Co Antrim, is no less of an accomplished musician, adding guitars, accordion, bouzouki, synths and bass. Comparisons between McCabe and Paul Brady are inevitable - they share a similar tenor vocal style, guitar skills and Americana influences -  but McCabe here shows that he is forging his own path. I declared this album as one of my favourites of 2023, when it had a limited Irish release. Now it has been released to the rest of the world, and I will not tire of singing its praises for another year. Check it out

Eilís Boland

Aaron Smith & The Coal Biters The Legend of Sam Davis (and other stories of Newton County, Arkansas)  Self Release

This labour of love project for Aaron Smith is an essential purchase for lovers of American folk/acoustic stringband music and who want to delve into the social history of settlers in the 19th and early 20th centuries in America. Over several years, Smith (and various accomplices) mined the archives and living memories and anecdotes of the locals in his native Ozarks and the result is a stunning collection of original songs and an accompanying compact hardback book. The book is a joy from cover to cover - beautifully illustrated with original maps, artwork, newspaper articles, family archives and vintage black & white photos. 

Of the fourteen songs included, seven are based on the titular legend of Sam Davis, the ‘raving preacher of Newton County’. Davis’s sister was kidnapped by the Shawnee … or was she? After his fruitless quest to find her, he became the infamous preacher of Big Creek ‘preaching like the eve of judgement day’, recounted with great drama and humour in Looky There. Smith takes lead vocals on all the songs, and his clear tone and deft songwriting means that each story is easy to follow, but indeed can be enjoyed without necessarily following the book. He plays guitars, banjo, mandolin, dobro, french horn, keys and accordina (look it up!). He is joined throughout by the other two members of The Coal Biters: George Holcomb playing bass and clarinet and Ryan Gentry on percussion. 

There are four songs telling the true story of the Martain family over three generations, from Henry’s arrival from France in Henry Martain, the enforced march on the Trail of Tears because his wife was Cherokee, through to their ne’er do well grandsons Curly and Tom. Ben de la Cour guests on mandolin on the fascinating 1919 murder-suicide tale, Ab Clayborn. The life story of Granny Brisco is truly remarkable - she was a midwife who rode her horse all over Osage and Possum Trot day and night to reach her patients, until she was thrown from her horse and forced to retire in her early 80s. The kindness of strangers and the unkindness to strangers are recounted in The Snow Child and Dead Man’s Hollow respectively. Sadly, bassist George Holcomb passed away after the recordings.

The package is available direct from Aaron Smith’s website (aaronsmithsongs.com).

Did I mention that I loved it?

Eilís Boland

John Miller and His Country Casuals Losers Hall Of Fame Folk ’n’ Western

That this cover names Miller and his musical comrades is very fitting, as they provide exactly the kind of musical backing that the music requires to give it a resonant authenticity. LOSERS HALL OF FAME follows three previous solo albums and two releases with the band Radio Sweethearts, the last of those released in 2010, showing that no matter how good this music, it is still a struggle for an independent artist who self-releases to bring all the necessary elements together to release new material, especially in physical form (CD and 10” vinyl in this case). Such a release is also, for most artists, a prerequisite to having the reason and opportunity to play live. The performance fees and gig sales are what, all too often, helps to keep an artist (and/or band) afloat.

Perhaps none of this would really matter if the end result sounded undercooked or less than satisfactory. Therefore, that this album is perhaps the best that Miller has yet released is both positive and necessary. It is further enhanced by the fact that Miller’s vocal delivery is top notch throughout. So too is the playing of the band who include Martin Barrett on guitar, double bassist Sy McBain, JT Davidson on steel guitar and drummer DC Amero. All add backing vocals and the arrangements for the songs are shared by Miller and the band, with Sean Read joining him as co-producer. It sounds very much like a labour of love. That Read has previously been a member of The Rockingbirds (an equally bona fide UK country band) and a sought after producer (Dexys and Edwin Collins) shows the effort that has gone into getting this right.

The fact that they all hail from Scotland shouldn’t be an issue, but with so few credible performers from the UK delivering such strong original material these days, it is another mark in their favour. They can stand alongside Ags Connolly and a number of others whose music, past and present, could just as easily have come from Austin, Los Angeles or Nashville. 

The eight tracks on this album fall easily into the perennial traditional country themes of failed romances, regret and forbearance. The title track is the tale of a man who is never going to be a winner but consoles himself with the thought that he might end up as noted for that lack of success. That other regular subject matter of turning to alcohol to compensate or at least deaden the loss is what Kissing The Bottle is about - kudos to the vocal from Miller here too. My Side Of The Bed follows a similar pattern and has another impassioned vocal. A man who resorts to tears is self admitted as The Town Crier. The arrangement though is more upbeat on this track. 

A time to move on and try new pastures is the topic of The Pity Part Is Over. Memories of a man who has been left behind is where we find him on Old Bus Tickets. It is a cleverly written commentary on living with a past. We’re back on lonely street for Who Am I Supposed To Love as the protagonist asks the faithful question. The album closes with Love Not Alibis, another high note as there is a resolution to a partnership gone cold.

The album does not take the currently popular route of emulating 90s country but rather seems rooted in 60s and 70s era melodic country. There are individual elements that listeners can relate to and be reminded of old favourites and that’s what these eight tracks sound like. It can be only hoped that this leads to a resurgence of activity and acclaim for John Miller. He has stuck to his musical guns for a long time and never fails to show his faith in his love for his chosen musical path. This album will doubtless be in my hall of fame this year.

Stephen Rapid

Andrea & Mud Institutionalised Self Release

The dynamic duo of all things surf western and a myriad of 60’s sounds that draw from the fringes of roots music are back with a new album. As you would expect, they are never going to go anywhere other than where they want to go. They mix their original songs with songs chosen to fit their oeuvre and those tracks are right at home here. There’s Psycho from Leon Payne, the Johnny Cash penned Committed To Parkview, the song written by Mickey Newbury and made famous by Kenny Roger’s First Edition I Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In and Mama He’s Crazy written by Kenny O’Dell and recorded by The Judds. All point to an eclectic music collection and some considered choices that fit with the theme of the title and the cover photo (taken by Colburn). These choices also sit comfortably beside their own co-written material. Soundwise, they also get the same consideration to overall sound and arrangement as the original songs. That they produced the album alongside the album’s engineer Damon Moon is further testament to doing it their way without outside influences. They did a damn good job, to these ears.

Both Andrea Colburn and Mud Mosley played multiple instruments for the sessions but also brought in a number of additional players to add an extra depth to the material. Some fourteen musicians contribute, on bass, drums, fiddle, banjo, brass, dobro, keyboards, pedal steel and backing vocals, all of which shows a real commitment to getting the sounds they heard for the recordings done with actual human players rather than through samples. On top of that are the joint and shared lead vocals of Colburn and Mosley, which are the central to the whole venture, Mosley’s deep baritone contrasting with Colburn’s sweet clarity.

Lovers of gothic country duets and baritone guitar and twang will be satisfied here too, as they easily live up to their description of ‘surf and western’, evoking many a memorable movie soundtrack. There is a generous fourteen tracks included, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in the overall sound and psycho-situationists set-up. This is not something that will find favour with certain segments of the Americana fraternity, but for those who favour something heading more towards the outer limits, this will be something to savour following the wait since they released their last, equally individual, album.  

It’s undeniable that some of the songs touch on dark topics ,such as the these lines from the title track which speak of a dysfunctional relationship: “The pain inside I can no longer hide / From the things you’ve done to me / I’m institutionalized.” Or the situation of bank closures in Bankman: “The bank may own my house / They don’t own my soul / Can’t take it from me / No matter what I owe.” There is also an example of the kind of phone conversation within the song that many have had. Owing your space/home is talked about in Trouble’s Gone too. The kind of hard times many deal with on an ongoing day to day exchange is summed up in a simple two line ultimation from This Time: “Choose the bottle or me / You only get one this time.”

It would be misleading then to think that because these lyrics are undoubtedly cryptic means that the music is following that same path - it doesn’t. Or that the writers are themselves the subjects of the songs. Rather, they are writing about associations that are common indeed but from a character perspective, rather than any personal one. That they have written and recorded this album together highlights the harmony in their discordant soundscape. 

This album is a step forward for Andrea & Mud, one that has taken time, money and much creativity to achieve.  It’s a lot of fun to boot. So sit back and enjoy as Mama, we’re all crazy now. Locked up and loaded.

Stephen Rapid

Jay Gavin Road Ready Self Release

From the opening track Mexican Food, Cold Beer And Tattoos you know you’re in good company. Jay Gavin comes close to the humour, observation and humanity of John Prine. Prine was a true original but Gavin, while bringing to mind one of his particular heroes, follows a similar path that makes his own take on life a road to follow in its own right. A Canadian by birth Gavin grew up in Prince Edward Island. He soon decided to making a living by labouring on such hard-working jobs as that of a fishing boat, through to other occupations like those of construction sites in a number of different locations. Music, however, was also a central inspiration that eventually saw him touring around North America with various bands; playing bass with both punk and metal bands. However he returned to the earlier influences of folk, country and bluegrass in more recent times and we all gain from that decision.

In 2019 he released BOAT ON A WHALE, an album he recorded with Jeff Zipp and later he recorded a number of single releases including his version of Prine’s classic song Paradise. So, unsurprisingly, one song here Rhythm & Rhymes refers to that anthem and how the story of that landscape still continues. This time out, on the recommendation of fellow long-time troubadour Billy Don Burns (who joins Gavin on backing vocals on Better Man), he decided to record this new album in Nashville with producer Denny Knight, who had worked previously with Conway Twitty and Waylon Jennings. They also added another country-oriented engineer in Bobby Bradley, and they were joined by a host of sympathetic players like pedal steel player Steve Hinson, Jeff Williams on guitar, bassist Jay Gorman, William Ellis on drums, keyboard player Jeff Armstrong and Deanie Richards on fiddle. All did a great job in getting this right.

As mentioned at the start, Gavin has a well-worn, life-seasoned voice that is easy to like and one that brings these material to life with the appropriate amount of authenticity and attitude. One that makes you smile as well as revealing the truth that exists in many of these songs. Seen Better Days details a life that has seen just that; it has a nice mix of banjo and keyboards over a solid toe-tapping beat. The title track sums up an early inclination to travel the highways. It was something that he understands, that the foot-loose need to keep on keeping on. “Daddy gave me traveling bones / I’m going to make some miles.” The belated self realisation of why his woman left him is there in Maybe It Was Me in which his analysis comprehends that he, in fact, maybe had it back to front after all with “I was thinking it was you / I was certain it was you … alright, maybe it was me.”

The slow paced tale of trying to understand what’s happening and what might not be changed is something that he outlines in Government Tobacco, pleading to “Let me die with my boots on.” The aforementioned return to Muhlenberg County is a jaunty tale told in Rhythm & Rhymes, wherein the central character in John Prine’s song is also mentioned here. That Mr Peabody’s train is “still rolling on / it gets longer everyday.” Perhaps more serious in nature and full of great fiddle and twanging guitar is the sometime cowboy philosophy of Better Left Alone. The final songs has two parts, firstly another infatuation with Girl From The Liquor Store which leads to Bear Loves Honey looking at the things that he knows that he loves, it speeds up towards the end of the song as he outlines those things and makes a good place to bring the album to a conclusion.

Jay Gavin was a new artist to me, but one I can recommend, as all the songs are memorable and enjoyable in equal measure. This is not an album that is about reinventing the wheel, rather it is about keeping it turning and knowing that the road still goes on forever.

Stephen Rapid

Matt Owens Music, Jack Cade, Cody Jinks, Aoife O'Donovan, Niall McCabe, Aaron Smith & The Coal Biters, John Miller and his Country Casuals, Andrea & Mud, and Jay Gavin.

New Album Reviews

The Hanging Stars On A Golden Shore Loose 

The past decade has found The Hanging Stars' profile consistently rising with each step they take. Their distinctive sound, a fusion of indie-flavoured cosmic country, has remained relatively unchanged since their 2016 debut album, OVER THE SILVERY LAKE. ON A GOLDEN SHORE maintains their 'album every two years' output.

For their latest project, four of the band, Richard Olson, Paulie Cobra, Patrick Ralla and Paul Milne, travelled to Edwyn Collins' Clashnarrow Studios at Helmsdale on the northeast coast of Scotland, where they recorded their 2022 record HOLLOW HEART. Over eight days, they recorded live, putting down 'first takes' in the main. The pedal steel components, completing their signature sound, were added by Joe Harvey-Whyte at his Karma Studios in London. Final overdubs were completed at the album's producer, Sean Read's Famous Time studio in London.

Very much a democracy and the sum of their parts, the band members merge their varied individual musical sensibilities of cosmic and psychedelic folk, 60s West Coast, 60s country rock, and Brit-pop

on this eleven-track album. The first three inclusions were released as singles and encapsulate those influences. The sunny and radio-friendly Sweet Light follows the opener, Let Me Dream Of You, which takes a leaf out of The Stones' early 70s songbook. Happiness Is A Bird is a loose and spacey psychedelic creation, a trademark of what they do so well. The banjo-led No Way Spell is a Burrito Brothers-styled tour de force, and they are equally at home with their feet off the gas pedal on the slowed-down country rockers Disbelieving and Washing Line. Raindrops In A Hurricane and Golden Shore have roots in quintessential UK folk 

Very much a companion to its predecessor, HOLLOW HEART, and staying within their usual template, ON A GOLDEN SHORE casts its spell far and wide and is easy to get engrossed in after a few spins.

Review by Declan Culliton

Wonder Women of Country: Willis Carper Leigh Self-Release

What kicked off a casual get-together by three country singers and players to perform their individual songs live in a songwriter-in-the-round arrangement has taken a step further with the release of this six-track mini-album. 

Kelly Willis, Melissa Carper, and Brennen Leigh’s pedigrees in country music are first-rate. Kelly has been one of the standout vocalists in country music from her 1990 debut album WELL TRAVELLED LOVE and her dozen albums that followed. Brennen has been and continues to be a diehard champion of traditional country and Western swing, her sublime 2023 album AIN’T THROUGH HONKY TONKIN’ YET was one of Lonesome Highway’s favourites of the year. Melissa can boast comfortably balancing numerous balls in the air. She is an exceptional upright bass player and a member of the foursome Sad Daddy and the roots duo Buffalo Gals; her distinctive vocals tick the old-time country and jazz boxes. 

Each member is credited with two songs, the lead vocal on both, and harmony vocals. Alongside lead guitar and mandolin, Brennen sings on her co-write with Melissa, Fly Ya To Hawaii and Hanging On To You. Kelly plays rhythm guitar and takes lead vocal on a tearjerker she wrote with Bruce Robison and Monte Warden, Another Broken Heart and her own A Thousand Ways. Melissa’s vocal is out in front on her co-write with Brennen Won’t Be Worried Long and a reconstruction of the John Prine/ Roger Cook song, I Have Met My Love Today, together with her upright bass contributions. The other players that joined the three women at Austin’s Bismeaux on The Hill Studios were Ginny Mac (accordion), Timmy Campbell (drums), Geoff Queen (Dobro, Steel guitar) and Chris Scruggs (Steel guitar). 

Having witnessed the three artists perform together on stage in Nashville, given the collective dynamic of their show, it’s little surprise that they took the relationship and friendship into the studio. With three vocalists that shift between twang-laced and earthy country, the result is a joyful listen that shimmers and shines from start to finish. More of the same again going forward, please. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Addison Johnson Dangerous Men Self-Release

‘I prefer stories a bit darker; about guys running moonshine or a guy running from the police and things like that,’ explained Greensboro, North Carolina native Addison Johnson when we chatted with him back in 2021, shortly after the release of his most impressive debut album DARK SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN. That album was our introduction to Johnson and his expertise in creating meaningful tales, many based on lousy life choices and questionable company, most of which came from first-hand experiences.

Whether the content of DANGEROUS MEN is equally personal, the eleven-track album finds Addison taking account of the events and factors that lead to individuals going ‘off the rails’ and, in his mind, rendering them as ‘dangerous.’

A heavily accented baritone country voice, lashings of pedal steel, and twangy guitars are the order of the day on the album that plays out like chapters in a hardboiled modern Western novel. There aren’t too many happy endings for the featured characters, either. Before introducing those characters, Johnson starts the album with his ‘State of the Nation’ address, the less-than-optimistic Waiting For The World To End. 

We hear of the hopeless barfly drowning his sorrows in Out Of Control and sordid goings-on at a cheap motel in Country Inn. The unfortunate and innocent protagonist in I Did Nothing Wrong gets nailed for a crime he didn’t commit. There’s little to cheer about either in End of a Rope and Damaged Goods, which follows; both bring to mind the pedal steel-drenched sound of Hank III on his 2002 LOVESICK, BROKE & DRIFTIN’ album. High Way finds Johnson joined by fellow Outlaw honky tonker Alex Williams to trade vocals and bemoan their nomadic ways. 

Co-produced by Johnson and David Flint, DANGEROUS MEN could herald a well-deserved breakthrough for Johson. If DARK SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN was an exciting gateway into Johnson’s music, he has raised the bar several notches this time around. The writing is gifted, insightful and laced with left-of-centre dark humour, and the playing on this album is also top-drawer. That same formula has been a triumph for his namesake, Jamey Johnson, who is cut from a similar cloth. So, let’s hope this record excites the industry ‘movers and shakers’ as much as it does me. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Victoria Liedtke & Jason Ringenberg More Than Words Can Tell Judee Bop

There have been a number of recreations of the much loved country music duet genre in recent times, the Jenni Muldaur & Teddy Thompson album ONCE MORE being a prime example of one executed with a care and style that pays homage and yet updates the format for a new era. Now comes another album that pays its respects to the format but in a way that makes it very special in its own right.

The pairing is the much loved (in these quarters at very least) Jason Ringenberg and the genre crossing talent of Victoria Liedtke, an artist who has performed solo and alongside other established artists. Born in Oklahoma and, after being located in several cities in the USA, she now resides in the UK, which is where they recorded this album in Worcester during 2022. A studio band was set up who first recorded the basic tracks, before additional musicians added their important contributions remotely. Those musicians included Tim Prottey-Jones on the drums and piano, on double bass John Parker and guitarist Lewis “Burner” Pugh, while Liedtke with engineer Elliot Vaughan handled the production duties. However it didn’t stop there, with contributions from many more being added, for the most part, remotely. Acoustic and electric guitarist, mandolin, dobro and pedal steel player CJ Hillman proved to be an essential part of the process, alongside several additional guitarists, violinists, keyboards and backing vocalists. Something of a labour of love for all it would seem, certainly from the end result. 

Although Ringenberg has a clear love for traditional country music he has always made it just one element of what he performs, with his punk, blues, folk and rock influences equally present (all delivered with an abundant energy). Likewise Liedtke has an equally varied and celebrated repertoire, which might not make them the first names you would think of for an album of classic country duets, but the results make this a successful album on every level. Both have a distinctive vocal presence that manages to make the combined pairing more than the sum of its parts. 

All of these songs come with in-depth and interesting arrangements that reference the hey-day of many of the countrypolitan recordings. The source of these songs in the main have the writing credits of Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner, either individually or together. The one exception is the cover of Tom Paxton’s The Last Thing On My Mind.

The opening track (and recent single) Life Rides The Train sets the tone, with both parties trading verses and choruses. But it is also the overall musical contributions that hit the highs, the guitars are edgy but highly effective. There is a passion to More Than Words Can Tell that is soulful and sincere, with the pedal steel adding much to the overall feel. The string section is very present in the folkish song Sound Of Nature that also uses the backing vocals to evoke the title’s bucolic atmosphere and Liedtke’s sweet-toned vocal. By way of contrast there is a different sense of location and lifestyle in Carolina Moonshine. Again the two vocals intertwine and overlap with an undeniable energy. 

As with many of the songs from that time they either detail a harmonious (in every way) relationship (The Fire That Keeps You Warm) or they layout the pitfalls of such a decorating relationship (The Pain Of Loving You), though, it has to be said, the majority fall more into the realm of sweet love than that of oncoming disaster. The latter has something of an ominous drumbeat that filters that sense of pain musically as much as it does lyrically. 

And so it is throughout the album, one that seems to engage in the past and a certain sensibility that was evoked by the Dolly and Porter classic duets and of a particular lyrical approach that seems, largely, to have been lost since that era. Yet there is little doubt that, for many, this album will sit alongside those earlier recordings, giving the format a new lease of life that has been delivered to such a fine standard that it achieves what it set out to do. It also makes you wonder where an album of new original songs might take Victoria & Jason?

Review By Stephen Rapid

Jim Jones Tales Fom The West Berkalin

With what seems to be a growing interest in songs that have their origin in the myths and reality of the West and the cowboy life it is good to know that Jim Jones as a man with a deep interest in the subject has continued to turn that into music and words. Aside from eight associated albums, he has also published three novels set in that era. He is also the recipient of several awards associated with the genre.

Overall Jones is delivering a gentler, less upbeat format (certainly compared to some of his more recent contemporaries), perhaps closer to the likes of Don Williams than Merle Haggard in country terms. The album was ably produced by Merel Bregante and it features some fine players including Pete Warner on keyboards, Dave Pearlman on pedal steel and guests such as Cody Braun on fiddle and mandolin, Michale Dorrien and John Inman on electric guitar as well as Bregante himself on drums and harmony vocals.

There is a sense of age in Jones’ vocal that is as you might expect from a man who has devoted his talent to this format for many years. It is warm and clear throughout. Jones wrote or co-wrote all of the tracks here that overall create a relaxed ambience, allowing the words to conjure the images of that particular lifestyle. There are open hearted love songs like They Dance alongside those songs rooted in the life of a man in the saddle, such as Mustanger, Cowboy Heart which is co-written by Deanna McCall and tells her story. Another such story song, co-written with Doug Figgs, is Manassa Mauler about the renowned boxing champion Jack Dempsey who was a working cowboy before fighting his way to the top in the boxing world. 

Ride For The Brand, a co-write with RG Yoho, is about dedication to a way of life and commitment to a particular ‘ranch brand’ in a very changing world. It started life as a poem that Jones set to music. Wild animals that are associated with the landscape are the subject of The Queen Is Dead, concerning a regal bear that was killed in 1979 in circumstances that remain unclear, but with the result that since then there are no more grizzly bears in Colorado. It is played with a poignant fiddle at its heart.

These and the other songs on the album come from an artist with an obvious love of this particular lifestyle who has delivered them with consummate ease. They may lack a certain energy that a younger audience might prefer but that shouldn’t take away your attention from a devotee of Western culture who may, as he outlines in the last song, be happy to sit and muse on life from a rocking chair rather from a saddle. But the dreams are there to continue; to ride that range and see the open skies, at the very least in the mind of such men (and women) as Jim Jones.

Review By Stephen Rapid

Oisín Leech Cold Sea Tremone

The journey continues for Oisín Leech. One that began in Navan, moved to Liverpool with The 747s and onto the Americana/Folk of the Lost Brothers, through to this his debut solo release (though both parties of that duo have released individual solo projects, they will doubtless regroup at a later stage). It is one that is set in landscapes, both internal and external, that have a certain poetic melancholy that pervades the songs, but in a way that, not unlike a walk in the kind of environment, is both reflective and restorative and one that is ultimately positive. 

For this album Leech went to Donegal, a place which had, for both Leech and his producer Steve Gunn, family connections and proved an inspiring influence on how the album would develop and be recorded. In this rural location, over a week, the material took shape. It was kept sparse, simple and spacious, though a number of notable guests added their talents in an understated way; something that none-the-less added to the overall presence of the recordings. These guests included Tony Garner on upright bass, Donal Lunny on bouzouki, some strings from Roisín McGrory and M Ward on electric guitar. Gunn himself added guitars, synths and vocals. This provides an overall feeling of understated ambient folk that coalesces in the muted tones of the album. The end result is meditative and melodious, something that is perhaps mirrored in the two paintings that grace the cover.

It is Leech’s nine selected songs that are the centre of the album’s ambiance. The opening October Sun shows how his vocal tone is now a vital instrument in itself and has an immediate ability to draw you closer, to listen as the album unfolds. The songs, while they have a sense of darkness, leave the listener largely to interpret the songs themselves. Throughout there are mentions of loss, longing and sorrow that are as poetic as they are plaintive. They are also, given the titles, rooted in place, in weather and in a particular time. Yet they are also deep in personal exploration of inner thoughts and outward feelings. These songs, with titles that expand that theme such as One Hill Further, Colour Of The Rain, Trawbreaga Bay, Malin Gales and Daylight, all elucidate this sense of exploration - both musical and meditative.

This solo outing may be a sidestep before returning to the career of the much respected Lost Brothers. Equally, it may indeed be the first part of a new parallel journey that will see Leech explore this path further or indeed some different musical avenues in tandem with that of the duo’s ongoing body of work. Either way COLD SEA is an undoubted success on many levels and is a landscape that should be explored.

Review By Stephen Rapid

Gracie Lane Doing My Time Self Release

This debut album from Gracie Lane boasts twelve songs that linger in the memory long after the music has come to an end. It is a very accomplished recording and one that highlights the combined talents of Gracie Lane (vocals, rhythm guitar), Stacey Ann Glasgow (drums, harmony vocals), Mick Glasgow (bass), John James Tourville (pedal steel, guitar, banjo, percussion), Liliana Hudgens (harmony vocals), Phil Alley (guitar), and Evan Martin (keyboards). The musicians combine in a very complimentary and understated fashion that brings great nuance to these songs, all of which look at love and relationships in various guises.

There is a classic country sound woven through the tracks and standouts such as Fallin Now and To Know Me highlight a very interesting new talent on the music scene. All the songs are written by Lane and she has been working on this debut album for a number of years, stretching back to pre-Covid times. Originally from North Carolina, she has spent plenty of time ensuring that the song arrangements present themselves in their best versions and honour the creative spirit that clearly drives the entire project.

Watch It Fall Apart is a breakup song with a plea to act before it’s too late. Begging Kind visits similar territory with a strained relationship in need of some real communication and a reset button. Livin This Lie is a song that hopes a lover is not straying while away from home and wanting to deny the telltale signs. Move brings a cool seductive performance and a challenge to work for the prize of having fun with the girl in the song. Baby Look At Us Now sees a broken relationship sinking down into a toxic state where it’s time to quit.

The title track is yet another look at matters of the heart with the girl missing that special one we all seek, but who has moved on. The pedal steel playing is very atmospheric throughout and no more so than on this track. Short Lived Love is exactly as the song title suggests, the loss of a lover and the questions that turn into self-doubt. Final song Why Baby Why showcases the heartbreak of being the one left wondering, although later in the lyric the song flips into ‘ I ain't gonna sit up on my ass, Crying to my beer, Gonna pick myself up and walk, Anywhere but here.

A very traditional country album with the vagaries of love and commitment spinning back and forth across emotions that visit both the bitter and the sweet. The musicians are superb in support of these mid-tempo song arrangements and Lane has a haunting voice that brings real character to the recording. A very self-assured debut that comes highly recommended.

Review By Paul McGee

The Coal Men Everett Vaskaleedez

There is a strut and a swagger to this new album from Nashville trio, The Coal Men. It is their first release in eight years and marks the sixth time that they have brought their superb performance dynamic into the formal surroundings of the studio. Produced by founding member Dave Coleman, the guitar sound is quite superb throughout and captures a vibrancy across the eleven tracks that is  alive with an energy that crackles.  Americana with real attitude.

Coleman plays inventive guitar and contributes lead vocals. The driving rhythm is delivered courtesy of Dave Ray (drums, vocals) and Paul Slivka (bass). Their playing is such a standout feature in bringing everything into full on throttle and their dramatic interplay is impressive. The title of the album refers to an upright Everett piano that was purchased by Coleman at a Downtown Presbyterian Church  and it features on all eleven tracks with performance parts shared by guests Jen Gunderman, Lane Kiefling and Coleman himself.

The blues groove of opener Black Cat is infectious while the rockabilly vibe of Rather Be Right looks at the urge to be dogmatic in a relationship. Heart Exposed has a deep resonance and a great guitar sound while Come Back Joe is a strident tribute to the late, great Joe Strummer and all he stood for.

Johnny Sins takes no prisoners with its high energy drive and the slower tempo of I Like Trains is one of the standouts. The final song Hammer Like Bill delivers plenty of guitar histrionics and a locked-in, stripped-back sound that really engages. A very atmospheric return from a trio who really know how to highlight their collective skills and talents. A real keeper.

Review By Paul McGee

Scott Sean White Even Better On The Bad Days Self Release

This album is a real pleasure from start to finish and comes highly recommended. Discovering new talent is always something that never ceases to bring real pleasure  and this singer songwriter certainly ticks a lot of boxes. His songs deliver a rich tapestry of emotions, reflecting on life through a number of different perspectives. White started out as a writer for other artists but picked up his guitar in 2021 for a very personal album release titled Call It Even. He writes from the heart and his considered approach to the big questions leaves plenty of room for others to interpret his homespun philosophy.

There is a strong faith running through the ten songs and a sense of trusting in the universe that everything will work out for the better. White has buried three of his family over the last eight years and the resolve to look for positive outcomes is a running theme on this album. Opening song Pulling Weeds is a look at what is important and a chance to carry out a self-audit and hit the reset button. Hope You Never Do gives a message of learning from the wisdom of others and not repeating the same mistakes of those who are now older and wiser.

God Is Good is a song that deals with the real pain of loss and resolving other challenging  experiences in daily living. The song references some deep memories from White’s childhood and an abusive parent. People is a tribute to ‘everyman’ in honouring our individuality, coupled with that need to embrace that need for community that dwells within us all. Keeper is a love song written for White’s wife and has a very sweetly delivered vocal. Just Not Today is that knowledge that a family passing is imminent but wishing for just another day to enjoy the presence of the individual before the sad event occurs.

Both Small World and Same Street speak of our attitudes to life and whether the glass is half full or half empty. Despite our flaws and fears, attitude dictates everything. Not The Year is a song that imagines our death day, as if it could be known in advance, and it’s an interesting perspective on the fear of dying and our fallibility. The final song 12 notes and 26 letters is a very clever look at the magical trick of making music and words out of the ether, how we can pluck inspiration and turn it into something tangible.

Producer Dave Brainard (Brandy Clark, Jamey Johnson) contributed on guitars, dobro, bass, keyboards and percussion, with a variety of other musicians providing telling moments. The harmony vocals are very engaging with lots of different colours throughout.  The superb production and very engaging song arrangements make this a really superb album and one that sets a high bar in quality.

Review By Paul McGee

New Album Reviews

The High Hawks Mother Nature's Show Lo-Hi

'No one is seeking fame, no one is seeking a big pay check. We're doing it because it brings us so much joy,' explains Chad Staehly (vocals, keyboards), one of six members of The High Hawks.

The band is a coming together of like-minded artists and close friends. The others are Vince Herman (vocals, guitars), Tim Carbone (vocals, guitars, fiddle), Adam Greuel (vocals, guitars), Brian Adams (bass guitar) and Will Trask (drums, percussion). 

They bring their collective talents together once more with MOTHER NATURE'S SHOW, their second album, following their self-titled album from 2021. The players will be familiar to the more astute followers of the Roots and Americana genres. Herman is joint frontman with Leftover Salmon, Staehly was a member of Hard Working Americans, Adams and Trask are both part of Staehly's other band, Great American Taxi and Tim Carbone also plays with the band Railroad Earth. Greuel is also a member of the band Horseshoes and Hand Grenades.

With four songwriters and vocalists on board, the end product could have been erratic. On the contrary, combining their untold amount of road trips and vast career experiences, the twelve tracks proudly celebrate all that's vital about classic American roots music. They doff their collective caps in the direction of The Band (Backwater Voodoo, Mother Nature's Show), Tom Petty (Temperature Is Rising), and Grateful Dead (Fox River Blues). Matters of the heart also get an airing in Diamond Sky and This Is What Love Feels Like.

Recording commenced on New Year's Day 2023 at Pachyderm Studios in Minnesota and was completed over a week; it sounds like a good time was had by all. A smile-inducing stockpile of songs from start to finish by a collection of musicians firing on all cylinders, The High Hawks continue where they left off on their equally impressive debut record. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Louien Every Dream I Had Jansen 

Five years ago, Lonesome Highway's exploration into the Nordicana music genre introduced us to several hugely impressive artists and bands. The Nordicana classification was brought into being by musicians in Norway whose musical direction was influenced by Americana and roots music from the United States. Similar to the Americana genre, whose musical wings continue to be spread in multiple directions, some artists filed as Nordicana, but not necessarily embracing traditional country, folk, bluegrass or soul music, came to our attention. Live Miranda Solberg's (aka Louien) 2019 solo album NONE OF MY WORDS was a point-in-case and a standout project that we completely embraced.

Solberg is also a member of the four-piece Norwegian super-group band Silver Lining, whose country and folk leanings are very much along classic Americana lines. However, her debut album, under the stage name Louien, was an entirely more explorative affair. Melding her crystal clear and high-pitched vocals to a suite of deeply innermost songs, many of which were derived from a period of grieving following her father's death, produced a hypnotic indie-folk showpiece. No Tomorrow / Figure Me Out, a combination of two EP releases, followed in 2022. 

EVERY DREAM I HAD takes on board the musical direction of those previous records but also presents an artist growing in confidence. On this recording, her charming vocals are often pitched in front of dramatic arrangements of cello, violin, and synths. A case in point is the retro-sounding Quite Like This, which recalls the classic and fulsome production that Dusty Springfield and Scott Walker enjoyed in the 1960s. Please presents a more modern take on that former sound, and Let Go enters the folk/pop sensibilities of Solberg's Swedish neighbours, First Aid Kit. A gentle and melodic symphony accompanies her echoed and layered crooning on the synth-kissed and ghostly The Woods We Live In. She closes the eight-track album with Losing My Mind. An indie/folk delight with an addictive backbeat, it's a fitting finale to a record rich in ambition and execution.

Review by Declan Culliton

Frontier Ruckus On The Northline Loose

ON THE NORTHLINE arrives seven years after the release of Michigan-based band Frontier Ruckus’ last album, ENTER THE KINGDOM. Their trademark harmonies and striking melodies remain, but their latest project finds the band sonically at their most experimental. 

The band’s two-decade continuance has yielded six studio albums and some personnel changes. The current lineup is founding members Matthew Milia (vocals, guitars), David Jones (vocals, banjos) and Zachary Nichols (vocals, multi-instrumentalist). Additional contributors to this album were Conor Dobson (drums, tambourine), Evan Eklund (bass guitar, vocals), Pete Ballard (pedal steel guitar) and Ben Collins (bass guitar, mandolin). Milia is credited as songwriter on all tracks except the gorgeous instrumental album closer, Wherefore, which was composed by Nichols. 

The album’s lyrical content was built around tales of the North County of upstate New York, where Milia’s family settled when they arrived from Sicily in the early 1900s. Milia’s lyrics exquisitely craft the simple lives of generations as he revisits what was once a thriving industrial area, sadly now in decline.  

For this writer, the band’s impressive back catalogue often brought to mind the dynamic of early-career R.E.M. While those lyrical and vocal forms remain in ON THE NORTHLINE, the arrangements are grander with the addition of Ennio Morricone-styled orchestration on a number of tracks.  

Peppered with standout tracks, Mercury Sabre details the ups and downs of a long-term relationship. It is simply exquisite in its lyrical and musical content and boasts a melody I find impossible to shake off. Matters of the heart and infatuation also surface in Everywhere But Beside You and Magdelene (That’s Not Your Name). They go full-on honky tonk on The Machines Of Summer and power-poppy Clarkston Pasture. The title track is vintage Frontier Ruckus with drifting, unhurried melodies that soothe and captivate.

Frontier Ruckus has pushed out the boundaries with ON THE NORTHLINE. It takes its cues from artists ranging from The Byrds to Sufjan Stevens and Calexico to R.E.M and, in doing so, has fashioned a career finest. Simply intoxicating.

Review by Declan Cullito

Hurray For The Riff Raff The Past Is Still Alive Nonesuch

The brainchild of Alynda Segarra (they/them), Hurray For The Riff Raff was formed in New Orleans in 2007. After a decade of train hopping around North America and hooking up with kindred runaways, Segarra settled in New Orleans, embracing the city's diversity and acceptance of all types. Their musical output also took on board the city's multiplicity, effortlessly blending roots, jazz and blues to create their own gypsy-type recordings. 

Their last record, the powerful LIFE ON EARTH (2022), was thematically driven by the need to exist in a world bordering on disarray. With the addition of electronic elements, that album was sonically experimental and a departure from the more folk-leaning of their previous projects. Musically, THE PAST IS STILL ALIVE is a return to their folk and roots leanings and plays out as a series of Segarra's memoirs from childhood to the present day.

'Writing this album was an exercise in memory excavation,' explained Segarra in a recent interview. Harking back to childhood, recollections of being driven by their father, Jose Enrique Quico, for the annual excursion from their home in the Bronx to Florida for family holidays are presented in Snakeplant (The Past Is Alive). Sadly, their father, who was hugely supportive of Segarra's career, died suddenly a month before the recording of the album. A photo of him as a young man is used as the cover of HFTRR's 2012 album, LOOK OUT MAMA.  

The track Hawkmoon pays homage to Miss Jonathan, the first trans woman encountered by Segarra in their early days in New Orleans, and Alibi is a plea to a hopelessly drug-addicted friend most likely and regrettably beyond rescuing. One-time New Orleans neighbour Esther Rose wrote a verse for the song Buffalo, returning the favour to Segarra, who added vocals on Rose's 2023 album SAFE TO RUN title track. Another artist inspired by the prowess and backbone of Segarra is Kentucky singer-songwriter S.G. Goodman, who adds her vocal to Dynamo and a duet with Conor Oberst, The World Is Dangerous, also features. The mass shooting in 2022 at a gay bar in Colorado, at Club Q, was the catalyst for Colossus Of Roads. 

A 'folk' author and singer in the true sense with a body of work fuelled by their personal and sometimes maladjusted journey, Segarra's crusade as one of the most introspective songwriters and storytellers of recent generations continues with this album. From their hugely impressive back catalogue, THE NAVIGATOR was a semi-autobiographical and concept album about an independent spirit seeking escape and HFTRR's standout recording for me. THE PAST IS STILL ALIVE equals, if not surpasses it and will no doubt feature in the standout records of this year in many circles.

Review by Declan Culliton

Amelia White Love I Swore Thirty Tigers 

‘I’ve been in a long relationship, and I wrote this record in a period where I thought I was going to lose that relationship. So, there’s that theme, keeping love going when you’re having to re-meet each other every time I return home,’ explains Amelia White on the backdrop to her new album, LOVE I SWORE.

Although a leading light in the burgeoning East Nashville music hotbed for many years, as with many artists in that bohemian community, commercial survival could best be described as ‘hand to mouth’ for White. With up to a dozen records over a career that covers nearly three decades, her talent was finally rewarded when the success of her 2017 album RHYTHM OF THE RAIN heralded a well-deserved springboard to greater industry recognition. 

LOVE I SWORE was recorded at Bell Tone Recording in Nashville and was produced by singer-songwriter Kim Richey, who also contributed backing vocals and percussion. White played acoustic and electric guitars, and the other players were Doug Lancio on guitar, Mark Pisapia on drums, and Billy Harvey on bass. Comparisons to Lucinda Williams may be lazy, but my initial take on the first listen remains on repeated plays. White’s vocal drawl and the edgy playing and driving rhythm accompanying them fit hand in glove. 

Bordering on a logbook in the life of a career artist, White approaches the topic with brutal honesty. Tracks like the raunchy Get To The Show and the love ballad Love I Swore ponder the harsh realities of life on the road while attempting to sustain a relationship. Those matters of the heart are a recurring theme across the album’s eleven tracks. A wound not yet healed emerges on Something New Comes, and a troubled relationship is also featured in I Follow The River. It’s not all doom and gloom either; brighter times are reflected in Don’t You Ever Forget and Can’t You See Me Now, which is a reminder to avoid complacency and keep the candle burning. 

An album that sounds as if it has been around forever, LOVE I SWORE showcases White’s flair for easy-to-access melodies alongside excursions into rugged rock and roll. It’s a fine listen from start to finish, and if there is any justice, it is one that should further promote White’s celebrity. 

Review by Declan Culliton

The Northern Belle Bats in the Attic Die With Your Boots On 

Major players in the flourishing Nordicana music genre, The Northern Belle, alongside First Aid Kit, Louien, Malin Petersen, Darling West, and Signe Marie Rustad, perfectly define the growing music scene emerging from Scandinavia and the Nordics.

The Northern Belle cover all the bases in fine style for what constitutes Nordicana in BATS IN THE ATTIC, their fifth studio album. Southern rock (Fresh Dew Drippin’), country/folk (Astral Plane, Higher Power), and power pop (Hell & Back, Merchant Navy Hotel) are all most impressively represented. They also exhibit the aptitude to turn out eloquent acoustic ballads with Grow Up and Japanese. 

The six Northern Belle members are Stine Andreassen (vocals, guitars), Bjørnar Ekse Brandseth (guitars, pedal steel), Johanne Flottorp (hardanger fiddle, harmonies), Trym Gjermundbo (drums), Ole-André Sjøgren (guitars, harmonies) and Marie Tveiten (guitars, harmonies). 

The impetus for much of the album’s songs came from an unlikely source. Band leader and songwriter Andreassen unearthed over three hundred and seventy letters in her grandmother’s attic, which her grandfather had written to his wife while he was at sea and stationed abroad. Other songs deal with new life - Andreassen gave birth for the first time - and life lost by the passing of friends.

Together with the quality of the instrumentation and the production, the common denominator amongst all the Nordicana acts noted above is the quality of the vocals. That indeed rings true on this album also, with lead vocals by Andreassen; the harmonies and layered vocals stand out throughout the album’s eleven tracks. Easy on the ears, BATS IN THE ATTIC is a delightful and nuanced recording worth investigating.

Review by Declan Culliton

Rodney Rice Self-Titled Self-Release

This album came out last year but arrived with us more recently. Unlike his previous releases, which were tracked in Austin, Rice recorded this album in Nashville. This time out, it was produced, engineered and mixed by Drew Carroll and features a wide range of players, some twenty-one in all, including Billy Contreras, Dave Racine, Dennis Crouch, and Jack Lawrence. Over that rhythmic base, there are the added textural quality of keyboards, guitars, trumpet, mandolin and fiddle, as well as a host of backing singers. It can definitely be seen as a step up for Rice overall. It should bring him further recognition for his Texas-based troubadour tunes which reflect his influences and overall direction (touches of the variety offered by The Flatlanders are apparent).

The result is a solidly performed and produced album highlighting Rice's songwriting and down-home voice on likeable tunes that are often immediately appealing, such as Rabbit Ears Motel, a twangy song with piano and Telecaster to the fore. There are a lot of different arrangements throughout that vary the tone, the almost New Orleans feel to the opening How You Told Me So. I was also reminded a little, on a track or two, of the great Phil Lee, more in feel than as a direct comparison - but maybe that's just me. Get To Where I'm Going details a brief overnight relationship. Of leaving and heading on down the highway to the next gig and wondering … "What's the point of just hanging around / the same shit in the same damn town." It's all built around a strong, driving guitar riff and break.

Set' Em Up is jaunty and offers the philosophy of set 'em up, and I'll knock 'em down. Again, the barrelhouse-style piano is effective. Wonder Where I Came From is a thought that we all might have. Rice wonders how his life became a sad old country song. The song, one of two not written solely by Rice, was co-written with Katie Cahn and given a solid kick-ass country/rock runout. 

Taking a more reflective fiddle-laden tone is Roll River Roll, a tale of a man who worked the mines - a life summed up with "first they broke my back, then they broke my mind." It shows that Rice is equally at home with a lighter touch as with the more up-tempo material. The final track, Every Passing Day, has a nice alt-country feel that looks at the need for empathy in a country severely lacking it. For his part, Rice shows his own empathy, essential humanity and understanding of its flaws and needs on this enjoyable album.

Review By Stephen Rapid

Phil Lee When I Close My Eyes I See Blood Palookaville

This album is the second in a fortuitous partnership between Lee and producer and multi-instrumentalist David West, the bulk of the material coming from Lee's pen and imagination. The album relates, in terms of spirit and attitude, to his early musical apprenticeship as a drummer for a largely liked local character, Homer A. Briarhopper, who fronted his bluegrass band the Briarhoppers in all his Nudie-suited glamour back in Raleigh, North Carolina. He passed away in 1983, but left a lasting mark on Lee's approach to performing and entertaining.

These songs are not directly related to that mentor but rather are symptomatic of Lee's vision of the debris of humanity's idiosyncrasies. The title track, however, is written by Brendan Earley. The opening song, A Night In The Box, takes us out to the trailer park where the available space is too small to "fight nor disagree" but has just about enough room to "kiss and hug", so he invites the ladies to come in to "spend a night in the box". I Wish This Song Had Teeth has something of an old-time attitude with resonator guitar, virtual tuba, banjo and piano. It wants a reaction that would leave a person in a mood that would "put you in a rasslin' hold." 

Last Year is just one example of how this duo are of the same mind and anticipate the best way to bring the song into a place where the sum of the two equals a full band sound that can touch on honky-tonk, Bakersfield and an all point west. The song highlights the distinctive of Lee's vocals (in a very compatible harmony with West throughout). It perfectly suits the theme of a relationship going from good to bad in the space of a year, "we were dumb and in love, we were like kids / now you regard me through narrowed eyelids / now you hate me, you can't say that you did ... last year." It also underlines that Lee has an interesting way with words that, time and again, produce a memorable song.

The aspect of loving, moving on, cheating while all the time seeking some temporary solace and, mostly, understanding his own failings emerges. For All The Times I Won't asks for a simple kiss, knowing that there will be many times when that won't happen. This subject is a constant, with other titles like She Ran Out Of Give and I'm The Why She's Gone. The latter has a great 60s-sounding arrangement and piano from West. It shows the fragility and regret in Lee's delivery.  Nobody But You, by way of contrast, features an acoustic backing that includes dobro, mandolin and banjo as effectively as the material using a bigger sound. The album closes with Lee's arrangement of an oft-recorded song, The Lonesome Road. It is given an old-style gospel take with a passion suited to the melancholy nature of the song. In his early seventies, Lee has a distinctive and recognisable voice that has aged as well as his talent.

All in all, it is a triumph for the partnership of Phil Lee and David West for this second album of their working together. It is, for Lee fans and others, another affirmation that, while he may not be that well known to a wider audience, he has had a career that has delivered much under his own direction, which he has continued to produce as he has said, "quality whether you want it or not." Once again, I know I very much want it. 

Review By Stephen Rapid

Houston Bernard Ditch This Town Self-Release

Coming from a background steeped in music and no little history, Bernard is continuing that tradition by putting his own stamp on a contemporary up-tempo set of rockin' county tunes. Raised in Alaska, though born in Oklahoma, he was always interested in music and, after a stint in the US Army, began to take that path more seriously, amalgamating influences that ranged from Springsteen, Mellencamp and Bryan Adams to Dwight Yoakam and Dolly Parton., people who told stories drawn from observation and experience. Some are personal, such as In My Blood, a song he co-wrote with Britton Cameron, which draws from his own life and how he was named after an uncle who passed away at an early age on the family farm. Throughout the album, Bernard co-wrote the songs, the majority of which would seem to be in his normal writing pattern. However, it is his voice that comes through. 

Over the eleven tracks on the album, which Nashville producer Bill McDermott helmed, they and the band explore a sound that can easily move from the more vibrant to the more contemplative tracks like Carry That Torch. While Broken is exemplary with the lyric, "When you’re high as a kite you're flying straight to the bottom." It closes an album that offers a viewpoint that is not that of traditional country. However, it contains elements of that but instead has a more modern sound that will undoubtedly attract an audience looking to connect with elements of that but also looking for something more synchronous with their age and lifestyle. They can find this here with Bernard and some of the current exponents of this music, one that features keyboards more so than fiddle and pedal steel.

In the song Ain't Like Me, there is a revealing line about a man who never stays in one place too long, which may indicate an influence that sits alongside his country music leanings, and that is "I got a touch of Springsteen in Born To Run." As with other tracks like this and the title track, it has a strong anthemic quality that, doubtless, would work well (or more so) in a live setting. 

The musicians appear to be of a like mind regarding the cut and thrust of the music, which, alongside the keyboards, has some edgy rock guitar moments over a solid driving rhythmic base. However, Bernard has a vocal ability that works just as effectively on the slower material, like the soul-searching introspection of Darkest Water. His learning of life's means and ways, as perhaps dictated by family and history as well as his own story, is in the song In My Blood. It talks of an uncle who died at the age of two on the family farm and after whom he is named. It has an evident passion in its delivery. A similar sense of understanding the past and the present is touched on again in All We Are Is Memories, delivered more as an enunciated ballad.

That overall relationship with family, place and love is at the heart of the slow-paced Carry That Torch, which contrasts with another love song that is pulsating, catchy,Wild Desire. More understanding of the downsides that can be the unfortunate consequences of the harsh reality of day-to-day existence is found in Broken, which closes in a suitable contrast to some of the other material and is delivered in a more stripped-back form which suits the song's inner reality. As mentioned, this may not appeal to some but will to its intended audience and shows that Bernard, while a relative newcomer, has one foot in his heritage and his headset in the future. 

Review By Stephen Rapid

New Album Reviews

Red Sammy Holy Fluorescent Light Self Release

The band name is a performing vehicle for Adam Trice and this tenth album adds to the consistently fine work he has been releasing since the debut record appeared in 2007 and brought him to media attention. The band on this album is Bruce Elliott (electric guitar), Greg Humphreys (bass, backing vocals), Kenneth Noble (drums, percussion), and Adam Trice (lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars). The eight songs kick off with the driving beat of Getting It Over, a rocking rendition of guitar riff and reckless reverie. The following Some Days I Feel Crazy has a slower tempo that captures a loose abandon ‘Getting down with the down-and-outs, Baby I’m feeling fine.’

I Couldn’t Find A Way Home Last Night sums up the sense that feeling lost is not always the worst possible outcome to relationship woes. There is an echo of  Lou Reed in the song arrangement with the sweet lead guitar wrapping the song in a rhythmic resonance.  Yesterday the World Opened Up is a song that reflects upon what to do with feeling that old keys don’t open new locks. Ernest and Bukowski is a tip of the hat to great writers that influenced Trice over formative years and the sense of independent attitude that runs through their respective works in the fruitless search for the ‘American dream.’ The laid-back tempo and feel is very much in line with the Alt-Country songs that bands such as Uncle Tupelo spawned in the early 1990s. Don’t Know What To Say walks in similar shoes with the guitar lines highlighting a nice song dynamic.

Last Night looks at lessons learned from the passing of time and the refrain ‘but that was last year’ mirrors the reflective guitar melody and the infectious chorus. The final song is I Worry Sick About You and the easy groove  belies the concern for another in the lyric. If you want to plug into a great example of all that sounds relevant in the Americana genre these days, then a visit to Adam Trice and his Red Sammy collective is a recommended stop along the highway.

Review by Paul McGee   

Alice Di Micele Interpretations Vol 1 Alice Otter

Celebrating a career that commenced in the 1980s and one that has seen sixteen albums released by this independent artist, it is appropriate that Alice Di Micele indulges her own personal preferences for other artists songs on this new album. It is a collection of nine cover songs and a tribute to some of the songwriters that she has drawn inspiration from over her extensive career. Judging by the title of this celebration to others in song, there will be a second album along similar lines, and this initial batch of tracks feature the impressive roots style and vocal range that Alice brings to her body of work.

It could be seen as dicing with danger to interpret classic songs such as Neil Young’s Old Man and Harvest Moon. These songs have been covered on so many occasions that one has to wonder what can be brought to the table that could be viewed as either fresh or new in the renditions. Happily, Alice makes each song choice very much her own and the intimate setting of acoustic guitar and voice bring a resonance, such as Give Yourself To Love (Kate Wolf), while the impressive blues groove of Death Don’t Have No Mercy (Rev Gary Davis) highlights the extent of talent on display with a stirring version, featuring the superb guitar work of Dirk Price and Nick Kirby.

The soulful Over My Head (Christine McVie) is another fine example of appropriate song choices with warm keyboard sounds lifting the arrangement and Square One (Tom Petty) has a gentle tone to the reflective nature of the lyric. Lesser known songs such as Throw It Away (Abbey Lincoln) bring a light,  jazzy touch in the arrangement and the inclusion of a bluesy Sugaree (Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter), together with the sense of longing on The Hounds Of Winter (Sting), are examples of both the diversity and range of styles that are impressive in their construction and delivery. Taking the project as a guilty pleasure, these songs blend together into a cohesive whole and deliver a seamless progression from start to finish.

Review by Paul McGee

Lars Nagel Tomorrow Never Knows Self Release

Growing up in Stockholm and dreaming of journeys to other continents could never have prepared Lars Nagel for the reality of finding himself living in California and spending his days as both a tennis pro and a budding musician. Having played in a number of bands in earlier days, Nagel released a solo album in 2015, and followed it with another album that same year. After this burst of activity over such a short space of time, Nagel went off the media radar until an EP surfaced in 2022.

Now we are treated to a new album and a return to the original intention of building upon his prior experiences. Currently based in Atlanta, Georgia, Nagle takes the opportunity to include a number of different music genres on the ten tracks and his writing instincts deliver strong performances here. Daniel Groover,  Diane Coll and Nagel co-produced and played on the album with appearances from Sam Rountree, Tom Cheshire and Steve McPeeks on selected tracks.

Opener Years Gone By talks of leaving the past where it belongs and living in the moment. There is a nod to the Boss in the arrangement and the song includes a hint of the melody on Out In the Street from the River album. The guitar attack on Johnny Was Right is pure cow punk, with pedal steel adding to the dynamic and references to Johnny Thunders land nicely in the refrain ‘You can’t put your arms around a memory.’ The country vibe on Fool’s Way Home is a song about being stuck in addiction and doomed to repeating the same mistakes. The sad tale of broken relationships is the focus of Love Don’t Live Here Anymore with self-pity no solution to the pain. You Will Never Change is a real rocker with an urgent backbeat and plenty of blame being thrown around ‘ You blame everyone for your present and your past.’

The poignant Now That You’ve Left Me  is a song to his deceased father and the lessons imparted since childhood. The sad reality that ‘My childhood is gone, You can no longer right all of my wrongs’ goes straight to the pain and loneliness that grief brings. The gentle sway of So It Goes strips everything down to a life lived by the rules and expectations of others and the price paid for living such a lie. The addition of pedal steel and piano makes this reflective song one of the highlights.

The spoken intro to Gotta Move is not credited but it speaks of the ills in American society and a nation that has forgotten how to feel empathy is expressed in the lyrics as Nagel drives the musicians on an up-tempo song full of anger and frustration. Old Photographs is a look through the telescope to Nagel’s childhood, capturing the adventures of youth and remembering a trip to the USA with his father. The album title and final song is an instrumental piece that has plaintive pedal steel to the fore and a thoughtful ending to an album that has lots to recommend it in the sentiment and the delivery.

Review by Paul McGee

Wayward Jane The Flood Down The River

Scottish four piece Wayward Jane have been honing their unique sound from their base of Edinburgh for a few years and this third release on their own label is a beautifully produced album demonstrating their fusion of American folk, old time and English folk music with their strong Scottish influences. Across five instrumentals and seven songs, they have produced an album of soothing acoustic music, sometimes mesmerising, always soulful.

 As the title track would suggest, the theme of water infiltrates its way across quite a few of the compositions. Edinburgh Rain introduces us to the distinctive and slightly vibrato vocals of Sam Gillespie (guitar & wooden flute) in a paean to their home city, ‘full of dreams’. His acoustic guitar motif is picked up by the versatile fiddle playing of Rachel Petyt. Michael Starkey leads us into the instrumental Brokeback with his sweet claw hammer banjo playing, weaving in and out of Petyt’s superb fiddle contributions, backed by acoustic guitar and Dan Abrahams’ double bass - it would be hard to believe this music wasn’t created in Southern Appalachia. Elizabeth Cotten’s Shake Sugaree gets a sweet makeover, with Sam Gillespie on vocals again, and is another acknowledgment of their influences.

 The instrumentals Doucement and A Stone’s Throw are the only two tracks which have a distinctive Scottish flavour, thanks to the combination of wooden flute and fiddle. Michael Starkey sings lead and plays clawhammer on a cover of Little Satchel, from the North Carolinian old time fiddle player, Fred Cockerham, who was one of the best known exponents of the Round Peak style. The album closer Liberty features some fine finger picked guitar and vocals from Sam Gillespie, in the service of a plea for freedom, ‘Liberty shall be a dream/while a single soul is still unfree’. And so say all of us.

Review by Eilís Boland 

Stoll Vaughan Dream In Colour Self-Release

This album represents the Kentucky-born singer/songwriter's fifth album and one that helps to define his take on his music and output further. There is a definite link to a primary influence for Stoll, which was and is Bob Dylan. That sits alongside other influences like Townes van Zandt and John Prine. All writers have a story of their own to tell, and this album finds Stoll in engaging form. He recorded and produced the album at Iroquois Studio in Kentucky. He moved to that State with his family after living in Los Angeles for a number of years. He gathered together a set of musicians who have played with the likes of John Mellencamp, Sheryl Crow, and the Allman Betts Band. In other words, a top-notch crew to bring these songs together. The team included guitarist Duane Betts on one song, as well as Johnny Stachela's effective slide guitar on two other tracks. Mike Grosser and Dane Clark were the solid rhythm section, while John Ginty filled out the sound with his keyboard dexterity.

His songs have a cinematic quality, so it's no surprise they have appeared in True Blood, Treadstone, Shameless and The Office, showing how such varied television programmes found something in his songs to suit their different moods. Initially, he was mentored by Mellencamp’s guitarist Mike Wanchic, and this album proves he learned well. It has a solid, intense sound, topped by a voice connecting the listener with the songs, which range from the go-west story 1883 of migrating into the unknown hard-scrabble "badlands" territory, undertaken by those seeking a new start. It has a hint of a tribal beat and atmospheric guitar and keyboards. Brother James is a reminiscence of a man "raised by drunkards with no dreams." The title track affirms that life, love, dreams, and the faith one holds, all look better viewed in colour. It has an appropriate sense of reverie in the musical context.

The move Vaughan made in returning to Kentucky is at the heart of Farmer's Market. It is a song that relates to getting into a rural lifestyle and assuming the role of a farmer without becoming one. Again, the lyrics create much of the overall picture that is conjured, along with the arrangement. Closer to home and again using the keyboards to give the song its setting is Fate. It recognises fate's role in shaping how a life and attending partnership is fundamental to a well-lived life and a lasting love. Somewhat broader in context is the life on a road subtext of Just Another Day, which is what is in store for so many. 

More bluesy and with a guiding slide guitar riff is the journey across a murky territory that is a Killing Floor. Shades of John Hyatt abound, at least to these ears. It also sees him more in a Dylan phrasing mode along with that of Just Another Day, where the influence is apparent without ever becoming a mimicking process; it also has a harmonica prominent throughout. The Thick Of It has a reflectiveness that notes that we are all largely in that particular state for one reason or another.

Vaughan is another name to add to the growing list of Americana songwriting troubadours who have the ability to look at their own lives and observations and turn them into pieces of music that marry a crated lyricism with an appealing musical performance that is as colourful as it is engaging. It also underscores Vaughan's growth in each of his releases.

Review By Stephen Rapid

Bela Fleck Rhapsody In Blue Self-Release

Exactly one hundred years to the day that composer George Gershwin premiered RHAPSODY IN BLUE at Aeolian Hall in New York, seventeen-time Grammy Award winner Bela Fleck pays homage to Gershwin’s classic and timeless composition. There are many similarities between the two composers. Fleck may be best known for his masterful banjo playing, but like Gershwin, he has explored numerous musical genres over his forty-five-year performing and recording career. Gershwin died from a brain tumour at the young age of thirty-eight, and his compositions included jazz, classical and popular music. Fleck’s work in classical music includes the album PERPETUAL MOTION, a collaboration with bassist Edgar Meyer, involving classical music played on the banjo, which was awarded a Grammy as Best Classical Crossover Album. 

This five-track album includes three interpretations of the title track, a reconstruction of Gershwin’s Rialto Ripples, and a previously unrecorded track, Unidentified Piece for Banjo. Rhapsody in Blue features Eric Jacobson and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Rhapsody in Blue (grass) is an upbeat and spirited jam with Fleck’s My Bluegrass Heart band members Sierra Hull, Justin Moses, Mark Schatz and Bryan Sutton. Fleck’s long-time collaborators Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas and Victor Wooten joined the party for the bluesy-shaped Rhapsody in Blue(s). 

A lifetime lover of Gershwin’s work, Fleck’s interpretations breathe new life into the compositions, offering the listener an entirely different listening experience. “A piano player can play Rhapsody a lot faster than I can… but it’s going by so fast that I’m not getting it all,’’ explains Fleck on this experimental project that should appeal to both his fanbase and a wider audience who appreciate exceptional banjo playing and much more. It may even find appeal amongst some of the notoriously elitist jazz hipsters; you never know. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Morgan Lee Powers How Naïve Self-Release

For my ears, there is a fine line between what qualifies as modern country and mainstream pop music. Quite a few female artists are mastering the former, writing their own material without ever descending into the predictable and tedious. Emily Nenni, Hailey Whitters and Kaitlin Butts immediately come to mind, and this debut record from Waco, Texas-born Morgan Lee Powers, finds her following a similar path, and equally impressively. 

A graduate with a bachelor of science degree from Belmont University in Nashville, where she currently lives, the twenty-one-year-old, having completed her studies, turned her focus towards attempting to pave a career for herself in music. Writing songs from an early age and raised on country and classic rock, Powers paid her dues by playing three-hour sets on Broadway in Nashville to establish a foothold in the increasingly competitive market. She hooked up with Music Row engineer Sean Neff (Reba McEntire, Jennifer Nettles, Glen Campbell, The Doobie Brothers) to record HOW NAÏVE and his sympathetic production underscore Powers’ vocals just right. Eleven of the album’s thirteen tracks are solo writes, and Cowboy Killer, a co-write with Elizabeth Cook, also features. 

A concept album of sorts, its content works around the highs and lows, growing pains and teenage angst while growing up in a small southern town. It’s hardly an original theme, but Power follows in the footsteps of Brandy Clark in writing clever and astute songs from both personal experience and a watchful eye. 

She sets the scene with the opener, Southern Living, telling the tale of her upbringing and ambitions. Content aside, it showcases Powers’ crystal-clear vocals supported by slick fiddle and pedal steel. Teenage crushes, love won and lost, yearning to meet ‘the one’ surface on the mid-paced ballad Dear Whoever You Are and Like A Gentleman. The album’s title track - not autobiographical - reflects on blind-sighted innocence and marrying too young. Pearl Snaps, which is autobiographical, weighs up the perils of falling for someone much older than yourself.  Teenage insecurities and the darker side of social media are voiced in Hate My Mirror (‘She’s the reason I did not eat today, she makes me cry because she looks so happy, everything I ever wanted comes naturally to her’). The defiant anthem-like and previously mentioned Cowboy Killer is instantly catchy, with a driving rhythm ideally suited for a live show. Advocating cherishing life’s simple pleasures, the album bookends pragmatically with Simple Things. 

Powers’ debut album will most likely attract the attention of industry labels. With a pristine voice and the capacity to write perceptive lyrics, she ticks all the boxes for a pop/country market breakthrough. Let’s hope she gets the support to continue to write and record her own material and not be channelled into a more mainstream musical direction. If this evolves, we’re likely to be hearing a lot more from Morgan Lee Powers.

Review by Declan Culliton

The Steel Wheels Sideways Big Ring 

 Mid- to long-term plans for Virginia-based band The Steel Wheels were scuppered by Covid 19, as was the case with all artists and bands dependent on travel and touring to make a living. The pandemic was not the only upset that The Steel Wheels were confronted with, far from it. Band member Eric Brubaker’s young daughter passed away from a rare disease, and frontman Trent Wagler’s daughter experienced a mental health crisis. Not surprisingly, much of the content of SIDEWAYS, the band’s thirteenth album, deals with devastation and a reminder of the unpredictability that we face daily.  

The Steel Wheels is Trent Wagler (vocals/guitar/banjo), Jay Lap (guitar/mandolin/vocals), Eric Brubaker (fiddle/vocals), Kevin Garcia (drums/percussion/mallet keyboards), and Jeremy Darrow (bass). The recording of SIDEWAYS took place at the Great North Sound Society in Parsonsfield, Maine. Taking advantage of the first opportunity for the five band members to all play together in two years, they holed up at the venue for a week to create their latest record. The production duties were overseen by Sam Kassirer (Lake Street Drive, Josh Ritter, Langhorne Slim), renewing a relationship that worked well on the band’s well-received 2017 album, WILD AS WE CAME HERE.

In a similar vein to their musical peers, Chatham County Line, The Steel Wheels have become more experimental both musically and lyrically on recent recordings, moving on from their early acoustic incarnation and four players around a single mic. The tracks here see-saw between darkness and light, yet the compositions sit comfortably side by side. The thought-provoking title track touches on the grinding reality of dealing with a world of ongoing challenges. Two haunting instrumentals, Dissidents and Past The Breaks, also characterise the former. In contrast, Wait On You and Good Thing Now are buoyant, heartening and loaded with soaring harmonies. 

SIDEWAYS offers a broad canvas to the listener, with excursions into rock together with the band’s traditional bluegrass, folk and gospel leanings. It’s a formula that earned them a loyal and committed fanbase, and this project is another worthy addition to their impressive catalogue.

Review by Declan Culliton 

Sour Bridges Down and Out Self-Release

The fusion of bluegrass, country and rock, currently named 'browngrass,' is one of the fastest-growing music genres. Ausin-based four-piece Sour Bridges falls into that classification, and DOWN AND OUT is their fifth studio album. The band members are Pucci brothers Bill (vocals, guitar, banjo) and Matt (lead guitar, mandolin, vocals), Will Vaughan (bass) and Marc Randal Henry (drums and percussion). Also lending a hand on this record were Camille Schiess (fiddle), Trevor Nealon (keys), Zack Wiggs (pedal steel) and Jessica Pucci (vocals).

The band hooked up with co-producer Grant Eppley (Spoon, Ryan Bingham) at Hen House Recording in Austin, their main objective being to recreate the passion and verve of their live shows. They do achieve this, from the racy toe-tapping title track that opens the album to the jaunty closer A.M.Jam. They hardly draw breath in between with standout honky tonk barroom songs, A Pair Of Arms, Drinkin' All The Way Home and Scarlett Woman. 

Combining recently written songs, two of which were written the day before recording and others which had been penned ten years previously, the album showcases the band's stellar playing, clever lyrics and rousing harmonies. If the playing field is becoming overcrowded with bands jumping on the 'browngrass' wagon, Sour Bridges is most definitely up there with the pack leaders. On the evidence of this album, I can only imagine how entertaining a Sour Bridges live show would be. Hopefully, they will showcase at Americana Fest next September, and I can witness that for myself. 

Review by Declan Culliton

RED SAMMY, Alice Di Micele, Lars Nagel, Wayward Jane, Stoll Vaughan, Béla Fleck, Morgan Lee Powers Music, The Steel Wheels, and Sour Bridges

New Album Reviews

Hank Woji Highways, Gamblers, Devils and Dreams Self Release

This is the sixth release from songwriter Hank Woji who resides in Terlingua, Texas and it’s a welcome addition, given that the previous album came out in 2014. During this nine year gap Woji has continued to tour regularly in the United States, performing at festivals, theatres, clubs and house concerts both as a solo artist and in other duo and trio combinations. He also performs with a Tex-Americana Jam Band called The Hank Woji Conspiracy.

This ambitious project stretches into a double album with twenty three songs and a running time of almost two hours. There is a wealth of good music to choose from and quite a number of different music genres across these tracks. The entire album was recorded across eight different states and visited fifteen different recording studios. The musicians who contributed make for a very long list and they all add significantly to the rich tapestry that unfolds here.  Michael Mizma (drums, wood block) and Thomas Helton (bass, double bass, sousaphone), anchored the majority of tracks with their sterling performances in the rhythmic engine room. Rob Pastore (pedal steel guitar) features on four songs and Karen Mueller (autoharp, mandolin) shows her skills on a further four songs, with others such as Radoslav Lorvic (piano, Hammond B3 organ, accordion) appearing on six songs. Hank Woji contributed on acoustic and electric guitars, bass, surdo, harmonica, banjo and vocals. He wrote all the songs and four date back to 2013, with another two written in 2011 and 2006 respectively.

The first disc includes four cover songs and versions of I Ain’t Got No Home (Woody Guthrie), I’ll Be Here In the Morning (Townes Van Zandt), Sitting In Limbo (Jimmy Cliff, Guilly Bright) and Land Of Hope and Dreams (Bruce Springsteen) are all delivered with due reverence, while also displaying the real talents of Woji in stamping his own sound on such timeless classics. Whether employing a folk or a country sound or incorporating some blues and gospel into the arrangements, Woji called upon the talented studio musicians to embellish the sound and the entire project is something of a magnum opus for this singer, songwriter and musician.

I’m Gonna Hit the Number has a terrific laid-back groove that channels JJ Cale in hitting the sweet spot. The gospel warmth of Saving Grace is another superb moment with such great harmony vocals, piano and organ sound. There are road songs that deal with the journey and the ultimate destination, with Don’t Look Back, Chasin’ My Headlights and Sunny Days all laying down the need to keep hope and endurance as the ultimate goal. Indeed, the opening Don’t Look Back would comfortably fit on a Neil Young album in terms of feel.

The second disc opens with the excellent bluegrass sound of Runnin’ With the Devil and tales of a life on the run from the law. There is one cover song included and Take You Burden To the Lord and Leave It There is a classic gospel blues tune dating back to 1927 and written by Charles a Tindley. It’s one of the highlights here, among many, including the  laid-back bosa nova beat of Man In A Cave, the Mexican rhythm of El Sonador (The Dreamer), and the strong message contained in On Our Way Back Home.

There is a nod to the soulful sound of The Band on the country gospel influenced Start Building Bridges, a song of hope and of unison. The tongue-in-cheek country twang of Corporations Are People is a reminder that such organisations are not above the law, and the reggae beat of Can’t Happen Here has a similar message about ignorance and choosing not to see the truth in front of our eyes. The Devil’s At the Door is a standout song, fused with a gospel blues groove and the final song is Peace Onto You and an abiding message to love as you would want to be loved in return. Guest appearances by Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock and Jaimee Harris on vocals add even more spice to the whole melting pot of different sounds and this music comes highly recommended. It represents a high water mark in the career of this talented musician and one that contains a depth that will resonate with anyone who is passionate about music of the senses and the soul.

Review By  Paul McGee

James J Turner Future Meets the Past Touch The Moon

This album is a very enjoyable listen and marks the fourth solo release from Liverpool based James J Turner. A debut album arrived in 2002, titled The Believer, and was followed in 2012 by How Could We Be Wrong, before a third solo project appeared in 2016, Spirit, Soul and a Handful Of Mud. After opening his own recording studios Turner decided to focus on distributing his own music and Touch The Moon Records releases and promotes his musical activities these days. Outside of surviving the dangerous reefs of an independent solo career, Turner had originally cut his teeth as a young musician in local bands such as Lies all Lies and The Electric Morning playing a mixture of  rock/new wave music and gigging live throughout England and Europe on a very regular basis.

This latest release contains twelve songs that highlight a very positive message, coloured by a big production sound with all arrangements and songs created by Turner himself. His message is one of embracing the spirit that rests within each of us and releasing a positive energy into our daily lives. Turner is not one for embracing traditional institutions such as church and state. He questions the way in which our institutions impose conformity and sublimation in our social mores.He is a bardic druid who seeks to connect people to the natural world and also to their cultural and historical roots from the past. As a member of  the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, Turner channels inner reflection and spiritual landscapes, incorporated in a message of concern for the environment.

The songs here focus on themes such as self-awareness, self-healing and questioning the status quo. The opening song, and album title, talks about learning from past events in order to shape future outcomes. Kalahari Rain is a driving rock song that jumps out of the speakers, while Cycle Of Life slows the pace with a more acoustic arrangement that highlights violin in the mix.  Real Change has a Celtic air laced through the melody and is a call to break free from this ‘well-oiled machine.’ Whistle and flute introduce Breaking Of the Ties which has a folky feel to a tale of progress stamping on the livelihoods of the common man.

Heaven’s Inside You has a compulsive drum and bass rhythm and a sense of Paul Weller in the delivery with violin adding colour to the arrangement and a message that all we seek is already within us. The pace slows once again on Same Old Story and a look at corporate greed in the push for profit above everything else. Such short sightedness is tackled again on Move Up to the Light with a message that eco-awareness is the solution to the over-arching corporate greed that threatens our environment.  We Won’t Live Under Fear is a call to arms and a manifesto to come together in fighting the powerful forces that dictate our daily reality.

Full credit goes to the musicians who brought this music to life in the studio. Etienne Girard (electric bass, double bass), Dave Ormsby and Mark Rice (drums, percussion), Amy Chalmers (violin, backing vocals), Chris Haigh and Neil McCartney (violin) and Vicky Mutch (cello) all contribute seamlessly across these songs. James J Turner takes all lead vocals and plays acoustic, electric guitar, mandolin, whistles and shruti. His singular vision is laudable and there is a passion that runs through his strong vocal delivery and engaging songs. To the Wild closes the album with simple acoustic guitar and whistle, and a promise to get back to simpler days when life seemed less complicated. Now, that’s a place that we can all relate to; that chance to get back to the garden of youth. Maybe this music can take you there.

Review By  Paul McGee

Malcolm MacWatt Dark Harvest Need To Know

The traditions of British folk music run deep, and the sense that it belongs exclusively in the past can hang over contemporary artists in their search for new ways to interpret old folklore and heritage. Different generations come and go, and each of us learn from listening over time to the stories of our elders. What would it take to merge modern interpretations with the old influences and to capture that sense of constancy that runs through it all? Well, Malcolm MacWatt is an artist who strives to bring together the old with the new. A multi-instrumentalist from the Scottish highlands, he has been capturing the old traditions and interlacing them with his interest in modern themes since his debut release in 2018.

This sixth album is a very absorbing look into what defines us as individuals and as a society. The theme running through the fourteen songs is one of personal reflection and the consequences of our actions in terms of universal karma. The songs reveal themselves as messengers from another place that impact upon the revolving wheel of life. Strong Is the North Wind opens the album and sings of the portents of doom, of ancient clans divided, and the way in which separation is fuelled by powerful forces that seek to rule our way of living in modern society. The plaintive harmonica is particularly atmospheric as the plea to ‘come to the polling stations and make yourselves known’ is highlighted as the only way to break the chains of oppression.

The Church and the Crown follows and has a similar message, with the restrained arrangement echoing a rueful look at the abuse of power; the combination of violin and vocal spinning a familiar tale, captured in the words ‘while the nobles and bishops grow fat on their lies.’  MacWatt entreats that ‘the poor and the workers rise up like a wave.’ The sense of injustice running through these two opening songs is palpable and it is a thread that runs through the album. Red River Woman has simple percussion and banjo, interspersed with dobro and violin, on a tale about race crimes and the murder of a First Nation girl. Harmony vocal by Shannon Hynes is very powerful in relating the sense of anger and disbelief that is captured in the arrangement.

Angeline Morrison is featured on Empire In Me and the song visits the topic of the slave trade and the dark forces that took away basic human rights from so many, coercing them into a life of incredible cruelty and depravation. The young child, born as the outcome of abuse, reflects upon the crime committed ‘So father I ask you when you look at me, Am I flesh of your flesh? Or your property?’ Nathan Bell tells the tale of Gruinard Island on the title song Dark Harvest and the local suffering caused through use of the land as a testing ground for anthrax experimentation by both the English and American governments. ‘One generation’s terrorist or political prisoner, Is the next generation’s activist or politician.’ These folk songs have all the traditional framework of tales spun from bitter experience and received memory passed down. The songs are equally as powerful in a modern context as in the times they mirror.

The traditional song Out On the Western Plains is one that I can recall being played by Rory Gallagher in the 1970s in concert, and here it is given great resonance with the guitar of Pat McManus. You can sense the ghost of Lead Belly walking through the bluesy arrangement. The tale of Brave David Tyre recounts the last man to be hanged, drawn and quartered in England, back in 1782. The Scotsman had been convicted of being a French spy and suffered his gruesome death in Portsmouth. Phil Dearing plays atmospheric piano on the song. The Nightjar’s Fall From Grace is a song that uses the nocturnal bird and it’s monotonous call as a metaphor in examining divisive ego and foolish pride and the repercussions of boastful behaviour.

Buffalo Thunder is a standout song that laments the disappearance of the vast herds that once dominated the American landscape, slaughtered to near extinction by the white man, exerting control over Native Indian tribes. It highlights some fine playing on banjo, fiddle with resonator guitar also featured. Heather and Honey sings of the compromise caused by private land ownership and the impact upon the ability of local farming communities to make a basic living ‘ I see the highlands becoming parks for a new monied clan, As people head south to the big towns and cities for jobs and a better chance.’

The longest song is The Last Bowman and it tackles the question of whether there is ever art in war. The skill involved in training an expert archer to master his craft is in stark contrast to the easy way in which anyone can pick up a gun and shoot it. ‘The alchemy of gunpowder became the atom bomb’ MacWatt sings as he plays a military tattoo on a share drum with Phil Dearing supporting on piano. Drowsy Maggie has a traditional air and a melody that harks back to past generations, with the song unveiling a tale of robbery and dire consequences for the extended family. It captures the cost of addiction with the needless loss of life caused by poor decisions taken.

The final song Semi Scotsman brings a personal touch to bookend everything and a declaration of the proud heritage to which MacWatt identifies. That sense of belonging and of pride in being part of a greater whole ‘It’s where I walk in all my hopes and dreams.’ This is a very impressive and embracing album, calling you into the message of equality and equity in all things. It comes highly recommended.      

Review By Paul McGee

Matt Blake Cheaper To Fly Self Release

The story telling singer/songwriter is releasing his second album which judging by the credits, has been in the works for some time, as it includes a dedication to the late Don Heffington, the renowned drummer who was a founder of Lone Justice and played with numerous top notch artists. He was a fundamental contributor to the recording of this album, along with other notable names likes Doug Pettibone, who produced and played guitar and pedal steel throughout the album. The other members of the team included Patrick Warren on keyboards and David Piltch on bass, along with a number of singers adding their supportive vocals to the mix.

It is, however, the warm tone of Blake’s voice that draws you into his stories. One deals with highly inclement weather that finds him holed up during a fierce snow storm in Wisconsin and dealing with that only to find another coming just behind it while he’s waiting for the sunshine! Big Snow is the opening track of the album and finds the band clearing their own path. It features a solid keyboard break to give it a lift. More internal is Help Me, which again looks at isolation and the anxiety that that can develop from that situation, even in a cityscape. The pedal steel is central to the sadness of the track’s sentiments. Ohio talks about that particular State and acknowledges that once the factories began closing down, so did the communities built around them. However, Ohio is home and its inhabitants may well love it too, the effective guitar here helping to set the tone. There is a quid pro quo in his thinking, though, as he offers to save the world if his partner can do the same for him. The song has an upbeat feel and a brief but captivating yodel from vocalist Alice Wallace.

Another solid uplifting beat underpins Things We Used To Do, which finds Blake wondering how he could forget those things, whilst at the same time hoping to do that thing for other lesser moments. Again, Pettibone adds some compelling guitar to the track. Reflections of earlier times, particularly of his high school days, is what The Bottom takes on, in this case a particular sadness that suggests something tragic unfolding in the memories. 

Matt Blake’s lyrics touch on a number of themes that effectively convey the sense of emanating from someone who has witnessed or endured the feelings contained within. Overall the collective contribution of all involved has produced an album that never fails to keep one engaged and demonstrates why he is an artist respected by his peers. There is a tenth song that closes out the album, a demo version of the title track, which provides a hint as to how he has stylised his studio time to fully realise the songs, whilst showing that its essence was there from the start. Blake has opened shows for Lucinda Williams, which in itself should indicate the character of his music (indeed she joined him on a track from his debut album). That album was released back in 2014 and, as mentioned above, for an artist like Blake it can often take time for an independent artist to be in the position to release new music. 

Blake shows his development here with CHEAPER TO FLY and how he has gathered a a team of players around him (especially Doug Pettibone, who also produced the previous album) who have done much to realise his dream. So it may be well worth your time to sample a slice of his Americana storytelling, which will hopefully give him the opportunity to be able to release material more frequently.

Review By Stephen Rapid

Lori Yates Matador Self Release

This new album from the Canadian singer/songwriter immediately sounds like an old friend. The nature of Yates’s writing and singing is delivered with an ease that is immediately appealing, but equally there is an apparent passion when she sings too. The songs are full of reminiscences of people and places that remind her of earlier times, times she may have moved on from but that she is not afraid to revisit. Indeed, the title track concerns a much loved venue that, like many, is faced with demolition - in the name of progress. The Matador is remembered by some small incidents that show how it was a meeting place for like minds as much as a place to see and play music. but the overall plea is to not tear down “the grand old matriarch of Dovercourt.” 

Yates produced the album alongside fellow musician Tim Vesely, who contributes on numerous instruments. They are joined by Steve O’Connor on keyboards, Jimmy Bowskill on mandolin, banjo and pedal steel, Michelle Josef on drums and Basil Donovan, who is a member of Blue Rodeo, alongside playing with other musicians. There is also sadness as her long-time friend, guitarist and Hey Stella stalwart David Baxter passed away during the making of the album. Their combined contribution is, however, a fitting tribute to him.

Again, her skill as a writer as much as a vocalist is evident in the nine featured songs, all written by Yates bar a new version of a song (Time After Time) that she wrote with Guy Clark at the time she released her debut album on Sony back in 1988. Since that time, Yates has largely been an independent artist, which has allowed her the freedom to develop her music in a way that suits her. That is witnessed by the consistent sound over the tracks. They are held fast by the solidness of the rhythm section, with the guitars, keyboards and steel adding the textures which provide the forward moving current that sits behind Yates vocal delivery, which is at turns tender or determined, as the songs require.

Perhaps the immediate stand out here for this writer is the song 3 Sisters, which is an atmospheric take on the elements of heartache, sorrow and teardrops that are at the heart of a melancholic plea to live a life again. It is full of a delicate pain and distant hopefulness. It has a keening quality that is delivered with an obvious intensity. Cowboy, on the other hand, offers the man in the saddle a way to come home after the lure of the midnight skies begins to fade. The sentiments of need and longing are apparent in songs like Alive, as in it’s good to be there but there is a hurt there too. Then there is the acceptance of I Loved Ya which tells of the awareness of “I know you’re waiting there for me / you’ve been waiting for the longest time” and how in the end there is also the realisation that “I’ll make my way back to you.”

These feelings suggest a person who has come to terms with the vagaries that survival throws at everyone, but also the acknowledgement that it is part of what makes us what we are. Yates is a matador facing the bull(shit) but holding her ground too. This new album is one that fans will simply adore and newfound friends and fans should search out, as it’s a testament to Yates’ talent and determination. 

Review By Stephen Rapid

Ellis Bullard Honky Tonk Ain’t Noise Pollution Feels So Good

Tagged ‘True Blue Honky Tonk Music’ on his homepage, you are not going to be in any doubt about where Ellis Bullard is coming from musically. Then the album more than justifies the tag, as a hardcore take on the past but given a modern twist in the tale. Bullard and his band are based in Texas, in Austin, and play a lot of the honky tonks there. He is something of a road warrior with a lot of gigs under his belt. He has always considered the road band he uses as much a part of the adventure, though it is his name on the albums and posters. That band backs him up to the hilt, making a collective sound built around music that folks want to listen and dance to. He translates his hard won experience and observations into songs that wouldn’t be out of place in a set by Waylon Jennings or Merle Haggard. The outlaw aspect of that lineage is alive and well in Bullard.

His debut release, from last year, was a seven track EP but now with HONKY TONK AIN’T NOISE POLLUTION he and the band have delivered a ten track collection that relates to different aspects of life - on the road and off. The pitfalls of the use of alcohol to mediate a bad relationship are outlined in Lucky You, Lucky Me, My Unlucky Ways. This is delivered, as are many of the tracks, with a dance floor dynamic that means even the hardest heartbreak can be tolerated with a little swing. We are not too far off that turf with the anguish of Prison In My Mind wherein the highway is the cause of that emotion. Further down the line, It Aint Easy Needing Green contrasts the need to make some money against the needs of a troubled planet. It features an effective interplay between guitar and harmonica.

Taking a look back at his younger days and those seemingly easier times is the subject of Young, Wild, Free, while praise for a particular combination of a preferred libation is the subject of Patron And Lime. The slower pace of Hopeless Waltz demonstrates how a slower song fits the band as much as the more uptempo material. The nature of his chosen lifestyle is outlined in Cocaine Money as in  “country music - fortune and fame making cocaine money - there ain’t no other way.” The final track is the title song that opens with a distorted vocal before hitting a solid groove and an another affirmation that this must run through the band’s blood. It is a little more edgy, rockin’ and contemporary than earlier tracks but makes a strong final statement of intent.

Sam Norris, whose steel guitar adds much to the overall sound co-produced the album with Bullard along with bassist Cole Beddingfield and the engineer Patrick Herzfeld. The other band members here were guitarists Adam Duran and Austin Roach, Kyle Ponder on drums, Jon Grossman and guest harmonica player Jonathon Tyler. They all stepped up to the plate to deliver a strong, solidly entertaining album on which Bullard has something of a classic honky tonk vocal presence that is perfectly suited to his songs and the way they have realised them here.

There is certainly no noise pollution here, that is if you are of a like minded disposition. However, some fans of a more recently-minted misbranded version that is passed off as ‘country’ may disagree, as will those who are immune to its attractions. Otherwise Ellis Bullard has made an album that will be one of the stand-outs for this coming year.

Review By Stephen Rapid

Simon Stanley Ward and the Shadows Of Doubt Rocket In the Desert Self Release

Originally formed in 2013, and with two previous albums to their name, Shadows Of Doubt are a vibrant fun loving four piece band that hail from London and play on a regular basis on the UK circuit. Simon Stanley Ward is the main songwriter and he also performs as a comedian when not burning up the roads and venues around the various local circuits that they plug into. The original band included Paul Lush (lead guitar), Neil Marsh (drums) and Geoff Easeman (bass), with Simon Stanley Ward on acoustic guitar and lead vocals. Sadly, the band lost Geoff Easeman in 2023, the tenth anniversary of the band, and the story of their close bond is captured on this album.

Geoff played on eight of the tracks included here and his parts were captured in the hospice where he was spending his final months. The other three members had recorded the basic songs in a local studio in Norwich with producer Gavin Bowers providing the magic in capturing the live feel of the sessions. Incredibly, all the songs were finished over a period of just two days. Later in the year after the passing of Geoff, a further two songs were added to the album with Geoff’s son, Richard Easeman, taking the bass and playing superbly in honour of his father. Such a moving and poignant story and one that is touched by a sprinkling of magic dust also.

Opening song I’m A Worrier has a nice calypso groove and rhythm, despite the lyrical content which describes anxiety suffered in daily living. It could also be tongue-in-cheek as it speaks of training up in the mountains ‘A dedicated scholar in fabricating fears.’ However, there is no doubting the rockabilly strut of This Ain’t It or indeed the sunny guitar pop sound of  the title track. Bigfoot Baby has a great rock and roll beat and a fun lyric to enjoy ‘Well a lot of folk will tell you that it ain't real, But try saying that out loud when you're gonna be its next meal.’ There is also some tasty guitar courtesy of Paul Lush who also plays in Danny and the Champions of the World, another fine London band.

Tony has a soulful 60s sound and the song was written for a friend during lockdown. The guitar work on Deadheading is superb  and the vocal attack has an urgency in the delivery ‘Get your knees down in the mud, Shadows of Doubt nip it in the bud.’ The clever wordplay continues on Terpsichorean Footwear which looks at dancing shoes and states ‘Like the antelope, On the African plain, I'm gonna move my feet and drive you insane,’ elsewhere urging that  ‘all the long words, you gotta look them up.’ Elsewhere Designated Driver and When September Comes hit the mark with country and rock sounds capturing the mood.

The ensemble really play with a freedom and intensity that is invigorating and the fresh sound on the album is very engaging. The final song Loving You is a folky sea shanty that is a reflection on the enduring power of love. Ward sings, plays acoustic guitar and fiddle, with Paul Lush turning in yet another standout performance on guitar and mandolin. Throughout, Neil Marsh plays superbly in the engine room alongside the bass parts of both father and son, Geoff and Richard Easeman. As a tribute to the memory of Geoff Easeman this album is superbly crafted and with Richard Easeman on bass for the final two songs, capturing the essence of his father, it is indeed the perfect homage. An excellent album and worthy of your time.

Review By Paul McGee

Corb Lund El Viejo New West

‘It’s a lot of minor keys and gambling songs, is what it is,” explains Corb Lund, reflecting on his latest album, ‘It was just a few of us in my house. No studio. No outside producer. No adults in the room. No stress.’ 

Working with members of his band, The Hurtin’ Albertans, the eleven-track album was recorded with anyout electric instruments with many of the tracks being ‘first takes.’ It follows his 2020 covers album SONGS MY FRIENDS WROTE and arguably his career finest record, AGRICULTURAL TRAGIC from 2020. The former included two songs (Montana Waltz and Road To Las Cruces) written by fellow Canadian Ian Tyson, who passed away in 2022. EL VIEJO pays tribute to Tyson, Lund's close friend and mentor. The album’s title translates as ‘The Old One,’ the nickname conferred on Tyson by fellow singer-songwriter Tom Russell. 

Very much a modern outlaw, Lund was never one to follow markets or trends. Despite never hogging the limelight, he has been the recipient of both Juno and Canadian Country Music Association Awards. EL VIEJO is typical of his practice of making music that reflects his frame of mind at any given time, putting it out there without any significant ambition in terms of shifting units. It’s a strategy that has worked well for him in the past, evidenced by the fact that he has retained the support of New West for over a decade and a half.

Lund confesses to following the lyrical style of artists like Marty Robbins, Kris Kristofferson, Bobbie Gentry, and Jerry Reed on this record. He more than achieves this with lyrics that are both articulate, good-natured and laced with black humour. A point in case are the hilarious Redneck Rehab and Old Familiar Drunken Feeling. The former is a racy and hilarious tale of hillbilly-style self-administered cold turkey. The latter is based on a true story when Lund, high as a kite having experimented with some legal edible cannabis before playing a gig, resorted to downing copious amounts of whiskey to overcome the onset of paranoia. Gambling, cheating and drinking are well represented in the opener The Cardplayer and The Game Gets Hot. Out On A Win tells the tale of the chronic, unfortunate, ageing fighter wishing to bow out on one last victory. The title track is a heartfelt tribute to Tyson, grieving his passing and acknowledging his significance.  

A master class in astute storytelling, country-edged vocals, and fine instrumentation, EL VIEJO is a worthy addition to Corb Lund’s impressive catalogue. It's no surprise; he seldom puts a foot wrong. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Chatham County Line Hiyo Yep Roc

The early career days of singing around a single microphone, acoustic instrumentation and a modern bluegrass sound are long since in the past for North Carolina roots band Chatham County Line. It is not surprising, given that they have recorded fourteen studio albums over the past two decades before the release of their latest project, HIJO. Their last album, STRANGE FASCINATION from 2020, was their final recording with founding member and banjo player Chandler Holt. His departure, together with the appointment of Rachael Moore (T-Bone Burnett, Robert Plant, Allison Krauss, Kacey Musgraves) as co-producer, has culminated in the band pushing out the boundaries with their most experimental recording to date.

Drum machines, synthesizers, percussion and copious amounts of electric guitar all play their part, which is a noticeable departure from the band's comfort zone. They have not entirely abandoned their modern bluegrass leanings, and the harmonies by the three band members, Dave Wilson, John Teer, and Greg Reading, still enthral. Acoustic guitar, mandolin, fiddle, and pedal steel also still play their part. However, they are often more innovative and enhanced in terms of tuning and employing effect pedals.

That change in sonic direction reveals itself in the opening two tracks, Right On Time and Magic. Way Down Yonder, which follows, is a sync-led murder ballad that harks back to previous eras but with a modern-day spin. The mood lightens on the gentle ballad Stone, and also in the lesser gears are a delicate version of Hank Cochran's She's Got You. The piano-led album's swan song Summerline is an excursion into jazz territory, with Wilson's rich and echoed vocals out in front of a slow rolling groove.

'Hiyo' translates as 'an exclamation to proclaim surprise.' That definition may acutely relate to how long-time fans of Chatham County Line will regard this album. It's an album that casts its spell far and wide and is, without doubt, the band's most sophisticated recording to date. Stepping into unchartered territory, Chatham County Line has bravely set aside the tried and tested with this album. I, for one, am giving it the thumbs up. It is an album that requires several listens to appreciate fully, but the rewards are well worth the time invested.  

Review by Declan Culliton

James J Turner, Malcolm MacWatt, Matt Blake, Lori Yates Music, Ellis Bullard, Simon Stanley Ward and the Shadows of Doubt, Corb Lund Chatham County Line.

New Album Reviews

The Third Mind 2 Yep Roc

'I had this crazy idea and was looking for musicians who perhaps didn't think it was so insane,' explains Dave Alvin on the formation of The Third Mind. Fascinated by the free-form recording techniques that Miles Davis and his producer Ted Macero used to craft Davis’ classic albums BITCHES BREW and JACK JOHNSON, Alvin's vision was to hand pick some great players, jam live in the studio for several days and edit the recordings to produce an album. 

The vision became a reality in 2018 when Alvin pitched the idea to long-time acquaintance and former Camper Van Beethoven bass player Victor Krummenacher, who was supportive of the concept, having previously covered some of Grateful Dead's material when he was a member of the band Cracker. On Krummenacher's recommendation, guitarist and his long-time bandmate David Immergluck (Cracker, John Hiatt, Counting Crows, Camper Van Beethoven) came on board, followed by former John Cale and Richard Thompson drummer Michael Jerome. With three accomplished vocalists, Alvin, Krummenacher and Immergluck, committed, the recruitment exercise may have ended there. Not so, and the icing on the cake was when vocalist and songwriter Jesse Sykes ('she sings like Sandy Denny meets Grace Slick' to quote Alvin) was approached and duly accepted the role as lead vocalist. They entered the studio without rehearsals or written arrangements and started jamming on some Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Roky Ericksen tracks. Out of these sessions, their debut 2020 self-titled album was born. 

THE THIRD MIND 2 reproduces the absorbing formula of that debut album with a running time of forty-six minutes covering six tracks. The opener is an eight-minute plus reconstruction of The Electric Flag's Groovin' Is Easy. Sally Go Round The Roses, a 1963 one-hit wonder all-girl group, The Jaynetts, is a multi-coloured psychedelic trip that hits the eleven-minute mark. Gene Clark's country rock classic Why Not Your Baby gets a sympathetic makeover without straying too far from the drenched emotion of the original, and they include one original track, Tall Trees. A melancholic love song written in the studio by Alvin and Sykes one afternoon, the angelic and edgy pureness of Sykes’ vocals are interrupted mid-song by a sonic explosion of screeching guitars and masterful drumming.

Completing the half-dozen tracks is a compassionate rendition of Fred Neil's A Little Bit Of Rain and a bluesy take on Paul Butterfield's In My Own Dream.

More than a sum of its parts and never descending into self-indulgence, THE THIRD MIND 2 works on many levels. Oscillating between cosmic alt-country and psychedelic blues, it ticks the boxes for lovers of extended and Grateful Dead-like trippy solos, as well as the haunting and unique vocals of Jesse Sykes. A marriage made in heaven. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Daniel Donato Reflector Retrace

Nashville native Daniel Donato’s performing career kicked off at the young age of fourteen, busking on Music City’s Lower Broadway. A few short years later, he was lead guitarist with the Don Kelley Band, playing four-hour residency sets at Robert’s Western World a mere twenty yards from where he busked, covering a treasury of honky tonk classics.   

Recognised as the most accomplished Telecaster country guitar slinger of his generation in many quarters, Donato combined that love of honky tonk with a touch of psychedelic country on his 2020 debut album, A YOUNG MAN’S COUNTRY. His latest recording treads a similar path but with a degree or two more in an experimental direction. Broadening his healthy obsession with country music and its vintage genres, REFLECTOR finds him dipping into cosmic and classic country rock alongside touches of bluegrass and traditional honky tonk. Rifling through his encyclopaedic knowledge of all things country, Donato and his chosen team of seasoned session players present the listener with over sixty-five minutes and fifteen tracks in total, which plays out like a compilation of retro tracks plucked from those genres with a ‘where did I hear that before’ vibe to them. 

Included are two killer instrumentals, Sugar Leg Rag and Locomotive #9, and other standouts are the excellent opener Lose Your Mind and the equally impressive Hi-Country, Double Exposure and Gotta Get Southbound. 

Billy Strings' remodelling of bluegrass and overlapping it with Grateful Dead-type jams has been one of the more exciting developments in country music of recent years. It has also been a masterly career move for Strings, winning over audiences of all age groups. Donato, possibly on a smaller scale, is treading a similar path. A fun listen from start to finish, often with nods in the direction of The Allman Brothers, The Marshall Tucker Band and Black Oak Arkansas, and exceptional musicianship, REFLECTOR is both a hugely satisfying album and, at over an hour long, offers plenty of bang for your bucks.

Review by Declan Culliton

Clay Parker & Jodi James Your Very Own Dream Self-Release

THE LONESOMEST SOUND THAT CAN SOUND, the debut full-length album by duo Clay Parker and Jodi James, featured prominently in our albums of the year back in 2018. Constantly on the road - they can boast of having played forty-seven States in America to date - that album was recorded in two steps over three years. They initially recorded twelve songs in an eight-hour session in Nashville and completed the recording a few years later in their hometown, Baton Rouge, with invited local artists contributing additional instrumentation to the acoustic first takes. Recorded on a shoestring, that album drew comparisons with Gillian Welch / Dave Rawlings and gained the duo a host of positive reviews. So impressed was he by the album, actor and film director Ethan Hawke cast them in his 2019 movie, Blaze, based on the life of country legend Blaze Foley.

YOUR VERY OWN DREAM follows a similar template in its written content, although musically less acoustic than its predecessor. Similarly, it was created and recorded in a number of stages. Some of the material dates back to 2020 when, during lockdown, they recorded songs acoustically in their home studio. They had recorded an entire album of songs during that productive three-date period but with touring not an option, they decided to put the recordings on hold. Two years later, they booked studio time in Fort Worth, Texas, joined by Ryan Tharp (engineer), Dave Hinson (bass), and Clint Kirby (drums), and the second phase of the recording took place. The final stage found them back in their home studio, where they completed the final recording of the eight tracks in a fourteen-hour session.

As was the case with its predecessor, loneliness and soul-searching are recurring themes and no more so than in the beautifully melancholic Nothing At All and the ill-fated love song A Matchbox Song. James takes the lead vocal on the stripped-back back Hey, Hey, Hey and equally minimalistic is the title and closing track. They’re every bit at home with the more up-tempo inclusions, Fire For The Water and Flatfoot; the latter is a particularly raucous tale of lust and intemperance.  

Rather than replicating the instrumentation of THE LONESOMEST SOUND THAT CAN SOUND, moving into unchartered territory by adding electric bass and drums on YOUR VERY OWN DREAM has worked spectacularly well, adding another string to their bow for their studio and live work. The common denominators are the unhurried melodies, delightful harmonies, and emotionally raw lyrics. The result is an album that is easy to become immersed in after a couple of spins; it certainly had that impact on me. The comparisons to Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings may be perceived as lazy or overstated, but this is classic and timeless gothic country of a similarly high standard.

Review by Declan Culliton

Anders Thomsen Antlers Self Release

After a recent EP release, Thomsen has just released this twelve track album that highlights his skills as a versatile singer, songsmith and guitarist. With his trusty regular team of bassist Chris Riser and drummer Chris Fullerton, they deliver an enjoyable and humourous set of songs that they are obviously having a bit of fun recording for wider consumption. They recorded back home in Reverend Bro Diddley’s Holy House in Savannah, Georgia, a setup that allowed them to get the best out of the process.

The first single, Internet, opens with yodel and goes on to declaim the lack of revenue his efforts garner as an independent artist when he puts his songs on the internet, something that is a pretty common experience for a vast array of musicians trying to continue to release music. Silver Lining is a bluesy workout from Thomsen, with his guitar well upfront as it is throughout the album. It is about his need to continually seek and find that silver lining. The blend of country, rockabilly, blues and more is his calling card. He also possesses a distinctive tone to his vocals that means the trio are well up for whatever the songs calls for. The life stepping up to the bar in various honky-tonks  is set out in Over Yonder. There is a roadhouse rhythm to Burn Me Up that perfectly underlines why this trio are a draw whenever they play live, with Thomsen burning up the strings. 

He also brings the tempo down a notch, with the latest liaison having a time limit before the new attraction becomes a Brand New Old Flame. There are a couple of instrumentals on offer too, Crosstown Boogie and High Sierra find the trio settling into a groove that allows them to show just what they can do in that particular element of their set. The country styling of the Making Plans is about a man who is perhaps putting something together somewhat ahead of the actuality of the possibilities. Next up is the irrationality of what many feel when a new lady steps into view, someone that he wants to get together with desperately, but who he knows that he really needs like he might need a Hole In My Head.

Lets Go On A Spree finds our protagonist once again hoping for another chance to gets things right, although the previous song might indicate that might not be the way its going to turn out! Gas On The Fire, a stand-out here, conveys the feelings of a man who realises that all he might have might simply become an another burned out relationship. However he never really gives up hope as he knows where he might find entertainment and enjoyment in meeting new faces in one of the one hundred Honky Tonks he has played and stepped into for a dance and drink or two.

That this is the work of a man who loves what he does is evident. I don’t imagine that Thomsen has the dizzy heights of fame, at his age, as his goals - though it would be nice for some of that to be available. In the meantime he continues to use his abilities to make music that pleases both himself and those who have encountered it, either live or in its recorded format. With ANTLERS, you get to take the bull by the horns.

Review By Stephen Rapid

Session Americana The Rattle and the Clatter Self Release

This album is subtitled “twenty years (so far)” and that is a very appropriate tag line for this Boston band who have been delivering consistently excellent music throughout their career. Over the time in question the changing line-up has released nine albums as they established a reputation through regular touring and a residency at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge MA, where they performed on a weekly basis over six years. The sixteen songs featured on this collection dip into their full back catalogue and take favourite tracks from the different albums.   

Included are four songs from the Pack Up the Circus album (2015), with the title track, All For You, It’s Not Texas and You Always Hurt the One You Love featured. The latter track is a terrific cover of the Fisher/Roberts song that first appeared in the 1940s and Session Americana give the arrangement a light, jazzy bounce after a slow acoustic intro that sets things up perfectly for some harmonica, guitar and brass pizzazz. The excellent Great Shakes album (2016), features with two songs Helena and Mississippi Mud while I Can’t Get Out is also included from Diving For Gold (2009), another superb album.

The band has always collaborated with other artists along the way and there are tracks featuring female lead vocals with Trip Around the Sun (Merrie Amsterburg), and Air Running Backwards (Kris Delmhorst), adding colour to the project, while the sweetly delivered Lighthouse Light is another song that highlights the excellent musicianship across the ensemble of players. This is best seen on tracks like the traditional Boats Up the River which kicks out a real bluegrass hootenanny. Other songs include the very enjoyable Beer Town, a fitting tribute to the great invention of the alcoholic drink.

There are live songs included and they are great fun, giving a sense of how good it must be to catch the band on tour. Making Hay, Doreen and a cover of the Rodney Crowell song I Ain’t Living Long Like This are played with a real joie de vivre and I defy anyone not to get up for a quick dance around the stereo. The great news is that the band undertake a European tour in February 2024 and I can highly recommend a seat at one of their shows as a compulsory purchase. The current band comprises Dinty Child (multi instruments, vocals), Jim Fitting (harmonica, vocals), Billy Beard (drums, vocals), Ry Cavanaugh (multi instruments, vocals), Jon Bistline (bass), and Eleanor Buckland (guitar, fiddle, vocals). Their roots-based music is compelling in the performance and the varied arrangements make these tunes quite addictive.

Review by Paul McGee

Steve Yanek September Primitive

Back to 2005 the release of Across the Landscape captured the emerging talent of Steve Yanek before we had to wait until 2022 for the release of the aptly named follow-up Long Overdue. In between these years this Ohio born musician established his own recording studio and record label. Having originally fallen foul of the music industry as a younger man, he also spent time in artist management and clearly knows everything about the ups and downs of the music business from both sides of the great divide.

This time around on album number three, Steve Yanek decided on a DIY approach to the recording process and dispensed with using the musicians that had helped colour the songs on his first two albums. All these songs were written during Covid lockdown and every instrument on the recording was played by Steve himself. Quite an achievement when you consider that he also produced the project at his home studio. The songs are mostly intimate in nature and examine the need for love and relationships that endure, in addition to highlighting the need to keep a positive outlook no matter what slings and arrows get thrown in our life path. The album is dedicated to the memory of Emmitt Rhodes who died in 2020. He was a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and studio engineer who inspired Yanek over a career in music that began back in the 1960s.

The songs September and Carousel are in tribute to a lover and all that is gained from a positive relationship. The commitment involved and the devotion shown to another is also present on Catch My Fall where any doubt or uncertainty to commit are removed by learning to trust. Begin Again is about resilience and pushing on through certain barriers, with the rhythmic beat and harmonica driving the  song. I Could Use A Little Rain is another song about dealing with pressure and learning to just wash it all away.

There are strains that any relationship undergoes and the doubt and fear of losing someone that creep in. Songs like Losing You, Come Back In, and Count Every Moment try to balance the mistakes made with lessons learned and a hope for the future. Summer Days looks back at good times now gone and holds a longing for the past, whereas the sentiment on You Know It’s Right is to follow your gut and let your instincts show the path forward. That intuitive feeling and the inner voice being spun out to a slow groove with some nice saxophone in the mix.

These songs are a departure from the initial sound that won Yanek much media attention but they are equally as impressive in their arrangement and delivery on this more mellow project. An album that delves into the personal and succeeds in making it all so universal.

Review by Paul McGee

Nolan McKelvey Forward Self Release

This album is the third release from a singer songwriter who has been creating a broad palette of music for the last twenty-five years, both as a solo artist and in various bands. Hailing from Phoenix, Arizona McKelvey has played with the bluegrass groups Muskellunge and The Benders Band, in addition to other collaborations.

The album title track opens things up with a manifesto that declares the only way in life is forward, as the chorus determinedly declares ‘ We can't turn back time, don't look over your shoulder, We can leave the past behind, forward.’ The following track is Tir Na nOg which is Irish for the ‘land of the young,’ a mythical place in folklore where you can never age. The song is an ode to those who have already departed and a wish that we can all meet up again in this land of abundance.

During the Covid pandemic McKelvey lost both of his parents in quick succession and also a close family friend. The sense of absence is something that weaves through a number of these songs and Phoenix Rising looks at the fortitude to try and rise above the grief and carry on. Both Mother and Other Side are songs that are directly in reference to his mother and her illness. The former is a reality check on the fact the death is imminent and there is also a corollary to Mother Earth in the words that speak of the threat of global warming. The latter prays that both mother and son can be reunited after death has finally visited.

The song I Can’t Breathe looks at the injustice involved in police brutality and the need for society to speak out as a mass movement for change in order to be heard. Tears In the Dells (Yarnell) tells of the nineteen firefighters who died in a wildfire in Arizona in 2013.  Sweetest Dream is a song that is written for his daughter and the beautiful pedal steel playing of Ryan Stigmon heightens the slow melody as McKelvey urges a positive attitude to life and a focus on the future horizon line. The final song New House is a hope for a new beginning where everybody can come together as one under an enlightened awareness and build something that lasts.

The musicians on various tracks include; Jeff Lusby-Breault (guitars), Ron James (drums, percussion, bass, vocals), Megyn Neff (violin), Tim Kelly (dobro), Dave Desmelik (guitar), Andy Rauff (keyboards), Thomas Knoles (keyboards), Dana Colley (saxophones), Jon Rauhouse and Ryan Stigmon (pedal steel), Tim Hogan and Jon Willis (bass). McKelvey plays acoustic guitar, upright bass and sings lead vocals. He also wrote all the songs and oversaw the production on the album. It is a worthy addition to his growing catalogue of strong albums and definitely worth your time in exploring the talents of Nolan McKelvey further.

Review by Paul McGee

The Montvales Born Strangers Self-Release 

Sally Buice and Molly Rochelson’s performing careers kicked off as casual buskers in their hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. Fast forward some years, and they can boast two studio albums as the folk duo, The Montvales. Their debut album, HEARTBREAK SUMMER CAMP, released in 2020, was a stripped-down affair featuring harmony vocals, banjo and acoustic guitar. Described by them as “A snapshot of our early twenties that hops around between sincerity and playfulness and contains adventure, longing, and lessons learned,’’ the album showcased their combined talents, both musically and lyrically. If that album oozed simplicity and joy, BORN STRANGERS is a more full-blown project. 

The recordings took place at Sean Sullivan’s Tractor Shed Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, with the production duties overseen by Mike Eli Pinto, who co-wrote and produced Emily Nenni’s 2022 album, ON THE RANCH and who is also Chris Stapleton’s hired guitar player. Rather than the skeletal approach used in their debut album, this project features a host of Nashville session players, giving the album a fuller sound than its predecessor. 

The writing is also less personal, with several songs addressing more ‘state of the nation’ topics such as climate issues (Ghost Show), gentrification (Empty Bedrooms), women’s rights (Bad Faith), and social injustice (Woman of God). However, relationship matters close to the heart are not entirely abandoned. Loneliness and lament are expressed in Through The Night and Say The Word, and the title track reflects difficult but appropriate lifestyle decisions taken and moving on, ultimately to brighter times.  

The Montvales have pushed out the boundaries and left their comfort zone with BORN STRANGERS. Leaving that secure nest and spreading their wings has yielded a most impressive suite of songs with foundations in both folk and country. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Taylor McCall Mellow War Black Powder Soul/Thirty Tigers

An indication of the high regard South Carolina native Taylor McCall is held in is his selection by Robert Plant as the support slot on Plant’s late 2023 UK tour. Further dates in the UK opening for Plant have been added for March of this year. In his later career, Plant has become heavily absorbed in American roots music, so that endorsement speaks volumes of McCall's pedigree as a singer-songwriter. 

MELLOW WAR is McCall's third studio album, following SOUTHERN HEAT (2017) and BLACK POWDER SOUL (2021). His latest project is a concept album based on an imagined collection of letters that McCall's grandfather, a Vietnam vet, might have written home during his time at war. Six of the twelve tracks are co-written with Tennessee artist Sean McConnell, who also co-produced the album with McCall. Two more are co-written with Nashville-based singer-songwriter Olivia Wolf. 

The album intro is a fifty-second recording of McCall's grandfather, Rev. Russell Owen - who also is pictured on the album's front cover - singing a hymn. Given its subject matter, it comes as little surprise that the album's material reflects the isolation, apprehension and pining of a young man enslaved and cast into precariousness. The songs amalgamate country and blues, with a side of gospel. Love lost and squandered, and opportunities lost, raise their head on Angel Falling Down, I Want You Still and Tide of Love. The McCrary Sisters provide backing vocals on Tide of Love and also on the bluesy album highlight Star of the Morning. The album closes with a co-write with Tyler Findlater, You To Blame. Featuring acoustic guitar and delicate strings (contributed by Sista Strings), it plays out like a final letter written by the author as he approaches the end of his life. It's a powerful closing statement to an album heavy on sensibility and highly personal, without ever descending into self-indulgence. 

Reviewed by Declan Culliton 

New Album Reviews

Suzy Bogguss Prayin’ For Sunshine Loyal Duchess

The career of country artist Suzy Bogguss reads like a movie script. Born in small-town Aledo, Illinois, she sang in a church choir at five years old, was crowned homecoming queen in her teens, sang and played guitar and drums in her college years, where she earned a degree in metalsmithing, before moving to Nashville in 1985 to follow her dream. That move led to the distinction of being the first female performer at Dolly Parton’s Silver Dollar City theme park (later to be re-named Dollywood) and a career that, to date, has yielded Grammy and CMA awards, an appearance at The White House and numerous songwriting credits.

Though recorded during the pandemic, PRAYIN’ FOR SUNSHINE is anything but downbeat and despairing and says so much about an artist who oozes positivity. Recorded and mixed by Bogguss’ husband of 37 years, Doug Crider, at their home studio in Franklin, remarkably, it’s her first album where she is credited on all the songs, several of which are co-writes with Doug. Her two previous albums, AMERICAN FOLK SONGBOOK (2011) and LUCKY (2014), found her recording material written by others, the latter being a collection of Merle Haggard’s songs. Her latest album finds her in buoyant form, working her delicate vocals across songs that celebrate friendship, optimism and worldly matters. 

Hardly a note or a line is wasted, from the breezy opener It All Falls Down To The River, which details some of the bitter pills about life in America, to the gentle love-ballad Can You Still See Me Like which bookends the album. The former includes soulful harmonies from the McCrary sisters, who, among numerous other friends of Bogguss’ (husband Doug, son Ben, Courtney Patton, Kelley Mickwee, Craig Smith, Jason Eskridge), contribute backing vocals on the album. The core players on the recordings were Pat Bergeson (acoustic guitar, mandolin), Chris Brown (drums, percussion), Colin Linden (electric guitar, dobro, mandolin) and Glenn Worf. Guests and close friends Chris Scruggs, Harry Stinson, Charlie Chadwick and Jimmy Wallace are all credited with contributions. Writing and playing guitar with her husband during the lockdown, which at that time was a means of passing the time for Bogguss, became the motivation to write and self-produce the album. 

The divine road song, Sunday Birmingham, is up there with anything Bogguss has written. The light-hearted, jazzy A Woman Who Cooks was written parallel to Bogguss’ first venture into the literary world with a cookery book that she recently completed. Other highlights are the jaunty country rocker Gps and Camille, written with Gretchen Peters and Matraca Berg, which tells the story of a despairing prostitute. Recalling her younger years, Paint The Town Blue pays homage to life in small-town America.

In a similar vein to her peers and kindred spirits Gretchen Peters and Rosanne Cash, Suzy Bogguss's late-career writing is very much from the heart, without any industry interference or influence. She has hit the bullseye with this delightful and thought-provoking recording by applying her charming country-edged vocals across a suite of tender and intimate songs. It’s a listen guaranteed to create a bit of sunshine even on the darkest of days.

Review by Declan Culliton

The Felice Brothers Asylum On The Hill Self-Release 

The Felice Brothers’ indifference to commerciality, trends and the business end of the music industry has always been close to the surface, and this album further emphasises that attitude. Described by Ian Felice as ‘a collection of songs about magical automobiles, various deformities of the heart and mind, red geraniums that have grown monstrously large and powerful, and other such themes,’ ASYLUM ON THE HILL arrived unannounced and independently released, via Bandcamp only on 15th December of 2023. 

The album was produced by multi-instrumentalist jazz player Nate Wood and recorded in the band’s studio/converted church in Harlemville, New York State in May of last year. Its twelve tracks more than match the excellence of their two previous records, FROM DREAM TO DUST (2021) and UNDRESS (2019), further reinforcing their mantle as the standout band legitimately representing the Americana genre. The band’s lineup, Ian and James Felice, Jesske Hume and Will Lawrence, has remained unchanged since the recording of UNDRESS, and it’s no coincidence that, in this writer’s opinion, they have recorded their finest output and excelled in the live setting over the past four years.

Music that has connections to both the present and the past, the opener Candy Gallows, with its hymn-like intro, is a surreal tale which charts a late-night ghostly graveyard encounter. The simply gorgeous title track speaks of the devastation during World War II, written from inside the four walls of an asylum (‘The papers say that Germany has invaded Poland, there’s nothing we can do but sit and pray’). Strawberry Blond, though somewhat more playful and upbeat, also harks back to yesteryear (‘Let’s do dinner and a double feature; first it’s El Dorada, then Creatures From The Black Lagoon’). When Susie Was A Skeleton is a knees-up and light-hearted romp, and they return to matters that are more burdensome on the love song on Bird Of The Wild West. James Felice takes the lead vocal on Abundance, and the horrors of war and its aftermath are expressed on the album’s closer What Will You Do Now. Skeletal and featuring only vocals and piano, it’s a fitting final statement on an album that challenges the listener to make their own interpretations of the songs. 

A stunning showcase in its lyrical content, vocal deliveries and instrumentation, had ASYLUM ON THE HILL been released earlier in 2023, it would most certainly have featured highly in my favourite albums of 2023. The good news is that there is more on the way, as the band are due to release another album later this year. Bring it on. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Diane Coll Old Ghosts Happy Fish 

‘Old Ghosts is my own journey through some old haunts. In the end, there was great healing, away from the external world and back to the internal world,’ explains Atlanta-based singer-songwriter Diane Coll, recalling the springboard that led her to write and record her second album, OLD GHOSTS. A professional mental therapist, by her admission Coll applies songwriting as a means of inner and cognitive healing.

Her recording career dates back to the 90s when she recorded CLAIRVOYANCE with the band Rosary, which she fronted. Two and a half decades later, she released her debut solo album in 2022, HAPPY FISH (and OTHER DELIGHTS), the title of which was inspired by Coll finding a goldfish in a metal pot and re-housing it in a glass fish bowl. With her appetite for songwriting truly reignited, OLD GHOSTS follows hot on the heels of that record.  

Co-produced by Coll with Grammy-nominated producer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Groover (Macy Gray, Snoop, Col. Bruce Hampton), song titles like I Don’t Know, Slipping Away, and This Heart might suggest a challenging listen. However, the emphasis slants towards positivity and acceptance, given its inward-looking and contemplative beginnings. Coll's crystal-clear vocals are supported by sympathetic playing by Daniel Groover, who plays slide and bass guitar, keys and percussion. He also, alongside Nancy Moore and Bryan Shumate, provides backing vocals.

Described by Coll as her ‘dark night of the soul song’, Glow, Candlelight is a standout track; its gentle and relaxed vibe is replicated on both When You Fly and Before The Sun. In contrast, her more edgy and spikey side reveals itself in the semi-spoken I Don’t Know before she returns to a calmer sound on the reflective and self-cleansing closer Love Pt.11.

A meditation on life’s problems and an album filled with personal insight, OLD GHOSTS sensitively confronts anguish and fulfilment head-on. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Ray Scott Billboards & Brake Lights Self Release

A consummate practitioner of the traditions of some real country music, this album has brought Scott to a place where his music defines who he is. To get the album sounding real and authentic to the spirit of the music he loved, he worked with veteran producer Jim “Moose” Brown and a skilled set of players that included Jenee Fleenor on fiddle and mandolin and Eddie Bayers on drums. That traditional structure was the bedrock on which he built his own career. On that was imbued both heart and passion. Among his biggest direct influences was his father’s choice of music that was likely played at home when he was growing up and which sowed the seeds that have now grown. Previously, he released last year an album that took a more fun approach than on this release - WRONG SONGS: Musings From The Shallow End. It is a side of country music that has long been a part of the genre, often know as the “novelty song.” However, here we have songs that, as expressed in the opening track Ripples, consider where he is today and he comes to the realisation that he needs to take a chance on achieving his dream and making a few “ripples in the pond.”

Next up, he considers his mortality and reflects on his life at a time when his body will be lying peacefully in the back of a Long Black Cadillac. Better Than This looks inward to the distorted sense that, at time, taking ones life might seem like an option even when it really is not the answer and that he has the ability to change his life and improve it. A strong sense of reminiscence is also central to Old Roads & Old Friends, a memory of the small details that are part and parcel of what life is. More upbeat is the loving sentiment of detailing the small things that make his partner the centre of his life, and that each time he realises that I Fall In Love With You Again. The road, playing gigs and the necessity for long hours of travel and separation is covered in the title song, meeting people, hanging out but having, inevitably, to move on and continue with that routine and lifestyle. The Loner follows a similar thought process, though not always by choice.

But this is balanced by songs like Keeper which focuses on a person who is just that. The closing song I’ll See You Again is a heartfelt song relating to the loss of his father but understanding that it is a relationship that is not over.

Throughout there are some righteous steel and twangy Telecaster moments that underline the overall sentiments of the songs. All are bolstered by Scott’s deep, distinctive, warm and inviting voice which shows a progression and sense of depth that all his previous recordings and live experiences have helped to cohere into a memorable delivery. Nor should his skill as a writer be ignored, either solo or as a co-writer. On six of the thirteen tracks he is joined by other writers, which adds to the perspective of the material, allowing another viewpoint on a particular theme.

Scott is not standing still with his music and is not afraid to explore its range without ever making a song that would be considered to sit outside the parameters of traditional country music. He is a vital part of a, thankfully, growing number of performers who remain true to their heritage and are not going to be confused with either the ever expanding and often meaningless Americana label, or that which the mainstream still promotes. Ray Scott has made an album that is a testament to his life, love and literate nature, one that doesn’t need a billboard to tell you how good it is.

Review By Stephen Rapid

Reed Brake Visions and Dreams Self Release

Based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, this four piece is made up of Davis Goode (guitar, organ), Lucas Hales (bass, banjo), Justin Hart (vocals, mandolin), and Matt Pavlick (drums). This debut album includes twelve songs that are firmly planted in the Roots music field and the organic sound is very pleasing, laced with nicely paced song arrangements that showcase the inventive interplay between the musicians. Hart takes lead vocals throughout but his delivery can get somewhat lost in the overall production at times. There is plenty of colour in the strong instrumentation but the lyrics are hard to decipher on some of the songs.

The musicians excel on tracks like Strange Courage, Savage Gulf and Dirty Field Golden highlighting strong playing on these up-tempo workouts. Elsewhere Return To Earth, Graveyard Of Ambition and Road Home show a softer, laid-back side to the band with the sweet melodies always present in the arrangements.

The album was produced by Bronson Tew at Dial Back Sound studios, Water Valley, Mississippi and he certainly brought out the creative dynamic in the band’s playing. The songs that are all written by Justin Hart, including two co-writes with Raien Emery, and on this evidence there is still plenty more gas in the tank and more to come from this group of talented musicians.

Review by Paul McGee

The Self Help Group Dream Of A Ghost Trieste

Brighton is home to this band and they formed back in 2009 when Mark Bruce sought out like-minded musicians to assist in bringing his song ideas into living colour. A debut album NOT WAVING, BUT DROWNING appeared in 2013, followed by DEAD STARS in 2015, before the band went into something of a sojourn. A number of singles and EP releases have seen the light of day in more recent times but the band remain largely undiscovered outside of their local environs.

Towards the latter part of 2023 the band released this third album and the eleven songs are beautifully conceived, delivered and wrapped in swathes of melody and sweet vocal harmony. The music reveals itself in a subtle unfurling of timeless tunes, the song meanings somewhat open to interpretation as the words form part of the overall lush canopy of sound. All in all, it’s an intriguing project and one that highlights the deeply rich talent that exists among this band of musicians. Maybe it’s something in the air in the Brighton seaside resort as the sense of joy in the playing is clearly evident in the song structures that soar and sweep around the gentle rhythms.

If you are looking for a road sign, then it may well point back to the uplifting harmonies of CSN, and  to the addictive sound of The Jayhawks. Songs like the beautiful Empty Drive and Spirit Lake share in common a celebration of the enduring connection that links us all across time, whether cataloguing a family and the changes through the years captured in photographs, or acknowledging a life that was lived  and lost in sacrifice to the wonders of nature.

Elsewhere, songs such as American Giants, William Dear and Yumi deal separately with subjects including nostalgic road trips, satanic ritual abuse and a couple who didn’t speak to each other for 20 years. There are no weak tracks on this album, and the celebratory power of A Language Of Music is balanced perfectly against the endearing Willow Tree, a love song that spans generations and closes proceeding with the message that love always endures.

The album was co-produced by Mark Bruce and Paul Pascoe at Church Road Studios in Brighton. Mark writes the songs and provides lead vocals in addition to displaying his multi-instrumental gifts across the tracks . Robert Swabey also adds guitar with Ian Bliszczak on bass and Jamie Fewings on drums. Sisters Clara Wood-Keeley and Sarah Wood-Herries sing beautiful harmony vocals and Helen Weeks (from the excellent Equatorial Group) adds inventive pedal steel guitar on a number of tracks. Strings and other soundscapes are added courtesy of other contributors and the entire listening experience is quite memorable. Definitely a band to put on your radar and this album comes highly recommended.

Review by Paul McGee

Sturt Avenue Bury Me In the Garden Self Release

This is the second full album release from a band that are based in Adelaide, South Australia. Their full length debut HOW DO YOU THINK IT SHOULD BE? appeared in 2021 and during the lockdown Bryn Snoden continued writing songs for this follow up release. The seven piece band are very adept at shaping the melodies around the nice rhythmic groove of the arrangements and on the more mellow songs the writing talents of Snoden come to the fore. The entire album revolves around break-up songs and it would be tempting to suggest that he is still not over the woman in question, despite singing about moving on and hoping for better days. Maybe broken dreams carry no lessons for the future, but I doubt it, and the question must be asked whether time is ever really wasted?

The album opens with an acoustic song Wake Me When the World Makes Any Sense and the home recording feel unveils a vulnerability, with the dread of night seeping in and sleep leaving by the door. The title track is upbeat in tempo with sweet background harmonies on a song about erasing all physical traces of a life so that only internal memories remain. Here I Am has a strong band dynamic and sings of living in the moment while looking for new beginnings. Getting past an old love is never easy and on Talk the memory of days gone by and that special feeling are in question ‘But quickly go the days, And the harder that I hold on, the faster you slip away’ – the band really shining on this track with great interplay.

Best Friend deals in the same territory and the joy of something once shared is quickly replaced by sadness ‘But you're looking to the future, And I don't fit into your plan, And if you don't see that changing, I guess that I understand.’ Co-vocal by sister Tarn Soden is very strong here as are all her vocal contributions throughout. Still In Love is another up-tempo sound before the softer Against the World delivers a slow rhythm and melody that echoes more separation blues. Perfect Afternoon has some superb guitar dynamics from John Soden before Make Do delivers another acoustic based song with horns and accordion adding to the sweet mix of instruments.

Wrong Side Of the Weekend is a standout track and the building song arrangement includes some excellent bass playing from Isaac Kerr before fluid guitar and keyboards intertwine towards a fine climax. The song Marion Bay conjures memories of childhood spent in a township in South Australia, surrounded by beaches. Sweet nostalgia.

The band is made up of Bryn Soden (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica, harmonium, additional percussion), John Soden (backing vocals, lead guitar, slide guitar), Tarn Soden (backing vocals), Bryce Lehmann (drums), Isaac Kerr (bass guitar, backing vocals), Dave Thompson (accordion, keys, backing vocals), Ollie Patterson (violin), Sophia Dennis (saxophone), Sean Helps (trumpet, trombone, flugelhorn), and additional vocal contributions from Katie Pomery and Georgy Rochow.

The album was produced by Isaac Barter, with tracks captured across different studios, in addition to on-the-road recordings. This is yet another fine addition to the growing reputation of this band and I have no doubt, given the quality of musicianship, their talent will continue to guarantee a bright career over the years ahead.

Review by Paul McGee

Josh Washam Waxhaw Drive Good Work

Josh Washam grew up in Pennsylvania and is now based in Nashville. Along with his album releases this singer songwriter is also making a reputation as a producer. This new album follows on from his 2021 release Squash Blossom and the music remains in the Folk/Americana arena that has been his favoured medium thus far.

There are ten tracks included and the playing time of just thirty minutes delivers thoughtful arrangements, played with a style and inventive élan. Washam is a multi-instrumentalist and his talent is obvious on these songs. He is supported on the project by Andrew Kahl on drums and vocals, Greg Herndon on keyboards, John Mailander on strings, and Steve Peavey on synth sounds. The album is named after a street in his neighbourhood and the overall feel is very much one of spontaneous interplay among the musicians.

Opening with the funky Keep On Workin’ the delivery is reminiscent of Little Feat and the message to keep trying hard to succeed is one that resurfaces on other songs as a theme. Accept What You Deserve seems to say that we are our own worst enemies in that we deserve what we end up with. As if we are ever in full control of what happens in the greater scheme of things. People suffer bad breaks all the time and fate and circumstance intervene in perverse ways. Josh seems to say that we settle too easily and don’t keep pushing for more.

Again, on the song When You’re Thirsty, You’re Too Late it’s suggested that thinking ahead of the curve is what separates out winners from losers. As if we can somehow be in control of the random set of circumstances that life throws our way as curve balls. Staying hydrated at all times is not easy and the dust in the throat is often a sign of honest endeavour. Beach In My Mind puts the idea of having a ‘happy place’ to retreat to in order to escape the mundane reality of everyday worries. A true gift to employ if we have the fortitude to engage the imagination in such a positive fashion. Where do I sign up please?

8:27 states that ‘everything’s right until everything’s wrong’ and maybe refers to the routine by which we all feel comforted by in daily existence? Once change is introduced then all bets are off ‘ I see the constant but where is the change?’ On Up To You the tempo changes are interesting and the musicians rise to the challenge of painting different pictures as Josh sings about making choices to steer our direction in life and not simply accepting what occurs. Lazy Ambition talks about the polar opposite in that the inertia of trying to get everything without any realistic input is more than just personal myopia.

Island has a deep groove and attitude. Definitely one to hear in a live setting with the band meeting the challenge to again switch up the tempos, great guitar rhythm and a message that no man can survive by trying to remain aloof and alone. Hard Pressed is a nice gentle instrumental tune that acts like a palate cleanser, or a ramble on a sunny afternoon. The closing track Last Time, Till the Next Time is a Country themed sweet melody of keeping your options open until the next experience presents itself in relationships, the pedal steel and piano adding nuance to the song arrangement.

Washam started his recording career as a member of the duo Natural Forces. They released a few albums before the solo projects took precedent and the decision to spread his wings has certainly worked for this singer-songwriter as his trajectory continues in an upward direction. Worth checking out, folks!

Review by Paul McGee

Adam and Amy Pope Chances Worth Taking Self Release

This is a very engaging release from husband and wife duo Adam and Amy Pope, who have been releasing music together since 2017. Prior to that Adam had played in a variety of bands and performed regularly at the famous Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. He is from North Carolina and his musical interests focus in the arena of country, rockabilly and bluegrass. Amy comes from a church background where she sang gospel and worship songs in Tennessee and her voice is beautifully textured and very expressive.

In 2015 Adam released a really excellent country album titled Story and Song and it included 14 different songs with an introductory tale before each track. It was a suitably different approach to an album and one that could have become a train wreck, but the very personable narration from Adam Pope worked really well in this case, adding context to the song meanings. Certainly worth checking out. The couple have a strong Christian faith that runs through their songwriting like a chord that connects them to the important things in life such as family, honest living and helping out your neighbour. Much of this sentiment finds its way into the lyrics and the songs are performed in a very attractive tapestry of different colours.

The eleven tracks are all very inviting and the overall production from Darin Aldridge is impressive in the bright sound and the clarity of the instrument mix. Nine of the songs are co-writes between Adam Pope and other writers, their collaborations producing some real moments of magic. A cover of Ring Of Fire (Carter/Kilgore) is also included and the slow arrangement is superbly judged to give the iconic song a greater nuance in the vocal duet and the delivery that mirrors both passion and desire. Kite and a String is a song written by mother and daughter team Robyn and Jackson Collins. It could equally be a love song between a husband and wife but the meaning can also transfer to a parent and child in wanting to live our dreams but also needing to remain grounded ‘‘Can’t touch the sky without a dream… ‘A kite can’t be a kite without a string.’

Many of the songs speak of old traditional values and Granny and Pa is such an example with sage advice passed down to the younger generation from older wisdom accumulated over years of living. Songs of love and commitment are refreshing in their delivery and You Melt Me, I’m There and Memories Worth Making are fine examples of the bond formed between husband and wife, across the years and through both good times and bad. Lord, All I Need Is You is a song of faith and of overcoming doubts and fears. Having belief and faith gives the strength to overcome every challenge.

Other songs such as This Ain’t the Gospel and Playing Patsy are a look at the other side of relationships where things don’t always work out and hard decisions lead to a time for change presenting itself. The need to break away from routine and take a vacation in the sun is captured on Alabama Coast an up-tempo number that celebrates the good things to be gained by a trip to the sunny side.  Face to Face is a standout song that looks at returning to old values like communicating with each other and realising that people are all we really need in order to get by. It is the perfect example of the simple acceptance offered on this album.

The musicianship is superb throughout with the studio musicians lifting the songs with some creative interplay between fiddle and pedal steel, the use of dobro and mandolin adding to the symmetry of the varied guitar dynamics, and occasional harmonica all blending with the subtle rhythm section. The musicians are Adam Pope (vocals and rhythm guitar), Amy Pope vocals), Darin Aldridge (vocals, mandolin, lead and rhythm guitar), David Johnson (fiddle, dobro, electric guitar, pedal steel, harmonica), Tim Surrett (bass), Tony Creasman (drums). There is also a guest appearance from Kenzie Wetz on harmony vocals for one song. Overall, the chemistry between the musicians is very evident throughout and this is a very fine album that is worthy of your time and investment.

Review by Paul McGee

Suzy Bogguss Music, The Felice Brothers, Diane Coll Music, Ray Scott, Reed Brake, The Self Help Group, Sturt Avenue, Josh Washam Adam & Amy Pope

New Album Reviews

Brown Horse Reservoir Loose

Previously a four-piece folk band formed in 2018, Brown Horse original members Emma Tovell, Nyle Holihan, Patrick Turner and Rowan Braham were joined in more recent years by Ben Auld and Phoebe Troup to complete the current six-piece. With a core sound that reaches back to an earlier time and place, the Norfolk, UK band’s debut album offers a harmonised and edgy country rock sound.

The latest signing to U.K. label Loose, the album was recorded in just four days at Sickroom Studios in rural East Anglia, the studio being a large barn-like structure surrounded by fields and wetlands. With six songwriters in the band and years of collective songwriting to dip into, the final selection yielded ten tracks, several of which had been road-tested, honed and beefed up over the last few years.  

Often reflecting an emotional and raw terrain, a dark melancholic theme casts its shadow across much of the material. Opening with the gloriously ragged Stealing Horses and closing with the quietly pulsing Called Away, they fashion a fusion of edgy alt-country and modern folk that recalls equally experimental bands like The Felice Brothers and The Wood Brothers. The sombre and brooding Paul Gilley reminisces on the often-overlooked country songwriter, whose songs Cold, Cold, Heart, and I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry were immortalised when recorded by Hank Williams. The instantly catchy Everlasting leaves the most profound impression, while the title track takes the listener on a moody cosmic journey. 

Impressively blending a hauntingly lonesome sound with doleful ballads and more up-tempo rockers, RESERVOIR is an album that doesn’t slot easily into any single genre. There is no harm there, as it’s a fiercely intense suite of songs by a collective that possesses the credentials and capacity to establish itself as one of the leading lights in the U.K. rock scene.  

Review by Declan Culliton

Glass Cabin Glass Cabin 2 Self-Release 

Although they spent their childhood and teen years living close to each other in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York, Jess Brown and David Flint never met until they both relocated to Nashville and ended up living on the same street. Before forming Glass Cabin both enjoyed and still have successful careers in production and songwriting. Brown's writing credits include country hits for Lee Ann Womack, Sara Evans, Trisha Yearwood, Tracy Lawrence and Julie Roberts. His songs can be found on over twenty-five million CDs. Multi-instrumentalist Flint founded the country rock band Billy Montana and The Longshots, enjoyed a decade as a touring session guitarist and has produced albums by Lonestar and Addison Johnson. 

GLASS CABIN 2 follows on from their debut self-titled album from 2021. That album was fuelled by the downtime imposed on them by the pandemic, and rather than writing songs suited to the more commercial market to be recorded by others, Brown held forth on more clandestine and hard-hitting topics. Lonesome Highway described that album as 'Dreamlike songs of unease and unrest that play out like chapters from a Daniel Woodrell country noir novel.' This album is cut from a similar cloth, combining their writing, instrumentation and production skills with a collection of potent songs. Brown's grandfather's family were Appalachian miners who also ran moonshine, and his writing for Glass Cabin often explores the darker themes of those times from recollections related to him by his uncles. 

The songs more than touch on self-examination (I Wanna Live, Travelling Man, Damn Myself) and Closing Down The Bars tell of the travelling musician's never-ending slog to survive. The broody Sam Shepard Play recalls mid-career Neil Young, and the mood lightens on the piano-led/rock-tinged I Don't Mind The Rain. 

Co-produced by Brown and Flint, the former is credited as vocalist (including harmonies) and acoustic guitar, and the latter contributed all the instrumentation (guitars, bass, banjo, piano, bouzouki, keyboards, strings, lap steel, drums). Additional drums on two tracks, Closing Down The Bars and Weary Man, were played by Nashville session player Andy Hull. 

A fitting heir to its predecessor and a profoundly satisfying listen, GLASS CABIN 2 explores the subjects of pain and perseverance with a most impressive fusion of alt-country and folk. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Shirley Hurt Self-Titled Melodic

Toronto-based singer-songwriter Sophia Ruby Katz's (professional name Shirley Hurt) debut album was shaped during a six-month journey across the US and Canada in a camper van with fellow artist Harrison Forman (Zones, Hieronymus). Recorded at Joseph Shabason's (War on Drugs) studio in Toronto, the nine-track album was self-produced by Hurt. It follows the best part of a decade on the industry fringes for Hurt that included an electronic project under the title Ferrari Garden, her ambient recordings as Sifra Rifka and a number of stalled musical projects during that often-nomadic period.

Introduced by her father at a young age to post new wave artists such as Tom Tom Club, Laurie Anderson and Nina Hagen, those influences are close to the surface on MELODIC, not unlike the output of similarly minded artists such as Aldous Harding, Sharon Van Etten and Aoife Nessa Frances.  

Given her nom de plume, you would expect that her writing is directed towards self-examination. The opening lines on the album's first track, The Bells, would support this ('My life is like a koan, it's designed to make me break'). Still, elsewhere, her poignant and haunting lyrics invite multiple interpretations and are brought to life by a spacious and otherworldly soundtrack. It's not a listen that's likely to connect on the first visit, and attentive listening is the order of the day for the maximum return. The richness in Hurt's vocals and the supporting, often melancholic instrumentation unfolds on each subsequent hearing. Let Me Down Easy runs the emotional gauntlet, complete with a smoky saxophone break, and Problem Child's protagonist could be the author or an imaginary character. Other highlights are the rhythmic Empty Hands and Charioteer, a mid-tempo meditative reflection.

Settled in rural Ontario, close to family and friends, Hurt is preparing her second solo album. In the meantime, dive in and enjoy a collection of songs that refuses to be framed within any one genre.  

Review by Declan Culliton

Myriam Gendron Not So Deep As A Well Basin Rock

The New York author, poet and satirist Dorothy Parker was part of the American modernist movement that arose at the turn of the 20th century and spanned both world wars. In her role as a staff writer with Vanity Fair and Vogue she developed a media profile as an acerbic commentator on contemporary society. She also wrote for the New Yorker and Life magazine but her activities as a social activist for change and her political leanings were not always so well received at the time.

On this album, first released in 2014, Myriam Gendron, a Canadian musician, has taken some of Parker’s poems and interpreted them with musical accompaniment. The results are very rewarding and the quiet intimacy of the eleven tracks leave a lasting impression. The songs are focused upon love and the tangled relationships that can ensue from the lure of seeking out the perfect partner. Mostly the poems are somewhat caustic in their view of romantic love and the myth that it can be a panacea for everything. Ultimately, perhaps, we are destined to live alone with our thoughts and our longing, as the final song The Small Hours suggests.

Gendron is a very accomplished guitarist and her fingerstyle playing is a highlight throughout. There is percussion on two songs but it is minimal, and a quiet keyboard sound appears in the background on another, making this home recording a special moment in the timeless feel of these interpretations. Threnody is a lament and the sense of loss is palpable in the words. Solace speaks of fresh fields and new opportunities in love, no matter how great any potential pain, and Recurrence confirms that relationship breakdown is a given.

It may not be a popular notion, but moving on appears to be the default position in these poems. The title track is a beautiful instrumental piece and this reissue includes two additional songs that were not on the original album. If you enjoy Folk music played in a gently creative style and if the words of the poet Dorothy Parker resonate with you, then this is an ideal purchase.

Review by Paul McGee

Brian Kalinec The Beauty Of It All Berkalin

This album represents a third solo outing for Brian Kalinec, a Texan singer-songwriter who is the co-owner of Berkalin records, a label which is home to a number of Folk and Americana artists. In addition to his own releases Kalinec recorded an album with his friend and fellow artist Kj Reimensnyder-Wagner whom he has also toured with across Europe in recent years.

This album has fourteen songs that play out over fifty minutes and the challenge in putting so much music on a single release is not repeating yourself and over-cooking the whole project. In this case Kalinec steers clear of any such pot holes and delivers a very brightly produced album that is engaging on all levels. Producer Merel Bregante delivers a fine open sound that allows all the musicians free expression across the range of instruments that colour the song arrangements.

Bregante also plays drums and percussion on the album in addition to backing vocals and he is joined by a fine group of talented players, including Pete Wasner (grand piano, synths, fender Rhodes, accordion, Wurlitzer, Hammond b3), Rankin Peters and Mark Epstein (bass), Patterson Barrett and Dave Pearlman (pedal steel), Cody Braun (mandolin, harmonica), Michael Dorrian (acoustic and  electric guitar), Madelaine Herdeman and Dirje Childs (cello), James Rieder (chamber strings and double bass), and a number of different backing vocalists, with Sarah Pierce most featured.

The songs are very much in the arena of contemporary Folk and the title track starts things off with a reflection of living each day to the full and enjoying the moment ‘I want to feel the sunlight’s kiss as I raft upon the river, I don’t want to miss the beauty of it all.’ The album continues with Big Hearted and  a wish that we could all try to live with generosity and openness in showing each other more love ‘What if we showed up for each other, Took that chance? Showed a little love for each other, Just because we can.’

Another song titled Two Roads ponders on the different paths that people walk down on their separate life journeys. Sometimes these connect, cross over and influences each other ‘Two sides of a coin, One road leading somewhere, Another heading quickly to an end.’ Redwood Fence examines the issue of racial inequality and bigotry and the words resonate in the message ‘Just how long does it take a man to learn, That fear is just a hollow alibi.’ The theme of growing old and losing loved ones is at the centre of Fix-it Man and the need for acceptance in what life gives us along the way.

Other songs such as Next Door Stranger, Overcommitted and The Wind look internally at issues such as self-doubt, fears, the things we do for living and the little lies we tell ourselves. The final song River Of Kindness brings a strong message of optimism in these times of global warming and civil unrest, with the words ‘It’s a river of comfort, Washing over the pain, One heart to another, a hand for a brother, Ray of sun through the rain.’ Rather than think it could all be just some hippie dream there is real conviction in the positive message and a prayer for universal awakening.  This is a very accomplished album, beautifully performed by the musicians and a real achievement for Brian Kalinec to be proud of.

Review by Paul McGee

Wendy Webb Silver Lining Spooky Moon

Eleven songs and forty-plus minutes of superbly crafted music from an artist who has been releasing consistently strong music since 2003. Wendy grew up in Iowa where she learned piano and guitar before moving to Los Angeles, and later Nashville, in building her career and getting comfortable with her inner muse. Her debut, MORNING IN NEW YORK was followed by MOON ON HAVANA (2009) and EDGE OF TOWN (2011). Further releases THIS IS THE MOMENT (2015) and STEP OUT OF LINE (2017) enhanced her international reputation and led to greater awareness of her growing influence.

Now based on the island of Sanibel in Florida, Wendy lives a creative life surrounded by what inspires her and the results are evident on this beautifully realised album. Co-production by John McLane and Danny Morgan is superb and both also join Wendy as musicians. She recorded her vocals and piano parts in a live setting while McLane provided strings, horns, drums, bass, organ, accordion, electric and nylon string guitars. Morgan added his talents on bongos, acoustic guitar and percussion, with a guest appearance from Cowboy Eddie Long who played dobro on one track.

Wendy delivers heartfelt, soulful vocals on songs like Timeless Love and Rhythm Of Your Love while the Bossa nova groove of songs like Old Blue Panama and I’ve Never Been To Argentina add great colour to the texture of the album. The laid-back delivery on the seductive Jasmine Nights is a joy and the  positive message of Blue Skies On the Way is a balm to the soul in these troubled times with a strong message that only love can provide enduring hope and joy in the world, something that is also echoed in the title track, providing an upbeat reminder that ‘Love goes on and on, ever shining.’

A song in tribute to her father Children On the Blue is wrapped in a slow tempo and a sweetly soft melody reflecting on the strength of family ties across the miles and the passage of time.  Wendy’s vocal tone is beautifully warm and nuanced in delivery, at one turn echoing the resonance of Carole King and at another reflecting the joy of Norah Jones in full flight. Her talent is of course all her own and the strong musicality running through these songs is something to treasure on repeated plays. Another example of the great talent and seasoned musicality of this fine artist, Silver Lining comes highly recommended, as is the entire back catalogue of Wendy Webb.

Review by Paul McGee

John Jenkins Tuebrook Self Release

This is the eight album from Liverpool songwriter John Jenkins who has been creating consistently fine music since his debut record appeared back in 2013. He also co-hosts a local radio show that plays Americana, Country and Folk music at The Garden Party. There is no doubting the talent on display and his musical sensibilities are finely honed over years of immersing himself in the traditions of song craft and creativity.

There is a real intimacy at play here and his warm vocal tone is perfectly aligned with the sense of times past, regrets registered and hope for the future in these songs that capture the vagaries of daily living.  Tuebrook is in the North-East of Liverpool and the district has seen much change over the generations. This is a love letter to the past and the memories of youth are perfectly captured on Christopher Roberts a song to an old school friend that fell out of contact over the years. The story song 43 and Counting is both poignant and sad in capturing feelings of being left alone by a lover who has moved on to a new life. ‘And I feel so old, Silence has spread through this house and my soul.’

The gentle sway of A Child’s Sense Of Wonder is similar in tone to the Stranglers song, Golden Brown as it plays out a tale of innocence and holding back the impending weight of adulthood and lost dreams. William is a song that honours a childhood friend and his sad demise from addiction as an adult. It is a beautifully written and sensitively delivered snapshot of a past that cannot be cocooned from the colder reality of growing up and facing our differing challenges and demons.

The musicians include John Jenkins (vocals, piano), Jon Lawton (programming, bass, guitars, lap steel, percussion, keyboards), Pippa Murdie (backing vocals, guitar), Chris Howard (keyboards) and an assortment of original tape recordings from childhood that include family members and friends. The final song Mr Ford’s Hardware Store includes a recording of the infants choir at “Our Lady, Star of the Sea” School in Seaforth, Merseyside and it recalls the local corner store that had everything stacked perilously high in its inventory.

As a project, this is certainly up there alongside anything else that Jenkins has produced, even if the temptation to create a full concept album was passed over as some of the songs are not rooted in his local neighbourhood memories. Both Idaho and Passing Time are further examples of story songs that echo a similar writing style that finds a place on previous albums. She Feels Nothing examines that sense of having to go into self-protection mode in a relationship that could not deliver on dreams of wanting more.

Maybe I Just Came Along For the Ride has a sad realisation that commitment to anything comes at a price that not everyone is able to pay ‘ I was always by your side, even when you weren’t there, Maybe I just came along for the ride, Expecting you to care.’ The opening song Shadows reflects on change with the lines ‘how can I be part of something that ends in despair.’ However, much of the album is anything but downbeat, more a nostalgic visit to a past that strengthens the resolve to keep moving forward in search of new experiences and building upon the durability forged in the past.

Review by Paul McGee

Lady Apple Tree Self-Titled Self Release

This debut EP from Californian artist Haylie Hostetter was released in September last year and is just one example of the fine music that can sometimes slip between the cracks and miss out on greater media attention. The eight tracks included are beautifully arranged and delivered in a very pastoral Folk sound, wrapped in gentle melodies and sweet instrumentation. The album was produced by Will Worden at a studio in the Santa Monica canyons and a sense of idyllic isolation carries through into the sound. With just shy of thirty minutes, the songs leave an impression of wanting to hear more from this interesting musician.

There is a sense of innocence in the songs and the opener Round and Round delivers a nursery rhyme for adults with repeated lines sung on overlapping vocal harmonies to bring a depth in the delivery. The loss of innocence and corruption of youth haunts on Silver Hands even if the outcome is a new baby and life reborn. The Country feel of the title track comes courtesy of some nice pedal steel parts and the song celebrates the bountiful gifts that nature can bring in the simple joy of an apple plucked from a tree.

Flame has an addictive doo-wop feel and a swing to the tempo that celebrates the passion felt in a romance rather than the memory of having lost in love. The very enjoyable and creative use of pedal steel on the song And There She Was is memorable and the lonely feeling of leaving a lover is captured on Midnight Oil to great effect.                                 

The musicians deserve great credit for delivering such a well-constructed album and the lingering melodies stay with the listener long after making their mark. The studio players are Haylie Hostetter (lead vocals, harmony vocals, rhythm guitar, tambourine), Will Worden (acoustic guitar, harmony vocals), Connor "Catfish" Gallaher (electric guitar, pedal steel guitar, dobro), Cameron Knowler (acoustic guitar, mandolin), Casey Nunes (bass guitar), Ryan Miller (drums, percussion), Hunter Watts (backing vocals). Worthy of your time and a strong marker for more to follow from Lady Apple Tree.

Review by Paul McGee

Jesse DeNatale The Hands Of Time Blue Arrow

Album release number four in the career of this Californian singer songwriter. He has an easy way with a tune, a turn of phrase, an observation on the beauty of it all and something of a guarded acceptance for the failures that can still haunt. Overall there is an overarching sense of optimism running through and the sense of humanity is never far from the message of live and let live.

The title song is a highlight and speaks of enjoying the rollercoaster ride that we all purchase a ticket for in life’s fair ground. Streets Of Sorrow deals with the frustrations that we all can feel with the ways of the world but councils that we keep persevering, with some great guitar playing to keep us on track. The Hat Shop delivers an easy groove and some peace of mind while Station Master looks back upon a life lived as if in a dream, a goodbye to a loved one I suspect. Trying to turn back the clock and correct the mistakes of the day is partly the message in Stop The World a song which also touches upon the finality of gun violence and a search for answers.

These songs were recorded in 2022 at Bird & Egg Studio, Richmond, California and the co-production team of DeNatale and fellow musician Nino Moschella proves to be a winning team. There are fine melodies that permeate the song arrangements and the seamless playing is very enjoyable over the ten tracks included. The full line up of players is Jesse DeNatale (vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, keyboards, harmonica), Tom Heyman (electric guitar, pedal steel), Paul Olguin (bass), Nino Moschella (drums, bass, electric guitar, organ, mellotron, vibraphone, glockenspiel, backing vocals), and Alisa Rose (violin). There is a special appearance from The Zemlimsky Quartet on the final song Late September and it celebrates the seasons as a circle and a dance of the light in the world. There is much to enjoy on this album and it comes recommended for those who enjoy the craft of the seasoned songwriting.

Review by Paul McGee

Brown Horse, Glass Cabin, Shirley Hurt, Myriam Gendron, Brian Kalinec, Wendy Webb, John Jenkins Music, Lady Apple Tree, and Jesse DeNatale