April 8, 2019

Colin Blunstone’s (and The Zombies) popularity came home to me when I was walking through downtown Las Vegas in 2017. On the street tannoy I heard ‘She’s Not There’. (I always absorb background music around me and process the oddity of the selection in surprising locations). This hit climbed to No. 2 in the US charts in 1964. I missed out on The Zombies, even I was young in 1964, but I had adored and seen the two separate acts that came out of their disbandment. 

The keyboard player formed Prog rockers Argent. Rod Argent wrote ‘She’s Not There’ and had several hits after. I saw them a couple of times and bought the albums. Colin Blunstone, The Zombies unmistakable lead vocalist, didn’t follow Rod Argent into his band: he pursued a solo career and released some fabulous albums. These would have been filed under Singer Songwriter back in the day. Blunstone’s voice had a sweeping range from mellow to falsetto but also had a seductive depth as soft as cashmere and smooth as honey.

Blunstone never seemed to get a lot of commercial success and whilst he’s been releasing albums over the years then our collective desire for nostalgia and the power of the ‘grey pound/dollar’ seems to have reignited the septuagenarian’s bank account. I’m so delighted about his success. Maybe about a decade ago I saw him in York in a small band with Rod Argent playing some of his catalogue but mainly Argent’s. His show at Pocklington Art Centre, North Yorkshire  saw him fronting a five piece band and giving full rein to his catalogue and blissful voice.

In a 90 minute set over 23 songs he brought the sold out show to their feet with album tracks, singles and those Zombies’ hits. I’ve referenced the mellifluous voice but behind him was an accomplished band. Manolo Polidario was nothing short of staggering on acoustic and electric guitars. His dexterity and speed were eye catching. Pete Billington, band leader, on keyboards got several opportunities to step up whether on piano or organ and often these solos were a highlight.

Not all the seats were occupied by devotees (my wife!) but his canon included a couple of covers that helped those less familiar get comfortable with his work. Tracks from 1971’s One Year and 1972’s Ennismore came back to back – “Misty Roses”, “Caroline Goodbye”, “Though You Are Far Away”, “Let Me Come Closer To You”, “Say You Don’t Mind”, “I Don’t Believe In Miracles’ and “Andorra”. The singles “Wonderful”, “Time Of The Season” and “She’s Not There” eventually appeared as the audience sat enrapt.

The banter between songs emphasised what a charming man he is. He acknowledged an old school friend in the audience which set him on a long deprecating speech about his own academic mediocrity! He covered his recent appearance in Cleveland, OH playing to 30,000 at The Zombies induction into ‘The Rock n’ Roll Hall Of Fame’, buying a new outfit for the appearance that needed a second mortgage to pay for it and what the flight there and back inflicted on his throat through the dryness of the air.

Much to everyone’s disappointment the band ripped into the last song of the night – The  Zombies “Just Out Of Reach” and he was gone leaving the crowd wanting more.

Postscript:

Blunstone had a support act. This wasn’t a good thing as far as I was concerned. Onto the stage crept a fit looking tall older bloke with an acoustic guitar, baseball hat (we were inside and this is England) and a white beard complaining of a voice strain through a heavy cold. Not propitious and I wondered how many people I’d disturb by shuffling out in the dark to the bar! However his songs were fine and he did light up the auditorium. This was when he declared he’d been married to Donna Summer for 32 years until her untimely death. This illumination came as everyone looked at Wikipedia on their smart phones thinking is this guy for real? He was and his name is Bruce Sudano.

April 6, 2019

Chad Richard – Worthy Cause

Prologue: 

If you’re engaged with Americana or Country music you’ll know about the bitter civil war that is taking place. Those who think they know better are apoplectic that Country Pop (as mass produced by the Big Three record companies) is taking up all the US radio airplay and being heavily promoted. This is whilst the ‘real’ product is marginalised and left to wither.

Well, that may be true commercially. However, if people are buying and enjoying Country Pop (and it isn’t as fatal as crack cocaine) then maybe something’s changed and we should just accept this as an era in the life of the genre? I’m proud to say I once walked out of a Florida Georgia Line concert whilst several thousand others had the best hour or so of their lives. I get the traditionalists’ pain but if Alan Jackson is complaining about US Country radio then I’m suspicious that his real complaint is that it’s inhibiting his down payment on another Lear jet.

Anyway, Chad Richard has a fabulous album that may be a refugee in the Americana genre due to Kane Brown and Kelsea Ballerini but it is released and you should give it a listen : you just need to look a bit more thoroughly for it. We’re here to help.

Album Review:

Chad Richard says he once got some advice about not turning something you love into a job. So for many years he had a job in a Louisiana chemical plant only playing small gigs. Walt Wilkins heard him and asked him to sit in with his band. From here things progressed and a debut album  released in 2015. This is his second release: produced by Wilkins. For the record Wilkins’ compiled a great band with players who ordinarily work with Ryan Bingham, Band Of Heathens and Kelly Willis. The result is a contemporary yet classic sounding Country album.

“Slow Rollin Stateline” hits a soulful easy groove to kick off 12 self penned songs. Marian Brackney’s fiddle leads the tune and Wilkins guitar adds some tasteful licks. The chorus places you way down South – “Zydeco to the East and gumbo too, Texas swing to the West, the world’s best barbecue, Sweet memories of these two states of mine, Flow like that Muddy, slow rolling Stateline”. “Love Anyway” has clever wordplay around the theme grace and mercy and generally getting along. His voice sits way up front over a gentle shuffling rhythm and strings add saccharine to the melody. His voice can carry a tune with a deep reflective care worn timbre welded to a delicious Southern drawl. It also drips personality that helps adds great emphasis to the message.

“Waters Rise” is topical. With sonorous backing vocals (Tina Mitchell Wilkins) he sings to the accompaniment of an electric piano of how people rally round to deal with such catastrophes and rise up higher than the water. “Worthy Cause” could be Chris Stapleton with a bluesy vocal over a minimum of backing. He puts his heart into this love ballad and we bathe in that expressive voice whilst eventually a piano (Chip Dolan) and lap steel (Corby Schaub) take this home.

Topics chosen are engaging, and include ghosts, the kindness of strangers, single parenting and, to prove that this is a bone fide Country album, he even ‘pops a top’ and sings about a dog. However for all of that he can construct an arresting line or two and in the wistful “The Game” (about a solo troubadour playing the circuit) he sings – ‘Waitress cleans off a table while she talks to me, Says she’s been workin in here since ’93, The sad smile she wears makes it easy to see, She ain’t exactly where she hoped to be”.

He’s a man with a number of miles on the clock and a great observer. Coupled with this is his ability to find a thoughtful lyric to articulate it and not least an ear for a tune. This record is a great listen with no filler and it is quite baffling how a thing of such great beauty had to be self released. I’m really hoping he gets some traction and finds a larger audience. 

March 15, 2019

Daniel Norgren – Wooh Dang

Sweden’s Daniel Norgren has released a really interesting record. No newcomer, he released his first record in 2006. You could call his sound stripped down but analogies with Scandi Noir are more satisfying – simple, precise, initially bleak, uncluttered and on occasion conveying a complex emotion.

“Blue Sky Moon” conjures the opening sequence of a detective drama with a single bold female stumbling around an abandoned holiday cottage in the waning light of dusk. A single note accompanied by bird song and other electronica may be more Steve Wilson than Steve Earle but this brief instrumental introduction had me hooked. Apparently Norgren decamped to a farmhouse in South West Sweden to lay all this down with three other musicians. Maybe a rustic unpolished vibe was the one he was after.

The single “The Flow” reminded me of a rough hewn Kurt Vile meets Neil Young. Kurt Vile for the hypnotic rhythm created by bass and cymbals; old Shakey for the plaintive vocal, back in the mix, and the After The Gold Rush piano. Beguiling.

After the melancholy of the opening songs “Dandelion Time” changes the vibe and delivers a Dr John groove. A skinny guitar maintains a riff pattern with sax and drums driving this along. Just need to add broiled shrimps and a PBR and we’re in NOLA. “Rolling Rolling Rolling” has a soulful groove. Norgren’s voice has an attractive yet slightly frayed timbre. It truly is an instrument of beauty. The ballad “So Glad” is sung over an organ which plays one or two chords with a sparse piano delivering the melody. This simple arrangement needs a wistful tune and a compelling voice to make it work. It does.

“Let Love Run The Game” is rock n’ roll. John Lennon might have recorded something like this in his latter years – raw, great melody and drenched with a soulful blues feel. The variety of sounds make this Americana; “When I Hold You In My Arms” takes us south of the border. An acoustic latin lilt (and soppy lyrics) encourages you to take her in your arms. If this had played out with a Mariachi band it would have been sublime.

“Wooh Dang” is a rough instrumental recording with a slightly distorted piano, which plays us out quietly. Now imagine the camera panning out as the aforementioned heroine leaves the bleak island and we watch as the seagulls fly around the stern of the ferry as she becomes a smaller fragile figure.

Throughout Norgren harnesses his talents to that vital ingredient: a tune. New to me; this and his last album Alabursy are an undoubted find. Catch up: this is important.

March 5, 2019

Greta Van Fleet – From The Fires

One downer of moving into your seventh decade is that you get circulars from your GP or the NHS exhorting you to have precautionary tests for various afflictions. This is a part of a plan to prevent something worse befalling you. If it were me then I’d insist that every male over 55 gets a copy of this album. It would add years to their life.

What a wondrous joy this is from start to finish. I’m late in getting to tell you about this triumph. It first saw the light of day in November 2017 and it’s just taken me a while to get to it. Better late than never. There has been much speculation about the origins of the sound. In fairness not all of it unkind. Plagiarising your heroes and giving the people what they want to hear is hardly a crime.

This Michigan four piece comprises three brothers – vocals, guitar and bass. The brothers were 19 years (twins) and 16 years old when they recorded. If that’s a surprise then their absorption of their dad’s record collection is no less impressive. Much has been written about being derivative of Led Zeppelin. It is; I don’t care. They’ve taken all that music and wrung out the very best of it in terms of attack, tune, dynamism and pure electric fizz.

On “Safari Song” you will have an involuntary raising of your arm when Josh Kiszka goes into a Robert Plant howl. (Otherwise it may suggest you’re clinically dead). This album opener starts with a delicious riff and booming drums (Daniel Wagner) that are so John Bonham. Some lift off. Next on “Edge of Darkness” a jagged solo electric guitar strikes a pose with some crashing percussion before the vocals arrive: this time more Geddy Lee (Rush) than Zep. It’s here that the boys, on a self penned song, show that they can write a tune and deliver 70s rock pastiches extraordinaire.

To demonstrate that the team has grown up with some amazing influences the first of two shocks arrive. Sam Cooke’s Civil Rights ballad “A Change Is Gonna Come” comes into view. The band find some lower gears and step backwards while Josh’s muscular tones compel with a heartfelt performance. “Highway Tune’ couldn’t be more corny with a reference to a ‘mama’. Did these boys have tie-dyed baby growers with flares? The next album may move onto ‘chicks’… However driving along to this tour de force could help you lose five miles through heavy traffic as you get caught up beating the hell out of your steering wheel.

The second shock arrives with a Fairport Convention cover. Yes I did write that. “Meet On The Ledge”. Not much of the folk vibe of the original survives but the chorus comes at you in a way that makes it unavoidably repeatable at the top of your voice, even in polite company. This also allows axe man supremo – Jacob Kiszka to bend a few strings in splendid fashion.

So great playing, clear and sympathetic production, wondrous hooks, great electric guitar and vocals that repeatedly astonish. 

Live longer and buy this album.

March 2, 2019

So abandoning my pre-occupation with banjos, fiddles and stetsons. My current wife and I departed to the Yorkshire coast to see a Luther Vandross tribute concert. For a man who should agonise about authenticity, accomplished musicianship from men with beards and discovering the true meaning of life through profound lyrics then you may ask what came over you?

Back in the day we used to worship the man. We saw him in Sheffield and London; inevitably I’ve got loads of his CD’s and vinyl. We couldn’t get enough. Despite poor Luther shuffling off this mortal coil in 2005 he still has a considerable UK following. A good friend posted a video of one of these shows and it looked so good we thought why not go?

We rolled into Bridlington, which in all honesty is on the edge of the world. A town of just over 35,000, which clings onto life in the face of the ravages of industrial decline typical of many Northern towns. Sustenance is maintained through fishing and tourism. It seems on ‘life support’. The photo below is of one of the gardens we passed on the way to the venue.

Such is the town’s isolation that Harry Cambridge, Luther for the night, made some observations about wandering around the town in the afternoon surprising the locals telling them that Vandross was dead and his is a tribute show. In fairness Vandross is unlikely to have made it to East Yorkshire. 

We parked up near the venue, close to the start time, and expected that a sparsely populated auditorium would mean that the ushers would be waiting for us before starting the show. Not a bit of it. We lurched towards our seats with a G&T for Mrs Ives and a pint for me.  Around us appeared to be a near sold out show of around 500 hardy souls braving a mid week February night.

My amazement was further increased when I noted nine performers on stage. A band of five with three backing singers. Straight into “Give Me The Reason” and any doubts were dispelled that this would be anything other than superb. The hits and album tracks flowed. Harry replicated all Luther’s vocal idiosyncrasies with his slightly deeper baritone compared to Vandross’ tenor. His backing singers were well drilled with perfect harmonies and dance moves.

The audience, many of whom I suspect were seeing the show for a second time, loved it. Several fuelled by alcohol and high spirits created some distractions as thirty something nurses and call centre operatives chatted to their mates about little or nothing. This was in stark contrast to a recent Americana concert I attended. It was here that a member of the audience complained to my wife that I was distracting him by him being able to see my mobile phone screen occasionally as I made notes about the songs. With this audience he’d have needed police protection if he complained.

 We grooved in our seats to “So Amazing’, “Any Love”, “Stop To Love” and Stephen Still’s completely baffling “Love The One Your With”. When the pace slowed he knocked “Superstar” out of the park (and into the sea about 40 metres away). I had chills during my favourite “Dance With My Father”. 

More delight came when Harry introduced one of the backing singers – ‘Happy Holly’. She stepped into the spotlight and duetted on “The Best Things In Life Are Free”. Whilst she was fantastic it has to be said that anyone can sing better than Janet Jackson. Another chanteuse – ‘Gorgeous Gemma’ made herself available to become Mariah Carey on “Endless Love”. These girls could really sing.

Harry had a lot of banter with the audience. On one song he invited a sing-a-long and as the carousing females butchered the melody he pithily observed: “this is called music and you can at least try and sing the same song!” He had stage craft. A quick Google notes his West End stage career and other tribute impersonations. He was well aware that some of the audience would only know three Vandross’ songs and maybe the rest would know the whole catalogue.

I’ve previously written about how hard the vast majority of musicians find it to make a living. At the end of the day pursuing your muse must be satisfying, not least, if you can sell concert tickets and produce volume selling albums that dwell on your personal suffering over politicians you don’t like. However at £22.50 a ticket and a nearly full house there may be a way of getting larger audiences, more satisfaction and a bigger bank balance.

Toward the end we had lift off as we peaked with “Never Too Much” and “Searchin’”; there was dancing in the aisles. One might say that there was a lot of flesh out of control and it wasn’t pretty. For my part I well remember a quote from a member of AOR band, Kansas, when asked what would get him up and dancing at a wedding he volunteered ‘a shotgun’. I wasn’t as difficult to please but my dancing resembled a man shuffling barefoot over Lego. It was a brilliant night. Viva Vandross! 

Oh well back to being serious…

Post Script…

I posted the above link onto Facebook. ‘Luther’ saw the review and posted the following. Many artists read my reviews but somehow this was completely unexpected and delightful.

February 25, 2019

Jane Kramer – Valley Of The Bones

Sometimes I’m overwhelmed: genuinely. The conveyor belt of Americana releases roll past revealing quantities of neglected beauty. How an artist gets the recognition and exposure seems as elusive as holding a winning lottery ticket. 

Kramer in promoting her Country Americana release Valley Of The Bones played a few songs on a Facebook Live event. Between the songs she told us of her husband having his debit card refused when buying a sandwich and her scheduled small time gig later at a local bar. Not for her that comforting call asking her to do an Elton John cover for an ersatz Country album where some major label artist has to bowl up to sing a weary vocal over some lethargic arrangement (and then stuff that wad into her purse).

However, let me pick this off the conveyor belt. The North Carolinian’s third album is packed with memorable acoustic led tunes, an expressive and attractive voice with autobiographical stories that leave you staggered at the breadth of topic and profundity.

“Hymn” she describes as a homework assignment from her songwriting mentor, Mary Gauthier ,who concluded all her self-deprecation wasn’t “cute or charming”. The gauntlet went down to write a song from a perspective of self-love. So she set to work and wrote this song on a backpacking trip around Italy. With a band in an acoustic setting she sings:

“Now I’m gonna swing this hammer like you ain’t never seen

I’ve got railroad ties and jasmine vines on the walls of my dreams

I’ve spent year apologizing for a heart that’s true and clean

Now I’m gonna  swing this hammer like you ain’t never seen”

“Waffle House Song” is as jaunty as you might expect (and anyone who fits in a name check for Travis Tritt within the first 38 seconds cannot fail with me). She’s upbeat about her recently broken heart and it seems hash browns have restorative properties. With Billy Cardine’s dobro picking some equally therapeutic notes this sails along and is another gem lost to Country radio. A potential boxset could be taken from the lyric of “I’ll See You Crazy & Raise You Mine”:

“Two years ago for Valentines

I got your name tattooed and you got mine

They spelled my name wrong but you didn’t mind, you said

‘Actually if you squint, you don’t see the extra e’” 

A heart warming tale of an enduring love albeit bordering on the dysfunctional. Again the band keeps this upbeat tune danceable with solos from Eliot Wadopian (bass) and Nicky Sanders (fiddle). 

There are two songs about the loss of a child. Both are beautiful and arresting. Her sonorous and sweeping vocal recounts the vacuum and abandoned dreams over a simple piano on “Child”.  The title track revisits grief in a conversation. This time the pace is picked up and the depth of emotion added to by the band. The words alone make these epic for their beauty and poignancy. Recent gold dust from Courtney Marie Andrews or Joni Mitchell comes to mind.

After the despair she signs off with “Wedding Vows” and strings complement the vocal of her purring satisfaction at the sanctuary and relief that the search is over for a soulmate. So before this passes by then step over that painted line and reach in to grab it quickly before it slides by.

February 13, 2019

Hayes Carll – What It Is

Carll’s sixth release has 12 songs spread over a canvas of diverse sounds – acoustic, rockabilly, swaggering rock n’ roll, folk meets bluegrass, lush strings and a Chuck Berry pastiche. This combination is delivered with considerable aplomb and accompanied with his sharp wit and lyrical craft.

Carll’s said of the album “I take stock of myself and the world around me and write about it”. We switch between the themes of politics, relationships and his philosophical take on where he is in his life now. He is an established songwriter with a talent for a lyric; when harnessed to these tunes we have an album that deserves critical acclaim; not least from this scribe.

If a woman wanted to have her personality exposed then “None’ya” is a love song extraordinaire.  It is a gently rolling acoustic song with a catchy chorus, telling of his fiancé, Allison Moorer. She seems a strong yet eccentric personality, with tales such as painting ceilings turquoise and sharp rebukes at his seeking to establish where she’s been. None’ya business! 

“Times Like These” follows a well trodden path. By the title you can work out that Carll has joined that long line of Americana musicians sharing his thoughts on the Presidency. He’s more bemused than angry and seeks to tough it out rather than storm Capital Hill. 

The single “Jesus and Elvis” came out in 2017 for Kenny Chesney. Now one of its co-writers sings a “story of a family, a bar, the memories it carries and the things that would comfort us”. It’s got clever wordplay and taps into that Country music tradition of delightful song titles and twists.  Carll’s slightly stretched voice brings personality over a John Prine like tune which thumps along with a Country lilt and some attractive piano. Eventually a trumpet joins the band and adds to the song’s wistfulness.

Bluegrass banjo delivers the album’s best melody with “What It Is”. Carll takes stock of what he has: ‘The future holds a promise that it doesn’t have to keep but it might not need keeping anymore … And what it is is right here in front of me and I’m not letting go”.

“I Will Stay” takes the lights low and finds him caught by a spotlight with his acoustic guitar. With a simple heartfelt melody he offers commitment and tells of his unwaivering love (despite the inevitable ups and downs to come). Strings embellish the beauty. A magnificent album closer.

Terrific.

January 20, 2019

Eric Brace, Peter Cooper & Thomm Jutz – Riverland

The gifts of the Mississippi are the historical and geographical attributes that surround it. These include inequality, cotton, deprivation, heat, a lazy pace, roots music and a mighty ribbon of water that broadens as it descends the USA to become little short of a country within a country.

Here we have three gifted musicians who’ve taken their wonderment to produce a remarkable album. They write stories about war, floods, workers, segregation, bootleggers and the simple towering majesty of the river. The range of the themes and people who ‘speak’ these stories are beautifully crafted and diverse in their perspectives. Add some acoustic folk/roots music delivered with harmony, humour and memorable melodies and we may have an album that stands out from the current crop of releases.

Eric Brace, Peter Cooper and Thomm Jutz collaborate on yet another album and pen 13 out of the 14 songs. All three are accomplished musicians with a considerable catalogue of music between them. Brace and Cooper, two former journalists, have worked together for many years and been Grammy nominated. Jutz has had a career that includes playing in the bands of Nanci Griffith and Mary Gauthier.

“River City” tells us about the boats that work the channel and its men who tumble off at various ports for an evening’s entertainment before returning to carry on their journey. The song carries a heavy heart at the life of being continually in transit with all the leaving that this entails. The three voices, whether as a lead or in the chorus, work so well together often harmonising to give a depth and emotion to the lyrics.

The working river saw changes as sail gave way to steam. Inevitably some trades fell into disuse. “King of the Keelboat Men” has that Springsteen bitter undercurrent of proud and strong men being made obsolete; their talents discarded. “Drowned & Washed Away” revisits the vicissitudes and upheaval of the devastating 1927 flood. “Down Along The River” is a song about the role the river played in the 1860s’ Civil War. 

Recent history is about segregation. “Mississippi Magic” touches on a landmark that was key in the nascent civil rights movement. With a heartfelt conversational narrated start we see the unfolding conflagration of 1962 with conflict between white and black over an African American’s entrance to the the University of Mississippi. Never preachy and told from the perspective of a surprised onlooker this captures the era.

Acoustic albums are often beautifully played (as the absence of electricity seems to provide nowhere to hide). Whether it’s Jutz’s flatpicking or the plucking of a banjo we have accompaniment that compliments but never intrudes and creates space for those voices to enthral. Welcome to 2019, we’re setting the bar high.

POST SCRIPT

This is a tremendous album but the concept appealed to me after my 2015 bike ride down the USA:

(http://toronto-neworleans-orlando.blogspot.com).

I trundled through the Deep South leaving Memphis on Highway 61 and picking up the signs on the Blues Trail and absorbed the culture and geography. Landmarks were numerous from Bessie Smith’s place of death to B B King’s museum in Indianola and a night of being bitten by bed bugs. I only came across cotton once as I cycled into Clarksdale. Apparently it’s too thirsty compared to soya and probably not as lucrative. Other myths are that black folk still play the blues. Sadly not really, it seems a white person’s pursuit nowadays. All the black folk were helpful and kind (Including the inmates from the local penitentiary who wanted a light for their cigarette as they painted the car park at the field where I camped). Time on the Natchez Parkway will always live with me as will Natchez as I camped beside the river on a site with a huge RV looming over my one man tent. The next day I crossed the Mississippi three times before getting into Louisiana. The worst road surfaces in the USA welcomed me along with torrential rain as I approach New Orleans. The rain on a crossing across the Mississippi by ferry was so horrific that the operator invited me to sit inside for another trip until the weather passed! So I ‘did’ this part of the world and feel a little smug that i lived and pedalled miles absorbing all it had to offer and not just writing beautiful songs from a misty yet romantic notion.

January 17, 2019

Boo Ray – Tennessee Alabama Fireworks

I’m sometimes suspicious of the ‘copy’ that comes with a new album but I have no problem with calling Ray a ‘Self Styled Southern Troubador’. Firmly seated in Country Rock he writes killer tunes and delivers a lyric with memorable soundbites. Tennessee Alabama Fireworks refers to a sign just off Interstate 24, which is either a burden or gift. Ray was commuting between the two States about 80 times a year and on one side emotional problems abounded but on the other a soothing calm would return. Maybe this is a good time to mention that Ray turns his life into a song and more often than not he’s reflecting on disruption and hair raising scrapes. The title track off his last album Sea Of Lights was inspired by getting mugged and his car falling apart!

“A Tune You Can Whistle” starts the 10 track album and hits an immediate driving groove with pedal steel behind his slightly frayed but attractive voice. From the start you get the feel that this is a crafted affair. Ray is an accomplished guitarist and it shows throughout. Recorded at Nashville’s Welcome to 1979 studio in 5 days then he must have arrived well rehearsed. The ballad “She Wrote The Song” has a Southern Rock feel with lashings of Soul. Ray talks of a life of challenges and bad luck. His chorus tells us “It’s the pain pills that took away my sweetheart, It give me cold chills I think that’s gonna leave a scar”. This sounds like a sad chapter in his life but he’s now moved on.

“Don’t Look Back” is another fabulous arrangement. Hitting that groove again his preoccupation is guiding a Cadillac to Texas and leaving behind his troubles. Some energetic ‘out of your seat’ 60s Soul with brass introduces “20 Questions” with its examination of a lover’s motives and movements. Ray leads the vocal above wailing guitars and a girly chorus.

The album closes with a little romance on “Skin & Ink”. This demonstrates his talent as a Country wordsmith – “Drinking at the lost love lounge down on Dauphine street, She was looking at this naked girl peeking out beneath my sleeve, She said ‘Damn, that girl there on your arm it should be me’, Ice melting in my whiskey glass, girl if you only knew, The love took to get her there, and the hell she put me through, Yeah, yeah might be a little room on the other arm for you”. A honky tonk rhythm with fluid electric guitar from Ray takes this home.

I’ve loved his last three albums and if your Country music comes with some memorable hook drenched melodies, some Steve Earle mayhem and one foot in Southern Rock then this is for you. 

January 5, 2019

J P Harris – Sometimes Dogs Bark At Nothing

Emerging as one of the best releases from the last quarter of 2018 is Sometimes Dogs Bark At Nothing. Harris has an interesting backstory of leaving home in Alabama in his mid teens and traversing the USA; now coming to rest in Nashville. Along the way he’s made a living with a variety of practical jobs including carpentry. I’d like to think that he’s made more money as a musician than spoiling wood because if this release is anything to go by then it is worth parting with your hard earned cash for.

Along the way he’s picked up some worldly wisdom and shook off some bad habits. Such a phase is captured in “When I Quit Drinking”, where against an acoustic backdrop he recounts the sober world he now inhabits; not with particular fondness. Maybe some reining in was necessary if you listen to “JP’s Florida Blues #1”, a rocking paean to a drug fuelled tour in the Sunshine State. This has a fun and well devised video if you make your way onto YouTube.

Harris seems to have some talented friends to call on for the album. The bassist, Morgan Jahnig (Old Crow Medicine Show) plucks throughout and produced the album. Guitar duties fall to luminaries such as Leroy Powell and Chance McCoy (another OCMS player). To this end you tell me if the guitar solo on “Longs Way Back” isn’t a pure Willie Nelson copy with its fluid and delicate runs.

I’d place Harris nicely in the Country Americana bracket with an acoustic platform occasionally rocking out with a hoe-down. However you’ll find him being claimed exclusively by Country when you hear “”I Only Drink Alone” which could place you in the 1960s with a Haggard or George Jones style of song. A honky tonk piano drives this gentle tune with a thumping base to a gentle waltz. 

His articulate and observational lyrics can be fun or profound and maybe benefit from reflection and composition over the last four years since his previous release. “Lady In The Spotlight” is a rueful and tender song with a Glen Campbell acoustic guitar rhythm where an aspiring female musician ‘wannabe’ finds that she’s not taken seriously as she tries to break into a new scene. Her looks count for a lot yet only as temporary entertainment for her potential mentor. 

This is an album of ten fabulous tracks and my favourite pick would be “Miss Jeanne-Marie” which brought to mind Travis Meadows with its melody and arrangement of a chiming piano and a heartfelt vocal up front with occasional electric guitar fills.

Harris has an attractive voice and an ability to write a tune. If I’d got to this sooner then it would have made my 2018 end of year list. I’d guess some of these excellent songs may end up on a bigger star’s album shortly. Cut to the chase and get the real thing now.

PS      Don’t be put off by the album sleeve!

December 21, 2018

It seems remarkable to me that I have listened to 287 new albums this year. A total of 195 were released in 2018 and another 92 releases were from earlier years. Nearly all the new releases were digital files given to me by three outlets. Two of them gave them to me as a pool of stuff to review. The 92 earlier releases can be various purchases of vinyl or CD’s that I’ve picked up in charity shops. I have an unquenchable desire for a complete understanding of many genres and at £0.50 a time then the world is your oyster. The big question is when do I listen to it all? In my study, in my car, washing my car, gardening, listening to Anna (!) and always on my bike. I erroneously put in one blog that I listened to 10 hours of music a week. Crap, frankly I may even be north of 40 hours!

I know several of you will scan the list below for artists you know. Sorry! Please trust me that I listen to all this alongside Earth, Wind & Fire, Bryan Ferry, Bob Dylan, The Isley Brothers, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, The Rolling Stones, The National, Van Morrison, B B King, Eric Clapton etc. I always retain my bearings.

So below is a list of the stuff that stuck in my head or appealed to my taste. Where I don’t put a date then assume it is 2018. Enjoy:

1. Courtney Marie Andrews – May Your Kindness Remain                    Singer Songwriter
2. The Curse Of Lono – As I Fell                                                                          Rock
3. Rich Krueger – NOWthen                                                                                 Singer Songwriter
4. Sunny Sweeney – Heartbreaker’s Hall Of Fame                                      Country (2006)
5. Bindley Hardware – Ever Satisfactory                                                         Americana
6. Elkie Brooks – Live & Learn                                                                               Rock (1978)
7. Kayla Ray – Yesterday & Me                                                                              Country
8. Victor Wainwright & The Train                                                                        Blues
9. Dusty Ross – Stolen Horse                                                                                 Country
10. Ross Cooper – I Ride The Wild Horses                                                          Country
11. Erin Enderlin – Whiskeytown Crier                                                                 Country
12. Ashley McBryde – Girl Goin’ Nowhere                                                           Country
13. Dave Kelly – Solo Performances : Live In Germany 1986 – 89              Blues (2016)
14. James Scott Bullard – Full Tilt Boogie                                                           Blues Rock
15. Tom Hambridge – The NOLA Sessions                                                           Blues Rock
16. Two Door Cinema Club – Tourist History                                                     Indie Rock (2010)
17. Brandi Carlile – By The Way, I Forgive You                                                   Americana
18. Meghan Patrick – Grace & Grit                                                                       Country (2016)
19. Candi Staton – Unstoppable                                                                             Soul
20. Old Crow Medicine Show – Volunteer                                                           Country/Bluegrass

December 18, 2018

A kind of silent reverence greeted the diminutive Courtney Marie Andrews as she took the stage in front of a sold out crowd in North Yorkshire. Pocklington appears to be the home of Americana in these parts and a good audience is always guaranteed. Andrews’ has been touring for several months now in the USA and Australasia; this was the second date on her UK tour that even takes her to the Shetland Isles. It should have been her third gig but wear and tear on the voice meant missing a night in Birmingham. Resting up in London with friends downing the magic elixir of ginger tea appeared restorative!

Declared fit, she gave us 14 songs mainly from her Honest Life and May Your Kindness Remain releases but, as she said, playing an overseas audience meant she could play some other songs and we were treated to two new songs and a couple of singles that never made an album.

Of course the voice is the draw with that Joni Mitchell sound and a range characterised by raw, at times lonely, emotion and bathos. The lonely comes from the nature of her observational lyrics in which she reflects on people and situations around her. In fact you’d worry that having known her for the last few years that you’d end up in a lyric. Boyfriends beware.

 With this in mind she tells the story of a touring musician who declared on their first meeting that she was gay, adding that Andrews wouldn’t therefore want to tour with her. Nothing could be further from the truth as Andrews tells of her own upbringing with a gay parent. “Irene” sets out to fortify her new companion to stride forward and shrug off her doubts and guilt. Similarly we visit the On My Page album with “Pictures From Michael”. The unlikely subject is her incarcerated uncle who sent paintings from his prison up until the privilege was withdrawn (because of his continuing disruptive behaviour). Who could make this up? However, it is an insight into her openness about her life and family with a no holds barred approach.

It seems most American touring artists are unhappy about Trump and inevitably at some point we have the disclaimer. However she handled this thoughtfully by singing about the other side of the immigration argument. “Border” seemed a timely and thought through perspective on those arriving and striving in the USA without a partisan rant.

What became clear was that she is an accomplished musician. On guitar rhythms were strummed, melodies were picked and this accompaniment added to the voice. Switching to keyboards she introduced the unlikely topic of a song about a dog -Tucker. This was a home run in dog loving Britain! “This House” talks of a home albeit not the most organised of abodes but for a travelling musician it is her sanctuary. Sadly Tucker is now buried in the yard.

Toward the end she said that she would not be playing an encore but would take three requests. To my relief she accepted the shout to play “May Your Kindness Remain”, a song about a female free spirit who despite her frailties has a kindness that makes you forgive her excesses. On this song she really let her voice soar and maybe we got a sound that she’d be holding back for fear of undoing her recent rest.

As a person she comes across as serious, independent, hard working and wise for her years. As an artist she comes across as an alchemist with an ability to create melodies and lyrics that beguile. A truly beautiful night and let’s hope she’s back soon.

December 4, 2018

Kayla Ray – Yesterday & Me

I doubt you’ll care but there is a battle raging amongst Country music fans and professionals about the state of the industry. Whilst, in my opinion, it has always been a broad church of a genre with novelty records as well as more serious songs then there is fury that something known as Country Pop has eaten it.

Country Pop is formulaic and what US radio stations want to play. The formula? Exclusively male artists, limited lyrical topics – drinking beer, driving a pick up, tight black dresses and quite a lot of Jesus. Layered into this confection is a predictable Rock sound with a dance rhythm, similarly placed electric guitar solos, repeatable choruses and any other tedium that the same session players can take to their next studio date. Even more infuriating to the supposed ‘Keepers of the Flame’ is that these automatons are infusing Country with Rap. I agree this is deplorable and Florida Georgia Line should be imprisoned for a long time or at least until they show some remorse.

Me? Frankly there is enough Country music that is wearily called ‘authentic’ to still go around. Yes, there is every chance that Sara Evans, Alan Jackson and Lee Ann Womack’s revenue stream is being hit. The kids just want to dance and luxuriate in a lightweight tuneful chorus rather than explore the dark recesses of 9/11 or divorce.

Amongst all this ire then if you just look at releases from many artists on small record labels there is enough magic to go around. And so it is with the above gem. This album came by an email from a PR company and I’ve loved it ever since. Lyrical themes are family rifts, infidelity, substance misuse and the proverbial lessons of life.

Ray has been playing for some years despite still being a millennial and graduating to being in front of a microphone by band management (Jason Eady). This diminutive tour de force has a Texan drawl you could cut with a knife made more special by that achy breaky fragility that heaps on the emotion. “Camel Blues” refers to the cigarettes rather than the quadruped. She ruefully sets the scene as regards a moody and independent man:

He smokes his Camel’s blue,

Drinks his Label Black

Three fingers whiskey,

The man ain’t coming back.

We discover that she’s apparently to blame for the schism despite “it taking two hard working fools to build a wall, but it takes two fools still in love to make it fall”. In the meanwhile the pedal steel produces magic complemented by some other deft electric guitar over a shuffling rhythm. What a start!

“Once A Week Cheaters” is a Keith Whitley composition she duets on with Colton Hawkins. The pedal steel provides the colour whilst the acoustic rhythm section plays a slow waltz. A familiar Country theme of two illicit lovers making a rendezvous to dance. Drenched with sadness, frustration and loss weigh this down with raw emotion you can barely guess at.

So that’s the serious bit. “Pills” she says is about the advance of “big pharma, vulture capitalism and the perpetuation of addiction”. With a lively fiddle playing the dance melody she talks of the proliferation of these tablets available from all sorts of credible medical practitioners including more unusual sources including “my very favorite electrician buddy from the east side of the river back home in Waco who we call Sparky!”

Above I distanced myself from the debate about authentic Country music, however, I love it. Texas seems to be the epicentre of all that’s traditional Country at the moment. Ray has released an album that might have been accumulating accolades in the 1960s. This was when Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn were playing the victim with such lasting profundity. “I’m Still A Woman” is a slower ballad that dares to talk about her sexuality and needs despite her  secondary role in a man’s world. Again Joshua Barnard’s guitar picks the correct note every time as Ray’s voice captivates at the front of the mix.

Every track is a true joy and Jason Eady’s production could not be more sympathetic or understanding of this talent. My favourite Country album of 2018.

November 10, 2018

Jamie Lin Wilson – Jumping Over Rocks

A stand out release from the steady stream of new music is Jamie Lin Wilson’s second solo album Jumping Over Rocks. Ten tracks of Country Americana include nine original compositions, several in collaboration and one remarkable cover: more of that later.

From the first notes of “Faithful & True” you know you’re in the presence of something exceptional. You’ll find a crystal clear voice with pure and sweet tones. However, it’s drenched in heartfelt emotion.This slow ballad tells the story of her relationship with its frailties and failures containing a plea for her lover to accept her for what she is.

“The Being Gone” seems autobiographical with the opening line “Well I’m headed back from Dallas two days gone and gone to hell”: a weary travelling musician with home on her mind. The track, and album, sound beautifully produced (Scott Davis) and a tribute to the band’s talent is that it was all recorded in four days in Austin, TX. All tracks were cut live which will drive listeners to check out her touring plans.

Lyrically it’s all observational and confessional, and often delivered in a conversational style. She says that she’s made music and toured forever but stopped at regular intervals to have and raise children. Predictably with such a background there is a lot of maturity and confidence – not unlike Amanda Anne Platt. Similarly each song relies on an excellent melody and arrangement.

If you’re going to pick a cover then Guy Clark’s 1975 “Instant Coffee Blues” is a great choice. Wilson captures Clark’s tired and lost delivery of empty lives charting a downward trajectory. Jack Ingram takes a verse as the man “she took home for reasons that she didn’t understand.” Sparing pedal steel keeps them company. (One for my end of year compilation album).

“Death & Life” took Wilson four years to write and hinges off the story of a premature death and how the mourners (mother and son) coped. A beautiful lyric that address the gaps that occur when such events happen and how the survivors clamber back into light. With a slow and atmospheric backing driven by Charlie Sexton’s guitar 

As always I wonder how such a talent is not headlining the Grand Ole Opry but in fairness there’s such a long queue of hard working, yet seemingly invisible, troubadours ahead of her. 

I truly love this album. You need to hear it or own it.

November 8, 2018

Cory Morrow – Whiskey & Pride

I fell in love with contemporary Country music at the start of the millennium, when a whole raft of artists I’d never heard of like Pat Green, Dwight Yoakam, Eve Selis, Sara Evans, Clint Black and Gary Allan moseyed into my life. I found tremendous musicianship, great tunes with uplifting choruses, stories about life that I could relate to and seldom a duff track out of twelve.

Cory Morrow might not, in my opinion, be worth the ‘legend’ status his website ascribes him but he’s a Texan delight and this album transported me back to 2000 with its 13 tracks of exceptional Country. You’ll find a tight band able to produce note-perfect upbeat songs and words that encompass love, life and the spiritual. Morrow has been around since the start of the millennium, and is clearly no newcomer as (according to a brief Google search) he has an apparent net worth of $2 million! (no doubt his accountants are unaware of any figures like this). His adult life has been through the admitted usual mire of substance abuse and hard-living, but he’s well on the other side as songs like the uproarious Christian “Revival” testifies (Oh Lordy!)

The title track and single, “Whisky And Pride” comes with a splendid video where our recalcitrant loser receives another shot of fire water from the bar man, whilst the live honky tonk band bait him from behind. They suggest that he should swallow his pride (rather the whiskey) and head home to the missus. (Spoiler alert – a quick check of his mobile at the end suggests he does.) It’s here the craft of the album is demonstrated with a great tune, splendid wordplay and the type of rhythm driven by an accordionno less, that will have you shuffling your feet.

Lloyd Maines is another Texan with sensational producer credits, probably best known for his work with his daughter’s band – the Dixie Chicks. His production here regularly lets acoustic guitar come forward in the mix and the quick and beautifully picked lines are melodic and dove tail perfectly with Morrow’s attractive and achy baritone.

“Top Of My Heart” is a reflective and tender love song with the narrator trying to look within to find the ability to commit to the right woman. Country music on occasion professes to be the white man’s blues and “Blue Collar” extols the virtues of hard work, modesty, paying one’s dues, being charitable, being humble and not least being satisfied with your lot. I’m not sure I’m convinced about all that but it is a familiar Bible Belt mentality revisited even if it does emanate from a little further South.

Eleven of the 13 tracks are composed by Morrow and there isn’t a misstep to be found. It’s this kind of Country music which first sparked my interest in the genre and I urge you to invest and to wear this out. It’s the real thing.